The Russians were just as conflicted. The German-Austrian coalition forces were pressing their victory, relentlessly expanding their gains. Russian casualties now numbered in the tens of thousands every day.
The defensive lines built by the Russian Army had collapsed across the board. Though it had not yet become a rout stretching a thousand miles, a rout stretching a hundred miles was already a reality.
After Russia's Northern Front was wiped out, the Germans sent word of peace negotiations to the Russians through neutral Denmark, immediately winning the support of Russia's pro-peace faction.
In early August 1916, Vasilichkova secretly arrived in Saint Petersburg and was received by Nicholas II. Clearly, the Tsarist government's attitude had changed.
The prolonged war had dealt Russia's domestic economy a severe blow. Especially after news of defeat at the front reached the country, public anti-war sentiment began to surge, making the Tsarist government eager to bring the war to a swift end.
Naturally, the mutual suspicion between the United Kingdom and Russia was also a major factor. In the Russians' eyes, this defeat at the front had been entirely caused by the other Entente members' failure to offer their full support, further strengthening their desire to negotiate peace separately.
In particular, after their defeat at the front, the Russians demanded that the United Kingdom and France launch an offensive on the Western Front to tie down German forces. When that demand was rejected, the pro-peace faction in Russia began to swell dramatically.
The pro-German faction, led by the Tsar's German-born Empress, had gradually gained the upper hand within the government. With the arrival of German envoys and the forced resignation of Foreign Minister Sazonov, the representative of Russia's pro-war faction, the pro-peace faction took complete control of the situation. No one could stop the German-Russian negotiations