Chapter 29 'Treaty of Versailles'
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia
So yes, it was a long wait I know there is no excuse other than writers block. But hopefully this lengthy chapter will make up for it!
Australia and New Zealand approached the building with nervous anticipation. Neither brother could actually believe they were here, and that thought gave Australia mixed feelings. Whilst he was glad to be here, don't get him wrong he was thrilled, after all it had been all he ever wanted; that he and New Zealand could be just as good as the rest of the nations, that they proved that they were able to handle their own.
However, a heavy weight of hesitation sat in Australia's stomach. He knew that New Zealand felt it too. They would be walking into a room with nations they had considered enemies for four very long years. They had been trained to either grab their weapon and fight or to flee if they encountered them. So Australia knew that it would take a while to get rid of that mindset, to build that trust again.
"You ready?" New Zealand grinned brightly as they entered through the doors to where the meeting would be held, "This is it!"
"You bet I am," Australia stated, "You reckon the meeting will take that long?"
"Not sure, probably," New Zealand shrugged, "I know that the other's need to negotiate the terms of the treaty."
"Ugh!" Australia groaned, "And I can guarantee that dad will definitely drag the chain with his speech, he always does. I swear the older he gets the longer it takes him to get to the point."
A voice cleared their throat behind them, making Australia and New Zealand stop and turn to see who was trying to get their attention. Australia let out a string of curses in his mind.
"Excuse me? What were you just saying Australia? It seems that in my old age my hearing isn't what it used to be" England raised his eyebrow in question.
Australia's face flushed crimson as New Zealand tried to hide his smile at his brother getting caught out.
"Nothing…" Australia mumbled. Jeez it was like he was a kid again and had gotten in trouble for trying to bribe New Zealand into doing his chores as well.
"As I expected," England stated, "I trust you two will be on your best behaviour? I don't need to remind you that you are not only representing your countries, but the Empire as well?"
Australia rolls his eyes. It's not like England has been saying that ever since they'd been living with him as kids.
"What are we? Five?" Australia asked.
But New Zealand just smiled politely, "Of course we will!"
"Suck up!" Australia muttered in between fake coughs, earning a glare from his younger brother.
England pretended he hadn't heard their sibling squabble. He continued to walk in front of them. "Today's meeting shouldn't last too long, you two will just have to sign the treaty then myself and the other Empires will be discussing the finer terms in a few days."
Three words made the two brothers' stop their sibling banter.
Sign the treaty?
"Hang on, you mean, we actually get to sign it?" Australia asked.
They had thought that they would only get to attend the meetings, they didn't actually think they would be allowed to sign the treaty themselves. That was something that they thought that England would sign on behalf of the whole empire.
England stopped and turned back to them, a gentle smile on his face, "Of course you two will sign. I thought it would have been clear when the other nations formally recognised you?"
XxxxXxxx
Australia and New Zealand took their seats alongside the rest of the nations from the British Empire, and they watched the others start to trickle into the room. It seemed like every single nation turned up to the meeting, even the ones that didn't fight in the war showed up to hear what would happen. Australia didn't even recognise half of them, but he made sure to try his best to memorise as many as he could, after all, he was always up for making new mates.
One nation Australia was not particularly happy to see then entered the room. The tall nation seemed as happy as ever and his pristine white mask still in place. His hidden eyes fell upon Australia and the younger nation immediately turned away. His heart racing and his hands twitched on instinct near his side where he usually kept his weapon. It was Turkey.
Australia unconsciously started to rub the scar on his nose. He could still feel the indent in the skin and the outline of the scar, forever to be marred on his nose. He had actually caught a few nations looking at it, it actually started to bother him. Not the scar itself, he had come to terms that it would be his forever reminder of his first battle, but just the fact that nations would see it and give him a look of pity was the part he didn't like. Whilst he did love getting attention, he hated it being drawn to his first failed hand-to-hand combat with another Empire.
Much to Australia's relief Turkey seemed to move on, Australia didn't know why he had such a strong reaction to seeing him again. He was always so friendly with other nations, he guessed that he could blame Gallipoli for his reaction to seeing Turkey. He glanced over at New Zealand to see if he had the same reaction. New Zealand looked a bit uncomfortable but continued quietly conversing with Canada who was sitting next to him.
Australia knew that his brother handled things differently than he did. New Zealand was a lot more emotional on the battle field, he cried for hours into the night and often wouldn't stop until he had exhausted himself into a slumber. But Australia just couldn't cry, well there were only a handful of times that he did, but at moments where others would, he just couldn't breakdown. Throughout the whole ordeal, he has seen horrors of war and felt the pain of his people dying and whilst he did mourn for them, he just couldn't get the tears to come out. New Zealand had shed enough tears for the both of them.
Did that make him a bad personification? When they were together on the field, he had to be the big brother, he had to be the one that was strong for Zea when everything looked so hopeless. But now that everything was over, he felt guilty for not shedding those tears. Was that wrong? Surely, he couldn't have been the only one that felt this way. Every nation he encountered on the war front would often comment on his ability to remain in good spirits, it was his stereotype after all, to be the nation that laughed in the face of danger, the one that went head first into a situation with the 'she'll be right' attitude and tried his best to make others smile and to lift their spirits in dire circumstances. But right now, he viewed it as a burden. To always be the strong one, to be the stability that others needed, was tiring. They all expect him to just bounce back, but how can he? Would he disappoint them if he didn't bounce back like they expected of him?
His moment of inner torment was interrupted once England and France announced that the meeting would commence, the whole atmosphere in the room had changed, they were going to announce the casualty report. Now Australia could see all of the nations return to the battle-worn and grief-stricken personifications, the smiling and joyful faces of the war coming to an end had long disappeared. His own included.
Australia listened intently to the casualty list as they went nation by nation around the room. Australia knew that the results would be staggering, but to actually hear how many were killed was unbelievable, it was devastating.
Australia glanced over at his brother who listened with tears pooling in his eyes at his casualty list, eighteen thousand killed. That was so many. So much pain that his brother had to bare.
"Australia- Colony of the British Empire," Australia's ears perked up at the mention of his name, he held his breath as England would read out his casualties, "Approximately sixty thousand killed, one hundred and fifty-five thousand wounded in action."
His stomach dropped. Australia felt like he was going to be sick. Tears stung his eyes but he just couldn't get them to fall! It was like this every time, no matter how much grief or heartbreak he had to bear he just couldn't break down! He could feel a wave on inexplicable grief as his country and people mourned the loss of their loved ones. Had really that many of his people died? The same people that he had pledged to protect and fight for once becoming a nation? He didn't want to think about it, just the thought of sixty thousand people not being able to return home was too much for him to bare.
He zoned out for the rest of the meeting, he really didn't want to hear the rest of the casualties. He didn't even notice until a paper was pushed in front of him. It was the treaty.
With trembling hands Australia signed his name, pledging that he wouldn't fight in another conflict just like the rest of the nations that had already signed before him. As soon as he was finished, he just passed it over to the nation next to him without even a second glance.
He'd thought he'd be happier, signing that treaty was all that he ever wanted, it symbolised the fact that he was now recognised by the world. But right now, that paled in comparison to the realisation of just how many of his people had suffered and lost their lives because of this war. He had so naively joined up without a care in the world and he was proud of how many of his people had followed him, but now if he could turn back time he'd try to stop them all from enlisting in a desperate bid to protect them from pain. Don't get him wrong, he was very proud of them and all they had done, but was the sacrifice worth it?
XxxxXxxx
After the treaty had all been signed, they had read out the demands that Germany must compensate for and then the meeting was adjourned for the day, which was something Australia was glad about. He only had to spend one more night in the hotel and then he could finally go home. It had been four years and he was more then ready to go back, it's the longest he's been away from Steve so it was no doubt that his friend would be very distressed.
He was walking beside New Zealand when he heard someone call out.
"Australia, could I have a moment?" Germany asked.
New Zealand was very hesitant to let his brother stay behind alone with someone they considered an enemy for so long. Even though the threat was no longer there, it was hard to get rid of that instinct. But Australia gave him a small nod and New Zealand reluctantly made his way back to the hotel they were staying at.
"What do you need?" Australia asked, confused about why Germany requested to talk to him. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stood in a casual manner, very different from when they first met on the battle field.
Most of the other nations had already left, Australia and New Zealand only hung around to speak to England about a few things. So Australia expected that Germany would've hung around to talk to one of the older nations, least of all him.
"I just wanted to speak to you about something," Germany started, "I wanted to say thank you."
Australia looked very confused. He tried to think back to anything that he had done to receive praise from the German nation, but he came up empty.
"For what? The last I remember we weren't exactly on the best terms, so…" Australia leads off, not knowing what to say. He hoped that Germany would help fill in the blanks a bit, maybe he was confusing him for Austria? The two looked nothing alike but the name was similar and he and Germany were on better terms, so it seemed like the most logical answer to Australia.
"You saved two of my people ja?"
Australia thought back. He remembered those two German brothers back in the dug out, one was tangled in the wire.
Australia's thick eyebrows furrowed, still not understanding, "Yeah those two brothers? But those were only two, compared to the many I've probably had to kill."
This war has stained his hands with so much blood, it would be impossible to wash them clean.
"How'd ya find out about that anyway?" Australia questioned.
"I saw the whole thing," Germany explained, "Besides when they came back, they could not stop singing the praises of the Australian with the scar on his nose that saved them."
Germany smiled, "You didn't have to save them, so why did you?"
"I don't know, it seemed wrong to just leave them there. I'd hope another nation would do the same for my people," Australia shrugged. To him it didn't seem like that big of a deal, yes he saved those two brothers but he probably killed other family members before them.
"You are different from other nations, you'd risk your own life to save the humans on the enemy side," Germany commented.
Australia's face flushed red, he wasn't used to receiving praise from other nations, least of all for something like this. It reminded him of the time at Villers-Bretonneux after the hand-to-hand battle, their small moment of respect towards the other; they were both young nations trying to prove something to the world.
Australia didn't know how to really respond to that, he was sure that if it came down to it, that the others would also step up and save a human life, regardless on which side they're on.
Australia plastered on a bright grin, "You know somethin', without your weapon you're a pretty decent bloke. If you're ever on my side of the world, pop in for a beer would ya? My shout."
Germany wasn't familiar with Australia's slang but he understood enough to pick up the gist. He nodded his approval.
"Danke," Germany stated and he continued to walk off. He would never forget what Australia had done for him, he had suffered many of his people's deaths, but those two lives that Australia had saved, spared him the grief and pain of two more deaths. He would repay the Aussie somehow.
Australia watched Germany leave and just as he was about to turn around, eager to get to his bed, he quite literally bumped into another nation.
He stumbled back a little and was able to steady himself before he toppled over. He was about to apologise until he saw who it was, his words died on his lips. It was the very nation he was trying to avoid.
With widened eyes Australia scrambled back so he had put a little distant between himself and Turkey.
"Good evening, Avustralya," Turkey smiled and took a step forward, making Australia instinctively take a step back. Australia's mind flashed back to their first encounter on Gallipoli, his heart began racing. Was Turkey going to try and fight him again? He couldn't, could he? He signed the treaty.
"Calm down, I'm not here to fight, I've lost too much to try and anger the British Empire further," Turkey practically read the panicked Australian's mind.
"What do you want?" Australia asked reluctantly.
There was no way he trusted Turkey around him just yet, those wounds were still too fresh. As pathetic as it sounded, he wished that England or even America were still around, or even New Zealand, he felt safer with them. Then again, if New Zealand was here then it would feel exactly like Gallipoli.
"To make amends. I brought the idea up to England but he had shut it down," Turkey explained while he stepped forward again.
It took everything in Australia not to bolt and to stay rooted to the spot. He kept glancing at Turkey's hand, he couldn't stop checking to see if the bayonet was there ready to inflict another scar.
"Amends? You tried to kill me that night," Australia bit back. Deep down he knew he was being a bit harsh and hypocritical as he was on fair terms with Germany now, but Turkey was still the nation that made a cold chill of fear run down his back. He was the nation that had given him the scar, it was the worst pain that Australia had felt, so that made it all the more difficult to forget.
"You wouldn't have been killed permanently," Turkey responded, "It's war, we do what we are ordered to do. I was ordered to defend my home at all cost, I'm sure you would have done the same."
Australia didn't think of it that way, the second side of things was always something he forgot to consider. To Turkey they were the enemies invading his home. But when his people were dying his mind only thought about them.
"Sorry mate, I guess I didn't think about that," Australia answered back honestly. He tentatively took a small step forward to offer his apologies, his heart in his throat and his feet felt like led.
"It's alright," Turkey stated, "I just hope that someday we are able to overcome that?"
Australia still wasn't ready to fully trust Turkey, it would take some time to overcome his own demons. But Australia was never one to hold a grudge against someone, except Netherlands.
Australia offered a small smile at the taller nation as he tried to relax his still shaking hands, "So do I."
Look I know I could have done a lot more in the way of Australia having to reflect and deal with the aftermath of WW1 especially Gallipoli. However, I plan to really delve into that emotional trauma after WW2 when certain events take place. Besides, I believe that Australia is the person that doesn't like talking about his feelings and would prefer to bottle up his feelings. And when things just get too much, then he would just breakdown. Everyone processes grief differently, Myself for example I hate crying in front of people and when I need to just break down and cry for whatever reason I would always do it in private. Many people think it can come across as very cold hearted but everyone processes grief differently.
Australia actually lost the most casualties in comparison to their population. The percentage of deaths in comparison to the army size (population of the army) stands at:
USA – 8.2% (per 1,000 people 150 were wounded)
Britain – 13% (per 1,000 people 310 were wounded)
Germany – 19.4% (per 1,000 people 460 were wounded)
France – 16.8% (per 1,000 people 540 were wounded)
Canada – 13.5% (per 1,000 people 350 were wounded)
Australia – 20.2% (per 1,000 people 680 were wounded)
Now this statistic is in no way saying that Australia the most losses from WW1, it's saying that based on the size of our army we lost the most in comparison to our size. We had approximately 416,809 enlist from Australia had 60,000 of those lost their lives however Britain with around 6 million strong and lost 700,000 (even though they suffered more casualties, Australia lost more in army size). This figure shows that proportion wise, Australia suffered the most casualties based on how big our army is. If that made no sense at all please leave a comment in the reviews saying so and I will try to explain it better next chapter XD. The reason why Australia's proportions are so staggering compared to Britain, Germany and France is still a question that historians are figuring out.
More recent studies in 2014 have showed that the figure of wounded and injured Australians from WW1 should be around 750,000 based on the total hospital admissions for wounded, injury and illness suffered by the men of the AIF.
Throughout the whole war Australia remained (along with one other nation but I can't remember if it was Canada or not) the only nation to have a full volunteer-based army. There was the vote for conscription but it ended up falling through. And to think that all those Australians that enlisted to fight for their country and mates died were volunteers just makes the tragedy all the more great and the sacrifice all the more heartbreaking. But you really get the sense of the Australian spirit and mateship. The Australians and New Zealanders collectively won the most battles for the Allies in WW1 and the Australians were well known for their fighting capabilities and how they were always in great spirits despite the war. Even Erwin Rommel (German Field Marshal in Command of the Afrika Korps during the Siege of Tobruk in 1941) said to Adolf Hilter, "Give me two Australian divisions and I will conquer the world for you."
Australia's history in both the world wars lack recognition in many history classes and textbooks. I've said once before that in WW1 Australians often turned the tide of the war back into the Allie's favour, this was particularly seen at Villers-Bretonneux. Despite Australia's young age and inexperience with wars, they have proved that Australians are a force to be reckoned with and can hold their own, as they often found themselves outnumbered in many battles, but that was always when they would do their best. Despite all odds, Australia has always risen up in dire situations and helped out. This spirit is even seen in WW2 when Australian troops were the first to defeat (on land) both German troops at Tobruk and the Japanese at Milne Bay. Therefore, both Germany and Japan suffered their first defeat to Australia during the second world war.