Chapter 250： The hidden dangers of Russia

After Edel returned to Bucharest, he specifically sought out the Prime Minister on this issue.

It may have withstood the German attack on the Western Front, and on the Eastern Front, because Russia, under the leadership of the commander-in-chief Brushilov, regained the relationship with Misseria, the negotiations between Romania and the Allies were at a deadlock.

Inside the palace, Edel is listening to Prime Minister Bretianu's talk about the results of the negotiations. The sights Austria-Hungary saw made him decide not to hide behind the scenes, so he summoned the Prime Minister to listen to the results of the negotiations in person. Unfortunately, the gap between the two sides is still very large.

"Your Majesty, we request that the Allied Powers only promise to give us Batna, Krisana and Maramures as our additional compensation. Therefore, our negotiations with the Allied Powers have reached a deadlock, and now no one is willing to make concessions. ."

Edel checked the map first when he heard this. The conditions set by the Entente countries appear on the map to be about the same size as Romania's later generations.

"This is almost the biggest concession of the Allied Powers now."

Edel looked at the map and said to himself.

Prime Minister Bretianu also heard Edel's words nearby. "Your Majesty sees that this is also the biggest concession of the Allied Powers, and wants them to continue to make concessions unless there is a major change in the situation."

The Prime Minister’s words inspired Edel, because he knew that the situation in Russia would soon undergo a major change. He knew about the famous Russian Revolution when he was a child. However, it seems that it was the February Revolution at first, but Edel couldn't remember the specific situation because of too long time, but from the current situation in Russia, it is estimated that it is not much better.

Edel asked the chief of the guard to start looking through the investigation report that he had brought to Russia. He wanted to personally check the current situation in Russia. Speaking of this survey report is also interesting, this is Russia's own statistics. And Milok's men spent 200 pounds to get these classified information about Russia from a small staff member in charge of sorting out. It seems that the integrity of Russian officials is'too high'.

Before World War I, Russia was a country that could not be self-sufficient. This is not about resources, but machinery and equipment. The data in 1913 showed that although the national steel output reached 4.2 million tons that year. However, the machine manufacturing industry and the chemical industry are weak, and there is no automobile manufacturing industry. Many machines and weapons rely on foreign countries. Before the war, Russia imported 37% of machinery, and the self-sufficiency rate of important equipment and lathes was less than 1/3.

After the war broke out, Russia pushed Ottoman to the Allies because of greed, which greatly reduced his import channels. You must know that the Black Sea has always been Russia's main export shipping channel, but because of Russia's prying eyes on Constantinople, he has to eat for himself.

On the other hand, Russia's production after the war has tilted sharply towards military goods. In 1916, agricultural machinery products were only one-fifth of those before the war. The production of locomotives and carriages decreased significantly, with a reduction of 16% in locomotives and 14% in carriages. The serious shortage of machinery and lathes has also affected the decline in the extraction of ore, coal, and oil. Due to lack of fuel and raw materials, the blast furnace ceased fire, and many factories had to be closed. Before the war, textile mills that relied on imported cotton production ceased production.

In 1916, 20% of Petrograd looms could not be started. On the front line, weapons and ammunition are severely insufficient. 60,000 rifles were needed every month, and only 134,000 rifles were manufactured from August to December 1914. 800 machine guns were needed every month, and a total of 860 machine guns were manufactured in the second half of 1914. Traffic and transportation are seriously blocked. Railways cannot afford the rapidly increasing transportation tasks.

In the last five months of 1916, the railroads transported food for the army only met 61% of the demand. Some wounded soldiers could not receive food and gauze for a few days. Food is scarce in Petrograd, Moscow, and other industrial cities, but in Siberia, the Urals, the Caspian Sea, the Volga and Don rivers, there is a large amount of food, meat, and fish that rot. In 1916, the storage of spoiled grain reached 150,000 carriages.

However, the attempt by Britain and France to open the Black Sea channel was broken by Ottoman, so British and French assistance to Russia can only go through Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Vladivostok. However, there is no railway between the mainland and Murmansk (the railway had to wait until the Soviet era). The railway from Arkhangelsk to Vologda is narrow gauge (changed to wide gauge in 1916), which is inconvenient for transportation. Vladivostok is too far from the hinterland of Russia.

As a result, large quantities of goods were piled up at the port and could not be transported into the mainland. In Arkhangelsk, the coal piles are like mountains, and boxes of lathes for the arsenal are piled along the dock. In Murmansk, it takes weeks and months for ships to wait for unloading.

After the outbreak of the war, agricultural production was severely affected. The number of labor-capable people enlisted in the army amounts to 14 million, mainly from rural areas. According to the survey in 1916, in the 50 provinces of Europe and Russia, the rural male labor force decreased by 42.4%, and the cultivated land area decreased by 9 million Russian mu. The number of arable animals dropped from 18 million in 1914 to 14 million at the end of 1916, and the grain harvest was reduced by one-fifth.

The transportation difficulties have actually interrupted the connection between urban and rural areas. In the market, food, meat, sugar and other agricultural products are in short supply. In October 1916, Petrograd could only receive 24% of the planned grain supply. Landlords, rich peasants, and businessmen possessed a large number of necessities of life, hoarded them in odd situations, and went to speculation. Food often disappears from shops, but is sold at high prices on the black market. In the summer of 1916, the price of grain in Petrograd was 1.5 to 3 times higher than that before the war. Meat and sugar were especially expensive. The majority of the people are on the line of hunger, complaining and having to fight. There were 684 peasant riots caused by starvation in Russia in 1915. In the first five months of 1916, there were 510 peasant riots.

Among the belligerent countries, Russia has the longest front. The war was fought on 50,000 square kilometers of Russian territory. Three million refugees are homeless and lack food and clothing. Many people were killed in the war, wounded and maimed, and died of the plague. By November 1916, Russia had lost a total of 7.8 million people. Many soldiers’ families are unsupported and their lives are very painful.

In order to maintain the war, the military expenditure of the Tsarist Russian government increased day by day. By November 1916, it reached more than 28 billion rubles. One-third of them are paid by borrowing foreign debts, and the rest are paid by borrowing domestic debts and issuing banknotes indiscriminately. In November 1916, the official price of the ruble dropped to 58 kopecks, and the purchasing power dropped to 24 kopecks.

The national debt increased from 8.8 billion rubles in 1914 to 30.7 billion rubles in November 1916. The finances of the Tsarist Russian government are facing collapse. In order to meet the needs of the war, the Tsarist government established four special conferences on national defense, food, fuel, and transportation in 1915 to regulate domestic economic life. However, it did not save the economy from bankruptcy, but carried out extremely cruel plunder on the people.

Most factories extend working hours to complete military orders, increase labor intensity, and exploit women and teenagers' labor. According to the statistics of 345 companies, the average net profit was 8.84% in 1913, 16.49% in 1915, and 17.58% in 1916. The economic chaos, coupled with military failures, has caused dissatisfaction among the people across the country to rise.

Edel put down the report on economic statistics and picked up the report of the Romanian ambassador to St. Petersburg on the government ~ www.novelhall.com ~ In the government, the crisis of the regime tended to surface. Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra were politically and military desperately desperate, but spiritually they were pinned on superstition. Ge Ye Rasputin, the "prophet" was introduced to the court. He filled the emptiness of the tsar and the queen with God, gained their trust, gained power in the court, and finally manipulated the power of the royal family. From 1914 to 1916, under the plan of Rasputin, 4 cabinet prime ministers, 6 interior ministers, 4 army ministers, 3 foreign ministers, 4 agriculture ministers, and 4 justice ministers were replaced.

In 1916, the ruling group split into the pro-German faction headed by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet Prime Minister) Steyurmeier and the pro-British faction represented by the Foreign Minister Sassonov, and they attacked each other. The people and intellectuals expressed resentment that the Czarist Russian government was unable to win the war and domestic problems occurred. Alexandra is even suspected of being a German spy because she was born in Germany and re-uses pro-German factions. Among the nobles, they were heartbroken for what the czar had done.

After reading this, Edel was shocked by Russia's serious domestic problems. He really wanted to ask Nicholas II if he dared to continue fighting under such circumstances. This is afraid that neither Napoleon nor the Mustache complex can save Russia. In Edel's heart, the Russian government has already been sentenced to death. Edel intends to talk to Haosheng and the Allied Nations at that time, and strive to get a result that satisfies him. 8)