Chapter 745: The Aging Nicholas II

As soon as the Russian Civil War broke out, Dmitry immediately sent a telegram to Arthur, asking whether he would support Nicholas II.

Arthur's reply to Dmitry indicated that Australasia did not have much energy to pay attention to foreign affairs for the time being due to the large-scale construction at home.

Arthur suggested that Dmitry act according to circumstances, take the development of Finland as the main goal, and give priority to the interests of Finland.

Obviously, Dmitry listened to Arthur's words. Although he was the Grand Duke of Finland, the Finnish government was not decided by Dmitry alone.

What's more, Finland's current strength was not worth mentioning for the outbreak of war, and Finland's help was actually not very useful except for face.

Dmitry also understood this point. After being reminded by Arthur, he focused his main attention on how Finland could get out of the economic crisis, rather than paying attention to and helping Nicholas II.

In fact, Dmitry still had certain abilities in politics and economy.

Because of Finland's high forest coverage, Dmitry set his sights on manufacturing, especially the manufacturing of wood boards and paper.

At present, Finland has become the third largest exporter of paper and wood boards in Europe. Finland's economy has also improved, and the people have begun to support this non-native Grand Duke.

The industrial layout of wood manufacturing as the main industry and mechanical processing as the auxiliary industry, coupled with a large amount of oil and natural gas imported from Norway, has made Finland one of the richest countries in Northern Europe.

Because of this, Dmitry's Grand Duke throne is very stable and is still very popular in Finland.

This is also the reason why Dmitry asked Arthur whether he would support Nicholas II. If Arthur expressed his support for Nicholas II, Dmitry could call on three divisions in Finland at any time.

In fact, in addition to Dmitry, many people also expressed their concern about this war.

Compared with the British who hope to lose both sides, the French hope that Tsarist Russia can win and gain a powerful ally.

Of course, it is not unacceptable for another Russian victory. After all, Britain least wants to see the birth of a powerful enemy, but France doesn't care.

For many countries in Central Europe, such as Germany, Poland, Italy, the Austrian Empire and Hungary, they naturally hope that this war will last as long as possible.

First of all, with the outbreak of this war, they can also export more materials to Nicholas II to obtain sufficient profits.

Secondly, for these Central European countries, a neighbor with constant civil war is definitely more reassuring than a unified and powerful neighbor.

That is to say, the strength of the two Russias is relatively strong at present. Otherwise, Poland, which has been independent for a short time but likes to make trouble, may also want to restore the territory of the previous Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

In fact, it is not that they have not thought about it, nor have they not done so. But unfortunately, Poland is obviously not an opponent of any Russia, and was beaten in the previous conflict.

Facts have proved that it is not unreasonable for Poland to be jointly divided by Germany and Russia before. The current waves have weakened, and there are three powers in the east, west and south of him, which makes the ambitious Poland very annoyed, but helpless.

At the same time, Russia, St. Petersburg.

Time flies, and Nicholas II is no longer the confident and ambitious emperor in his prime.

Nicholas II, born in 1868, is now 62 years old, with gray hair and a frail old age.

This is no joke. In this era, 62 years old is really considered old, and it can even be said that half of the body is buried in the ground.

The average life expectancy of human beings has been continuously improved with the development of science and technology since World War II. At present, people over 50 are considered old, and the average life expectancy in Australasia is only about 60 years old.

Nicholas II sat on his throne, and the whole person looked a little weak.

The aging and weak face plus the gray hair made Nicholas II look much older than his real age.

If you only look at the first half of Nicholas II's life, there is no doubt that it was very glorious. He ruled one of the most powerful countries in the world at that time, and he still held the autocratic power of the Tsar.

But now, although he still rules Russia, he has experienced revolution and civil war before and after, and the whole person has lost the previous sharpness.

Perhaps the only good news for Nicholas II is that his son, Crown Prince Alexei, who suffers from hemophilia, has lived healthily until now, and his wife is about to give birth to a new member of the Russian royal family.

However, Crown Prince Alexei is in poor health. Before the outbreak of the civil war, the most common thing Nicholas II did every day was to pray that the little guy who was about to be born was a boy, so that he could inherit the Russian throne.

If it weren't for the fact that the Russian throne could not be inherited by girls. The problem is that the current Russian environment can no longer accommodate a female heir.

Only a healthy male heir can strengthen the stability of the country and prevent those rebellions.

Of course, we have to pray that this unborn little guy will not inherit his father's hemophilia.

Hemophilia not only destroys a person's health, but is also likely to die in childhood.

Nicholas II did not want the throne to just be passed on to the little guy, and the little guy had some accidents because of hemophilia.

The current Nicholas II no longer expects the inheritance of power. As long as the throne can be passed on, even if Russia becomes a constitutional state, Nicholas II can accept it.

But the problem is that the previous capitalist coup made Nicholas II not so trusting of some political parties.

This also makes the current Nicholas II confused. He wants to reform Russia by delegating power, but he is also worried that his decentralization will lead to another coup, which will directly lead to the demise of the royal power.

It has to be admitted that the prosperity of offspring largely determines the stability of a kingdom.

The Romanov family of the Russian royal family is currently sparsely populated, which is also one of the important reasons for Russia's instability.

Nicholas II has only one son, Crown Prince Alexei who suffers from hemophilia.

Although Nicholas II has three brothers, two of them died prematurely due to various diseases, and only the youngest brother Mikhail survived.

This Grand Duke Mikhail is the person to whom Nicholas II wanted to abdicate the throne in history.

Although Grand Duke Mikhail is the younger brother of Nicholas II, his descendants lost the right to inherit the throne because he married a commoner.

To put it simply, Grand Duke Mikhail is on the list of succession to the Russian throne. But his descendants from marriages between nobles and commoners are not eligible to inherit the Russian Empire.

This is also the tradition and rule of European aristocrats. The descendants of marriages between nobles and commoners generally do not have the right of inheritance.

This rule also allows most of the kingdoms in Europe to intermarry, and everyone has formed a relatively complex relationship of relatives.

Because of this, the only ones who are currently eligible to inherit the Russian throne are Crown Prince Alexei and Grand Duke Mikhail.

But both of them have very serious problems. Crown Prince Alexei suffers from hemophilia, and his physical health is not enough for him to manage such a huge empire.

Grand Duke Mikhail's descendants have no right of inheritance, and the throne is passed to him, which is likely to represent the last swan song of the Romanov dynasty.

Although Nicholas II also suggested that his younger brother cancel the current engagement and remarry a wife of equal status to give birth to offspring with the right of inheritance.

However, as the youngest brother, Grand Duke Mikhail was indeed rebellious and directly rejected his brother's proposal.

This actually also means that the right of succession to the Russian throne can only fall into the hands of Crown Prince Alexei.

After all, Grand Duke Mikhail's marriage is not as simple as a marriage between the nobles and the commoners. The woman he married was a widow with an undisciplined private life.

This is the same as George VI's brother Edward VIII. Although the current royal family members of various countries are not so strict in marrying wives, they still have to be cautious about the selection of queens.

After all, the royal family represents a country, and officials and the public will not agree to let royal family members who damage the image of the country become the rulers of the country.

"How is the war on the front line?" Nicholas II rubbed his eyebrows, blinked his sore eyes twice, and asked with a sigh.

"At present, our First Border Army has already exchanged fire with the enemy, and the Second Army is on the way to support. According to the current war report, our casualties have exceeded 2,000, and the road to Ukraine is likely to be cut off." The Prime Minister of Tsarist Russia replied to Nicholas II.

"Damn it, the enemy is obviously well prepared, and we are lax." How could Nicholas II not understand that the enemy was well prepared? However, war is not about absolute fairness.

Whether it is well prepared or a sneak attack, who can seize the initiative is the most important.

"What is our current financial situation? Can the finances support this war?" After thinking for a moment, Nicholas II looked at the Minister of Finance.

"It's very difficult." The Minister of Finance said with a sad face: "Unless we can get compensation from the Great Lakes region as soon as possible, or borrow some funds from France and Australasia.

Otherwise, our capital reserves can only last for two months at most, and then we can only declare bankruptcy."

Although the Tsarist Russia healed its wounds for several years after the end of the civil war, the economic crisis tore the wounds again.

The economic crisis made the already poor finances of the Tsarist Russia even worse, and all the savings accumulated over the years were invested in relief.

Unfortunately, the population of the Tsarist Russia was too large, and the little money spent didn't even make a splash.

This also made the Tsarist government feel bitter. Although all the funds had been spent, most of the Russian people could not enjoy the government's relief, which made the Russian people very dissatisfied with the government.

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