If the first two cabinets focused on domestic development, then from the third cabinet, Australia will also develop its international influence, look abroad, and seek more power and influence.

In July 1907, the national anthem of the Kingdom of Australasia, "Australasia, Forward!" was launched in collaboration with many artists and composers from Australasia. was officially born.

Although it bears some resemblance to the original historical Australian national anthem, the content is completely different.

Historically, Australia's national anthem represents the ease and beauty of Australia's escape from war and seclusion.

The national anthem of Australasia celebrates the royal family and Arthur's merits, while encouraging Australasian people to work together to promote Australasia to the top of the world.

The national anthem is divided into two versions, one is a pure music version, which is used to play on solemn occasions of the state.

The version with lyrics is used for occasions such as National Day, and both versions have a common easter egg, that is, at the end of the song, Arthur himself shouted: "Australasia, forward!" ”

Such an anthem is very much in line with Arthur's purpose to bring all Australasian people together and foster their national consciousness and national cohesion.

When such a national anthem and music are sounded on solemn occasions, how many patriotic and nationalist hearts will be aroused?

Especially when the national anthem is played and the slogan shouted by Arthur himself is played, I am afraid that it will cause many Australasian people to shout can't help but cry.

July 1907, Timor Sea, northern Australasia.

The Timor Sea connects three countries and is an important point of transport in northern Australasia.

Not only is the region rich in oil and gas, but it is also one of the areas in northern Australasia with natural fisheries.

As a result, the area is often populated with fishermen from three countries, but fortunately, fishermen from different regions and countries are largely disparate, with Dutch East Indies fishermen in the northwest, Portuguese Timor fishermen in the northeast, and Australasian fishermen in the south.

However, as winter moves into the Southern Hemisphere (the season in the Southern Hemisphere is the opposite of that in the Northern Hemisphere, where June and August are winters), the location of natural fishing grounds will also shift, generally by some distance to the north.

Of course, the exact deviation depends on the movement of the fish stocks, which are not limited by people, which also affects the fishermen around the Timor Sea every year.

According to the previous situation, it is generally the fishermen of Australasia who suffer more. After all, after the fishing grounds moved to the north, they were geographically closer to the Dutch East Indies and Portuguese Timor.

But since the last pirate incident, Australasian national pride has been mobilized, and the level of recognition for the royal family and country has increased.

In the past, Australasian fishermen did their duty, and even if their catch decreased, they would not be too close to the waters of other countries.

But now in winter, Australasian fishermen are gradually spreading further north, beyond Cartier Island and Ashmore Reef in northwestern Australasia to the former exclusive areas of the Dutch and Portuguese.

Such an outrageous behavior naturally aroused the dissatisfaction of some Dutch and Portuguese.

Everyone is a fisherman living around, and they usually do their duty, but now their fishing area is occupied, isn't this a disguised way to cut off people's money?

For fishermen, the daily catch sustains their livelihood and is the most fundamental means of survival.

Some people may be able to hold back, but some of these people have a hot temper, so they almost pick up the guy and start working.

What started out as a momentum can be contained, but what was a simple conflict has evolved into a clash between fishermen from three countries in the region.

If it's a larger fishing boat, it's okay to be able to keep yourself safe.

In particular, small fishing boats not only have their own fishing been damaged by fishing boats of other countries, but there have even been some vicious attacks.

Regardless of the reaction of the Dutch East Indies and Portuguese Timor, a series of fishermen's clashes have attracted the attention of the Australasian government.

The Government has also convened an emergency meeting to discuss how these conflicts should be handled.

Soon, Arthur conveyed his own orders, asking the government to call on the fishermen to exercise as much restraint as possible, but behind the scenes they supported more migrants to move further north into the Timor Sea.

Civilians may not understand such intentions, but the smart people of the government have already seen through it.

Although the fishermen were openly restrained, they secretly sent more migrants to encroach on the fishing areas further north, with the aim of provoking the wrath of the Dutch and Portuguese.

If the Dutch and Portuguese had taken the initiative to provoke this conflict, Australasia would have had more means at its disposal.

On July 27, 1907, the first phase of the conflict between fishermen officially broke out.

The cause of the incident was that the fishermen of Portuguese Timor were dissatisfied with the abundant harvest that the Australasian fishermen had been unaffected, so they became jealous and provoked the Australasian fishing boats.

After much patience and fruitlessness, the Australasian fishermen finally decided to fight back with words and actions.

Because of the emotional conflict between the two sides, the Portuguese eventually became angry and chose to ram the fishing boat, and after the fishing boat approached, attacked the Australasian fishermen with earthen guns.

The Australasian man who was attacked was seriously injured and, while not life-threatening, required extremely costly treatment and possibly even a disability.

After the successful attack, the Portuguese robbed the Australasian fishermen of their harvest and left insulting words before swaggering away.

Eventually, the seriously injured fisherman was discovered by the Australasian patrol fleet, and only then did he get his life back.

Of course, the whole thing was caused by the official Australasian narrative, which was published in the Victoria and Australasian Journals.

But the exact details of the matter are true to what extent only those who have experienced the conflict will know.

But in any case, such a conflict that appears to be only the victim of Australasian people has caused public outrage among Australasian people.

In addition, Arthur mobilized a lot of public opinion, as well as the public opinion of David, the head of European affairs of the royal family, paved the way in Europe, so that most of the European people were on the side of Australasia in this conflict.

Although the Portuguese government has explained and the Portuguese media have published an official statement on the course of the conflict, it still can't resist the photos released by Australasia.

After the Australasian government produced photographs of the incident, all the explanations of the Portuguese seemed to others to be quibble.

In fact, the outcome of the conflict is not much different from the Australasian statement, but the process is a little far from it.

The so-called fishermen in this clash were actually intelligence officers from the Royal Security Intelligence Service.

After many provocations by intelligence officers, the Portuguese fishermen became angry.

But Arthur's desired result was achieved, and the European people also saw the explanation and real photos of the incident, and who cares about the real course of the incident.

In other words, because of the real photos, coupled with the fact that Australasia is in the position of a victim, it also makes the public generally more willing to believe the statement with Australasia.

At any time, ordinary people are very good at guiding them. Public opinion has also become the best weapon for attacking individuals and forces, and as long as it has the support of public opinion, then what is right is also wrong, and what is wrong is also right.

On July 29, 1907, after successfully rescuing the wounded "fishermen" and getting the "real" experience of the conflict from them, Arthur was "furious" and publicly stated that he wanted the Portuguese to give an account to the wounded fishermen and all the people.

On 30 July 1907, the Australasian Government issued a formal circular to Portuguese Timor and the Kingdom of Portugal, demanding that Portuguese Timor surrender the perpetrators of the attack on Australasian fishermen and pay compensation to all Australasian fishermen affected by the conflict.

At the same time, the three countries around the Timor Sea should work together to demarcate specific spheres of influence to avoid further conflicts.

In fact, Australasia is not very demanding, at least from what Europeans consider "neutral" in their own eyes.

Since it was the Portuguese who did wrong, it was also the right thing to pay compensation.

It is only natural for the three countries to divide their own detailed spheres of influence, which will indeed avoid more conflicts.

But the problem is complicated by the fact that in order to win the war of public opinion, Portugal has declared that the fishermen are innocent in the country, and the domestic parties have also mobilized public opinion, saying that the state should support the fishermen of Portuguese Timor.

It's only been a few days since the incident, and asking Portugal to hand over the fishermen directly is not a direct slap in the face of the Portuguese government?

Of course, at the national level, losing face is not an important thing.

The difficulty is that the situation in Portugal is not stable at present, and there are already signs of revolution in the country.

The previous public opinion made most Portuguese people support their own fishermen, if the government rashly handed over the fishermen, then what would the Portuguese think?

Are the fishermen really doing it wrong? Or is it the incompetence of the government that has to wronged the good guys?

The current situation in Portugal is very precarious, and it all depends on the high-handed policy of the contemporary king Carlos I.

Carlos I was a more authoritarian monarch, but the Kingdom of Portugal had already established a dual constitutional monarchy in the civil war decades earlier.

The repressive policies adopted by Carlos I in Portugal and the harsh suppression of revolutionary activities made many Portuguese republicans very unhappy.

To what extent are you dissatisfied? In what was supposed to be true history, Carlos I was assassinated a year later by republican radicals, and his son, Manuel II, had only been on the throne for two years before a revolution broke out and the Portuguese deposed him from the throne.

This also means that the reign of the Bragança dynasty of Portugal was only three years, and the ups and downs within its king can be imagined.

It was precisely because of the turbulent political environment in the country that Carlos I was a little undecided.

Retreating to the Australasian is a good way to resolve the conflict quickly, and while it hurts the country's face, the real cost is modest.

It's just that the angry Portuguese people may join the revolutionary party and decide to overthrow the government out of discontent.

This was unacceptable for Carlos I, who, in order to preserve the monarchy of the Kingdom of Portugal and, again, to protect his position, simply dismissed the option of retreat.

The plan of the national government to be tougher and take real action to protect the interests of its own people, but also to win the hearts and minds of the common people and increase the support of the monarchy in Portugal was a long-established plan of Carlos I.

For this reason, Carlos I consulted many confidants, and finally unanimously decided to express to Australasia the firm attitude of Portugal, that is, to protect the interests of the people, not to back down!

In fact, Carlos I also sent someone to ask the attitude of the British in a cryptic way.

After receiving hints from the British that they would unite with France and mediate in certain circumstances, Carlos I was able to take a hard line on Australasia.

In the eyes of Carlos I, Australasia was just a country that had just gained independence from the colonies, and its development depended heavily on resources and support from Europe.

Even if Portugal can't compete with Australasia in Southeast Asia, Australasia will definitely back down after Britain and France intervene.

As long as they can resist the first wave of public opinion and gain a reputation for protecting their citizens as a force, there will be more diplomatic means in the future.

Three thousand six hundred words chapter one, ask for support!

(End of chapter)