Chapter Summaries

At the London Naval Disarmament Conference, British Foreign Secretary Grey proposed broad disarmament and limits on warship tonnage, prompting disputes over how naval strength should be allocated. Japan challenged Britain’s industrial-strength standard, while Australasia argued for economic capacity, a position France supported.

• Grey called for military balance and disarmament, then proposed limits on the tonnage of new warships.
• The French representative questioned Grey’s disarmament plan, and the Japanese representative asked how reductions would be apportioned among countries.
• Grey proposed determining each country’s retained armaments and later suggested using industrial strength and national power to allocate naval proportions.
• The Japanese representative argued that naval shares should reflect existing fleet strength, but Australasia rejected that standard and suggested using economic strength instead.
• The French representative agreed with Australasia that economic strength should measure a country’s capacity to support its military.

At the naval conference, the Japanese representative opposed proposals that would limit Japan’s fleet according to economic, industrial, or territorial strength. Minister Grey threatened Japan with the consequences of withdrawing, forcing its representative to apologize as the conference continued.

• The Japanese representative rejected the Anglo-French-Australasian proposal, but America refused to support Japan and Russia accused it of harboring militaristic ambitions.
• Minister Grey suggested using land area to determine naval strength, a standard that would leave Japan with a drastically smaller fleet than the other powers.
• The Japanese representative threatened to withdraw from the conference, and Minister Grey warned that an unapproved departure would be treated as a provocation against Britain and the other countries.
• The Japanese representative backed down, apologized, and affirmed Japan’s respect for the conference, after which Minister Grey resumed proceedings.

After Japan lost influence at the naval conference, Inoue Sanken returned home to face the consequences of the limits imposed on Japan’s navy. The remaining great powers then began confidential talks in London about reducing Germany’s war reparations, with Grey urging Millerand to support relief for Germany.

• Britain, France, and Australasia rejected Japan’s proposal to base naval limits on current military strength and agreed to use land area, industry, and economic strength instead.
• Inoue Sanken raised his hand to approve the new criteria, then left for Japan after the conference ended to handle domestic affairs.
• The British held a confidential conference with France, Australasia, and Italy to discuss reducing Germany’s war reparations.
• Grey described Germany’s inflation, food shortages, and economic instability, arguing that its collapse would harm Europe and its industrial markets.
• Millerand refused to accept responsibility for easing Germany’s crisis, while Grey argued that reducing reparations would protect France and the other countries from a wider economic crisis.

Britain, France, Italy, and Australasia agreed to reduce Germany’s reparations and ease its payments, with Britain accepting French demands in return. Arthur then turned his attention to using real estate investment to raise American housing prices and profit from the resulting boom.

• Minister Grey persuaded Prime Minister Millerand that a German economic collapse would damage France and threaten reparations payments.
• Millerand agreed to reduce Germany’s debt from twenty billion pounds to roughly fifteen billion and lower its payments for the next three years.
• Britain agreed to support France’s policies on Alsace and Lorraine and its naval allocation in exchange for France’s concession.
• Britain, France, Italy, and Australasia reached an agreement to jointly propose reducing Germany’s reparations at the World League conference.
• Arthur considered ways to challenge American economic dominance and decided to promote real estate speculation to raise United States housing prices.

Arthur received a report on progress in wireless broadcasting, which could now reach across Australia using relay stations under normal weather conditions. He considered the technology and its construction costs manageable, leaving nationwide deployment as the next step.

• Arthur reviewed the new capital’s progress, including construction of the National Zoo and other public spaces.
• Arthur asked Martin Scorsese whether wireless broadcasting’s transmission problems had been resolved.
• Martin said relay stations could carry signals from Sydney to Perth, though severe weather and magnetic fields still caused interference.
• Martin reported that broadcast stations cost about 6,000 Australian dollars and relay stations about 4,000, with coverage varying by terrain.
• Arthur judged the technology’s range and costs acceptable and considered building stations in populated regions while leaving empty deserts uncovered.

Arthur expanded Australasia’s radio industry while directing his consortiums to buy American real estate and stoke a housing boom. New York property prices surged, and American capitalists joined the speculation as the story left the market still rising.

• Australasia’s Academy of Sciences reproduced and improved crystal and vacuum-tube radios, while Arthur planned nationwide base stations and assigned radio production to the Royal Consortium and Noble Consortium.
• Arthur ordered his consortiums to buy land and properties in major American cities to spur real-estate speculation.
• American media promoted the growth prospects of New York and other major cities, and New York’s average housing price rose from just over $370 to more than $410.
• American capitalists bought properties amid the publicity, and reports that hundreds of thousands of homes had sold intensified the nationwide buying frenzy.
• New York housing prices reached $420 by mid-March, Benz automobile sales in the United States rose, and capitalists promoted new construction and lobbied congressmen to support real estate.

Arthur visited the Royal Aircraft Manufacturing Plant after Albert Fano and Diesel developed two types of jet engines, and he ordered the team to begin designing and testing Australasia’s first jet aircraft. The engines offered Australasia a major lead, though engineers still needed to improve their reliability and solve the challenges of building jet aircraft.

• Albert Fano and Diesel developed a ramjet intended for missiles and an axial-flow jet engine suited to ordinary military aircraft.
• Arthur visited the Royal Aircraft Manufacturing Plant and examined the two engine prototypes.
• Diesel explained that the engines could produce four to five kilonewtons of thrust using specially formulated diesel fuel.
• Arthur urged the experts, including Henri Coandă, to design and test Australasia’s first jet aircraft as quickly as possible.
• Arthur rewarded the research team with checks, giving Albert and Diesel one thousand Australian dollars each and the other experts five hundred dollars each.

Arthur focused on securing Australasia’s influence over Antarctica while international conflict spread through Europe and Russia. The Antwerp Olympics opened with new ceremonies and symbols, as Britain and other great powers showed limited interest in competing.

• The Spitsbergen Treaty recognized Norway’s sovereignty over the islands while granting signatory nations access and prohibiting military use, prompting Arthur to pursue Antarctic claims for Australasia.
• Arthur ordered the Three Major Film Studios to make Antarctic films that asserted Australasia’s sovereignty, while he noted Adolf Hitler’s founding of the Nazi Party in Germany.
• The Polish War of Independence began with British and French support, expanding the Russian Civil War into a wider conflict as Russia suffered heavy casualties, drought, and disease.
• Arthur avoided involvement in Russia’s civil war and focused on Australasia’s Football King’s Cup as the Antwerp Olympics approached.
• Belgium opened the Seventh Summer Olympic Games on April 20, 1920, introducing the athlete’s oath and Coubertin’s Olympic flag, while Belgian athletes formed the largest contingent.

Arthur inspected Australasia’s development of the Murray River Basin, focusing on Ballarat’s mechanized agriculture and Beri’s planned light-industrial zone. The projects were intended to secure food supplies, create jobs, and prepare the country for a future global economic crisis.

• Arthur considered the worldwide unemployment and economic dangers left by World War I and expected a global economic crisis, though preparations could limit its effects on Australasia.
• At the end of April 1920, Arthur traveled to Ballarat to inspect the agricultural development of the Murray River Basin.
• Ballarat had cleared tens of thousands of acres for mechanized farming, and the government planned water-storage facilities and incentives to attract settlers.
• The United Group supported Ballarat’s agricultural development, which was expected to supply food to Saint Arthur’s Fort after the capital relocation.
• The government developed Beri as an industrial center focused on light industry, with plans for hundreds of thousands of jobs and more than a thousand factories.
• Arthur required the Beri Industrial Zone to treat industrial sewage and control atmospheric emissions.

The chapter reviewed Australasia’s agricultural and industrial growth, its plans to reorganize administrative divisions, and the uneven postwar economies driving housing prices upward. Australasia’s housing market remained comparatively stable, while the chapter noted a sharp increase in New York prices and the profits made by American capitalists.

• Australasia’s arable land and grain production reached new records, and Timor’s population, farmland, and grain output grew as it moved toward becoming a state.
• Arthur’s government planned to reorganize Australasia’s oversized administrative divisions after construction of the new capital was complete.
• Australasia’s share of global industrial output rose to 7.8%, making it the world’s fourth-largest industrial power, while Russia’s industry collapsed amid civil war.
• The United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Australasia retained comparatively healthy economies as postwar conditions fueled rising housing prices.
• Australasia’s housing-price increase stayed below 5%, while New York prices climbed to around $500 and enriched many American capitalists.

In June 1920, Nicholas II faced a collapsing economy and sought funds to support the planned summer offensive against Soviet Russia. His ambassador asked Arthur for a loan, and the chapter ended with Russia offering gold as collateral and Arthur showing interest in negotiating.

• Nicholas II learned that Tsarist Russia’s finances were near collapse and asked his Prime Minister whether the government could fund the summer offensive.
• The Prime Minister said foreign aid was due in two weeks and that a loan of twenty million pounds could keep the government going through the offensive.
• Nicholas II sent ambassador Levgeni to ask Arthur for a loan, but Arthur declined to lend directly and offered to introduce him to Australasia’s banks.
• Levgeni proposed oil-extraction rights as collateral, but Arthur rejected the offer because Russian oil rights held little appeal to him.
• Levgeni revealed that Nicholas II was willing to exchange gold for a large loan, and Arthur agreed to discuss the amount.

Arthur negotiated a mortgage loan with Russia, agreeing to lend Nicholas II sixty million Australian pounds in exchange for two hundred tons of gold. With the funds secured, Nicholas II ordered his government to prepare supplies for the coming summer offensive.

• Arthur rejected Nicholas II’s request for a fifty-million-pound loan secured by two hundred tons of gold and offered thirty million pounds sterling instead.
• The Russian ambassador consulted his government, then accepted Arthur’s offer the next day, finalizing a loan of sixty million Australian pounds.
• News of Russia’s gold-backed loan spread across Europe, where other countries sought ways to obtain Nicholas II’s remaining gold.
• Nicholas II asked his Prime Minister whether the loan would fund Russia through the summer offensive, and the Prime Minister cautiously said it should.
• Nicholas II ordered the government to quickly stock supplies for the offensive, which was due to begin in just over a month.

Arthur learned that Australasia had developed a method for mass-producing penicillin and rewarded the researchers responsible. He formally granted titles to key contributors, including Howard Walter Florey, and resolved to prioritize cultivating local talent.

• Arthur concluded that Russia was unlikely to repay its 60-million-Australian-dollar loan, leaving its 200 tons of gold effectively available to support Australasia’s currency.
• Wright told Arthur that the first penicillin factory could begin production in two months and that output would eventually meet wartime needs.
• Fleming and Wright explained how their experiments and production research had established penicillin’s effectiveness and enabled mass production.
• Arthur awarded the biological laboratory’s researchers cash prizes, named Fleming a baron, named Wright a knight, and arranged a celebration.
• Arthur signed the title documents and learned that Howard Walter Florey had earned a knighthood for his contributions to penicillin research.

The Greco-Turkish War broke out as Britain and France backed Greece against Kemal’s increasingly powerful Turkish National Assembly. In Eastern Europe, Poland seized Lithuania and established a Polish-backed independent republic, reigniting the fighting while Nicholas II prepared a summer offensive.

• Greece declared war on the Ottoman Empire in late June 1920, with British and French backing, while Arthur doubted Greece could defeat Kemal’s forces without substantial military aid.
• Arthur decided Australasia would stay out of the Greco-Turkish arms trade and focus on domestic development.
• Poland conquered Lithuania and established a pro-Polish Republic of Lithuania, with Britain and France turning a blind eye.
• Lithuania’s new independence reignited the Eastern European battlefront and drew Poland deeper into the conflict, easing pressure on Tsarist Russia.
• Nicholas II put off dealing with Poland and focused on his summer offensive, relying on Australasia’s loans and the Tsarist army’s equipment advantage.

At the end of July 1920, Manuel, Walid, and Sandro’s Philippine forces seized the Senate and Government and declared independence from the United States. President Wilson and his advisers blamed foreign support for the uprising and resolved to suppress it by force, leaving war between America and the Philippines imminent.

• After months of preparation, Manuel commanded more than twenty thousand soldiers, while Walid and Sandro united their forces of roughly fifteen thousand each.
• Manuel’s forces surrounded the Philippine Senate and Government, defeated the unprepared American troops there, and took control of both facilities.
• Manuel announced Philippine independence, made the Senate responsible for order, and appointed Walid and Sandro deputy presidents while demanding that Americans leave.
• The Philippine forces surrounded the ports holding more than a thousand American troops and the US fleet stationed in the Philippines.
• At the White House, Wilson’s advisers suspected a foreign power had supplied the Filipinos, and Bainbridge Colby urged military action.
• Wilson declared that America had to protect its unity and ordered his government to crush the Filipinos.

After the Philippines declared independence, the United States threatened to send troops to suppress the rebellion, while Arthur arranged Australasia’s covert support for Manuel and the Philippine forces. The Filipinos received weapons, supplies, and training as American troops slowly prepared to sail, and Arthur used a loan treaty to strengthen his influence over the future Philippine Government.

• The United States announced that it would send its Philippine fleet to protect Americans and mobilize two divisions to suppress the rebellion, while Britain and France declined to support its protest and Japan stayed silent.
• Arthur approved a shipment of one hundred thousand rifles, one hundred machine guns, artillery, ammunition, and supplies for Manuel and the other two Filipino leaders, who agreed to cooperate and expand their forces.
• Australasia sent instructors to train the Philippine Army and concealed its involvement by supplying British- and German-made weapons.
• The American divisions took more than a week to assemble and depart, giving the Filipinos extra time to train with their new weapons.
• John arranged for Manuel and the other two leaders to sign a Philippine Senate loan treaty borrowing twenty million Australian dollars from Australasia to pay for its aid.

The Irish War of Independence erupted after British police fired on demonstrators in Dublin, prompting Ireland to declare independence and the Irish Republican Army to begin fighting British rule. As Britain vowed to suppress the rebellion, Arthur ensured it would continue supporting Australasia’s operations in the Philippines.

• A multinational coalition advanced into Ukraine and the Baltic States, while Soviet Russia committed heavy forces to defend Ukraine.
• On August 11, 1920, British police fired on demonstrators at a Dublin football match, killing two protesters and wounding others; the crowd killed two officers in response.
• Sinn Féin and the Irish Republican Army expanded, and on August 12 Ireland declared independence and established an independent Irish Parliament.
• On August 13, Dan Breen’s Republican Army soldiers kidnapped and executed Royal Irish Constabulary members, beginning the Irish War of Independence.
• The Irish Parliament declared Ireland under military administration and called for British troops to withdraw, while the British Government and George V vowed to suppress the rebellion.
• Arthur avoided publicly criticizing Britain and worked to keep its support for Australasia’s operations in the Philippines; meanwhile, John Milling was tortured and shot by Republican Army extremists.

Arthur judged that Australasia was unlikely to face an Irish-style rebellion and focused on developing Sydney’s economy and infrastructure. The chapter ended with him anticipating profits from new Benz automobiles and the completed Sydney radio factory.

• Arthur considered the Irish War of Independence but believed Australasia’s integrated population and lack of ethnic segregation would keep the country stable.
• Arthur redirected his attention to Sydney’s growth, where the Government planned a financial district and a luxury shopping street.
• The Government improved Sydney’s sanitation, electricity, and traffic regulations, including driver’s licenses, traffic lights, and speed limits.
• Taxi and freight companies prospered as automobile use increased, while the Benz Automobile Factory prepared a redesigned generation of cars for release within two years.
• Arthur looked forward to selling inexpensive radios made at the completed Sydney radio factory and exporting radio technology abroad.

Arthur arranged for Australasia to acquire and mine the Belgian Congo’s uranium ore, then directed scientists to begin researching nuclear theory. He hoped the uranium supply and theoretical head start would let Australasia develop nuclear weapons before World War II.

• Arthur negotiated through Australasia’s ambassador to Belgium and purchased all uranium ore in the Congo for five million Australian dollars and weapons equipment, with British support.
• Arthur established the Royal Mining Company, obtained permission to station Australasian troops at the mining area, and began organizing uranium extraction at New Kolobwe Mine.
• The Royal Mining Company reported that the mine had extracted 49 tons of uranium ore on September 1, and Arthur ordered production increased.
• Arthur supplied Einstein’s Physics Research Institute with ideas about atomic nuclei, nuclear fission, Uranium-235, and chain reactions, and ordered the research kept secret.
• Arthur hoped Australasia would develop nuclear weapons ahead of other countries and use them during World War II.

The chapter traced Italy’s postwar political and economic crisis and Mussolini’s rise from socialist reporter to leader of the National Fascist Party. After the Blackshirts marched on Rome, Victor Emmanuel III appointed Mussolini Prime Minister and tasked him with forming a cabinet.

• Italy faced political instability, economic hardship, widespread Mafia activity, and public anger over its limited gains after World War I.
• Mussolini founded Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, renamed it the National Fascist Party, and gained support from Italians disillusioned with the government.
• Mussolini used the Blackshirts to suppress a strike crisis, while Victor Emmanuel III rejected advisers’ calls to arrest him.
• Mussolini issued his "Revolutionary Manifesto," and tens of thousands of Blackshirts marched toward Rome with little resistance.
• Victor Emmanuel III appointed Mussolini Prime Minister and ordered him to form a new cabinet.