The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1082 - 808: George V’s Request

The grandeur of the Empire's establishment was fleeting; apart from the people of Australasia, who were still celebrating, government officials and royal families had already embarked on their journeys home.

Of course, there were still numerous representatives from various governments and royal families who had chosen to stay behind to celebrate Arthur's birthday.

This was Arthur's first birthday since becoming Emperor, officially marking his 45th year and thus slowly advancing towards the age of 50.

Although constantly being praised by representatives and royal families for his political prime, Arthur was already exhausted by the endless daily affairs of state.

If it hadn't been for William growing up and taking over a significant portion of the governmental duties, Arthur truly felt that being a king was not an easy task.

Especially now that he was approaching 50, Arthur did not intend to hold onto imperial power until the day he died.

To hand over the throne to William at an appropriate time—this was the most beneficial choice for the stability of the country and the royal succession.

It wasn't just Arthur; he would also teach and require future monarchs to timely and proactively give up the throne at the appropriate moment, for the sake of their successors and descendants.

The most vivid example was right in front of him—Queen Victoria, who once ruled Britain during the Victorian Era.

Queen Victoria remained the sacred Her Majesty the Queen of the British Empire until the day she died.

Although Arthur had no objections to this, it could not be denied that the frequent changes in the British throne following Queen Victoria and the gradual loss of power by British kings were somewhat related to Queen Victoria's long reign.

Queen Victoria's son, Edward VII, was born in 1841 and was already 60 when he became king.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Europeans' average lifespan was only 47.5 years. This meant that Edward VII, at 60, was already very old, and even with access to a more exceptional medical team than average, his time on the throne would inevitably be short.

Even more problematic was that because of Edward VII's casual demeanor and indiscretions, Queen Victoria had never allowed him to manage any state affairs.

It wasn't until after Edward VII turned 50 that he was allowed to gradually involve himself with government duties.

What loyalty could officials have for a Crown Prince who had already passed the age of 50?

Precisely because of such a stark example in Britain, Arthur would use himself as a model and demand future monarchs of Australasia to also pay attention to their heirs.

The Crown Prince must start to gradually involve himself in state affairs from the age of 18 in order to earn the loyalty of some officers.

Most of the representatives and royal families that continued to stay in Australia were quite familiar with Arthur or were directly related to him as blood relatives and family.

It is worth mentioning, King George V of Britain also stayed behind. Judging by King George V's demeanor, he seemed to have matters to discuss with Arthur.

Indeed, the day after Arthur's birthday, which was January 14, 1933, King George V approached Arthur and finally revealed the purpose of his visit.

The purpose of King George V's visit, besides using the opportunity of attending Arthur's coronation ceremony to strengthen their relationship, was also to seek Arthur's assistance on matters concerning the royal family.

This brings us to George V's eldest son, the infamous Edward VIII in British history.

In theory, whether or not George V favored any of his sons had nothing to do with Arthur.

While Arthur had a claim to the British throne, he was placed after all the descendants of Edward VII, which means his place in the succession was quite far down the line.

However, since Arthur and Queen Mary had become godparents to Princess Elizabeth, they naturally became involved in the succession to the British throne.

It must be noted that Edward VIII, the current Prince Edward, had not yet married and produced an heir.

Logically, this Crown Prince born in 1894 should be nearly 37 years old by now.

If he does not marry and have children soon, when the time comes for the Crown Prince to ascend the throne, he will likely lack the energy and capability to continue the lineage.

But George V clearly could no longer control Prince Edward, who had his own ideas. Like his namesake grandfather, Prince Edward led a scandalous private life.

Despite remaining unmarried to this day, Prince Edward particularly enjoyed dalliances and was especially fond of having affairs with married women, displaying the decadent behavior of a profligate.

While European royal families generally had lovers, most nobility valued their reputation and protected their private lives rather well.

Prince Edward was different. He did not shy away from his affairs with married women being reported, which dealt a heavy blow to the reputation of the British Royal Family.

In actual history, King George V was very dissatisfied with his elder son, Prince Edward, and even once said, "After I die, this boy (Prince Edward) will destroy himself within 12 months. I pray to God that my eldest son will never marry and that nothing will ever stand in the way of Bertie (George VI) and Lilibet (Elizabeth) ascending to the throne."

The attitude from which King George V spoke made clear his disdain for Prince Edward, as well as his recognition of George VI and the future Queen Elizabeth's ascendance to the throne.

So the question arises, why didn't he just change his heir if King George V so despised and opposed Prince Edward's succession?

This brings us to the constraints of the constitutional monarchy of Britain on Edward V. It's not that easy to change an heir, and doing so would cause a huge blow to the royal family's reputation.

To change an heir, one must prove that the current heir is unfit to continue in his position.

If King George V could manage to replace the heir in such a way, by the time George VI succeeded, the royal family's prestige would already have been lost.

Therefore, even though King George V was reluctant to see Prince Edward ascend the throne, he didn't have many ways to oppose or even depose him.

And indeed, Prince Edward lived up to King George V's expectations. His first marriage triggered a constitutional crisis, he had no offspring, and ultimately, the throne was peacefully succeeded by George VI.

The reason King George V sought Arthur's help at this time was to ensure that, should the British throne face a crisis in the future, Arthur would be able to assist the British Royal Family.

Arthur naturally agreed to King George V's request. After all, he and Queen Mary were the godparents of Princess Elizabeth, and Princess Elizabeth's accession to the throne was in Arthur's interest.

Moreover, with a formidable enemy at hand, it was very important for Arthur that the British people stabilize internally.

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At least until the end of World War II, Arthur wanted to see a stronger Britain, which would make the war in Europe even more chaotic and further drain the colonial empires like Britain and France.

If Australasia were to assist the British Royal Family, it could also demand more land in the aftermath of World War II, and perhaps achieve a smooth and peaceful takeover.

Arthur's demands were not excessive: a complete Strait Colony, part of the islands in the Indian Ocean, and dominion over other oil-producing regions in the Arab world, would be enough to maintain Australasian hegemony.

As for India and Africa, Arthur had absolutely no interest. After World War II, even without the involvement of the United States, Russia was destined not to let a severely weakened colonial empire off the hook.

The collapse of the colonies was inevitable; even without interference from other countries, these colonies would gain independence sooner or later.

Unless Arthur was willing to dedicate most of Australasia's efforts to maintaining colonial order, which was clearly impractical for Arthur, who aspired to compete for global supremacy.

Before World War II, Powers could forcibly control other countries, but after the war, they generally could only maintain control economically.

This is why Arthur wanted to establish a unified market and incorporate countries like the Philippines and Kalimantan into it.

As long as a unified market existed, these two countries would not break away from Australasian control.

Sometimes, economic control is more effective than all-around control, after all, the people will hate the one who stands visibly in charge, not seeing the deeper interests at play.

After speaking at length with King George V, Arthur was quite satisfied. At least from King George V's attitude, it was evident that the British Royal Family had no intention of antagonizing Australasia.

What does this imply? The Anglo-Australian alliance could be maintained until the outbreak of World War II, and Arthur need not worry about unexpected developments in the world situation that would differ from history.

The current focus in Europe was still the confrontation between the German-Italian Allies and the British-French coalition of Austria.

It's worth mentioning that the opposing forces were still called the Allies and the Allied Nations, although the members of these two blocs had changed dramatically.

The British continued to adhere to their policy of balance, remaining neutral among these military blocs and keeping a detached stance as if watching a play.

With the British remaining neutral, Arthur had no reason to step forward proactively. For Australasia, weakening Europe's strength as much as possible was of utmost importance.

Especially Britain and France, both were in Arthur's crosshairs for weakening. This also meant one thing: the Germans had to find another powerful ally to force the British to abandon their balancing policy and join the coalition against France.

The issue is, within Europe, which country could be a reliable ally for Germany, and at the same time, alert the British to a threat?

Arthur looked over the entire map of Europe, and most countries did not have the capability, nor would they easily join the military confrontation in Europe.

While merely choosing sides seems simple, if war broke out between the two military blocs, it would not bode well for those nations who had aligned hastily.