Republic of Australia

Australia had been a colony of Great Britain, becoming a dominion in 1901. As a dominion, Australian citizens were conscripted into the British war effort during the Great War. With Britain's defeat in 1920, many Australian politicians demanded greater home rule.

Australia had been wary of the encroachments of the Empire of Japan, with many believing Japan might make claims on Australian territory into their Empire of the Pacific. When Japan created their Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, many of these fears were stoked. Australia applauded the Kingdom of America with their Japanese-American Naval Treaty, which they saw as limiting the Japanese threat. However, Australia agreed with America that Japan was in violation of this treaty by selling their battleships and aircraft carriers to their puppets, exceeding the amount of agreed to warships.

When Australia brought these concerns to Great Britain in an address to Parliament, the British government sought to secure their holdings by renewing the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. While this seemingly brought peace, many politicians in the Australian government remained concerned.

When Great Britain attempted to proceed with their own expansion of their navy passed what was allowed under the Great Treaty, Germany sent an ultimatum to Great Britain. Britain refused, thus beginning the Anglo-German War. Australia was ordered to invade the German colonies bordering Papua. While there were attacks on the ports, a full scale invasion never made it past the planning stages.

In 1944, Japan attacked America in the Battle of Guam, beginning the Pacific War. Australia was sympathetic towards the Americans, but when Great Britain entered the war, merging the conflicts into the World War, Australia was split. Many of the republicans began to call for full independence of Australia to form a republic. Protests in the streets against the war turned into riots, leading to the burning of the Australian Parliament House. In the aftermath, the Republic of Australia was declared.

Most of the regions in Australia joined the republic, Western Australia refused to do so. As a result, they formed the Dominion of Western Australia, remaining loyal to Great Britain. Though the two sides were opposed, there were never any battles on the Island of Australia, as Western Australia did not have sufficient manpower to wage war. However, the new Republic found itself at war with Great Britain. As such, the resources meant to invade German colonies were diverted to invading the remaining British colonies in the Pacific. In 1946, New Zealand was invaded, later to be incorporated into the republic.

Following the end of the war and the defeat of the Japanese, the Australian government sought to increase their standing among the victorious powers. As such, the Prime Minister, who had been acting as the Head of State of the provisiional government, made a proposal to Parliament. It was decided in a narrow margin to nominate Archduke Thomas von Lexington, cousin of King James I of America, to be king. Thomas accepted, and was crowned as Richard I of Australia in 1952.