Chapter 195 German-Russian Negotiations and Australia

Although the Russo-Japanese War seemed to be a war between the island country and the Russian Empire for hegemony in the Far East, in fact, the outcome of this war was related to the situation of the entire world. new

The island country suffered heavy losses, but it was recognized by the Western world and was considered an industrialized power.

The Tsarist Empire did not completely lose its hegemony in the Far East as it did in history.

At present, the Tsarist Empire is in a balanced state in the Far East and the island countries. Although it has no plans to fight a war, it has made many arrangements in the Far East and can barely maintain its own interests.

As a result, many of the eyes of the Tsarist Russian Empire were attracted to the Far East, but not that much attention in Europe.

This caused dissatisfaction in France. The reason why the French supported Russia's war was because they wanted Russia to end the war quickly and then return their attention to Europe to continue to achieve a situation in which France and Russia confront Germany.

Russia focused on the Far East and drew closer and closer to Germany during the war, which made France increasingly dissatisfied and reiterated the importance of the Franco-Russian alliance many times.

The situation in Europe has become increasingly chaotic. As early as 1, Britain and France formally signed the Anglo-French Entente, which resolved the long-standing unresolved dispute between the two countries over colonial issues and established a good entente relationship.

Although the Anglo-French agreement was not an alliance treaty, the entire agreement did not mention the issue of joint resistance to Germany, nor did it contain any secret military provisions.

But after the two countries resolved their long-standing colonial disputes, there was only one biggest problem facing them, and that was the rising new hegemon on the European continent, the powerful and aggressive German Empire.

When the Anglo-French Entente was signed, the most nervous country was naturally the German Empire.

The combination of these two countries was enough to threaten the security of the German Empire, and it also made Kaiser Wilhelm II immediately decide to take counterattacks. new

Germany's counterattack revolved around the Moroccan issue, aiming to attack France and weaken the Anglo-French Entente.

With the signing of the Anglo-French Entente, France became more unscrupulous in its aggression in Morocco.

1 proposed a comprehensive reform plan to the Moroccan government, requiring the establishment of a police system under French supervision, the construction of railways, and the mining of mines.

If the Moroccan government agrees, then the entire Morocco will become a French protectorate and will lose its sovereignty.

Germany also had the same aggressive ambitions towards Morocco, so it immediately intervened and instigated the Moroccan government to reject it.

In order to express Germany's decision to fight back, Kaiser Wilhelm II made a surprise visit to the Port of Tangier in Morocco on March 31 and delivered a provocative speech, declaring that he would safeguard the sovereignty and independence of the entire Morocco and contribute to world peace. .

Of course, William II also specifically pointed out that Germany was very opposed to France's special status in Morocco, claiming that this was a barbaric act.

Immediately afterwards, the German Prime Minister Bilov proposed to convene an international conference to solve the problem of Morocco, and used the threat of war to coerce France.

This was the famous first Moroccan crisis in history, and it was also one of the triggers that almost started a war.

The birth of the Moroccan crisis caused France and Germany to seek more support from the international community.

By coincidence, at the end of last year, on the 1st, the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Empire sank a British fishing boat near the Port of Hull in the United Kingdom on its way to the Far East.

This move immediately heightened tensions in British-Russian relations. The British not only lodged diplomatic protests, but also dispatched warships to track the Russian fleet.

Even among the British people, some capitalists and newspapers with ulterior motives are already inciting war with Russia, using a hearty victory to comfort their dead British compatriots.

What was the state of Russia at this time? Because it was busy with the war, diplomacy was in relative isolation. new

In addition to the limited support of his ally France, the only one willing to support Russia is Germany.

Because of its own diplomatic isolation dilemma, Russia very much needs the friendship between Germany and Austria, which also promotes the possibility of Germany and Russia going further.

While Australia exported a large amount of arms to Russia, Germany also signed a trade treaty with Russia. In exchange for a large amount of loans, Russia was forced to agree to reduce tariffs on German industrial products, resulting in a large influx of German goods and capital into Russia, strengthening the economic exchanges between Germany and Russia.

At the same time, with the support and maneuvers of Germany, Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire reached an agreement on maintaining the status quo in the Balkans, which also greatly eased the tension between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

After this friendly fire incident, Kaiser Wilhelm II called the Tsar a few days later, stating that Britain intended to block Germany's supply of coal to the Russian Navy. Wilhelm II suggested that Germany and Russia form a powerful anti-British alliance to crush the British plot.

Czar Nicholas II quickly agreed to this treaty because of the current tense relationship between Britain and Russia, and asked Kaiser Wilhelm II to send the grassland treaty so that both parties could study the formal treaty together.

New 𝟲𝟵Book Bar→𝟲𝟵𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘅.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The first article of this draft blatantly stipulates that if one of the two empires that concluded the treaty is attacked by a major European country, then the other country must use all its army and navy to provide support.

When necessary, Germany and Russia should also act together to remind France to fulfill its obligations under the Franco-Russian Alliance Treaty, that is, to help Russia in the war.

The first provision of this treaty directly tied Russia and Russia's ally France to Germany's tank, and Germany's purpose was self-evident.

But the final negotiations on the treaty soon reached a deadlock over whether it needed to be reviewed by France.

The Russians believed that this draft involved France and that Russia and France had an alliance, so they felt that France needed to review and agree before it could be signed.

In Germany, considering the hatred between France and Germany, the French would basically not agree to this draft, so they would rather have no agreement than inform France.

Germany's attitude has aroused Russia's vigilance. Russia's current diplomatic environment is very crisis, so it is unwilling to lose France, an ally that has helped Russia a lot.

The deadlock was fought over the name of a new country: Australia.

In fact, William II did not expect that Australia would make the Russians change their attitude. The reason why he mentioned Australia was just to test the Russians' attitude towards the Far East.

But unexpectedly, Russia was still worried about the defeat in the Far East. They were already looking forward to accumulating strength to restart the war with the island countries in the next few years and regain hegemony in the Far East.

1. One month after the end of the Russo-Japanese War, Russia and Germany restarted negotiations on the Russo-German Covenant, and the progress of this negotiation accelerated a lot.

The reason why the Russians are so anxious is because during this war, Russia's internal worries have been revealed.

Russia's internal worries also start from the cause of one thing.

Since the 15th century, individual or collective petitions have been established as a way to express dissatisfaction to the tsarist government.

Even up to now, Russian society still follows this unique tradition.

1 Inspired by the liberal movement, the Russian legal trade union organization "Congress of St. Petersburg Factory Workers" decided to submit a petition in an independent capacity, and the content was completed by the leader of the conference, Father Georgy Apollonovich Gabon.

1 Four workers at a Petersburg factory who participated in a workers' meeting were fired by their foreman.

This was originally a common thing in Russia, but it led to the most serious crisis in Russia in recent times.

The four fired workers asked for their jobs to be reinstated, but the arrogant factory management not only ignored them, but also gave a sarcastic reply: "Go back to your assembly and let your assembly support you! "

The workers' conference appealed this matter, but ultimately the appeal failed.

1 The General Assembly began to organize strikes.

The next day, the strike started in this factory and spread to other factories. After just three days, more than 10,000 workers had joined the strike.

Because major factories repeatedly rejected workers' requests, the intensity and scope of strikes continued to expand, and even affected other areas of the Russian Empire.

Finally, Father Gapon and the leadership of the Congress believed that the workers' dissatisfaction should be properly expressed to the highest authority, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and even to His Majesty the Tsar himself, bypassing officials and capitalists.

After obtaining majority consent, the congress decided to take advantage of the strike to submit a petition directly to the tsarist government.

In just a few days, the petition was written, published and distributed to all walks of life.

At the same time, the total number of workers participating in strikes in the capital of the Tsarist Empire has reached more than 150,000, and has endangered other surrounding areas.

This demonstration of workers was originally intended to safeguard the interests of the workers, but the highest authorities mistook it for revolutionary unrest and used the army to brutally suppress it after warnings to no avail.

The huge sacrifice on the day of the march made the workers in St. Petersburg angrily build barricades to confront the military and police.

The crisis was not limited to St. Petersburg. Waves of protests and strikes also broke out across Russia. The contradiction between the tsarist government and the working class became deeper and deeper.

Of course, the crisis for Russia does not end there. Before this incident, the vast majority of the people in Russia supported the Tsar.

This is because the Tsar has always maintained the image of a benevolent little father that Russians have always cherished, and this is why he is supported by the vast majority of Russians.

But this bloody incident turned Russian citizens against the tsarist regime, and also prompted a series of revolutionary events that followed.

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