Chapter 685 - 516: Treaty Limiting Naval Military Preparation_2
As for the third proposal, it called for the United States to provide an explanation for the spread of the third wave of influenza and to offer compensation.
Regardless of the mortality rate of the flu, the economic damage to countries around the world is quite severe.
As the spread of the third wave of influenza intensifies and the American people have yet to offer any explanation, the British would not let them off the hook.
For the British, having such a legitimate opportunity to suppress their competitors is something they won’t miss even if they think about it with their toes.
The most important competitors for the British at this time are France and the United States. The threat level from France is not as great as that from the United States before it fully recovers.
The main reason why the British proposed limiting the number of naval arms of various countries is to restrict the Americans.
At this time, the French have no interest in building up their navy. The Royal Navy’s real competitors are the American navy.
At present, in terms of naval scale and comprehensive strength, the British Empire is still the undisputed world leader, followed by the United States as the second, and France as the third.
And after that, Australasia, Italy, Russia, and the Island Nation rank fourth to seventh.
As for the eighth in the world, no one cares, as there is already a significant gap with the top seven. Experience more tales on empire
The fact that the integrated naval strength of Australasia has reached fourth in the world can also show the enormous changes in the positions and strengths of countries after World War I.
In terms of naval forces, Australasia is far from a match for the British Empire. Only France and the United States have the strength and capital to compete with Britain.
The proposal to reduce German loans was shelved once again, and the resurgence of influenza would inevitably cause further losses to the economies of various countries. Under such circumstances, it is almost impossible to reduce the proportion of German reparations.
The British’s third proposal, demanding an explanation from the Americans and further compensation, received the approval and support of most members of the World Alliance.
Such a thing had already been done by the World Alliance a year ago.
At that time, the Americans quickly backed down and assumed as much as 200 billion US dollars in compensation, allowing the members of the World Alliance to make a small profit and save the huge losses caused during the flu period.
Clearly, the major member states of the World Alliance still want to use the same old trick, making the Americans bear the losses incurred during the flu.
Regarding the proposal to limit the number of naval arms of various countries, the World Alliance conference talks were rather polarized. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Most small and medium-sized countries were indifferent, as even if the number and tonnage of warships were not restricted, they would not build super-large warships, nor would they compete with superpowers such as Britain. This is not only labor-intensive and costly but also an unbearable financial burden for them.
It is important to note that the expenditure on warships does not end with the completion of construction. The costs of running a warship, including fuel, salaries of navy soldiers, maintenance of equipment, usage and consumption of various weapons, and the daily expenses of the entire navy, add up to a huge sum.
A super battleship requires hundreds to thousands of soldiers, and the various miscellaneous expenses amount to tens of thousands of pounds per year.
If there is a problem with the warship during operation, the repair costs are enough to make a small and medium-sized country headache, let alone maintain a large fleet, which even some great powers cannot do.
France was the only country that did not quite agree with limiting naval arms or was somewhat guarded against it.
Although France’s industry and economy suffered considerable losses, the French are not short of money at the moment. After all, German and American reparations have turned France’s financial situation from deficit to surplus, and building a large military is a breeze.
If a treaty limiting naval arms is reached, the disadvantages for a country like France will outweigh the advantages.
However, after receiving a portion of Germany’s warships, the current British Empire has widened its lead over the second and third places of the United States and France.
The fleet deployed in the United Kingdom alone is enough to give the French a headache, let alone the Indian Ocean Fleet deployed in India and the Far East Fleet in East Asia.
The Royal Navy, combined with these three major fleets, could take on the joint navies of the United States and France without a problem, and the pressure on naval power was enormous.
The French are curious as to how the British Empire would limit itself through such a naval arms treaty.
This would not be a good thing for the British Empire either, as they would have to abide by the treaty in building warships in the future. It would be nearly impossible for them to maintain their enormous advantages over the United States and France.
If the British were to do something sneaky with the treaty, it would be impossible. After all, the United States and France are not easy to deal with, and they could just tear up the treaty and refuse to recognize the agreement.
With this in mind, the British proposal may backfire, so what was their real intention?
The British understood that the naval arms limitation treaty was aimed at certain countries, so they specifically skipped over countries that did not have the independent ability to build battleships and only asked to conclude treaties with countries that had independent battleship-building capabilities.