The World War had ended. The spoils left behind by the fallen United Kingdom were simply too rich; several great powers had stuffed themselves to the point of choking and were now busy digesting the fruits of victory. The small nations, meanwhile, had little say in anything.
Against this backdrop, Bulgaria's actions in Australia naturally drew no attention.
Having a good boss was no easy thing. No one was quite so eager to court death.
Compared with the United Kingdom, Bulgaria enjoyed a far better international reputation. At the very least, on the surface, Bulgaria had never stabbed its allies in the back.
This left governments everywhere very satisfied. With Europe's shit-stirring rod finally gone, everyone could focus on developing their economies in peace.
Bulgaria had no need to provoke conflicts between nations, nor did it need to suppress their development. The pits had long since been dug; all it had to do was watch them jump in themselves.
Take France, the world's second-largest power. The French continued marching down the road of becoming a usury empire. They possessed vast colonies, yet had no idea how to develop them.
They had once possessed the world's most advanced industrial system, but after more than twenty years of tireless effort by the French government, they had begun deindustrializing far too early. By now, France's total industrial output had barely increased compared with before World War I.
Then there was West Russia, which had gone ever farther down the path of becoming a nation of mine owners. Russian tycoons bought and bought across the world, yet refused to invest in manufacturing.
The neighboring Austro-Hungarian Empire was not much better. Its financial sector flourished, while its manufacturing industry relied heavily on Bulgaria. Its domestic economy had long been more or less brought under Bulgarian