The Rise Of Australasia

Australasia’s environment is somewhat unique, with plenty of energy resources but a severe shortage of water resources.

Especially after gaining control of the oil in the Persian Gulf region, the prices of fuel and petroleum products in Australasia have been significantly reduced, allowing people to squander gasoline and diesel without any concern for environmental protection laws to restrict fuel vehicles.

However, water resources have always been a problem in Australasia and will become more apparent with the growth of the population.

In order to meet the water demand after the future population explosion, it is necessary to build more reservoirs and develop a certain number of hydropower stations based on these reservoirs.

Firstly, the new hydropower stations can generate more clean energy, which is beneficial to the protection of the environment.

Secondly, the new reservoirs can ensure the water supply of Australasia. Before the North Water South Transfer project starts and is completed in New Guinea, the water demand of Australasia relies on these reservoirs.

Even in the Four-Year Plan, the construction of heavy industry, civil industry, and various road construction all require a large amount of water resources, and irrigation for agriculture and pastoral industry as well as domestic water resources are also crucial. It is not possible without sufficient water reserves.

Particularly for large cities, reservoirs must be built - and built to be more robust and durable.

Looking at the world, the development potential of Australasia is definitely among the best. Although the French have reclaimed Alsace and Lorraine, more than a dozen provinces in the northeast of France, especially the native land, were occupied by Germans at the outset of the war and suffered significant damage during the lengthy conflict.

Most of these occupied areas are vital mining regions, steel and textile centers, and have a significant standing in the overall French industry.

After these areas were destroyed, the French took back many factory equipments from Germany, but France’s industrial output in 1918 was only 70% of what it was in 1914 before the war, especially as steel production suffered considerable damage.

Steel production output decreased from 4.69 million tons in 1913 to 1.8 million tons in 1918, which is just half of the current annual steel output of Australasia, showing how severe the war’s impact on French industry was.

Even if the French still had other industries, the massive losses suffered by the French steel industry meant that France’s industry might even be inferior to Australasia.

If the next phase for Australasia is a lengthy development period, the French will need a long recovery time.

Unlike the French, the British industry was hardly affected and even grew significantly during the war.

In 1914, British steel production output was 7.96 million tons, and by 1918 it had grown to 9.69 million tons, a rapid growth.

Especially after defeating the Germans, the British industry had once again risen to become the world’s second-largest, just behind the United States’ record annual steel production of 37 million tons in 1918.

Of course, while the American steel production figure may seem massive, the reality is that the United States also had severe problems in its industry.

From the outbreak of the war until now, the growth of the United States in steel production has not been significant. In particular, from 1916 to 1918, the United States’ annual steel production remained at around 35 million tons without much growth.

Especially after being affected by the influenza, whether the United States can maintain an annual steel production of 35 million tons this year is a question worthy of deep thought.

From these data, it can also be seen that the situation of several victorious nations is not much better. The French suffered massive losses in the war, and their goal for the next ten years is just to catch up to their pre-war economic and industrial levels.

It is worth noting that in 1929, France’s economy finally surpassed that of 1913, even causing Frenchmen to celebrate at that time.

However, this also represents that from 1913 to 1929, the sixteen years saw no progress in the French economy, which is terrifying for a country.

Sixteen years of stagnation marked the inevitable collapse of the French colonial empire. Unless the French can achieve rapid economic growth in the following period, it is clear that not long after this, another war will take place, which the French are not eager to see.

What actually hinders the recovery of the French economy and industry are the French capitalists.

Here, one must mention Germany. As a former industrial powerhouse, German industrial products have always been known for their high quality and affordable prices.

Although the war has cost the Germans a large portion of their heavy and military industries, some small and medium-sized civilian industries have survived; after all, the British are not willing to see the French fully absorb German industry.

It is worth mentioning that the industrial products produced by these German companies have been wholeheartedly accepted by France and the United Kingdom at very advantageous prices.

This has also led to French capitalists unwilling to rapidly restore French industry since the market is already occupied by a large number of cheap German industrial products - wouldn’t that be more cost-effective than expensive French ones?

As for the development of the industry in their native France, this is not within the scope of thought for those capitalists; after all, capitalists have no borders. They have no sense of loyalty to their countries, only to their interests.

That’s why Australasia has kept a low profile, while also taking care of the Frenchmen’s pride. Otherwise, the Australasian government could really shout slogans like surpassing France in four years and catching up with England in eight years!

Actually, this is not an exaggeration. According to intelligence from the Royal Security Intelligence Agency in the United Kingdom, the British industrial situation this year is far worse than last year. Not to mention positive growth, it is questionable whether they can maintain last year’s scale.

If we broaden the perspective to the entire world, a fairly obvious problem can be seen: the industries of the world are almost all growing slowly. This is not only due to the influence of influenza but also the post-war pains of all nations.

The lack of sufficient labor force is bound to have an impact on the economy and industry. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

This is also an excellent opportunity for Australasia to surpass other countries, and even after the first four-year plan is completed, to raise the industrial level of Australasia to the world’s fourth, only second to the United States, Britain, and Germany.

Here is a question: Where are the Russians, who used to have a decent industrial scale?

Although Arthur wants to place Russia in the ranks of industrial and economic powers, looking at the intelligence reports from intelligence personnel, Russia’s overall situation is already quite terrible.

This is not only about Tsarist or Soviet Russia, but the terrible situation refers to the entire Russia.

Before the war, Russia did have a certain level of industrial development. Although not high, steel production in 1913 could still maintain around 4.23 million tons, which was worthy of its status as the fourth-ranked power.

However, since the war began, the Russian industry has been severely impacted. First, the Germans occupied large areas of the Industrial Zone, followed by revolutions, civil wars, and the influenza that caused millions of deaths.

This has caused a massive blow to Russia’s industrial level, with steel production dropping from 4.23 million tons in 1913 to just 400,000 tons last year.

Although this figure is only an estimate by intelligence personnel and may differ from the actual situation somewhat.

However, the error would not be too large, which also means that Russia’s industry has experienced a devastating blow.

On the positive side, Russia can still maintain the scale of a major power based on its population.

But, if we put it negatively, apart from its current large population, Russia has almost nothing in common with other powerful nations, and it is still unclear who the country’s highest authority belongs to.

However, this is also good news for Australasia, as the excessive darkness in Russia has caused many Russian immigrants to abandon their nostalgia and confidence in their homeland and instead support the Australasian government.

Facing the chaotic domestic environment in Russia, the Russian people began to believe and identify with Australasia’s political environment as the best. After all, it was this political environment that allowed Australasia to grow into a middle power within less than 20 years.

The growing strength of Australasia and the decline of Russia have made these Russian immigrants very wise in knowing which side to choose.

Even before the Australasian government had a chance to influence these immigrants, they had already started declaring themselves as Australasians, as if admitting they were Russians would cause them to lose face.