The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1014 - 762: Leo Szilard

Chapter 1014: Chapter 762: Leo Szilard

While Australasia and the United Kingdom were discussing how to control world oil prices, Germany, also located in Europe, was far from peaceful at that time.

Italy, with a similar regime, was engaged in a glorious colonial war, which made Hitler, who also wanted to expand his own territory, green with envy.

But the problem was, Hitler, having just become the German Chancellor, had not yet fully grasped power. The first thing he had to do was to eliminate other political parties in Germany that opposed his rule, as well as former government officials.

Although purging political parties and government officials could allow him to control more power, it would also unite other parties to fight back through civilian public opinion.

Hitler’s first move was to have his subordinates submit a bill to Congress that directly magnified his and his party’s power, which even allowed him to enact and amend the laws of the German Empire without Congress approval.

This alone had amounted to a dictatorship comparable to Arthur’s in Australasia.

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However, the difference was that Arthur’s rule in Australasia was recognized by the people of Australasia, and Arthur had not used his power to suppress other political parties and forces.

Hitler, on the other hand, was different. After forcing Congress to pass this proposal, on the second day, he had his subordinates enact laws to suppress other political parties, banning them from speaking in Germany and declaring organized protests illegal, effectively cutting off these parties’ retreat.

As a result, other parties naturally wouldn’t stand for it. To pressure Hitler enough to abandon the enactment of laws suppressing other parties, various parties chose to unite and organize a massive protest.

The scale of the protest spread across the whole of Berlin, with an expected participation of at least over a hundred thousand people.

The protesting people shouted slogans against dictatorial rule and demanded the legal rights of all political parties be maintained, walking past the German Congress with heads held high and chests out.

This action naturally displeased Hitler and his subordinates. Some proposed to suppress the protest with armed forces, but it was ultimately rejected by Hitler.

After all, the protesters were German citizens, and with such a large scale, suppression by force would be difficult to achieve.

Moreover, using force to suppress the protest would inevitably lead to more intense resistance from other political parties and the people.

Compared to short-term power struggles, the stability of one’s own rule is of course more important.

Anyway, he had already reached a cooperation with William II, and the abolition of Congress was a matter of time; there was no need to rush this step.

With this in mind, Hitler did not use armed suppression against the protest but chose to divide and conquer.

For some originally neutral parties, Hitler bestowed high-ranking titles, attracting a portion of them to join his party, dismantling the originally unified opposition.

For those parties firmly against him, Hitler was quite decisive, opting to suppress these parties with armed forces.

As mentioned before, Hitler had control over private military forces that outnumbered the German Army, which was a crucial factor in easily eliminating other parties.

Through Hitler’s efforts, the protest only lasted a few days before it had to stop for various reasons.

After the protest ended, Hitler made his next move, which was to declare all other parties illegal.

Honestly, as long as one controls the government and the military, one is in an unbeatable position in political struggles.

Hitler was just like that at the moment. Not only did he control the government, but he also controlled a military force far greater than the army.

Under the threat of cold gun barrels, members of other parties were either assassinated or had no choice but to submit to Hitler’s rule.

On August 3, 1930, the man with the small mustache declared all German parties except his own illegal, starting his dictatorship.

On August 5, he renamed his party’s private military forces as the Schutzstaffel, also signifying that his power had officially reached its peak.

Facing such a high-pressure dictatorship, there were still many in Germany who expressed dissatisfaction.

For Arthur and Australasia, this was actually a good opportunity. During this time, the number of out-migrants from Germany increased considerably, with a significant number choosing to come to Australasia.

Among these immigrants, there were quite a few who caught Arthur’s attention. Arthur had previously instructed the Intelligence Department to specifically monitor well-known German scientists, especially physicists and chemists.

After the investigation by the Intelligence Department, a list of German physicists and chemists who had immigrated to Australasia was eventually provided to Arthur.

The list was quite long, with many names Arthur was not familiar with. However, amongst the many unfamiliar names, Arthur quickly recognized some names he knew well.

One of the well-known figures was Leo Szilard, whom Arthur was very much looking forward to.

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This name might be unfamiliar to many, but his contribution to the development of nuclear weapons is no less significant than that of other participants in the Manhattan Project.

Leo Szilard was born on February 11, 1898, and is actually just over 32 years old now.

Arthur’s impression of him came from when he was looking into the Manhattan Project previously, only after searching for information on some famous scientists did he learn about him.

Leo Szilard was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and after the empire was divided, he emigrated to Germany.

As early as 1922, when Szilard was just 24 years old, he earned his doctoral degree from the Berlin Institute of Technology and had already made quite a name for himself in the field of physics.

Australasia had also attempted to woo Leo Szilard at that time but ultimately failed to do so.

The reason for the failure was that Szilard did not wish to be overly troubled; he preferred to live in Europe, especially in Germany and Austria, the places he was familiar with.

However, as the situation in Germany descended into chaos, Szilard was forced to emigrate.

It is worth mentioning that Szilard had a rather good relationship with Albert Einstein.

Back when Szilard was studying at the Berlin Institute of Technology, he met Einstein and the two became good friends.

Now that Szilard had decided where he wanted to emigrate to, Einstein, without hesitation, recommended Australasia and invited Szilard to work together with him.

As a result, the renowned physicist Szilard, along with his family, came to Australasia to collaborate with Einstein.

Frankly speaking, Szilard’s role in advocating atomic bomb research was absolutely crucial. In the history, on the eve of World War II, it was Szilard who vigorously persuaded Einstein to write to President Roosevelt, suggesting that the United States should develop the atomic bomb before Germany, which led to the launch of the Manhattan Project.

Moreover, most of the content of the letter Einstein presented to President Roosevelt was drafted by Szilard himself.

This letter hence came to be known as the Einstein-Szilard Letter, symbolizing the two men’s contributions to the Manhattan Project in the United States.

Arthur was looking forward to Szilard’s arrival because Szilard was not only a key member of the Manhattan Project but also the first to conceive the idea of a nuclear chain reaction and based on this, constructed the first nuclear reactor in American history.

With Szilard in Australasia, there was no doubt that the construction of the nuclear reactor would be accelerated, thereby promoting the creation of the atomic bomb.

Because of this, Arthur placed considerable emphasis on Szilard. Upon learning that Szilard and his entourage were about to arrive in Australasia, Arthur specially asked the very busy Einstein to spare half a day to welcome his friend and organized a welcome banquet for Szilard at Saint Arthur Castle.

The attendees of the welcome banquet were not dignitaries but rather important scientists from the Royal Science Academy.

Arthur did not intend to attend in person. If he were to participate, it would make the scientists feel constrained and might cause the banquet to become dull.

The next day, Arthur personally met with Szilard and directly promised to involve him in the research of the nuclear reactor.

Arthur was not worried about Szilard’s loyalty. Because all scientists involved in nuclear weapons research, as well as their families, were to be under surveillance and control.

As long as they were involved in researching nuclear weapons, they were not allowed to emigrate abroad before the complete development of nuclear weapons.

Even the entry and exit from the research area required reporting, which greatly reduced the possibility of spies from other countries.

Truth be told, the area where the nuclear weapons research team was located was arguably the most heavily guarded in Australasia, aside from the Royal Palace.

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If spies from other countries could infiltrate there, then Arthur might have to question the loyalty and capability of his intelligence organization.

Moreover, for the secrecy of nuclear weapons development, all three intelligence bureaus had dispatched their main forces, and there would be no contact between the three bureaus.

This also greatly reduced the chance of negligence in intelligence work. If there were any issues, one of the intelligence bureaus would always find out and report it.

In terms of Szilard’s salary and treatment, it was certainly not possible to raise it to the same level as Einstein’s at the beginning.

Fortunately, Szilard understood this. Additionally, being able to work with his friend Einstein, he did not have any great demands regarding his salary, as long as he could provide a decent life for his family.

To demonstrate his appreciation for talent, Szilard’s family was settled in Melbourne, and they were given a detached villa and a car as gifts.

Of course, this also made it easier for the intelligence bureau to monitor Szilard’s family. Until the nuclear weapons were developed, or until Arthur trusted Szilard enough, certain surveillance and precautions were still very necessary.

After all, it’s essential to guard against others, especially for a scientist who had just emigrated from another country and was participating in the nation’s most critical development project.