The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1023 - 771: Indulgence and Ambition

Arthur's words spurred the entirety of the Cabinet Government into action, with the greatest outcome being the swift advancement of the "native land" policy in all the colonies.

If construction goes smoothly, it is hoped that the localization of all colonies can be achieved within two years.

This timeline matched Arthur's expectations and allowed him to relax somewhat. After all, based on the current situation, the Tsardom of Russia should be able to hold on for a while.

Moreover, considering the transitional phase needed after the collapse of the Tsardom of Russia, two years seemed quite suitable.

Having relaxed, Arthur decided to spend more time with his family, letting his heir, Prince William, take on more of the government's duties, meanwhile honing his skills.

Now, while Arthur can still fully control the government, is the best opportunity for William to train. Once William takes over the throne in the future, he will not have Arthur as a stabilizing force to master the situation.

After all, the difference and impact between having backing and having none are quite significant.

The reason for choosing to spend more time with family was because Queen Mother Louise's health had visibly declined a lot.

That is one of life's unavoidable circumstances. Arthur was born in 1888 and was about to turn 43 years old.

While Arthur's mother, Queen Mother Louise, was born in June 1860, her age had now reached the ripe age of 70.

In this era, living to 70 was certainly counted as a great longevity.

In history, Queen Mother Louise only lived until 1917, which compared to now means she has lived 13 years longer, marking a significant change.

No matter how great Arthur's power was, he couldn't stop Queen Mother Louise's visible aging year after year.

Unless he could have access to advanced technologies from 100 years in the future, parting with Queen Mother Louise was a matter of time.

Clearly, Queen Mother Louise understood this, which was one of the reasons she frequently urged Prince William to marry and have children soon.

Old folks always wish to see their offspring thrive and branch out; Queen Victoria did, and Queen Mother Louise wished for the same.

The good news is that Princess Alexandrine had been pregnant for several months already. Queen Mother Louise just needed to hold on until around this time next year, to be able to see her grandson or granddaughter born safely.

But before that, Arthur intended to spend more time with all his family members, including Queen Mother Louise.

After all, with William helping him handle state affairs and attending the usual Cabinet Meetings, he could be much more relaxed.

Time flies, especially while spending it with family.

Before they knew it, the time had come to Christmas of 1930, and the year was almost over.

This year's Christmas became much livelier. Not only was Princess Alexandrine there, but also the little one in her belly who had not yet been born.

Apart from delivering a national speech in real-time on Christmas Day, the rest of the major tasks were handed over to William.

Including distributing grain and other subsidies to low-income people through the Royal Relief Committee, it was William who made the public appearance.

Doing so indeed allowed William to accumulate a certain level of prestige, and at least the people were very satisfied with this successor designated by Arthur.

Mature in character, not impulsive, and, like Arthur, a lover of the people—this was already a qualified monarch in the eyes of the Australasians.

Time moves on swiftly, and soon it was 1931.

At the start of the year, several major events took place worldwide.

Undoubtedly, the main protagonists of these world events were Germany, Italy, and the Island Nation.

All three countries held rather radical administrative ideologies and were taking corresponding actions.

Updat𝓮d from frёewebnoѵēl.com.

The first major global news of 1931 belonged to the end of the war between Italy and the Abyssinian Empire.

This was the second war between the two nations, concluding with a successful act of revenge by Italy.

In this war, the Abyssinian Empire deployed about 500,000 troops, and Italy increased its force from an initial 100,000 to 350,000.

From May 1930 to January 1931, the war lasted for nearly eight months, with both sides suffering over a hundred thousand casualties.

When it comes to the scale of casualties from both sides, this actually is a topic Mussolini would rather not mention.

Even though the Italian Army emerged victorious with fewer troops, the cost of the war was much higher compared to that of the Abyssinian Empire, and the soldiers' casualties were nowhere near as low as what the Western Powers had shown against Indigenous Peoples in Africa.

First, we shall discuss the military expenditures of both sides in this war.

The Italian military mobilized its army, navy, and air force in full force, deploying a large number of aircraft to secure aerial superiority and assembling a considerable fleet of transport ships to ensure the supply of materials to East Africa.

Under such circumstances, Italy's ultimate victory in the war was an inevitable outcome. With such a vast disparity in the weapons and equipment between both sides, if Italy could not secure a final victory, then Mussolini would really have to reconsider whether this nation had any hope of rising.

Although the final outcome pleased Mussolini, the casualty ratio between the two sides was so lopsided it made the British and French laugh out loud.

Italy had deployed a total of 350,000 troops, with the number of dead estimated to exceed 10,000, and the number of injured surpassing 83,000.

In addition, there were about 15,000 non-combat losses or injuries, making the total casualties close to 110,000—a quite substantial figure.

On the side of the Abyssinian Empire, approximately 170,000 out of its 500,000 troops were estimated dead, with the casualties being incalculable.

But considering the Abyssinian Empire's scant reserves of firearms, high casualties were to be expected.

After all, the Italian military's weapons could be considered excellent even by European standards, whereas the Abyssinian Empire's arsenal was still stuck in the age of cold weapons.

The end of this war was not marked by the signing of a treaty, but by Mussolini's unilateral declaration.

On January 17, 1931, Mussolini publicly announced the annexation of the entire territory of the Abyssinian Empire into the Kingdom of Italy, and declared that troops would be dispatched within the new territories to help restore order and resume production more quickly.

Although Mussolini's claims were grandiose, the real goal was to guard against the resistance of the Abyssinians.

The Abyssinian Empire was quite passionate in its colonial resistance, which was why the Kingdom of Italy's first war with the Abyssinian Empire had failed.

Without a sufficient number of troops stationed there, it was not impossible for the Abyssinian Empire to rise up again and even expel the Italians.

It is worth mentioning that although the British remained silent during the war between Italy and the Abyssinian Empire, they accepted Emperor Haile Selassie I of Abyssinia, allowing him to reside in London as a distinguished guest.

This was also a diplomatic strategy of the British, at least demonstrating the British Empire's dissatisfaction with Italy's actions on Abyssinian soil and distancing themselves from the Italians.

However, in practice, despite the economic sanctions imposed by the World Alliance under British and French leadership, these sanctions could only be described as half-hearted. Although it included food and many other materials, there were no measures placed on the most important sanctions—that is the embargo of petroleum and the blockade of the Suez Canal.

Italy lacked any significant oil fields on its Native Land, and its domestic petroleum consumption depended largely on overseas imports.

Had there been an oil embargo against Italy, its tanks, planes, and even warships would have been virtually crippled.

Not to mention the blockade of the Suez Canal. Italy, being a purely Mediterranean country, has all its ports situated within the Mediterranean Sea.

If the Mediterranean Sea were blockaded, the Italian navy would have to sail through the Strait of Gibraltar, circumnavigate the entirety of Africa to reach East Africa.

Let's not discuss whether the Strait of Gibraltar would also be blockaded after closing the Suez Canal; even if passage were possible, the logistical advantage the Italians had would disappear with such a lengthy detour.

From this perspective, it is evident that neither Britain nor France genuinely wished to push for sanctions against Italy.

That is why Mussolini was very confident throughout the war and swiftly declared the occupation of the entire Abyssinian Empire after it, with no consideration for European public opinion.

Apart from European public opinion, many Italians were extremely pleased with Mussolini for expanding their nation's territory by hundreds of thousands of square kilometers.

Even during World War I, Italy's expansion was not significant. Even if it was just a colonization of another country, it was enough to send many ideologically radical Italians into a frenzy.

Since the power of the Italian king had been undermined, the frenzied adoration of the people could only be directed to the dictator Mussolini.

Italian public opinion left Mussolini highly satisfied, and he felt even more so that his policies were flawless and that Italy was on the path to revival and ascendancy.

Italy's success in this colonial war showed other countries opportunities, giving rise to even bolder ambitions.

The British and French might not have anticipated that their leniency with Italy, for various reasons, would inspire other, more radical countries to entertain even wilder notions.

If there were such a thing as a pill of regret, perhaps leaders of the British and French governments would want to purchase a box in the future.

At the moment, though, they naively thought the situation was still under their control.

After the successful expansion of its territory by hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, Hitler admitted to being moved by Italy's success.

However, Germany faced many restrictions, and it was most important to gradually lift these limitations.

Considering the indulgence shown by the British and French towards Italy during the war, Hitler decided to test their attitudes towards Germany to determine his own strategy.

Initially, Hitler was cautious. Among many probing plans, he chose a milder one—quietly researching heavy weapons and equipment to gauge the attitudes of Britain and France.