Chapter 204: The Kingdom of Australasia
At the end of 1905, two major events took place. First, Norway became an independent country and chose the Danish Prince Carl as their king, King Haakon VII of Norway. This officially marked the dissolution of the Swedish-Norwegian Union, and a once strong Scandinavian power split into two smaller nations.
The second event occurred on October 2nd at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in the United Kingdom. On this day, the world-famous battleship Dreadnought officially began construction and, within just four months, was successfully launched and began testing. Although the testing phase lasted more than a year, it was undeniable how much this battleship, completed in just four months, would impact the future naval dynamics and military ship systems of the world.
At the end of 1905, the Australian and New Zealand Federal governments held a summary meeting to report their achievements and progress over the past year to Arthur.
The first topic was the Federation's population. After the merger of Australia and New Zealand, the Federation's population had already surpassed 5 million, reaching close to 6 million. By the end of 1905, the Federation's total population had exceeded 6.2 million, with Australia's population reaching 5.03 million, New Zealand's population at approximately 1.14 million, and New Guinea's population just over 30,000.
In terms of industry, Australia and New Zealand's industrial development had also been very rapid, with total steel production even surpassing 1.5 million tons. The Federation's steel output had officially exceeded 500,000 tons, reaching an impressive 513,200 tons. Iron production was also nearing 1 million tons, which was sufficient to meet the demand for steel within the Federation and even allowed for some exports to Southeast Asia.
It's worth noting that Australia's indigenous population integration plan in the Dutch East Indies, as well as the nationwide compulsory labor program for indigenous people, had been very successful. This success was largely due to the widespread racial ideology in Europe, where the White Australia policy and philosophy were strongly supported by all Federation citizens, with no one objecting to the oppression of the indigenous people.
Of course, Australians would never express it in such blunt terms. The country's development often required some dangerous labor, and in Australia, these tasks were mostly carried out by indigenous people, greatly reducing casualties among Australian workers.
A significant portion of the increasingly prosperous life in Australia was thanks to these indigenous people sacrificing their lives for the country's development.
As of now, the Australian National University had successfully graduated three cohorts of students, producing nearly 2,000 outstanding graduates. In this era, university degrees were highly valued, and these 2,000 individuals were poised to become the backbone of Australia's industry, potentially even the top forces in the future.
Australia's transportation sector had also made rapid progress in the past few years. The country had completed the connection of all cities with roads and extended these roads to smaller towns and facilities.
Regarding railways, after two years of development, Australia had completed a single-line railway connection between the capital of Western Australia, Perth, and the capital of South Australia, Adelaide. This meant that the industrial railway crossing all of Australia had completed its single-line construction, allowing Australians to travel from Perth to any capital city across five states and the Capital Territory, including Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle, and Brisbane.
Although Tasmania did not have railway access, its road system was the most developed of all the states in Australia.
To accommodate New Zealand's feelings, the Federal government had also planned two railways for New Zealand's North and South Islands. However, New Zealand already had an extensive railway network, so these new railways were more about maintenance and reactivation than new construction.
Another area of rapid development was the per capita income of the Australian and New Zealand Federation. By the end of 1905, the per capita annual income of the Federation had reached approximately 39 Australian dollars, or about 19.5 British pounds.
This income level had more than doubled compared to five years ago in Australia, highlighting the rapid development of the country during that time.
At this meeting, Arthur also proposed the idea of creating a new kingdom to gauge the attitude of the Cabinet members. Based on their reactions, Arthur was very satisfied. All Cabinet members supported the formation of a unified kingdom to better unite Australia and New Zealand.
In fact, the creation of the new kingdom had already received support from both the German Empire and the Russian Empire, with Austria-Hungary, a staunch ally of Germany, also unlikely to oppose it.
With the leverage Arthur had over Edward VII, the British king would not oppose the idea, instead waiting to see the reactions of the international community before making a decision.
France was not a monarchy, so their stance was of little concern to Arthur. Most of the other European monarchies were aligned with Britain, Germany, and Russia, and as long as these three powers did not oppose the idea, no other European monarchy would.
With the issues resolved, Arthur decided not to hesitate any longer and formally initiated discussions on the creation of the new kingdom.
Western countries valued legitimacy, and even the once all-powerful Napoleon, when declaring himself emperor, had to emphasize that he was the emperor of the French people.
However, since the decline of both the Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire, many European monarchs had resorted to various titles to claim imperial authority.
For example, Queen Victoria claimed the title of Empress of India, Tsar Nicholas II claimed the inheritance of the Byzantine Empire's legitimacy, and the German Empire rose from the ashes of the Holy Roman Empire. These examples demonstrated that, in the current European system, power could often surpass traditional legal claims.
However, despite all this, a reasonable justification still had to be presented. After all, the formation of a new kingdom would require a public announcement and a plausible reason to make it seem legitimate.
Firstly, the establishment of a unified kingdom had to have a legal foundation to encompass all territories. The name "Australia" already had some legal legitimacy, as New Zealand had previously been a colony of Australia. Creating a Kingdom of Australia to govern the present-day Australia and New Zealand seemed plausible.
However, it was undeniable that New Zealand had been independent for several decades, and the New Zealanders had developed distinct cultural differences from the Australians.
At this point, re-integrating New Zealanders into Australia and redefining them as Australians would be somewhat difficult.
However, there was a solution. As early as 1756, the French scholar Brose published a book titled Histoire des navigations aux terres australes, which referred to the region encompassing Australia, New Zealand, and nearby Pacific islands as Australasia.
Geographically, Australasia included the Australian continent, Tasmania, New Zealand, Melanesia, and even New Guinea and the neighboring islands of northeastern Australia.
The term Australasia perfectly encompassed Australia's current ruling territories, without causing any conflict with the legal foundation of Australasia.
Thus, creating a Kingdom of Australasia to rule all territories within the scope of Australasia was legally sound and had historical precedent.
A new name also avoided conflicts between Australians and New Zealanders, allowing both to merge into the new nation as a new people, the Australasians.
In fact, after Australia and New Zealand became independent, the name "Australasia" was used for a time, such as during the 1905-1913 tennis competitions, where both countries participated as "Australasia," and again during the 1908 and 1912 Olympic Games.
This demonstrated the positive attitude towards cooperation between Australians and New Zealanders, as the ethnic composition was similar, with most of both populations being descendants of British and European immigrants, making the ethnic differences minimal.
With Arthur's high support and great prestige in both Australia and New Zealand, the new nation's establishment was widely supported, making it a realistic and achievable goal.
The discussions continued into the evening as Cabinet members debated. Naturally, after the formation of the new kingdom, the Federation's government would be replaced by a unified kingdom government.
This also meant that the governments of the Australian and New Zealand duchies had to be reconsidered, alongside the future structure of the new kingdom's government.
These discussions involved matters that directly affected the officials' interests, which is why the negotiations continued well into the night without resolution.
However, many important matters were settled. For example, the new kingdom would be named the Kingdom of Australasia, with Sydney still serving as the capital of the Kingdom. The administrative divisions of Australia would remain largely unchanged.
If the unified kingdom government was established, the governments of the Australian and New Zealand duchies would be abolished.
Eventually, Arthur made the decision to abolish the governments of the Australian and New Zealand duchies once the Kingdom of Australasia was formed, making the six Australian states, the Capital Territory, and the two New Zealand states directly governed by the Kingdom.
The former Federal House of Representatives and Royal House would be renamed the House of Representatives and Royal House of the Kingdom of Australasia.
This move would greatly strengthen the union between Australia and New Zealand, transforming them into a unified kingdom. Arthur's ability to make this decision stemmed from his control over the Australian and New Zealand duchy governments, along with his high popularity and support in both countries.
As long as the Australians and New Zealanders did not oppose, even if some officials had objections, no major issues would arise.
In the following days, Arthur convened the key officials from the Australian and New Zealand duchy governments to discuss the future of the officials within the new kingdom's government.
Australia would serve as the foundation of the new kingdom, and the current Cabinet would form the first Cabinet of the new kingdom.
The main issue was the future roles of New Zealand duchy government officials. Some would be transferred to the state governments of New Zealand's two states, while others would join the kingdom government.
At the same time, Cabinet members had often complained about the shortage of personnel in various departments, and this expansion of government roles would strengthen administrative efficiency.
As the discussions continued, the date quickly arrived in 1906.
On January 10, 1906, in the Capital Territory, Sydney, before the Sydney Palace.
Although the main body of the Sydney Palace was still under construction, the gardens and square in front were already open for use.
As Australia's largest square, Arthur decided to host the national celebration for the new year here.
Weeks earlier, rumors had circulated that the National Day event would be significant, prompting many from outside the Capital Territory to decide to attend.
Even though the square was much larger than before, it was still packed with people, and some areas were nearly impassable.
The newly completed square had already exceeded its estimated capacity for this major national event.
Fortunately, the construction of Sydney Palace was a key national project, with strict supervision and high-quality materials purchased from around the world, ensuring that no substandard work was done.
At around 8 a.m., Arthur's motorcade arrived under heavy guard and stopped in front of the reviewing stand.
Arthur descended from the vehicle, followed by key officials from the Cabinet and both duchy governments.
After walking steadily to the reviewing stand, the usual flag-raising ceremony and speech were delayed.
Arthur approached the microphone, surveyed the crowd, and then began, "My fellow Australians and New Zealanders, I am pleased to meet you at this momentous occasion."
"The union between Australians and New Zealanders has lasted over a year, and our Federation has made great strides. I believe all Australians and New Zealanders can see how much better our lives have become."
Cheers and applause rang out from the crowd, confirming Arthur's words.
After waiting a moment, Arthur continued, "Now, I believe it is time for our union to become even stronger! Australians and New Zealanders will no longer be separated; we will live together in one new nation."
He looked out at the crowd's reaction and added, "I have decided to merge Australia and New Zealand into a new kingdom, which will be called Australasia! From now on, we will all be citizens of Australasia, proud Australasians. Long live Australasia!"
"Long live Australasia!"
"Long live His Highness the Duke!"
The crowd cheered, realizing that with the formation of the kingdom, Arthur would no longer be Duke but King.
The cheers then changed to "Long live Australasia!" and "Long live His Majesty the King!"
Though initially surprised by the establishment of the kingdom, the crowd quickly turned to joy and excitement.
The applause continued for a long time, even disrupting the next part of the program.
But no one minded, not even Arthur and the government officials.
Once the square settled down, Arthur continued, "As your King, I will continue to honor my commitment to protect all my citizens, the Australasians, all Australians and New Zealanders. Our country's rise and prosperity, our dream to lead the world, is the shared goal of our nation, government, royal family, and every Australasian. I hope all Australians and New Zealanders will unite to build our new kingdom, to work together for our shared dream of rise and prosperity. Long live Australasia!"
In order to stabilize the newly formed kingdom, unifying all Australians and New Zealanders under the identity of "Australasians" was essential.
That's why Arthur repeatedly emphasized the concept of Australasians, a term that would be easily accepted by both Australians and New Zealanders.
As the crowd continued to cheer, the National Day activities proceeded smoothly.
Since the kingdom's flag had not yet been decided, the flags of Australia and New Zealand Federations, as well as the royal flag, flew above the square.
After the government released a public solicitation for flag designs, it was expected that the flag of the Kingdom of Australasia would be decided soon.
The Victoria News and Australia Daily quickly published Arthur's entire speech from the National Day event, along with an announcement about the formation of the Kingdom of Australasia.
Of course, Arthur's actions didn't end there. On the international front, he officially notified all countries and invited major powers and important nations to send diplomatic ambassadors.
(End of Chapter)
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