Restarting the Investigation

When the final comprehensive rankings of the world's nations were announced, the United States' ranking immediately sparked fervent discussion among Europeans.

The United States, once considered to be in the lower-middle tier of the Great Powers, behind Britain, France, and Spain, had unexpectedly been ranked third in the world in this list jointly released by European newspapers and media outlets, placing it in the same tier as Britain and Spain.

More importantly, America's third-place ranking did not mean it lacked the strength to contend for first place. It was only ranked behind Britain and Spain because of the limitations of its current military strength.

Considering America's astonishing industry and economy, if it truly put its back into surpassing Britain and Spain, it might merely be a matter of time.

The top two rankings allowed Europeans to save face. Britain and Spain held first and second place respectively, which counted as Europe's last shred of dignity.

France ranked fourth in the world behind the United States, followed by Germany, which had lost the World War, in fifth place.

Like the United States, Germany's fifth-place ranking did not mean its overall strength was weak. Its ranking had merely been lowered appropriately due to the limits of its current military strength.

From the perspective of industry and economy, Germany was clearly ahead of France. However, France was, after all, one of the victors, and even if it could not compare with Britain, Spain, and the United States, it could still firmly hold the throne of fourth place in such a ranking.

After Germany, the Austrian Empire ranked sixth in the world. This position was somewhat controversial, as the Kingdom of Italy, Tsarist Russia, Soviet Russia, and Japan all possessed the strength to contend for sixth place.

However, in this ranking of the world's