The Rise of Australasia

Chapter 644 -491: Interfering in Civil War

"We must not sit idly by and watch the peace of Europe be destroyed, nor can we stand idly by as the Red Terror sweeps across Europe. Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps such a choice will plunge Europe back into war, but we have no other option. In order for the countries of all those present to maintain peace, we should resolutely eliminate all forces that trouble peace, even nations. Let us take action, all for peace, long live peace!” In a World Alliance conference, during a discussion on the Hungarian Civil War, the British representative stood up and passionately spoke.

No matter whether the British representative’s words were reasonable or not, thunderous applause immediately resounded from the audience.

Helpless, the British Empire was currently the strongest nation. At present, the only country able to contend with the British Empire was France, but the French would not easily provoke the British.

Australasia’s representative naturally joined in the applause, after all, intervening in the Hungarian Civil War was something Australasia wanted to see.

For monarchial countries like Australasia and the British Empire, an ideology like Soviet Russia’s, which could destroy monarchial countries, was undoubtedly their greatest internal threat.

Even against the United States, they could afford to slightly relax; after all, the Americans threatened the whole of Australasia, while Soviet Russia threatened Arthur and the monarchy.

The British representative was very satisfied with the applause from the whole audience and went on to say, “The World Alliance is rightly fulfilling its duty in aiding weak countries. I propose that all member states jointly send troops to help Hungary end the war and jointly implement policies to limit the spread of Soviet Russian ideas to ensure that our nations remain unaffected.”

If one had a map, they could see that Hungary’s position was actually very important.

With Hungary at the center, to the north it could threaten Russia’s Polish region, to the south it could threaten the entire Balkans, to the west lie Italy and Austria, and to the east across Galicia, it could reach the Ukrainian region of Russia.

If Russia controlled this area, it could not only secure its rule in Poland and Galicia but also use Hungary as a springboard to gradually nibble away at the Balkan region, expanding its territory to parts of Central Europe.

This was unacceptable to the British Empire. Not to mention the impact of Soviet Russian expansion on surrounding countries, but just the control of the Balkan region by Russia alone would be enough to affect the British Empire’s hegemony.

Previously, during the Tsardom of Russia, the British Empire did not allow such a situation to occur, let alone now with Soviet Russia.

Quite a number of countries were willing to engage with the British Empire’s proposal, such as Romania and Serbia, which were near Hungary.

Romania directly borders Russia and it is difficult to guarantee that the next victim after Hungary will not be Romania.

The only way to ensure Romania’s safety is to defeat Soviet Russia in this Hungarian Civil War and prevent the possibility of Soviet Russian ideology from spreading to the outside world.

Meanwhile, Serbia, which neighbors Hungary, was also a country supported by Tsarist Russia.

If Tsarist Russia were to collapse, it would not a be a good thing for Serbia either.

In addition, Italy also expressed its support for intervening in the Hungarian Civil War.

However, Italy’s goals were different from those of smaller countries like Romania; Italy’s real purpose was to extend its reach further into the Balkan Peninsula.

Nevertheless, with the cheers of these countries, support for intervening in the civil war suddenly increased.

Together with the many countries that had originally sided with the British Empire, the British Empire gained the initiative in this conference by a sizeable margin, successfully securing the World Alliance resolution to intervene in the Hungarian Civil War.

In May 1919, just a few days after the outbreak of the Hungarian Civil War, the World Alliance publicly announced its intention to intervene in the conflict and help the Hungarian people restore peace.

This intervention was not just lip service; the British Empire was expected to send 50,000 troops, Italy 30,000, France 30,000, and Australasia 10,000, with the remaining member countries contributing 2,000 to 5,000 troops each, totaling over 150,000 soldiers to forcefully intervene in the Hungarian Civil War.

The number of troops on both sides of the Hungarian Civil War was not much; as one of the defeated factions, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had its military greatly reduced.

The original Hungarian Kingdom government had just over 60,000 troops left, which were fully inherited by Prime Minister Tisa and the armed forces commander-in-chief.

The Workers’ Party, supported by Soviet Russia, initiated an armed rebellion with less than 40,000 troops. However, these troops included some relatively strong soldiers, who were not necessarily Hungarian but possibly soldiers sent by Soviet Russia.

After all, these 40,000 men could contend with the government forces of just over 60,000, proving that these newly formed troops were not simple.

It would take some time for the World Alliance’s combined forces to be formed, but that didn’t mean they had no plans before the actual action took place.

The first step was to provide support to the Hungarian government; the Italian descendants took the initiative to supply weapons and equipment and pledged to deliver them to the Hungarian government within one week.

Although the combat effectiveness of the Italian army was not very impressive, the weapons and equipment produced by Italy were barely considered world-class, making them quite suitable for supporting the Hungarian government in the civil war.

Faced with Italy’s proactive attitude, others naturally wouldn’t have much to say, as weapon procurement comes at a cost to themselves.

In addition to supporting the Hungarian government, the World Alliance also publicly announced that it would blockade all trade routes to Soviet Russia and forbid all member countries of the World Alliance to engage in private trade with Soviet Russia.

As a newly emerging country, Soviet Russia’s initial strength was not that powerful.

After all, no matter how strong the Soviet consciousness was, it was ultimately a country that inherited only part of Russia’s territory, and its strength couldn’t compare with that of Tsardom of Russia at its peak. Thus, it desperately needed supplies from the outside world to fill the gap in domestic production.

As long as they could cut off all foreign trade routes for Soviet Russia, even if they wouldn’t cripple the country, the blockade would definitely hinder Soviet Russia’s development.

The British Empire’s intention to cut off Soviet Russia’s foreign trade routes was not an empty promise. Under the British Empire’s lead, the member countries of the World Alliance signed a restrictive trade treaty, demanding that each of the signatory countries prohibit trade with Soviet Russia, and no supplies could enter or leave the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea freely.

The World Alliance’s decision to intervene in the Hungarian civil war and its treaty to limit Soviet Russia quickly became headline news in Russia and even around the world.

Inside Hungary, people welcomed the World Alliance’s decision to intervene in the civil war. After all, the Hungarians initially just wanted to break away from the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s government and were already satisfied with the establishment of the Hungarian Democratic Republic. They never expected, nor supported, the Workers’ Party launching a civil war.

However, it is clear that the issue of the Hungarian civil war is no longer something that the Hungarian people can decide.

Not to mention the Hungarians; even the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was formerly Hungary’s suzerain state, has no better solution to the situation in Hungary at the moment.

Nowadays, the Austro-Hungarian Empire should theoretically be called the Austrian Empire, as Hungary has already gained independence. So far, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has not taken any countermeasures.

However, it is not the fault of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After all, being one of the defeated countries in the war, the size of its military has been strictly limited to less than 150,000.

Although the restrictions imposed on the Austro-Hungarian Empire were not as severe as those on Germany, the loss of 60,000 Hungarian troops reduced the number of troops that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had available to less than 90,000.

Resolving the Hungarian civil war with fewer than 90,000 troops would be an improbable task, even for the blunder-prone Carl I.

Furthermore, after Hungary’s independence, many countries, including Tsarist Russia and Italy, immediately expressed their support for it.

It was already difficult for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to remain unified after the war, so competing with the victorious countries and regaining control over Hungary would be nearly impossible.

Under the intervention of the World Alliance, the Hungarian civil war was quickly settled.

Compared to Soviet Russia’s raging inferno, the Soviet civil war was just a mere spark, easily extinguished once the World Alliance got serious.

However, Hungary after the peace became a region that various governments scrambled to seize.

Although it was ostensibly to restore peace to the Hungarian region, the actions of the countries couldn’t possibly be without gains.

The United Kingdom was eager to bring the important country of Hungary, which could threaten Russia’s Poland, under its control.

To win over the Hungarian government, Prime Minister Tisa, who controlled the government, became a critical figure.

Prime Minister Tisa had a great reputation in Hungarian politics. During the Kingdom Government, Tisa had been appointed Prime Minister several times and even held a certain degree of influence in Francis I’s cabinet.

However, after the death of Francis I, the imperial cabinet was taken over by Austria, and the Hungarian Kingdom could no longer interfere.

It was precisely because of this that Prime Minister Tisa lost his support for Carl I and tacitly supported the Hungarian Kingdom Government’s resistance to the imperial government’s policies.

Previously, Tisa had refused to pay grain levies and even openly manipulated prices, blaming the imperial government’s purchase of grain for the price increases. Behind these events was the shadow of Prime Minister Tisa.

This won Tisa the support of some of the Hungarian bourgeoisie and peasants, giving him not only a high prestige in politics but also considerable support among the people.

In addition, by winning over the Armed Forces Commander-in-chief, Tisa directly controlled Hungary’s military power, making him an influential figure in the Hungarian Democratic Republic government, with most governmental powers in his hands.

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