Chapter 363: A Planned Uprising

  Chapter 353 – The Planned Uprising

After Alexander II succeeded to the throne, he initiated reforms in the country and eased his rule in the Polish region in order to win the support of the Poles.

The Tsarist government pardoned Polish political prisoners and allowed the formation of the Polish Medical School and Agricultural Society organizations in Warsaw.

In 1863, Alexander II restored the Council of Faith and Public Education, which had been abolished twenty years earlier. At the same time, the Tsarist government allowed the convening of a council of state representatives. (advisory in nature)

(Note: Alexander II’s succession was delayed, as were the reforms, and many of the times in the book have changed from what they were historically)

These concessions by the Tsarist government satisfied the Polish bourgeoisie and aristocracy. The convening of the Congress of State gave them an avenue to exert influence on domestic politics.

Happiness is never in contrast, and the reforms of the Czar’s government compared with those of Austria a dozen years earlier made them much happier than their companions in Galicia.

You know that in the European Revolution of 1848, the aristocrats and capitalists in the region of Galicia were too active, so they were hacked to death by the rioting peasants for the most part, and the remaining half of the small half of them were involved in the rebellion and were disposed of by the government of Vienna when they were given the job.

Those who survived were either prudent or diehard Habsburgs, firmly on the side of the Emperor.

With the experience of the past, the expectations of the nobles and capitalists of Russian Poland were lowered. In case the Tsar and the imperial government tore themselves apart, they believed that the consequences would definitely be more serious.

At least the Viennese government would find a plausible excuse to strike within the rules, whereas the tsarist government did not need to.

Franz was a bully, and most of the people he personally killed were rootless and notorious capitalists.

The nobles were usually forced to buy land, and only in serious cases would they be stripped of their titles, but they would never be personally involved in the extermination of their families.

The compromise between the Tsarist government and the Poles sparked concern among the governments in Berlin and Vienna, and many feared it was a prelude to Russian expansion in Europe.

The Vienna government was just as well; Austria’s strength was not what it used to be, and with the Russian-Austrian alliance in place, the chances of a major Russian move against Austria were infinitely nil.

The same could not be said of the government in Berlin, where the Russian-Polish compromise was seen by the anti-Russian faction as being closely linked to the Tsarist government’s plans to seize the Polish territories in Prussia.

When this plan was first formulated is uncertain. During the First Prussian-Danish War, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the Tsarist government leaked the plan to seize Prussian Poland.

Because of this plan, the Kingdom of Prussia was hesitant to take action after the Austrian War of Unification and missed the opportunity to annex the North German region.

At that time, the Tsarist government deployed 200,000 troops on the border between the two countries, and Nicholas I even sent people to encourage Prussia to take action, but it turned out that the more the Tsarist government encouraged Frederick William IV, the more he dared not move.

There was nothing to be done. The credibility of the Woolly Bear was too poor. There was also the Russian-Austrian alliance, and the Berlin government feared that once the main force moved out, it would be met with a joint strike by Russia and Austria.

The Vienna government also had a plan for the division of Prussia between Russia and Austria, although it was only a smokescreen put out by Franz, but the Berlin government did not dare to gamble.

Fighting on home soil, whether facing an Austrian attack or a Russian attack, the Kingdom of Prussia could hold out for a long time, waiting for European countries to intervene.

Cross-border combat is different, the Kingdom of Prussia has not yet played the latter day the kind of invincible momentum, the performance of the first Prussian-Danish war so that the Berlin government did not have the bottom line.

Learning that the Tsar’s government had compromised with the Poles, the Berlin government immediately began a public relations campaign, hoping that the Tsar’s government would change its stance on the Poles.

Prime Minister Frank then privately told people, “I sympathize with the Poles’ situation, but we also have to survive, there is no way but to let them die.”

His attitude was also the position of the Prussian government, and it became the state policy of the Prussian government to do everything in its power to undermine the compromise between the Tsarist government and the Poles.

In the mid-1960s, Polish society in the Kingdom of the Conference was faced with two choices.

One, cooperation with the Tsarist government, which could bring some reprieve from national oppression and some less than radical social reforms.

Two, to cooperate with the Russian revolutionary movement organizations, which would all work together to overthrow the Tsarist government.

Obviously, despite the fact that the second option could be financed by European countries, the success rate of revolts has never been high, and the likelihood of becoming a martyr is far more likely than that of becoming a hero, and is not an option for the proletariat.

The Polish independence movement was organized and was unable to gain the support of the aristocracy and capitalists, who turned to pulling in the workers and peasants.

Under British manipulation, as early as the end of 1862, the Polish independence organizations signed an agreement with the Russian revolutionary organizations to work together against the rule of the Tsarist government.

The agreement stipulated that the Russian Revolutionary Organization would give support to the Polish Independence Organizations in the event of an uprising, and that at the right time they would also start an uprising at home.

After the Tsarist government compromised Poland in 1863, the Kingdom of Prussia joined in supporting the PISG by secretly training their army and allowing the Prussian Poles to renounce their citizenship and join the revolutionary organization.

As for the French, another supporter of the Polish Revolutionary Organization, the two sides had hooked up as early as 1848, and the internationalist French at one time wanted to organize an expeditionary force to help Polish independence.

Alexander II’s reforms also triggered the concern of Britain and France. With Franz’s butterfly effect, the tsarist government won the Near Eastern War and captured Constantinople, and the Russian threat rose more than a notch above its historical level.

The Russian Empire, which was still in the feudal era, was so powerful, what if they were allowed to complete their capitalist social reforms?

The British feared that if Russia continued to be powerful, it would threaten their position as the world’s hegemon, especially the Indian region could be threatened by the Russians at any time.

The French saw the Russians even more as the biggest obstacle to their European hegemony, and as for Austria next door, at least it didn’t look as beatable as the Russians.

It was a lesson from the ancestors that no matter how powerful the Habsburgs were, France was able to win in the end. With a sense of superiority cultivated over successive centuries, Napoleon III decided to screw the Russians first.

Britain, France and Prussia all wanted to mess with the Russians, preferably to interrupt Alexander II’s reforms and split the Russian Empire.

It was recognized by everyone in Europe except Russia that a divided and weak Russia was the best Russia.

With three supporters, Britain, France, and Prussia, the Polish independence organization had been growing rapidly since 1863, and finally, when everyone felt it was almost ready, the Polish War of Independence broke out.

This time the Poles were quite a force to be reckoned with, and the lineup that stood behind them was definitely the most luxurious version in history.

Unless the British, French and Prussian countries, the vast majority of countries in Europe were sympathetic or supportive of Polish independence, even the allies of the Russians were sympathizing with Poland.

The concrete manifestation of this is that the Polish Independence Organization collected a donation of one million guilders in Austria and was not blocked by the government in Vienna.

The behind-the-scenes supporters of the Polish Independence Organization, Franz had no interest in knowing. It was all Russian trouble anyway, and there was no need for him to be concerned.

He knew even less about the plans of the Junker nobles. It was not that the intelligence organization was incompetent, but that such matters, which were not related to Austrian interests, were not worth activating the spies who had been so easily planted inside the Prussian government.

Because of the relationship between the Russian-Austrian alliance, when countries conspire, they coincidentally avoid the eyes of Austria’s bright side.

The eyes in the dark, that was not easy to bury. Of course it is impossible to pass on this kind of information, after all, every intelligence transmission is a risk.

Until the beginning, Franz took this Polish uprising as an ordinary independence movement.

The support of foreign powers was inevitable, in this era, as long as the uprising in the Russian Empire, there will be no lack of international friends selfless sponsorship.

What Franz did not know, Alexander II in St. Petersburg did not know either. Having only just eased relations with the powerful in Poland and brought in the capitalists and nobles, the outbreak of the rebellion did not naturally attract the attention of the Tsar’s government.

The Russians had long been accustomed to the outbreak of revolts in Poland almost every other time. If there is no riot for three years and five years, one should be careful, indicating that the Poles are making big moves.

By force of habit, the Tsarist government simply ordered the local authorities to suppress the rebellion.

Alexander II’s reforms had already achieved a milestone, and after the abolition of serfdom, Russia’s industry and commerce developed at a high rate.

Don’t get me wrong, this high speed development mainly referred to the quantity, the industrial capacity increased dramatically. However, the increase in industrial capacity was not accompanied by a significant change in quality, and Russia was still at a disadvantage in the market competition.

Everyone in the country preferred to use expensive imported goods rather than domestic ones. The Russian industrial products of this period had the common problem of being stupid and coarse, even if they did not work well, the key was that they were not cheap.

Because of the relationship between domestic transportation, directly to the Russian raw material transportation costs remain high, which led to high production costs.

Trouble comes, industrial products are manufactured, but unfortunately not sold on the market. Especially machinery and equipment, completely stagnant state.

Although the tsarist government repeatedly raised tariff prices, it was still of no use. Some people even sneered that the industrial equipment produced in Russia could not compete with handicrafts.

This is an exaggeration; in any case, it is more efficient than pure labor. Of course, with the low price of labor in Russia, and the high defective rate of machinery and equipment, the final cost of which is higher or lower is really an unknown.

In Chekhov’s literature, it is mentioned that the screws produced by Russian machine tools need to be polished twice by hand when they are used.

This may not be an exaggeration, in the Russo-Japanese War, the caliber of some shells appeared to be an error, but also need to be polished by the soldiers before they can be loaded and fired.

Weapons in the army are so patchy, civilian products perfunctory, it is even more not worth mentioning. In short, Russian goods in the 19th century were synonymous with shoddy workmanship.

They did not sell well in the domestic market, and they were even more unappreciated in the international market. Against this background, the tsarist government decided to use the gun in its hands to find export markets for industrial and commercial products.

In the summer of 1864, Alexander II approved the War Ministry’s plans for expansion in Central Asia, and the Polish uprising that had just broken out was ignored.

2 more chapters are owed

(End of chapter)