Rise of Australia

Chapter 195 German-Russian Negotiations and Australia

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

The island country suffered heavy losses, but it has also been recognized by the Western world and is considered an industrialized powerhouse.

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

At present, the Tsarist Russian Empire is in a balanced state in the Far East and the island countries. Although it has no plans to go to war, it has also made many layouts in the Far East, barely maintaining its own interests.

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

This caused dissatisfaction in France. The reason why the French supported Russia's war was to let Russia end the war quickly, and then return its attention to Europe to continue to achieve the situation of France and Russia against Germany.

Russia focused on the Far East and was getting closer and closer to Germany in the war, which made France more and more dissatisfied, and repeatedly reiterated the importance of the French-Russian alliance.

The situation in Europe has become increasingly chaotic.As early as April 1904, 4, Britain and France formally signed the Anglo-French Treaty, which resolved the long-standing disputes between the two countries over the colonial issue and established a good treaty relationship.

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

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

The signing of the Anglo-French Entente, as a tense country, is naturally the German Empire.

The combination of these two countries was enough to threaten the security of the German Empire, and Kaiser Wilhelm II immediately decided to take countermeasures.

Germany's counterattack revolved around the Morocco question, aimed at striking at France and weakening the Anglo-French Entente.

With the signing of the Anglo-French Entente, France invaded Morocco more brazenly.

In February 1905, France proposed a comprehensive reform plan to the Moroccan government, requiring the establishment of a police system under French supervision, construction of railways, and mining of mines.

If the Moroccan government agrees, then the entire Morocco will be reduced to a protectorate of France and will never lose its sovereignty.

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

In order to express Germany's decision to counterattack, Kaiser Wilhelm II made a surprise visit to the port of Tangier in Morocco on March 3, and delivered a provocative speech, declaring that he would maintain 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 the special status France had obtained in Morocco, claiming that it was a barbaric act.

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

This was the first famous Moroccan crisis in history, and it was also one of the fuses that almost provoked World War I.

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

Coincidentally, at the end of last year, that is, on October 1904, 10, the Baltic Fleet of the Tsarist Russian Empire sank a British fishing boat near the port of Hull, England, on its way to the Far East.

This move immediately aggravated the tension between Britain and Russia. Britain not only lodged a diplomatic protest, but also dispatched warships to follow the Russian fleet.

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

What is the state of Russia at this time?Because of being busy with the war, diplomacy is relatively isolated.

Apart from the limited support of his ally France, it was Germany that was willing to support Russia.

Because of its own diplomatic isolation, Russia desperately 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 amount of German goods and capital pouring 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 incident of accidental injury, Kaiser Wilhelm II called the Tsar a few days later, saying that Britain intends to block the coal supplied by Germany to the Russian Navy. Wilhelm II suggested that Germany and Russia form a powerful anti-British alliance to smash the British conspiracy.

Tsar Nicholas II quickly agreed to the treaty due to the current tense relationship between Britain and Russia, and asked Kaiser Wilhelm II to send this steppe bill, and the two sides will study the formal treaty together.

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

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

The first provision of this treaty straightforwardly tied Russia and Russia's ally France to Germany's chariot, and Germany's purpose is self-evident.

But the final negotiation of the treaty quickly reached an impasse over the need to go through France.

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

In Germany, considering the hatred between France and Germany, the French will basically not agree to this draft, so they prefer to have no contract and refuse to inform France.

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

The stalemate was broken because of a new country name, that is Australia.

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

But I didn't expect that Russia was very worried about the defeat in the Far East. They were already looking forward to accumulating strength, re-launching the war with the island country in the next few years, and regaining the hegemony of the Far East.

In May 1905, one month after the end of the Russo-Japanese War, Russia and Germany resumed negotiations on the Russo-German Covenant, and the progress of this negotiation was much accelerated.

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

Russia's internal worries have to start with the cause of one thing.

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

Even today's Russian society still follows this unique tradition.

In 1904, inspired by the liberal movement, the Russian legal trade union organization "St. Petersburg Factory Workers' Congress" decided to submit a petition in an independent capacity, and the content was completed by the leader of the congress, Father Georgy Apollonovich Gabon.

In December 1904, four workers attending a workers' meeting in a factory in St. Petersburg were fired by their foreman.

This would have been a common thing in Russia, but it led to the worst crisis in Russia in recent times.

The four expelled workers asked to resume their jobs, but the overbearing factory management not only ignored them, but also gave a sarcastic reply: "Go back to your assembly, let your assembly support you! "

The workers' congress appealed this matter, but the appeal failed in the end.

In January 1905, the Workers' Congress began to organize a strike.

The next day, the strike started from this factory and spread to other factories.In just three days, more than [-] workers have joined the strike.

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

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

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

In just a few days, the petition was written and directly published and distributed to all sectors of society.

At the same time, the total number of workers participating in the strike in the capital of the Russian Empire has reached more than 15, and it has endangered other surrounding areas.

The original intention of this parade composed of workers was to safeguard the interests of workers, but the highest authorities regarded it as a revolutionary riot, mobilized the army, and brutally suppressed it after warnings to no avail.

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

The crisis was not limited to St. Petersburg. There were also waves of protests and strikes across Russia. The contradiction between the tsarist government and the working class was getting deeper and deeper.

Of course, the crisis of this matter for Russia does not stop there.Before this incident, the vast majority of the people in Russia were in a supportive attitude towards the Tsar.

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

But the bloodshed turned the citizens of Russia against the tsarist regime and prompted a series of revolutionary events that followed.

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(End of this chapter)