The Rise of Australasia

Many pieces of machinery from German factories throughout history were dismantled and sent to Allied nations. Those that could not be transported were directly destroyed to prevent post-war Germany from rapidly rising due to this industrial equipment.

An early exit from the war was also what the Austro-Hungarian Empire desired. In addition to alleviating the increasingly severe independence crisis in the Hungarian region, preserving current military power was also something the Austro-Hungarian Empire hoped for.

Currently, the Austro-Hungarian Empire still has more than a million combat forces, which is the guarantee of their independence and unity after the war.

With these more than one million soldiers, even if the Hungarian Kingdom Government enthusiastically agitates, they would not dare to openly initiate an independence rebellion.

At any time, the military power of a country is always the top priority. A country can be taken seriously by others because of its military power, but it will never be taken seriously because of its previous prestige.

If the Austro-Hungarian Empire loses most of its military power in the war, even if this negotiation maintains most of its territory, it will be gradually devoured and divided by other countries in the future.

Since the 19th century, the international community has always respected strength, with the strong establishing rules and the weak being divided by rules.

Even for seemingly intimate allies like Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would still be inevitably devoured, or even annexed, by Germany if its strength was too weak.

The interests of the countries are above everything else, and the relationship between countries is determined by strength.

During the negotiations, the war in the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not cease, which is also a reason for the Empire's anxiety.

Despite requesting the Allies to temporarily stop the war in the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the grounds that negotiations had begun, the Allies consistently refused.

The Allies were not foolish. As it was because of the ongoing war that they were able to seize the initiative, they have no intention of stopping it without obtaining an offer that satisfies them.

To expedite the negotiations, the Allies have also held internal meetings and adjusted each country's demands.

Firstly, Russia had set its appetite too high, as Galicia and Slovakia could not be annexed by Russia at the same time.

These two regions not only represent a large area of land and population, but they are also rich in mineral resources, and their industries are highly developed.

Losing Galicia and Slovakia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire will no longer have the power to confront Russia, which is a situation the British Empire does not want to see.

After some quarreling, Russia has changed its goal to Galicia and the part of the Polish region occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, including Krakow.

This was acceptable to the British, as the Austro-Hungarian Empire still retained industrial areas such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria. Although the loss was heavy, it was not without strength for World War I.

The entire Transylvania region demanded by Romania would naturally not be allowed by the Powers.

In the end, Romania changed its request to 20 kilometers west of the border. This land was just a small protruding corner of the Transylvania region.

For Serbia, the demand for Bosnia was accepted by the Allies, but the Croatian region remained under Austro-Hungarian rule.

As for Italy, the Innsbruck to Trento region and Istria, which the Italians demanded, were reduced to the Trento region and Istria area.

In addition, the Dalmatian Region would be jointly governed by Britain and France, and the Austro-Hungarian navy would be divided among the Allies.

Aside from these territorial demands, the Austro-Hungarian Empire needed to pay 15 billion pounds to the Allies as war compensation.

Of this, 8 billion pounds were for war expenses, 3.5 billion pounds for soldier pensions, 2.5 billion pounds for damage caused by the war, and 1 billion pounds for withdrawal compensation.

This 15 billion pounds would be paid off over 50 years, with 200 million pounds being paid in the first year and settled immediately.

The remaining 14.8 billion pounds would be divided into 50 years, with 296 million pounds being repaid for each year. Payments needed to continue until 1968 to be cleared.

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