"Your Majesty, I think we should first consider what we can expect from Russia under the Bolsheviks" Hersman glanced at the Emperor, and he guessed that today's dinner and the individual summons before the meal must have been the Emperor's desire to gain a deeper understanding of the current situation in Russia.
For him, this is also an opportunity to save the Second Empire, although it is a bit difficult, but it is still necessary to be a dead horse and a living horse.
"What to get" Wilhelm II asked himself, "I can take the land on the Baltic coast if I want, even if it is rich Ukraine, I can take it as long as I want there" "Gold, gold worth more than two billion gold marks," said Hersman, "the Bolsheviks could secretly hand them over to us." ” Wilhelm II already knew the news, and he didn't show too much interest now.
Gold was good, of course, but it was of little use to wartime Germany.
Now that Germany is blockaded by Britain and the United States, what is needed is not something that can be bought with gold.
"And grain," Hersman accentuated, "Ukraine has the most black soil in Europe, and as long as the situation there returns to calm, farmers can start farming, and by next year at the latest, Ukrainian grain will improve our domestic supply."
Your Majesty, in fact, the fundamental reason why the Tsar lost everything was that there was not enough bread to feed the people of Petersburg" "No bread," Wilhelm II snorted, "it's stupid, but such a thing doesn't happen in Germany" In fact, there was a wave of strikes in Germany in April, and in July there were food riots and strikes in Aalen, Hindenburg, Leipzig, etc., in Germany, with workers demanding that cheap food and coal be sufficiently raised.
And the difficulties faced by Austria-Hungary and Turkey were even more serious than those of Germany "Your Majesty, what about Austria-Hungary and the Turkish Empire, do they have enough bread, what will we do in case of the collapse of Austria-Hungary and Turkey" Revolution in Europe was a contagious disease, and if Austria-Hungary had problems, the German Empire would not have been spared "My Majesty, we should not ignore the fact that the German Empire cannot fight alone, and that our security depends on the Empire's ally, Austria-Hungary," said Hirschmann slowly, word for word.
And this Austro-Hungarian Empire was far more fragile than the German Empire, and its national problems were likely to become fatal in the event of a deterioration of domestic supplies.
If the revolution had taken place in the territory of Austria-Hungary, then we would have faced the doom of defeat as well" In fact, the rapid collapse of the Allies in World War I began with the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
In September and October 1918, the beleaguered Austro-Hungarian Empire was swept away by a wave of revolution, and many parts of the territory declared independence.
On October 14, Karl I, the last monarch of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, announced his acceptance of the peace terms proposed by US President Woodrow Johnson under the "Fourteen-Point Agreement".
On 28 October, the Czech Republic, an important part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, declared independence; On 31 October, Hungary also declared its independence.
The vast empire is crumbling The collapse of Austria-Hungary also meant that the German Empire lost an ally with strong industrial strength, a population of 00,000 and a vast land, and millions of troops, even if the Austro-Hungarian army's combat effectiveness was not satisfactory, for the German Empire in the autumn of 1918, it was a comrade-in-arms that could never be lost.
Without Austria-Hungary, the defeat of the German Empire was inevitable, and the German November Revolution actually took place when the defeat was already assured.
The so-called bullets fired from behind, if any, also killed Austria-Hungary.
The German Empire was nothing more than a funeral for Austria-Hungary "You can still think of Austria-Hungary," said Wilhelm II, who seemed to be in the heart of Hersmann, and worry appeared on his face.
Hersman went on to say: "In addition to food, we can get friends from Russia, and the Bolsheviks can be friends."
"Bolshevik friend" Wilhelm II was stunned.
He had never wanted to be friends with Lenin, and in the eyes of His Majesty the Emperor, the Bolsheviks were a dangerous and deadly virus.
"Your Majesty, the enemy of your enemy is your friend."
Hersmann said, "The system of the Bolsheviks made it intolerable to Great Britain, the United States, and France.
After the peace talks between the Bolsheviks and us, Britain, the United States, and France will certainly support the enemies of the Bolsheviks in fighting against the Bolsheviks."
"A civil war," the Kaiser asked.
"There will indeed be a civil war," says Hersmann, "for the present situation in Russia is inevitable, because the Bolsheviks were limited in strength, and Lenin and others were only taking advantage of the extreme war-weariness of the Russian people to burst into action, while their enemies were waiting for their chance." ” "The Bolsheviks, mired in civil war, were still able to provide us with food," Wilhelm II asked rhetorically.
"Your Majesty, in Russia grain comes from Ukraine.
If we can broker an agreement on autonomy between the Central Rada and the Bolshevik-controlled Soviets, Ukraine will become a relatively peaceful place in the Russian civil war.
Then we will be able to get grain and coal from Ukraine" Hersmann pitched the German emperor the idea of "Ukrainian autonomy".
Because he knows that Ukraine will become a focal point, this black soil of more than 600,000 square kilometers is not only the granary of Russia, but also the base of heavy industry in Russia, if Ukraine becomes independent, then Lenin's regime will really not be able to step down, and Ukraine is likely to fall into chaos And if Germany had put forward conditions that the Bolsheviks could not afford, the peace talks would have dragged on.
Germany would even need to launch a new offensive on the Eastern Front to force the Bolsheviks into submission, which would delay operations on the Western Front.
Time is of the essence to Germany Historically, the Germans were entangled with the Bolsheviks on the Eastern Front until March 1918, when the treaty was signed.
It had been 11 months since the United States entered the war, which was enough for the United States to mobilize and arm a huge number of troops.
Now Hersmann has won Germany two months, the October Revolution has become the August Revolution, and if the peace treaty can be brought about as soon as possible, then Germany can be bought another precious month or two.
In this way, it may be possible to secure a decent peace for the Second Reich "Plus, we get hundreds of thousands of German-speaking people from Russia."
Seeing that the emperor was silent, Hersmann then put forward a condition that Lenin did not say.
"Are the hundreds of thousands of people Germans in Russia?"
asked Wilhelm II.
"Yes, hundreds of thousands of Germans, descendants of immigrants who migrated from German soil to Russia in the past.
If we can concentrate them near the Gulf of Riga, it will help the creation of the Baltic principality. ” "You know the plan in the Duchy of the Baltics," Wilhelm II stroked his beard and stood up.
"Well, I've heard a lot of constructive comments today.
But now, I'm a little hungry.
Major, let's go eat. ” With that, the Emperor walked out of his office with his head held high, and Hersman hurriedly followed.
I wondered how effective what he had just said would be if it could really save the Second Empire.
But given the stubbornness of Wilhelm II, Field Marshal Hindenburg and Ludendorff, things may not be so easy.
Today is the fourth watch, Luo Luo works so hard, everyone will not vote a few recommendation votes to encourage it t1706231537: