The Russian Labor Party and the chaos Russia currently faced had not caused much of a stir worldwide. On one hand, the November Revolution—the October Revolution by the Russian calendar—had erupted too suddenly. On the other, the great powers were still embroiled in war; no matter how important Russia's affairs were, they had to be put aside for later.
Just as in his previous life, other countries would only begin intervening in Russia's internal affairs on a large scale after the First World War ended. At present, most great powers had no spare time to deal with Russia's problems.
East Africa was naturally an exception. However, the East African government had no intention of crossing swords with the Russian Labor Party. It was more interested in extracting as many resources as possible from Russia.
Baku.
Since the last century, Baku had been one of East Africa's most important overseas oil import bases. With its abundant petroleum reserves, Russia had surpassed the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Romania to become East Africa's largest oil-importing country in Europe.
Moreover, thanks to the boom in the internal combustion engine industry, output from the Baku oilfields had risen dramatically compared with his previous life, and its population had increased by nearly a hundred thousand as well.
Riding the prosperity brought by oil, Baku had attained a relatively high level of urban development. It had built countless mansions, theaters, and the like, becoming a center of entertainment, a city of pleasure, even a city of debauchery. Oil had brought everything: luxury goods, automobiles, clothing, and high fashion.
At the same time, many renowned companies, families, and even nations around the world had set their sights on investing in the Baku oilfields at the beginning of the twentieth century.
After the outbreak of the First World War, Baku's