Rasputin of the East

＜ Episode 132 >

Preparations for the coronation proceeded rapidly as Nicholas II officially announced his intention to abdicate.

However, in order to solve the problem before that, I had to prepare for the coronation ceremony in Czechoslovakia because of the logic that I should be crowned before I was a child even though I was married.

“Your Majesty, congratulations.”

“Thank you, Prime Minister.”

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Masaryk, who must have been the first president of Czechoslovakia, saluted me.

Originally, he served as the commander of the Czech corps, but when the parliament was established, he took off his military uniform and jumped into politics to receive the post of prime minister.

Currently, within the borders of Czechoslovakia my supporters are members of parliament and bourgeois forces.

And Prime Minister Masaryk, who is now in front of me, is in the lead.

“Prime Minister.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Don’t you like me taking the throne?”

“Is that possible?”

“Don’t take it too badly, it’s just a contract, the Russian Empire will protect the Czech Republic and open up the market, the Czech Republic will support the industrialization of the Russian Empire and formally make me monarch, the Russian Empire will interfere in Czech internal affairs. There will be no work.”

“Thanks for the confirmation.”

First, a constitutional monarchy, delegating considerable powers to the parliament.

Independent of the Czech corps armed with Russian equipment as the Czech army, complete separation of the command system from the Russian army, etc., Masaryk took the lead and tried to obtain maximum autonomy and rights and interests by acting as a spokesperson for Czechoslovakia.

He was also responsible for persuading those who resisted. That’s when I was appointed prime minister.

Well, it’s not bad from their point of view, in addition to a clear military alliance with Russia, they guaranteed higher levels of freedom (except for communism) and autonomy than during the Habsburgs.

In fact, there is nothing impossible if we push by force, but the reason we dared to seek understanding and make concessions is because the Czech Republic itself has tremendous value.

The average level of education of the people is incomparably higher than that of Russia, and heavy and light industries are well developed, and their industrial power and per capita income also rank among the top ranks in Russia. Slovakia is the most underdeveloped region, but if you consider that it is ‘relatively’ underdeveloped, it surpasses most of Russia’s provinces.

In other words, as a country that can supplement Russia’s heavy industry, the heavy industry of the Russian Empire, which already had a sense that the Czech Republic and Russia were being united into the United States and France through an economic agreement, is still at a very low level. What can you do – start taking a stake.

Why did public opinion become so quiet because of the rude words, the price of rice cakes is shimmering right in front of your eyes.

Can they now fill the vacancy of the bourgeoisie, who have been blown away by the charge of meddling in the rebellion? Who would say no?

In the end, it’s a win-win. The Czech bourgeoisie is good at making money, and it’s good that we can industrialize it, and, as a bonus, Czech capital is a little more comfy than American or other European capital.

It was relatively easy to divide the pros and the opposing parties with the logic of capital.

In addition, to calm the Czechs, I officially laid down all public offices in Russia.

It is not without opposition to the introduction of foreign monarchs in Europe. Then the monarch changed his surname like the British royal family, or in some other way, he showed some kind of sincerity that he was no longer a foreigner but a citizen of that country. The nobility and the people accepted it, and in most cases, it was passed that way.

You know the answer, but there is no reason not to put it into practice. To this end, I returned the Grand Duchess of the Russian Empire.

In fact, the title of Grand Duke was simply elevated to Grand Duke after my marriage was confirmed, saying that if the princess’s husband was a Duke, the rank would be lowered, and there was no separate estate. If I had to ask, I could say that other military-controlled regions such as the Far East and the Middle East were my territory.

And I have the military and intelligence, but all information-related positions have been handed over to Irina, so I only need to hand over the position of defense minister. In addition to that, he also acquired Czech citizenship.

As a result, local protests diminished. Of course, I haven’t given up on any of the existing rights, just putting a bridge in the middle, and bringing the documents that normally come directly to me after Brusilov has organized them once. Irina’s eyes are on, so she won’t even be able to play around in the middle anyway.

I just gave up the name of a minister, but each of those ceremonial acts gave me sincerity in my actions.

So today, I am crowned with the Czech Republic.

“Long live His Majesty Mikhail!”

“Long live the Kingdom of Czechoslovakia!”

This was the start.

***

Kingdom of Hungary, Budapest.

“With this, I will declare the establishment of the European Economic Community.”

A standing ovation followed the announcement by Russian Prime Minister Stolipin.

In the end, France did not participate. The French government refused to participate, which could not give the impression that it was being dragged to Russia to pacify the domestic public opinion aggravated by Anschluss.

From the German Empire to the Russian Empire, the whole of Eastern Europe participates… If you paint the countries that have joined in the same color on the map, it feels like an extended version of the Warsaw Pact, but it is an illusion. it’s an illusion

Unlike the Warsaw Pact, which is initially a military organization, we are a purely economic cooperation system. A mutual defense treaty has been signed with the Czech Republic, and our army is dispatched to Hungary and a naval military advisory group is dispatched to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, but in any case, it is a simple economic cooperation system with no military color at all. There is no automatic duty to intervene in a war or when a participating country participates in a war or is invaded.

To put it bluntly, Hungarians won’t be taken away just because Yugoslavia goes to war.

“Isn’t Germany and Czechoslovakia probably the biggest beneficiaries of this agreement?”

“I think the Russian Empire and other countries will benefit enough, but do you have any regrets, Your Majesty?”

At my question, Hungarian Queen Sophie von Habsburg shook her head.

“It’s not like that, but I think it would be good to take a look at the situation in the Kingdom of Hungary.”

“Um… is the promised investment not enough?”

“The Kingdom of Hungary is an agricultural country. Most of the existing industrial facilities were destroyed in the last war. The question is, isn’t the Russian Empire also an agricultural state?”

Hungary is really in trouble when Russian grains are dumped into the market at cheap prices.

I coughed as I gave a surprised look to the queen, who was completely different from the girl I had seen once during the war.

“Since this is the position I have been given, I just wanted to make sure that people who believe in me and follow me do not suffer. I am the Queen, and I have a responsibility to protect my people.”

“I see what you are worried about.”

The decisive factor in the decision of the Hungarian Kingdom to join is the promise of large investments and the lure of industrialization support as well as high inflation.

However, if something unique to Hungary cannot be cultivated, agriculture is likely to be devastated by cheap Russian grain, and industry is highly likely to be pushed aside by pioneers such as the Czech Republic and Germany.

It is my job to coordinate these things.

All member countries are nominally equal, but is there any possibility of equality in reality? Depending on national power, they will be dragged and dragged repeatedly.

It’s an economic community that was created for some reason, but it can’t be left like that.

“First of all, it’s difficult to talk about at the ceremony, I’ll see you at dinner.”

It’s tough being a monarch, really.

***

British Empire, London.

darkness is coming

The dark cloud of the European Economic Community is covering Eastern Europe and beyond, even Central Europe.

France, which failed to win public opinion by carrying out all sorts of behind-the-scenes maneuvers, prevented the entry of France into the founding country of the European Economic Community, but did not prevent the consolidation of the German Empire.

Although the imperial family, which had soared in popularity after the annexation of Austria, pushed ahead, there was little time for contact with opposition forces in Germany.

The British side had no particular reason to oppose Anschluss.

The UK is an island country.

Even Napoleon could not step on the British mainland due to a lack of naval power. And using the past defeat as a mirror, the Royal Navy continues to develop.

Until it properly rebuilds its naval power, Germany can never show its teeth to Britain.

If so, where will Germany’s expansion ambitions go? it’s obvious UK or Russia

Either way, Britain doesn’t lose.

However, if Germany does not show its desire for expansion… It will be quite uninteresting for the UK to aim for now.

“We need to strengthen our ties with Japan.”

In the conference hall, there was such a muffled sound.

“Fortunately, the deal has been successful, giving us more financial flexibility. If the Japanese navy presses it from the east…”

“It is judged that the Japanese government’s rampage has already gone beyond the acceptable range of universal human values, Your Excellency.”

that’s funny Since when did they talk about the universal value of mankind?

Of course, it is objectively insane to open fire and even bombard the peaceful protesters made up of the people of the colonies as well as the mainland. The Germans who attacked their capital also had a cause for bloodshed, such as the death of the royal family by the rebels.

In addition, they could not openly support the massacre that took place in North Korea and even reported by the neutral media…

It was an alliance that was desperately needed to be destroyed just like that.

“As we did before, we should contact not only Germany but also France, first of all, we need to plant a pro-government opinion in France.”

That’s funny. France is an ally of Russia, and soberly has nothing to do with Britain.

“What do you think about reducing the loan given to France during the last war?”

In the original history, Britain thoroughly recovered the interest and principal of the loans France had obtained from Britain to fight the Great War, while reducing the reparations to Germany established by the Treaty of Versailles.

In fact, the relationship between France and Britain was virtually impossible to call an alliance, to the extent that public opinion was soaring among the outraged French people.

If you grab a passer-by Frenchman and ask them who they feel more friendly, British or Russian, more than 90% would pick Russia.

This incident was caused by public outrage over whether the Russian empress was only watching Germany annex Austria simply because the Russian empress was visiting a foreign country and Russia failed to respond properly. It didn’t mean standing.

At that moment, the door to the conference hall swung open.

“Sir, this is an urgent report.”

“Something?”

“The Kingdom of Italy has fallen, the Savoy dynasty has abdicated, and a civil war broke out in Italy.”