While Australasia was busy producing military equipment, Spain on the other side of the world had reached the final stage of the war.

As Germany and Italy gradually showed their ambitions, the balance of the Spanish Civil War was completely tilted in favor of Germany, Italy and the Spanish National Army.

Following the partition of Poland between Germany and Russia, Russia withdrew its aid to Spain, leaving the Spanish republican government alone.

Although it has the aid of some weapons and equipment from Australasia, how can Spain alone defeat the union of Germany and Italy?

Poland, with an army of up to one million, could not resist, let alone the Spanish Republican government, which currently had less than 400,000 troops.

Beginning at the end of last year, German and Italian air forces launched indiscriminate bombing of cities controlled by the Spanish republican government.

Although it effectively attacked the troops of the Spanish Republican Government, it also inflicted a large number of casualties on Spanish civilians.

According to Spanish government figures, the bombardments of Germany and Italy caused about 17,000 injuries to the army and 62,000 to civilians.

Germany also tested its new tanks and aircraft on the battlefields in Spain, and eventually gained valuable experience and used them in the development of its own weapons and equipment.

On February 2, 1936, Britain and France announced their recognition of the Franco regime and severed diplomatic ties with the Spanish Republican government.

On 3 February, the Spanish republican government withdrew from the World League and angrily denounced Britain and France for their own temporary interests and for the sake of the wishes of all the nations of the world.

On 5 February, a rebellion broke out at the Spanish naval base, and the admiral declared his defection to the Spanish National Army.

On 7 February, Colonel Casado, commander of the Central Spanish Front, staged a coup d'état, announcing the takeover of the Spanish Republic and surrendering to the rebels the next day.

On 9 February, the Spanish National Army and the German-Italian army took over the forces on the Central Front and began a large-scale hunt for the Spanish Republican government's pro-war democrats.

On 11 February, the Spanish National Army completely occupied all of Spain, and the civil war came to an end.

With the support of Germany and Italy, Franco held a victory parade in Madrid, and to the cheers, he announced the rebuilding of Spain, and made himself the generalissimo of the Spanish army, the prime minister of the Kingdom of Spain, the regent of Spain, and declared the Spanish Falangist party under his control the only legal political party in the country.

It is worth mentioning that the Spain rebuilt by Franco was neither a Kingdom of Spain in the era of monarchy nor a Spanish Republic in the era of a republic.

To be precise, Franco founded the Spanish state. It is a state polity with Franco characteristics that lies somewhere between a monarchy and a military dictatorship.

Nominally, the State of Spain remained a monarchy. But Franco did not intend to find a king for Spain, nor did he intend to welcome back Alfonso XIII.

Franco declared that the king of Spain was in the air, and that Spain did not have a king in the true sense of the word, only the regent Franco.

The restoration of the monarchy without the restoration of the monarchy has also led to speculation at home and abroad whether Franco will make himself the new king of Spain.

The high position of Spanish regent and generalissimo of the three armies had already ensured Franco's supremacy in the new Spanish state.

Even if he really wanted to become the new king of Spain, with the support of Germany and Italy, it would not be difficult in the slightest.

It is nothing more than whether it can get the support of Britain, France and many European monarchies. But having defected to Germany and Italy and imposed a military dictatorship, will Franco still care about the attitude of Britain, France and other European monarchies?

After the fall of the Spanish Republican government, the small and medium-sized European countries were completely disillusioned with Britain and France.

On February 15, 1936, King Leopold III of Belgium issued the Declaration of Neutrality, declaring that the Kingdom of Belgium would remain absolutely neutral in the international situation and had joined all alliances and treaties, including the World League, before withdrawing from Belgium.

Clearly, Belgium's approach has shown that they prefer to believe in the security of neutrality rather than the World League.

This also means that as Britain and France continue to retreat from appeasement, their prestige among European countries has become less and less.

Although Arthur did not believe that Belgium's stated absolute neutrality would leave them alone in the ensuing war, such a move did set a precedent for small and medium-sized European states.

On February 23, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands published a "Letter to the People", publicly stating that the Netherlands would maintain its neutrality and become a permanent neutral country in the true sense of the word.

On the same day, the Netherlands announced its withdrawal from the World League and abrogated any treaties of a non-peaceful nature.

The withdrawal of two European countries from the World League has dealt a huge blow to the prestige of the World Alliance, and has also made other countries faintly have the idea of withdrawing from the World Alliance.

Having said that, Belgium and the Netherlands declared neutrality and withdrew from the World League, and it would not have been possible without the push of the Germans behind them.

They must have made a pact with the Germans, otherwise Belgium and the Netherlands could not have so easily renounced the League of Worlds, and the Anglo-French guarantee of independence to them.

But there is not a single affirmative answer to whether the Germans will be able to keep their promises.

Historically, the absolute neutrality pursued by the Netherlands and Belgium was nothing more than a piece of paper that could be torn up at will by the great powers.

In any case, Belgium and the Netherlands declared neutrality and withdrew from the World League, completely disrupting the order of the World Union.

On February 27, 1936, the World League held its last regular meeting and successfully passed the proposal to dissolve the World League by a rate of more than 55.3%.

The international organization, which had been established after the First World War and had guaranteed world peace for 20 years, had finally fulfilled all its missions with the rise of Germany and Italy.

This also means that the world order will become more unpredictable starting in 1936, after the dissolution of the World Alliance.

How the world situation should develop is now something that only a handful of the most powerful countries can decide.

On March 3, 1936, Arthur successfully arrived in London, England, accompanied by Queen Mary and Prince William.

The purpose of this visit to the UK is very simple, that is, to attend the funeral of the former King George V of the United Kingdom.

Although the general situation in the world has long since changed, George V's physical condition has not suffered much.

Speaking of which, George V, who was born in 1865, is now 71 years old.

Dying at such an age, George V can be regarded as the end of his life, and it can be regarded as a better ending for a generation of monarchs.

Of course, if it was only the funeral of George V, it would be enough to send only Crown Prince William.

After all, Arthur and George V were of the same generation, and theoretically did not need to come to George V's funeral in person. What's more, Arthur and George V's relationship was not so close, and the blood relationship had long been estranged.

But if you think about the current state of the world, you can understand why Arthur came to London in person.

The current situation in Europe was unfriendly to Britain and France, and Arthur felt the need to unite Britain and France early and prepare for a possible war.

If the Germans were to be caught off guard and let the French last only a month or two before perishing, then this European war would not be easy to fight.

The current situation is not very rosy for Britain and France. The international influence of the French has been declining again and again, and they seem to have secured a reputation as cowards.

Britain, because of its neutrality policy, has not been greatly affected. But the problem is that Britain is about to have a very famous monarch in history, Edward VIII, who loves beauty but not country.

If the crisis of the British throne were to coincide with the Second World War, it would be tantamount to making an already bad situation worse for Britain and France.

Of course, Arthur did not intend to interfere directly with the British succession.

Although Arthur did have a lot of prestige in Britain, it was not enough to support Arthur's interference in the British throne.

George V's funeral is expected to take place on March 5. As the monarch who ruled the British Empire for 26 years, the British still have a relatively high opinion of this king.

George V succeeded to the throne in 1910 and led LinkedIn people to victory in World War I. During George V's tenure, the British Empire faced a number of challengers in a row, but ultimately defeated them, making the British Empire the world's hegemon.

And now, the British Empire is again facing the challenge of the Germans. This made the British look forward to the next monarch who would lead them to victory in the war, so that the British Empire would remain on the throne of world hegemony.

In London, Arthur also met Prince Albert and Princess Elizabeth.

Speaking of which, Princess Elizabeth is also almost ten years old. As Princess Elizabeth's godfather, the last time Arthur saw Princess Elizabeth, Elizabeth was a child who couldn't speak.

It is precisely because of their godparents' status that Arthur and Queen Mary are still relatively kind to Elizabeth.

At this time, neither Prince Albert nor Princess Elizabeth knew that Princess Elizabeth would become the longest-reigning monarch in British history and break Queen Victoria's record in one fell swoop.

This also has to make people feel that in European history, the reign of the queen is generally longer than that of male kings.

But compared to Queen Victoria, although Queen Elizabeth also has a status in the United Kingdom, her prestige and power are much behind.

During the reign of Queen Victoria, although she did not care about political affairs for a long time, Queen Victoria still had some control over the government.

By the time of Elizabeth, the British government had long been controlled by political parties and other forces, and the British royal family was more of a mascot, and its power was very low.

3000 words for the second update, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

(End of chapter)