Chapter 200 Heading to Russia

Arthur's words made William II and a group of German officials think for a long time, and even spent the whole night discussing the latest decision.

However, the next morning, the new day's negotiations were held as scheduled.

Obviously, the German officials and William II changed their previous attitude of the German alliance. They did not insist on the birth of the German alliance, but opened a new topic, that is, the German-Russian Non-Aggression Treaty, also known as the "German-Russian Neutrality Treaty".

The conditions for supporting Russia proposed by William II have not changed. Germany is still willing to give Russia 100 million marks of free aid and lend Russia 500 million marks of funds at a low interest rate.

If Russia still needs more financial support, Germany can also mobilize private banks to raise at least 10 billion marks to help Russia better restore domestic production.

All these add up to a total of 1.6 billion marks. What is the concept of 1.6 billion marks?

According to the latest exchange rate of one pound equals 20 marks, 1.6 billion marks is equivalent to 80 million pounds, which is definitely a strong boost for the current Russian finances.

At the same time, Germany is also willing to support Russia's Far East policy and maintain permanent peace on Germany's eastern border, which is the border with the Russian Empire.

Germany will not join any actions against Russia, and will remain in a neutral and peaceful state with the Russian Empire during the validity period of the neutrality treaty.

Although on the surface, William II seems to be paying for trouble. Not only will he not get any support from Russia, but he will only maintain a neutral peace with Russia.

In fact, it is not the case. After the Franco-Russian alliance lost the support of Russia, the biggest enemy Germany faced was the Anglo-French Alliance.

But on the European continent, Germany's real enemy is only one, that is, France, the former defeated general.

Without the containment of the Russian Empire on the Eastern Front, the German Empire, which is fighting on a single front, can definitely defeat France, even if France has the support of the British Empire.

This is the confidence of all Germans in their own country. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that the last Franco-Prussian War brought changes to all Germans.

Now the position of the hegemony of the European continent has come to Germany. As for France? Humph! It's just a former defeated general.

Although France has signed a treaty with Britain, the two countries will jointly fight against Germany.

But Germany is really not afraid of Britain in the land war. Judging from the strength of the British army, it is hard to say whether it can defeat the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The change in Germany's attitude surprised Nicholas II and Russian officials, but it was good news for Russia.

Russia does not have to break the Franco-Russian Alliance Treaty, but it can still get support and assistance from Germany.

Although the Franco-Russian Alliance Treaty has been violated after maintaining peace with Germany.

But Nicholas II does not have the idea of ​​participating in the European situation at present.

At present, the goal of the Russian government is to restore stability in Russia and calm down the rebellions and strikes that have broken out in the country.

By realizing the expansion of the Far East policy in East Asia, the Russian Empire can also be made stronger.

Facing an opponent like an island country is always better than facing an opponent like Germany, isn't it?

The change in Germany's attitude has also greatly accelerated the progress of the negotiation of the new treaty. As a bystander, Arthur also witnessed the rapid negotiation of this unprecedented German-Russian Neutrality Treaty, and under the joint witness of the three parties, William II and Nicholas II signed their names respectively.

On August 4, 1905, just two days after the negotiation, the new "German-Russian Neutrality Treaty" was successfully signed and officially entered into force for a period of ten years.

This German-Russian Neutrality Treaty stipulates that Germany and Russia should maintain peace between the two countries and maintain the greatest neutrality in the war in which the other party participates.

If a war breaks out between France, Russia's ally, and Germany, unless Germany takes the initiative to declare war, Russia should continue to remain neutral until the final validity period of this treaty expires.

This means that if France takes the initiative to declare war on Germany, Russia cannot participate in the war between Germany and France unless the validity period of this neutrality treaty expires.

Although this treaty somewhat violates the original intention of the Franco-Russian alliance, it is indeed the external support that the Tsarist Russian Empire urgently needs at present.

This neutrality treaty can bring at least ten years of peace to the German-Russian border. It not only gives Russia ten years of recuperation time, but also allows Germany to not worry about the problem of fighting on two fronts within ten years, and can concentrate on studying how to deal with France, its biggest enemy.

After the treaty was officially signed, Nicholas II and William II were obviously in a better mood.

Together with Arthur, the three also started a several-day public vacation.

After not having to discuss government affairs, the mood of the three was obviously much better.

Of course, Arthur has always been in a good mood. After all, Australia is a beneficiary of the incident no matter what, and the situation in Europe has nothing to do with Australia for the time being.

In the past few days, the three have discussed domestic political issues the most.

Speaking of the identities of the three, although the way of concentrating power is different, Arthur and the other three are still the few absolute monarchs in the world. William II, Nicholas II and Arthur also have very powerful power in their respective countries.

In the conversation between the three, it is inevitable to mention the private lives of European nobles, that is, mistresses and lovers.

Nicholas II and William II were very surprised to learn that Arthur not only had no engagement, but also had no lovers or mistresses in Australia.

After all, these two words are very common for European male nobles. If a noble does not have a few lovers, he will even be misunderstood by others.

As the Duke of Australia and New Zealand, Arthur's autocratic power in Australia made William II and Nicholas II very envious.

Although they also have considerable power, they will also be restricted by other forces in the country.

What they can do is to do it without violating the wishes of the domestic interest class.

But Arthur is different. There is no ruling class in Australia at present, and Arthur is the largest ruling class.

Moreover, the public sentiment in Australia and New Zealand is quite good, which also provides more possibilities for Arthur's absolute autocracy.

It must be said that Arthur, who has no engagement, made William II and Nicholas II think about it.

Australia's development prospects are still very huge, and it will at least become a second-strong country in Europe.

In particular, Australia's unique geographical location and rich domestic mineral resources allow Australia to reach out to Asia and even Africa and America without internal worries, affecting the colonies of major powers in Africa and Asia.

Although the two did not say anything, judging from their specific performance, they should have made certain plans.

On August 8, 1905, after a few days of playing together, this negotiation was officially declared over.

William II returned to Germany on a warship and began to discuss Germany's next policy with German officials.

Arthur followed Nicholas II to Russia. The last stop of the European trip is Russia, and now it is time to arrive at the last stop of the European trip.

The current capital of the Russian Empire is St. Petersburg, and the capital before St. Petersburg was Moscow.

The city is named after Peter the Great, one of the greatest monarchs in Russian history.

But when Russia and Germany were at war, because the "Fort" in St. Petersburg came from the German pronunciation, St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd.

Later, in order to commemorate Lenin, Petrograd was renamed Leningrad, but after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, it was voted back to St. Petersburg.

Because of the good conversation on Björk Island before, Arthur and Nicholas II became more familiar with each other.

In addition, on Björk Island, the cooperation between Australia and Russia in the Far East had been basically negotiated, so Arthur came to Russia more for the purpose of building a good relationship rather than discussing national cooperation.

Nicholas II also had this plan, so he held a grand welcome banquet for Arthur, and many Russian nobles attended.

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