Chapter 362 A veritable overlord of the Pacific

For Australasians, 1913 was definitely a year of surprise.

In addition to Arthur's announcement of naval expansion, Australasia also received many Pacific colonies from great powers during this year.

Yes, in the last month of 1913, Australasia once again started the operation to receive the British and French Pacific colonies.

The reception of the Solomon Islands has been progressing smoothly so far, which also made Arthur decide to speed up the pace of receiving colonies and strive to fully take over the colonies of the great powers in the Pacific before the outbreak of World War I.

For this colonial handover, Arthur specially prepared an entire division to go to the Pacific islands and dispatched the navy to patrol these waters.

On December 11, 1913, Australasia announced that the British Fiji it would take over from Britain would be renamed the Australian Colony of Fiji, with the governor Georges Valerianos.

Australian Fiji has a land area of ​​more than 18,300 square kilometers and is an area composed of hundreds of islands and archipelagos.

Like the Solomon Islands, although the population is as high as 150,000, the core European immigrants are only about 20,000, and the rest are local indigenous people.

The most important thing for the newly received colonies in Australasia is stability.

Therefore, Arthur did not intend to take action against the indigenous populations of these colonies until the order in these colonies was truly stable.

The treatment specifications of Australian Fiji are similar to those of the Solomon Islands, with both a 1,000-person garrison and state-level administrative divisions.

Although the combined land area of ​​these colonies in the Pacific is not as large as that of a state in Australasia, most of them have a population of only more than 100,000.

However, these colonies were relatively scattered among themselves and were not suitable for unified management. Splitting it into several large and small colonies can not only relieve the pressure of colonial management, but also improve the government's control over individual colonies.

Australian Fiji was just the beginning. A few days later, the French also took action.

The area transferred by the French this time is located in French New Caledonia, which is surrounded by the current territory of Australasia.

French New Caledonia has a land area similar to Fiji, at 18,575 square kilometers.

But the population in this area is much smaller. Counting all indigenous populations, the total population of French New Caledonia does not exceed 100,000.

Along with French New Caledonia, the New Hebrides Islands to the north of New Caledonia were transferred to Australasia.

The New Hebrides Islands have a land area of ​​approximately 12,200 square kilometers and a population of only about 70,000.

This area is quite special because missionaries from Britain and France are widely distributed. Therefore, a few years ago, Britain and France signed a treaty declaring co-administration of this area.

Taking advantage of this opportunity to transfer the colony, Britain and France also directly transferred this colony to Australasia, which also saved a lot of trouble.

You know, these colonies in the Pacific are relatively far away from the British and French mainland, and most of them are not self-sufficient in food and resources.

This also means that in many cases, Britain and France need to send supplies and food to the garrison and residents on the island, which often represents a large consumption.

The loss of these colonies is not a heartache for Britain and France. After all, Britain and France have colonies in Southeast Asia. The British also own an extensive colony in India. Naturally, they do not look down on small islands in the Pacific with a population of only more than 100,000.

Therefore, the transfer of these colonies seemed like Britain and France had lost land. In fact, Britain and France took advantage of this opportunity to reduce the burden on the government.

Because the New Hebrides and French New Caledonia are relatively close, after research by the Australasian government, it was decided to merge the two colonies to form Australian New Caledonia. .

After the merger, the population of the new Australian New Caledonia will reach more than 100,000, which is the same level as the Solomon Islands and Fiji.

In fact, it can be seen from the map that the Crown Territories, Australian Timor, Australian New Guinea, Australian Solomon Islands, Australian New Caledonia, Australian Fiji, and New Zealand are directly formed. A chain of island defenses starting from the north of Australasia and extending to the southeast.

After thoroughly integrating these areas, Australasia can rely on these islands and colonies to block any enemies from the Pacific from the island defense chain.

Australasia has no island defense chain to the west and south. One is the icy Antarctic, and it is basically impossible for enemies to attack. One is the vast Indian Ocean, currently controlled by Australasia's allies Britain and France, and there is no possibility of any threat for the time being.

This also means that the current security of Australasia is very stable. As long as these colonies are managed well, even if there are powerful foreign enemies, they can be completely fended off.

Perhaps Britain and France have already discussed and plan to sell all the colonies in the Pacific at once.

Before 1914, Australasia again successfully received French Polynesia, the British Phoenix Islands, the British Tokelau Islands, the British Gilbert and Ellice Islands Protectorate, and the British Tonga The protectorate, the British Cook Islands, the British Kermadec Islands, the British Pitcon Islands and other colonies, successfully expanded their sphere of influence to most of the Pacific Ocean.

After taking over these colonies, it is no exaggeration to say that Australasia has occupied most of the Pacific Ocean and is a veritable Pacific hegemon.

Of course, this also gave rise to a very serious problem. Without Britain and France in the Pacific, Australasia will be on a direct collision course with the United States.

This also means that the United States will be Australasia's biggest enemy, now and in the future.

If the United States wants to implement its Pacific strategy and expand in the Pacific, it must face Australasia, which occupies most of the Pacific.

If Australasia wants to maintain its position as a hegemon in the Pacific, it has to directly confront the United States and become its enemy.

From this point of view, Arthur understood why Britain and France were so eager to get rid of their colonies.

Rather than keeping a few useless islands, it is better to transfer them all to Australasia, which can directly become a bridgehead against the United States.

In this way, even if the Allied alliance breaks down in the future, Australasia will have to face the United States alone.

As long as Australasia wants to maintain its hegemony in the Pacific region, it is natural for Australia and the United States to be at odds or even become enemies.

This was a conspiracy by Britain and France, but now, Arthur had to bite the bullet and walk in.

Australasia had successfully received extensive British and French colonies in the Pacific, and Arthur was unlikely to spit them out.

Fortunately, the current alliance of the four major Allied powers is still stable, the military strength of the United States is not too strong for the time being, and Australasia is fully capable of dealing with it.

In order to better govern the vast newly received islands, Arthur divided all newly received colonies except Fiji, Solomon Islands, and New Caledonia into two parts based on the opinions of the cabinet.

With German New Guinea and German Samoyed as the dividing line, to the north is the Australian Western Pacific Territory, with the capital being Tarawa in the Gilbert and Ellis Islands region.

South of the dividing line, the Australian South Pacific Territory was established, with its capital being Papeete in Polynesia.

Since then, Australasia's current political structure has been defined.

Eight states, five colonies, and four territories formed the complete and unified Kingdom of Australasia.

The governors of the colonies and territories were appointed directly by Arthur, which was also good news for Arthur.

The loyalty of colonial and territorial governors directly appointed by Arthur was obviously more reliable than governors elected by state houses.

Of course, although the top leaders were also directly appointed by Arthur, there were many differences between colonies and territories.

The colonies belonged to the state, but the monarch had the power to appoint officials, jurisdiction and the right to mobilize the army.

However, the territory legally belongs directly to the monarch and is completely free from government control. It is only responsible to Arthur.

Of course, as the seat of the kingdom's capital, the capital territory has a special status. The Capital Territory is between a territory and a direct state. Its main officials are directly appointed by Arthur, but they are also subject to the control of the cabinet government.

In addition to dividing these colonies in administrative divisions, in terms of national defense and military affairs, Arthur determined the domestic defense deployment in Australasia after talking with Defense Minister Raul.

Australasia's domestic defense deployment can be roughly divided into four regions. In the Australian region, which is mainly the core of Australasia, the Australian Theater was established, with its main headquarters in Sydney.

New Zealand is the New Zealand Theater, with its main headquarters in Wellington. The Royal Territory, Australian Timor, and Australian New Guinea established the Southeast Asia Theater, with the general headquarters in Port Moresby.

Later, the Pacific Theater consisted of major Pacific colonies and islands, and its headquarters was Suva, Fiji.

The main purpose of the war zones in Australia and New Zealand is to defend the country and maintain domestic security.

The functions of the Southeast Asian Theater and the Pacific Theater are to defend against the island countries in northern Australasia and the United States on the other side of the Pacific.

When Australasia's sea power gradually develops, the navy will be split into these four military regions and corresponding squadrons will be established.

Of course, in a war zone like New Zealand, the number of troops and fleets stationed will be correspondingly smaller.

After all, as long as the outer islands can be defended, New Zealand has basically no risk.

After all, the Australian theater is located on the east coast of the Indian Ocean, and as it is the core area of ​​the country, the stationing of the army and navy is indispensable.

What's more, Australia's vast land area means that there will definitely be no shortage of troops stationed in this area.

The Southeast Asia and Pacific theaters are important links in military deployment in Greater Asia. If nothing else happens, the two theaters will focus on deploying the air force and navy, as well as building a coastal defense system.

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