I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 683 A Peace in Chaos
Ludendorff did not really want to resign, but wanted to use his resignation to threaten William II.

After Falkenhayn stepped down, the combination of Hindenburg and Ludendorff became the brains of the German army. Because Hindenburg focused more on Berlin, the German army's operations were actually commanded by Ludendorff.

It was because of Ludendorff's insistence that the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk were so harsh, and part of the blame for William II's reputation for "greed" should be attributed to Ludendorff.

After Ludendorff seized power, whenever his opinions conflicted with those of William II, he threatened to resign and forced William II to make concessions. William II once complained: If the Germans think I am their supreme commander, they are very wrong.

Ludendorff lied when he said in his memoirs that he supported peace.

Just one day before Ludendorff resigned, US President Wilson, who was preparing to run in the election, sent a note to Germany demanding that William II abdicate.

Wilson's original text was: If the negotiations with the United States are still conducted by the war initiator and the imperial dictator, the negotiations will end with Germany's unconditional surrender.

On the same day, Ludendorff issued an order requiring the German army to continue fighting and resist to the end.

This order was opposed by almost everyone, even Hindenburg thought it was inappropriate.

Ludendorff was then forced to revoke the order.

This was an unbearable humiliation for Ludendorff, who had a strong sense of self-esteem.

This led to Ludendorff's resignation.

When the news of Ludendorff's resignation was broadcast across the country via radio, listeners cheered and celebrated, especially the German troops on the front lines, who finally got rid of this unrealistic commander.

Except for the offensive that forced the Russian Provisional Government to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, none of the battles commanded by Ludendorff achieved their strategic objectives. Even though they had a certain advantage at the beginning of the battle, they were subsequently defeated in the counterattack of the Allies.

Ludendorff's series of offensives caused the German army to suffer losses of 230 million.

From the Germans' feedback, Ludendorff felt the Germans' disgust towards him, so he disguised himself and fled Germany to Sweden.

Ludendorff escaped, but William II's troubles were not over yet.

At this time, Germany was already at the end of its road.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire surrendered, the Ottoman Empire also withdrew from the war, and resistance forces began to emerge in Germany. Almost all provincial capitals announced that they would no longer accept the rule of William II. Munich simply declared the establishment of a republic. The Bavarian Crown Prince Rupprecht was still commanding operations on the front line, but his kingdom was gone.

On November 11, the German Parliament demanded that Wilhelm II abdicate.

William II refused to abdicate and came to the front-line headquarters, ready to lead his troops back to Germany to quell the rebellion.

General Groener, who succeeded Ludendorff as the First Quartermaster General (equivalent to Deputy Chief of the General Staff), sent telegrams to 39 generals on the front line, asking them whether they were willing to return to the country to quell the rebellion.

23 generals clearly said no.

The 15 generals did not make a clear statement.

Only Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria was willing to return to his country to quell the rebellion.

Groener did not tell William II the result immediately, but told Hindenburg.

Hindenburg reminded Wilhelm II that the situation was irreversible.

William II then went into exile in the Netherlands.

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and William II are distant relatives, both descendants of Queen Victoria.

The German army did not invade the Netherlands during the World War, which was the main reason why Queen Wilhelmina was willing to protect William II.

From this perspective, William II was smarter than Nicholas.

After Vasily occupied Moscow, he turned the city upside down but still couldn't find Nicholas.

There were new clues about Nikolai's whereabouts. Vasily combined the confessions of the captives and got the answer that Nikolai and his family may have been executed somewhere in Yekaterinburg.

After George learned the news, he went to the small church at the headquarters and sat in it for an entire afternoon for the first time.

After get off work, George went home as usual and had dinner with Anne.

Alexandra was not at home.

Anne went to George to complain that there was a social gathering at the Headquarters Hospital and the General Staff Office today, and Alexandra went there to hang out with her group of "brothers" again.

About a week ago, Alexander had met a beautiful young actress while watching the ballet in St. Petersburg, and since that day they had been having dinner together every day.

Catherine doted on her children too much, so Elizabeth went to Anne to complain, saying that her mother-in-law's mother-in-law let the children eat too many sweets, which would affect their physical development. All the children in Alexander Manor were little fat kids.

The cat at home gave birth to a litter of 3 kittens, only one survived. Because of this kitten, the dog and the cat fought every day.

Anne kept talking at the dinner table, and although she was a little nagging about family matters, George finally had a smile on his face.

The next day, George went to work and had a lot of housework to do.

After Nicholas abdicated, the Provisional Government declared the Romanov family guilty, and all the grand dukes' properties in St. Petersburg and Moscow were confiscated.

The smarter Grand Duke fled St. Petersburg directly after Nicholas abdicated.

Now the person is still alive, but the money is gone.

Apart from George and Nicholas the Younger, only four grand dukes are still alive, and the rest are either confirmed dead or their whereabouts are unknown.

Those who are still missing can basically be considered dead. The Grand Dukes hope to return their property to them as soon as possible, and those lost in the war should be recovered if possible. If not, they hope to get some compensation.

Witt asked George what to do.

George asked Witte to hand over all these matters to Guchkov for handling.

Compared with Witte, Guchkov was decisive and told the grand dukes clearly that Russia was now a republic and their titles and status could not be retained.

Out of sympathy, Constantinople will continue to pay the Grand Duke's living expenses, but only for their generation, and their descendants will no longer have any privileges.

George's uncle, Grand Duke Alexander Nikolayevich, was surprised. Didn't they say George was going to ascend the throne? Didn't George want to inherit the empire?
The relationship between Alexander and George can be traced back to Alexander I.

Yayi died in 1825.
Alexander had lived in Paris for a long time and never returned to Russia except on major holidays.

It was for this reason that Alexander escaped.

Even so, the Russian Empire still paid Alexander's salary, which was indeed the most benevolent thing to do.

George had no feelings for these distant relatives.

Even if they returned to Russia like Paul after the outbreak of the war and pretended to serve the empire, George would not sit idly by.

Paul and three other grand dukes were executed in the Peter and Paul Fortress on the eve of the recapture of St. Petersburg.

Fortunately, Paul's son, Grand Duke Dmitri, who had participated in the killing of Rasputin, escaped because he was exiled to the Caucasus Military District.

Dmitri is now in Moscow, seeking revenge for his father.

That was Dmitri's only request.

Dmitry and his sister Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna were both enlisted after the outbreak of the war and served in the Russian Army, with Maria working in a rear hospital.

George would certainly not ignore such a grand duke.

"Your Excellency Grand Duke Nikolayevich, please forgive me. This may be the last time I address you this way. You must understand one fact: even if Grand Duke Yuriev ascends the throne, his last name will not be Romanov."

Guchkov's face was all smiles.

Alexander felt a chill run through his body.

This means that if you don't behave yourself, you'll be a floating corpse in the Bosphorus tomorrow.

After the news of Nicholas' death spread, many members of the nobility jumped into the river and committed suicide because they could not accept the fact, and were buried with the empire and the Tsar.

Each of them was commended by the Constantinople government for his loyalty and bravery.

A little-known fact: in 1917, the Russian Empire was in extreme financial distress due to the war. Under such circumstances, the Russian Empire paid a salary of 1.7 million rubles to the nobility.

In the same year of 1917, the total expenses of the Russian army fighting on the front line amounted to only 1.8 million rubles.

Only the living expenses of the Russian army are counted here, and the consumption of weapons and equipment is not included.

That is why the Russians had to overthrow the aristocracy.

Alexander accepted this fact and left Constantinople quietly.

On November 11, 3 sailors in the German port of Kiel mutinied. The world's second fleet, which was built at a huge expense by William II, played almost no role during the war and ended its mission in such a humiliating way.

The treatment of German sailors is the best among all German troops.

When the German troops on the Western Front were already starving, the sailors in Kiel Port were still able to eat meat.

The reason for the sailors' mutiny was that the German government was financially exhausted and wanted to reduce the supply of meat.

On November 11, a delegation led by Madiaz Ersberg arrived at Compiègne, France, the headquarters of the Allied Powers, and surrendered to the Allies.

Foch demanded that the German army withdraw to Germany within three days and hand over all territories west of the Rhine, as well as 3 cannons, 5000 mortars, 3000 machine guns, and 3 aircraft.

Ersberg hoped that the Allies would immediately lift the blockade of the German coast so that Germany could obtain enough food.

Foch disagreed, saying that as long as the Germans did not sign the surrender document, the Allied naval blockade would continue.

Ersberg had no choice but to sign on the morning of November 11, and the armistice agreement came into effect at 11 a.m.

After Ersberg returned to Berlin, he was assassinated by an extremist.

When the news of Germany's surrender reached Constantinople, the whole city was in an uproar. People took to the streets to cheer and celebrate, and all alcoholic beverages in the bars were sold out.

On that day, the military police went out in a frenzy and arrested at least 1000 officers and soldiers who were drunk and causing trouble.

Alexandra was also nearly caught because she kissed a nurse from Constantinople Hospital in public in a bar.

The nurse is a female, and she is very beautiful with a hot body.

George could only be thankful that at least Alexandra's aesthetic taste was on point.

(End of this chapter)