Chapter 783 Russian-American Alliance
Even if no investment is made in building new factories, output will gradually increase as productivity increases.
George will not forget the coming Great Depression. Compared with this economic crisis, all previous economic crises are child's play.
George hoped that Russia would be well prepared before the Great Depression hit.
After the Rivne exercise, nearly 150,000 officers and soldiers will retire, and George will send some of them to East India and Australia.
The West is about to hold a referendum in October. Local media surveys show that about 50% of the people in West are in favor of independence.
The remaining 50% are not all opposed, most of them are indifferent, and only a small part express their opposition.
What George is now worried about is that if Britain and Australia do not recognize the results of the referendum, then there is a high possibility of a war breaking out in Theo.
Of course this depends on whether Theo’s attitude is firm or not.
In another time and space, in 1933, Theo held a referendum, and 66% of the people in Theo were in favor of independence.
The referendum failed because the British Parliament did not approve it.
This——
Things that are obviously very serious are treated like a joke.
On September 30, the Rivne exercise ended, and the Russian Ministry of Defense held a thank-you banquet as usual, with George attending.
This year's Rivne exercise was fruitful. It not only tested the combat effectiveness of the Russian army, but also reached a series of arms purchase agreements, totaling 150 million rubles.
Don’t think it’s too little. The latest Russian Type 22 armored fighting vehicle is priced at only 300,000 rubles. Compared with battleships that often cost tens of millions of rubles, it is very affordable.
It’s actually not cheap either.
If calculated in terms of tonnage, the unit cost of an armored fighting vehicle is about 10 times that of a battleship.
Compared with the Type 22 armored fighting vehicle, the Type 18 light armored fighting vehicle is cheaper, only 150,000 rubles.
The Type 18 is nominally improved on the basis of old tanks. In fact, there are basically no changes. It is just a refurbished tank equipped by Russia during the World War for sale.
Russia produced about 2,500 tanks during the world wars. Although not as many as France, they had thicker armor, more powerful firepower, greater mobility, and more competitiveness.
After the end of the world war, Russia still had nearly 1,000 tanks. The performance of these tanks had seriously fallen behind and was on the verge of elimination.
Even the second-hand goods eliminated by Russia are still sufficient for other countries.
Not all countries, like Russia, need strong national defense to ensure their own security.
For many countries, especially some countries surrounding Russia, purchasing weapons and equipment from Russia is more of a political demand.
For example, the Kingdom of Hungary purchased 100 Type 18 light tanks.
Even if the Kingdom of Hungary purchases 1,000 vehicles, it will not be enough to ensure the safety of the Kingdom of Hungary. Purchasing Russian tanks at this time is actually paying protection fees.
The Kingdom of Romania also bought 100 vehicles.
Based on the relationship between Russia and the Kingdom of Romania, even if Romania does not buy it, Russia will ensure the security of the Kingdom of Romania.
But the eldest brother protects the younger brother from wind and rain, and the younger brother should also help the elder brother solve problems, so the Kingdom of Romania happily paid the money without considering whether to renovate it or not.
As of the 30th, a total of 850 Type 18s had been sold in Russia. Not only had all the second-hand goods in the warehouse been sold out, Russia also had to produce more than 300 units to meet order demand.
The amazing thing is that not only Eastern European countries, but also Japan purchased 30 Type 18 vehicles from Russia for training and research.
Japan——
Since Japan paid off its compensation to Russia, George has not paid attention to news about Japan for a long time.
Japan is also funny. After recalling hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the Kaori Legion, Japan began to send laborers to Russia again in the second year, and the scale was larger and the number of people was larger.
The most popular people in Vladivostok now are Japanese maids.
This is not the first time that Japan has purchased weapons and equipment from Russia. Because the Japanese Army has become accustomed to Russian equipment, the current Japanese army is almost exclusively Russian equipment.
In general, not only the remittances Japan earned through working as a labor force returned to Russia in the form of military purchases, but also some loans from the United Kingdom and the United States.
The current impression of Japan on George is that of another Philippines.
Speaking of the Philippines——
After the United States defeated the Spanish, it did not directly manage the Philippines. Instead, it supported local self-government through so-called "decolonization" and let the Filipinos manage themselves.
The so-called "decolonization" of Americans is essentially just seeking benefits and not wanting to assume obligations.
In order to turn the Philippines into a source of raw materials and a dumping ground for goods for the United States, the tariffs between the United States and the Philippines are very low. This allows American goods to enter the Philippine market and also gives a green light for Philippine goods to enter the U.S. market.
Then the problem arises.
The consumption power of the Filipinos who have been colonized by the Spanish for 300 years is very low. Not only are the cars that the United States has high hopes for no one interested, but even oil lamps are not affordable. This has led to the decline of American products in the Philippine market. Sales are very low.
On the other hand, Philippine agricultural products are more popular in the U.S. market because of their low prices.
As a result, farmers in the southern United States are increasingly dissatisfied, demanding higher tariffs and restricting Philippine goods from entering the U.S. market.
If the United States wants to increase tariffs, it must first amend the law. This work cannot be completed in a day or two.
Not only do Filipinos not realize that they are about to be abandoned by their American father, but they are complacent about their status as second-class Americans, and their attitudes towards neighboring countries have become increasingly tough.
Next to the Philippines is the Grand Duchy of Yuriev.
In the past two years, there have been more and more conflicts between the two countries over fishing. From the perspective of Filipinos, although the Grand Duchy of Yuriev has Russia as its backing, the Philippines also has an American father, and their status is almost the same.
Because the United States has troops stationed in the Philippines and Russia has no troops stationed in the Grand Duchy of Yuriev, so purely in terms of emphasis, the Philippines seems to be better.
The observation team sent by the Grand Duchy of Yuriev was led by Deputy Defense Minister Olcott.
George ignored the dispute between the Grand Duchy of Yuriev and the Philippines, and Peter took the initiative to find Alcott and asked if he needed help.
"Of course, of course, if we can sell two of the 'Gangut' or 'Queen' at a discount, we will not be afraid of any threats."
Alcott the lion opened his mouth.
Peter turned and left.
After the end of the world war, Russia sold two battleships that had paid off Japanese debts to Japan, and sold one "Gangut" and one "Queen" to the Kingdom of Romania and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia respectively to serve as flagships. Russia itself has only three "Ganguts", three "Queens", and three "Romanovs" left, and has not built a single new battleship.
Currently three "Ganguts" are in the Atlantic Fleet, three "Queens" are in the Mediterranean Fleet, and the last three "Romanovs" are in the Pacific. Peter has reported several times that he wants to build new battleships, but he still wants them. The Grand Duchy of Yuriev actually wants to poach Russia——
Also at a discount——
It's really unbearable.
Although Russia did not build battleships, it did build two new aircraft carriers.
The two aircraft carriers are named after "Suvorov" and "Kutuzov" respectively.
Kutuzov is a legendary Russian general as famous as Suvorov. I will not go into details about his life achievements. I will only say that Kutuzov died of illness while pursuing Napoleon.
"Kutuzov" and "Suvorov" are both equipped to the Atlantic Fleet, and the Mediterranean Fleet and Pacific Fleet are still waiting eagerly.
"Marshal, you said you wanted to help-"
Alcott grabbed Peter and refused to let him go.
“Get away! Leave me alone!”
Peter has a bad attitude.
"Your Majesty asked me to say hello to you on his behalf——"
Alcott plays the family card.
Peter groaned angrily, he still had to give face to the king’s nephew.
"Up to two armored cruisers, take it or not."
"50% off."
Alcott sharpened his sword.
"Original price."
"Then we might as well build it ourselves."
"Whatever."
The Grand Duchy of Yuriev can indeed build armored cruisers, but there is no need. For the Grand Duchy of Yuriev, light cruisers with a main gun caliber not exceeding 155 mm and a displacement not exceeding 6,000 tons are sufficient to meet the needs.
The conflict between the Philippines and the Grand Duchy of Yuriev is rooted in Russia and the United States.
Although Russia and the United States share extensive common interests on some issues, competition also exists widely while they cooperate, especially regarding investment in Germany.
Because Russia is closer to Germany and invested in Germany earlier, Russian products are more popular than American products in Germany.
In order to compete with Russian products, Americans have to lower the prices of their products, which leads to the gradual emergence of a vicious cycle.
No matter how much the price of U.S. goods drops, it will not be lower than the cost of Russian goods.
If Russia starts the price reduction mode like the United States, neither Russia nor the United States will make any money, and Germany will only reap the benefits.
At the same time as the Rovne maneuvers were taking place, Felix was negotiating with Frank Kellogg, hoping to reach an agreement on foreign trade.
The content of the negotiation is actually very simple. As long as the two countries unanimously decide not to engage in a price war, both Russia and the United States will make money.
It is not difficult for Russia to do this. After all, Russia’s exports are led by the Russian government.
The United States is a bit difficult. Compared with Russia, the United States is not only a loose sand, but also a federation in bulk.
During the World War, the United States officially replaced the United Kingdom and became the country with the highest export trade volume in the world.
Russia is a rising star and only began to expand foreign trade after the end of the world war.
Although Russia started relatively late, it has a strong momentum. Its current trade volume with European countries has exceeded that of the United States.
So the negotiations between Russia and the United States have naturally attracted the attention of all Europe.
Especially the UK.
After the Suez Canal changed hands, Britain, no matter how slow it was, finally realized the dangers of the Russian-American alliance.
Russian-American alliance!
It’s exciting to think about it.
(End of this chapter)