Chapter 254: The London Olympics
After the meeting, Arthur once again summoned Minister Grant to inquire about the current work of the Publicity Department.
For Australasia, there was another significant event that needed attention—the 1908 London Olympics, which would be held in London, United Kingdom, at the end of April.
The Olympic Games had already been successfully held three times since its inception. According to historical records, the 1908 London Olympics had 22 countries registered to participate, with over 2,000 athletes taking part.
This signified that countries around the world were gradually starting to realize the importance of the Olympic Games as a platform to showcase national power through peaceful means. No country wanted to lose face in such an event.
It's worth mentioning that historically, New Zealand, originally part of Australasia, had participated in this Olympic Games under the name of Australasia.
Australasia did not participate in the previous Olympic Games, as the scale of the event was not very large and the country's sports level at the time wasn't high enough to compete effectively. It would have been pointless to participate as they would likely have finished at the bottom.
This time, however, the 1908 London Olympics had enough countries and athletes involved to warrant participation. It would also be beneficial for Australasia to make an appearance.
More importantly, Arthur intended to host the next Olympic Games in Australasia.
The 1912 Olympics were originally scheduled to be held in Germany, but after the sudden death of the President of the German Olympic Committee in May 1909, Germany relinquished the hosting rights, and the event was moved to Sweden.
This situation was somewhat similar to the 1908 Olympics. Originally, the games were supposed to be held in Rome, Italy, but due to repeated earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that caused significant economic losses, Italy eventually gave up the rights to host. The International Olympic Committee turned to Britain, and the event was held in London.
From these events, it becomes clear that the Olympic Games aren't yet a huge priority for major countries. Essentially, countries care more about their own prestige than about winning medals at the Olympics.
Currently, the Olympic Games include athletics, swimming, water polo, fencing, gymnastics, rowing, cycling, football, classical wrestling, tennis, and shooting.
Arthur's purpose in summoning Minister Grant was to have him quickly assemble the Olympic team in Australasia, so that they could arrive in London and participate on time by April 27.
The purpose of participating in the Olympics was merely to make an appearance. Winning medals wasn't of great importance.
As long as Australasia could be recognized by the International Olympic Committee and, leveraging its relationship with Germany, successfully take over the hosting rights after Germany relinquished them, then the trip to London would have achieved its goal.
The 1908 London Olympics had more participants than the previous three Olympiads combined, partly due to the host country, Britain, sending the largest team of over 700 athletes.
It's important to note that while the total number of athletes was just over 2,000, more than a third of them were from Britain itself.
The reason Australasia wasn't fully ready for the Olympics was because of its underdeveloped sports departments. There wasn't a dedicated sports authority to manage such events.
Therefore, the task of participating in the Olympics was delegated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, specifically the Publicity Department under it.
After consulting with Minister Grant, it was decided that the number of participants from Australasia would not exceed 50.
Given that Australasia's awareness of competitive sports was still in its infancy, assembling a large team wasn't as useful as selecting a smaller, elite group.
The specific events in which they would compete would depend on the talents of the athletes recruited.
After giving these brief instructions, Arthur encouraged Minister Grant to continue the work of the Publicity Department, reminding him not to neglect the department's efforts both domestically and internationally while preparing for the Olympics.
As April began, the House of Representatives election in Australasia also started to heat up across the country.
Unlike the cabinet election, the House of Representatives election was a true national election. Any legal citizen over 18 who had lived in Australasia for five years had the right to vote.
Of course, the eligibility to run for office was stricter. In addition to the aforementioned conditions, candidates also needed to have lived in Australasia for at least ten years and never have violated any of the country's laws.
Walking down the streets of Australasia, one could hear people from various professions discussing the upcoming election for the House of Representatives.
Political parties were becoming more and more formalized, which meant that the competition for seats in the House of Representatives was intensifying.
Since such competition and the political struggle didn't affect the royal family's and government's control, this competition using peaceful and fair methods was allowed.
After all, the number of seats in the House of Representatives was fixed, and to gain more seats and public support, a party had to defeat other parties, at least by making more compelling speeches and convincing the public.
According to election rules, although the election had not yet started, those eligible to run for office could already begin organizing public speeches.
The only requirement was that political parties must use party funds for their campaigns, while individuals had to use personal or family funds.
Of course, all public speeches would be supervised by the Publicity Department, and no information that could harm the government or royal family would be allowed.
However, most people were cautious and didn't dare to go against the royal family. After all, the royal family's rule was extremely stable, and the government, derived from the royal family's authority, was also solid.
As an autocratic monarch, Arthur couldn't enjoy the leisurely life that European monarchs had.
Although the cabinet could handle most government affairs, some important matters could only be decided by Arthur himself. Others only had advisory rights.
This was especially true for matters related to military power and finance, where Arthur had to intervene.
But there was some good news: although the government didn't have decision-making power, they typically provided suggestions in advance, and Arthur only needed to either accept or modify them.
For matters where the government couldn't reach a conclusion, holding a cabinet meeting every so often was enough to resolve them quickly.
This was also why Arthur, despite holding immense power and ruling as an autocrat, could still manage to find some free time.
(End of Chapter)
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