Chapter 678 The End of the Duma
George has no time to pay attention to the fate of the losers. The world war has come to an end, and George must race against time to win more benefits for Russia.
After regaining Moscow, Vasily immediately turned around and headed to Belarus to prepare for the final battle against Germany.
Brushinov made a furious advance, and after entering Austria, he seemed to be in no one's land. In early September, he surrounded Vienna, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Only then did the new Emperor Karl realize that the situation was irreversible. He made another 180-degree turn and requested an armistice from the Allies.
This time Karl I finally no longer insisted on the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
This is not because Karl I has become rational, but because the situation in the Austro-Hungarian Empire has completely deteriorated. Not only the two-element empire cannot be maintained, but Karl I's own throne is also in danger.
In the past four months, the Austro-Hungarian Empire lost 1.1 million men, 950,000 of whom were captured.
This ratio is extremely astonishing, which means that the Austro-Hungarian army has almost lost its fighting spirit and fled.
This is indeed the case. Conrad has lost control of the army. The Czechs and Magyars in the army are fleeing in an organized manner. Only the Austrian troops are still resisting.
All resistance was doomed to be in vain. Hungary, whose capital was occupied by the Russian army, declared the establishment of a republic, broke away from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and became an independent country.
Karl decided to transform the empire into a federation, so that all ethnic groups could form their own governments, even those with very small numbers.
This decision was too late. No one wanted to listen to Karl's dreams. Even Austria was planning to establish a republic and overthrow Karl's rule.
In this case, it is meaningless to continue to maintain the unity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Karl now just wants to keep the throne and accepts all the conditions for support.
At the same time that Austria-Hungary withdrew from the war, the Ottoman Empire also withdrew from the war.
Yankov's condition became increasingly serious and he returned to Constantinople for hospitalization. The war in Asia Minor was placed under Yankov's chief of staff.
After the British army failed to land on the Asia Minor Peninsula, it shifted its target to the Persian Peninsula and incited the local residents of the Persian Peninsula to revolt against the tyranny of the Ottoman Empire.
This decision had a miraculous effect. The rule of the Ottoman Empire in the Persian Peninsula completely collapsed in a very short period of time, dealing a fatal blow to the crumbling Ottoman Empire.
On September 5, the Ottoman Empire accepted Russia's request and unconditionally ceased war.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire successively withdrew from the war, which greatly inspired the confidence of the Allied Powers.
By September, the Allied forces on the Western Front had increased to 6 million, leaving Ludendorff with only 2.5 million troops.
The Germans were in contact with the Allies through the United States, but the conditions they proposed were unacceptable to the Allies.
The conditions for the armistice proposed by Germany were that Belgium should demolish all border fortresses and cede France's Brie Basin to Germany.
At the same time, the Allies also agreed to withdraw German troops to Germany without disarming.
This condition is even more outrageous than Karl's, and Britain and France will definitely not agree to it.
The premise for George's agreement to stand up was that Vienna would be disarmed and the Russian army would impose military control over Vienna.
Karl just wanted to retain the last bit of dignity. If the Russian army entered Vienna, the last shred of dignity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire would be severely trampled on by Russia.
George didn’t talk nonsense to Karl and sent a telegram asking Brusinov to increase his efforts.
On September 6, under the cover of heavy artillery and bombers, the 11th Army entered Vienna in armored fighting vehicles.
Karl had no chance to send a telegram to George. A group of Austro-Hungarian officers rushed into the palace and forced Karl to abdicate.
The scene that happened in St. Petersburg a year and a half ago was repeated in Vienna.
Karl had no choice but to sign the abdication edict, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire was destroyed.
On September 7, Conrad sent a telegram to Brusinov in the name of the Provisional Government, declaring that Vienna was an undefended city and would no longer offer any resistance.
The withdrawal of the Austro-Hungarian Empire released at least 2.2 million troops, which made Germany, which was already in danger, even worse.
In just one month at most, the troops released by the Austro-Hungarian Empire will appear on the Russian-German border.
On September 11, Ludendorff met in Berlin with Admiral Paul von Hintzer, who had just become German Foreign Minister.
Ludendorff admitted that Germany was about to be defeated.
However, Ludendorff was not prepared to surrender. He decided to withdraw all German troops to the German mainland, build fortifications in the German mainland, and continue to resist.
Xince persuaded Ludendorff to accept reality and stop having unrealistic fantasies.
Ludendorff was extremely emotional. During the argument, he fainted and collapsed on the floor unconscious.
The new policy not only wanted to negotiate with the Allies, but also wanted to launch a "top-down" revolution in Germany to reform Germany and transform Germany into a constitutional monarchy similar to the United Kingdom.
For Germany today, the idea of new policies is the optimal solution.
William II, however, did not agree to any reforms to Germany, nor did he agree to accept the requirements of the Entente. He only agreed to negotiate diligently on the basis of Wilson's "Fourteen Points."
On the issue of Germany, the Allied Powers did not have unified opinions.
Britain had the least demands, requiring only that Germany withdraw its troops from Belgium and France and return Alsace and Lorraine to France.
France demanded that Germany return Alsace and Lorraine to France and withdraw east of the Rhine to be managed by France.
Russian claims were Upper Silesia, and part of Jutland.
In addition to the British conditions, France and Russia both made territorial claims like Germany. Britain's benevolence was due to its unwillingness to weaken Germany too much, which was related to Britain's continental balancing policy.
France’s purpose is contrary to that of Britain. The area east of the Rhine River is the essence of German industry. After losing this area, German industry will be irreparably damaged.
Russia claims Jutland because of its access to the sea.
Although Russia has gained access to the Black Sea, the Mediterranean is Europe's inner lake, and Russia's maritime dreams are still restricted by Britain.
Most of Jutland belongs to Denmark, and a small part belongs to Germany.
If Germany cedes this area belonging to Germany to Russia, Russia will break through the blockade of the Baltic Sea and completely break the geographical restrictions.
George believes that Russia’s request is reasonable.
But it met with strong opposition from the UK.
France also believed that its request was reasonable and was also opposed by Britain.
Not only are Britain, France and Russia internally conflicted on this issue, but even the United States is not unified in its opinions.
The "Fourteen Points" proposed by Wilson were regarded as a life-saving straw by William II.
The Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Army, Pershing, proposed that Germany should be disarmed and let the Allied Powers send troops to manage it!
Even George felt this was too much, let alone the Germans.
Based on the fact that the opinions within the Allied Powers were not unified, Germany's request for negotiation was not accepted.
Then keep fighting.
On September 15, Peter, who had been dormant for half a year since the recovery of St. Petersburg, led the Baltic Fleet to raid Rügen Island and establish an advance base.
The location of Rügen Island is very important. Bombers departing from Rügen Island can conduct air raids on most cities in Germany.
Wilhelm II was horrified and demanded that Ludendorff immediately expel the Russian troops from German territory.
The last time the Russian army entered German territory was in 1914.
William II was overly worried. The Russian army captured Rügen Island not to bomb Berlin, but to use Rügen Island as a base to launch an attack on the Jutland Peninsula.
While the Russian army was gearing up, the Allied forces on the Western Front were also constantly attacking the German army.
Ludendorff had to order the German troops to retreat to the Hindenburg Line and reorganize the defense.
What Ludendorff didn't expect was that the German retreat turned into a rout. Except for a few German troops who were still resisting, most of the German troops surrendered to the Allies when faced with the Allied attack.
The world war has been going on for four years, and Germany has run out of gas and energy. The German troops on the front lines are suffering from the double torment of disease and shells.
Compared with 1914, France's military production capacity has increased 30 times.
When the war broke out, France had only 300 field artillery pieces.
By 1918, this number had increased to 6,000, and most of them were medium and heavy artillery.
The British army's industrial capabilities were equally frightening. On September 28 and 29, the Canadian Corps used a total of 920,000 artillery shells to break through the Hindenburg Line.
The French Miss 75 is even more terrifying, using 280,000 shells every day.
The crazy improvement in industrial capabilities has caused the German troops on the front lines to endure the torture of artillery shells every moment.
At this time, Ludendorff sent a telegram to the German army, demanding that the German army not give up any inch of land. The reason was that a plague was breaking out within the Allied Powers. As long as this period of time persisted, the Allied Powers would collapse on their own.
Ludendorff learned about the outbreak of plague in the Allied Powers through reports in the Dutch media.
Ludendorff said that when he learned the news, it was like grabbing a life-saving straw.
What Ludendorff didn't know was that the plague that broke out within the Allied Powers was the same disease as the cold in Germany.
In September, this sudden cold had an increasingly serious impact on Constantinople. The death toll rose to 300 per day. The hospital was overcrowded, and the lawns in the hospital were filled with patients.
The Duma Duma was forced to close because more than half of the Duma deputies fell ill and were unable to meet the minimum standards for convening a session.
The legislators who fell ill did not want to give up their power, and the coercive measures implemented by King Castle due to colds resolutely prevented crowds from gathering.
So during the period when the Duma was closed, Igor, Little Felix, and George were temporarily in charge of the Duma's work.
In the view of some Duma members, the suspension of the Duma meeting will cause all work to come to a standstill.
Unexpectedly, after the closure of the Duma, people were surprised to find that the work of the Duma not only did not stagnate, but was extremely efficient.
When the Duma was meeting in the past, there was an argument for a week about whether people should wear masks.
Now George, Igor, and Little Felix will have a meeting and they will reach an agreement immediately.
Therefore, the role of the Duma seems not to be as great as people imagine.
This is the real end.
(End of this chapter)