Chapter 323: Chapter 283: New Warship Order

After his trip to Germany, Arthur went straight to Russia, visited Tsar Nicholas II and Duke Sergei, and saw the still bedridden Crown Prince Aleksei.

There was no alternative; perhaps this was the trouble with having many relatives. Both Germany and Russia had close familial relations with Arthur, and their relations were also very friendly between the countries, which meant that Arthur had to move about more.

Moreover, both Germany and Russia could provide a lot of help to Australasia, and their status as powerful nations is precisely what Australasia currently lacked in allies.

Of course, the tangible help that Russia could provide to Australasia at this time was not much, perhaps the most useful would be the endless stream of Russian immigrants.

During his few days in Russia, Arthur signed a new immigration treaty with Nicholas II.

As stipulated in the treaty, Australasia would pay the Russian government 5 million rubles in compensation each year in exchange for the Russian government’s strong support in exporting immigrants to Australasia.

Of course, because of the increased funding, Arthur also made a request that when screening immigrants, they must meet the corresponding conditions of Australasia.

While 5 million rubles was not a lot of assets for Arthur, it was not too little for the Russian government’s finances.

Under the witness of Nicholas II and Arthur, the two governments quickly signed an agreement.

Nicholas II even joked that if Australasia needed it, he could fully mobilize the government to export millions of immigrants to Australasia every year.

In truth, for the Russian Empire, exporting millions of immigrants every year was entirely feasible.

It should be noted that as of this year, 1910, Russia’s population exceeded 160 million. In recent years, the annual increase in the Russian population fluctuated between 3 million and 5 million; exporting 1 million people every year was not painful to the Russian Empire at all.

However, the problem was that if Australasia were to accept one million Russian immigrants each year, it would quickly increase the population in the short term, and there was hope that the population would break through 15 million before World War I.

But the possible consequences faced might be an imbalance of national proportions within the country, with Russian immigrants even approaching the main ethnic British immigrants, affecting internal unity and stability.

According to the new immigration treaty signed between Arthur and Nicholas II, the treaty would last for five years, with Australasia paying 5 million rubles each year, and Russia exporting 400,000 screened immigrants to Australasia.

The five-year validity of the treaty would bring about an influx of 2 million Russian immigrants to Australia, which also happens to be the maximum amount of Russian immigrants that Australasia can absorb.

With the addition of immigrants from Britain, Germany, and other parts of Europe, Australasia has the expectation that by 1915 the population will exceed 13 million, with the British population still able to maintain the 60% majority.

By the end of World War I, with another large wave of refugees, the population should reach 17 million before 1920.

Although it is uncertain whether there will be a World War II in this world, within five years of the end of World War I, the population of Australasia had hopes of breaking through 20 million, cementing the power and position of major powers.

During these few days in Russia, the Russian Navy Department frequently sought an audience with Arthur, and finally, with the nod of Nicholas II, a new warship procurement order was agreed upon.

The previous two Monarch-class battleships, Peter Pavlovskiy, and Poltava, had shown excellent combat capabilities and performance, far exceeding the performance of all the old battleships of the Pacific Squadron during training.

The performance of the two dreadnoughts allowed General Makarov, who was stationed at Port Arthur, to report overnight to the Navy Department and Nicholas II, requesting that the Russian government order more Monarch-class battleships.

According to General Makarov’s words, if the Pacific Fleet were equipped with two additional dreadnoughts, then even with Britain’s support, Japan would never be a match for Russia.

Unfortunately, Britain conceded some interests and reached an agreement with Russia that Russia could not act in the Far East in the short term. Thus, General Makarov’s plan was thwarted.

However, the power of the Monarch-class battleships had already entered the vision of the Russian high-ranking officials.

Russia had a strange characteristic: the upper echelons were willing to spend large sums of money to buy imposing large cannons and battleships but were reluctant to provide fresh meat and food for the naval officers and soldiers, as well as the corresponding refrigeration and preservation equipment.

The military officers in charge of procurement were even willing to risk being beaten to death by mutinous naval soldiers rather than buy fresh ingredients for them, even considering it a normal part of naval life.

In 1905, the Eagle battleship mutiny occurred because an officer brought a diseased cow to the kitchen to make lunch and gave it to the naval soldiers. In June of the same year, the Po Jiangjin battleship mutiny occurred because a procurement officer made borscht with maggot-infested rotten meat and gave it to the soldiers, resulting in the entire battleship being controlled by the rebellious naval soldiers and escaping to Romania.

In May 1907, some naval officers and soldiers of the Black Sea Fleet were planning to mutiny on four battleships but due to the plan being leaked, the mutiny ultimately failed.

All these mutiny incidents had caused Nicholas II himself to lose confidence in the highly mutinous Baltic and Black Sea fleets. If it were not for the importance of the Navy and the Pacific Fleet under General Makarov giving Nicholas II hope, the Baltic Fleet would have gone directly under the control of the Army, which had already been responsible for guarding the security of the capital Saint Petersburg. This had already cost the Baltic Fleet its combat capabilities.

It must be acknowledged that the Russian Empire was already extremely corrupt by this time.

The empire’s upper and even middle classes had become very corrupt and extravagant. The bottom-level military force was in disarray, and the soldiers lacked training and discipline. The country’s situation was no longer that of a strong nation.

However, Arthur felt helpless regarding this situation, as he was not a part of the Russian Monarchy after all. Even if Arthur made suggestions, it was unlikely that Nicholas II would adopt them.

He could only pray that the collapse of the Russian Empire in future wars would be slower and that there might be a chance to save the Russian Monarchy.

The new warship procurement order was undoubtedly generous, and it should be Russia Country’s last order within five years.

This procurement order included two Monarch-class battleships and two Unified-class battlecruisers, a total of four powerful main battleships.

At first, Arthur was amazed at the Russians’ generosity, but when he heard that all four warships would be equipped to the Baltic Sea, he understood that there must be support from Britain and France.

After all, the stronger the Russian navy in the Baltic Sea, the more restrained the Russian High Seas Fleet would be.

If the French were more proactive in the development of dreadnought battleships, they could even join forces with Britain to blockade the High Seas Fleet in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.

Unfortunately, the French were as slow in their dreadnought actions as in history, and perhaps they would have to rely on British protection for France’s North and West coasts, just like in history.

The two Monarch-class battleships were named the Empress Maria and Empress Catherine the Great, while the two Unified-class battlecruisers were named Gangut and Sevastopol.

According to the agreement reached between the Russian Navy and Australasia, Australasia needed to deliver half of the four main battleships by the end of 1913, and complete the entire order by the end of 1914.

Arthur made a rough calculation and found that there was plenty of time.

Australasia is currently building two Unified-class cruisers, which should be completed around the beginning of 1911.

From the beginning of 1911 to the end of 1913, there are nearly three years, enough to complete the construction and testing of two of the four warships.

The cost of a Monarch-class battleship is about 1.9 million pounds, with a sale price to Russia of 2.4 million pounds.

Unified-class cruisers are slightly cheaper, at around 1.72 million pounds, with a sale price to Russia of 2.1 million pounds.

Due to the good relationship between Russia and Australasia, the sale price of both warships to Russia is cheaper than the external sale price, but the profit of the shipyard is still substantial, at over 400,000 pounds pure profit for each vessel.

The total cost of the Russian order for four warships is as high as 81 million rubles, which amounts to 18 million Australian Dollars.

And Arthur’s Royal Shipyard is expected to earn 3.52 million Australian Dollars in this trade. After deducting the taxes paid to the government, the shipyard should be able to book at least 3 million Australian Dollars in profits.

It must be said that the profit from exporting armaments, especially selling warships, is really high. This order of four warships can allow Arthur to build another battlecruiser.

As time enters the second decade of the 20th century, the various competitions in Europe have visibly become more intense.

No country involved in the two major military blocs can escape this arms race.

According to the Royal Intelligence Bureau, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is secretly building dreadnoughts and has named them Joint Power-class battleships.

However, among the major European powers, the path of dreadnoughts for the Austro-Hungarian Empire is considered relatively difficult.

Since the birth of the dreadnought, several years have passed. Countries like Britain and Germany have already innovated on the basis of dreadnoughts, designing and building more powerful dreadnoughts.

As for the powers like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, even the most basic dreadnought has not started yet, and they are still arguing with their parliaments.

If it weren’t for the Navy Department’s unauthorized self-funding and starting the construction of two dreadnoughts without getting parliamentary approval, the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s first dreadnought would probably have to wait until the end of 1915.

Currently, the two countries, Britain and Germany, which are best able to export dreadnoughts, are basically in a naval competition, so it is unlikely they will take in too many outside orders for warships.

This means that, in the coming years, it should be the best opportunity for Australasia to sell warships abroad.

Keep in mind that, in this era, there is also a naval race in smaller regions like South America, which is also an opportunity for Australasia.

After all, making money is not a small matter. If they could use the profits from the sale of Monarch-class battleships to build more St Vincent-class battleships, it would be of great significance for the navy of Australasia.

After finalizing the order and delivery time with the Russian Navy Department, Arthur hurriedly embarked on his journey back to Australasia.