Chapter 146: Chapter 143: Germany’s Opportunity_2

However, who would have thought that the seemingly disadvantaged island nation fleet would have annihilated the entire fleet of the Russian Empire with minimal damage, completely reshaping the situation of the war?

Nevertheless, the Russo-Japanese War hasn’t happened yet, and people haven’t experienced this astonishing naval battle.

“Your Majesty, after obtaining several warships ordered from Australia, the island nation’s naval power is no weaker than the Tsardom of Russia’s Far East Fleet. Furthermore, the majority of the island nation’s battleships and new warships have been built within the last ten years, while the Russian Empire’s warships have generally been in service for more than ten years, and there are not many young warships. Coupled with the previously exposed logistical problems, the Far East, as the island nation’s main base, will have well-secured logistics and transportation. Now look at the Russian Empire, the Siberian Railway is not yet fully constructed, and the transportation of supplies is a significant challenge. Moreover, the Russian Empire’s economy heavily relies on loans from France, but France does not support the Russian Empire in the Far East situation, leading to a terrible fiscal situation for the Russian Empire. Under all these factors, what reason do we have not to believe that the newly rising island nation will be victorious in the regional hegemonic struggle against an old powerhouse like the Russian Empire? Besides, the warships ordered by the island nation from Australia are Brunswick-class battleships from Germania. The performance of such an excellent warship must be well-known to Your Majesty. If the Russian Empire does not strive for progress, it is only natural for them to lose their Far East hegemony.”

“Of course, if the Russian Empire loses its Far East hegemony, it is not a good thing for the German Empire either. The Russian Empire in control of the Far East hegemony will divert part of its attention to the Far East, which can also reduce the pressure on the German Empire under the influence of the Franco-Russian Alliance. However, if the Russian Empire loses its Far East hegemony and does not have such significant influence in the Far East, they will focus more of their attention on Europe. The Russian Empire under the Franco-Russian Alliance will become one of the German Empire’s greatest enemies unless the German Empire is willing to give up confronting the French.”

So, the question is, will the German Empire give up confronting the French?

One of the reasons why the German Empire and France each joined opposing military blocs is the conflict between the old colonial powers and emerging industrial powers, besides the longstanding enmity between the two countries. As an emerging industrial powerhouse like the German Empire, they also need a large market to dump their industrial products and make sufficient profits.

But the problem is that the old-established powers have always regarded their colonies as their exclusive territories, and industrial products from other countries either have very high tariffs or cannot enter at all.

In addition, as the importance of industry and technology to a country increases, emerging industrial powers arc catching up and surpassing the comprehensive strength of old-established power nations, such as the German Empire’s surpassing France and the rise of America.

Because their status has gradually risen to the same level, and even Germany’s overall strength has surpassed France, becoming the more recognized second major power.

Under these circumstances, Germany is increasingly dissatisfied with the share of colonial territories that established power countries like Britain and France hold across the world. Emerging industrial countries also need land under the sky, not just the blue sky.

The previous Franco-Prussian War led to France paying a considerable amount of compensation to Germany, and the German Empire was established after trampling down France’s dignity.

Under various factors, the contradictions between France and Germany have deepened, and even become irreconcilable.

But there are not so many frictions between the German Empire and the Tsardom of Russia. Even the German Empire had a brief period of the Three Emperors’ Alliance between the German Empire, the Tsardom of Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Although this is a loose alliance formed for temporary interests and compromises, the nature of the alliance dictates that it will inevitably be dissolved one day.

However, this was a good cooperation period between the German Empire and the Tsardom of Russia. Wooing this country with great war potential or removing it from France’s list of allies is what Germany is currently looking forward to.

William II nodded, temporarily agreeing with Minister Andrew’s viewpoint.

It is necessary for the Russian Empire to show a certain decline in the Far East so that the importance of the German Empire, a country that can support the Russian Empire’s Far East policy, can be highlighted to the Russian Empire.

Meanwhile, the Russian Empire could not afford to lose too much advantage in the Far East region. A Russian Empire that solely focused on Europe was not a good thing for the German Empire, because at least in Europe, the Russian Empire was more willing to ally with France than with Germania.

This was due to many factors. Although French capital was obsessed with the high income generated by loans, it reduced France’s industrial and technological development to a certain extent.

But there was an advantage to this; it could bring some countries, especially those with backward economies like Tsardom of Russia, closer through loans.

After French loans poured into the Russian Empire, its economy was full of French elements, bringing the two countries closer and closer together.

Meanwhile, the German Empire, which had concluded the Triple Alliance treaty with the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy, grew further and further apart from the Russian Empire.

Firstly, now the German Empire’s ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, had many conflicts with the Russian Empire. Many disputes existed between the two countries across their borders, and their relationship was very poor.

As the saying goes, the friend of an enemy is an enemy, and so is the friend of an enemy. The German Empire and Tsardom of Russia brushed past each other, heading towards opposition.

The reason why William II was so interested in the information Australia could provide was precisely because he harbored the hope of drawing the United Kingdom and the Russian Empire closer.

The United Kingdom had always pursued isolationist and balanced policies and would generally help the weaker side. However, they would not let the defeated party become too weak in case the weak became stronger and presented a new threat.

At present, the situation in Europe had become very clear. Two distinct factions emerged in the form of military blocs. Whether it was the alliance group composed of the German Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Kingdom of Italy, or the Allies group formed by the French Republic and Russian Empire, both tried to attract the British Empire since it was undoubtedly the world’s first major power.

However, the attitude of the British Empire had always been very vague, and, based on a balanced relationship between the two sides, it adopted a wait-and-see attitude, remaining neutral until the end of Queen Victoria’s era.

Now, during the reign of King Edward VII, the relationship between the British Empire and the German Empire became somewhat estranged, partly because the relationship between Edward VII and William II was not very good.

Of course, it cannot be denied that the rise of the German Empire and the development of its navy also played a role in creating distance between the British Empire and the German Empire.

The goal of the German Empire was to occupy a large number of colonies of established Powers, and apart from France, was there not also the British Empire?

Although the Germans never explicitly said so, the British Empire was indeed an established power and possessed the largest colonial territory in the world.

“Since you have come all the way from Australia, you must have some plans and intentions, right? Tell me, what good advice does Arthur have for the current situation in Germany?” William II asked with a smile.

Having Australia send two minister-level officials to Germany meant that their purpose was definitely not just to inform William II of this news.

The royal family of Australia, which was Arthur, also had a royal affairs director in Europe. If it was just a simple matter of conveying a message, sending the royal affairs director would have been enough, and there was no need for such a massive move..