Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 418

Chapter 418: Chapter 105, Misfortunes Never Come Alone
 

The success of the 12th of December uprising brought the true crisis for the Tsarist Government. Internal enemies are far more terrifying than external ones, and many chose a neutral stance because the Revolutionaries raised the banner of “Clearing The Emperor’s Side”.

It wasn’t that they had betrayed the Tsar; it was mainly because everyone was dissatisfied with the current situation. Radical Reformists were unhappy with the Tsar’s suspension of reforms, while Conservatives wished to remove elements of the reforms that were unfavorable to them.

Most of these people had families and businesses to look after, so naturally, they couldn’t participate in the high-risk activity of rebellion.

In St. Petersburg, this sudden bad news threw the Tsarist Government into chaos; the Russian Empire was in turmoil amidst both internal and external strife.

The Minister of Internal Affairs, Mikhail, proposed, “Your Majesty, we can’t go on like this; we must first suppress the domestic rebellion!”

This proposal wasn’t wrong. An external enemy would at most tear a piece off from the Russian Empire, which wouldn’t threaten their survival; it was the internal enemies that could truly be fatal to them.

The banner “Clearing The Emperor’s Side” signified an inevitable bloody and violent conflict. Should the Rebels gain the upper hand, all the current beneficiaries would become targets for purging.

Without executing a few corrupt officials, how could they answer to the people? Now, the high ranks of the Tsarist Government were all so-called “corrupt officials”, marked for execution.

Alexander II’s face was expressionless, as if he didn’t care at all. In reality, his heart was already boiling with rage; he could never have dreamt that the Revolutionaries would choose this time to make their move.

Alexander II agreed with the Minister of Internal Affairs about suppressing the internal rebellion first. However, he could not be the one to suggest halting negotiations.

If they ceased hostilities now, the Russian Empire was bound to pay a heavy price, a burden the Tsar could not bear.

Minister of the Army Hellemed chimed in, “The Rebels have seized Moscow, and the threat to us is too great. Both the Polish Battlefield and the Central Asian Battlefield rely on supplies from the Moscow area.

Given the current situation, these two frontlines can last at most half a year. If we cannot suppress the rebellion within six months and restore the supply chain, the situation will spiral completely out of control.”

The idea of suppressing a rebellion and restoring material supplies in half a year seemed like a joke. Destruction always comes faster than construction; after being ravaged by the Rebel army, could local production instantly recover?

Moreover, it’s now winter, and conducting warfare in this season places even higher demands on logistics.

The Tsarist Government did not have enough forces or materials to suppress the rebellion at its disposal. Other than pulling troops from the front lines, there were no short-term alternatives.

Doing so would undoubtedly affect the situation at the front lines. If they pulled too many troops, giving the enemy an opportunity, and caused a major defeat on the front lines, the consequences would be even more severe.

Finance Minister Kristanval said, “Recently, the cost of living has risen drastically, and the cost of the war is increasing. If we don’t end this war soon, we’ll be bankrupt in no more than a year.”

Alexander II asked incredulously, “How is that possible? Didn’t we just recoup a substantial sum?”

During the anti-Jewish campaign, the Tsarist Government reaped significant benefits; Alexander II couldn’t believe the money was already gone.

Finance Minister Kristanval hastily explained, “Your Majesty, we do indeed have many assets on hand, but these things simply can’t be liquidated instantly.

Now that civil unrest has broken out, the value of these immovable properties has plummeted. Even if we sell them, we would incur a huge loss.

The government can only use the confiscated cash and some valuable bonds. This money also needs to repay previous debts and support the costs of this war.

The prices of strategic materials have nearly doubled now, and with turmoil in the Moscow area, we are forced to increase our procurement overseas, which adds to our expenses.”

The immovable properties confiscated by the Tsarist Government could actually be converted into cash. However, too many domestic power brokers were eyeing them greedily, and their intervention would result in rock-bottom prices.

Finance couldn’t account for selling off so many assets at such a loss; even if it involved embezzlement of state assets, at least the accounts needed to balance. To be safe, they had to take it slow.

Otherwise, even by using these assets as collateral for loans, they could still borrow several billion Rubles, and they wouldn’t have to starve while sitting atop a gold mine.

Alexander II frowned, hesitatingly saying, “Have the Foreign Ministry negotiate with the Austrians, trying to bring down the prices.”

There was no way to control domestic prices due to changes in supply and demand, so hopes had to be placed on overseas sources.

Foreign Minister Clarence Ivanov smiled wryly and said, “Your Majesty, that’s probably difficult to achieve. Russia has already increased the trade tariffs with Austria by eighty percent, and the Austrians’ excuse for raising prices is the hike in tariffs.

On one hand, we raise tariffs, and on the other, we’re asking them not to increase prices, which I’m afraid is asking too much of them.”

Clarence Ivanov had put the Foreign Ministry in a difficult position by blindly increasing tariffs, which led to worsening relations and great trouble for the diplomatic efforts.

Although the Russian-Austrian relations had cooled, they were still of utmost importance in the diplomacy of the Tsarist Government. It wasn’t fair for other departments to create problems and leave the Foreign Ministry to clean up!

The internal factional power struggles within the Tsarist Government were ongoing, and the Foreign Ministry, just behind the Finance Ministry in terms of power, had never been short of disputes.

Alexander II’s expression grew uglier; he was no fool and instantly guessed how things had unfolded.

Finance Minister Kristanval hurriedly explained, “Increasing the tariffs was mainly to enhance fiscal revenue and protect national industries. You should know that our tariffs with Austria were very low, and even with an eighty percent increase, they’re just in line with other countries.”

Kristanval was no fool, he had done his homework well before raising the tariffs between the two countries.

The Russian-Austrian Alliance had yet to break, and should he raise tariffs above those of other nations, he would not escape the charge of destroying the alliance.

Choosing to set rates on par with other nations indicated this was a normal tax adjustment, not specifically targeting Austria.

Alexander II glared at him fiercely, extremely irritated in his heart, cursing the Finance Ministry as incompetent. Even if there needed to be a tariff adjustment, timing was critical!

The trade between Russia and Austria now nearly monopolized the Russian Empire’s foreign trade, and the Tsarist Government was a major customer. Wasn’t raising tariffs asking for trouble?

Now with retaliatory measures taken, it was the sheep who suffered from the wool trade; with tariffs rising, prices followed, and even more excessively.

Monopoly trade, take it or leave it. Now they had to spend more money, the additional expenses far outweighed any increase in tariffs.

Protecting national industry, such a ludicrous excuse dared to be presented. Everyone knew that the industry in Russia was just starting, with a bunch of inferior products that would only bring misfortune to their users.

Civilian goods aside, military supplies were outright murderous.

Alexander II had made up his mind to strip the Finance Ministry of the authority to set tax rates and, conveniently, find an opportunity to replace this fool before him.

His dissatisfaction with Austria, Alexander II resolutely suppressed. When one is in need, even the greatest dissatisfaction must be endured.

“Communicate with Austria, the issue of tariffs can be discussed. Any changes to the tariff rates must be based on the commercial trade treaty previously signed between the two nations, and no one shall alter them privately.”

As he spoke, Alexander II’s heart bled. This meant that the Tsarist Government was going to make significant concessions on tariff issues in order to secure Austria’s support.

This support was not just limited to economic aspects, but more importantly on the political front. Once the decision to end the war was made, Austria’s support would be essential.

Without the backing of a great power, even at the negotiation table, they would be at a considerable disadvantage.

The Russian Empire was no longer as splendid as in the past. One wrong move could potentially lead to disaster.

…

Just as Alexander II hesitated about whether to end the war, a turn of events at the front made the decision for him.

On January 2, 1867, the Prussian Army suddenly launched a winter offensive. What started as a probing attack achieved astonishing results.

The Russian Army, once adept at winter warfare, now turned into wimps. It was only after the Prussian Army secured victory that the root of the problem became known.

The repercussions of inferior cotton clothing and blankets emerged; Russian soldiers were frozen stiff, relying only on fires for warmth.

Post-war statistics showed that, on average, less than one-third of the soldiers on the eastern front received adequate cotton clothing, and many units had to let soldiers on duty wear the proper clothing while the rest warmed themselves around fires.

Beyond clothing, poor-quality food was a significant cause of non-combat losses for the Russian Army, with food poisoning becoming all too common.

These issues were not unknown to the Russian commanders, but the implications were too extensive and everyone chose to turn a blind eye. After taking their share of the spoils, each one pretended to be deaf and dumb.

The Russian commanders thought that with winter here, the Prussian Army, not adept at winter warfare, would cease fighting, and these issues would not come to light; just endure, and it would pass.

However, plans never keep up with changes. A probing attack tore through the Russian lines, capturing tens of thousands of Russian soldiers as prisoners, and the situation on the battlefield spiraled out of control.

With the lid blown off, the Prussian Army was now expanding its victory. Yet the Russian soldiers clad in inferior cotton were incapable of fighting effectively.

Many soldiers surrendered directly to the Prussian forces, simply to get some food. The discrepancy in food standards between the two sides was stark.

The Prussian Army’s food standards wholly reflected their domestic status; ranking among the top in the European Continent at the time.

Bread, potatoes, and soybeans were given, along with a certain amount of butter, cheese, meat, or canned goods, and occasionally some vegetables.

In contrast, it was good enough if Russian soldiers could fill up on potatoes. Canned goods, if domestically produced, were suspect and might not be consumed. Cheese and biscuits were on the menu, but the occasional distribution was no guarantee it was edible.

The bread could be used as bricks, for constructing defensive works, capable of stopping the enemy’s bullets without issue.

Having meat was a rare treat; the jerky that was ancient history, almost impossible to chew, best to be boiled first.

Under these circumstances, the Russian Army often had to improvise on the battlefield to improve their rations; after all, their feeding standards were unbearable.

Caught off-guard by the sudden winter campaign, Russia’s loss was not so much to the Prussian Army as it was to logistical failure, or to put it another way, to their own bureaucrats.