Chapter 445 Cultural Promotion

Although Russia has agreed to continue the war, the country's diplomatic relations are complicated. New 𝟲𝟵Book Bar→𝟲𝟵𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘅.𝗰𝗼𝗺

On the one hand, Russia did not withdraw its troops from the front line after receiving a large amount of assistance from Britain and France.

On the other hand, Germany and Russia are also maintaining certain contacts, and it seems possible to reach a certain peace treaty between Germany and Russia.

By now, both the Allies and the Entente were exhausted.

The two sides have invested nearly 20 million troops in the war. After launching the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme, the number of casualties continued to skyrocket.

According to the current situation disclosed by various countries, the total number of casualties caused by World War I to the participating countries has reached nearly 12 million, of which the confirmed death toll has exceeded 5 million.

This casualty figure is extremely exaggerated. Although it currently seems to be only a quarter of the total number of troops invested by various countries, before the war, the troops imposed by several major European armies did not exceed 5 million.

What does this mean? The elite troops of European countries before the war have basically been exhausted. Most of the troops currently participating in the war were temporarily recruited after the war.

Russia was the first country to experience civil unrest due to war, but it will definitely not be the last.

The current war has had a great impact on European countries. The increase in working hours, the reduction in material distribution, and a large number of adult men being forced to participate in the war have made a large number of European people increasingly tired of this war.

As early as half a year ago, Germany proposed a comprehensive peace proposal. But Germany is the country that currently occupies the most territory and seizes the most benefits. It is naturally impossible for Britain and France to end this war with the current situation.

The hope of peace talks ended here, and the civil strife in Russia also allowed the Germans to see the opportunity for peace talks again, so they frequently contacted the Russians.

In fact, diplomatic activities during the war did not stop there. In addition to European countries, Asian island countries and the United States across the Atlantic are all paying attention to this war.

Historically, the United States and island countries competed for the Pacific and Far East during World War I, and extremely sharp conflicts broke out. new

But now, these areas have basically been taken over by Australasia, and there is no longer any conflict between the United States and the island countries.

Even the US-Japan alliance treaty signed a few years ago has a strong intention to jointly target Australasia and jointly occupy the Far East and Pacific islands.

But unfortunately, the relationship between Australasia and the major powers of the Entente has always been very close. The small US-Japan alliance cannot be the opponent of the entire Entente, even during and after the war.

Unlike the island countries that plotted against Germany's East Asian colonies, the Americans obviously had greater ambitions.

When World War I first broke out, U.S. President Wilson declared that the United States would strictly maintain neutrality. But this does not mean that the United States will stay out of war or even participate in international affairs.

According to President Wilson's original words, this is to retain sufficient strength in the early stages of the war and directly decide the war as an arbiter in the middle and late stages of the war.

Obviously, instead of participating in this war directly and exhaustingly, the Americans want to retain enough strength to join the winning side in the later stages of the war and win the war with minimal casualties.

This is indeed the case. The United States and Australasia should be the only two major powers that were not significantly affected by the war.

While other European countries were facing waves of strikes and anti-war sentiments, the economies of the United States and Australasia were still booming.

Compared to the U.S. economy, the Australasian economy is actually growing more rapidly.

Although there is still a certain gap between the United States and the United States in terms of economic aggregate, Australasia has earned enough funds during the war because of its large trade with the Allied Powers, and it has also harvested a large amount of resources, gold and minerals. and technology.

From trade with the Russians alone, Australasia has obtained gold worth up to 20 million pounds.

Although it seems to be only 20 million pounds, according to the previous ratio of pounds to gold, the weight of this batch of gold is as high as more than 146 tons.

You know, this is pure gold, not a gold mine rich in gold. Whether it is the current gold standard or the future monetary system, gold reserves are very important to a country.

This not only represents the value of the currency, but also ensures the credibility of the currency.

Precisely because of the large inflow of gold from Europe, the Australian dollar has not actually depreciated significantly, and the value of the Australian dollar remains strong.

Precisely because of the preservation of value of the currency, the life of Australasians is much better than that of European countries, and the country's life is currently relatively stable.

While European countries are facing waves of strikes, demonstrations and revolutions, Australasia is still calm, and people's support for the government and the royal family is still high.

Of course, although the current situation is stable, it is not a bad thing to increase people's support for the government.

Australasia's propaganda of the war and the improvement of national cohesion have never stopped. While European countries generally produce cultural works calling for support for the war, various Australasian literary works and films are also widely broadcast in the country.

On the premise that domestic life is relatively stable, watching movies has become very common for Australasians.

Although it is just a simple black and white movie with sound, it is already a rare leisure time for Australasians in this era.

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Whether it is free movies played on National Day and holidays or paid movies that require ticket purchase, they will attract a large number of viewers.

Of all the categories of film, Australasians' favorites are patriotic propaganda films.

These are Arthur's carefully selected scripts, coupled with the careful production of major film studios and the publicity methods of later generations, they can naturally easily attract these Australasians who have never seen the world.

As long as there is a sense of identification with the country, a feeling of patriotism will naturally arise spontaneously under the influence of patriotism propaganda.

It is precisely because of this patriotism that Australasians have unprecedentedly high support for the war. Strike marches and anti-war demonstrations that are already common in Europe are completely invisible in Australasia.

After all, Europeans marched because their lives had been plagued by war.

Not only do they have to work longer overtime, the government also limits the supply of supplies, and even a large number of civilians are forced to go to the battlefield.

Various factors have made European civilians very dissatisfied with this war. Even in the British Empire, there have been dozens of strikes and demonstrations this year. The cumulative number of workers and civilians participating in strikes and demonstrations has reached more than 300,000.

Australasians are not in this position at all. This had already called for Australasians to stock up on food for a year before the war broke out.

The Australasian government has twice opened to residents a reserve of 500 kilograms of grain per household, which has also allowed most Australasian families to have nearly a thousand kilograms of grain reserves.

This is not over yet. The Australasian government's strategic food reserves are enough for all Australasians to live for more than a year and a half without any food production.

Coupled with the extremely developed animal husbandry in Australasia, Australasians did not even have any food crisis. The daily food and calorie intake per person before and after the war did not decrease at all, and there was even an increase in meat intake. .

Precisely because of Australasia's developed grain production and excellent animal husbandry, Australasia was the only participating country in the war that did not implement a material rationing system.

Although the price of food increased to a certain extent after the outbreak of the war, under the control of the royal consortium, the selling price of food in Australasia remained at a reasonable number, a number that is enough for all Australasians to afford food. .

Moreover, the Royal Relief Committee did not stop its work during the war and was still distributing free food, medical and other supplies to low-income and no-income people.

Australasians can proudly claim that they were the best of all the warring nations.

Of course, even though he was living a good life, Arthur had no intention of showing off, and even maintained a very simple external image.

In order to better let the public understand the royal family and let the public have a higher favorable impression of the royal family, the Royal Film Studio made a film about the Australasian royal family, which contains Arthur's whole day's work and The royal family’s food, clothing, housing and transportation.

In this propaganda film, Arthur and the royal family are shown to be on a shabby diet. Breakfast is a piece of bread, a glass of milk, and a vegetable soup.

For lunch, a piece of steak, a piece of mashed potatoes, a sausage, and a glass of red wine from the winery.

Dinner is even more simple, a Spanish-style fried rice, paired with a very light stir-fried vegetables, and some fruits.

Although this kind of life is a little better than that of ordinary people, it is still almost at the same level.

If Australasians want to live a more luxurious life, they can have a diet similar to Arthur's.

This is also what Arthur wants to promote, the simplicity and frugality of the royal family to the outside world. When the people saw that the royal family's food was not much different from their own, even if the war had an impact on them, their dissatisfaction disappeared.

However, these ordinary people obviously don't know that the chefs in the palace are naturally different from the chefs outside, and the food they produce is actually fundamentally different.

For example, the steak Arthur ate was selected from the best meat sources and cooked with precision down to the second, coupled with seasonings and careful preparation from all over the world. It will definitely be a luxury item in future generations.

Of course, showing frugality and simplicity doesn’t stop there. Since the outbreak of the war, members of the royal family have not made any high-profile trips, nor have they visited any streets or shops in Australasia, nor have they purchased any luxury goods.

In the eyes of the people, the royal family's food, clothing, housing and transportation have become very simple, which also makes the people love the royal family even more. After all, there are not many nobles who can share the joys and sorrows with the people, not to mention people like Arthur who spend a lot of money to relieve the poor every year.

Although there is no large purchase of clothes and luxury goods on the surface, secretly, the royal family's personal tailors and jewelers also customize clothing and jewelry products for all members of the royal family every year.

For all royal members in Europe, customized ones are the best. The cost of any of Arthur's custom-made dresses exceeds tens of thousands of Australian dollars, not to mention the specific price after taking into account time costs and labor costs.

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