Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 535 The Russian Civil War
Although peace negotiations between Austria-Hungary and the Entente Powers progressed rapidly, news of their contact could not be kept secret from the other Central Powers.

After all, Germany and Britain both had troops on the Balkan front. Although the Allied Powers would not stop their offensive during the peace negotiations, a ceasefire would definitely be implemented on the front after the treaty was signed.

Both Britain and Germany noticed the unusual activity on the Balkan front and contacted the Austro-Hungarian government, but all their inquiries went unanswered.

Even if the British and German governments were slow to realize this, they would understand that Austria-Hungary and the Entente Powers had already reached a private peace agreement, or at least made significant progress.

Although angered by Austria-Hungary's sudden betrayal, this was not the time to deal with them. With Austria-Hungary's surrender, millions of Allied troops in the Balkans would be freed up to use Austria-Hungary as a route to attack the heart of Germany.

This was fatal for Germany, even more so than the defeat at the Battle of the Western Front.

Because the Bohemian region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was only about 200 kilometers away from Berlin, the capital of Germany.

Bohemia was also a strategically important area for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. To the north, it could attack Berlin, the capital of Germany; to the east, it could cut off the German army's logistical supply lines in Poland and Russia; and to the west, it could attack Bavaria. No matter which option it chose, it could threaten Germany.

Originally, both the German government and the Supreme Command were quite excited about the situation in Russia due to its internal turmoil.

If Russia were to withdraw from the war due to internal strife, millions of German troops on the Eastern Front could be redeployed to the Balkans and the Western Front, where they could still fight the Allied Powers.

However, after changes occurred on the Balkan front, the Central Powers found themselves at a disadvantage. While German troops on the Eastern Front could indeed be redeployed, they could only be moved to Germany's southern border to defend against an Allied attack on the German mainland.

The Allied Powers deployed more than 200 million troops in the Balkans, and Germany also needed to deploy at least 200 million troops to protect its homeland from invasion.

As a result, the number of troops that could be mobilized to the western front was pitifully small. Without the replenishment of millions of troops, it was impossible for the western front to switch from defense to offense.

This also means that even if Russia withdrew from the war, Germany would still be forced into a defensive posture.

Even more critically, if Austria-Hungary were to withdraw from the war, Germany would have no allies left on the European continent.

Britain was ultimately a country isolated from the European continent, and even if Britain was determined to help Germany, it could not change the situation of Germany being besieged on multiple fronts.

More importantly, given the current situation, will Britain still be determined to help Germany?

After all, Britain had its own troubles. The Irish War of Independence alone had already given the British government a major headache. In addition, with the Americans showing signs of aggression, Britain might not necessarily sacrifice itself for Germany.

The dramatic changes on the Balkan front caused headaches for the Germans, but had a much smaller impact on most people in the Allied and neutral countries.

The news that Austria-Hungary had apparently signed a peace treaty with the Entente Powers did become a hot topic in Europe, but it was quickly overshadowed by the Russian Civil War.

Yes, after months of chaos, Russia finally devolved into a large-scale civil war.

After the revolutionaries stormed the Winter Palace and the Tsarist government, Tsar Nicholas II did not surrender but instead issued an order to mobilize frontline troops to reinforce St. Petersburg.

To Tsar Nicholas II's surprise, while the troops at the front were indeed moved, a mutiny broke out during the move.

Although Russia's annual military expenditure is not low, the actual military spending on the armed forces is less than half of the annual military expenditure.

Every penny of Russia's military spending is exploited at every level: high-ranking military officers take a cut, logistics officials take a cut, capitalists take a cut, and what little is actually used for the front lines is pitifully little.

On top of that, officers at all levels have to take another cut, and what is actually distributed among ordinary soldiers is not enough to cover their daily salaries.

Under such circumstances, the soldiers were already quite dissatisfied with the exploitation by the Tsarist government and its high-ranking officers and officials, and it was naturally impossible for them to continue to be loyal to the Tsar during a period of internal strife in the country.

Before the troops transferred to St. Petersburg even arrived, a mutiny broke out within the army. Some soldiers, swayed by the workers' union, immediately joined it, while others pledged allegiance to the provisional government formed by moderate revolutionaries.

Because of the completely different ideologies and class affiliations of the Russian Revolutionary Party, the revolutionary areas in Russia are currently divided into two forces.

The moderate revolutionaries, composed of some nobles, landowners, capitalists, and former bureaucrats, established the Russian Provisional Government earlier than the workers' union, thanks to the power they held.

The State Duma, established by Tsar Nicholas II, played a significant role in the formation of the Russian Provisional Government.

The so-called Russian State Duma was an organization similar to the British House of Commons, established by Tsar Nicholas II and Prime Minister Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin during the last Russian civil war in an attempt to quell public anger.

However, the State Duma did not function as a lower house. The cabinet ministers of various departments in Russia were still appointed by Tsar Nicholas II himself, and the Russian cabinet government was not responsible to the State Duma at all, but was subject to Tsar Nicholas II.

The Russian State Duma was an organization established by Tsar Nicholas II to quell public anger, and its officials and nobles were certainly inclined towards the reformist faction.

However, these people were generally loyal to the Tsar, which is why Nicholas II was able to hold great power.

With the collapse of the Tsarist regime, these reformist officials and nobles with Duma status transformed into moderate revolutionaries within the revolutionary party.

It was precisely because of their Duma status that they easily established the Russian Provisional Government and quickly seized power within it.

Although nominally, the Russian Provisional Government was a new government established by the revolutionary party.

However, those who actually know the situation are aware that the workers' union, which has already had great conflicts with the moderate reformers, does not have much power in the provisional government.

However, the provisional government could not completely control the workers' union. After all, the large-scale demonstrations before the armed uprising were launched by the workers' union, which had the support of a large number of Russian workers and naturally had a great deal of influence.

In order to counter the extreme workers' alliance, the Russian Provisional Government, after an internal meeting, finally decided to approach Tsar Nicholas II and obtain the full support of the aristocratic class.

The abolition of the Tsar was not only a matter for the Romanov family, but also for the deeply entrenched aristocratic class in Russia. The nobility existed because of the Tsar; without the Tsar, the nobility would naturally cease to exist.

If the Russian Provisional Government could gain the support of the nobility by retaining the Tsar, it would be extremely good news.

Although the Tsarist government was unpopular, many of the nobles who supported the Tsar were still extremely powerful figures.

These nobles permeated all aspects of Russian society, especially the military, with many holding high-ranking positions in Russian army groups.

If the provisional government could gain the support of these nobles who held military power, it would be more confident in confronting the workers' union and might even have the opportunity to eliminate the workers' union and completely seize control of the Russian government.

Nicholas II was initially unwilling to cooperate with the Provisional Government, since the Provisional Government was also part of the revolutionaries, the very people who had overthrown his rule.

However, after a mutiny broke out in the army mobilized by Nicholas II, and after diplomatic ambassadors from countries such as France, Spain, and Italy came to him in person, Nicholas II had no choice but to change his mind.

In particular, the Spanish ambassador made his point very clear during his meeting with Nicolas II.

Spain, France, and Italy were certainly willing to help Russia, but only if Nicholas II became the Tsar of Russia.

In other words, if Nicholas II had not been the Tsar of Russia, then the other Allied powers would naturally have had no reason to help Russia.

In particular, Russia, controlled by the workers' union regime, was naturally not on the same class as the other Allied powers; the two sides could only be enemies, not allies.

Realizing he could not get much help from his allies, Nicholas II understood that the only way to retain his position as Tsar was to cooperate with the provisional government.

Whether to lose the throne and put all members of the royal family in mortal danger, or to lose the power of the Tsar but retain the title, Nicholas II could easily make a choice.

More importantly, the Provisional Government did not seem to intend to completely sideline the Tsar. In its plan, the future Tsarist system in Russia would be modeled after the British constitutional monarchy, with power concentrated in the State Duma. The Tsar would retain some power and would not be a puppet controlled by the government. This was a small consolation for the almost desperate Nicholas II.

Ultimately, Nicholas II chose to cooperate with the Russian Provisional Government.

On May 9, 1915, Tsar Nicholas II officially issued the "Decree on the Reform of Russia," declaring the Provisional Government of Russia a legitimate government. Russia was thus transformed into a constitutional monarchy, and all military and political power was transferred to the Provisional Government and the Russian Duma.

The cooperation between Tsar Nicholas II and the Provisional Government made the workers' union realize the crisis of the revolution's collapse.

Although the change from Tsarist autocracy to constitutional monarchy was indeed a reform, the workers' union viewed it as absolutely incomplete.

As long as the Tsar is still alive, it means that the nobles and capitalists from the original Tsarist era are still there. As long as these beneficiaries are still around, the burden on the Russian people will not be reduced in the slightest.

At most, it only changed the people who exploited the masses from bureaucrats and nobles to nobles and capitalists, but in reality, there was not much change.

Furthermore, the provisional government, which cooperated with the Tsar, would certainly exclude the more extreme workers' alliance from the revolutionaries.

Realizing that they would perish if they did not resist, the workers' union no longer hesitated and announced the establishment of the Soviet Russian government on May 10, condemning the provisional government's betrayal of the revolution and declaring that it would persist in the revolution and fight to the end against the old aristocracy and the exploiting classes.

In fact, from that day onward, the situation of civil war in Russia had basically taken shape.

The Russian Provisional Government and the Soviet Russian Government had different goals, so it was impossible for them to reach an agreement. The Provisional Government, which had the support of Tsar Nicholas II, no longer hesitated and declared the Soviet Russian Government established by the workers' union illegal. It also abolished the positions of all workers' union members in the Provisional Government, issued a nationwide arrest warrant for key members of the workers' union, and mobilized the army to suppress the workers' union.

Although the workers' union also had armed forces, compared to the large number of regular troops acquired by the provisional government after taking over Tsarist Russia, the workers' union's forces were more like militia.

Although these armed forces composed of workers had a stronger fighting spirit, the workers' alliance was still difficult to resist the encirclement and suppression by the provisional government's army due to its inferior numbers and weaponry.

During this period, the workers' union also attempted to win over more Russian troops, but with little success.

Most Russian soldiers were peasants, and they did not support the workers' union like the working class. In addition, the provisional government had repeatedly distributed supplies and funds to the front lines after seizing power.

This approach did win the favor of the soldiers on the front lines, and at least it stabilized most of them, making them believe that the provisional government was different from the original Tsarist government and could still do some practical things.

Spain, France, and Italy also played a significant role in the provisional government's efforts to win over the frontline troops.

All three countries transported a large amount of supplies to Russia and provided a substantial loan to the Russian Provisional Government.

It was precisely because of the strong support of the three Allied Powers that the newly established Russian Provisional Government had enough funds and supplies to transport to the front lines to win over the troops.

The workers' union was not so lucky in this respect.

Britain and Germany did not support the workers' union, which was also losing out in the power struggle with the provisional government.

In a situation of extreme poverty, it was impossible to expect the workers to fight against the large and powerful provisional government simply by relying on their enthusiasm.

After failing to seize St. Petersburg, the workers' union was forced to retreat further east to Moscow, temporarily making Moscow the capital of Soviet Russia.

The good news is that Moscow is also a major city in Russia. There is a large working-class population around Moscow, and after retreating to Moscow, the workers' union had ample time to regroup and build its influence in the surrounding area.

The provisional government also lacked the resources to pursue the workers' union, as there were still remnants of the workers' union in many cities around St. Petersburg.

If all the strongholds controlled by these workers' unions are not eliminated, there is still a possibility that the workers' unions could make a comeback in the future.

(End of this chapter)