Chapter 735: Multiple parties mobilized

Arthur was a bit troubled by the request made by Manuel II.

It's not that Arthur still has a grudge against the war with Portugal. The result of this war was a complete victory for Australasia. Even if there was a grudge, it should be the Portuguese.

The main reason was that Arthur was not sure that Manuel had the means and ability to rule Portugal.

It would be great fun to put Manuel back on the throne only to be overthrown by the angry Portuguese.

This is like a political investment. If it wins, both parties will benefit. If it fails, it will also have a certain impact on Arthur.

After all, although the government will resolutely implement its own orders, this kind of behavior just to restore the royal family of other countries is obviously a bit too selfish.

Arthur wouldn't do it if it didn't bring enough benefits to the country, even if he just needed an idea of ​​his own.

But having said that, as a country that once signed the "United Declaration of European Royal Houses", other monarchy countries do have reasons to help the Portuguese royal family.

But whether Arthur can gain enough motivation to support Manuel in restoring the throne may depend on the price Manuel can pay.

Although he is considered a member of the family, it is absolutely impossible for Arthur to help Manuel without receiving any benefits.

After all, the power being used is Australasia's military strength and international influence. Arthur still needs to be cautious in this regard.

Of course, Arthur also used Manuel's request as a test question to test the three little guys William, Peter and George.

The three people have different ideas.

As the youngest brother, George's thoughts are relatively simple. George believes that as long as he helps Manuel ascend to the throne of Australasia, he can get enough reward, and the deal is still a good deal.

And William and Peter had more considerations. Peter said that if Manuel could pay enough benefits, it would not be impossible to help him restore the throne.

William's thoughts were more far-reaching. His attention was on whether the Portuguese Kingdom would become an ally of Australasia after the restoration, and on the possibility of defecting to Britain.

After all, the relationship between Portugal and the United Kingdom is still very good, and it is difficult not to guarantee whether the Kingdom of Portugal will fall into the arms of the British Empire.

As one of the first countries to join the pound-Australian dollar system, it goes without saying that Britain’s influence on Portugal is.

If Arthur worked so hard to help Manuel return to the throne, but it brought Portugal closer to Britain, this would be more of a loss than gain for Australasia.

Although the three little guys have different opinions, it is not easy to put forward their own opinions based on their own knowledge.

After all, their political methods are still very immature, and it is good to think of so many things.

Of course, after all, they will all become kings in the future, so it reiterates to them the importance of the relationship between the king and the government.

First, royal interests and government interests are different. The interests of the government cannot be jeopardized for the interests of the royal family, and the interests of the royal family cannot be jeopardized for the interests of the government.

How to control the two is very important for a king. The absolute monarchy is destined to be impossible to last, which also means that sooner or later the royal family and the government will be separated.

Whether it is California, the United Kingdom on the West Coast, or the current Australasia, the royal power cannot be too unscrupulous, and must carefully consider the views of the country and the people.

If you want to make your throne stable, you must understand that the people's opinions are the most important.

Sometimes you can give up some of your interests for the sake of the people. After all, small interests are not as important as your own rule.

If the interests are gone, they can be earned again. If the trust of the people is lost, it cannot be made up for by using profits.

The support of a European kingdom was quite important to Arthur, and it also strengthened Arthur's determination to support Manuel's restoration.

Of course, Arthur knew that an incompetent Manuel was unreliable. If you want to stabilize Portugal's rule and make Portugal effective, you must find another partner with whom you can cooperate.

After thinking about it, the only faction worth winning over in Portugal is the Portuguese Democratic Party, which has been crazily suppressed and has very few left.

The leader of the Portuguese Democratic Party is Morini Antonio Salazar, a poor guy who is relatively popular among the Portuguese people, but his regime was quickly overthrown in less than 200 days in power.

Of course, this is actually no wonder Morini. The Portuguese regime is too chaotic. If you don't have enough military power, it will be very difficult to maintain rule even if you win the hearts of the people.

In sharp contrast to Morini, naturally is the unpopular Antonio Carmona.

But precisely because Antonio holds a large amount of military power in his hands, even if he is unpopular, he is still the irreplaceable president of the Portuguese Republic.

So why did Arthur choose to cooperate with Morini?

First of all, Morini has certain abilities, and with the support of Arthur, there is no problem in stabilizing the situation in Portugal.

Of course, this consideration is also to prevent Manuel II from making frequent mistakes and wasting the throne that he finally regained.

Moreover, Morini can also serve as a constraint on Manuel to prevent the Portuguese kingdom that Arthur finally supported from falling to other countries, especially Britain, which has always been on good terms with Portugal.

Why do you say that? Because Morini's son was pro-German, he joined the German army while studying in Germany, and unfortunately died in a battle with the British army.

This was a heavy blow to Morini, who had only one son, and it was destined that the relationship between Morini and the British would not ease in a short time.

Of course, since he decided to support Manuel to return to the throne, Arthur must also have some of Portugal's interests in exchange.

It is certainly impossible for Arthur to help Manuel and Portugal for no reason. Appropriate exchange of interests is the driving force for Arthur to make such a decision.

To be honest, apart from its status as a European monarchy, Portugal's only remaining colonies in Africa could attract Arthur.

This was once a superpower with an area of ​​tens of millions of square kilometers. At this time, only a few pitiful colonies remained.

In addition to the taboos in Asia that cannot be touched, Portuguese colonies are generally concentrated in Africa. The two largest ones are Angola and Mozambique in later generations.

The area of ​​these two colonies seems large, but the population of later generations was only a little over 30 million, which is enough to prove the prosperity of these two colonies.

As we all know, apart from the reserves of mineral resources, the recovery of a colony depends most heavily on the population of the colony.

After all, if the population is small, the value that can be exploited is also very small, which means that the income of the colony is destined to be unable to make ends meet.

This is actually a major reason why Portugal can still maintain these two colonies.

Arthur had no interest in these two large colonies. If you remember correctly, when these two colonies became independent more than 30 years later, their population was only about five to six million.

Arthur didn't know exactly how many people there were now, but these two colonies were useless to Australasia, and there was absolutely no need to annex them.

What Arthur is really more interested in is actually Portugal's numerous islands.

From Portugal to Africa, the islands of Madeira, Azores, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe are what Arthur is more interested in.

These islands are located on the east coast of the Atlantic Ocean. If missiles are deployed, they will have a significant impact on Western Europe and Africa.

As missile technology further strengthens, Australasia's influence on Europe will become increasingly high.

More importantly, these islands only need to build naval bases and missile bases, and they can be firmly held in hand without much development.

After all, the population on the island is not large to begin with. Together with the garrison and the permanent population on the base, it can account for most of the island's permanent population.

Of course, it is still very difficult to get these islands from Portugal. Even if Arthur expressed his thoughts, Manuel II was only willing to lend Sao Tome and Principe to Australasia on a loan basis for twenty years.

Where is this area located? If Africa is compared to a 7, then Sao Tome and Principe is at the corner of this period, an archipelago more than 200 kilometers away from the African continent.

Apart from its geographical location, this archipelago basically has no advantages.

Even nearly a hundred years later, Sao Tome and Principe is only a poor country with an area of ​​just over 1,000 square kilometers and a population of barely more than 170,000.

Even compared to other African countries, the Republic of Sao Tome and Principe is still one of the few least developed countries.

Arthur would not be satisfied if it was just a loan. After all, the lease period is only 20 years, and 20 years cannot change people's memories.

But if you think about it carefully, World War II will definitely break out within 20 years, and the world situation is destined to undergo some huge changes.

As long as Australasia carries out large-scale development of this island, it is absolutely guaranteed that the majority of the population on this archipelago will be Australasian in 20 years.

By then, Portugal will no longer have the final say over the ownership of this archipelago.

With the missile technology at that time, as long as missiles were deployed in Sao Tome and Principe, most of Africa would be within the range of Australasia.

Of course, air force and naval bases can also be established here, taking Australasia's global naval base strategy a step further.

Although the geographical advantage here is not as good as other islands after all, it is better than nothing, and Arthur agreed to Manuel's proposal.

Arthur's requirements go far beyond this small island.

There are many benefits that Portugal can tap, but Arthur also needs to wait for a more suitable time.

Although he was determined to help Manuel II restore the throne, Arthur did not intend to do it on his own.

The Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family is currently the most powerful family. If Arthur does not make good use of it, he will simply insult the reputation of his own Gotha family members.

What's more, Arthur's prestige and reputation in the Gotha family are still very high. Under such circumstances, if the entire Gotha family can be mobilized to help him, the success rate will be higher.

So what do you use to persuade other royal families and members of the Gotha family to go out together?

The best way to do this is Arthur's firm attitude towards protecting the thrones of kings.

As we all know, the thrones of various kings are not so stable. In the current world situation, if you want to keep your throne, support from other royal families and the same family is still very important.

At present, it seems that the royal families of other countries have also contributed, but doesn't this also mean that when their thrones are at risk, Arthur will also support their restoration?

This method of adding an extra layer of security to one's throne may not be an option for royal families in other countries.

What's more, the target of this operation is only a small Portugal, not a huge power like the United States.

Apart from anything else, even without the support of the British, Arthur only needed to call on other royal families of the Gotha family to still promote Manuel's restoration of the throne.

Don't underestimate the influence of a powerful country on ordinary countries, not to mention that there are many European countries following.

As for whether Portugal will disobey Arthur's will, it depends on whether Antonio's rule over Portugal is so stable.

It can be seen from the boiling public dissatisfaction of the Portuguese people that Antonio's dictatorship is not so popular.

Except for Antonio's trusted army, there are not many people who support Antonio's rule, and it can even be said to be a very small minority.

Facts have proved that under the connection of a powerful family, multiple countries can easily have a huge influence on a small country.

On July 27, 1929, the Portuguese government held a very special and secret meeting.

There were many participants in the meeting. In addition to the diplomatic representatives from Australasia, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Principality of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, Bulgaria and other countries participated in the meeting, as well as several officials from the Portuguese government. and the Portuguese Democratic Party.

These officials were all dissatisfied with Antonio's rule, but had to submit to Antonio's dictatorship.

Relying on the Australasian intelligence system, Arthur quickly found them and promised to give them high-ranking positions in the new government.

Such a promise naturally led them to quickly agree to support Manuel's restoration. After all, to them, their official position is the most important.

It doesn't matter who the ruler above them is because they only care about their own interests.

Another major partner Arthur chose to cooperate with was the Portuguese Democratic Party, which was still popular among the people.

There is nothing we can do about this. When the British could not be the main force, Arthur also had to consider the opinions of Portugal.

If Manuel continues to come to power as a dictatorship, the Portuguese will definitely be dissatisfied, because this will be equivalent to another Antonio, and a more justifiable dictatorship.

I’ll write about 4,000 words a day these days, and I’ll talk about it after I’m done (I may have to take a leave of absence in the middle, so please understand.)