The Rise of the Third Reich

Tallinn City was built in the middle of the 13th century. It is divided into an upper city and a lower city. The upper city is for the upper classes such as nobles and religious classes, and has always maintained the medieval style. Tombea Palace, built on the top of Fortress Hill, is the center of Tallinn’s Upper Town. This huge fortress was built during the Danish colonial period. After hundreds of years of continuous expansion and transformation, it is now no longer a separate castle, but It is a series of palaces surrounded by walls, somewhat similar to the Forbidden City in China. Now it is not only the center of power of the United Baltic Principalities, but also becoming the heart of the entire Russian Empire. Within the walls of Tombia, the various offices of the empire were being rebuilt.

Hersman and Chloe now also live within the walls of Tombea. According to the plan, he will attend the funeral of the Czar, the Crown Prince, the Empress and the three Grand Duchess as a member of the German military delegation - serious political divisions occurred in Germany after the November Revolution. On the one hand are the "democratic socialist" forces represented by the Social Democratic Party and the Independent Social Democratic Party; on the other hand are the Juncker officers controlled by the Grand General Staff; on the other hand are the radical socialist factions led by the Spartacist League.

Although the Spartacus League denied any involvement in the Tsar's murder, they also condemned the killings of the Crown Prince and the three Grand Duchess. However, they gave a positive evaluation to the killing of the Tsar and the Queen and considered it a necessary revolutionary method.

Constrained by them, the Independent Social Democratic Party, which has three members in the Council of People's Commissars, also said that its opponents went to attend the funeral of the Tsar and did not agree to apologize for the murder of the Tsar, the Empress, the Crown Prince and the three Grand Duchess in Germany. Therefore, Germany's legitimate government, the People's Commissar, did not intend to send anyone to Tallinn to attend the funeral.

However, the attitude of the German military was different from that of the People's Committee, and Hindenburg decided to continue to implement the policy of supporting Belarus. In his opinion, it would be very beneficial to Germany to have the Russian Empire attend the upcoming peace conference as the main victorious power. Because Germany and Russia now face a common enemy, the Bolsheviks, only by uniting can both sides defeat their opponents.

Therefore, the German military is preparing to send a quite high-level delegation, led by Lieutenant General Max Hoffmann, the actual commander-in-chief of the German Army on the Eastern Front.

However, Germany, which had been defeated, could not become the most important guest at the Tsar's funeral in any case. The delegations of the three countries of Britain, France and the United States are the most important. But until November 30, 1918, Britain, the United States and France still had not decided what kind of big shots to send to Tallinn. They only sent an Allied military delegation to Poland "via" Baltica.

…

Inside Tombia Palace, in the corridor leading to the conference hall. Two almost equally young school-level officers were walking and talking. One of them is German Army Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig von Hersmann. The other one was much more handsome than Hessmann, a man who could be described as beautiful. His name is Felix Yusupov, and he is a Russian Duke. The Grand Duchess is also the commander of the Tombia Guards, and now holds the rank of colonel. Nicholas II's confidant Rasputin was murdered by him.

In addition, Duke Yusupov was once a super rich man. The Duke Yusupov family is a famous family among Russian families. Their origins can be traced back to the era of the Golden Horde, and they are descendants of a certain leader of the Khanate. At the beginning of the 18th century, descendants of this family became close confidants of Peter the Great, thereby establishing the prominent position of the Yusupov family in the Russian Empire. Later, during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and Paul I, the Yusupov family produced the Tsar's favorites. As a result, huge wealth was accumulated. Moreover, the predecessors of the Yusupov family are also very good at investing, investing their wealth in coal mines, iron mines and oil fields. By the eve of the 1917 revolution, the Yusupov family fortune was estimated to be worth between $350 million and $500 million.

The owner of this US$350 million to US$500 million fortune is Duke Yusupov next to Hessman - his mother is the only direct heir to the Yusupov family, and he is also the only direct heir to the family. heir.

But now, such a huge amount of wealth has become a victim of the Russian Civil War. Except for the small amount of wealth he brought with him when he fled Russia and several residences of the Yusupov family outside Russia, the Duke has nothing. Is this probably the reason why Yusupov actively joined the camp of the Grand Duchess?

However, the attitude of Britain, the United States and France towards Grand Duchess Olga was far beyond the Duke's expectations.

"This is simply humiliating Russia. How could we form an alliance with such a country?" Yusupov mentioned to Hersman what happened yesterday morning when he accompanied the Grand Duchess to the Port of Tallinn to welcome the Allied military delegation.

In fact, Hessmann, Baron Pierreburg, and Lieutenant Colonel Fletcher (Chief of Staff of the Courland Defense Forces) also went to Tallinn Port. However, he did not participate in the subsequent talks, and did not even have the opportunity to shake hands with Lieutenant Colonel Harold Alexander, the head of the Allied military delegation in Poland. After the mediation of Grand Duchess Olga and General Yudenich, the British lieutenant colonel was reluctantly willing to meet with an officer who could represent the "German Army in Baltica" - his position was not to recognize Kuhl the legitimacy of the Courland Defense Forces, and therefore had no contact with officers of the Courland Defense Forces. He regarded the Courland Defense Force as "the German army in Baltica."

"Humiliation?" Hersman asked. "Duke, are you saying that Lieutenant Colonel Alexander is unwilling to shake our hands?"

Yesterday's scene was indeed humiliating! Hersman guessed that Alexander, who was about the same age as him but had already become a lieutenant colonel, must be Marshal Alexander in history. But Lieutenant Colonel Alexander's arrogance should be directed at the Germans, right? Maybe he would ask for the expulsion of the Baltic Germans or something like that...

"It's not just this!" Yusupov said angrily, "This damn Englishman doesn't recognize the status of the Grand Duchess!"

"Do you not recognize her as the monarch of the United Baltic Principalities?"

"Not even the United Baltic Principalities themselves recognize it!"

"So Baltica is still considered the territory of the Russian Empire?" Hersman asked, "They don't recognize the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, so this should be part of Russia, right?"

"No, they don't even recognize the Russian Empire!" Yusupov said, "So the governments of Britain, France and the United States will not send delegations to attend the tsar's funeral..."

"Is that so..." Hessman frowned, "What do they want to do? Don't they want to defeat Soviet Russia?"

This attitude indeed exceeded Hessman's expectations. The main generals of the White Guard have recognized Olga, and members of the Romanov dynasty have also expressed their support for her. It seemed only natural for Olga to become the leader of the Belarusian Communist Party and to fight against Lenin. Why don’t Britain, France and the United States support it?

Is it for the German armed personnel in the Kurland Autonomous State? Hersman quickly dismissed this issue, because without the Courland Defense Forces, the Baltic United Principalities would soon be occupied by the Soviet Red Army. In this way, the Russian White Guards will lose their base to counterattack Petrograd, and occupying Petrograd is the best shortcut to restoring the Russian Empire.

If the Allies regard Soviet Russia as the main threat in the future, they have no reason to make things difficult for Belarus on this issue... If they really intend to support the restoration of Tsarist Russia, then they should not use "non-recognition" to humiliate the Empress of Russia!

What do they want to do? Full of questions, Hersman and Duke Yusupov had arrived outside a conference hall with an open door. At this moment, Grand Duchess Olga's roar suddenly came from the conference hall.

"Lieutenant Colonel! There are 1 million Germans on the land of the United Baltic Principalities! One in three people. And I am also a German! If you insist on expulsion, do you want to expel me too, and then let Lenin People come here?”

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