Chapter 297
If the conditions in Australasia are a bit of a lion's mouth, then the conditions proposed by the Dutch government are a bit nonsense. new
If the Australasian government has mobilized so much, there is absolutely no way it can be solved by a compensation and apology of 100,000 pounds.
Such conditions were tantamount to sending a beggar away, and made Kent, who had originally planned to trick the Dutch, become more determined.
"If your country doesn't have much sincerity in peace talks, then I think it's better to rely on the military strength of both sides to see the real results. Let the side that wins the war decide the terms of the peace talks. No matter what the outcome is, we will not have any Objection." Minister Kent looked at the Dutch representative with a sneer and expressed his opinion.
Kent graduated from the Military Academy and once served as the Minister of Defense of Australasia.
Kent, who is tainted with the atmosphere of the military, naturally does not speak as tactfully as a hypocritical politician.
"This..." The Dutch were dumbfounded. They didn't expect the Australasian representative to be so radical and would use military action to solve the problem in just a few words.
"Mr. Kent, since you can come to participate in this peace negotiation, Australasia must also have the intention of peace negotiation. Why not give the Dutch government some more time to discuss, I believe they will come up with a satisfactory condition." After all, it is still. The German couldn't stand it anymore and looked at Kent with a slight smile, easing the awkward atmosphere on the conference table.
"Mr. Governor, why don't you call your country quickly to discuss a satisfactory solution?" As he said that, the German representative looked at the Governor of the Netherlands East Indies and said angrily.
Although the relationship between Germany and the Netherlands has always been good, this does not mean that the Germans are willing to give up their good relations with Australasia to help the Dutch unconditionally.
Since the second Moroccan crisis, which made the Germans feel isolated and helpless, the German government has become more active in winning over allies. This is why the Germans are willing to accept the invitation of the Dutch government to participate in this peace talks as a neutral party. new
But the problem is that the Netherlands is completely inferior to Australasia in terms of comprehensive strength and strategic position.
Australasia's unique geographical location allows Australasia to escape from the main conflicts in Europe and sit back and watch the development and changes of the European situation.
The reason why William II made good friends with Australasia was that he valued Australasia's superior geographical location and believed that Australasia could give Germany unexpected help in the conflict between Germany and France.
Of course, because of the current participation of the United Kingdom, the conflict between Germany and France has evolved into a conflict between Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Austria, and Italy.
The special relationship between Australasia and Britain greatly reduced the possibility of Australasia directly joining Germany in the conflict.
But don't forget that Australasia has a large amount of mineral resources that Germany needs, and it is completely possible to reach a trade treaty with Germany in a neutral way, which is what Germany needs in the war.
What's more, the current Australasia can also be used as a retreat for Germany, and German New Guinea is also a gift prepared by William II for Arthur.
Although William II acted very recklessly, as the emperor of a country, he still had to be wise.
Germany directly became enemies with Britain and France. Even though William II was very confident in the German army, he had to have some worries at some times.
In terms of the army, William II believed that he could fully withstand the alliance of Britain, France and Russia. But in terms of the navy, the alliance between Britain and France made William II feel a lot of pressure.
Britain has always been the world's number one naval power. Britain's previous two-power policy claimed that its naval tonnage exceeded that of the second and third largest naval countries combined.
Even if Germany has done its best to catch up in the navy, William II does not think that the High Seas Fleet can catch up with the Royal Fleet of the British Empire.
If you add the French fleet, although the French's achievements in dreadnoughts are far inferior to Germany's, the large number of pre-dreadnoughts added up is enough to cause a headache. New π .π²πΎπΌ
After the German representative spoke, the British representative said nothing more.
The first day of peace talks broke up unhappily, but it can be felt that the true position of Britain and Germany is still biased towards Australasia. This also made the Dutch government put away its last trace of happiness, and the lights were brightly lit even late at night. bottom line for negotiation.
The requests made by both the Australasian and Dutch governments on the second day were much more normal than those on the first day.
On the Australasian side, the claim was changed to the coast of the Flores Sea, which meant that the claim to Lombok, the large island east of Bali, was given up, and the condominium rights of New Guinea were given up.
The demand for Australasia therefore became Nusa Tenggara, the South-West Islands, the South-East Islands, the Aru Islands, the Kai Islands and other islands in the north of Australasia and the south of the Dutch East Indies.
This island includes Timor, Flores and the Alor Islands where the Kingdom of La Calantu is located.
After owning this island, Australasia can also establish a complete defensive island chain in the northern region. Together with New Guinea and New Zealand, the northern and eastern defensive island chains have been fully formed.
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This can greatly enhance the defense capabilities of Australasia's mainland. Coupled with Australasia's increasingly powerful navy, it is fully capable of fending off enemies, and any risk of war will not befall the mainland.
This also means that at least before World War II, the mainland of Australasia was basically safe.
As for the time of World War II, I am afraid that all kinds of weapons in Australasia will already be everywhere. At that time, it is not Australasia that is worried about homeland security, but other countries that are in direct competition with Australasia.
As for the Netherlands, the Dutch are willing to provide the entire island of Timor, plus Roti Island in the west of Timor Island, and the Leti Islands in the east as territorial compensation conditions.
In terms of financial compensation, the Dutch have finally become more generous and are willing to compensate 500,000 indigenous people and one million pounds in compensation.
But obviously, Australasia's appetite does not stop there. The peace talks once again reached a deadlock. The Dutch government began to bargain hard, and the representatives of Australasia also tried their best to obtain more benefits for the country.
There are not many opportunities for Australasia to expand its territory, after all, there are only a few neighboring countries around it.
At present, except for the Dutch East Indies, basically all other adjacent areas are colonies of the great powers.
This makes Australasia's external expansion very difficult. In addition, Arthur's goal has always been to develop the local area. Therefore, Australasia has really used wars and conflicts since its establishment so long ago.
There are only two opportunities to suddenly expand the territory.
1. After more than ten days of intense negotiations, Australasia finally reached a contract with the Dutch government, the Australasian-Dutch "Batavia Contract."
The Batavia Contract stipulated that the two parties would cease a series of conflicts in the Dutch East Indies from the date of the signing of the contract and restore the good diplomatic relations before the conflict.
As an apology to Australasia, the Kingdom of the Netherlands ceded all islands and archipelagos east of Bali, south of the Flores and Banda Seas, and west of New Guinea.
At the same time, the Kingdom of the Netherlands paid compensation of 100,000 pounds to the Australasian businessmen who were attacked in this incident, and paid 1 million pounds in compensation to the Australasian government on behalf of all Australasian citizens.
In the end, Australasia gave up its claim to the western part of New Guinea. After all, this is an island covering an area of ββhundreds of thousands of square kilometers, occupying nearly a quarter of the entire Dutch East Indies.
After the treaty was signed, both Australasia and the Netherlands undoubtedly breathed a sigh of relief.
For Australasia, this time without spending a single soldier, or even just a statement from the government, Australasia gained tens of thousands of square kilometers of land and millions of indigenous people. The complete island chain in the north of Lasia, coupled with the Dutch compensation of 1 million pounds, is definitely a sure profit.
After all, Arthur's real purpose in sending Charles Venn to the Dutch East Indies in the first place was just to integrate the rubber companies and estates in Southeast Asia, and by the way, control the rubber industry in Southeast Asia.
Who would have thought that some blind people in the Dutch East Indies would come to their door and cause their country to suffer such huge losses?
For the Dutch government, although it ceded numerous islands, the main islands of the Dutch East Indies did not suffer any losses.
The good news is that there is still a large island called Bali to the east of the most important island, Java, as the first line of defense, preventing Australasians from directly reaching out to Batavia and Java. possible.
Aren't they just some islands in the southern part of the Dutch East Indies? Anyway, there are only more than one million indigenous people. For the Dutch East Indies, which has a large family and business, the damage is not that big anyway.
Itβs better than losing New Guinea or even threatening Java! This was a loss that would truly overturn the rule of the Dutch East Indies, and was enough to arouse public outrage in the Netherlands.
As for the islands that have been ceded now, the Dutch government guided domestic public opinion and pretended to be a government that resisted in many aspects before changing the huge demands of the Australasians to a few small islands.
Anyway, the people can also see the huge military gap between the two sides. Coupled with the guidance of some public opinion, the Dutch will only transfer their anger to the Australasians and will not pay too much attention to the Dutch government's incompetence in this incident. Performance.
With a relatively peaceful ending, the conflict in Southeast Asia ended. This can be regarded as the most peaceful and friendly ending of all conflicts in recent years.
However, for Australasia, it will take some effort to accept the islands ceded by the Dutch, and it may even require the use of the army.
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