Chapter 460: The Rising New Nobility and the Conferment of Military Merit.
Before the peace negotiation representatives from various countries arrived in London, the venue for the peace talks, each country was also systematically counting their own casualties and war consumption.
Compared with Russia, which is relatively chaotic, other European countries are the fastest in statistics.
The Allies mobilized a total of 29.14 million troops, with a total casualty of 14.21 million and a death toll of 5.11 million. The total civilian casualties were 15.15 million and the death toll was 4.11 million.
The Allies mobilized a total of 15.32 million troops, with a total of 9.4 million casualties and more than 4.1 million deaths. Total civilian casualties were 9.75 million, and total deaths were 2.32 million.
Although there is definitely a certain difference between the statistics collected by various countries and the actual situation, judging from the brutality of the First World War, it should be only a little less.
It can also be seen from the data that the military suffers the greatest casualties in war, but it also has a great impact on civilians.
Even most countries do not keep statistics on the number of citizens who have died due to hunger. After all, such a thing is not honorable to the government.
Anyway, the war is won, so who cares about the non-battle deaths of civilians in the war?
According to the statistics of casualties from various countries, France was probably the most tragic country in World War I. The total number of soldiers killed exceeded 1.2 million, and the number of injured soldiers exceeded 4 million. It can be said that France did not have many uninjured soldiers.
The civilian casualties in France ranged from 600,000 to 700,000. After all, a large amount of French territory was occupied during the war, and the attitude of German soldiers towards the French people was not destined to be very good.
The second-highest casualties were in the Russian Empire, with more than 1.8 million soldier deaths and more than 5 million wounded, and civilian casualties somewhere between 2 and 3 million.
It is worth mentioning that more than 1 million Russian troops were captured, and these people were not counted among the casualties. In addition, Russia's statistics are actually quite confusing, and there are still a large number of casualties of soldiers and civilians that have not been counted. This makes France the country with the largest casualties.
According to real data, Russia's casualties were far greater than those of France, and even if they just starved to death, there would definitely be more than a million people.
The next two countries with the greatest casualties were Germany and Austria-Hungary, both of which suffered more than 5 million casualties.
Among them, more than 2.2 million German soldiers were killed and 4.5 million were injured. German civilian casualties were relatively small compared to France and Russia. After all, the war only spread to the German mainland in the last few months.
Germany's civilian casualties were only about 150,000, of which more than 100,000 were injured or killed on the Eastern Front.
The casualties of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were not much different from those of Germany. After all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was defeated by Russia in the early stages of the war, and several army groups were even wiped out.
The number of soldiers killed in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was as high as 1.35 million, and the number of soldier casualties was as high as 4 million. Almost all soldiers were wounded. The Austro-Hungarian Empire suffered approximately 800,000 to 1 million civilian casualties, making it the country with the second largest civilian casualties after Russia.
Next came the British Empire. The number of soldiers killed was about 1 million, and the number of injured was about 1.9 million. Civilian casualties were very few. After all, the war did not affect the British mainland.
Australasia was the country with the sixth highest casualties, and Italy ranked seventh, with more than 300,000 soldiers killed and more than 600,000 injured, trailing Australasia by a gap of 20,000.
Except for the five major powers, Britain, France, Russia, Australia and Italy, the remaining Allied countries, including the United States, actually suffered relatively low casualties.
The average casualties in the Balkan countries were around 100,000, and the casualties in Belgium also exceeded 100,000.
In addition, the casualties of other countries did not exceed 100,000, and they were destined not to receive too many benefits.
This casualty list is a preliminary tally by each country. It was originally given to the outside world for verification, and later it was used to strive for more benefits at the peace negotiation table.
But in fact, many of the casualties in this list are not taken seriously by governments, such as Australasia's indigenous troops, who will not receive Australasia's pension policy.
Of course, Arthur will also fulfill his promise to send these soldiers and their families to other areas and give them certain severance pay.
The severance package is approximately AUD 50 to AUD 200, but they will install some items in their new place to stabilize their lives.
Those who can really enjoy the pension policy are the 8,000 soldiers who died in the regular army and the 17,000 soldiers who were injured. They will also receive corresponding compensation and rewards.
It can be seen from the casualty figures of Australasia's regular army that it was the indigenous soldiers who bore the suffering of this war for Australasia.
In addition to Australasia, the British Empire was in the same situation as Australasia. More than half of the casualties were indigenous soldiers. Although there were real casualties of the main British army, they accounted for less than one-third of the total casualties.
According to the pension system in Australasia, the government and the royal family will have to contribute nearly 7 million Australian dollars as pensions for these 25,000 total casualties.
Among them, the government and the royal family each contribute half, which is about 3.5 million Australian dollars. The expenditure is not large for the finances of the government and the royal family, and it is completely acceptable. Although most of the soldiers have not yet returned home safely, Arthur ordered the government and the royal consortium to urgently prepare this pension fund and strive to distribute it to all soldiers as soon as possible.
In addition, the Ministry of National Defense will also provide certain subsidies for all soldiers participating in the war. The average subsidy per person is about 50 to 60 Australian dollars, which is also an expenditure of up to 5 to 6 million Australian dollars.
Of course, the rewards from the government and the royal family are far more than these. For soldiers who have achieved meritorious service, they will also receive more rewards such as fields, titles, medals, etc. It can also be regarded as the Australasian version of military merit.
Anyway, Australasia and the major colonies have a large amount of undeveloped land. It is a waste to leave this land vacant. It is better to leave it to these soldiers who have made great contributions to develop it.
These people will also be the class that benefits from military merit under the nobility, similar to the knights in the European Middle Ages, protecting the royal family and the aristocratic class in disguise.
In order to give soldiers better choices, the pensions and rewards given to soldiers can also be flexibly changed.
For example, the rewarded fields can be exchanged for funds equivalent to the fields, and the funds can also be exchanged for fields of equal value.
And military merit is accumulated, because the reward will be cleared this time. As long as the accumulated military merit reaches a certain level, a knighthood will be awarded.
According to the land grant program for military merit given by the government and the Ministry of National Defense, on average each soldier can receive about 3 acres of land, which is just over 1.2 hectares.
This is only a reward for soldiers who participated in the war. After achieving various military exploits, the land area obtained will also increase rapidly.
Approximately 150 to 200 hectares have been accumulated, and the military industry has reached a point where knighthood can be awarded.
From 1,000 hectares to 1,500 hectares, a baron title can be awarded. From 8,000 hectares to 10,000 hectares, it can be awarded to a viscount, from 30,000 to 50,000 hectares to an earl, and from 100,000 hectares to a duke.
Duke is basically the highest noble rank that an ordinary soldier can achieve by accumulating military merit. There is theoretically a prince above that, but this rank can only be obtained by direct descendants of the royal family.
In fact, 100,000 hectares is definitely not small, that is, 1,000 square kilometers, which is equivalent to a smaller county.
Moreover, the land obtained through these military merits is permanent. A nobleman who obtained a duke through military merits can become a rich man by relying on his own land.
Although honorary nobles such as Siren were not hereditary, the land was permanent, which was Arthur's reward for all those who contributed to the country and the royal family.
Precisely because it is a reward, there is great flexibility in conferring military merit. The royal family and the government usually select a large area for collective enfeoffment to ensure that the land obtained by the soldiers is connected together and avoid the embarrassing scene of one piece in the east and the other in the west.
Theoretically, people who receive land rewards can apply to the government for land exchange every 15 years and try to keep their land together as much as possible.
Of course, by changing the address, you can exchange for land with the same price and area, which will prevent some people from taking advantage of the government's loopholes.
In order to better cultivate the new nobles of Australasia, after enfeoffing the soldiers, Arthur will establish a noble school to provide good education to the descendants of the new nobles, so that they can become the pillars of the country and the royal family. Not just a waste of pleasure.
Aristocratic schools can also unite the descendants of the new aristocrats, forming a complex network of relationships between aristocrats. All new aristocrats are attached to the rule of the royal family, becoming a powerful aristocratic class that also takes orders from the royal family.
In order to improve the rights and status of the new nobles, Arthur also specifically stipulated that except for treason and harm to the interests of the royal family, all other crimes could only be overridden by the nobles themselves, not their titles.
In other words, for all other crimes except these two crimes, the offending noble can only be executed, but the title cannot be directly revoked.
This also means that as long as the interests of the country and the royal family are not harmed, even if the new noble breaks the law, his title can be inherited by his descendants, instead of having his title revoked because of the crime.
But if he commits treason and endangers the interests of the royal family, Arthur will not hesitate to abolish the title of the new noble. After all, the interests of the country and the royal family are the most important.
Under normal circumstances, these new nobles would not be stupid enough to offend the interests of the royal family. After all, all their rights and status come from the royal family, so who would be stupid enough to dig up their own foundation?
Moreover, as the king of Australasia, it was very simple for Arthur to deal with the new nobles he enfeoffed.
After all, treason and endangering the interests of the royal family are just names. This name can be attached to any noble at any time, as long as Arthur wants.
It can also be regarded as a means for Arthur to control the new nobles. After all, the forest is big and there are all kinds of birds, and there must be the ultimate trump card to deal with fools.
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(End of chapter)