Chapter 705 Independence Referendum

The destruction of the Pacific Fleet allowed Arthur to finally breathe a sigh of relief and finally have time to plan the future rule of Australasia in the United States.

1. News that ignited the entire American public opinion was born.

California Governor Calhoun officially declared the independence of California and established the California Provisional Government, which imposed military control over the entire California and decided to determine the new country's political system and government through the subsequent California referendum.

Even now, California is still the sixth most populous state in the United States, with a permanent population of approximately 5.1 million.

The news of California's declaration of independence was a heavy blow to the United States and the US government.

Even discerning people know that the military control California refers to is the military control of Australasia, and even California is said to be independent from Australasia.

But the problem is that the current California has indeed become independent, which is a fact that the US government cannot prevent at all.

California's independence seemed to be the prelude to the division of the United States, and it also set the independent aspirations of state governors and governments like a prairie fire.

The French who occupied Austin couldn't wait to instruct Texas to become independent, restore the name of the Lone Star Republic, and establish a presidential republic.

There were no political concerns in areas controlled by the French. The French only need to establish a republic in Texas and control the economy and military of the new republic to complete their rule of this country.

But not Australasia. After all, the United States is a republic. It is not easy to smoothly transform California into a monarchy. Relevant operations and publicity are required.

How to make Californians obey the rule of their future monarch is a problem, which also tests the ruling ability of a few little guys.

There is a more difficult problem. As the heir to the throne, William must not be moved, and the only candidates to go to the United States to become king are Peter and George. New ℴ𝓂

But both Peter and George are too young. Peter is only 13 years old, and George has just turned 9.

Although the referendum in California can be delayed for a while, it can barely be delayed until Peter turns 15 years old.

But such an age is still too young after all, which also means that they will have to go through a period of overt and covert struggle with the government before they can successfully control the power of the country.

Of course, this can only happen if Peter and George are capable. If they are just mediocre monarchs, then of course the best result is to delegate power to the government, become a constitutional monarch, and be the symbol of the country with peace of mind.

Anyway, with the help of Australasia, there is no need to worry about the safety of their throne. It would be good to buy some property and become a rich man.

Operations in Australasia continue.

For Alaska and Hawaii, two areas destined to be controlled by the United States, it is naturally impossible to allow them to vote for independence.

However, the referendum is not just about independence. It can also be a referendum to join a certain country, just like the former Lone Star Republic.

California and Hawaii announced referendums at the same time. They will face three outcomes, either independence, joining Australasia, or remaining in the Commonwealth of America.

Compared to previous independence referenda declarations in California and Texas, the reaction in Alaska and Hawaii was minimal.

After all, they are just two states with a population of only a few hundred thousand, and they are also overseas territories of the United States, so their impact on the mainland of the United States is not that big.

Of course, precisely because these two states have only a few hundred thousand people, it is still very simple to manipulate the results of the referendum.

Throw in some people who don't have the right to vote, and the real number of votes may be only one to two hundred thousand.

All it takes is a two-pronged plan of public opinion and funds, and at the same time secretly changing the number of votes, to change the result of the referendum to join Australasia. ♦♕

In fact, this is indeed the case.

A referendum of this scale is very fast, and coupled with the actions of Australasia, the referendum quickly entered the liquidation stage.

Counting the votes will take some time, and announcing the results too early will make the results unreliable.

Therefore, the announcement time of the referendum results of the two states is scheduled to be December, which is also the time to decide the fate of the two states.

Because many states have successively announced referendums on independence, it became natural that Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Louisiana and Michigan would next declare independence referendums.

However, among all the states that have declared independence through referendums, only a few have had a major impact on the United States, namely California, Texas and Michigan.

The populations of these three states are all around 5 million, and the smallest state, Michigan, has a population of more than 4.5 million.

This also means that the combined population of the three states exceeds 15 million, accounting for more than one-eighth of the total population of the United States.

The most important thing for the U.S. government is that after Michigan announced an independence referendum, the flames of the referendum have spread to the eastern states of the United States.

Although the 13 states in the core area of ​​the United States are still very safe, many states in the Great Lakes Industrial Zone already want to vote for independence or neutrality, and they are no longer willing to get involved in this war for the federal government.

After all, after the war was won, they were still just a state in the United States. Instead, they had to pay a large amount of personnel and materials to the federal government.

If they can be independent or neutral, they don't need to worry about the consumption of lives and the waste of materials in war. They can sit back and watch the fight between tigers and choose the development route that best suits them.

For the U.S. government, except for California and Texas, all other western U.S. states can even become independent.

Of course, after strategically abandoning the west and sticking to the east, the U.S. government can even accept the fall of all areas in the west.

After all, from the perspective of population distribution, apart from California and Texas, two large states with a population of more than 5 million, the largest population in the western states is Oklahoma with 2.3 million people.

Among the western states, there are fully 10 states with a population of less than one million (not counting Hawaii and Alaska), and even the combined population of these ten states is less than the population of California.

But after the flames of the independence referendum burned to the east, the loss of every eastern state was a major blow to the United States, and it was like a painful pain to the U.S. government.

At this time, the gap between the eastern and western United States is indescribable on paper. But even on paper, there is a considerable gap between eastern states and western states.

Although there are several eastern states with a population of less than one million, these states with a population of less than one million all have an obvious characteristic, that is, their territory is relatively small.

In terms of population density, these eastern states with a population of less than one million are still far ahead of the western states.

There are also several more important states in the east, with populations of more than 5 million. The loss of Michigan has already made the United States heartache. If several surrounding states are in danger again, the rule of the United States will collapse in an instant.

It is worth mentioning that the current main fronts of the Union Army and the U.S. Army span across the three most important regions in the East, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.

The population of these three states is at least 12 million, with the population of Fania state exceeding the population.

From such population data, we can understand why the US government resolutely resisted in the east.

The entire population of the western United States combined is less than that of these three states. You can imagine the wealth of the eastern United States.

Of course, the most important reason is that these areas are located in the Great Lakes Industrial Zone. With the industry and economy quite developed, it is not surprising that the population is huge.

The western states of the United States have not yet experienced relatively complete development, and when the economy is relatively poor, naturally not many immigrants are willing to go there.

This is consistent with the situation in Australasia. Most immigrants only prefer more developed areas, because developed areas often represent more opportunities to make money.

The British were quick to exert their influence.

Under the influence of the British, Illinois declared neutrality and stated that it would not support the US government.

Illinois is the most populous state in the central United States, with a population of about 7.3 million.

The views of Illinois are also those of the central states in the United States. When the war does not burn their areas, what they think most about is how to escape the war.

It is worth mentioning that the current population of the central states in the United States is larger than the actual data.

Because long after the surrender letter of the Union Army was delivered to the United States, a large number of people in the eastern United States moved their families to the central part of the United States.

Although the population of New York is said to be about 12 million, after experiencing the economic crisis and this war, it is already good to have a population of tens of millions.

For example, Illinois, a relatively important state in the central region, only has a population of about 7.3 million on the official data, but its actual population should have reached about 8 million.

However, due to the economic crisis and this war, U.S. states have no time to count their populations, and the population data will naturally not be updated.

This situation may continue until the end of the economic crisis and the war. Either the victorious United States will conduct a census, or the countries behind the victorious coalition army will conduct a census of the areas under their control.

Just like Arthur, it has been decided to conduct a simple census during California's referendum to determine the accurate number of California's population.

If nothing else happens, California will become an independent country. The system of this country can only be a monarchy, which is also the territory Arthur assigned to George or Peter.

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