Chapter 666 Four Empires Have Collapsed
Since the autumn of 1915, there has been almost no peace in St. Petersburg.
First, conflicts broke out between the queen, the aristocratic group, and the bureaucratic group.
Then there was the infighting between the Provisional Government and the Provisional Executive Committee.
Then to the Provisional Executive Committee’s unified liquidation of the old forces.
The two and a half years of chaos caused great damage to the city of St. Petersburg. When Peter and Mannerheim sailed into the Neva River on a warship, both sides of the Neva River had been changed beyond recognition.
Both sides of the Neva River have always been the essence of St. Petersburg, and almost all dignitaries live in this area.
When the Provisional Executive Committee seized power, fierce fighting broke out in the Winter Palace between the Workers' Guards loyal to the Provisional Executive Committee and the troops loyal to the Provisional Government. There are still clear bullet holes in the outer wall of the Winter Palace and it was burned traces.
The Yekaterin Palace and Yusupov Palace, which were protected by troops sent by the provisional government because Alexander and Felix the Younger killed Rasputin, did not escape this disaster. Not only were their belongings destroyed They were completely looted, and these two palaces were used as strongholds because of their strong structures. There was a battle during the capture of the city, and both palaces were seriously damaged.
The Cathedral on Spilled Blood, built to commemorate the assassination of Asia II, took 14 years to complete. Not only was it also looted, but the interior was severely damaged, and all decorative reliefs were destroyed.
The Gatchina Palace where Nicholas lived when he was a child was also severely damaged. The rebels threw the piano that Nicholas used when he was a child from the attic, as well as the furniture, exquisite curtains, and expensive handicrafts that could not be taken away. Carpets were piled together and set on fire, causing uncountable property damage.
The most important thing is that the Peter and Paul Fortress, which was once used by George as the naval headquarters, had previously imprisoned many members of the royal family, including the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess. They suddenly disappeared before the provisional government moved the capital, and no one knew about it. their whereabouts.
There are different opinions about the whereabouts of these grand dukes.
Some said they escaped from prison before the city of St. Petersburg was breached, while others said they were shot.
The most outrageous thing is the queen's sister, Elizabeth, the wife of Grand Duke Sergei. Some people say that she was buried alive.
Peter and Mannerheim searched almost all of St. Petersburg, but could not find the whereabouts of these grand dukes. The only one who could be confirmed dead, Grand Duke Nikolay Konstantinovich, died in prison in January this year. Typhoid fever.
When George received the report, he and little Nicholas were speechless.
“When I was in the Caucasus, I sent people to St. Petersburg to persuade Nikki to leave Russia——”
Little Nicholas was very sad, and most of the grand dukes were in trouble.
George didn't say what he did to rescue Nicholas. Not finding him was the best news.
"Let me go to St. Petersburg. I want to do a thorough cleaning."
Little Nicholas volunteered.
“The emphasis is on those Hebrews—”
George highlighted.
As a Grand Duke, George must not admit that the current situation of the empire was caused by the aristocratic group and bureaucracy headed by Nicholas.
So it’s all the Hebrews’ fault!
The Hebrews were not unjust either.
After moving the capital to Moscow, the provisional government finally held a constitutional convention and elected 9 members, 8 of whom were Hebrews.
The only pure Russian is the bearded man.
The bearded man is not a Slav, but a Georgian.
"Don't worry! I will let them enjoy the warmth of the empire -"
Little Nicholas's smile made George couldn't help but pray to the Hebrews, hoping that their God would bless them.
They don’t believe in the Orthodox God anyway.
When Peter recaptured St. Petersburg, the Gauge Army led by Vasily was still trudging through the mud.
Destruction is indeed easier than construction. It took the empire decades to establish a transportation network that basically covered the empire. Just one bomb can completely paralyze the Siberian Railway.
After Vasily learned that the Baltic Fleet had recaptured St. Petersburg, he turned around and headed for Moscow.
On May 25, the Second Army captured Bryansk, only 300 kilometers away from Moscow.
At this time, the logistics transportation line of the Second Army had been stretched to 700 kilometers. As the resistance of the provisional government became stronger and stronger, the attack speed of the Second Army became slower and slower.
On the basis of the Workers' Guards, the total size of the troops formed by the Provisional Government has reached 600,000.
The technical and tactical abilities of this unit may not be as skilled as the soldiers of the Gaori Legion, but their fighting will is as tenacious as the Gaori Legion.
Going north from Bryansk, landowners and farmers began to be hanged on the roadside for resisting grain requisitions.
A large number of victims flocked around the camp of the Second Army, almost blocking the road.
Although the surplus grain collection system stipulates that farmers should be left with rations and seeds, in actual implementation, all grains are often taken away. Once farmers resist, the whole family will be killed without mercy.
To appease the local people, George had to mobilize more food from Amur and East India.
Witt was so busy that he could no longer take care of the government affairs of Constantinople. All the officials who could be dispatched had been dispatched by Wette, and there was no one available for him.
Only now did George understand why the empire promoted local autonomy. Without self-government, the empire simply does not have enough officials.
George sent a telegram to Mario and asked him to send all the graduating students from Amur University to Constantinople to serve as consuls in various places.
Although this will cause a waste of talents, it is better to let college students serve as consuls than to be elected by the local forces themselves.
George really didn’t expect that the Russian Empire also had imperial power that did not go to the countryside.
But this is also a good thing, because the rule of the interim government also did not penetrate into remote areas.
The basic base of the interim government is workers. There are only factories in cities. There are no factories in remote areas. Where can the workers come from?
While Vasily was advancing north, Andrei and Denikin were fighting fiercely with the German army.
In order to relieve the pressure on the Russian army on the northern front, after the beginning of spring, Brusinov and Ruzyski launched another attack on the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The old emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire died in Vienna in the winter of the previous year. Crown Prince Karl succeeded to the throne and became the emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as Karl I.
When Karl I succeeded to the throne, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was no longer sustainable, so last spring, Karl I sent his brother-in-law, Prince Sixtus of Parma, to France to negotiate with France.
Karl I no longer expected to take back the occupied areas from the Balkan Army. Anyway, most of those lands belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary and had nothing to do with Austria.
Karl I was unwilling to cede any of the Habsburg territories to the Kingdom of Italy, which led to the eventual failure of the negotiations.
The purpose of Italy's participation in the war was to regain the land occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
If it cannot be taken back on the battlefield, then it can be claimed at the negotiation table, and the Kingdom of Italy can accept it.
What Karl I meant was that it was okay to cede territory to the Balkan Alliance. After all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire really couldn't do anything to George.
The Kingdom of Italy did not win any battle of the Isonzo River, so why should it claim the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire?
The most important thing about this is that if the territory requested by the Kingdom of Italy is ceded to Italy, then the Austro-Hungarian Empire will lose its access to the sea and become a landlocked country.
So George is just a drizzle, the Italians really want to kill the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
During the negotiations, Karl I also supported France’s demands for Alsace and Lorraine. Therefore, when the content of the negotiations was announced by the French, Karl I’s recklessness had a huge impact on himself, as well as the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany. Serious damage is done to relationships.
Wilhelm II was very angry about Karl I's backstabbing, which put Karl I in a very embarrassing position.
After losing the support of Germany, the throne of Karl I was also affected. The Austro-Hungarian Empire demanded political reforms and calls to withdraw from the war became increasingly louder.
Karl I had no choice but to discuss with King Charles IV of Hungary to prepare a federal state of self-government for all ethnic groups in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Charlie IV simply wanted all ethnic groups to be autonomous, so why not change the situation? The empire could just be disbanded.
Charles IV has long been resentful of Karl I for neglecting the interests of the Kingdom of Hungary. If he cannot recover the areas occupied by the Balkan Alliance, Charles IV will take revenge on Karl I in the most violent way.
Karl I's patience with the Kingdom of Hungary also reached its extreme.
The Kingdom of Hungary was originally a blood-sucking moth lying on the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The conflict between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian Empire was mainly caused by the Kingdom of Hungary’s ambition in the Balkans.
After the outbreak of the World War, the Kingdom of Hungary refused to mobilize, resulting in the Austro-Hungarian Empire not having enough troops to deal with Russia, which laid the foundation for a series of failures after the outbreak of the World War.
Now the empire is in an unprecedented difficult period. Not only does the Kingdom of Hungary not remain consistent with the empire, but it wants to break up -
Let's break up. After all, this throne was originally chosen.
George added fire to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was already on the verge of collapse.
The Ottoman Empire is also miserable. The coalition forces have invaded Damascus, and the new Sultan Muhammad VI once again requested negotiations with the Allies.
In April this year, the old emperor Muhammad V of the Ottoman Empire passed away, and his younger brother Muhammad VI succeeded him.
At this point, of the four empires that were in power when the World War broke out, only Germany was still holding on, while both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire were on the verge of collapse.
The Russian Empire was the worst.
George is now fighting on four fronts. All available troops have been dispatched. The Balkan countries have also carried out four rounds of mobilization. Everyone is gritting their teeth and holding on, waiting for the other side to collapse.
The only one left with the ability to continue mobilizing is the United States, which just entered the war.
Based on the situation of all participating countries, Pershing judged that the world war had entered its final stage.
The U.S. military began to frantically increase its troops to Europe. A whole year ago, only 200,000 U.S. troops arrived in Europe.
After turning on the crazy mode, 300,000 US troops arrived in May 1918 alone.
These American troops are still unarmed.
Now Britain and France finally understand that the United States is squeezing Britain and France in a new way.
(End of this chapter)