The former was triumphant. As soon as she became aware of the conditions under which the German government would consent to conclude peace with Russia, she set herself, in conjunction with her friends, to try to persuade Nicholas II. that his duty in regard to his people required him to put an end to a hopeless conflict during which the best blood in Russia was being spilt for a cause doomed beforehand. She made him observe that if the war went on much longer, the revolutionary elements in the country would wax stronger, in proportion to the sacrifices entailed upon the nation, and that it was quite possible, the latter, exasperated by their magnitude, would attempt to get rid of a government that had not succeeded in restoring to it the tranquillity which it so sorely needed. It did not take her a long time to convert the Czar to her point of view, and the negotiations officiously inaugurated by Mr. Protopopoff were officially continued by him together with Mr. Sturmer, whom Alexandra Feodorovna personally entreated to assume their direction in conjunction with her own self. In spite of the extreme secrecy which had presided at these different conferences between the Empress and her favourites, something of their purport had transpired among the general public, and threats had been proferred against those who had accepted to play the sad part of Judas in regard to their country. These threats had been whispered in the corridors of the Duma, and Mr. Protopopoff had been informed of their purport by his spies. It became therefore one of his principal aims to get rid of an opposition which, he knew but too well, would only increase in violence as well as in importance as the sorry work he was bent upon performing would come out in the light of day and become known to his numerous adversaries. Apart from this, he thought it would be better to present himself later on before the Duma with an accomplished fact behind him. He therefore persuaded the Empress that whilst he would be pressing with the utmost speed the negotiations with the Kaiser, begun already, it would be advisable to bring from the front a considerable number of troops to Petrograd, so as to be able with their help to crush any effort at resistance attempted either by the population of the capital or by its garrison, about whose state of mind the minister did not feel quite sure. The Cabinet was so badly informed, in spite of its numerous spies, of what was going on in the army that it imagined the latter would only feel grateful and happy to see the campaign come to an end and be able to go back to its homes, and that in consequence it would lend itself with the greatest pleasure to any attempt made by the Monarch and the government to put an end to a struggle for which it did not feel any longer any enthusiasm at heart.