Chapter 64: Not Acknowledged
Tallinn was built in the middle of the 13th century. It is divided into the upper city and the lower city. The upper city is for the upper class such as nobles and religious classes to live in, and it has always maintained a medieval style. The Tombea Palace built on the top of the fortress hill is the center of the Upper City of Tallinn. This huge fortress, which was built in the Danish colonial period, has been continuously expanded and renovated for hundreds of years. It is no longer a single castle, but a series of palaces surrounded by city walls, which is a bit similar to the Forbidden City in China. Now it is not only the power center of the United Baltic Principalities, but also the heart of the entire Russian Empire. Within the walls of Tombea, various government offices of the empire are being rebuilt.
Hersman and Chloe now also live within the walls of Tombea. According to the plan, he will attend the funerals of the Tsar, the Crown Prince, the Queen and the three Grand Duchesses as a member of the German military delegation-after the November Revolution, Germany has experienced serious political divisions. On the one hand, there are the "democratic socialist" forces represented by the Social Democratic Party and the Independent Social Democratic Party; on the other hand, there are the Junker officers controlled by the Great General Staff; on the other hand, there are the radical socialist factions led by the Spartacus League.
Although the Spartacus League denied participating in the murder of the Tsar and condemned the killing of the Crown Prince and the three Grand Duchesses, they gave a positive evaluation of the killing of the Tsar and the Queen, believing that it was a necessary revolutionary means.
Under their constraints, the Independent Social Democratic Party, which had three members in the People's Committee, also expressed opposition to sending people to attend the Tsar's funeral, and did not agree to apologize for the murder of the Tsar, the Queen, the Crown Prince and the three Grand Duchesses in Germany. Therefore, the People's Committee of Germany, the legitimate government, did not intend to send people to Tallinn to attend the funeral.
However, the attitude of the German military was different from that of the People's Committee. Hindenburg decided to continue to implement the policy of supporting the White Russians. In his view, it would be very beneficial for Germany to allow the Russian Empire to attend the upcoming peace conference as the main victorious country. Because Germany and Russia now face a common enemy, the Bolsheviks, the two sides can only defeat their opponents by uniting.
Therefore, the German military is preparing to send a fairly 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 has already been defeated, could never become the most important guest at the Tsar's funeral. 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 shot to send to Tallinn. They only sent an Allied military delegation to Poland to "pass through" the Baltic.
…
In the Tombea Palace, in the corridor leading to the conference hall. Two almost equally young colonel officers were walking and talking. One of them was German Army Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig von Hessmann. The other was much more handsome than Hessmann, a man who could be described as beautiful. His name was Felix Yusupov, a Russian duke. He was also the commander of the Tombea Guards of the Grand Duchess, and now held the rank of colonel. Rasputin, the confidant of Nicholas II, was murdered by him.
In addition, this Duke Yusupov was once a super-rich man. The Yusupov family is a famous family among the famous families in Russia. Their origins can be traced back to the Golden Horde era, and they are descendants of a certain leader of the Khanate. In the early eighteenth century, the descendants of this family became the confidants of Peter the Great, thus establishing the prominent status of the Yusupov family in the Russian Empire. Later, during the reigns of Empress Elizabeth and Paul I, the Yusupov family produced the confidants of the Tsar. Therefore, huge wealth was accumulated. Moreover, the predecessors of the Yusupov family were very good at investing, investing their wealth in coal mines, iron mines and oil fields. On the eve of the 1917 Revolution, the Yusupov family's property was estimated to be worth 350 million to 500 million US dollars.
The owner of this 350 million to 500 million US dollars of wealth is Duke Yusupov next to Hessman - his mother is the only direct heir of the Yusupov family, and he is also the only direct heir of the family.
However, now, such a huge fortune has become a victim of the Russian Civil War. Except for the small amount of wealth he carried when he fled Russia and several residences of the Yusupov family outside Russia, the duke has nothing. This is probably the reason why Yusupov is so active in the Grand Duchess's camp?
However, the attitude of Britain, the United States and France towards Grand Duchess Olga was far beyond the Duke's expectations.
"This is simply a humiliation to Russia. How could we ally with such a country?" Yusupov mentioned to Hessman what happened when he accompanied the Grand Duchess to the Port of Tallinn to welcome the Allied military delegation yesterday morning.
In fact, Hessman, Baron Pierburg and Lieutenant Colonel Fletcher (Chief of Staff of the Courland Defense Force) also went to the Port of Tallinn. 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 to Poland. After the mediation of Grand Duchess Olga and Admiral Yudenich, the British lieutenant colonel was reluctantly willing to meet with an officer who could represent the "German Army in the Baltic" - his position was not to recognize the legitimacy of the Courland Defense Force, so he would not contact the officers of the Courland Defense Force. He regarded the Courland Defense Force as the "German Army in the Baltic."
"Humiliation?" Hessman asked. "Duke, do you mean that Lieutenant Colonel Alexander is unwilling to shake hands with us?"
Yesterday's scene was indeed humiliating! Hersman guessed that Alexander, who was about the same age as himself but had become a lieutenant colonel, must be the Marshal Alexander in history. But Lieutenant Colonel Alexander's arrogance should be directed at the Germans, right? Perhaps he would propose to expel the Germans in the Baltics...
"Not just that!" Yusupov said angrily, "This damn British man actually doesn't recognize the status of the Grand Duchess!"
"Don't recognize her as the monarch of the United Baltic Principalities?"
"Even the United Baltic Principalities themselves don't recognize it!"
"So this part of the Baltics is still considered part of the Russian Empire?" Hersman asked, "They don't recognize the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, so this should be part of Russia, right?"
"No, they don't even recognize the Russian Empire!" Yusupov said, "So the British, French and American governments will not send delegations to attend the Tsar's funeral..."
"Is that so..." Hersman frowned, "What do they want to do? Don't they want to defeat the Soviet Union?"
This attitude was indeed beyond Hersman's expectations. The main generals of the White Guards have already recognized Olga, and members of the Romanov dynasty have also expressed their support for her. It seems natural for Olga to become the leader of the White Russia to fight against Lenin. Why don't Britain, France, and the United States support it?
Is it for the German armed personnel in the Courland Autonomous State? Hessman quickly denied this question, because without the Courland Defense Force, the Baltic United Principality would soon be occupied by the Soviet Red Army. In this way, the Russian White Guards would lose their base for counterattacking Petrograd, and occupying Petrograd would be the best shortcut to restore the Russian Empire.
If the Allies regard the Soviet Union as the main threat in the future, they have no reason to make things difficult for the White Russia on this issue... If they really intend to support the restoration of the Tsarist Russia, then they should not use "non-recognition" to humiliate the Russian empress!
What exactly do they want to do? With a lot of questions in their minds, Hessman and Prince Yusupov have arrived outside a conference room with its doors open. At this moment, the roar of Grand Duchess Olga suddenly came from the conference room.
"Lieutenant Colonel! There are 1 million Germans in the Baltic United Principality! One in three people. And I am also a German! You insist on expelling them. Do you want to drive me away too and let Lenin's people come here?"
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