The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 644: 491: Interfering in Civil War

Chapter 644: Chapter 491: Interfering in Civil War

“We must not sit idly by and watch the peace of Europe be destroyed, nor can we stand idly by as the Red Terror sweeps across Europe. Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps such a choice will plunge Europe back into war, but we have no other option. In order for the countries of all those present to maintain peace, we should resolutely eliminate all forces that trouble peace, even nations. Let us take action, all for peace, long live peace!” In a World Alliance conference, during a discussion on the Hungarian Civil War, the British representative stood up and passionately spoke.

No matter whether the British representative’s words were reasonable or not, thunderous applause immediately resounded from the audience.

Helpless, the British Empire was currently the strongest nation. At present, the only country able to contend with the British Empire was France, but the French would not easily provoke the British.

Australasia’s representative naturally joined in the applause, after all, intervening in the Hungarian Civil War was something Australasia wanted to see.

For monarchial countries like Australasia and the British Empire, an ideology like Soviet Russia’s, which could destroy monarchial countries, was undoubtedly their greatest internal threat.

Even against the United States, they could afford to slightly relax; after all, the Americans threatened the whole of Australasia, while Soviet Russia threatened Arthur and the monarchy.

The British representative was very satisfied with the applause from the whole audience and went on to say, “The World Alliance is rightly fulfilling its duty in aiding weak countries. I propose that all member states jointly send troops to help Hungary end the war and jointly implement policies to limit the spread of Soviet Russian ideas to ensure that our nations remain unaffected.”

If one had a map, they could see that Hungary’s position was actually very important.

With Hungary at the center, to the north it could threaten Russia’s Polish region, to the south it could threaten the entire Balkans, to the west lie Italy and Austria, and to the east across Galicia, it could reach the Ukrainian region of Russia.

If Russia controlled this area, it could not only secure its rule in Poland and Galicia but also use Hungary as a springboard to gradually nibble away at the Balkan region, expanding its territory to parts of Central Europe.

This was unacceptable to the British Empire. Not to mention the impact of Soviet Russian expansion on surrounding countries, but just the control of the Balkan region by Russia alone would be enough to affect the British Empire’s hegemony.

Previously, during the Tsardom of Russia, the British Empire did not allow such a situation to occur, let alone now with Soviet Russia.

Quite a number of countries were willing to engage with the British Empire’s proposal, such as Romania and Serbia, which were near Hungary.

Romania directly borders Russia and it is difficult to guarantee that the next victim after Hungary will not be Romania.

The only way to ensure Romania’s safety is to defeat Soviet Russia in this Hungarian Civil War and prevent the possibility of Soviet Russian ideology from spreading to the outside world.

Meanwhile, Serbia, which neighbors Hungary, was also a country supported by Tsarist Russia.

If Tsarist Russia were to collapse, it would not a be a good thing for Serbia either.

In addition, Italy also expressed its support for intervening in the Hungarian Civil War.

However, it is clear that the issue of the Hungarian civil war is no longer something that the Hungarian people can decide.

Not to mention the Hungarians; even the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was formerly Hungary’s suzerain state, has no better solution to the situation in Hungary at the moment.

Nowadays, the Austro-Hungarian Empire should theoretically be called the Austrian Empire, as Hungary has already gained independence. So far, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has not taken any countermeasures.

However, it is not the fault of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After all, being one of the defeated countries in the war, the size of its military has been strictly limited to less than 150,000.

Although the restrictions imposed on the Austro-Hungarian Empire were not as severe as those on Germany, the loss of 60,000 Hungarian troops reduced the number of troops that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had available to less than 90,000.

Resolving the Hungarian civil war with fewer than 90,000 troops would be an improbable task, even for the blunder-prone Carl I.

Furthermore, after Hungary’s independence, many countries, including Tsarist Russia and Italy, immediately expressed their support for it.

It was already difficult for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to remain unified after the war, so competing with the victorious countries and regaining control over Hungary would be nearly impossible.

Under the intervention of the World Alliance, the Hungarian civil war was quickly settled.

Compared to Soviet Russia’s raging inferno, the Soviet civil war was just a mere spark, easily extinguished once the World Alliance got serious.

However, Hungary after the peace became a region that various governments scrambled to seize.

Although it was ostensibly to restore peace to the Hungarian region, the actions of the countries couldn’t possibly be without gains.

The United Kingdom was eager to bring the important country of Hungary, which could threaten Russia’s Poland, under its control.

To win over the Hungarian government, Prime Minister Tisa, who controlled the government, became a critical figure.

Prime Minister Tisa had a great reputation in Hungarian politics. During the Kingdom Government, Tisa had been appointed Prime Minister several times and even held a certain degree of influence in Francis I’s cabinet.

However, after the death of Francis I, the imperial cabinet was taken over by Austria, and the Hungarian Kingdom could no longer interfere.

It was precisely because of this that Prime Minister Tisa lost his support for Carl I and tacitly supported the Hungarian Kingdom Government’s resistance to the imperial government’s policies.

Previously, Tisa had refused to pay grain levies and even openly manipulated prices, blaming the imperial government’s purchase of grain for the price increases. Behind these events was the shadow of Prime Minister Tisa.

This won Tisa the support of some of the Hungarian bourgeoisie and peasants, giving him not only a high prestige in politics but also considerable support among the people.

In addition, by winning over the Armed Forces Commander-in-chief, Tisa directly controlled Hungary’s military power, making him an influential figure in the Hungarian Democratic Republic government, with most governmental powers in his hands.