Chapter 262: Germany's Dreadnought and the Formation of the Entente Powers
The cabinet meeting lasted for a long time, discussing the future development plans of multiple departments and addressing some ongoing issues in development.
For example, the proposal for a new welfare policy by the Ministry of Public Welfare. Due to the involvement of more than seven million people in Australasia, this meant the cost of the new proposal was no small amount. According to the estimates from the Ministry of Finance, the new policy would require an additional five million Australian dollars in financial input every year, so the cabinet's stance on supporting the new policy was divided into two factions.
However, under Arthur's final decision, the execution plan for the new policy was confirmed.
Another issue was with the Ministry of Defense. With the new minister in place, there would naturally be a period of time to familiarize themselves with the current military situation. As the Navy was about to undergo a large-scale expansion, Arthur proposed the establishment of the Army Department and the Navy Department within the Ministry of Defense to separately manage the army and navy systems.
As for the currently small-scale air force system, it was temporarily placed under the Army Department. With the expansion of both the army and the navy, the Ministry of Defense had become the largest expenditure in Australasia's budget.
According to this year's report from the Ministry of Defense, Australasia's military expenditure was expected to reach a new high of at least 14 million Australian dollars. A small portion of this was for soldiers' salaries, along with the equipment, weapons, and ammunition required for their training, and the maintenance and construction of the Navy, resulting in a massive total of nearly seven million pounds.
However, military spending was the most essential expenditure and could not be cut back. So even though the Ministry of Defense requested additional funding, Arthur reluctantly agreed.
With these expenditures across various departments, a significant financial deficit this year was inevitable. However, as this was the golden period for national development and the Treasury still had ample available funds, there were no significant financial concerns at the moment.
In addition, Arthur assigned tasks to the new positions, urging them to quickly familiarize themselves with their roles and get to work as soon as possible. For Australasia, if there were no major issues in the surrounding regions, the best option was to focus on development.
Arthur knew that the real opportunities lay in the upcoming World War I and World War II. Everything else was just small skirmishes.
The cabinet meeting ended with Arthur's command, and the various departments and ministers quickly returned to their respective duties.
As time moved into September, a news story ignited European public opinion once again, drawing even more attention to Europe.
Since the birth of the Dreadnought battleship, this advanced and powerful battleship has attracted global attention. It was also a proud moment for the British Empire, as they were the builders of the Dreadnought.
If there was any European nation that could challenge the British Empire in every aspect, it was undoubtedly the German Empire. Although Germany had only recently unified as a nation, no one could deny the strength of the German people, who quickly created a world power with the strongest army and the second-largest navy.
After the Dreadnought was introduced, Germany soon unveiled its own version, the Nassau-class battleships, which were historically expected to be revolutionary but turned out to be less effective.
While the Dreadnought was a complete overhaul of older battleship designs, the Nassau-class merely upgraded some of the power and armor of older battleships. The Germans were cautious and did not adopt new steam boilers, and their lack of focus on large-caliber guns meant the Nassau-class only had 283mm guns, much smaller than the Dreadnought's 305mm guns.
Despite their attempts to strengthen the 283mm guns and increase their firing rate, they were still far less powerful and destructive compared to the 305mm guns, which was the real reason the Nassau-class fell behind the Dreadnought.
But history was different now. With the help of the Dreadnought design from Australasia, Germany found itself comparing the Nassau-class with the Monarch-class battleships.
Germany was surprised to find that, apart from armor protection, the theoretical firepower and speed of the Nassau-class were slightly inferior to the Monarch-class. And since the Monarch-class was designed with input from both Germany and the UK, it was clear that the Nassau-class was also at a disadvantage compared to the Dreadnought.
This stark comparison quickly caught the attention of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Under his command, Germany halved its construction plan for Nassau-class battleships, reducing the planned four to just two, with the remaining slots allocated to the Monarch-class battleships.
Although the Monarch-class was not designed by Germany, it incorporated many German technologies, and with the help of blueprints and detailed data, it was not difficult for German experts to master the technology quickly.
According to Germany's 1906 and 1907 shipbuilding plans, the two Monarch-class battleships, Rheinland and Posen, were completed in August and September 1908, making the German Empire the second country in the world to possess a Dreadnought.
Germany's move was substantial, acquiring two Dreadnoughts at once. In comparison, the British Empire had planned three Berwick-class battleships, but even the earliest, Berwick, was not scheduled to be completed until around February 1909.
This allowed Germany to overtake Britain and become the country with the most Dreadnoughts at the time.
The importance of the Dreadnought was undeniable. The navy was a key indicator of a nation's power. Looking at all the great powers, they were all maritime powers with substantial navies.
Even Italy, one of the weaker great powers, had the sixth-largest navy in the world.
As for Italy's army, it was clear that their combat power was even inferior to some of the secondary powers.
The measure of whether a nation could be considered a great power was whether its navy could rival those of the top eight nations in the world.
In other words, battleships, and now Dreadnoughts, were the ticket for a nation to enter the ranks of the great powers and gain recognition.
If Germany had always been in pursuit of Britain, in the area of Dreadnoughts at least, Germany had now overtaken Britain.
This caused Germany to gain enormous prestige, and some smaller European nations and citizens were already discussing when Germany would surpass Britain.
The British, however, could not accept this. What was even worse was Russia's increasing alignment with Germany. Rumors circulated that Tsar Nicholas II was even considering signing a more advanced non-aggression pact with Germany.
The current situation in Europe was clearly shifting toward Germany, a viewpoint shared by many smaller countries and European citizens.
Looking at the two major factions in Europe, the Central Powers, with the world's number one army and number two navy, the German Empire, along with the strong Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy with the sixth-largest navy, were more than capable of dominating the world.
On the side of the Entente Powers, due to the growing closeness between Germany and Russia, and the distancing between France and Russia, Russia had not joined the Entente Powers.
Although Russia still maintained an alliance with France, the conflict between Britain and Russia left France in a difficult position.
Currently, France had signed alliances with both Britain and Russia, but Russia and Germany had a neutrality pact. Could the Entente Powers really stop the alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy? It was doubtful.
After all, Britain, no matter how powerful its navy was, could not engage in direct combat with the German Army on land. And Germany had already surpassed Britain in Dreadnoughts, so it was uncertain who would have the superior navy in the future.
Under these circumstances, the Central Powers were beginning to gain the upper hand in Europe, and even some small countries that had previously supported the Entente Powers remained silent, fearing trouble.
This situation was unacceptable to the British. If the Entente Powers did not expand rapidly, it was likely that in a few years, Europe would be dominated by the Central Powers.
The British Cabinet held long meetings about this, and King Edward VII made a statement that shocked the Cabinet: "Don't forget who our greatest enemy is. If we cannot resolve the issue with Germany, everything that Britain stands for will vanish."
On September 7, 1908, Britain formally initiated peace talks with Russia, addressing a series of conflicts between the two nations.
While the content of the negotiations remains unknown, on September 17, 1908, the two nations signed a "Protocol of Understanding," agreeing to forget past grievances and re-establish peaceful relations.
On September 19, the heads of state from Britain, France, and Russia met in Saint Petersburg to express their sincerity, a move that greatly pleased the Russians.
On September 23, the "Anglo-Russian Agreement" was officially signed. Britain made compromises in several areas, even promising to temporarily suspend support for the island nation if Russia turned its focus back to Europe.
The details of the agreements were not disclosed to the public, but the Anglo-Russian Agreement marked a major shift in Europe's balance of power.
After the signing of the agreement, Britain openly declared that its conflicts with Russia had been resolved and that Britain, France, and Russia would work together for the peace and stability of Europe.
The goals of these three countries were clear—apart from the recently prominent German Empire, no other nation could bring these three powerful countries together, united in peace.
With Britain and Russia now reconciled, the Entente Powers were officially formed. In terms of both influence and actual power, these three nations now had the strength to contend with the Central Powers.
Through its diplomatic maneuvers and influence, Britain made it clear to the world who truly dominated the globe.
After hearing the news of the Anglo-Russian Agreement, Kaiser Wilhelm II fell into a brief silence. He had once thought that he had successfully gained Russia's trust, but now, Britain had managed to pull Russia back.
However, there was nothing he could do. As the current world power, Britain had strong influence across many regions and could offer Russia greater benefits.
State-to-state relations were often driven by interests, and Wilhelm II realized that if he were Tsar Nicholas II, he would have done the same for his country's benefit.
For a time, politicians and smaller nations aligned with the Entente Powers began to emerge, as if the previous silence never existed.
After the Central Powers entered their period of dominance, Europe swiftly transitioned into the Entente Powers' dominance.
Arthur shook his head in Australasia, realizing that the wheel of history had still rolled back, and the countries in the two major military blocs had ultimately chosen the historical path.
(End of Chapter)
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