Chapter 4532 Chapter 4534 [World War]
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By the mid-nineteenth century,
Korea in Northeast Asia and Japan, a strip of water, have also undergone changes. They took the initiative to introduce the Goddess Church and rapidly developed and expanded
On the Indian subcontinent, believers of the Goddess Church also conquered one kingdom after another through war and appeasement, and brought down those high-ranking Brahmins and Kshatriyas.
In the Middle East, due to the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, the Tianfang Sect lost its last barrier and was unable to prevent the spread of the Goddess Church.
The opening of the Egyptian Canal also made the connection between Europe and Asia closer, so the Church of the Goddess spread rapidly in the Near and Middle East.
According to incomplete statistics, the number of believers in the Goddess Church is close to one billion.
In addition, due to the opening of the Panama Canal and the promotion of the Industrial Revolution, the western region of North America was also developed. The United States Federation also vigorously promoted the westward movement, which greatly increased its national strength and territory.
And since the four seas have been conquered, people have begun to set foot in the unexplored areas deep in the continent.
For example, the hinterland of the African continent, Antarctica, the Arctic, central North America, central and western Canada, central and western Australia, etc. This is called the "Great Land Exploration".
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In the 1860s, with the invention of electricity, the second industrial revolution began.
In 1875, the first thermal power station was built in France. In 1879, the United States also built its first thermal power station. In the 1980s, the Commonwealth built the world's first hydroelectric power station.
With the beginning of the second industrial revolution, human productivity and production efficiency have once again reached a new level.
In the steam age, the productivity of a loom could reach three to four times that of human labor. At this time, even regions with backward industrialization can still catch up with their population advantages.
But in the electrical age, the productivity of a loom has reached a hundred times that of human power.
At this time, the cost of industrialized production was far lower than the cost of manual labor, and it could no longer be compensated for by population advantage. Therefore, those regions with backward industrialization suddenly fell into a competitive disadvantage.
Such as Central and South America, Africa, Asia, Australia and other regions. The price-performance ratio of products in these regions is difficult to compete with products from Europe and the United States. Therefore, not only overseas markets are squeezed, but also the domestic market is gradually being invaded.
To this end, they take various measures to resist the dumping of foreign products in order to protect their own economies. This has also triggered a lot of economic and trade frictions.
In order to ease economic and trade frictions, countries led by the United Kingdom and the United States first proposed to build an international trade organization. The WTF (world trading foundation) is used to resolve trade disputes between countries to avoid conflicts.
Many countries have responded to this, such as Prussia, Australia, Canada, Central America, South America and other places.
However, the countries headed by France and Austria are unwilling to respond to the proposals of Europe and the United States. After all, they have always had grievances and have always been at odds with each other. Naturally, they do not want the other party to be the boss and themselves to be the younger brother.
Therefore, they themselves also proposed to organize a trade alliance NCM (national commerce management), in which countries in the alliance would reduce tariffs to each other, strengthen investment and cooperation, and allow the free flow of talents and goods.
With the establishment of the two major organizations, trade frictions among countries around the world have not only not diminished, but have intensified. In particular, the friction between the two major organizations has become increasingly fierce, almost reaching the point of conflict. The cloud of war began to envelope the world.
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Seeing this, many priests in the diocese were worried. Because once a war breaks out, the scale is likely to exceed that of the previous Seven Years' War.
After all, the warring parties in the Seven Years' War were only Britain, France, Spain, Prussia, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Russia, etc. You can count them all with your fingers.
But if a fight breaks out this time, it will not only be these countries, but probably two-thirds of the countries in the world may be affected, which may trigger a world war.
At that time, the whole world may be in ruins. I don’t know how many people will be in ruins, how many families will be destroyed, and how much wealth will evaporate...
Therefore, they hope that the high priest Xiang Nan can stand up and stop the fighting in the name of the goddess.
You must know that the Goddess Church now dominates all countries in the world. Nearly 70% of the world's population is now a believer in the Goddess Church.
Therefore, Xiang Nan, as the high priest, can definitely stop this war. After all, the high priest is the spokesperson of the goddess, and no one can refuse to listen to his oracles.
But Xiang Nan had no idea of stopping the war. Instead, he said to the priests, "Human beings are born free and equal. The goddess gives everyone brains in the hope that people can think independently and make choices. Whether we want peace or war, everything It’s up to people to choose. The goddess will not interfere with anyone’s freedom!”
Hearing what he said, the priests had nothing to say.
And since the high priest Xiang Nan said this, many priests believed that the goddess not only did not oppose the war, but was also likely to support it.
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The reason why Xiang Nan did not oppose war was that he could not resolve disputes between countries. These disputes are not just trade, but also historical feuds and cultural conflicts.
For example, between Britain and France, starting from the French Duke of Normandy's conquest of Britain in 1066, there were the Hundred Years' War, the War of Spanish Succession, the War of Austrian Succession, and the Seven Years' War in the mid-18th century...
No matter how talented Xiang Nan is, he can't eliminate the thousand-year-old grudges between the two countries. Even if God comes in person, he cannot resolve the grievances between the two countries.
On the one hand, he is actually happy to see the outbreak of war, because although war will bring killing, destruction and casualties, war can also bring change, rebirth and creation.
Many inventions in the world were made due to war, such as raincoats, watches, zippers, penicillin, facial tissues, sanitary napkins, microwave ovens...
Therefore, he has neither the ability nor the intention to stop the war.
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The war soon started. The WTF, dominated by Britain, the United States, Prussia, Canada, Australia, etc., fought against the NCM, dominated by France, Austria, Russia, Spain, Italy, India, etc.
The total number of warring parties exceeds 2 billion, and the total number of troops invested exceeds 100 million. It can be called the largest war in history.
As a result, the casualties were extremely tragic. As many as tens of millions of people died on the battlefield, and more than 30 million civilians were affected by the war. The economic losses reached more than 270 billion US dollars, equivalent to approximately 400,000 US dollars. tons of gold.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the total amount of gold mined worldwide was less than 20,000 tons. Compared with these countries, the wealth Xiang Nan obtained before was simply a drop in the bucket.