Chapter 487: Immigration Wave (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)

The 1912 that had just ended was a wonderful year for the European public, but for many German and French people, it was a year they absolutely did not want to recall.

From the outbreak of the World War on July 17, 1912, to 1913, a total of four and a half months had passed.

In these four and a half months, what changes had happened in Europe?

According to the rough statistics of the military observation groups of various countries, in the past four and a half months, the cumulative casualties of the armies of European countries reached 3 million, and civilian casualties reached 1.5 million.

This war was not only the most tragic war in human history, but 1912 was also the year with the most casualties caused by war in human history.

According to statistics, at least 350,000 French soldiers died on the battlefield, at least 200,000 German soldiers, 150,000 Austro-Hungarian soldiers, and 300,000 Russian soldiers died; the number of dead soldiers had already exceeded one million.

Such a casualty scale was extremely exaggerated; one must know that this was only the data for four and a half months. Expanding it to 12 months, the death figure might increase to nearly 2.5 million.

Death and casualties were completely different; injured soldiers could continue to participate in combat after recovery, while dead soldiers could only be buried hastily, representing that the country had lost these populations forever.

According to the current casualties of European countries, besides Russia, most European countries should be in the stage of negative population growth.

The impact of the war on Europe was extremely huge, and the trauma brought to the participating countries was also difficult to erase in a short time.

However, because Britain and Spain did not join this war, this also led to the industry and economy of Europe as a whole still growing continuously.

Whether it was Britain or Spain, they had obtained too many benefits in this war.

By the beginning of 1913, the total mobilization of European countries had already been carried out for the most part.

France's army reached an exaggerated 2.6 million, Germany's army reached 3.5 million. The Russian army also barely exceeded 2 million, the Austro-Hungarian army reached 1.2 million, the Serbian army 300,000, the Bulgarian army 200,000, and the Montenegrin army 150,000.

Currently, the number of troops possessed by the Alliance and the Allied powers added up to over ten million, and the countries in Europe with a population exceeding ten million were actually only a few powers.

From this aspect, one could also see that the scale of this war was extremely huge; Belgium and Luxembourg had already lost their countries, and more countries would be forced to be involved in this super war later.

To prevent other countries from obtaining too many benefits because of this great war, Gao Da signaled the Spanish government to contact Britain and sign a peace trade treaty with Britain.

The purpose of signing this treaty was also very simple: to unite with Britain to monopolize all import and export trade in Europe, preventing other countries outside Europe, especially the United States, from intervening in European trade.

There were many victim countries in the two World Wars, and it was not that there were no countries that rose because of the two World Wars.

The United States was definitely the country that benefited the most in the World War, and the United States also successfully became the world hegemon through the two World Wars; this was something that had to be guarded against.

Before the outbreak of the World War, even if the United States' industry and economy were at the top, it could not allow the United States to enter the ranks of hegemony.

The reason was also very simple: the United States was still relatively backward in military technology, and a large reason for the rise of American industry was the investment of European capital, which also made the United States owe huge foreign debts, and the creditors were European countries.

Before the outbreak of World War I, the impression the United States gave to all European countries could only be described by one word: *nouveau riche*.

The US government was indeed very rich, but besides having money, they had no other advantages.

At this time, the US army size could only be considered passable, with only a pitiful tens of thousands of people, not a military country at the power level at all.

This was also the reason European countries did not value the United States at all; besides the industrial scale and economic scale being powers, other aspects were more like a non-power country.

What truly made the United States rise were the opportunities brought by the two World Wars.

Because the two World Wars both involved most of Europe, only a few European countries could be spared.

This also led to many European citizens fleeing the war and immigrating to the United States one after another. The United States received a large number of European immigrants during the two World Wars, which not only significantly increased its population but also solved the problem of insufficient domestic technical talent.

There were a large number of scientists and technical experts mixed among these civilians, immigrating to the United States together.

This also led to the United States obtaining a large number of scientists and technical experts during the two World Wars, and the United States' military technology was able to improve rapidly, which was also the reason the United States could be the first to develop the atomic bomb.

There were many examples of these scientists, the more famous ones being Einstein, Fermi, Teller, and Bohr, etc.

It could be said that the fact that the United States could be the first to develop the atomic bomb was quite important due to the talent aid from European countries.

If the United States had not obtained a large amount of talent from Europe, let alone being the first to develop the atomic bomb, it would have been quite difficult to catch up with Europe in terms of military technology.

Gao Da wanted to unite with Britain to monopolize European trade, which was actually also to prevent the United States from obtaining too many benefits in this war.

Britain and Spain did not join this war, and could also attract more immigrants through their own economic environment, especially those scientists and technical immigrants, who were the targets Spain vigorously wooed.

Compared to letting the United States obtain benefits, Gao Da could accept letting Britain obtain benefits more.

Because Britain was a member of Europe, it was relatively easy to deal with. Britain relied on its navy; Spain had already surpassed it once in dreadnoughts, and later there was still a chance to pull away the gap in aircraft carriers.

Plus Spain had already taken the lead in developing airplanes, and even if the future navy could not exceed Britain's, it would basically be at the same level as Britain's, so there was no need to worry about the threat brought by Britain.

The threat of the British mainland was limited; what the British relied on was precisely the wealth and materials brought by a large number of colonies.

As long as Spain's navy was at the same level as Britain's, Spain could threaten Britain's colonies, thereby significantly reducing the threat of Britain itself.

But the United States was different. The United States was too far from Spain; once the United States was allowed to develop, it would not be easy for Spain to deal with the United States.

And the United States possessed huge potential relying on its own land alone; even if Spain integrated Portugal and Morocco, it was far inferior to the United States in terms of land area and development potential.

Therefore, for Gao Da, if there was an opportunity to follow the United States' development, it must be implemented at all costs.

Before that red empire was born, the United States was Spain's biggest threat. As for Britain, Germany, etc., their threats were instead not that great.

Germany would suffer a lot of weakening after this World War; the weakened Germany would not pose a big threat to Spain. Even if Germany could develop rapidly as in history, what they hated was France, which had nothing to do with Spain.

Spain only needed to build a large number of military forts on both sides of the Pyrenees, and it could easily block Germany's invasion.

Even if France surrendered quickly in World War II, Spain did not need to worry; after all, by then Germany would be fighting to the death with that red empire, and Spain would still have a chance to watch the show.

After the war broke out, the choices of the British government and the Spanish government were basically consistent. Both governments were unwilling to interfere in the war too early, and both wanted to obtain more benefits in the war.

Spain's main partner was France and Russia, while Britain's main partner was Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Spain would also occasionally sell materials to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, just as Britain would sell materials to France.

After all, making money is not shameful. As for whether the behavior of selling materials to both the Alliance and the Allied powers simultaneously would disturb the situation of the European battlefield, for Spain and Britain, it was actually not that important.

The arms and materials Spain sold to the Austro-Hungarian Empire were all on a small scale, and the purpose was precisely to prevent the Austro-Hungarian Empire from transferring these materials to Germany, thereby indirectly aiding the enemy.

The materials Britain sold to France were basically food or medical materials, and they rarely sold arms to France, avoiding France obtaining Britain's arms aid and instead occupying an advantage in terms of firepower.

Britain and Spain could also be considered to have a tacit understanding; the two countries jointly partitioned at least 70% of the trade market share of the Alliance and the Allied powers, and the remaining share was partitioned by other small and medium-sized European countries.

This also led to the United States, far away in the Americas, being completely unable to get a share. Although they hoarded a large amount of materials, because of the long distance, it took a longer time to transport, and they were abandoned by the Alliance and the Allied powers simultaneously. ===== CHAPTER 488 =====