I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 654 Forced into the Palace
The so-called allies are those who are afraid that their brothers are having a hard time, and also afraid that their brothers are driving a Land Rover.

George was well aware of the French mentality because he was the same.

They are all makeshift teams, so no one should look down on anyone else.

Even the French could see that the Russian Empire was in danger, but Nikolai and Alex were complacent and believed that everything was under control.

The empire is not without loyal ministers. Since last winter, Rodzianko has repeatedly reminded Nicholas to restrain Alex's behavior and ease the conflict between the Winter Palace and the Duma.

Interior Minister Protopopov, who was promoted by Alex, is also a staunch supporter of Alex, but his starting point is different from Rodzianko's.

From the very beginning, Nicholas never liked the State Duma, believing that it would disperse the Tsar's power.

The State Duma is indeed.

However, the contradictions in the empire had become so acute that it was necessary to establish a State Duma and disperse power among various classes. Nicholas still insisted on imperial power, which was going against the trend.

Water can carry a boat, and it can also overturn it.

The experience summarized by the Chinese in 600 AD was not understood by the Russian ruling class until the 20th century.

This cannot be blamed on Nicholas, because the European elite did not understand this issue until the 21st century.

Unlike Ferdinand, the French only hoped that the Russian Empire could end the chaos and restore stability as soon as possible, and did not want George to become the Tsar.

George's abilities have been fully demonstrated in Amur.

If we can develop the uninhabited Amur into the second "St. Petersburg" of the Russian Empire and make George the Tsar, the Russian Empire will become a nightmare for Europe.

Olga's wedding will be held in Crimea in November. The royal family members unanimously decided that at Olga's wedding, they would force Nicholas to pass the throne to Crown Prince Alexei, and Mikhail would be the regent.

What surprised George was that the Grand Duchesses did not avoid mentioning Anastasia, the wife of young Nicholas, when discussing this decision.

George was even more curious about why the Grand Duchesses from Germany agreed to let Nicholas abdicate.

"The Grand Dukes took the initiative to compromise and will not depose the Queen—"

Anne smiled bitterly. She was also a participant in this matter. Like those grand duchesses from Germany, she betrayed Alex.

George knew this would happen.

The Grand Duchesses were not protecting Alex, but the overall interests of their group.

When Alexei ascended the throne, Alex was automatically promoted to empress dowager, which was a good thing for their group and the empire.

"Didn't they promise you anything?"

George was curious, and no matter who became regent, he would be tried to win over George.

"Ah--"

Anne's wry smile instantly turned into a sneer.

"Does moving the capital to Constantinople count?"

Relocation of the capital

Or move the capital to Constantinople!
George didn't know what a clever idea this was.

But that’s fine too.

George's last bit of warmth towards the Romanov family also disappeared.

By the end of September, the British, French and German forces were exhausted, and the fighting on the Somme and Verdun stopped almost at the same time.

The two battles combined caused nearly 230 million casualties on both sides, and the battle line remained basically the same.

Zhilinsky was a good man and would send a copy of the battle report to St. Petersburg to Constantinople.

Brusinov remained silent for two months, and at the end of September, he suddenly launched a fierce attack on the Austrian troops entrenched in Slovenia.

Conrad was caught off guard and suffered more than 20 losses, including nearly 17 captured.

The Italians and Austrians finally no longer had to torture each other in the Isonzo River basin.

With the arrival of winter, there was progress on all fronts in the Balkan theater. Brusinov made great contributions. He not only recovered Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also captured Croatia and Slovenia. The civil officials of the Kingdom of Bulgaria were almost insufficient.

Boris came to Constantinople and wanted to award Brusinov the title of honorary marshal and make him a duke, allowing him to choose any fiefdom he wanted.

Ferdinand was not willing to be outdone and also wanted to award Vasily and Andrei the title of honorary marshal.

Brusinov did not disappoint George. He was willing to accept the honorary title but not the title of the Kingdom of Bulgaria.

George did not attend Olga's wedding because the Balkan war zone was going to hold a meeting at the end of the year and he had no time to spare.

Nicholas also did not attend Olga's wedding because Alexei and the three princesses were sick at the same time and Nicholas was also too busy to attend.

George could only sigh that man proposes, God disposes.

Although he failed to force Nicholas to abdicate through Olga's wedding, Mikhail did not give up his plan.

After Olga's wedding, Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich came to the Winter Palace with a joint letter signed by several grand dukes, asking Nikolai to remove Interior Minister Protopopov from his position and stay away from the Queen.

Grand Duke Mikhailovich was the eldest son of Nicholas I's youngest son Mikhail and Nicholas' uncle.

Grand Duke Mihajlovich told Nicholas that if Nicholas did not stop the Queen's wrong behavior, the royal family and ministers would take action. Nicholas was surprised, as he had not yet realized that the situation had become so serious.

Nicholas handed the joint letter from the grand dukes to Alex.

After reading the letter, Alex cried and said to Nikolai: We have been married for 22 years, and they have never accepted me and always hated me. This is shameless and betrayal - my dear, you are too kind and too weak, God will help us, I am not afraid, let them shout!
Nicholas was indeed weak. He did not respond to the grand dukes' requests in a timely manner, nor did he restrain his wife's behavior.

This is the worst possible outcome.

The grand dukes waited a long time for Nicholas' response, so they made a second plan.

The plan was to transfer Nicholas and Alex's guards to Tsarskoye Selo, then arrest Nicholas, force him to abdicate, and exile Alex to Tsarskoye Selo for life.

This time, 16 grandees participated.

To prevent any accidents, the 16 grand dukes decided to add Nicholas the Younger as regent to rule jointly with Mikhail.

For this purpose, Nicholas the Younger's younger brother Peter went to the Caucasus in person and asked Nicholas the Younger to return to St. Petersburg to take charge of the situation.

What embarrassed the grand dukes was that young Nicholas did not want to be regent and opposed their decision.

Peter brought back a handwritten letter from Little Nicholas to the grand dukes, in which Little Nicholas asked the grand dukes what they were trying to do.
The empire was now in a state of war, and instead of each of them performing their duties and acting in unison to face external adversities, the grand dukes were plotting a coup d'état. As a Russian, young Nicholas could not accept this.

George didn't know how the grand dukes felt when they saw the letter.

George felt a little relieved about little Nicholas' attitude, thinking that he was not hopeless.

Little Nicholas' questioning did not change the attitude of the grand dukes. They had already broken openly with Alex and had no way back.

The situation in St. Petersburg was so serious that even the French ambassador to Russia had learned of the grand dukes' plans, so it was impossible for Nicholas not to know about it.

Since November, Nicholas no longer summoned any members of the royal family. On New Year's Day, the Winter Palace did not even hold a New Year's celebration dinner, which was the first time in history.

On February 2 (February 23 in the Russian calendar), Nicholas' brother-in-law Alexander took the initiative to walk into the Winter Palace and issued an ultimatum to Nicholas on behalf of the royal family and the State Duma.

The royal family and the State Duma hoped that Nicholas would abdicate voluntarily, otherwise a coup would be inevitable.

Alex was present when Nicholas met Alexander.

Before Alexander could finish his words, he was interrupted by Alex.

Alex roared angrily: What you said is a joke. Nikki is a monarch. How can he share the power given by God with others?
Alexander told Nicholas and Alex that all St. Petersburg people were tired of the current empire and that the empire urgently needed change in order to stabilize the situation.

Alex roared again: This is not true! People are still loyal to the Tsar, and only the traitors in the Duma and Petrograd are our enemies!
Alexander did not argue any more and left the Winter Palace silently.

Nicholas didn't say a word from beginning to end. He just kept smoking with a confused look on his face.

After Alexander left, Alex was still angry and kept chattering.

Nicholas was silent for a long time, until the ashtray was full of cigarette butts, Nicholas stood up and said: "We need George to come back as soon as possible!"

"No! We don't need it!"

Alex is stubborn and has gone mad since Rasputin's death.

"Alexander exaggerates the danger. When he is somewhat more sober, he will see that I am right."

Later, the captain of the guard Voyeikov, who was in charge of the security of the Winter Palace, reported to Nicholas that someone might try to assassinate the queen.

Nicholas summoned Rodzianko.

Rodzianko revealed to Nicholas that some people believed that there were German agents in the Winter Palace as well.

Nicholas was very angry. If Alex was a German spy, wouldn't Nicholas be the number one traitor?
Luo Jiangke hesitated: Your Majesty is a person who has been anointed by God.

If God had anointed them, they would have been protected by God, and there wouldn't have been so many tsars killed in Russian history.

Three days later, Alexeev sent a telegram to George, inviting him to go to St. Petersburg to attend a military meeting to discuss the 1917 combat plan.

This meeting was originally scheduled to be held at the end of last year, but was postponed until now due to the continued deterioration of the situation in St. Petersburg.

Anne would not allow George to go to St. Petersburg.

For George, St. Petersburg is now dangerous.

“Those people dared to kill Nikki and Sunny, will they let you go?”

Anne was determined and sent a telegram to Catherine immediately.

Ekaterina is on her way.

"Even if you don't consider the children, please think about me. We have been married for so many years and I have never asked you for anything. This is just one time!"

George could only remain silent.

The person who knows George best is Catherine.

"If you stay in Constantinople, Nicky and the children will live; if you go to St. Petersburg, you will die together."

Catherine did not mention Alex.

(End of this chapter)