As on August 1st in 1914, so also now, on the verge of a fourth year of war, the words of the

speech from the throne still hold. We are not impelled by the lust of conquest. Germany took up arms

in defense of her freedom, her independence, and the integrity of her soil.

The Reichstag strives for a peace of understanding and a lasting reconciliation of peoples.

Any violations of territory and political, economic, and financial persecutions are incompatible with such a peace.

Resolution adopted by the German Reichstag on July 19, 1917.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

Thank you. century. Episode 141. The Cossacks are not coming.

The February Revolution in Russia might at first have been regarded as the answer to Germany's prayers.

For three and a half years, Germany has been mired in just the sort of two-front war

its military and diplomatic leaders had spent decades of planning an effort to avoid.

Now the revolution in Imperial Russia that the German leadership dreamed of but dared not hope for has finally come.

Well, that's helpful, but it isn't the solution to all of Germany's problems.

First of all, the foreign minister of the new provisional government in Petrograd, Pavel Milukov,

has been swearing up and down that the new government stands by its alliance commitments to France and

Britain, so much so that some in the German

government speculated that the February Revolution had been orchestrated by the British

to prevent Emperor Nikolai from pursuing a separate peace.

On the other hand, it was very apparent that this position was not popular in Russia, particularly among the socialists

and the working classes, not to mention the rank-and-file soldiery. The Petrograd garrison, which had

played a key role in the revolution, was demanding they not be sent to the front, which tells you

something. No matter how brave a face the provisional government

...