The Rise of Australasia

Moreover, Australasia had already carved a large chunk of flesh off the Dutch East Indies, and this negotiation was definitely more than just a negotiation. It could even be an attempt to take over the entire Dutch East Indies.

"Your Majesty the Queen, I’m afraid we need to seek the help of other Powers to ensure our rule over the Dutch East Indies," an older official in the Cabinet stood up and was the first to speak.

"Other Powers?" Queen Wilhelmina shook her head and sighed, "You are not unaware of the relationship between Britain and Australasia. The British are unlikely to help us. So, who is left? France, the United States, or Italy?"

"Your Majesty, if only we could negotiate with Australasia for more time to suppress the uprising," the Dutch Prime Minister stepped forward to say, "Australasia’s demand is just for us to resolve the crisis, which is entirely achievable.

It will take at least two to three months to prepare the military for deployment to the East Indies. Add to that the time needed to suppress the rebellion. If we can strive for four to five months to suppress the uprising, there is a high likelihood that we could resolve this crisis on our own."

The vast distance from the Native Land to the Colony is the biggest problem for national governance in some urgent moments.

If only the Dutch East Indies were not so far from the Dutch Native Land, the Dutch Prime Minister would be confident in reducing the time to suppress the uprising to within three months.

But the problem is, with the journey itself taking over a month, he really had no confidence in reducing the suppression time any further, because it was simply impossible to do so.

Understanding this might be the only chance, Queen Wilhelmina nodded and instructed the Dutch Foreign Minister, "Minister Brin, this task is yours. Try to negotiate with the Australasians. We can guarantee the personal safety of the Australasians to strive for about five months to suppress the uprising."

Compared to the large-scale rebellion of the Indigenous Peoples, the more difficult issue at present was actually the diplomatic negotiation with Australasia.

Even when considering the strengths of both countries, the Dutch government had absolutely no belief or confidence in resistance.

This is not to say they are cowardly, but a medium-sized country compared to the Powerful Nations really does not have many opportunities to resist.

Perhaps they could obtain some support from European Nations with a balance policy only when Australasia attacked their Native Land, to ensure the integrity and independence of their Native Land.

But if it’s just a Colony, which Powerful Nation would risk offending another Power in order to protect a Dutch Colony?

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Perhaps there are some, but the motives of the Powers are definitely not so simple. In other words, support from another Power is nothing more than a case of ’out of the frying pan and into the fire.’

"Yes, Your Majesty," the Foreign Minister stiffened his resolve and did not dare to dissent in the slightest.

This was a demand that had to be agreed to even if it could not be fulfilled. After all, he was the Foreign Minister. Unless he was willing to give up his Position.

Seeing that Queen Wilhelmina agreed with his view, the Dutch Prime Minister nodded and continued to speak, "Your Majesty, what we still need to do is to control the scale of rebellion in the Dutch East Indies as much as possible.

The areas of Sumatra Island, Java Island, and Kalimantan Island are simply too vast, and we cannot completely suppress the rebellion in these regions within a few months.

By limiting the rebellion to one Island, like Java Island where the rebellions are most frequent, it would be possible to control the rebellion more quickly."

Sumatra Island, Java Island, and Kalimantan Island are the remaining three islands of the Dutch East Indies, and they are also three extremely large islands.

It’s no exaggeration to say that any one of these islands has an area comparable to the Native Land of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, even several times that of the Kingdom put together in the case of Kalimantan Island.

While a larger land area leads to more diverse economic products, in such a crisis when suppression is needed, larger land means more Soldiers or more time.

The military that could be dispatched to the Dutch East Indies in a short time was limited, which meant to save as much time as possible, the rebellion had to be contained within a single region.

"Tell Louise that I need him to keep the scale of the rebellion contained within Java Island and prevent it from spreading to the other two islands," Queen Wilhelmina nodded and turned her gaze to her chief of royal guards, Andrick, instructing.

As with most monarchical countries, the Colonial Governor of the Netherlands was personally appointed by the monarch.

Although most Governors still had to answer to the government, Queen Wilhelmina also had a certain degree of jurisdiction over Governor Louis.

Royal guard chief Andrick nodded respectfully, withdrew, and conveyed Queen Wilhelmina’s instructions.

"Is there anything else you require, Mr. Prime Minister?" Queen Wilhelmina continued to inquire.

As a queen who had a distinguished name in the history of the Netherlands, Wilhelmina knew well that maintaining a high degree of unity between the government and the royal family was essential.

In fact, what Wilhelmina had done in the Netherlands was quite successful; although the country did not achieve a revival in the 20th century, monarchism never faced any crisis in subsequent times.

"If we want to mobilize the nation’s full capacity to suppress the revolt, Your Majesty, I fear you may need to personally come forward and encourage the people to volunteer for the military," the Prime Minister nodded and continued.

Although the Netherlands had expanded its military forces before the outbreak of the war, after the war ended, the Dutch quickly demobilized, reducing their military size.

This meant that if the Netherlands wanted to mobilize sufficient military forces now, it would have to embark on a new round of expansion and recall those soldiers who had been previously discharged.

Of course, there would also be the need to purchase more weapons and equipment, among other things, which would be a significant financial burden for the government, especially given the widespread unemployment the Netherlands was facing at the time.

But this was also good news; if the military were to be expanded, it would not only stimulate the production of military preparations and certain industries but also reduce a portion of the unemployed population.

Such a request was normal, after all, compared to the government, Queen Wilhelmina personally might have a stronger ability to rally the masses.

"I will do so, Mr. Prime Minister. But I hope the government can also win this evaluative war without involving Australasia in the crisis of the East Indies," Queen Wilhelmina nodded, yet she also made her own demand.

The Dutch East Indies was not just the last fig leaf of the Colonial Era for the Netherlands but also provided a substantial financial income for the Dutch government.

It was well known that the region where the Dutch East Indies was located was a major producer of natural rubber.

The importance of rubber to the development of the current world economy went without saying. Rubber uses, including tires, pipelines, insulation materials, and soundproofing materials ensured that rubber could never be phased out at any time unless a more advanced technology was developed.

But the problem was, the technology for synthetic rubber was not yet sufficient for use, let alone a new technology to replace rubber.

Especially in the transportation industry, tires made of rubber were as vital to cars as life itself and were also critical for the development and security of the automotive industry.

The income from planting and selling rubber alone made the Dutch government’s coffers overflow. Losing the Dutch East Indies would mean an annual financial loss that the current government of the Netherlands would simply be unable to compensate for, and could even precipitate a financial crisis in the Native Land.

It was the Dutchman’s own doing to transport most of the financial income from the Dutch East Indies back to the Native Land and then build a lot of unnecessary facilities, wasn’t it?

If the financial income from the Dutch East Indies were lost, it’s likely that the financial budget of every department of the Kingdom Government would have to be cut by more than half, it would be questionable whether the government could continue to operate at all, and the people’s various welfare subsidies and security benefits would naturally be canceled.

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