Ulyanovna looked at the committee members in the conference room and asked in a steady voice: "Does anyone else have any opinions?"
The committee members looked at each other and the silence lasted for a long time.
Finally, Lena Trotsky said in a voice full of doubts: "Is this good? Even if war can weaken the power of the capitalist world and create conditions for us to strengthen ourselves, we are not the only ones who suffer in war.
Brothers and sisters? Except for a small number of aristocratic children and middle class people who died on the battlefield, most of them will be proletarian workers and peasants from all countries!"
After Lina's words, the entire conference room became silent.
She looked around at the committee members, but everyone avoided her sincere eyes. Finally, she and Ulyanovna met their eyes.
Ulyanovna spoke slowly: "Lena, I understand your thoughts very well, but the new Soviet Union now relies on the contradictions of imperialism to exist, but these bad guys are always thinking of annexing
Let's look at the market outside. At first, the Chinese took advantage of the situation and dumped their inferior products at high prices while our production order had not been restored. Now that our agricultural production has just resumed, the Germans have stepped in and sold them at low prices.
Eat our agricultural products. And the British, they are almost taking our country's financial industry completely under their control. The imperialists are using scissors to shear our wool. One day they will no longer be satisfied with these results. Wait for them
It’s too late to form an alliance to divide us!”
"But……"
"Lena!" The person who spoke this time was Mia Vasilyevich Frunze, "We all know your kindness, but sometimes kindness cannot help us complete our cause."
"Yes, once European countries go to war, we will have an excellent opportunity to develop our own industry and agriculture. As long as we remain neutral, we can sell agricultural products, daily necessities and even weapons to the warring parties. Moreover, Britain's finances will be tight after the war.
We can take this opportunity to regain control of our country's finances."
It was Kerensky who spoke, because history has changed. Now this guy serves as the Minister of Economics in the Bolshevik Soviet, and is a representative of the petty bourgeoisie and intellectuals in the Soviet Union who surrendered to the Soviet.
"But have you ever thought that once a war breaks out, other capitalist countries will also benefit?" Lena seems not to want to give up. She is the weakest among the four Soviet goddesses, but in some cases
But he is extremely stubborn, "For example, the United States has the strongest industrial and agricultural production capacity in the world, and China has the best military technology in the world, and China borders our territory. Once it
Keep going strong..."
"Lena." Ulyanovna said softly, "China will definitely be dragged into the war. Remember, they are in alliance with Britain, and that Lin Youde also has a French wife."
"The question now is whether we can instigate the Serbs." Kerensky looked quite unsure. "We have just founded the country and the domestic production order has not yet been fully restored. Shenji is even more affected by the hateful Chinese.
Uprooted."
"There is no need to worry." Joseph Steel said. "The Serbs just need a relatively large country to embolden them. They have long wanted to seize the land they have coveted from the corrupt and bullying Ottoman Empire.
Now that they see that the Austrians have succeeded easily and seem to want to continue to embezzle, they must not be able to sit still."
"The Montenegrins, Greeks, Bulgarians, and Romanians also have the same idea. These Orthodox peoples have a lot of blood debts to settle with the Turks." The conversation returned to Ulyanovna.
She concluded this high-level secret meeting, "The Balkans are a powder keg. Give it a spark and it will explode."
Selena Dragutin Dimitrivich is the leader of the Serbian Unity and Death Society and the second-ranked goddess in Serbia. She always wears a pure black dress, and her left arm is always
They all wear a pure white armband with a black, terrifying handprint on it, which is the symbol of the Unity and Death Society, also known as the "Black Hand Society". Her face always complements the dress perfectly.
A chilling smile.
She was a firm believer in Pan-Serbianism and firmly believed that Serbia would become the patron of Orthodox Christians throughout the Balkans. She even dreamed of occupying Istanbul, renaming it Constantinople, and restoring the glory of the Byzantine Empire.
Because of this, Selina didn't have much interest in the envoys from Russia - now called the Soviet Union. She looked at the Soviets coldly and remained silent.
However, other people in the same conference room obviously needed these Soviets wearing cheap clothes. Selina couldn't figure out how the Soviet Union still had enough money to support Serbia since it was so poor that it could only wear such clothes for its envoys.
The Soviets were still making generous statements: "Russians and Serbs are both Slavic and believe in the Orthodox Church. Naturally, we should give 100% support to your struggle against the oppression of Turkish pagans. However, due to the severe situation in our country,
Due to the production situation, we can only provide you with the rifles and artillery left behind by the disbanded Russian army as support. We have obtained permission from Romania. As long as you decide to go to war against the Ottoman Empire, enough weapons to arm two divisions will be available soon.
Romania sent it to Belgrade. It will also provide equipment for several armies and sufficient ammunition."
"But," Serbia's democratically elected Prime Minister Nikola Pasic seemed a little hesitant. He is an old man who is as smart as his appearance and has been controlling Serbia's political situation for two years. "With the power of our Principality of Serbia, and
The Ottoman Empire versus..."
"You are not the only country!" the Soviets interrupted Pasic. "As long as you stand up, Bulgaria and Greece will definitely join you. The Bulgarians have always hoped that the Ottoman Empire would grant autonomy to the Seres region, where a large number of Bulgarians live.
However, Greece has a strong interest in the Macedonian province of the Ottoman Empire, which it considers to be part of Greece’s territory since ancient times. As long as you stand up, Bulgaria and Greece will naturally follow. You can form an alliance and completely control it.
Drive the Turks out of the Balkans!”
I have to admit that what the Soviets said was very reasonable and tempting. Even Selina, who had always maintained a disdainful expression, could not help but feel a little moved.
However, Selina does not like the Bulgarians. She has always believed that if external forces completely withdraw from the Balkans, the only opponents of the Serbs will be the Bulgarians.
In fact, Selina had her own plan at this time. She was planning to cause trouble in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which the Austro-Hungarian Empire had just occupied. She was planning to repeat her old tricks and let Austria-Hungary massacre the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina like Turkey did, thereby further instigating these people.
The unifying enthusiasm of Serbian people in the region has also built momentum internationally and won international sympathy.
Selina is not naive enough to think that Serbia can now compete head-on with Austria-Hungary, but she feels that if it does not continue to weaken Austria-Hungary and stir up the resistance of the Slavs in Austria-Hungary, then Serbia may never be able to compete head-on with Austria-Hungary.
It's time.
Because of this, Selina regarded Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was trying to give political rights to the Slavs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and establish the Three Elements Empire, as a thorn in her side. She was planning a bold assassination operation against the Archduke.
She felt that this plan was much more reliable than the Soviet proposal, and it did not need to take advantage of the Bulgarians. However, Pašić and several other Serbian rightsists seemed to be full of interest in the Russian plan.
Selina sighed, thinking that maybe it would be good to have two plans to be prepared.
Anyway, the Black Hand alone can complete all the preparations for the assassination.
At this time, after talking quietly with several dignitaries for a while, Pasic turned back to the Soviet envoys.
"We still need to think about it."
The Soviets didn't force it, they just said "Then we'll wait for the news" and stood up, with a suspiciously cheerful attitude.
"What do you think?" Pasic asked Selina after the Soviets left. After all, Marshal Radomini Putnik, who was in charge of the Serbian army at this time, was on vacation in Austria. The most senior goddess in Serbia was Selina.
, her opinion will have a certain weight no matter what.
Selina thought for a while and replied cautiously: "I think one thing is very strange. The Soviets have not benefited at all from this proposal, so I cannot trust them. The exchange of interests is the guarantee of trust, and unilateral benefits can only
It’s suspicious.”
Pasic nodded.
"I think so too. The Soviets must have some ulterior motives. So we'd better observe it again."
"Agree." Selina nodded. She rarely agreed with Pasic's decision so simply. In her opinion, Pasic acted too steadily and seemed pedantic and outdated.
Seeing that Pasic and Selena had expressed their opinions, several other dignitaries also quickly expressed their support for their joint decision.
Therefore, the Soviet coaxing in Serbia seemed to have failed.
But they have succeeded elsewhere.
On July 10, 1908, Grand Duke Nicholas, the king of the Principality of Montenegro and the youngest of the Balkan countries, declared war on the Ottoman Empire and vowed to liberate the Ottoman province of Albania.
The Montenegrin army immediately crossed the border and advanced along the Adriatic coastline toward Durrës. Its small navy also sent several gunboats to bravely bombard the Turkish ports.
At this time, Albania was crowded with a bunch of defeated Turkish troops who had retreated from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Faced with the attack by the Montenegrin Army, it immediately fell into chaos.