I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 516 Powder Keg

Just this July, George received his second Order of St. George, a medal awarded for his 7 years of perfect service.

When Nicholas awarded George the medal in the Summer Palace, George felt a little dazed.

It's been 25 years?

If you calculate carefully, from 1883 to 1909, that’s already 25 years.

This is still several months late.

In late August, just after Helmut Moltke and Franz Hützendorff left, Crown Prince Ferdinand of Romania and Crown Princess Marie Victoria visited St. Petersburg.

Mary is the eldest daughter of Prince Alfred and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna. She and Ferdinand had five children, the youngest of whom, Princess Ileana, was born earlier this year.

As the only ally of the Kingdom of Romania, Ferdinand visited St. Petersburg every year.

Nicola's trip around Europe started from Germany, passed through Britain, France, the Kingdom of Greece, and finally ended in the Kingdom of Romania.

The Russian Empire exposed many problems in the Russo-Japanese War, which made Romanian King Carol I and Ferdinand worried that the Russian Empire could not provide proper protection to its allies.

At the same time, they were also worried that the Russian Empire would not be able to give the Kingdom of Romania enough support on the Balkan issue.

George and Milyutin established a deep friendship with Ferdinand when they visited the Kingdom of Romania. When George was in the Far East, he often kept in touch with Ferdinand through letters, and their relationship was not interrupted.

After Ferdinand and Maria got married, the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Romania became closer. This time when he came to St. Petersburg, Ferdinand hoped to get the support of the Russian Empire and ask the Bulgarian Kingdom for Southern Dobruja.

Dobruja is located in the northeast of the Balkan Peninsula, between the lower reaches of the Danube and the Black Sea. It is a corridor from Eastern Europe into the Balkans. Most of its residents are Romanians.

After Romania and Bulgaria became independent, the northern part of Dobruja was assigned to the Kingdom of Romania and the southern part to the Kingdom of Bulgaria.

In order to monopolize southern Dobruja, the Kingdom of Bulgaria implemented a high-pressure policy against the Romanians living in southern Dobruja.

Romanians living in Southern Dobruja have repeatedly asked the Kingdom of Romania for help, hoping that the Kingdom of Romania would send troops to protect their interests, or preferably incorporate Southern Dobruja into the Kingdom of Romania.

This problem was very tricky, and George didn't dare to make a decision easily for a while.

The Kingdom of Romania and the Kingdom of Bulgaria were both allies of the Russian Empire.

If the Russian Empire supported the Kingdom of Romania on the issue of Southern Dobruja, it would cause a rift in the relationship between the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Russian Empire. If the operation was not careful, it might push the Kingdom of Bulgaria into the German-Austrian alliance.

The disagreement between the Kingdom of Romania and the Kingdom of Bulgaria over southern Dobruja was also long-standing. Ferdinand had repeatedly requested support from the Russian Empire, and George could feel that Ferdinand's patience was about to run out.

"Romanians living in Southern Dobruja have to pay almost twice as much tax as Bulgarians. If there is a conflict between Romanians and Bulgarians, the local government will definitely favor the Bulgarians. The Bulgarian government does not even allow Romanian schools to teach in Romanian! If we do not take action, in a few years, Romanians will disappear from Southern Dobruja. This is something we cannot accept in any way."

Ferdinand's attitude was very tough. Even without the support of the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Romania was ready to settle accounts with the Kingdom of Bulgaria.

George and Stolypin looked at each other, and there was worry in their eyes.

Ferdinand and King Carol I of Romania were both Germans.

Stolypin just felt tricky.

What George was worried about was that if he was not careful in his operations, the Russian Empire would not only lose its ally, the Kingdom of Bulgaria, but might also push the Kingdom of Romania into the German-Austrian alliance.

"George, Bucharest's voices demanding the use of force to take back southern Dobruja are getting louder and louder. Our patience has reached its limit. If St. Petersburg cannot give Bucharest enough support on the issue of southern Dobruja, please do not prevent Bucharest from safeguarding the interests of the Kingdom of Romania in any way."

Ferdinand hoped that St. Petersburg would treat both sides equally. In terms of pure military strength, the Kingdom of Romania had a slight advantage.

The Kingdom of Romania gained independence even earlier. During the Tenth Russo-Turkish War, Carol I led his troops to fight alongside the Russian Empire.

After Grand Duke Alexander of the Bulgarian Kingdom was forced to abdicate, the candidate for the new Grand Duke remained undecided for a long time, and George was almost asked to be the Grand Duke. Finally, after compromises from many parties, Alex's younger brother Valdemar became the Grand Duke of Bulgaria.

This is why Ferdinand was disappointed with the Russian Empire.

Maria is only Nikolai's cousin, but Waldemar is Nikolai's brother-in-law, so it is difficult for Nikolai to be fair when it comes to the issue of South Dobruja.

This was probably the reason why Ferdinand made a surprise visit to St. Petersburg while Nicholas was away on a business trip.

At least on the issue of South Dobruja, George would be more inclined to Ferdinand.

"Ferdinand, I will support Romanians in any way they can to protect the interests of the Kingdom of Romania, no matter what the circumstances."

George was the first to express his attitude.

Ferdinand was not relieved, because there would definitely be a but. "But I think what you should worry about most now is not Bulgaria, but the threats from Vienna and Constantinople."

George knows how to strike a balance and how to take advantage of situations.

The reason why the Kingdom of Bulgaria dared to exercise high-pressure rule over the Romanians in southern Dobruja was because it had the support of Germany.

Although Carol I came from the Hohenzollern family, he signed an alliance with the Russian Empire, which made William II very dissatisfied.

Although Valdemar was Alex's younger brother, he was also William II's cousin. Since William II failed to win over Romania, he would naturally choose to support Bulgaria.

The current situation is that the support that the Kingdom of Romania and the Kingdom of Bulgaria receive from the Russian Empire is basically half and half, and neither side gets any advantage.

The Kingdom of Bulgaria received support from Germany.

So Ferdinand came to George to seek support and to force him to abdicate.

If Ferdinand could not get the support he wanted from St. Petersburg, the relationship between the Kingdom of Romania and the Russian Empire would gradually become distant.

From a national perspective, George could understand Ferdinand's choice.

After sending Ferdinand away, Stolypin was very troubled because these little brothers in the Balkans were too good at causing trouble.

As the big brother, it would be bad for the Russian Empire to favor anyone, as none of its younger brothers would be worry-free.

"Only Your Majesty is qualified to decide the future of the Balkans."

Stolypin did not have the energy to take care of the Balkans. The land reform in the Russian Empire was enough to give Stolypin a headache.

After selling off the Tsar's lands, Stolypin finally turned his attention to the entire nobility.

The method adopted by Stolypin was to have the Ministry of Internal Affairs purchase the land from the landlord class, and then sell it to the landless Russian poor, so that more and more proletarians could become the bourgeoisie.

This is basically the same way George resettles veterans.

George resettled the veterans not by sending them to the Armenia or the East Indies but by finding them jobs and houses first, so that they could settle down there and take root.

The veterans who arrived in Amur last winter started building houses in Amur in early spring this year. The houses they built are for their own use. They can buy them directly or rent them first and then buy them. If they have no money, they can go to the Siberian Bank for a loan. There is no need to worry about their credit, as many projects in Amur are invested by the Siberian Bank.

Once veterans become property owners, they will quickly transform from vagrants into the backbone of society. They are the most loyal Cossacks to the Tsar and would never take to the streets for a walk unless they really could not make ends meet.

“If Nikki could fully guarantee the interests of the Kingdom of Romania, Ferdinand would not have visited St. Petersburg while Nikki was away.”

George was not optimistic, and Nikolai was even less patient than Stolypin.

The situation in the Balkans is very complicated and was previously maintained entirely by Ignatiev.

Two years ago, Ignatiev was assassinated in Tver, and the conflicts in the Balkans gradually got out of control.

If George could make up his mind, Milyutin would actually be very suitable to replace Ignatiev and deal with the Balkan issue. George believed that with Milyutin's experience, he should be able to appease the Balkan countries.

But considering Milyutin's age, George really couldn't bear to send a 90-year-old man to the Balkans.

George actually has some ideas about the Balkans.

The conflicts among the Balkan countries mainly focus on uneven distribution.

When the Balkans did not have independence, the common enemy of all countries was the Ottoman Empire, and in order to gain independence they had to work together to fight for it.

Now that the Ottoman Empire has withdrawn from the Balkans, the contradictions between the Balkan countries have gradually been exposed. If one wants to bring the Balkan countries together again, it is necessary to find a new enemy for them.

The enemy was ready-made: the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was already full of ambitions for the Balkan Peninsula.

However, what made George hesitant was that once a war broke out between the Balkan countries and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it would almost certainly trigger the First World War. So after looking around, George felt that the Ottoman Empire was easier to bully.

What made George happy was that Nicholas had just arrived in Greece and had not yet reached Bulgaria when the Ottoman Empire took the initiative to offer itself to him.

During the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian Empire's Black Sea Fleet was almost wiped out, and the few remaining warships frequently rebelled. After Peter went to the Black Sea Fleet, he carried out drastic reforms on the Black Sea Fleet. On the surface, the Black Sea Fleet was almost on the verge of being disbanded.

The Ottoman Empire's navy has developed rapidly in recent years. Not only did it start building all-heavy artillery battleships, but it also started construction of three ships at a time.

As this situation grew, the confidence of the Ottoman Navy gradually increased.

(End of this chapter)