Chapter 66 Christmas Warship Visit

The negotiation between Arthur and William II went very smoothly. It took less than three hours to determine the framework of the aid treaty and also negotiated the purchase of relatively important technology including the military and industrial industries.

No matter what William II's purpose was, this treaty was only good for Australia and had no harm.

With help from Germany and aid from the UK, Australia's economy and industry will usher in an explosion phase.

Although with the signing of the aid treaty, some military agreements were also clarified.

But the good news is that Wilhelm II did not explicitly ask Australia to participate in future wars.

Australia only needs to provide resource support to Germany within six months after the outbreak of the war, and take the opportunity to look for opportunities to harass France's major colonies.

This was perfectly acceptable to Arthur. It would not be bad for Australia to let the war in Europe break out more violently without falling directly into the quagmire of this war.

After all, along with war, a lot of wealth opportunities will be created. Australia's military industry comes from support from the United Kingdom and Germany, and is naturally more acceptable to the United Kingdom and Germany.

After all, when there is a choice, the same standard equipment is more proficient than different equipment, and the explosive combat effectiveness is naturally higher.

December 19, 1900, the day after Arthur's meeting with William II.

After the monarchs of the two countries determined the framework of the treaty, officials began to get busy finalizing the details of the contract.

Because the general framework has been determined, the progress of the negotiations is still very fast. The originally thorny issue has been resolved by Arthur and William II. Officials from the two countries only need to discuss the type of assistance and the specific share.

But after all, it is a huge aid plan with up to 75 million pounds of funds, as well as various advanced technologies and excellent workers. Even though the negotiations were progressing quickly, it still took about five days to finally reach an agreement.

Lucky for Australia. Because William II decided to completely end the treaty negotiations before Christmas, on December 23, the day before Christmas Eve, some issues that were still in dispute were quickly resolved by officials from the two countries. The solution was that Germany Compromise.

There is no other way. For the two countries that really want to conclude a treaty, the only way to do this is to let Germany, the aiding party, suffer some losses.

December 24, 1900, Berlin, Germany.

Before Christmas Eve, Germany and Australia finally negotiated all the details of the treaty, printed out the formal treaty, signed it by the monarchs of both parties, and officially came into effect.

The official name of the treaty is "Germany and Australia's Assistance and Cooperation Plans in Berlin", referred to as the "Berlin Agreement" between Germany and Australia.

Because part of the agreement concerns military operations and diplomatic support during wartime, out of consideration for both parties, only part of the agreement will be disclosed to the outside world. Except for some assistance plans, other cooperation plans will not be disclosed to the outside world. .

Under the spotlight of the media, William II and Arthur smiled and held up their respective backup copies of the treaty and took a group photo with a smile.

After the political settlement was completed, the remaining days left for Arthur and the diplomatic team were used for rest and entertainment.

After the short Christmas vacation, Arthur had to prepare to return to Australia to attend the government's annual report meeting and New Year's planning meeting.

It has been nearly two months since I left Australia, most of which was spent on the sea journey.

Not to mention, Arthur really missed the Australian manor and the free life.

In order to express his apology for the poor reception before, William II specially held a large banquet on Christmas Eve, inviting Arthur and all members of the diplomatic delegation to attend.

Of course, the feast is very traditional for Christmas Eve. However, being able to get to know many German nobles and senior officials through the banquet is still very beneficial to Australia's development in a short period of time.

Because of William II's generous introduction, Arthur still attracted a lot of attention at the Christmas Eve banquet.

Especially as a powerful duke and the grandson of the late Queen Victoria, Arthur's popularity is not low.

Many of them also had nobles who wanted to marry Arthur, but they were all rejected by Arthur.

The free life now is very beautiful, and Arthur doesn't want to get married so soon yet. Of course, maybe it's also because I don't want to be too close to Germany.

After all, the German nobility will be overthrown after World War I. Whether it is the Hohenzollern family or the dukes and counts of various countries, they will eventually lose their titles and become ordinary rich men.

But Arthur did not refuse to have a good relationship with them. Traditional German military-industrial families, including Krupp and Mauser, were all targeted by Arthur.

When Germany fails, it may not be possible to win over these military-industrial companies that are about to be liquidated and attract some talents to join Australia.

After the huge Christmas Eve party, the Christmas holidays begin.

As a traditional Christian holiday, the German Empire would naturally have a holiday on this day, and Wilhelm II was no exception.

However, in order to entertain Arthur, William II specially invited Arthur to visit a Braunschweig-class battleship to experience the power of the German Navy.

It has to be said that the small warships owned by Australia are nothing compared to this huge battleship.

Today's battleships are the most powerful warships. As the mainstream main warships in various countries around the world, battleships represent proof of the strength of a country's navy, both in terms of size and combat effectiveness.

You know, even in 1900, there were not many countries in the world with battleships, less than twenty.

Among them, there are even fewer countries with battleship production capabilities. Except for a few major powers, few countries can master the construction technology of battleships, even battleships that are already behind the times.

There are even many regional countries that dream of battleships. The two battleships that the Ottoman Empire once dreamed of even launched a large-scale fund-raising campaign across the country, attracting enthusiasm and donations from people all over the country. This is enough to show how important battleships are to these countries in this era.

Britain's default in delivering these two battleships was one of the important reasons why Ottoman Turkey chose to join Germany in World War I.

After all, these were two battleships that caused a stir in the country. In full view of the public, the British defaulted on delivery or even directly denied them, which made the senior officials and people of Ottoman Turkey very angry.

In this era, a battleship has a huge and qualitative improvement in the combat effectiveness of the navy.

The current Australian Navy is not top-notch at all, but if it has a battleship of the level currently in service among major powers, then the Australian Navy will directly become one of the top 30 in the world.

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