The Rise of Australasia

The terms of Germany’s partition by the Four Great Powers of the Allies were soon announced, causing a great stir throughout Europe and even the entire world.

Firstly, the United States and Italy expressed their dissatisfaction with this approach and criticized the Four Great Powers of the Allies for disregarding the interests of other victorious nations, which contradicted and harmed the intention of forming the Allies.

However, the opposition from these two countries was but a minor irritation to the Four Great Powers. Neither Italy nor the United States had the power to overthrow the rule of the Four Great Powers at this time.

Britain and France merely needed to mobilize Austro-Hungarian troops along the border, and immediately, the Italians were silenced, no longer voicing any opposition to the Four Great Powers.

Although the United States was not afraid of threats from Britain and France, it likewise had no recourse against their high prestige in Europe.

It is no exaggeration to say that if Britain and France stand firm in excluding America from the victorious nations, America can only resort to verbal condemnation.

Condemnation in words is the most feeble and ineffective; frankly speaking, it is nothing more than a powerless lament of the weak.

Naturally, if one has the power to act, they would not choose to condemn, as it is simply a way to save face.

Admittedly, although they had no means to resist militarily, this didn’t mean that Americans were unopposed on the diplomatic front.

In order to counteract the bloc of the Four Great Powers, American President Wilson put forth his theory on forming the League of Nations and proposed the establishment of an international league that could mediate international disputes and preserve world peace.

Such an international league would be beneficial to small and medium-sized nations, as they currently have no means to resist the Powers.

However, if the League of Nations doesn’t have the backing of a powerful country and is merely a game between small and medium-sized nations, it would be mere empty talk without any binding effect on the powerful nations.

To promote the establishment of the League of Nations, American President Wilson first approached the Italian Prime Minister, proposing that the United States and Italy jointly establish an international league to maintain the new world order.

Although the Italians were tempted, they also understood that the world order was not determined by the United States but by Britain and France.

As expected, after President Wilson proposed the establishment of the League of Nations, the Four Great Powers of the Allies quickly put forward counter-measures, publicly declaring at the Paris Peace Conference their intention to expand the Allies and establish a World Alliance.

The counter-measures of the Four Great Powers were wholly targeted at the League of Nations because apart from the names, the World Alliance and the League of Nations have the same functions, organization, and even objectives; the only difference was who proposed it.

Compared to the United States, the Four Great Powers of the Allies were clearly much more welcome in Europe. With Britain and France as its foundation, it represented that the Four Great Powers were the traditional Powers of Europe.

With the addition of Russia and Australasia, and having just defeated Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Four Great Powers of the Allies became the most powerful group in Europe and even the world, unshakeable even by a combination of the United States and Italy.

On March 7th, 1918, a treaty restricting Germany was officially completed. This treaty contained 19 major clauses and 344 minor clauses, implementing various restrictions on Germany.

The German Foreign Minister, Blanke Dove, led the German delegation in signing this treaty at the Palace of Versailles with the representatives of the Allies. Because it was signed in the Palace of Versailles, this treaty was also known as the Treaty of Versailles or the Paris Peace Treaty.

Of course, the signing of the treaty was not smooth sailing. Once the specific contents of the treaty were known within Germany, widespread protests calling on the government to reject the treaty immediately erupted.

The German government also rejected the treaty, but they were unable to resist the resolute attitude of the Allies.

Indeed, the French representative, Klemenss Cameron, openly declared, "The Germans can either fully accept or fully reject this treaty. If there is no response within five days, or if they choose to fully reject it, the Allies will declare the end of the armistice and enforce all the clauses of the treaty by force. " ṘἈℕȎBЕʂ

This was a blatant threat; if the Germans did not agree to the severe terms of the treaty, then let war determine who should listen to whom.

Faced with enormous pressure from France and the Allies, the German government was at its wits’ end.

Due to William II seeking refuge in the Netherlands, the decisions lay with Hindenburg and the military government.

However, the prestige of the military government had greatly declined in Germany, with the various states of South Germany being effectively independent.

Agreeing or disagreeing, neither was a good option for the current German government.

On the last day of the five-day deadline given by French representative Klemenss Cameron, the German government finally notified the conference of their willingness to sign the treaty.

But the German government had their own demands; they did not accept that the German government and people should bear the guilt of the war and opposed labeling Germany as the sole culprit of this colossal war.

After all, it was not Germany who declared war first, Germany merely fulfilled its obligations to its allies. So how did it bear the brunt of the blame for this war?

But making the Germans the culprit of this war was also one of the French’s objectives.

Only by holding the Germans responsible for this war, could France justify its oppression of Germany.

Therefore, Klemenss Cameron declined Germany’s request and stated that the Allies would not accept any concessions or modifications to the treaty.

If the Germans failed to sign the treaty within two days, the Allied forces would once again launch an attack on Germany.

No matter how strong the Germans were before the war, at this moment, the axiom that a defeated general can’t be brave was well understood by the Germans themselves.

Under pressure from both domestic and international fronts, ultimately, the German government announced an unconditional acceptance of all the contents of the treaty and signed it the next day.

Though the course of history differed significantly from the original, the Germans still had to cede nearly one-eighth of their territory and lost one-tenth of their population.

The Poland, which was supposed to be independent in original history, was wholly annexed by the Russian Nation. After all, at this time, the Russian Nation was still under the control of the bourgeoisie government under the constitutional monarchy, which was considered as its own among European nations.

If the Workers’ Alliance came to power, the Allies’ stance would be far different. Firstly, neither Britain nor Australasia would support the Russian Nation, and the continuation of the French-Russian alliance would also be in question.

Faced with many nations’ caution, it would be an accomplishment for the Russian Nation to hold onto its territory, let alone annexing such a vast Poland.

The entire Polish Corridor originally designated to Poland was annexed by the Russian Nation. Hence although East Prussia was not taken away, it became an exclave of Germany.

Worth mentioning is that, the restrictions imposed on Germany in the treaty revealed the result of the power struggle among the Four Great Powers of the Allies.

The Allies imposed numerous restrictions on Germany’s military power, changed its conscription system, and restricted the total number of the German army to no more than 150,000, with the service period of German soldiers not exceeding two years.

The Allies also significantly limited the scale and quantity of the German navy, only allowing Germany to have at most six cruisers and smaller warships, but not exceeding fifteen.

Advanced offensive weapons such as airplanes and submarines, as well as tanks, firearms and machine guns were all prohibited to possess and produce by the German Army.

The area west of the Rhine River was designated as a demilitarized zone, where no German troops were allowed. Military facilities within 50 kilometers east of the Rhine River had to be completely dismantled.

Mainly all of Germany’s military facilities were to be dismantled, but there are exceptions in some areas, such as those bordering Russia.

Nominally, these regions were all defenses against the Workers’ Alliance in the Moscow Region, but in reality, they were also wary of the Russian government.

After all, after the Russian Nation swallowed Poland, a single Germany or the Austro-Hungarian Empire could no longer hold back the expansion of the Russian Nation.

If Germany’s military power was not held onto at all, East Prussia would be annexed by the Russian Nation sooner or later, and the Rhine region in the Westside would also be invaded by the Frenchmen sooner or later.

After facing defeat, there was a significant problem for Germany. It was not only a loss of a considerable amount of territory and population but also the loss of advanced industry and all overseas markets.

According to one clause of the Treaty of Versailles, victors would not face any prohibitions or restrictions on exporting from Germany or importing goods into Germany. Foreign warships and merchant ships could freely enter and exit the Kiel Canal and all canals within German territory. All expenses of the Allied troops stationed in Germany were to be paid by the German government.

This would mean that the domestic German market would soon be a dumping ground for industrial products of the Allies, which was not good news for the growth of German industry.

Not being able to restrict foreign industrial products meant that Germany had lost its ability to raise tariffs.

Without restrictions of tariffs, coupled with the victors’ plundering of German industry, it was impossible for German industry to recover in the short term.

This also implies that Germany was about to embrace a long-lasting period of darkness, as the exploitation of Germany by the Allies would not stop voluntarily.

From the complete Treaty of Versailles, it becomes clear that this was not a treaty seeking peace but a ruthless plundering treaty that stripped the defeated nation of everything.

After the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the British Prime Minister, Raul George, showed no signs of happiness. Instead, he worriedly said to Klemenss Cameron, "You can take away all of the German colonies, reduce his army down to the strength of a mere police force, and diminish his navy to a fifth-rate power, but it will all be meaningless in the end.

If Germany deems this treaty unfair, then it will find a way to retaliate against the victors."

Such progressive words were unfortunately underestimated by Klemenss Cameron, thinking the British Empire should fear a defeated Germany. After all, where in the world would a victor fear the vanquished?

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