After hesitating for a while, I decided to code this chapter. After all, these are two major events that can change the course of the war. If I don't code it, it will feel incomplete. This chapter can be omitted without affecting the following.
After entering March, the warm spring breeze seemed to blow away people's frozen minds, and the pace of the war suddenly accelerated.
As early as February, the British troops in Arras discovered a special situation. The German position opposite them was attacked by artillery, but the attack did not come from the British army, but from the German army. The British commander excluded the scouts
, conducted a reconnaissance of the German positions, and the results were shocking. The German positions were empty, and all German troops had retreated. The Germans were using explosives to destroy the remaining fortifications on the positions to avoid being used by the British army.
The British commander reported this situation, but did not pay attention to it. At this time, the Allied leaders were having a quarrel-like meeting in Calais, a city behind France, to discuss how to launch the upcoming spring offensive.
Unlike the Allied Powers, who were noisy and noisy like market ladies, the newly appointed German commander-in-chief Ludendorff was a general with extraordinary talents.
Throughout the winter, the British and French huddled in the trenches without any fighting spirit and were drunk all day long, while the Germans, under the command of Ludendorff, barely had a day's rest. 370,000 German civilians and Russian prisoners of war in the German army reserves were killed with four
A new line of defense was built during the month, which was 70 miles long from Arras to Saint-Quentin.
For this reason, the Germans gave up nearly 1,000 square miles of land, which was absolutely not allowed in Falkenhayn's era.
This defense line was named the Hindenburg Line. The new defense line project was huge. In order to transport construction materials such as steel bars and cement, 1,200 trains and nearly 170,000 people were used.
After its completion, the Hindenburg Line had a complete defense system.
The Hindenburg Line started with anti-tank trenches, which were ten feet deep and twelve feet wide. Behind the anti-tank trenches were five rows of barbed wire with twenty steps between rows. Behind the barbed wire were small bunkers built with reinforced concrete.
These bunkers are arranged neatly like a chessboard, and the bunkers can support each other. There are two machine guns placed in each bunker. As long as conditions permit, the bunkers are built on downward slopes, so that the defenders can have a commanding geographical advantage.
Thick barbed wire fences were placed around the bunker. These barbed wire fences were placed very cleverly and did not completely block the attack route. However, if the attackers attacked along the passage, they would fall into the German fire trap.
There is no access to the outside of the bunker, and secret passages are used to connect it to the defense line behind it. All passages and secret rooms are built under the surface, covered with 7 yards of soil, making it difficult to destroy even heavy artillery.
The Germans set up artillery positions in the backslope areas where artillery fire could not reach them. These artillery pieces would only be pulled out when needed. They usually hid in bunkers, making it difficult to counterattack them with fire.
Throughout the winter, the Allies' energy was devoted to coordinating cooperation among themselves, while the Germans, led by Ludendorff, had sharpened their claws and teeth in preparation for what Niveller believed to be a wonderful spring offensive.
Just as the British and French teams were preparing to attack, a shocking news came from the north.
On March 6, the parade on the streets of St. Petersburg finally developed into riots and looting, and the Cossack cavalry was sent to restore order in the city. But this time, the Cossacks did not carry out the tsar's order, but joined the rioting army composed mostly of women.
among.
On March 7, Nicholas II announced that he would go to the State Duma the next day to form a new cabinet. This gave some reasonable people hope. But just a few hours later, Nicholas II announced that he could not
Instead of going to the State Duma, he was going to the army headquarters. This behavior made the last few people who still had expectations for Nicholas II begin to be disappointed.
On March 9, left-wing organizations that had been brutally suppressed in recent years took to the streets to call for a general strike.
On March 10, the Cossack cavalry who were ordered to counter the rebellion opened fire on the police. The cabinet began to panic. Some people resigned and some asked the tsar to form a new government immediately. Nicholas II's reply was shocking. He said in the telegram:
I order the riots in the capital to end tomorrow
On March 11, Nicholas II gave the Prime Minister an order asking for an explanation of the Duma, but the Duma voted against it, and the MPs became revolutionaries.
On the 12th, the weapons depot was occupied and thousands of rifles flowed into the hands of the revolutionaries.
On the 13th, Nicholas II finally left the army headquarters and returned to the capital. However, he was placed under house arrest as soon as he arrived in a small town called Pskov, and Nicholas II's 40,000 Janissaries also revolted.
Nicholas II did not care about the throne at this time, he only cared about his five children. Nicholas II's children all suffered from measles, which was not a minor illness.
On the 15th, two governments emerged in Russia, one was a new government composed of the State Duma, and the other was a Soviet government composed of workers and soldiers. The members of the Tsar's cabinet did not object. They actually asked the State Duma to arrest them so that they could
Ensure their personal safety.
It was finally time for Nicholas II to abdicate, and everyone in the country was against him. Several officials from Petersburg asked Nicholas II to hand over the throne to his son. Nicholas II did not agree, and his
His son Alexis suffered from hemophilia and would not live long. Nicholas II passed the throne to his younger brother Michael, also known as Michael II.
Michael II immediately announced his abdication.
The Romanov dynasty was finally over.
Britain and France are happy about the end of the Russian empire. Raymond and George don't care about Nicholas's feelings. Nicholas is now just a loser and does not deserve sympathy. Britain and France have felt that they were in conflict with the authoritarian Russia from the beginning.
The Alliance was embarrassed. They wanted to portray the war as a war between democracy and dictatorship, but the presence of Russia complicated their interpretation.
Well now, Russia has become a democratic country and is more bellicose than before. It seems that the Allied Powers are much purer.
The good news is that since the Germans expanded the scope of submarine warfare in February, the Germans have indeed made great achievements. They only sunk 300,000 tons of ships in January, but this number was reduced in February.
It has almost doubled to more than 500,000 tons, and reached a new high of 600,000 tons in March.
These increased figures are all from the U.S. Merchant Marine.
On January 31, Bernstorff, the German ambassador to the United States, announced to U.S. Secretary of State Robert Lansing that Germany would launch unrestricted submarine warfare. Subsequently, Bernstorff, who had served as ambassador to the United States for eight years, left the United States and returned to Germany.
.
On February 2, U.S. President Wilson held a cabinet meeting, and cabinet members unanimously supported the United States' entry into the war. On that day, the American steamship Sabonic was sunk, but no casualties were caused.
On February 3, the United States and Germany severed diplomatic relations. At this time, Wilson had not yet made up his mind, because in the United States, there were many people in the east who wanted to join the war, many in other areas opposed to joining the war, and millions of people were still hesitant.
Decide.
But obviously the threat of German submarine warfare is very great, and more and more people are asking to join the war.
On February 26, Parliament overwhelmingly approved equipping merchant ships with artillery.
Since March 7, Wilson has isolated himself and will not meet or talk to anyone. The whole world is waiting for Wilson's decision.
On March 18, three American merchant ships were sunk on this day. Wilson convened the cabinet and asked the cabinet again for its opinion. The cabinet still agreed collectively.
On April 2, the House of Representatives approved the war bill, with 373 votes in favor and 50 votes against.
On April 4, senators approved the war bill, with 80 votes in favor and 6 against.
On April 6, the United States declared war on Germany.
