The Rise of Australasia

Chapter 846 -633: National Day, Rewards, Military Parade – 2

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For regions like New Zealand and New Guinea, which are relatively far away, although they could not receive the broadcast signal on the day itself, news about the speech would be available for sale the next day at the fastest speed—Arthur never missed an opportunity for public relations.

It is worth mentioning that, by 1926, the population of Australasia had experienced a rapid increase over the past year, reaching just over 29.76 million.

Approaching the 30 million mark was something Arthur was very pleased to see.

30 million might not be a lot, but for a place like Australasia that once had only a few million people, it was already the greatest progress.

Another benefit of an increasing population was that the number of newborn babies would gradually rise with the population growth, making the rate of increase faster and faster.

If they could maintain the population growth rate of the previous year, Arthur was confident that before 1930 arrived, he could raise the population of Australasia to over 35 million.

After New Year’s Day, the military units from various countries participating in the parade ceremony were undergoing intense training, to avoid any mishaps during this widely-watched moment.

After all, if there were problems with the parade ceremony, it wasn’t just Australasia that would lose face, but also the country that made the mistake.

If every other country’s parade went smoothly and only your own had issues, wouldn’t that imply your military was weaker than the others?

For an opportunity like this, to show off one’s power and flex one’s muscles before the whole world, even the small countries would not miss out.

On January 10th, 1926, under the gaze of the entire world, the National Day celebrations of Australasia officially began.

For the 20th anniversary of the founding, Arthur’s speech was an inevitable component. The speech didn’t need to be overly emotive; simply affirming the efforts of the Australasian government and its people over the past 20 years was already the best encouragement for the country and its population.

Clearly, the population was very satisfied with the country’s efforts over the past two decades. In 20 years, Australasia had completed a leap from an ordinary nation to one of the Powers, and even became one of the four permanent members of the World Alliance—a significant player in controlling the organization’s discourse.

Although there were still many voices claiming that Australasia was only the fourth or fifth on the world stage, no country could ignore Australasia’s influence any longer.

Even France, one of the longstanding Powers, could not confidently claim it surpassed Australasia in every aspect.

Indeed, if not for the foundations provided by its colonies, it was possible that France would no longer be qualified to compete with Australasia.

The National Day celebrations had many parts, and after Arthur’s speech came the formal National Day proceedings.

The guards escorted the Australasia Flag slowly forward, and against the backdrop of the national anthem “Australasia, Advance!” the flag was raised gently, eventually fluttering in the Square’s sky.

After solemnly and seriously watching all this, Arthur then signaled Prime Minister Roger to continue the next step.

What was the next item on the agenda? Naturally, it was the conferring of honors on those who had contributed significantly over the past 20 years.

Of course, ceremonies for titles of nobility and rewards had been held many times before; this time, it was just about rewarding those who had recently established meritorious deeds, as well as promoting those who had accumulated enough merit.

Ziolkowski, Hermann, the Royal Shipyard’s researchers who developed the aircraft carrier, and many scientists from the Royal Science Academy, among others, had all been conferred new Titles of Nobility.

This also allowed the number of nobles in Australasia to grow further; the total number of all nobles exceeded 300, although more than 200 of these were knights without the right of hereditary succession.

To be precise, there were a total of 315 nobles in Australasia, with 268 being knights, 42 barons, 4 viscounts, and 1 earl.

Beside Prime Minister Kent, who held the title of an earl, the highest existing title for the rest was viscount, with each able to receive about 5,000 Australian dollars in dividend funds annually. This income, which every noble was entitled to, was one of the main sources for the new Australasian nobility.

Prime Minister Kent’s earldom brought in much more, with annual dividends amounting to 12,000 Australian dollars, nearly the equivalent to the total annual income of 200 Australasian citizens.

Though the powers of these new nobles were much reduced compared to the traditional nobility of Europe, their status was quite stable.

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As long as the royal family exists, as long as the throne of the King of Australasia remains, the Aristocratic Classes will not be abolished, and those who have received Titles of Nobility will forever enjoy these benefits.

Although the dividends might seem substantial, the number of the Nobility is destined to be quite limited. After all, it’s impossible to receive a Title of Nobility without sufficient merit.

The requirements for merit ensure that most people’s titles will remain at the level of Sir, and reaching Baron is already the pinnacle of a commoner’s lifetime achievements.

Viscount and Earl, to put it bluntly, are beyond the reach of ordinary people in their entire lifetimes.

But without moving forward even one step in the hierarchy, the benefits gained for oneself and one’s family are enormous. Just looking at the annual dividends, the income gap between different nobles can be as much as several times or even about ten times.

Luckily, Arthur had already established the Nobleman United Consortium, and the annual income was completely sufficient to provide dividends for the nobles.

These new nobles, for the sake of their annual dividend income, must also ensure the status of the royal family and the King.

The reason is simple: if the status of the royal family is not secure, the incomes of these various Consortia are also doomed not to be maintained.

At that time, even if the royal family wanted to provide them with dividends, they would not have the Money available, a simple fact that these new nobles understood very well.

Under the envious gaze of the People, Australasia saw the birth of several new nobles, expanding the power of the Aristocratic Classes.

Subsequently, the National Day activities moved on to the next segment, which was for the government to report the country’s achievements over the past 20 years, and to pay tribute to the Soldiers and Heroes who had sacrificed their lives for the country.

This segment lasted a relatively long time, after all, this was Australasia’s first decennial National Day celebration, and there were quite a few changes in the country over 20 years.

By the time all these ceremonies were completed, it was about 11 a.m.

Even though more than three hours had passed, the hundreds of thousands of People on the Square showed no indication of leaving; on the contrary, they were eagerly waiting for the next part of the event.

The National Day ceremonies were quite solemn, and there was no downtime between each segment, which was a test for all participants.

Fortunately, the sense of patriotism among Australasians was particularly strong, and this slight waiting did not cause any dissatisfaction.

Approaching noon, the Parade ceremony officially began.

Though it was time for lunch, the Soldiers were still full of energy, showing no signs of fatigue from the long wait.

Naturally, the first to be reviewed was the Australasia Army, with the carefully selected Guards passing by the Reviewing Stand in a serious and imposing manner. After Arthur gave them a salute, they shouted in their loudest voices, “Long live His Majesty the King! Long live Australasia!”

Arthur nodded in approval, quite satisfied with the performance of the Guards leading the parade. The Parade ceremony was not only about flexing muscles to the outside world, but also about covertly increasing Australasia’s international influence.

Therefore, the leading troops became very important. After careful consideration, Arthur had decided on a well-selected, straightforward contingent of Guards to lead the way for this National Day Parade ceremony.

Following the Guards, came the Calvary troop formed by the Regular army. All of the mounts for these cavalry units were Australasian wild Horses, a breed that had been carefully selected and bred, looking very robust and paired with cavaliers in full military regalia appeared valorous and mighty.

To enhance the awe and solemnity of the cavalry units, all their mounts were uniformly white, after careful selection and grooming, they looked flawless.

Such horses paired with a military troop that looked stately and powerful naturally brought an even greater shock to small and medium-sized countries.

To avoid the embarrassment of the horses defecating in the Square under the watchful eyes of the masses, all the horses were fed less before the review and had been relieved in advance.

A whole troop of cavalry passed solemnly in front of the Reviewing Stand, and then fervently and respectfully shouted to Arthur, “Long live His Majesty the King! Long live Australasia!”

The rhythmic and orderly clip-clop sound of the horses’ hooves was the most effective way to demonstrate the combat capability of this military force.

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