The Rise of Australasia

Originally, Prime Minister Kent had planned to prepare a welcome banquet for Minister Grey and the British visiting group, but it was declined by Minister Grey on the grounds of exhaustion from the long journey.

Indeed, the trip was quite taxing. Even though the British visiting group traveled on the most luxurious British cruise ship, accompanied by British warships, it still took them about a month to reach Australasia.

During that time, the visiting group made stops at the Suez Canal and India, which indirectly prolonged their journey.

Staying on the cruise ship for more than a month, even the seemingly accustomed Minister Grey couldn't help but feel weary and tired.

After giving brief instructions to his subordinates, Minister Grey lay down on the large bed in the Victoria Royal Hotel, and fell into a deep, comfortable sleep.

The day after the British visiting group arrived at Sydney Harbour, on February 22, 1913, Arthur received the British visiting group at Sydney Palace, accompanied by the Cabinet Government headed by Prime Minister Kent.

After the British visiting group greeted him, Arthur smiled and looked at Minister Grey, saying, "Minister Grey, how did you sleep yesterday?"

"Very well, Your Majesty. Sydney's environment is much better than London's, and the air is much better compared to London," replied Minister Grey with a respectful smile and nod.

British Foreign Minister Grey was, by this time, a well-known figure across Europe.

Minister Grey was one of the most determined figures within the British Cabinet Government advocating a tough stance against Germany.

If there were a person in the British Cabinet who was most hostile towards Germany, it would undoubtedly be Minister Grey.

During Grey's tenure, Britain successively signed agreements with France and Russia, playing a significant role in the formation of the two major European military blocs' current confrontation.

Such a clear-cut figure coming to Australasia not only aimed to win their support, but also send a message to the outside world that Australasia was growing closer to Britain.

This indirectly bound Australasia to Britain's war chariot. After all, after hosting Minister Grey with such high standards, even if Australasia didn't publicly declare its stance or release any messages drawing closer to Britain, they would still be naturally categorized as being close to Britain.

As such, Australasia's previously strictly maintained neutrality would be broken.

Unless Australasia could immediately reiterate its neutral stance and declare that it would not join either side, their relationship with the British people would inevitably be damaged as they had chosen to follow Britain over Germany.

Since Arthur had already made a decision between Britain and Germany, he naturally would not hesitate.

Although joining the Allies and becoming enemies with Germany clearly harmed the relationship between Arthur and William II as well as with the Germans,

What could personal emotions count for in terms of national interest?

At the very least, Arthur could try to ensure William II's family and the German royal family's safety during the war, which would be considered a form of compensation to William II.

Arthur hoped that William II could escape the fate of history, not losing the German royal position due to being stripped of power in the late stages of the war and causing the decline of the Hohenzollern family.

In fact, the social class most severely damaged in World War I was the deeply rooted and highly powerful monarchs and nobility.

After World War I, the powerful countries that lost their royal positions included the Russian Monarchy, the German Royal Family, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire Royal Family.

Many countries were left with monarchies that had lost some, or even most, of their power.

The worldwide decline of monarchism was not a good thing for Arthur. As a member of the European royal family, a stronger European royal family could bring some benefits to Arthur.

Therefore, preserving as many national royal families as possible during the war was also one of Arthur's goals.

"Your Majesty, on behalf of the British Government and Royal Family, I would like to extend my greetings to you, the Australasian Royal Family, the government, and all the people of Australasia. We look forward to further exchanges with Australasia.

We are natural allies and even closer blood relatives." As an experienced foreign minister, Grey played the emotional card from the start, emphasizing the good relations between Australasia and the United Kingdom.

In fact, solely based on the relationship between Australasia and the United Kingdom, it would be impossible for Australasia to stand against Britain.

Among the current population of over 12 million in Australasia, more than half, nearly 8 million, are British immigrant descendants.

This means that British immigrant descendants are the foundation of Australasia. The government and the royal family in Australasia must also consider the opinions of British immigrant descendants. Discover tales on NovelFire-mp _y,r.

Perhaps Arthur could rely on his enormous prestige and support from the people to go against their wishes and join Germany's side.

However, this would also hurt the British immigrant descendants' feelings and have negative effects on Australasia's governance.

Under such circumstances, Minister Grey believed that at worst, Australasia would remain strictly neutral and would not join Germany and the Allied Nations.

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