Chapter 819 Army Arms Race and Chain Reactions

Time passed by and soon came to 1934.

The first good news to mention is that the nationwide census of Australasia ordered by Arthur has finally been successfully concluded, and the population data and scale of Australasia have been completely updated.

According to the data from the first census, Australasia had a total population of 4,237 as of 1 (only counting the mainland of the great powers), which has exceeded Italy's 41.57 million.

It is worth mentioning that France is the only country with a population that has also remained at this level. Although the specific population of France is not known, based on France's population growth data and newborn babies in recent years, France's population should be between 42.5 million and 43 million.

The population reached 42.37 million, which is good news for Arthur. When war is imminent, the greater the population, the greater the country's war potential.

Australasia's next goal is to surpass France in terms of population data, and it is best to reach a population of more than 45 million before the war.

After all, the casualties caused by war to the country are immeasurable. Only with a larger population can we avoid the great harm caused by war to the country.

The good news is that people are not averse to having multiple lives. After all, the government is basically responsible for the tuition fees for children in families with multiple children. The government also provides corresponding encouragement to families with multiple children, which has greatly reduced the expenditure on newborns for families with multiple children.

Compared to the size of the population, Arthur is actually more concerned about the proportion and distribution of various races. This is also the real purpose of holding this census.

According to the results of the census, Australasia has a population of 4237, as high as 5.9 million.

Russian blood accounts for 21.7%, and total blood accounts for 7.7%, totaling more than 3.26 million people.

Immigrants from the United States account for 4.7%, and a total of 1 immigrants account for 8.1%, about 3.43 million people.

The remaining 1.4% are all Asian immigrants. These Asian immigrants came from all over East Asia, including the Philippines, which was controlled by Australasia.

I have to admit that what countries around the world are pursuing at this time is naturally the very advanced and developed Western civilization.

As the closest Western power to Asia, Australasia naturally attracts the curiosity of a large number of Asians.

There are people who want to come to Australasia to learn knowledge and serve the country, and naturally there are also people who want to join Australasia.

However, Arthur did not actually advocate attracting Asian immigrants because of the common racial superiority complex among Europeans.

Firstly, it will create antagonism between races, and secondly, when these Asian immigrants come to Australasia, they will suffer more severe discrimination, which is somewhat unnecessary.

However, Arthur will naturally not object to some Asians who desperately want to come to Australasia.

If they can survive in racist Australasia, then this is indeed what they are capable of.

As time enters, we will not focus again on the situation in Europe.

To be honest, Europe at this time seems like it was before the First World War. The confrontation between the Franco-Austrian Alliance and the German-Italian Agreement reminded people of the massive war twenty years ago.

For Germany and Italy, two ambitious countries, after testing the appeasement policy of Britain and France towards them, they will never be satisfied with temporary gains.

Sure enough, after expanding the size of the army to 250,000, the German army did not stop the pace of expansion.

In just six months, most of the SS troops were dismantled and reorganized into the German Army.

This also allowed the German Army to rapidly expand from the originally expected 250,000 to 400,000, and the size of the Army re-entered the ranks of the great powers.

Have Britain and France discovered these little moves by Germany?

It is completely impossible to say that it was not discovered. But the question is, even if these small tricks are discovered, how can Britain and France respond?

For the British, there is not much difference between 250,000 German troops and 400,000 German troops. Anyway, the French army remains at more than 400,000, and France also has a more powerful navy.

Although it has been proven in previous wars that the German army's combat effectiveness is indeed stronger than the French army.

But with their naval superiority, the military strength of France and Germany should remain at the same level, with France even slightly ahead.

Although the Italian army is large in size, the individual combat capabilities of its soldiers are extremely worrying. Italy and the incomplete Austrian Empire are almost at the same level. This is simply a perfectly balanced internal conflict.

It is precisely because of this idea that although the British government learned of Germany's small actions, it did not take more radical measures to sanction Germany.

After all, most of the small arms of Germany's 400,000-strong army are purchased from the United Kingdom. From the British point of view, this is obviously Germany's proof of its sincerity to the United Kingdom.

However, France is obviously not happy when Britain does this. The German army of 250,000 faced the French army of nearly 500,000, and the French were not worried at all.

But if the German army expands to 400,000, it’s really hard to say who is better and who is worse. Strictly speaking, the French are not afraid of Germany, but they are afraid that a war with Germany will cause them another huge harm.

But there is actually no difference. The German army has actually expanded to 400,000. If a war breaks out, even if Germany can be defeated, it will definitely be a war of attrition.

The French eventually backed down, but they also made their own request, which was to allow the Austrian Empire to abolish previous army restrictions.

As a defeated country, the Austrian Empire had its army limited to 100,000 men. After the large-scale expansion of the German army, the French provided a large number of loans and weapons and equipment to Austria, and successfully brought the Austrian army to the legal threshold of 300,000.

If the previous arms race was only a good show for the island countries of Britain, France and Australasia, then the current arms race has become a big show involving all the great powers.

After Germany and the Austrian Empire expanded their armies respectively, will other countries not expand their armies?

Obviously impossible.

1 promulgated a new conscription bill, stating that in the next six months, the size of the French Army will be expanded from 500,000 to an additional 150,000 troops, all of which will be deployed on the border with Germany, which is the famous strong fortress, the Maginot Line. superior.

If the French do this, Italy will not be happy.

After all, Italy is an ally of Germany and a potential enemy of France. The French conscripts were obviously going to Germany, and they had no intention of taking Italy seriously.

In the eyes of Mussolini, who was very arrogant in his heart, this clearly meant that he looked down on himself and his Italy.

An angry Mussolini issued an order for the Italian First Army's more than 150,000 troops to take over the tasks of the northern garrison and deploy them on the border with France.

Such a move by Italy aroused dissatisfaction in Serbia to the east of Italy before the French could react.

At this time, Serbia was already a giant country in the Balkans, covering Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia and Montenegro.

Of course, it also has a new and domineering name, that is, the Federal Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

This Yugoslavia is somewhat different from the Yugoslavia in history. The original Austrian Empire did not lose Croatia and Slovenia.

However, during the economic crisis, the Austrian Empire did not control its territory well, which also gave Serbia, which had annexed Bosnia, an opportunity.

The Balkans were in chaos at that time. Russia, which originally controlled the Balkans, has lost control of the Balkans due to its own reasons.

At that time, Italy ushered in Mussolini's coming to power, and Mussolini's ambitions for the Balkans had long been known to everyone.

In order to ensure their independence, under the leadership of Serbia, the Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro established the United Kingdom of Semongo.

Later, Croatia and Slovenia declared independence and soon joined the United Kingdom.

The Austrian Empire was obviously unable to cope with the united Balkan countries. After all, the number of Austrian troops was strictly limited to 100,000.

Moreover, the economic crisis was indeed serious at that time, and the Austrian Empire did not have any ability to launch a foreign war.

As a result, a regional power occupying a small half of the Balkan Peninsula and far exceeding the strength of other Balkan countries was born.

As of today, Yugoslavia's population has exceeded 14.5 million people, and there is no problem saying that it is the most powerful country in the Balkans. (Romania is not as powerful as it was in history)

As a neighbor of Italy, Yugoslavia's vigilance towards Italy can be said to be the highest except for the Austrian Empire.

More importantly, the First Italian Army formed by Mussolini was the main force that invaded the Abyssinian Empire.

An army like this is deployed on Italy's northern border. Although it seems to be targeting France, it is also a quite serious threat to Italy's other neighbors on the northern border, the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Although the territory of Yugoslavia is not much different from Italy, and they are also European countries.

However, the population gap between the two sides is too large, and the economy and industry are completely at two levels.

No matter how weak Italy is, it is still a great power recognized by all countries. Facing such a relatively powerful power, Yugoslavia immediately took its own action after sensing the danger, that is, seeking help from France.

Why seek help from France? First, France and Italy are potential enemies and competitors.

Secondly, compared to the United Kingdom, which is outside the two major military groups, from the perspective of the United Kingdom of Yugoslavia, France is the country that can really help it.

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