Although Germany had announced a complete cease-fire, this did not mean the war had completely ended.
Before the German representatives officially signed the peace treaty, Germany was still at war with the Allies.
If the theme during the war was how to defeat Germany, then the theme now after the temporary cease-fire was discussing how to divide Germany.
Although every country's goal was to obtain sufficient profit while teaching Germany a profound lesson. Explore more at empire
However, the attitudes of different countries towards handling Germany varied. For example, the French wanted to weaken Germany as much as possible, annex more land, and even completely eliminate the possibility of Germany competing with France again.
But the British would never agree to this. Weakening the Germans could be done, but it had to be within a reasonable scope.
Otherwise, a France that stood up again through exploiting Germany would become Britain's biggest rival in Europe. At that time, with no rivals on the European continent, the British would have to personally compete with France.
This was unacceptable to the British as it contradicted their consistent policy of continental balance and would greatly endanger Britain's status on the European continent.
Therefore, it was predictable that the upcoming negotiations would become a competition within the Allies.
Germany, which had already lost its defenses everywhere, would have no power to resist, but the disputes between the countries within the Allies would make this negotiation more exciting.
On December 15, 1917, three days after the official ceasefire, representatives from all the Allies gathered to discuss the specifics of the agreement with the German representatives.
Even before the end of the war, America's expeditionary forces in Europe had not exceeded 200,000 people, which meant that America would not benefit much from it.
This led to the war not being as horrific as in history—the total number of troops mobilized by the Allies was less than 30 million, with more than 14 million casualties and more than 5 million deaths.
The alliance's total mobilized troops were more than 15 million, with 9.4 million casualties and 4.1 million deaths.
The situation in the Allies countries is much better than the alliance, and even losses in France and Russia were not as severe as in history.
Even Russia can currently maintain a constitutional monarchy, and the capitalist government has even suppressed the Workers' Alliance, which is completely different from the situation in history.
Even Arthur is doubtful if the historical country would still appear, and if Russia could grow into a world-class power?
The different changes in these situations will make the upcoming World War II unpredictable, and Germany might not necessarily wage it as they did historically.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire did not decompose after the war as it did historically, and it could still retain the main regions of Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia. There would be no problem being a lesser power.
In short, the world after the war appears somewhat chaotic, and the differences from history are somewhat significant.
Against this background, Arthur's once-cherished future experience has become somewhat chicken ribs. He can only vigorously promote the development of Australasia and ensure that Australasia could use its own strength to protect its territorial integrity and people at any time.
While celebrating victory, Arthur did not forget to have the government actively fight for Australasia's interests.
All of Germany's Pacific colonies were a done deal and were not something any country could take away from Australasia.