Edel asked the chief of guards to come here mainly to learn about Bessarabia and Western Ukraine.
If Romania wants to expand its strength, it cannot just focus on the Transylvania region in the hands of Austria-Hungary. Bessarabia in the hands of Russia and the Western Ukraine region are the key to Romania's strength. Of course, Transylvania
The Vania region is also indispensable, which allows Romania to take advantage of the terrain of the surrounding countries. But now Edel needs to carefully understand the intelligence of the two places in order to make a good reference for the future.
After Kalust was called, he was questioned face to face by Edel. "How much does your intelligence agency know about Bessarabia and Western Ukraine?"
Kalust understood what Edel wanted to ask, so he spoke. "Your Majesty, the politics in Bessarabia are relatively chaotic now, and there are people who have put forward various political ideas, but their political demands can currently be divided into
Focus on three aspects.”
"Among them, the political family dominated by the Bikost family in Chisinau proposed to obey the orders of the provisional government in St. Petersburg, which currently occupies the mainstream opinion in Bessarabia. Moreover, most of these people are landed aristocrats, factory owners, etc.
We analyze that this is just an instinctive move by these people to protect their own interests."
"anything else?"
"Then the return to Romania was jointly proposed by several small political parties we funded. Because our economy has developed extremely well in the past few years, there are many local people who are envious of the country, so several small political parties have attracted a lot of local people.
People. Especially after the Russian Revolution, more people joined these political parties, and the children of many families joined them."
Edel nodded after hearing this and said, "Very good, these are smart people."
The way these families operate is the same in the East and the West. For example, the gentry in the late Qing Dynasty also had good choices. The old university had the tradition, the second brother learned new things, and the third brother went to study abroad. This is all for the inheritance and continuation of the family. There is nothing to worry about.
, as long as the local people do not block the protection of the Romanian army when the time comes.
Edel continued to ask. "Go on."
Kallust continued, "Finally, some scholars from Bessarabia proposed to let it become independent..."
When Edel heard that someone actually proposed independence, he immediately interrupted the captain of the guard. "Are there many people? Who proposed it?"
Faced with the king's fierce reaction, the captain of the guard could only answer Edel's question first. "Mainly the sociologist Dostav of Kiev University, and to a lesser extent Svexi, the principal of Bolz Middle School.
People. Their claims are currently ignored. Everyone knows that Bessarabia cannot be independent."
Edel felt a little irritated after hearing the answer from the captain of the guard. "I asked you to arrange an accident for these two gentlemen. I don't want to see them."
Faced with Edel's order that disregarded human life, Calust did not defend himself, but simply replied, "Your Majesty."
After seeing that Edel was not talking about these issues, Kalust continued. "Compared to Bessarabia, Western Ukraine is much more complicated."
How complicated it was, Edel only learned after listening to Karust's explanation. Under the rule of the Habsburg family, Galicia had more than 70,000 square kilometers of land in western Ukraine, and more than 2 million people on this land.
The Ukrainians were not killed in the process of being conquered, and their homes were not destroyed in the war, which made the Western Ukrainians very obedient to the rule of the Habsburg family.
The biggest "good luck" for the Ukrainians was that after being incorporated into Austrian rule, they experienced the results of the reforms of Empress Theresia and Joseph II. In the 1880s, Austria began to implement a series of radical reform measures.
First, in 1782, it was announced that the peasants' personal dependence on the landlords would be abolished and the peasants would be granted the most basic civil rights. Then in 1786, the peasants were stipulated in the labor service period for the prefecture and the state, and they only had to work for the landlords three days a week. In 1787, the peasants were
The land used was the land owned by the landlords, and the landlords were prohibited from dominating the farmers' land at will. Finally, in 1789, it was announced that land rent would be used to replace the abolition of the labor system, and farmers could keep more than 70% of their harvests.
90% of Ukrainians in Austria live in rural areas, and before the reform they were treated like "slaves" by Polish landowners. Therefore, this reform not only helped them get rid of the exploitation of Polish landowners, but also made them more competitive than
My Ukrainian brothers in Russia gained "personal freedom" nearly 50 years early.
Because, at the same time, Empress Catherine was strengthening the slave-like rule imposed on the Ukrainians under Russian rule, and their "emancipation had to wait until the serfdom reform in 1861."
The Austrian Ukrainians benefited greatly economically, and also allowed the Ukrainians to gain great independence in religion and culture. The Austrian emperor implemented the principle of equivalence between Roman Catholicism and Greek Catholicism, allowing Greek Catholic priests to
Catholic priests were granted equal status, a policy that made Catholic Ukrainians grateful.
At the same time, in order to free the Ukrainians under Austrian rule from the dominance of Polish culture, the Austrians began to carry out cultural improvements on the Ukrainian masses. Although their purpose was only to cultivate an elite class that would obey Austria's orders. However, under the Austrians
With tacit approval, Ukrainians successfully promoted the Ukrainian language.
In 1893, the Austro-Hungarian Empire recognized the use of Ukrainian in schools in areas inhabited by Ukrainians. By 1914, Galicia had more than 2,500 Ukrainian primary schools and 16 universities.
Although Ukrainian personnel under Austrian rule sought sources from Russian culture, however, contrary to Austrian rule, not only the existence of the Greek Catholic Church was prohibited in Russia, but even the publication of books in the Ukrainian language was not allowed in Kiev in 1900. In Religious and Cultural Policy
The differences undoubtedly made the Ukrainians under Austrian rule grateful and loyal to the Habsburg family. For this reason, they got a new name called "Eastern Tyrol" (Austrians)
It is precisely because of this loyalty to Austria that Ukrainians showed a rare "reaction" in the national awakening movement that swept Europe in the mid-19th century. When the Poles in Galicia wanted to seek autonomy in 1848,
But it failed because of the opposition of the Ukrainian-led "General Roslada".
After seeing the role of the "General Roslada", the Austrians stingily "gave" the Ukrainians the right to vote, and they could elect 25 seats among the 100 deputies of Galicia. However, the political situation of the Ukrainians under Austrian rule
The rights seemed to be no more than that, regardless of the fact that Hungary forced the Austrian Empire to change into the "Dual Austrian-Hungarian Empire" in 1867, and even nations such as Poland also gained huge political autonomy.
Perhaps in order to fight for more rights, or perhaps dazzled by Austria's gifts, "General Roslada" tried to organize armed forces to help the Austrian government suppress the Hungarian revolution. This is not the first time that Ukrainians have proposed the formation of armed forces (
In 1846, some Ukrainians proposed to establish a national army in the city and a self-defense force in the countryside), but this was the first time they proposed to fight for the Habsburg family. For some unknown reason, Austria did not agree to this proposal.
It was only with the outbreak of World War I that the first army formed by Ukrainians appeared in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Nearly 70 years had passed since they requested to form a separate armed force. What is even more ironic is that for
The loyal Ukrainians of the Habsburg family have been unable to realize their desire to form an armed force for a long time, while other ethnic groups have long since realized it. This gap between ideals and reality is actually the Austrians' distrust of the Ukrainians, and this
This distrust would bring even more serious disasters to the Ukrainians in the subsequent war.
In a short period of time before World War I, the Austro-Hungarian army expanded from more than 180,000 troops in 1912 to 2.3 million troops in 1914. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was full of troops, but the Ukrainians under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were internally divided.
A split occurred.
The Ukrainians who fled Galicia hope that their compatriots will welcome the Russian army as "liberators"; the Ukrainians known as the "Ukrainian Liberators Alliance" hope to rely on Germany to realize the dream of independent Ukraine.
Darze called on Ukrainians to join the Austro-Hungarian Army and prepare to fight for their "greatest friend" Austria against their "most ferocious enemy" Russia. Therefore, Ukrainians accounted for 8% of the population of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and there were 250,000
People joined the Austro-Hungarian Army, accounting for about 10% of the Austro-Hungarian Army.
After the Austro-Hungarian Empire recruited 250,000 "cannon fodder" from Galicia and other places, it still rejected the request to establish a "Ukrainian Legion" composed entirely of Ukrainians. Although in order to establish this army, the Ukrainian General Rada
Thirty thousand Ukrainian youths have been mobilized. Moreover, all 250,000 Ukrainians that the Austro-Hungarian Empire will conscript into the army have been dispersed and integrated into the regular army.
Although the vast majority of the soldiers in the three infantry regiments of the 15th Galician Infantry Regiment, the 24th Galician-Bucovina Infantry Regiment and the 30th Galician Infantry Regiment are also composed of Ukrainians,
But for the General Rada of Ukraine, there is still a huge gap between this and the hope of establishing an independent Ukrainian army.
In fact, the Austro-Hungarian Empire refused to form a "Ukrainian Legion". On the one hand, it was worried that Ukrainians with their own armed forces would embark on the road of armed independence and founding an independent country. On the other hand, the Polish nobles who had long oppressed Ukrainians were obstructing them and did not want Ukrainians to have an independent country.
armed forces.
However, in order to appease the Ukrainians' loyalty for nearly a century, the Austro-Hungarian Empire allowed the Ukrainians to form a small-scale armed force. Although this army only had 2,500 people, it was the first Ukrainian army in modern history.
An armed force formed by people. This unit, which is only equivalent to a regiment of the Austro-Hungarian Defense Forces in terms of organization, is called the "Ukrainian Sechi Shooters". Judging from the name of this unit, it is very likely that it is an Austro-Hungarian army.
A fortress defense force formed by the empire. Because "Sechi" means "a fortress built with felled logs" in Ukrainian.
Perhaps, it was precisely because the "mission" that the Austro-Hungarian Empire originally assigned to this Ukrainian force was to defend the fortress, so it was extremely "stingy" in terms of weapons and equipment. By September 1914, the troops were guarding the Carpathians.
The troops at each pass could only be issued single-shot loaded rifles. Unfortunately, the "Ukrainian Sechi Shooters" happened to be dispatched to defend the Carpathian Mountains on September 25, 1914.
Perhaps it was because the Austro-Hungarian Empire only regarded Ukrainians as "cannon fodder", or perhaps because of Austria-Hungary's weak industrial production capacity, its weapons production capacity was completely unable to adapt to the empire's military expansion rate. When the Austro-Hungarian Empire's army had expanded to
With 2.3 million people, the "M1895 Steyr-Manlicher rifle" has become a "luxury product" for the Austro-Hungarian army, and two-thirds of the troops can only use old-fashioned rifles that have been equipped for nearly a quarter of a century.
However, for the "Ukrainian Sechi Shooters", it does not seem to matter whether the rifle is advanced or not. Because, as a defensive force, the officers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire have always believed that close-range machine gun firepower is the most important. Therefore,
The training level of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not as good as that of other countries, and shooting training was even less taken seriously.
What's more, the training materials and training subjects compiled by Marshal Conrad, the Chief of General Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were purely for offensive purposes. At that time, the armies of various countries believed that "hand-to-hand assault can force the enemy to give up everything."
"Occupied positions". For the "Ukrainian Sechi Shooters" with poor equipment and low shooting training, they seem to have only one choice on the battlefield - to resolutely implement tactics that can only use bayonets to completely annihilate the enemy in offensive battles.
Once the war machine is started, it will become a "meat grinder" that devours lives. All the young lives that enter the battlefield, after bloody battles, become nothing more than tragic footnotes that testify to the cruelty of war. Ukraine in World War I
The fate of the Secchi shooters and the other 250,000 Ukrainians who joined the Austro-Hungarian army was perhaps even more tragic.
After the war broke out, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which lost nearly 400,000 troops in the Battle of Galicia, had to transfer the Ukrainian Sechi shooters with inferior weapons and equipment and poor training to the front line of the Carpathian Mountains. This 2,500-man army
The armed forces, together with the Royal Hungarian Defense Force and other newly formed units, were tasked with guarding the passes of the Carpathian Mountains.
However, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's frontline headquarters did not dispatch Ukrainian Sechi shooters to conduct position defense battles. Instead, they were divided into small groups of 20 people to perform the task of penetrating the Russian rear. Perhaps, the Austro-Hungarian Empire
The frontline commanders believed that the Ukrainian identity of the Ukrainian Sechi shooters was the best cover to obtain a large amount of intelligence in the areas controlled by Tsarist Russia.
Unfortunately, the opponent faced by the Ukrainian Sechi shooters on the infiltration mission was Tsarist Russia’s elite Kuban Cossack Brigade. As a result, in this battle, although the Austro-Hungarian Empire successfully blocked the Tsarist Russian army in the Carpathian Mountains
, but the Ukrainian Sechi shooters also lost hundreds of people. In the first battle, although the Ukrainian Sechi shooters completed their strategic mission, they also suffered heavy losses.
Perhaps for these Ukrainian warriors, the baptism of war was just the beginning of their tragic fate. In future battles, they not only fought in front of the battlefield with Ukrainians in the Tsarist Russian army, but also staged a self-inflicted act of Ukrainians.
The tragedy of killing each other was because they could not gain the trust of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so they had been fighting on the most dangerous front line.
This Ukrainian unit fought bravely in the battles from October to November 1914, April to May 1915, and August to September 1916. In World War I, the Eastern Front fought bravely in these three battles.
There were three famous battles fought in this period: the 1914 rescue of the Pumiger Fortress, the 1915 Battle of Gorlitz jointly launched by the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany, and the 1916 "Brushilov Breakthrough".
In these three major battles, which often involved millions of people, the 2,500 Ukrainian Chise shooters were just a drop in the ocean. However, they showed extremely strong combat effectiveness in the war. They first fought with them in the Pumizhel siege relief battle.
The Hungarians and Croats used bayonets to break through the defense lines of the Tsarist Russian army. Then in the Battle of Gorlitz, together with their allies the Germans, they annihilated more than 500,000 Russian troops and recovered Galicia occupied by Tsarist Russia. Finally in 1916
The battle blocked the Tsarist Russian army that was attacking like a tide, and cleared the salient.
It was precisely because of their heroic performance in these battles that the rulers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had to admit that they were "the best unit in the entire Austro-Hungarian army". However, this unit was recognized as "the best unit"
After a fierce battle with the Russian army in the autumn of 1916, the Ukrainian Chisei shooters were completely defeated and disappeared from the long river of history.
Of course, in addition to the 2,500 Ukrainian Chisei shooters, there were as many as 250,000 Ukrainian soldiers in the Austro-Hungarian army. Although, they had the bad habit of abandoning their weapons and running away during the Galician Campaign.
According to records, he also passively avoided the battle during the siege of Pumigere Fortress.
However, in the spring of 1915, after seeing the atrocities committed by the Tsarist Russian army that invaded Galicia, they and Polish soldiers showed rare bloodshed in the battle to guard the passes of the Carpathians. They took advantage of the natural dangers of the Carpathians.
, used rifles, bayonets and even engineer shovels to fight fiercely for five days against the Russian army, which was several times their size. It not only killed a large number of the Russian army's effective forces, but also bought enough time for the Austro-Hungarian and German armies to counterattack the Russian army.
However, neither the Ukrainian Chisei shooters who fought bravely nor other Ukrainian soldiers who knew their shame and became brave again could not exchange their great contributions on the battlefield for the Austro-Hungarian Empire's trust in the Ukrainian ethnic group.
After the Battle of Galliassi, the defeated Austro-Hungarian Empire arrested and executed hundreds of Ukrainians without trial on the grounds that these people betrayed Austria-Hungary’s military intelligence to Tsarist Russia, which led to their fiasco. In addition to executing the so-called
In addition to pro-Russian elements, thousands of Ukrainians were moved to the west to prevent them from providing intelligence to Tsarist Russia, and more than 30,000 Ukrainians were imprisoned in concentration camps in Austria. The Chief of General Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
Marshal Konrad even called the Ukrainian ethnic group "people who cannot be trusted to be lazy."
Perhaps the reason why the Austro-Hungarian Empire recruited a large number of Ukrainian soldiers in the war was just to make up for the shortage of soldiers. In addition, it hoped to use the bayonets of the Tsarist Russian army to consume the Ukrainian elite during the war.
Perhaps the "conspiracy" of the Austro-Hungarian Empire succeeded. Countless Ukrainian soldiers shed their blood on the battlefield, and the residential areas of the Ukrainian ethnic group were also ruthlessly destroyed by the flames of war because they were the main battlefields of Austria, Germany and Russia.
.
Edel seems to want to have ideas in Western Ukraine, so some of the practices of the Austro-Hungarian Empire are still inspiring to him. But now a piece of news makes Edel have to put down his work and start to care about other issues.
