Chapter 311: Why Not Support Australasia?
The screening of The Dream of Australasia continued throughout the entire National Day week in Australasia. According to statistics from the three major film studios, the film was shown over 30,000 times during the National Day week, with millions of viewers.
This doesn't mean that the rest of the population wasn't interested in the film, but each screening attracted huge crowds, so some people couldn't even get in. Nevertheless, the film has already been watched by over seven million people, setting a record for the number of viewers. If the number of screenings or the length of the screening period were increased, Arthur was confident that the audience would easily reach tens of millions.
Even in future years, the appeal of a free movie would draw many people to watch. Given the entertainment conditions of the time, a free sound movie that promotes national identity would surely attract even more viewers.
Of course, the 30,000 screenings cost the three film studios about two million Australian dollars. Adding in the cost of the screening equipment, training for the projectionists, the filming costs, and script editing, the total cost of the film could reach 10 million Australian dollars.
However, this 10 million Australian dollars was the best money Arthur had spent in recent times, without a doubt.
It was evident that after National Day week, the crime rate in Australasia and the number of criminal cases had significantly decreased. The conflicts between different ethnic immigrant groups also lessened greatly.
Most people, upon hearing the phrase "We are all Australasians," were able to put aside previous grievances with those they didn't get along with and became friends or partners. The broad and inclusive concept of the Australasian people was widely accepted by all inhabitants and immigrants of Australasia for the first time.
Moreover, according to information from the Royal Parliament, after the National Day holiday, there had been dozens of applications for the formation of nationalist political parties. The term "Australasian" had now become the most honored and respected identity among all the inhabitants of Australasia.
This was a positive outcome for Arthur. At least it helped resolve some of the potential issues with non-British immigrants.
When it came to attracting more immigrants, Arthur could now comfortably encourage European immigration without worrying about a decrease in the proportion of the native population, which could lead to internal conflicts.
In fact, as long as the concept of the Australasian people was properly managed, the country would always have a unified national identity. Those who didn't accept the concept of being Australasians would be considered outcasts, not only shunned by their peers but also excluded from government welfare policies.
Yes, in the future, many of the welfare policies would only apply to those who were Australasians.
As January 1912 moved into mid-month, with a debate and meeting in the British Cabinet, the United Kingdom's naval policy was officially changed.
In reality, the trend to change naval policy had already become clear in the Cabinet meeting at the end of the previous year. The reason was simple: everything was based on the plan advocated by British First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, who had argued that for every battleship Germany built, the British Empire would need to build two.
With a 1-to-2 battleship building ratio, the British Empire's existing and planned battleships would soon overwhelm Germany's fleet.
However, the problem was that Germany was building a significant number of battleships. Germany was investing heavily in its navy, which meant that Britain's investment was effectively double Germany's. Even though the British Empire had vast colonies and deep pockets, it could not withstand such massive expenditures for long.
By the end of 1911, the British Cabinet had discovered in the financial report that the UK's finances were struggling to keep up with the naval expenditure plans. If they followed Churchill's ratio of 1:2, Germany would build three battleships and one battlecruiser per year, meaning Britain would have to build at least six battleships and two battlecruisers annually.
Over a three-year plan from 1912 to 1914, the UK would need to build 18 battleships and six battlecruisers, costing more than 40 million pounds just for the main warships.
Even if divided into three years, the cost of building main warships would be at least 15 million pounds each year. Given the UK's annual military budget of over 60 million pounds, such an expenditure was unsustainable.
The naval arms race in Europe had already put a significant strain on the economies of various countries. If Britain continued with this enormous building plan, the UK's finances would soon face a crisis.
This led to a series of welfare policies introduced during the reign of Edward VII, following the rise of the Reform Party, which had significantly boosted the popularity of both the King and the British government. These welfare policies had made the UK's finances somewhat tight. If they continued the massive shipbuilding program, the UK's finances would be stretched too thin.
Adding to the pressure was Germany's announcement that it was building super-dreadnought battleships. This was a card the British Empire had used to maintain its naval superiority over Germany, but now the Germans had quietly caught up.
This meant that the UK would have to allocate a portion of its naval budget to the construction of super-dreadnoughts to maintain its advantage. However, the most advanced dreadnoughts already cost around 2 million pounds, and the super-dreadnoughts were even more expensive at around 2.4 million pounds.
As a result, the British Empire's finances would only continue to face increasing pressure, making many officials worried. If the once-indomitable British Empire went bankrupt under the current government, public outrage could spell disaster for the ruling officials.
To address these concerns, the British Cabinet held an emergency meeting to discuss the current shipbuilding plan and the financial challenges ahead.
Currently, the British Prime Minister was also serving as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, a reflection of how important finances were to the nation.
"Lord Churchill, I think we need to reconsider our naval building plans. Even though our revenue is nearly twice that of Germany, we cannot sustain such enormous expenditure!" said Prime Minister Asquith, frowning as he addressed the confident and somewhat smug Churchill.
"Prime Minister, now is not the time for the British Empire to step back! The Germans are ramping up their shipbuilding. If we delay our own shipbuilding plans, we'll be handing over naval supremacy to them!" Churchill responded passionately, not backing down even in front of the Prime Minister.
"We know the navy is under immense pressure. While Germany has to balance its army development, we also have to consider the security of our colonies and implement welfare policies, don't we? Our military spending has already exceeded a quarter of our revenue, and this year it will surpass a third. Are you suggesting we neglect the development of the Empire just to serve the navy?" The Home Secretary interjected.
It's worth mentioning that the Home Secretary, McKenna, had been the British Navy Minister until six months ago. In November 1911, he switched roles with Churchill, who had been advocating for the expansion of the navy.
McKenna, having once been focused on naval expansion, now as the Home Secretary, prioritized government welfare, and was now against further naval expansion.
"I know the pressure on the finances, but we could issue bonds, couldn't we?" Churchill argued. "As long as we maintain our naval advantage, the Germans will shift their attention to expanding their army, and the pressure on our navy and finances will ease. If we give up now, the Germans will surpass us at sea, and their army will surpass France and Russia. After that, no nation or power will be able to keep Germany in check. That would be catastrophic for Europe and even more so for the British Empire."
"We maintain our naval supremacy, let the Germans and the French fight each other on land, and intervene if necessary to support the French. This is the strategy we've always followed—to weaken Germany while preventing France from rising after Germany's defeat. Isn't that our goal?" Churchill asserted, pushing for his argument that anyone opposing naval expansion was betraying the British Empire's strategy.
"All that said, are bonds really free? The bonds will need to be repaid by the government. If we issue too many bonds to fund the navy, will the navy help cover the interest on those bonds? If we follow your plan, our finances may collapse before we even weaken Germany. Don't forget, we have more than just Germany to worry about—America is also building up its navy and will soon become a major competitor." Prime Minister Asquith shook his head and stood firm in delaying further naval expansion.
Though the British Empire possessed the most powerful navy and the largest colonies, its dominance was increasingly challenged by other nations.
If any country rose to become the dominant power in Europe, it would pose a threat to the British Empire. This was why the British Empire had historically clashed with both France and Germany, and why it had to keep its military on top.
If France were to rise to power, Britain would likely join forces with Germany to counterbalance it.
America, which had been underestimated by European powers, had now caught up with Europe economically and industrially, making it a future competitor for global dominance.
"America?" Churchill laughed dismissively. "Why don't we support Australasia instead? Supporting island nations has already failed. Why not find another country to assist? Australasia shares the same roots as us, and as long as the majority of its population is of British descent, they can never be our enemy. Isn't this the ideal country to support? Although Australasia's population is small, it is largely composed of European immigrants, making it more qualified to become a developed nation and a great power than any island nation."
The British Empire's decision to support island nations wasn't without reason. Their geographic position meant that if such nations rose to power, they would be forced to confront the Far Eastern power, Russia. Furthermore, their proximity to America, which could not easily reach Europe, meant that island nations could only expand into South America and across the Pacific, as seen with the Philippines.
Supporting island nations was one of Britain's methods to counter America, as well as to keep Russia's attention diverted from British India.
(End of Chapter)
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