Chapter 745 Aging Nicholas II

As soon as the Russian Civil War started, Dmitri immediately sent a telegram to Arthur asking if he could support Nicholas II.

Arthur's reply to Dmitry stated that Australasia did not have much energy to pay attention to foreign affairs for the time being due to large-scale domestic construction.

Arthur suggested that Dmitri act according to circumstances, take Finland's development as the main purpose, and give priority to Finland's interests.

It was obvious that Dmitri listened to Arthur's words. Although he is the Grand Duke of Finland, the Finnish government does not have the final say alone.

What's more, Finland's current strength is not worth mentioning when the war breaks out. Finland's help, apart from looking good, actually has no big effect.

Dmitri understood this, and after being reminded by Arthur, he focused mainly on how Finland could get out of the economic crisis, rather than focusing on and helping Nicholas II.

In fact, Dmitry still has certain abilities in politics and economics.

Because of Finland's high forest cover, Dmitri set his sights on manufacturing, specifically the manufacture of wood boards and paper.

At present, Finland has become Europe's third largest exporter of paper and wood boards. Finland's economy has also improved, and people have begun to support the non-resident Archduke.

An industrial layout dominated by wood manufacturing and supplemented by mechanical processing industry, coupled with large imports of oil and natural gas from Norway, has made Finland one of the richest countries in Northern Europe.

Because of this, Dmitri's throne as Grand Duke is considered very stable and is still very popular in Finland.

This was also the reason for Dmitry to ask Arthur if he would support Nicholas II. If Arthur expressed his support for Nicholas II, Dmitry could always call on three divisions in Finland.

In fact, in addition to Dmitry, many people also expressed concern about this war.

Compared with the British who hoped that both sides would lose, the French hoped that Tsarist Russia could win and gain a powerful ally.

Of course, another Russian victory is not unacceptable. After all, the last thing Britain wanted to see was the birth of a powerful enemy, so France didn't care.

For many countries in Central Europe, such as Germany, Poland, Italy, the Austrian Empire and Hungary, they naturally hope that this war will last as long as possible.

First of all, with the outbreak of this war, they were able to export more supplies to Nicholas II to earn enough profits.

Secondly, for these Central European countries, a neighbor with constant civil war is definitely more reassuring than a unified and powerful neighbor.

That is to say, both Russias are currently relatively strong. Otherwise, Poland, which has not been independent for a long time but likes to make trouble, might even want to restore the territory of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

In fact, it’s not that I haven’t thought about it that way, and it’s not that I haven’t done that before. But it is a pity that Poland is obviously no match for any Russia, and was defeated in previous conflicts.

Facts have proved that it was not unreasonable for Poland to be divided up by Germany and Russia. The current wave has weakened, and there are three great powers to his east, west and south. This makes Poland, who is very ambitious, very angry, but there is nothing he can do about it.

Meanwhile, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Time passed by, and Nicholas II was no longer the confident and ambitious emperor in his prime.

Nicholas II, who was born in 1868, is currently 62 years old and can be regarded as gray-haired and dying.

This is no joke. In this era, 62 years old is really considered an old age, and it can even be said to be half buried in the ground.

The average life span of humans has only continued to increase with the development of science and technology after World War II. Currently, people over 50 are considered elderly, and the average life span in Australasia is only about 60 years old.

Nicholas II was sitting on his imperial throne, looking a little weak.

The aging, frail face and gray hair made Nicholas II look much older than his real age.

If you only look at the first half of Nicholas II's life, there is no doubt that he was very brilliant. He ruled one of the most powerful countries in the world at the time, and still held the power of an autocratic tsar.

But now, although he still rules Russia, he has experienced revolution and civil war, and his whole person has long lost the vigor he had before.

Perhaps the only good news for Nicholas II is that his son, Crown Prince Alexei, who suffers from hemophilia, is alive and well now. His wife will soon give birth to the son of the Russian royal family. New member.

However, Crown Prince Alexei's physical condition is very poor. Before the outbreak of the civil war, the most important thing Nicholas II did every day was to pray that the little one about to be born would be a boy so that he could inherit the throne of Russia.

If it weren't for the fact that the Russian throne cannot be inherited by a girl. The problem is that the current environment in Russia cannot accommodate a female heir.

Only a healthy male heir can strengthen the stability of the country and prevent those rebellions from occurring.

Of course, one has to pray that the unborn little guy doesn't inherit his father's hemophilia.

Hemophilia not only destroys a person's health, but is also likely to cause death in childhood.

Nicholas II did not want the little guy to have some accidents due to hemophilia just after the throne was passed on to him.

The current Nicholas II no longer desires the inheritance of power. As long as the throne can be passed on, Nicholas II will accept it even if Russia becomes a constitutional country.

But the problem is that previous capitalist coups made Nicholas II not so trusting of some political parties.

This also makes the current Nicholas II confused. He also wanted to reform Russia by delegating power, but he was also worried that delegating power would lead to another coup, which would directly lead to the demise of the royal power.

We have to admit that the prosperity of his heirs largely determines the stability of a kingdom.

The current thin population of the Russian royal family, the Romanov family, is also one of the important reasons for Russia's instability.

Nicholas II had only one son, Crown Prince Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia.

Although Nicholas II had three brothers, two brothers died early due to various diseases, and only the youngest brother Mikhail survived.

This Grand Duke Mikhail was the person who Nicholas II wanted to abdicate the throne in history.

Although Grand Duke Michael was the younger brother of Nicholas II, his descendants lost their right to inherit the throne because he married a commoner woman.

To put it simply, Grand Duke Mikhail is on the list of succession to the Russian throne. But his descendants from intermarriages between nobles and common people are unlikely to have any qualifications to inherit the Russian Empire.

This is also the tradition and regulation of European aristocrats. Descendants of intermarriages between nobles and common people generally do not have inheritance rights.

This rule also allowed most kingdoms in Europe to intermarry with each other, and everyone formed relatively complex kinship relationships.

Because of this, the only ones currently qualified to inherit the Russian throne are Crown Prince Alexei and Grand Duke Mikhail.

But both men have very serious problems. Crown Prince Alexei suffered from hemophilia and was not in good health to manage such a vast empire.

The descendants of Grand Duke Mikhail have no right of inheritance, and the throne passed to him, which will most likely represent the last song of the Romanov dynasty.

Although Nicholas II also suggested that his younger brother should cancel the current engagement and remarry a well-matched wife to give birth to offspring with inheritance rights.

However, as the youngest brother, Grand Duke Mikhail was indeed rebellious and directly rejected his brother's proposal.

This actually means that the inheritance of the Russian throne can only fall into the hands of Crown Prince Alexei.

After all, Grand Duke Mikhail's marriage was not as simple as an intermarriage between nobles and common people. The woman he married was a widow with a very unscrupulous private life.

This is the same as George VI's brother Edward VIII. Although it is no longer so strict for members of the royal family in various countries to marry wives, they still need to be more cautious when choosing a queen.

After all, the royal family represents a country, and officials and people will not agree to allow a member of the royal family to harm the country's image to become the country's ruler.

"How is the war on the front line?" Nicholas II rubbed his brow, blinked his sore eyes twice, and asked with a sigh.

"Currently our First Border Army has been exchanging fire with the enemy, and the Second Army is also on its way to support. According to the battle reports sent so far, our casualties have exceeded 2,000, and the road to Ukraine is likely to be cut off. "The Prime Minister of Tsarist Russia replied to Nicholas II.

"Damn it, the enemy was obviously prepared, but we were lax." How could Nicholas II not understand that the enemy was prepared? However, war is not about absolute fairness.

Regardless of whether it is prepared in advance or a sneak attack, who can seize the opportunity is the most important.

"What is our current financial situation? Can our finances support this war?" After thinking for a moment, Nicholas II looked at the Chancellor of Finance.

"It will be very difficult." The Chancellor said with a sad face: "Unless we can get reparations from the Great Lakes region as soon as possible, or borrow some funds from France and Australasia.

Otherwise, our capital reserves can only last for two months at most, and then we will have to declare bankruptcy. "

Although Tsarist Russia recovered from its wounds for several years after the civil war, the economic crisis has reopened the wounds.

The economic crisis worsened Tsarist Russia's already poor finances, and all the savings accumulated over the past few years were invested in relief.

It's a pity that Tsarist Russia has too many people, so the little money won't even make a splash.

This also caused the Tsarist government to suffer. Obviously all the funds have been dispersed, but most Russian people are unable to enjoy the government's relief, which also makes the Russian people very dissatisfied with the government.

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