Ch.50The Nation Is the Country Itself

Hitler looked around with tired, soulless eyes.

This Slavic land didn’t particularly appeal to him either.

The Russian Tsarina even respected Jews. Well. Of course, she accepted talented people regardless of nationality, and Russia was in such desperate need of people that they couldn’t be picky.

Looking at the bright side, he could get rid of all the Jews in Germany. But that Germany had turned red instead of Russia.

What should become of Germany?

Perhaps East Prussia was the answer.

He honestly didn’t want to follow the incompetent Kaiser either.

Wasn’t it because of the Kaiser’s incompetence that Germany, which should have been great, had been reduced to such a pitiful state?

“I’m thinking of staying here since the Russian White Army said anyone who wants to defect and serve in the Russian military can remain.”

Military service, huh? That wouldn’t be so bad.

At least Russia was in better shape than Germany.

Though they had once been enemies, after the civil war broke out, German volunteers received considerable respect in Russian territory.

Perhaps it was thanks to the massive supplies Germany had sent to White Russia to act as England’s proxy.

There were even women who would kiss you just for being a German soldier.

But serving in the Russian military was a different matter.

“The Russian army is filled with pride, calling themselves the army of the Holy Maiden. Seems you want to become the Holy Maiden’s soldier too.”

“Tsarina Anastasia is certainly beautiful.”

The princess of his country whom he had seen once by chance. She was far more beautiful than Luise.

Moreover, her appearance on the battlefield in uniform was truly like a goddess of war.

Yes. But. In the end, she was a Slavic princess.

She had nothing to do with Germany.

Just then.

“I heard this is the German soldiers’ quarters. Is Adolf Hitler here?”

A Russian White Army officer in a green uniform came looking for the German quarters.

And he was asking for Adolf Hitler.

“I am Corporal Adolf Hitler.”

“The Tsarina was impressed by your drawings. How about it? Would you like an audience with the Tsarina?”

An audience with the Tsarina?

For what reason should he meet the Russian Tsar?

“Seems you’ve caught the Holy Maiden’s eye. Must be because you caught that Bolshevik.”

“Congratulations! The Tsarina is incredibly beautiful.”

The German soldiers around him congratulated Adolf Hitler, but he himself felt ambivalent.

They talk well.

Germany has just fallen, yet everyone is acting like this.

Adolf Hitler dusted himself off and followed the White Army officer to have an audience with the Tsarina at the Moscow Provisional Government building.

She really is young.

A royal who, as a woman, had recaptured the hearts of the people and revived the Tsarist regime.

Indeed, she was quite different from the Kaiser of East Prussia.

“It is an honor to meet the Tsarina of All Russia. I am Corporal Adolf Hitler, dispatched as a German volunteer.”

“So you’re the one who captured Stalin. Did you receive a medal from the White Army? I believe the Black Baron awarded medals to German soldiers.”

“Yes. Capturing the Bolshevik was just good luck on my part.”

“Have you decided what you will do next?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

Hitler answered while lowering his head.

To think he had to say such things to the Russian Empress.

No, more importantly, why had she summoned him? He was curious about the reason.

If the Empress had called for him, it couldn’t be an ordinary matter.

“Then I have a proposal for you. Are you interested in industrial design? Or perhaps architecture?”

“Pardon?”

What kind of proposal was this all of a sudden?

What did she mean by industrial design? Architecture? So suddenly?

Looking carefully, there were drawings on the Tsarina’s desk.

Yes. Drawings he had made haphazardly to forget his homeland of Austria and Germany, which had fallen to the Reds and was no longer great.

The Russian officer had taken them away saying they were impressive, and apparently they had reached the Tsarina’s hands.

“As you can see, this civil war has caused tremendous material damage, and ruins are everywhere. We need to rebuild, and I happened to see your drawings.”

“Hmm.”

“Your drawings are magnificent. I would like to see the buildings in these drawings standing tall over these collapsed ruins. What do you say? Would you like to fully utilize your talents?”

Hitler couldn’t quite figure out this Tsarina.

It was ridiculous for a German volunteer to evaluate a foreign monarch, but wasn’t this a bit strange?

She fought against the Reds but implemented policies that tasted of communism.

Adolf Hitler hesitated briefly, but with his future uncertain and needing work, he accepted the Tsarina’s proposal.

* * *

I had just casually thrown out the suggestion, but Hitler accepted it.

I didn’t expect him to accept.

Hitler in the 1920s. He seems far from being a villain.

Even if he was a villain in history. Perhaps this is inevitable when the path to Nazism is blocked.

One small snowball I rolled led to the German revolution. Well. If we consider this a “Hitler raising game,” I suppose the path to becoming Führer has been blocked.

I’m curious what this fellow can do from now on.

This man does have excellent oratory skills.

He was the kind of person who captured the hearts of Germans.

But the current Hitler has what I’d call a soulless face.

Seeing how he just accepted my request, this must be a Hitler whose soul has died.

“If you do your work well, I promise you anything as your Tsarina. I’ll help with whatever you need. There are German communities within Russia too. It’s not difficult to help Germans.”

I gave the example of Germans living along the Volga River.

In fact, some German soldiers seemed to want to go live in the Volga German region.

They couldn’t return to the German homeland captured by the Reds.

Going to East Prussia where the Kaiser resided would mean dying fighting the Reds, and Austria was also a defeated nation.

Instead, they chose to become part of the German region in the newly formed multinational United States of Greater Russia.

“The Volga Germans?”

“Yes. They were also oppressed between the Red and White armies during this civil war. So I established the Volga German Republic as a member of the United States.”

If the Kaiser came, it would feel completely like a Russian vassal state.

I think the Kaiser won’t come even if just to avoid that.

Originally, the Volga Germans are descendants of those who migrated to Russia, so they probably wouldn’t suit the taste of the East Prussian Kaiser anyway.

“I see. I’ll keep that in mind.”

It’s a bit scary when you say you’ll keep it in mind. Surely you’re not thinking of creating Lebensraum in Slavic lands with the handful of Volga Germans?

“Do you have anything else to say?”

“Your Majesty has established a United States, but doesn’t this mean it’s a multinational state that includes even Jews? I’m curious about Your Majesty’s reasons for establishing a United States.”

Ah, yes. I see.

Hitler wants to know which path he should take.

So he’s asking for my advice after capturing the Bolshevik and standing here.

He wants to hear my ideology.

If this were a homogeneous nation like Korea, it would be different. But Russia is now a multinational state.

We can’t discriminate against Jews alone here. To hide a tree, hide it in a forest.

In a United States that embraces multiple ethnicities, Jews can blend in too.

“It is multinational, but ethnicity itself is not important. Ethnicity is merely an illusion.”

“Ethnicity is merely an illusion?”

Why such a surprised face?

“The country is more important than ethnicity. Whoever you are, if you work for Russia and take pride in being Russian, then you are Russian. Yes, the Russian state itself could be considered an ethnicity. Trees of ethnicity gather to form the forest of a nation. All ethnicities becoming Russian and aiming for the future based on capitalism. That is precisely this United States of Greater Russia.”

A country where anyone would want to become Russian.

Anyone. Even if your skin is dark, if you live in Russia and declare yourself Russian, you are Russian.

That’s the kind of country I’m saying I’m creating.

“Then how does Your Majesty view Germany?”

Ah, that question comes.

Yes. Right. I am curious how my ideology will influence this Hitler.

“It can be seen as a time of confusion, consumed by the red plague, unable to distinguish what ethnicity or country it is. But doesn’t the Austrian Empire still remain? It wouldn’t be bad if Austria became the leading nation of the German people, making everyone want to become Austrian, and then reintegrating Hungary, Slovakia, and others to purify communist Germany.”

“The country rather than ethnicity. I see. Then treating Czechs and Hungarians as honorary Austrians—”

This guy seems to have become dangerous in a different way. No, that can’t be right.

“Has this been of any help in showing you the direction you should take?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Then I will work here for the time being before returning to Austria.”

Hitler left my office with a new mindset.

Well. It’s good to be enthusiastic about anything.

I’m curious how Hitler will change.

What’s certain is that the current Hitler is unlikely to become like the one in actual history.

Austria. With Austria only having Czechia now, it would be difficult to build it up to the level of Nazi Germany no matter what he does.

Originally, the Hitler in actual history also went on a rampage because too many things went wrong in succession.

I’m not sure if communist Germany would be easier to deal with than Hitler.

The Reds are quite terrifying after all.

Wait, if Hitler goes to Austria and seizes power, it might be possible to place him on the frontline against communist Germany?

Well, there’s another person I need to see next.

At the coronation, many Russian nobles participated and shed tears over Russia’s revival.

Among them is perhaps the biggest figure.

“Prince Yusupov.”

Yes. Prince Felix Yusupov.

The Yusupov family is extremely wealthy, so we need to extract some money for rebuilding the new Russia.

In the original history, this person was exiled after angering Nicholas II for executing Rasputin.

“I never imagined the Grand Duchess would ascend to the Tsarina’s throne so maturely.”

“Well, that’s life. Even a naive girl changes when the deaths of her family and her own death are imminent.”

I didn’t know I would be here either.

This person would probably be shocked if he heard my circumstances.

He’d laugh if I told him I wasn’t even the original Anastasia.

“While Your Majesty fought, I merely fled. I apologize.”

“It couldn’t be helped. Honestly, staying and being executed by the Reds would have been problematic too. If you can’t fight, fleeing allows you to plan for the future. Thanks to that, you’ve returned now, haven’t you?”

“Your Majesty.”

Why are you so moved?

The reason I brought you back is because you’re wealthy. I also have things for you to do.

“Prince, you will have much to help with going forward. The new Russia is undergoing reforms but is still weak. Now that you’ve recovered your property, please contribute to the national budget.”

“Of course. I will help.”

Yes. Yes. If you survived thanks to me, you should contribute some of your wealth.

In actual history, this person only managed to take jewelry when going into exile. But here, his property has been returned.

Later, he went into exile in another country and failed in a fashion business venture with what little capital he had left.

With this much, he should do whatever I tell him to do.

“And I’ve thought of a business item.”

“A business item?”

You’ll be surprised when you hear my idea.

“I mean something to make money. I’ve thought of something interesting. Since there are still many starving Russian subjects, I want to create a simple meal solution.”

“Please tell me.”

Yes. Yes. Now you look good.

As expected of someone with property all over Russia.

This person even had a Yusupov Palace in Yalta, which was reportedly used as Stalin’s accommodation during the Yalta Conference.

What I’m going to tell this person now is…

In my previous life, in a world that had collapsed, I studied about ramen when I tried to make it. The manufacturing process, that is.

Of course, I reached the practical conclusion that rather than making it that way, it would be better to farm cup noodles that might be somewhere out there.

Anyway, I didn’t expect it would be useful in this situation.

“So, what it is…”

Prince Yusupov’s eyes sparkled after hearing my story.

“Oh, such an attractive thing.”

“However, whether the Prince can make it possible is another matter.”

Regardless of being rich, what’s important is whether he has the will to do it.

I’m already being well-treated by the Duma, but I can propose ideas like this.

“It doesn’t sound bad. I’ll give it a try.”

“If the ingredients are prepared, I can demonstrate.”

“No, how could the Tsarina? If the recipe is prepared, I will gather people and try it.”

Yes. I appreciate that response.

In the actual history, Korea’s ramen technology came from receiving ramen technology free of charge from Japan’s Myojo Foods to create the first ramen.

But in this world, I don’t know what will happen to Japan, and in the original world, Korean ramen was popular in Russia too.

So I thought, why not create it here first with this idea?

“Good. I’ll prepare the recipe separately for you.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

War can break out at any time.

For that day, we shouldn’t spare any resource development.