The Rise Of Australasia - Chapter 285

Chapter 285: Chapter 253: London Sports Meet

After the meeting, Arthur called upon Minister Grant again to inquire about the current work of the Propaganda Department.

For Australasia, another important event to be added was the 1908 London Olympics held in London, United Kingdom at the end of April.

Since its inception, the Olympic Games has successfully held three events. According to historical records, 22 countries registered for the 1908 London Olympics, with more than 2,000 athletes participating.

This means that countries all over the world have gradually begun to value the Olympic Games as a stage to show their national power peacefully, and none of them want to lose face in such an occasion.

It is worth mentioning that in history, New Zealand also participated in this Olympic Games under the name of part of Australasia.

Australasia did not participate in the last Olympic Games, after all, the scale of the Olympic Games was not too large at that time, and the level of sports in Australasia was not very high. Going there would only result in being at the bottom, so there was no need.

It is necessary to participate in this London Olympics, after all, the number of countries that signed up and the number of participating athletes are quite large, it’s good for Australasia to show their presence.

More importantly, Arthur wanted Australia to host the next Olympic Games.

The next Olympic Games will be held in 1912, and Australasia’s development must have advanced further by then.

By that time, the army and navy would have formed a scale, and it would be time to announce the existence of Australasia to the world.

The 1902 Games were originally scheduled to be held in Germany, but due to the sudden death of the German Olympic Committee Chairman in May 1909, Germany gave up the right to host and instead put the venue in Sweden.

This is somewhat similar to the experience of this year’s 1908 Olympic Games. This year’s Olympic Games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome, Italy, but due to multiple earthquakes and volcanic eruptions causing huge economic losses to Italy, Italy eventually gave up the right to host.

In order to hold the Olympic Games as scheduled, the International Olympic Committee sought help from Britain, and finally held the Olympic Games in London.

From such events, it can also be seen that the importance of the Olympic Games by various countries is not that great. In plain terms, countries only care about their own reputation rather than the number of Olympic medals won.

Currently, the Olympic Games include athletics, swimming, water polo, fencing, gymnastics, rowing, cycling, football, Greco-Roman wrestling, tennis, and shooting.

Arthur called on Minister Grant with the purpose of letting him quickly organize an Olympic delegation domestically, and then rush to London before the Olympics are held on April 27, to participate on time.

The purpose of participating in this Olympic Games is just to make an appearance, and the number of medals won is not important.

As long as the International Olympic Committee can recognize the existence of Australasia and take over smoothly after Germany gives up the hosting rights in the future with the help of their relationship with Germany, then the purpose of going to London can be considered successfully achieved.

The number of participants in the London Olympics is greater than the total of the previous three Olympic Games. Of course, this is also because the host country, Britain, has sent the largest delegation of more than 700 participants.

It is important to note that there are only just over 2,000 athletes participating in the Olympic Games, and more than one-third of them are from Britain alone.

In the end, it is because the functional departments of Australasia are too rudimentary, and there is no real sports department to manage these matters.

Therefore, the task of participating in the Olympic Games was delegated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or more specifically, the Propaganda Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After consulting with Minister Grant, it was finally decided that the approximate number of Australasian participants in the Games would not exceed 50.

The awareness of competitive sports in Australasia is still very weak, and it is better to select an elite team to participate than to build a huge delegation.

As for the specific events to participate in, it depends on what the recruited athletes are good at.

After giving simple instructions, Arthur encouraged Minister Grant’s work in the Propaganda Department, asking him to continue supervising the actions of the Propaganda Department at home and abroad while preparing for the Olympics.

As time entered early April, the Australasian House of Representatives election had also begun to warm up nationwide.

Unlike the Cabinet election, the House of Representatives election can be regarded as a real national election, and legal citizens who are 18 years old and have lived in Australasia for more than five years have the right to vote.

Of course, the eligibility to be elected is more stringent. In addition to these conditions, they must also live in Australasia for a full 10 years, and neither they nor their family members have violated any law in Australasia.

Walking on the streets of Australasia, one can hear people of all professions discussing the House of Representatives election.

The development of political parties is becoming more and more standardized, which also means that the competition between political parties in the House of Representatives is becoming more and more intense.

Since this kind of competition and struggle does not affect the rule of the royal family and the government, such competition using peaceful and fair means is allowed.

After all, there are limited seats in the House of Representatives, and to gain more seats and support from the people, one must defeat other political parties, or at least give more reasonable and persuasive public speeches than other political parties.

According to the election rules, although the election has not yet started, those with the right to be elected can organize public speeches on their own.

There is only one requirement, namely that public speeches must use party activity funds, while individuals must use personal or family assets.

Of course, these public speeches are basically supervised by the Propaganda Department, and the spreading of information that may harm the government and the royal family’s rule is not allowed.

However, most people do not have the courage, after all, the rule of the royal family is very stable, and the government’s rule, which derives its power from the royal family, is naturally very stable as well.

As an autocratic monarch, Arthur naturally cannot enjoy the leisure time of European monarchs.

Although the Cabinet Government can handle most government affairs, some major issues can only be decided by Arthur, while others only have the right to make suggestions.

It is especially the case in matters related to military power and finance, which basically require Arthur’s intervention.

However, there is also good news, though the government does not have the power to decide, they usually give advice in advance and Arthur only needs to choose whether to adopt or modify it.

For those undetermined ideas within the government, holding a cabinet meeting every once in a while can basically solve these issues quickly.

Therefore, this is also the reason why Arthur can still have some free time while holding a lot of power and achieving autocratic rule.