Okay. The last update wasn't terribly exciting, I know. But hopefully the next section will be good:
The ‘Bond of Trust’, Sweden and the Romanian Crisis
The steady remolding of Russia and Prussia into even more reactionary states was not against the laws set forth by the countries of the world at the Congress of Copenhagen and the Treaty of Amalienborg. Twenty years under the Congress, Europe lay in peace and Russia and Prussia were still relatively weak states, as their countries did not possess large official armies. They had, after all, abided by the military restriction clauses stated in the Congress of Copenhagen: 250,000 for Russia and a scant 35,000 for Prussia. In a 1919 treaty with France, Prussia was allowed to double the size of its military to 70,000, still one-tenth the size of the French peacetime force. Nevertheless, despite progress both nations made in recovery, economic growth and expansion they were still discounted by France as weak and defeated states. On the contrary, by 1925 Russia and Prussia were resurgent and looking for avengement for their defeat twenty years prior.
Both countries took very patient and slow routes to achieve their planned avengement. Slowly and effectively, they built up large propaganda machines that spewed out hatred for Western Europe, spouted the superiority of the respective state, spurted the glory and power of their respective leaders, ideologies and military capabilities and swanked of their great progress and overall superiority. In addition, both countries built up massive paramilitary forces to supplement the small regular core. Beginning in 1928, the Zavtra ‘Guards of Tomorrow’ were issued with live rifles and even some submachine guns. This was all done in secret so France would not know of Russian re-armament. In addition, various tractor and automobile factories began to churn out armored cars and rudimentary TACs (Tracked Armored Car). There was no doubt that by 1930, the arms restrictions of the Congress of Copenhagen were thrown off, though France was not able to confirm it. Even if the French knew, there was little it could do to forcibly halt Russia especially economically; Russia was near completely self-sufficient.
On July 10th, 1929 Russia and Prussia signed a mutual defensive pact that became known as the Bond of Trust. The two monarchs, Prussian King William II and Russian Czar Michael III, signed it personally. Morchenko was also present and his signature was featured prominently on the document. The agreement called for each country to aid each other if attacked by a third power, never to engage each other in hostilities and to never ally with another nation without the others consent. It became known as the Bond of Trust because of a speech Morchenko gave praising it. He said “we and our Prussian friends are now forever bonded with trust and comradeship.” The Bond of Trust effectively countered the French-dominated balance of power in Europe by setting up a rival system. To further that alliance, the Japanese officially joined on January 22nd, 1931 making it a triple member alliance and a formidable force in international affairs. For the first time in almost three decades, France was being rivaled as the world’s superpower by another nation (discounting the introverted United States whose stance on international issues carried far less weight than France’s despite American economic prowess).
Until 1933, Europe was much the same as it had been since 1912. There had been little sudden change besides the death of monarchs. Western Europe had slowly moved to a more liberal ideology while Eastern Europe slowly moved to the right toward authoritarianism. In theory the two camps were not forced to clash and they could have lived in peace. However, hegemonic French foreign policy – aimed at forever dominating the European continent – coupled with the vengeful and extremist policies of Russia and Prussia were bound to clash.
It seems unlikely that the first clash between east and west would occur in Sweden. Since the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1813, Sweden remained a quiet, neutral nation that was officially allied to France but abstained from fighting the Great War. It was ruled by the Bernadotte family, the descendents of a French marshal that became the king in 1818 and promptly led it into a tradition of neutrality. In 1933 the king was Gustav VI who ascended to the throne in 1928 after the death of his father, Gustav V. Sweden by this time was a fairly prosperous country and still highly monarchical, with the King still granted numerous powers.
That changed on October 4th, 1933 in what became known as the Högvakten Coup. In a brilliantly executed plan funded by Russia, members of the extreme right-wing Swedish group, Framtidspartiet (Future Party) seized Gustav VI and forced him to relinquish most of his power to a new position to be created, Chancellor. Essentially, the new government of Sweden would look like the Zavtra government of Russia with the position of First Minister of the Crown to be called Chancellor. The coup had long been in the making in Russia and millions had been spent in its preparation and implementation.
The Högvakten Coup took place at the Stockholm Palace by the Royal Guard of Sweden, also known as Högvakten.
On the night of October 3rd, palace guards loyal to the Framtidspartiet (but mainly the group’s massive treasury) took their places at the palace. It was no coincidence that the palace guards that night were loyal to the Framtidspartiet. For over a year, these men had been contacted and bribed with massive sums of money (which originated in Russia) in order to launch the coup. The guards near midnight launched their coup, awakening Gustav VI and explaining the situation with him. His captors threatened his life and the life of his family and given little choice, Gustav VI signed the document that limited his own power and basically transferred all power to the new position of Chancellor. The name Högvakten Coup originates from the name of the royal guards of Sweden, who carried out the coup. It was a very sudden affair and Swedes were shocked and somewhat horrified as they found out the news late in the day on October 4th. In a staged affair, Gustav VI and the new Chancellor appeared side by side at the palace in which both men read prepared speeches. The King claimed that due to health problems and the ‘delicate’ condition of the health of his family, he was prepared to create a position that would help him with the day-to-day affairs of state, if that were agreeable to the man. The new Chancellor graciously accepted and he prepared to further the aims of the Framtidspartiet.
The new Chancellor was a charismatic and handsome man by the name of Sven Lund, who had founded the Framtidspartiet in 1917. It was modeled after the Zavtra Party in Russia and for many years remained a minor party in Swedish politics. Political parties had little power in monarchist Sweden anyway, so Lund began to turn to other means to secure his aims. He first met with Morchenko in 1925 and in a spirited conversation, convinced the Russian leader to support his Future Party. Morchenko saw the benefits in this: it would be one less front to fight in another European war (assuming Sweden joined the French side) and it would increase his power internationally. Morchenko agreed and the two men became allies. Lund returned home with high hopes, though it would take eight years for those hopes to be realized. Nevertheless, on October 5th 1933, Sven Lund was in control of Sweden in a sudden and shocking coup.
The inevitable counter coup was crushed by the Framtidspartiet military wing, the Framtidsarmen, a large group that was armed with Russian weapons. On the whole, the Swedish people at first accepted the change. As far as many of them knew, the Chancellor was merely another bureaucratic official and Gustav VI was still in charge. On the contrary, the Swedish royal family was under house arrest. Many Swedes agreed with Lund that the country needed a change and supported his ambitious industrialization program. Many, however, did not notice his subtle anti-French attitude but for those that did notice, it caused little concern since the average Swede had little use for the French.
In February 1934, Sweden officially joined the Bond of Trust. Buoyed by its success in international affairs, Russia looked elsewhere to spread its influence. It did not have to look far. To the southwest was the new nation Romania, created from Russian land at the Congress of Copenhagen as a buffer state between the Ottoman Empire and Russia. It was ruled under a weak monarchy, a landowning family that had large power in Romania known as the House of Cozadini. In 1934, King John II, a nineteen year old who had succeeded the year before after the death of his father, John I, ruled Romania. During the Great War, Romanians had fought with the Ottomans and French against the Russians in return for their own country after the war. The creation of Romanian was thus seen as an ultimate insult to Russia.
It took little deliberation among Morchenko and his advisers to decide on their course of action. Romania would be invaded, conquered and annexed by Zavtra Army that summer. It would be a short, overwhelming campaign and before France could even react, Romania would cease to exist as an independent nation. They hoped for a quick campaign that would make diplomatic efforts for France negligible since Romania would already be occupied. Morchenko also hoped that the overwhelmingly rapid conquest would cow France into accepting the conquest. In addition, the conquest of Romania would mean a new border with the Ottoman Empire, the target of a future war. Russia was confident that its first military venture in over two decades would be s startling success.
The invasion of Romania began on June 15th, 1933 and quickly became an even more remarkable success than Morchenko would ever dream of. The Romanian forces melted in the face of the 200,000 Russian regulars, all armed with the latest weapons, over 600,000 Zavtra Guard, 1,200 armored cars and 20,000 horses. Romania was a poor state and leaned heavily on Western support for its military. In recent years, support had lagged and most of the small Romanian army was stuck with third-rate French weapons, relics of the Great War. The Russians rushed into the country supported by cavalry and armored cars, the latter a blatant violation of Copenhagen. They overwhelmed the border defenses and took thousands of prisoners in the first few days. On the 23rd, the capital, Iaşi, was captured after a brief battle. On the 25th, King John II decided to sue for peace and the Russians accepted. By the 28th, the government of Romania capitulated and King John II fled to the Ottoman Empire. The Russians began to pacify the unoccupied parts of the country.
Meanwhile, in Paris, Emperor Napoleon IV was furious. Indeed, so were the leaders of most of the rest of the world. Napoleon was especially angry that the Russians had gotten away at violating the Congress of Copenhagen so blatantly with no detection, namely in the form of armored cars. There was no doubt of France’s intention: stop Russia from its conquest. After the initial shock, the French ambassador to Russia, Michel Vitoux, asked for the Russians to immediately withdraw from Romania. However, before he was able to ask this he was made to wait for a long time in order to stall the confrontation with the French. Unable to wait any longer, the hot-headed Vitoux stormed into the Russian Foreign Minister’s office and all but shouted his demand. The Russian minister responded that the Romanians had already capitulated, which was more or less the truth.
Perturbed and rejected, Vitoux, backed with orders from Paris, threatened war. By this time, Romania had surrendered, though its monarch was currently in Turkey. Russia did not expect France to threaten with war but called the French bluff and declared Romania annexed on July 1st, just sixteen days after the initial invasion. This was to show that the issue was done. However, Napoleon IV was determined to restore Romanian independence and keep Russia at bay. In a strong statement, he denounced Morchenko as “another conquering mongrel with no regard to the self-determination of a country”. On July 2nd, he ordered the French military to mobilize and contacted his allies in Spain, Portugal, Naples, Southern Lusitania and Germany to begin to mobilize. Back in Russia, Vitoux and the Russian Foreign Minister, Vladimir Voloshin, were engaged in what the press popularly called “The Battle of the Vs”. In intense negotiations, Vitoux and Voloshin attempted to stall the onset of war. Morchenko was personally horrified at the thought of war, knowing well that he would be unable to stand up to the full might of a mobilized Europe even with his modern army. At the same time, he could not appear weak and back away from Romania, which had already been annexed. He was equally furious at Napoleon IV for “suddenly taking an interest in this backwater”.
The Battle of the Vs continued as French, Spanish and Neapolitan forces continued to mobilize. Other nations were on standby. For a time, it seemed as if Europe would enter another great war. For nearly forty-eight straight hours, Vitoux and Voloshin negotiated while remaining in close contact with their immediate superiors. The world held its breath for the final result.
On July 4th, the world took a sigh of relief as a photograph was released to the hungry international press of Vitoux and Voloshin smiling and shaking hands. Headlines across the world shouted “PEACE!” though in Russia the headlines screamed “FRANCE BACKS DOWN!” while in France the headlines proclaimed “RUSSIA BACKS DOWN!” The intense negotiations brought about concessions from both sides. Technically, it was a French diplomatic victory since the July 4th agreement called for Russia to withdraw from Romania and allow their king to return. In addition, Russia promised to guarantee Romania its independence. In exchange, France allowed Russia to keep its military at its current size, naively mistaking the irregular Zavtra Guard as regular. In exchange, Russia would pay three million francs for violating the Congress of Copenhagen. Russia milked everything it could from the agreement and ended up with an army limitation of 1.2 million men with no mention of airships or naval vessels with only armored cars featured prominently in the talks. Those were limited to 1,000.
The Romanian crisis brought the world to a standstill for a few days in which war seemed like a very real possibility. Instead, war was avoided, Romania kept its independence but Russia’s military was essentially made legal. Through loopholes in the agreement, Russia began to look at aircraft as a feasible military weapon. To its public, Zavtra leaders boasted of their agreement with France and effectively ignored the entire Romanian aspect of the crisis. In a highly censored society, it was easy to do this and the public bought the “French weakness”. Meanwhile, in France, Morchenko was effectively portrayed as a terrible boogeyman and his popularity in France dropped to near hatred. The Romanian Crisis, as it became to be known as, brought Europe nearly to war and dropped once and for all the era of good feelings the Congress of Copenhagen created. In effect, the second Pax Gallicana was over.