The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 880 - 657: The Intelligent Baldwin

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The losses at the various branches of the Benz Car Factory were certainly bad news, but at the moment, Arthur was not the most troubled.

After all, Arthur only had half of the dividends and earnings of each branch, while the majority of the shares were in the hands of the local nobility and capitalists.

The car factories in Britain and Germany didn’t concern Arthur entirely, as the British and German nobility were more worried than Arthur, and they would never allow the car factories to go bankrupt.

As for the Benz Car Factories in Australasia and the United States, Arthur could accept such losses.

After all, the cars were just piling up in storage, and they could still be sold at the original price to the Americans after a few years.

At worst, he could follow other American enterprises and lay off a large number of employees; after all, most of the workers were Americans, and it would be the American Government that would have to deal with the aftermath of the layoffs.

As for the main factory, there was no need to lay off employees.

Production of civilian cars could temporarily halt, and the car factory could start building military trucks instead.

It was an opportune time to strengthen the mechanization of the Australasia Army, especially in Europe and the United States where highways were well developed; military trucks could play a significant role.@@@@

Yes, Arthur was already plotting a war against the United States and Europe.

This did not mean that Arthur was intent on initiating war with some European nations or the United States, but the necessary preparations had to be made.

History had already shown that Germany, burdened with the transferred crisis, would not remain silent. The Germans had long attached their hatred for the annexed territories to the French, and with the British and French now shifting the economic crisis onto them, the Germans were bound to act.

Even if Hitler did not rise to power, other extremists would surely gain the support of the outraged Germans and push Germany towards the tides of war.

This trend was unstoppable unless some country could bear Germany’s economic crisis, giving the Germans a respite.

Then the French would have to be beaten by the Germans, who would return Alsace and Lorraine.

But is that likely? The French wouldn’t agree, and the British would not stand idly by and let the former German Empire re-emerge.

After all, the current dominion of France in Europe is merely a facade, whereas the previous Germany was a true European superpower, without a hint of exaggeration.

However, whether it was a war against Germany or against the United States, the support of the British Empire was essential.

Both these hypothetical enemies were located on other continents thousands of miles away; without the backing of Britain, who had the world’s leading navy, Australasia could not pose a threat to these countries.

But it also seems that whether it’s a war against Germany or against the United States, it would certainly involve multiple nations.

Even a multi-nation alliance carving up the United States is not impossible, especially considering the current situation in the United States is not so good, with even the risk of a civil war looming.

August 23, 1926, London, United Kingdom, the Prime Minister’s residence.

The current Prime Minister of Britain is Stanley Baldwin of the Conservative Party, a relatively familiar figure.

Although he might pose a threat to the capitalists during his term as Prime Minister, how long could his term last?

Even those capitalists could use their funds to convince numerous members of parliament to impeach the Prime Minister, and Baldwin without his position as Prime Minister, how could he resist the colossal bourgeois?

This was also the situation in most European countries. After the monarch lost power, the government’s power was actually in the hands of capitalists.

Gradually, capitalists gained a say in the government, and the lives of the people turned out to be worse than in the times of monarchy.

Had it not been for the massive propaganda of freedom and democracy by the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II, which led to the prevalence of human rights and nationalism, perhaps the lives of the people in European countries wouldn’t be as good as they are.

"How many people can our relief grain be distributed to?" Prime Minister Baldwin inquired.

Since the outbreak of the economic crisis, the British Government had begun to distribute relief grain to the unemployed population.

After all, London was a colossal urban city with a population of over 7.5 million, with too many urban residents. Under the premise of losing their jobs, they had no income or food harvest.

If they were not given relief grain, it would probably take less than one week before these individuals would starve and become skeletal corpses in the streets.

"We distribute relief funds at the rate of 10 pounds of grain per household every four days, one liter of milk, one pound of meat. Based on the recent numbers of those picking up relief grain, about 750,000 households are receiving our relief grain, and the number is still increasing," the Minister of Home Affairs carefully considered this data, then reported it to Prime Minister Baldwin.

Prime Minister Baldwin rubbed his forehead, questioning, "Is our grain reserve still enough?"

"It’s sufficient for now, but it won’t last long," the Minister of Home Affairs replied. "It is very difficult to deliver supplies evenly to every area, just maintaining the supply in London is already quite challenging."

Prime Minister Baldwin nodded, saying somewhat helplessly, "Australasia should have enough grain and meat production, right? Now is the time for allies to contribute. Have them provide us with a large amount of grain and meat at the cost price before the economic crisis."

"That... the Australasians might not agree, right?" the Minister of Home Affairs asked with some hesitation.

"We have to try anyway; we can’t let our allies take advantage of the economic crisis. They are attracting a substantial number of immigrants from our unemployed population, aren’t they? Tell Australasia that we support them in attracting a large number of immigrants from our unemployed population, but we can proactively send them immigrants.

However, we have our demands, let them provide us with a large amount of grain and meat at cost price. This is about the friendly cooperation between allies," Prime Minister Baldwin said with a smile.

In Prime Minister Baldwin’s view, this was a plan that killed two birds with one stone. It would not only transport a large number of troublesome unemployed people to Australasia but also obtain a substantial amount of grain and meat from Australasia to relieve the domestic unemployed population.

Thus, the crisis brought by the domestic unemployed population could be readily resolved, at least his seat as Prime Minister was safe for the time being.

As for the population loss caused by the large number of immigrants moving to Australasia, Prime Minister Baldwin didn’t care much.

After all, the population of the British Empire was over 40 million, with hundreds of millions more in the colonies.

If only a few hundred thousand to a million immigrants were lost, that wasn’t unacceptable, especially under the premise of an economic crisis that had led to a dramatic increase in the unemployed population.

If these unemployed people continued to stay in Britain, it would inevitably lead to more issues and actually endanger the British Government’s rule.

Prime Minister Baldwin considered himself clever. With all nations furiously vying for immigrants, Australasia would definitely not be able to take too many British immigrants.

If just a few hundred thousand unemployed people could be traded for a substantial amount of grain and meat, then this deal was very cost-effective. Prime Minister Baldwin’s name would be engraved on the honor roll of British Prime Ministers, and his handling of the economic crisis would go down in history as an outstanding contribution to his prime ministerial career.