Chapter 196 Australia Joins the Game

If the nationwide strike in Russia was the factor that forced Russia to agree to admit defeat, then the series of revolutions caused by this bloody incident was the reason why Russia had to ask for more support from the international community.

This so-called revolution was actually a long-term social unrest event. After the end of the Russo-Japanese War, terrorist attacks, strikes, peasant protests, riots and uprisings continued to occur in various regions of the Tsarist Russian Empire, causing the Tsarist Russian Empire to have internal worries like a national crisis while having enough external troubles.

This so-called revolution had no organization, no goals, and even no single reason.

If we insist on talking about the reasons, then it is mainly attributed to the national unrest in the past few decades and the dissatisfaction of the Russian people with the Romanov dynasty.

Of course, the ineffective reforms in Russia decades ago and the demands for liberation by some ethnic minorities were also one of the causes.

This revolution became more intense after the failure of the Russo-Japanese War. Although it was not as large as in history, it was definitely a national crisis.

After the resumption of the German-Russian negotiations, the progress was very fast. The Germans seized the opportunity of Russia's recent defeat and internal and external troubles, and promised a large amount of loans to help Russia stabilize domestic order and restore domestic production.

And they were willing to support Russia's future expansion in the Far East. Germany was willing to provide Russia with a batch of German-made equipment at cost price, and was willing to give up the provisions in the treaty about reminding France to travel to the Franco-Russian Treaty.

On the French side, they were only willing to provide Russia with a small loan to help Russia stabilize production in Europe.

As for matters in the Far East, France did not mention them at all, and it was obvious that it no longer supported Russia's actions in the Far East.

Such an obvious gap did not lead Russia to abandon its alliance with France.

But things turned around.

In the original history, because of Russia's disastrous defeat in the war, the competition between Britain and Russia in the Far East, the Near East and Central Asia basically disappeared.

But it is different now. Although Russia has experienced failure, it is more like it has to admit failure because of the domestic crisis.

Give Russia a few more years of development time, Russia will still be the hegemon in the Far East.

Not to mention the issues in the Near East and Central Asia, Russia's power in these two regions has not weakened, and the competition with Britain is still continuing.

Because the competition still exists, the Anglo-Russian reconciliation that originally occurred in history has not made any progress, and the last fishermen's crisis has even become more serious.

Although Russia and Britain finally reached a settlement on the fishermen's crisis due to French mediation, the crisis in the Far East and the Near East was not resolved.

In short, the defeated Russia in history is no longer the main opponent of Britain's hegemony, but now Russia, which has not experienced too much defeat, is still Britain's biggest opponent in Central Asia, the Far East and the Near East, especially in India and the Middle East.

How important is India to the British Empire? The reason why the British Empire is an empire is because of the title and resources of the Indian Empire.

If India is lost, then the British Empire will be just a small United Kingdom.

Because Russia still poses a threat to India, Britain's attitude towards Russia remains vigilant and hostile, and has not led to reconciliation due to the signing of the Anglo-French Agreement.

The contradiction between Britain and Russia has also become one of France's most troublesome problems. After the Anglo-French Agreement, Britain and Russia have become France's theoretical allies and a powerful helper for France to fight against Germany.

But the problem is that there are also obvious contradictions between Britain and Russia, and it is impossible to eradicate them in a short period of time.

More importantly, Russia has begun to contact Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Russia's ambitions in the Far East are well known.

But France does not want Russia to continue to focus on the Far East. The French hope that Russia will fulfill its obligations as an ally and contain a large number of German forces to the east of Germany.

If France continues to strongly support Russia, it will not only be inconsistent with its own interests, but will also cause dissatisfaction in Britain.

Because the areas that Russia currently attaches importance to are precisely the areas that the British Empire also attaches importance to. Russia and the British Empire have a strong competitive relationship in the Far East, the Near East, Central Asia and other regions, and naturally do not allow France to provide a lot of support to Russia, so that Russia can once again have the power to deploy these regions.

The contradictions with Britain and France's actions not to support the Far East have made Russia disappointed with the alliance with France, and at the same time wary of the entente between Britain and France.

Under such a premise, the Germans' desperate efforts to win over and their willingness to support the Far East have made the Russians feel the only warmth.

At the end of May 1905, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II met near Björk Island in the Gulf of Finland to discuss a possible German-Russian alliance treaty.

Compared with the French, Kaiser Wilhelm II seemed much richer.

In the first negotiation, Wilhelm II promised Tsar Nicholas II 100 million marks of free aid and 500 million marks of private loans.

Because Wilhelm II was also involved in the German automobile factory, he could give Wilhelm II 100 million marks of free aid without blinking an eye.

And it was also very important for the German Empire to win over Russia. As long as Russia was willing to remain neutral during the Franco-German conflict, Germany could avoid fighting on two fronts, concentrate all its superior forces on the Western Front, and seek to resolve France in a short time.

This is what Prussia did in the previous Franco-Prussian War, and the Germans also firmly believed that a stronger German Empire would accomplish such a task more easily.

The negotiations went very smoothly, but many ministers in Russia believed that if Russia stood on the side of Germany in future wars and assumed corresponding obligations, it would undermine the agreement of the Russo-French alliance.

Moreover, Russia's diplomacy should be based on the Russo-French alliance, and Russia, which has been deeply dependent on French capital, also needs a large amount of French loans.

The Russian side is also divided into two factions. One faction supports continuing the Russo-French alliance, maintaining good relations with France, and seeking a certain reconciliation with Britain to reach a higher level of the Triple Entente between Britain, France and Russia.

The other faction believes that France is currently more dependent on the entente with Britain, and its support for Russia is concentrated in Europe.

However, Russia's Far East policy is still one of the most important policies. Russia still needs to maintain its hegemony in the Far East and other regions and guard its hard-won ice-free ports.

But insisting on the Far East policy will lead to competition with Britain and dissatisfaction from France.

Rather than a bigger conflict with Britain in the future, forcing France to choose between Russia and Britain (in fact, all the Russians in this group believed that France would choose Britain), it would be better to give up or weaken cooperation with France in advance in exchange for Germany's support for Russia.

Nicholas II didn't know how to choose for a while, but an official's proposal made Nicholas II's eyes light up.

Didn't Germany claim to use loans and weapons, as well as Australia's large-scale support for Russia's Far East, in exchange for Russia's support for Germany in future conflicts?

Then why not ask Australia's opinion?

With the development of Australia's arms industry in the Russo-Japanese War, Australia's position in the Far East is also quite special.

First of all, Australia's industry has developed, and the industry has reached a certain scale.

Especially in the military industry, because of the integration of British and German weapons systems, Australia's military industry is also extremely developed.

In addition, it has sufficient mineral resources and a large number of laborers, and compared with other powerful countries, Australia is very close to the Far East, and supplies can arrive in a week.

During the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian army relied on a large number of weapons and equipment from Australia, which barely balanced the island country's army in terms of defense.

Although Russia also understands that Australia's weapons are also exported to island countries, this is the norm in the international community without any diplomatic relations.

After receiving Nicholas II's request, William II raised his eyebrows, but quickly agreed to Nicholas II's request.

Chapter 2, please support!