As the Kingdom of Hungary seethed with undercurrents and stood ready to switch sides at any moment, the Russians were also gathering their strength, prepared to leap out and seize the spoils of war.
Ever since Nicholas II completed his great purge of Saint Petersburg, the entire Russian Empire had become a place where every whisper of wind and cry of crane put people on edge.
Nicholas II showed the world through his actions: a Tsar was still a Tsar, and when it came to dealing with "rebels," he remained as decisive as ever!
More than forty thousand capitalists, officials, and their families were arrested before and after. Nicholas II organized a mass trial, after which more than ten thousand people were sent to the gallows amid the cheers of the public, while all the rest were exiled to Siberia!
Once this nest of vermin had been eliminated, free from the restraints of interest groups, the Tsarist government's mobilization efficiency immediately rose by 50%. By February, the Tsarist government had mobilized another six hundred thousand able-bodied young men, who took up arms and joined the great and sacred family of the military.
Without question, this mobilization had naturally been selflessly contributed by those capitalists. The weapons and equipment came from their warehouses, while the military budget was confiscated from their family fortunes!
Nicholas II had made a killing this time. The cash and valuables seized alone amounted to more than one billion Rubles, along with over a hundred tons of gold, foreign exchange worth tens of millions of pounds, and vast quantities of antiques, calligraphy, and paintings.
There was even more real estate: thousands of factories scattered across the country, countless shops and residences, as well as vast mines and farms...
It took the Tsarist government's Ministry of Finance over