The Aging Nicholas II

When the Russian Civil War broke out, Dmitri immediately sent a telegram to Arthur, asking whether he would support Nicholas II.

Arthur's reply to Dmitri stated that Australasia lacked the bandwidth to pay attention to foreign affairs for the time being due to its domestic mega-construction projects.

Arthur suggested that Dmitri play it by ear, with Finland's development as his primary objective and the interests of Finland taking priority.

It was obvious that Dmitri took Arthur's words to heart. Although he was the Grand Duke of Finland, Finnish Government policy was not decided by Dmitri alone.

Furthermore, Finland's current strength was not worth mentioning in the face of the erupting war, and Finnish assistance would amount to little more than a superficial gesture, serving no practical purpose.

Dmitri understood this very well. Following Arthur's reminder, he focused his primary attention on how Finland could navigate its way out of the economic crisis rather than concerning himself with helping Nicholas II.

In fact, Dmitri possessed considerable capability in political and economic matters.

Because of Finland's high forest coverage, Dmitri set his sights on manufacturing, particularly the production of timber and paper.

Finland had now become Europe's third-largest exporter of paper and timber, and the Finnish economy had begun to improve, leading the populace to embrace this foreign grand duke.

An industrial layout centered on the timber manufacturing industry and supplemented by mechanical processing, coupled with a massive import of oil and natural gas from Norway, made Finland one of the wealthiest countries in Northern Europe.

Precisely for this reason, Dmitri's throne as grand duke was quite secure, and he remained very popular within Finland.

This also formed the basis of Dmitri's confidence when he asked Arthur whether to support Nicholas II. If Arthur had expressed support for Nicholas II, Dmitri could