The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 739 - 554: Public Opinion and Diplomacy Go Hand in Hand (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!)

How to quickly reverse the British public opinion disadvantage during the Irish War? It is important to firmly grasp the number of casualties in the assassinations and attacks on Irish people by the British and various incidents.

Besides, it is crucial to whitewash the various misdeeds during British rule in Ireland, to promote the good side of Britain in Ireland, and to brainwash some neutral Irish people in order to divide the whole Irish class.

Currently, the Irish Republican Army is still relatively scattered, and as long as they can be divided, it would be easier to deal with.

Of course, the corresponding public opinion work should be left to professionals. Arthur only needed to set a goal and express his support for the British.

Although doing so might offend some Irish immigrants in Australasia, the number of Irish immigrants is not many compared to the total population of Australasia, and it would not affect the stability of Australasia.

Moreover, doing so could win more favor from the British, which is much more important than the favor of the Irish.

Even if Ireland became independent from Britain at this time, it would still be far inferior to secondary power states like the Netherlands and Belgium.

It is not worth upsetting Britain for such a country, let alone in the era of the British Empire.

At the end of March 1921, amid two independence wars that attracted worldwide attention, Arthur delivered a speech on supporting the British Empire’s actions in the Irish War of Independence, and stated that national unity was more important than anything else.

Arthur’s support caused a sensation in European society and attracted dissatisfaction from the Irish Republican Army.

However, the Irish Republican Army could not affect Australasia, and they could not possibly cross the ocean to stir up trouble in Australasia.

Not to mention the strictness of Australasia’s border and customs inspections of weapons, simply Australasia’s emphasis on national stability determines that the current Irish Republican Army is destined to not affect Australasia.

Arthur’s prestige and status in Australasia is not false, once a foreign force stirs up trouble in Australasia, it will face a full-scale encirclement by the Australasia Army.

Unless the Irish Republican Army can send hundreds of thousands of troops across thousands of miles to fight a full-scale war with Australasia, but if they had such strength, they would not just ambush Britain in secret.

Arthur and Australasia’s public support allowed the British government to breathe a sigh of relief and gained deep gratitude from King George V.

It can’t completely change the entire diplomatic situation, but at least the British Empire is no longer so weak, and many small countries have decided to support Britain.

It is inevitable that, with the support of Australasia, the overall strength of the British Empire has far exceeded France.

With the support of Australasia, it actually represents more than half of the World Alliance supporting Britain.

Regarding the two major powers of the World Alliance, would the small countries within the Alliance dare not take a stand?

The alignment and stance of small countries is also a science. Currently, Australasia and the British Empire have the upper hand, and if they do not go with the flow and express their support for Britain, they will inevitably be held accountable by the British afterwards.

Ordinary countries cannot withstand the accountability of a top-level power. Not to mention anything else, even simple economic sanctions and blockades can cause the economies of these small and medium-sized countries to collapse.

Not all countries can be self-sufficient, and a country’s comprehensive development requires integration with the international community to obtain various materials it lacks.

In addition to public support in diplomacy, the propaganda agencies of Australasia have also mobilized and published a large number of news about Britain and Ireland around the world.

Some of these news is true and some are false, mostly 70% true and 30% false, and they can withstand scrutiny.

If not for people who truly understand the situation and history of Britain and Ireland, even if they check the information, they will not be able to identify the authenticity of these news.

This is precisely the most ingenious part of public opinion influence. News must not be false, but half true and half false, preferably 70% true and 30% false, so it can withstand scrutiny.

Ordinary people seeing this 70% truth will naturally be subtly influenced to believe the 30% falsehood. Because the general public is easily influenced, they are more likely to believe their own subconscious guesses about unknown things.

Although the British’s brutal policies in Ireland are indeed true, they cannot withstand the combined whitewashing of British and Australasian propaganda agencies, and the responsibility of the British in this is becoming less and less.

Of course, in addition to these public opinion tactics, assassinations of the main leaders of the Irish Republican Army are also essential.

Especially the very famous Michael Collins, who is nominally the Minister of Finance of the Irish Republic and the Intelligence Director of the Irish Republican Army, but in fact, he is the leader of the Irish assassination organization and has planned multiple assassinations of British police and soldiers.

For such a figure, the British government naturally hates him to the bone.

Arthur ordered the Australasian intelligence agents to assist the United Kingdom in finding and assassinating the key leaders of the Irish Republican Army as quickly as possible, damaging the stability within the Irish Republican Army.

At the same time, the British government began to woo the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland.

For this section of the Irish Republican Army that had never had a conflict with Britain in the independence war, it was naturally a crucial part of dividing Ireland.

In fact, these Irish people still had a strong sense of allegiance to the British Empire’s rule, which was also the reason why Northern Ireland still belonged to the British rule after Ireland’s independence.

With the support and endorsement of Australasia, Britain quickly gained a moral advantage and received diplomatic support from the World Alliance.

Although the Irish Republican Army’s resistance was still fierce, it was difficult for a small Ireland to cause trouble for the British Empire without international knowledge, which was a stark contrast to the situation faced by Britain and the United States during their respective independence wars.

In April 1921, the Irish Republican Army launched a terrorist attack in Dublin, resulting in the deaths of 27 British soldiers, 16 British police officers, and 33 Irish and British civilians.

The incident was reported by the British media and broadcasted around the world.

This was also considered a turning point in the support for both sides in the Irish War of Independence, as people worldwide witnessed the cruelty of the Irish Republican Army, and began to doubt the words the Irish Republican Army had previously claimed.

But it didn’t end there, the flames of the Irish War of Independence spread to British ports by the Republican Army.

Between late April and early May, the Irish Republican Army attacked the streets of Glasgow and the docks of Liverpool, causing casualties to hundreds of British civilians.

Such terrorist attacks provoked resentment throughout Britain, and British citizens urged the government to use military force to resolve the crisis as soon as possible.

With unanimous support from home and abroad, the British government was no longer in a state of indecision.

King George V issued a public order for a full-scale attack on the Irish Republican Army, to eliminate this "terrifying" evil force.

From mid-May, a large number of British troops were stationed in Ireland, reversing the previous policy of not using military force during the war of independence.

With the large-scale deployment of British troops in Ireland, the Irish Republican Army’s operations in Ireland were severely hindered.

Although the total number of registered members of the Irish Republican Army had already exceeded 100,000, according to the internal statistics and estimates, only 15,000 soldiers were actively engaged in the Irish War of Independence for a long time, of which less than 3,000 were elite, fanatical soldiers, who were clearly unable to compete with the elite British Imperial Army.

On May 17th, the British government announced the implementation of military control over the whole of Ireland and pledged to provide all Irish civilians with the necessary food supplies to ensure their food supply during military control.

The Irish people were skeptical of the British guarantees, but their attitude changed instantly when they actually received the British supplies.

In addition to the army’s actions, the Royal Navy blockaded all Irish ports to ensure the Republican Army would not be able to launch surprise attacks on British ports.

With the full support of the entire United Kingdom, British troops quickly gained control over the so-called Irish Republic government and eradicated several scattered factions of the Irish Republican Army.

This was the biggest crisis for the Irish Republican Army, as they were not a single entity but rather a collective of several small-scale armies.

Though at ordinary times the Republican Army seemed to be all over Ireland and had a great momentum.

But in such a crisis, it was extremely difficult to gather all the soldiers of the Republican Army together, and no one in the Republican Army was capable of doing so at the time.

In order to gain the support of the entire Irish population and maintain the unity of the British Empire after the war, King George V publicly expressed his discontent with the cruel rule of the Black and Tan force in Ireland and indicated that he was willing to grant Ireland greater powers, but not at the expense of dismantling the British Empire.

King George V’s speech had a fairly good impact in both Britain and Ireland. After receiving supplies from the British Empire, some neutral Irish civilians werenot opposed to British rule.

Furthermore, after the king condemned the previous rule of the Black and Tan force and promised to grant Ireland greater autonomy, a large number of Irish people no longer harbored hostility towards the British government.

Although there were still many Republican Army leaders who remained eager to fight, the Irish civilians who supported them did not share the same sentiment.

The current crisis in Ireland can be resolved as long as the remaining Republican Army is dealt with by the British Empire.

Of course, the handling of Ireland after the war is also an issue. It is no longer possible to exploit the Irish people as recklessly as before, and Britain must also pay attention to the Irish nation to ensure the foundation of British unity.