The Rise Of Australasia

After the fall of the United States, the overall world situation was not as chaotic. Because basically, most countries could share some benefits, this also led many people to have a slight expectation, at least there was hope for their future.

But this was not the case for all countries. Some countries were still in dire straits, with some regions still in chaos, or even war.

Here, I am not referring to Germany, which had already become accustomed to chaos, nor to Russia, where the economy and industry were still collapsing, but to Portugal, a country in Europe that was becoming increasingly marginalized.

Why mention Portugal in particular? It is one of the typical European countries that transitioned from a kingdom to a republic.

It is also worth mentioning that the last dynasty of Portugal was the illustrious Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Dynasty which Arthur belonged to.

Even further back in history, the downfall of the Kingdom of Portugal was also due to Australasia. It was because of the disastrous defeat in the war against Australasia, coupled with the poor rule of King Carlos I of Portugal at that time, that led to the Portuguese people's great discontent with the monarchy, sparking the revolution that ultimately buried the kingdom.

Of course, more than two decades had passed since that small-scale war, and Arthur had long forgotten about it, and the Portuguese did not hold too many grudges either.

But the situation of the Portuguese was not good, the economic crisis had led to significant losses for Portugal, plus the so-called Republican government was actually quite chaotic inside, making it the most tumultuous time the country had faced in a hundred years.

Speaking of which, one cannot help but mention the Greek kings jointly supported by Arthur and King George V.

The fates of Greece and Portugal were similar; both had their monarchies destroyed by the revolution and both entered into serious chaos after becoming republics.

Portugal was even worse off than Greece.

Although the people initially supported the Republican government, Portugal's republicanism was too terrible.

How terrible? In the 20 years since the establishment of the republic, the Portuguese government had nearly 46 different governments, including Democratic factions, Republican factions, Socialist factions, dictatorships, and military governments.

There was even a brief period of Fascist dictatorship. If this regime had not been so short-lived, it is likely that the fate of Portugal could have drastically changed.

46 governments over a span of 20 years, averaging less than 160 days in office for each government. Such a staggering situation, if it hadn't actually happened, Arthur would have some disbelief.

Think about it, what can be done in 160 days? A policy from discussion to formulation, then to execution and completion takes at least six months to start with, and larger policies even need several years to push through.

160 days didn't even make half a year, which doomed Portugal to having very few effective policies and constructions over those 20 years.

Not having any construction for 20 years, it is no surprise that the country suffered greatly during the economic crisis.

Keep in mind, these 20 years spanned the entirety of World War I, when human technology had progressed rapidly.

The stagnation of Portugal during these 20 years means their level of development was still at that of before World War I.

Add to this the frequent changes of government leading to the people's mistrust of the government, it can be said that Portugal is currently suffering its most severe crisis, which may even directly affect the fate of the First Republic of Portugal.

Arthur's interest in the situation in Portugal was not because he had ideas about Portugal.

Frankly, this country, which had once gone to war with Australasia and also had good relations with the United Kingdom, Arthur really did not have too many thoughts about it.

But unfortunately, someone from Portugal approached Arthur, which made him have to pay attention to this country.

Speaking of Portugal, in fact, it is members of the already extinct Portuguese royal family, from the same family as Arthur, Manuel II.

The reason why Manuel II's envoys approached Arthur was to formally request Arthur's help in restoring the throne and the rule of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Family in Portugal.

Arthur was well aware of the fall of the Kingdom of Portugal. Although the intervention in the war prevented King Carlos I from dying in that assassination attempt.

But the subsequent Kingdom of Portugal did not last long, and the ruling of Carlos I was overthrown by the furious Portuguese people.

After that, the crown fell into the hands of Manuel II. Unfortunately, the inexperienced rule of Manuel was clearly no match for the parties, and his reign lasted less than a year before it also fell.

All told, it had been nearly 20 years since Manuel left the throne. It seemed strange that he would come to Arthur for restoration after such a long time, which made Arthur start paying attention to the situation in Europe again.

Well, after some investigation, Arthur wasn't surprised anymore.

The real reason why Manuel II thought of restoration after 20 years was that previously, the Portuguese people were extremely dissatisfied with the monarchy.

Simplifying it, even if the chaos of the government had continued for 20 years, the royal family had no hope of regaining power during this time.

Because frankly, Portugal under Carlos I wasn't very strong, and the people weren't willing to have a king imposed upon them for no reason.

So why did Manuel II approach Arthur now?

It was actually due to the different political situation in Portugal.

If previously Portugal was switching back and forth between different governments, trying to find a more suitable regime for the country.

So now, the political situation in Portugal was basically dominated by the military alone. On May 28, 1926, the Portuguese military staged a coup, abolished the Republican Government's rule, declared all political parties illegal, and established a nationwide military government.

But this was not the biggest blow to the Portuguese people.

With the outbreak of the economic crisis, Portugal's economy also suffered a heavy blow. Logically, the government should have done everything possible to recover the economy, ensure the unemployed could claim relief grain, and allow them to find work as soon as possible.

But what was the Portuguese government doing at this time?

The Portuguese government was engaged in a new round of power struggles. Yes, even within the military government, there were quite intense struggles for power.

Eventually, after more than a year of power contests, the dictator, Antonio Salazar, successfully became President and established an even more extreme dictatorship.

In comparison to the head of state, Antonio Salazar seemed more like an uncrowned king, holding power even more absolute than an autocratic monarch.

Because he had control over the military, Antonio was exceedingly brutal to those he found displeasing, even arbitrarily executing governmental officers.

The most severe result this led to was actually the destruction of government order and social order.

As a result, the government's credibility plummeted drastically, and the people not only distrusted the government but also began to distrust anything related to the government.

Of course, this was not the final straw that crushed the situation in Portugal.

After the war against the United States ended, Portugal, due to its deployment of troops, was also able to partake in considerable benefits.

Knowing that the Portuguese government had received benefits, a significant number of Portuguese who lost their jobs and lacked food took to the streets, demanding the government mortgage these interests to exchange for grain from other countries and aid the domestic unemployed population.

For European nations, this should have been a very commonplace protest. But for Antonio, it amounted to those damned commoners challenging his rule.

What the government should do was up to him to decide, not change his views because of a public protest.

Compared to distributing relief grain to the people, Antonio preferred to purchase more weapons and equipment to expand his own military.

Differences in opinion naturally sparked a certain level of conflict and led Antonio to decide to suppress the Portuguese protests with military force.

This seemed to ignite the rage of the Portuguese people, causing Antonio to completely lose their support.

At this moment, the Portuguese people finally remembered the benefits of the bygone monarchical era.

They had protested during the reign of Carlos I, but the worst outcome was merely being persuaded to abandon their demands. Your next journey awaits at My Virtual Library Empire

Not like now, where they could face military suppression at any moment, making commonplace European protests a taboo too dangerous for people to participate in.

Besides, the strength of monarchical countries revitalized Portugal's Monarchist Party, which actively got in touch with Manuel II, who was living in London.

Receiving messages from the domestic Monarchist Party of Portugal, Manuel II was very pleased.

Although he could live the life of a wealthy man now, and European royal families recognized his status as a former king.

But after all, it was only recognition, with no actual status or power attached to him.

Having sat on the throne before, Manuel II still yearned for the Portuguese crown.

If he had the option, who would want to stay in London, living under someone else's roof, and endure intermittent ridicule?

The first option that came to Manuel's mind was King George V of the United Kingdom, who was also once a member of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Family.

In Manuel II's view, although George V had changed his surname, by blood lineage, they were still family.

Besides, supporting him to return to the throne would also benefit George V, who, Manuel believed, would be quite willing.

However, much to his surprise, when Manuel eagerly approached George V, he faced George V's delicate refusal.

Seeing Manuel II's disappointed face, George V felt awkward inside. To tell the truth, he didn't want to refuse.

But the problem was that in the British Cabinet, George V didn't have enough prestige to have the British Government support his decisions unconditionally.

Moreover, George V had already had a significant conflict with the government over the selection of a king for America's kingdom.

Under such circumstances, the British Cabinet naturally wouldn't follow George V's orders, especially since the person to benefit the most from Manuel's ascension to the throne would only be George V himself.

After being rejected by George V, Manuel could only look for the next target. And the only other monarchical country among the world's top three powers was Australasia, ruled by Arthur.