The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1042 - 780: Exchange of Interests (Happy New Year!)_2
Chapter 1042: Chapter 780: Exchange of Interests (Happy New Year!)_2
In order to stall for enough time during the negotiations, the Representative of Britain sought out the Australasian representative and put forth his conditions.
That very night, in the room of the Australasian representative, the British envoy spoke with utmost sincerity, “Mr. Jay, we are willing to divide the petroleum resources in the Northern Chaco region with your nation and allow your country to have the same interests and privileges in Paraguay as we do.
Provided you agree to support Paraguay in tomorrow’s negotiations, we are willing to persuade Paraguay to agree to the above demands.”
Honestly, the allure of Northern Chaco’s petroleum for Australasia wasn’t that great.
Possessing half of the Persian Gulf’s petroleum, Australasia was already on par with any country in terms of petroleum.
Moreover, the Australian Region, Southeast Asia, and Alaska all had vast petroleum reserves, and they were areas completely under Australasia’s control.
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What really attracted Australasia to get involved in this conflict was actually the influence over South America.
After the fall of the United States, this “backyard of America” had become ownerless land. Gaining an early foothold in South American hegemony was very important for the struggle for global supremacy.
Looking at the countries in South America, all of them were very important for exporting agricultural and animal husbandry products and mineral resources.
And what do the exports of these products and resources represent? They represent the ability of a country to secure sufficient supplies during wartime.
Especially considering the location of South America, it was a natural logistics-supply haven for Britain, France, and Australia.
Australasia’s biggest enemy at the moment was the Island Nation, but even if the navy of the Island Nation was very powerful, it couldn’t possibly cross the Pacific Ocean to blockade the maritime trade routes of Australasia in the Southern Hemisphere.
It was the same for the British and French. Especially the British, whose control over the Atlantic Ocean was beyond doubt.
If a war between Britain and Germany or France were to break out in the future, the British would not only be able to get supplies from North America but also from South America. They could outlast any enemy through attrition.
Moreover, the strength of the South American nations was generally weaker, making them easier to control compared to North America.
For all these reasons, the Britain-France-Australia Three Nations all had certain designs on South America and had already taken concrete actions.
Compared to the oil in the Northern Chaco region that the British mentioned, Australasia was more concerned about the interests in the Paraguay region.
Although Paraguay was just a small country in South America, its location was still very important. Having certain interests in Paraguay could radiate in the north and south directions to the three great powers of South America.
Controlling these three great powers would essentially mean controlling the whole of South America. This was because the nations to the northwest, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and Ecuador, were far weaker than the three powerhouses of Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.
Although pleased with the conditions offered by the British, the Australasian representative did not agree outright but instead made more demands: “Mr. John, I admit that your nation’s conditions are somewhat appealing, but they are not significant enough to ensure our firm support for Paraguay.
If your nation is willing to let us participate in the mining of the Chilean saltpeter mines, I believe His Majesty the King would be most willing to support the British Empire and rebuild the deep friendship between our two countries.”
The Chilean saltpeter mines were definitely one of the most important mineral resources in South America. The British also understood this point; over the past decades, they had firmly controlled the mining and export of the Chilean saltpeter mines.
This allowed Chile to gain the support of the British Empire for a long time and maintain a balance of power with Argentina and Brazil despite having less land.
It can be said that without British support, Chile would definitely not be as strong as it is now.
Of course, the support from the British was certainly not free. Chile possessed the world’s largest saltpeter mines, but the mining and export of saltpeter were completely dependent on the British.
Such a cost limitation ensured that Chile could absolutely not develop into a superpower, and could only become one of the three great powers of South America.
Even for the sake of their own interests, the British would never allow Chile to become more powerful.
After all, once Chile grew stronger, it would start to consider more issues, such as reclaiming the rights to mine and export its saltpeter mines.
There’s no need to state the importance of saltpeter mines; in the eyes of the British, they are a resource even more vital than petroleum, and it’s naturally impossible to allow Chile, where the mines are located, to become so powerful that it could threaten British power in Chile.
“Good heavens, this is impossible, Mr. Jay,” the British Representative John said, his face filled with disbelief, “The saltpeter mines here are a very important strategic resource for the British Empire, it’s unlikely that we would relinquish control over them.”
“I’ve heard that your country is interested in Argentina’s Black Land, so how about we persuade Argentina to lease more of their Black Land to your country?”
Compared to Chile’s saltpeter mines, Argentina’s Black Land is a disposable resource for the British.
Although the Black Land is excellent for farming, for the British Empire, which possesses all of India, cultivated land actually isn’t that important.
India can provide Britain with a large quantity of grain annually, even though it’s likely that it comes at the expense of exploiting Indian talent, but to the British, it doesn’t really matter.
After all, the sheer number of Indians has determined that Indian lives aren’t important – if ten thousand Indians could be traded for the safety of one British citizen during a war, I believe the British Government wouldn’t hesitate to do so.
“You know that, Mr. John,” Representative Jay said with a smile, “Currently, Australasia is not lacking in cultivated land area; we have potential planting areas adding up to over 2 million square kilometers combined in Java, the Mure River Basin, and other regions.
The fact is, although the Black Land is conducive to crop farming, a Black Land that spans the Pacific Ocean has too high maintenance costs to be cost-effective for us.”
Honestly, Argentina’s Black Land is indeed a good choice. Although Australasia currently isn’t short on cultivated land, Argentina’s Black Land is quite unique.
The land in Australasia requires Australasians for cultivation and development, while the land in Argentina can just employ locals.
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Compared to Australasia, the labor costs in Argentina are lower, and the grain yields are also very superior.
However, in the struggle for national interests, the country with the smaller appetite will ultimately be at a disadvantage. As a diplomat who dearly loves his country, what Representative Jay wanted to do, of course, was to seek more benefits for his country.
“Here’s a thought, Mr. John,” Jay said, looking at John’s troubled face, and with a smile, he made his final request, “In view of the good relationship between us, Australasia is willing to compromise.
But to report back to His Majesty, we need a large amount of Black Land for the development of grain crops, and we also wish to become a priority purchasing nation for Chilean saltpeter.”
Although not involved in the mining of Chilean saltpeter, being a priority buyer for the mines would be very favorable.
After all, the annual output of Chile’s saltpeter mines is still quite good; the British Empire can’t possibly consume so much of it.
Only before, in order not to let the enemy grow stronger, Britain would strictly control the export of saltpeter mines, and would even prohibit exporting to nations hostile to them.
If we could gain certain rights in terms of exports, for Australasia, the development of the military industry would also progress much more swiftly.
Of course, more Black Land would also be very helpful for the food layout of Australasia.
Hiring Argentinian workers, using Argentina’s Black Land to grow Australasia’s grain – this transaction is quite a good deal.
The distance from Argentina to Europe is much shorter than from Australasia, so in the future, the grain produced on Argentina’s Black Land can also be exported in large quantities to Europe, in exchange for sufficient foreign exchange income.
