The Rise of Australia

Whether it was Arthur or Britain and France, they were still very willing to see Nicholas II's compromise.

As for the request for strong support mentioned by Nicholas II, Britain, France and Arthur would naturally not refuse.

After all, a relatively strong Russia is good for Britain, France and Australasia. Especially when Russia's strength is limited, Britain and France will naturally not have any concerns.

Witnessed by many countries, many countries jointly signed the "London Peace Declaration" on the 1st, which also represented the end of the Russian Civil War that lasted for more than four years, and Eastern Europe finally ushered in the long-lost peace.

This civil war changed the world situation tremendously, and also gave birth to new countries including Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

However, the Ukrainian region was still retained, plus the Belarusian and Galician regions, and the new Russia was still very large, even if it was divided into two halves.

If Tsarist Russia, which has the upper hand, can properly restore its economy and industry, it will at least be ranked as the sixth great power after Britain, the United States, France and Australia.

As for the other country, although it occupies a small area, it still has a population of tens of millions, so it is no problem to work hard to become a great power.

This is also the inherent advantage brought by Russia's huge population and land. Even though Russia was divided into many countries, the two largest countries were still able to compete for the status of great powers.

At present, many great powers cannot do this. Except for the United Kingdom and the United States, no country can be promoted to a great power after splitting.

After the signing of the peace treaty, representatives from various countries did not stay away. Because there is still an extremely important meeting to be held about the distribution of these new countries.

Lithuania is a puppet republic under the control of Poland. Poland's occupation of Lithuania is tacitly accepted by Britain and France. Naturally, there is no need to discuss Lithuania's independence.

But apart from that, the independence of Finland, Estonia and Latvia has become the top priority of discussions among various countries.

Although the Grand Duchy of Finland was established in the 18th century, the Russian Tsar has been serving as the Grand Duke of Finland since then. Finland does not have an independent government or monarch.

After being recognized as independent in the true sense this time, the new Grand Duke of Finland has become a matter of concern to the European royal family.

In addition, the newly established Latvia and Estonia are also independent kingdoms.

The selection of the monarchs of these three countries is not only a topic of concern to the European royal families, but also a topic of concern to other powerful countries.

In addition, all major powers want to occupy more interests in these new countries. After all, it is not without purpose for the major powers to agree to the independence of these countries. To put it bluntly, it is to carve up the interests of these small countries.

There are three countries in total: the Grand Duchy of Finland, the Kingdom of Latvia and the Kingdom of Estonia, which are divided between the three countries of Britain, France and Australia.

This also means that Arthur can mention a candidate at will to become the monarch of any of these three countries.

Of course, this candidate cannot be mentioned too casually. At least a member of the royal family who is recognized by the European royal family must have pure blood and a good reputation in order to be recognized by the people of these countries.

Otherwise, even if the three major powers put him on the throne, he is destined to be overthrown by dissatisfied people one day.

After careful consideration, Arthur exchanged a certain amount of compensation from Germany for the decision-making power for the Archduke of Finland.

Compared with Latvia and Estonia, the Grand Duchy of Finland has a larger land area and a population several times that of these two small countries.

Although a considerable part of the land is located in the Arctic Circle, as long as there is not too much ambition, stable development can still keep one's throne.

Originally, Arthur wanted to hand over the title of Grand Duke of Finland to one of his sons, but currently the eldest William is only 14 years old.

In addition, Finland is only a small country after all, and it is easily dominated by Russia in the east and European powers. When the Archduke of Finland suffered for decades, Arthur gave up his idea.

However, one person still came into Arthur's sight, and that was Arthur's brother-in-law, Queen Mary's brother Dmitry.

Dmitry was born at the age of 18, which is exactly 32 years old, which is considered an age when he has started to stabilize.

And because he lost his biological mother when he was young and was fostered under his uncle's name, the relationship between the siblings is relatively good, and they can be said to be dependent on each other.

After the death of Grand Duke Sergei and his wife, Dmitri lived in Australasia. He admired his brother-in-law Arthur very much and learned a lot of knowledge in Australasia.

But from the perspective of blood relationship and favorability, these are the reasons why Arthur supports Dmitri.

Moreover, Dmitry's origin and bloodline are also quite noble. His father, Grand Duke Paul, was the legitimate son of the late Tsar Alexander II and a member of the powerful Russian royal family.

Coupled with the fact that Dmitry showed a very pro-Australasian character in Australasia, Arthur believed that under his rule, he would certainly show a pro-Australasian side.

Of course, this is actually the helpless choice of these small countries. For small and medium-sized countries in this world, in this cruel era, they must find a country strong enough to protect themselves.

If Australasia can rely on Dmitri's relationship to obtain a small military base in Finland, it will also be beneficial to Australasia.

What's more, Dmitri is definitely the most suitable candidate for Australasia. Before his children grow up, Arthur is not willing to send them to these extremely cold places to rule these poor countries with a small population.

Arthur doesn't care how Britain and France distribute Latvia and Estonia. For Arthur, the most important thing is to elect Dmitri as the Grand Duke of Finland.

On the 1st, Henry Louis Whitfield, the Australasian ambassador to Russia, visited independent Finland on behalf of Arthur and Australasia and expressed Arthur's condolences.

Henry Louis Whitfield's diplomatic visit was warmly welcomed by the government of the Grand Duchy of Finland, and the welcome scene was very important. This is also a smart point of this small country.

During the meeting with the current interim Prime Minister of the Grand Duchy of Finland, Henry Louis Whitfield mentioned in a very subtle way that Arthur was very concerned about the election of the Grand Duke of Finland and was willing to provide some help in the construction of the Grand Duchy of Finland.

Obviously, those who can reach high positions are smart people, because fools have been eliminated in the cruel competition at the bottom.

Nicholas John Fitzgerald, the interim Prime Minister of the Grand Duchy of Finland, understood very well what Henry Louis Whitfield meant when he said this, but at the same time he also put forward his own condition, which was to serve as the official Prime Minister of the new government.

Henry Louis Whitfield was a little dissatisfied, because Arthur's concern for Dmitri was already obvious, and naturally it was impossible to allow anyone in Finland to compete with Dmitri for power.

However, Henry Louis Whitfield reported Nicholas John Fitzgerald's request to Arthur and awaited Arthur's final decision.

"To become the first Prime Minister of Finland?" Arthur smiled disdainfully, looked at the more reserved Dmitri beside him, and asked with a smile: "Dmitri, what do you think about this matter? How should we deal with it?”

At this time, Dmitri, who had learned from Arthur that he was about to become the Grand Duke of Finland, was very nervous and excited.

Although he could enjoy a luxurious aristocratic life in Russia before and now in Australasia, who doesn't want to become the monarch of an independent country?

After all, the status between aristocrats and monarchs is very different. Although Dmitri has no disrespect for Arthur and even admires him very much, this does not hinder Dmitri's expectation to become an independent monarch.

"Your Majesty, agree to his request. Finland currently needs stability, and I am confident that we can solve this competitor." Dmitri took a deep breath and said to Arthur with great respect.

The contenders here were not contenders for the throne but for power in the Finnish government.

Although a country can have both a Grand Duke and a Prime Minister, there is always only one person who controls the power.

The final consequence of sharing power between two people is that either the royal power takes over the prime minister, or the prime minister takes over the royal power.

After all, who could resist the temptation of power? Although Finland is not big, it is a country with a population of more than 3 million, and its power and status are quite satisfying.

Arthur was quite satisfied with Dmitri's answer. He nodded and said, "Let this self-righteous guy fool around for a few more days! Think that as the Governor of Finland, he can decide the future of Finland? This is simply too much. Ridiculous. Dmitry, I will give you five divisions of weapons and equipment, and send people to help you train the army, control the government, etc. I hope you will not let me down, and no one can challenge the majesty of our monarch."

Dmitri was quite excited to hear the support given by Arthur.

If the weapons and equipment of the five divisions are judged according to Australasia's military establishment, they are definitely world-class in terms of firepower alone.

Even if a division only has 80,000 troops, it is completely enough for Dmitri's early deployment of troops.

After all, Finland only has a population of 3 million. For a country located in the far north and surrounded by ice and snow, having too strong a military strength is not a good thing. After all, neighbors will be wary of it.

Finland's neighbors are Sweden, Norway and Russia, none of which Finland can afford to offend at present.

Dmitri also understood that the purpose of Arthur giving him so many weapons and equipment was not to allow him to expand externally, but to stabilize the government's situation.

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