Chapter 609 New Year
After the signing of the treaty, peace finally came to the Philippines and Central America.
For Australasia, how to deal with the Philippines and El Salvador has become the current priority.
These two countries certainly cannot join Australasia directly. The vast majority of the population of the Philippines are Filipinos, and the population of El Salvador is mostly mixed with Indians and Europeans, but there are also a considerable number of Indians and whites.
Compared with directly annexing these two countries, controlling these two countries in terms of administration and economy is the best option at present.
The current development of the Philippines is still under the control of Australasia. The Philippines has already declared the establishment of a parliamentary republic, and the current Philippine Republican government is already in proper operation.
The three largest independent forces in the Philippines before, the Independent Revolutionary Army, the Free Army and the Independence Corps, have also evolved into three political parties, namely the Independent Revolutionary Party controlled by Manuel, the Liberal Party controlled by Walid and the Independence Party controlled by Sandro.
The so-called parliamentary republic is actually that the parliament controls the power of the country and entrusts or organizes the national government to manage the entire country.
This also means that the power of the parliament is greater than that of the government. Whoever obtains the majority of the parliament is actually the actual controller of the country.
At present, the dominant party in the Philippine parliament is still the Independent Revolutionary Party controlled by Manuel.
The influence of Australasia on the current Philippine government is unquestionable, which has also led to the Philippine parliament imitating the system of the Australasia parliament.
The Independent Revolutionary Party controlled by Manuel controls nearly 53% of the seats in the Philippine House of Representatives, and the remaining Liberal Party and the Independence Party control just over 47% together.
This also means that the current situation in the Philippines is not a three-party competition, but a coalition of Manuel against the remaining two parties.
This is actually what Australasia wants to see. If it is a unified and stable Philippines, it is very difficult to completely control it.
If the Philippine government has contradictions and several political parties compete with each other, the difficulty of controlling the Philippines will be greatly reduced.
Compared with the Philippines, El Salvador is obviously much easier to control. As the smallest country in Central America, El Salvador has a large population, and the total population has even exceeded one million.
But the bad news is that, because of the interference of the Americans, the economy of El Salvador, which had started to rise slightly in the early 20th century, has been affected.
Currently, El Salvador is a country with relatively chaotic order among Central American countries. Various gangs are popular, which seriously hinders the economic development of El Salvador and also affects the quality of life of the people of El Salvador.
In order to better control these two countries, a very effective covenant and alliance is very necessary.
Arthur handed this task to the government, and the government quickly gave the answer, which is a comprehensive alliance covenant including administration, economy, military, diplomacy and other aspects.
On October 25, 1924, in Sydney, Australia, witnessed by Arthur, Australia, the Philippines and El Salvador signed the Pacific Strategic Alliance Treaty to form a Pacific Strategic Alliance, advance and retreat together in diplomacy, and fully cooperate in military affairs.
This actually also means that Australia completely controls the economy and military of these two countries, and deeply affects the diplomacy of the Philippines and El Salvador.
The first thing after the signing of this covenant is that Australia organizes people to help the Philippines and El Salvador train national defense forces.
The armies of the three major forces in the Philippines were integrated into the Philippine National Defense Force, with a total of 80,000 people.
El Salvador will also organize an army of more than 20,000 people, which will be fully trained by the Australasian army to help El Salvador better control the domestic situation and maintain national stability.
At the same time, in terms of economy, the three countries will carry out all-round cooperation to deepen their economic ties.
This is good news for Australasia, because Australasian industrial products can be sold to the Philippines and El Salvador, which is equivalent to adding a market with a total population of more than 12 million.
The current Philippines and El Salvador will definitely not lose money. After all, most of Australasian industrial products are still relatively cheap, inheriting the advantages of German industry before World War I, that is, good quality and low price.
The treaty that best demonstrates Australasian control over these two countries is actually cooperation in military and diplomatic aspects.
According to the provisions of the Pacific Alliance Treaty, Australasian provides material support to the Philippines and El Salvador to ensure the independence of the Philippines and El Salvador at any time.
At the same time, the Philippines and El Salvador will be consistent with Australasia's diplomatic choices at the international level, and have relatively complete autonomous administrative rights without violating Australasia's interests.
In terms of military, if any country in the alliance is attacked by a non-alliance country, it will be regarded as a provocation and attack on the entire alliance.
If the alliance launches a war against a country or is attacked by a country, Australasia, as the most powerful ally, has the right to control the command of the Philippine and El Salvadoran armies, and arrange corresponding counterattack and offensive policies according to the actual military situation.
In addition, there are military bases established by Australasia in El Salvador, etc. Of course, unlike the military bases established by the US military, the military bases in Australasia are nominally to help El Salvador train its own army, rather than station troops to control the local situation.
Salvadorans also understand how bad their lives are. Especially under the influence of gangs, there are many fights and shootings in El Salvador, which also makes the arrival of the Australasia army responsible for maintaining order welcomed by Salvadorans.
In order to gain more support from Salvadorans, the arrival of the Australasia army was accompanied by a large amount of supplies and assistance, which effectively improved the quality of life of Salvadorans.
This kind of substantial benefit is the most welcome to Salvadorans, and it is also the real reason why they did not reject the Australasia garrison.
The British Empire also reaped the same rewards as Australasia. It's just that the British Empire's control over Central American countries is much stronger than Australasia.
Although only Nicaragua and Guatemala were obtained, if Honduras, which was previously occupied by Britain, is added, most of Central America has been occupied or controlled by Britain.
This has a crucial impact on the situation in the Americas. Central America and Canada controlled by Britain, plus Mexico, which has always been at odds with the United States, have turned the situation of the United States in North America into one of enemies in both the north and the south.
The United States not only has to worry about the safety of the Panama Canal, but also whether the southern coast of the United States will be blocked by the British fleet if a conflict breaks out with the British.
Although the Panama Canal was not obtained, the British ambition for the Panama Canal is well known.
The British increased the deployment of the navy in Central America and strengthened the strength of the Atlantic Fleet.
As long as there is any crisis in the United States, the British and Australasian fleets can attack from the east and west and blockade the east and west coasts of the United States.
The US military may be able to deal with threats from either side, but if it is a pinch attack from the east and west, it will not be so easy to deal with.
At that time, it depends on how much the island countries value the American alliance and the price that the Americans can pay.
While indulging in domestic development, time has also become fast. The remaining month of 1924 has passed quickly, and the time has come to January 1, 1925.
1924 was a year of development for Australasia, and also a year in which the overall strategy made good progress.
Whether it was the relatively successful King's Cup, the smooth four-year plan, the launch of the first rocket, the successful sales of penicillin, etc., all represented the contribution and achievements of the national government in this year.
To comment on Australasia's achievements in 1924 in one sentence, it was more internationally prominent and its comprehensive strength was further improved.
Especially after taking control of the Philippines and El Salvador, Australasia was also a real power with its own little brothers.
Although the combined population of these two little brothers was only 12 million, they could provide Australasia with millions of troops in times of crisis, which was more reliable than the previous indigenous army, and made Arthur very satisfied.
Although the previous indigenous army could also organize millions of troops, on the one hand, their loyalty to the national government was not high, and on the other hand, their training quality was worrying, and the combat effectiveness of the indigenous army was difficult to guarantee.
Although the combat effectiveness of the army composed of Filipinos and Salvadorans is not as strong as that of the Australasian army, it is still much higher than that of the indigenous army. Even if they are cannon fodder, they are excellent cannon fodder.
Especially since there is still a long time before the outbreak of World War II, the population of the Philippines and El Salvador can usher in further development.
By then, perhaps the army formed by these two countries alone will exceed 2 million, and Australasia will also be able to gain more results and benefits in World War II.
Of course, when Australasia is developing, the pace of other countries has not stagnated.
The speed of economic and industrial recovery in European countries is still very fast. The French have finally recovered from the pain of World War I, and the economy and industry have begun to prosper and grow.
So far, France has basically restored its pre-war industrial level, and its economic growth is also in a prosperous state. The French have also forgotten the pain of the war and have more laughter.
This situation not only appears in France, but also in Russia, which has ended the civil war.
Because the civil war has ended, Russia's industry has finally ushered in recovery. Although Russia's industry is not currently large in scale, it has made significant progress compared to the civil war period.
Nicholas II was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, believing that the Russian government's finances in 1924 would not be as tight as during the civil war.
However, it would probably take a long time for the Russian government to pay off the debts owed during the civil war and World War I.
In order to obtain more support for materials and weapons and equipment, Nicholas II not only mortgaged or sold the mining rights of a considerable part of Russia's mineral resources, but also mortgaged a large part of the previous reparations from Germany and the United States.
Russia still has a long period of recovery. If the subsequent economic recovery is relatively stable, it will take at least ten years to return to the pre-war level.
Where there is growth, there must be weakness, which is also an unchanging theme in the world environment.
There are definitely countries with weak industries and economies, and the most obvious and special one should be the United States.
The damage caused by the march to the US industry and economy was obvious, which also caused the US industrial output in 1924 to drop by more than 3% compared with 1923.
In terms of economy, the increasingly obvious racial crisis and various problems kept the US economy balanced, with no growth or decline.
Under the premise that the economies of other countries are growing slowly, the balance of the US economy is equivalent to a decline.
Looking back at the development of Australasia, Arthur was very satisfied with the government's answer in 1924.
In terms of transportation, which Arthur is more concerned about, the total mileage of Australasia's railways has exceeded 70,000 kilometers, and the railway trunk lines are well connected. Even the two newest state-level administrative regions have very long and developed railways.
Highway construction is even more rapid, and the newly built highways in Australasia can be seen everywhere.
In terms of main transportation roads, Australasia's roads are currently three-lane roads in both directions, with a total of six lanes and two emergency roads. Eight-lane roads.
This type of highway is generally built by the national government, and the cost per kilometer is the most expensive of all highways.
State governments generally build two-way two-lane roads, plus a six-lane road for emergency roads.
Roads connecting small and medium-sized cities in various states are generally such roads. The advantages are that the cost is relatively cheap and it takes less time to build.
However, eight lanes are still chosen for connections between large cities, or even ten lanes with four lanes in both directions and two temporary roads.
After all, the population of Australasia is mainly concentrated in large cities, and the convenience of transportation is still very important, which is also related to whether the country's comprehensive strength can be fully exerted.
In terms of colonies and territories, the Persian Gulf region has built a double-track railway connecting the Saudi coastal areas, Qatar, the UAE and other places.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia are still connected now. The reason why Qatar became an island country in the future is actually because of the contradictions between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which led to Saudi Arabia directly digging out the land connected to Qatar and forcibly turning Qatar into an island country.
The next plan of the transportation department is to help the Philippines and El Salvador build railways, which is not only to better control these two regions, but also to accelerate the economic development of these two countries and turn them into reliable markets for Australasia during the Great Depression.
As the saying goes, if you want the horse to run, you have to let the horse eat grass first. To turn these two countries into reliable markets, it is necessary to increase the per capita income of these two countries.
Although it is also a large investment, the constructed railways will be under the control of Australasia for a long time, so it is relatively easy to get back the money.
Arthur is also satisfied with the economic growth of Australasia in 1924.
The most effective indicator of people's income and national economic development should be the gross national product.
In 1924, Australasia's gross national product reached 7.3 billion Australian dollars, an increase of 9% compared with the previous year.
The rapid economic development is reflected in the government's fiscal revenue. In 1924, the government's total fiscal revenue exceeded 200 million Australian dollars, setting a new record for total fiscal revenue.
However, this is not something to be proud of, because many powerful countries have exceeded 100 million pounds in fiscal revenue many years ago, and Australasia still has a lot of room for improvement in terms of economy.
However, more fiscal revenue also means more fiscal budget. I believe that in 1925, the government will allocate a higher fiscal budget to various departments, and the results brought by more fiscal budgets will also be fed back to the government in the annual report of the next year.
This is the only update today, and two updates tomorrow