The Revenge of the Bear! A BeAARhug just for you!

[Mishgan]

This here shall be the first ever meaningful AAR of yours truly. For the layout of the AAR I shall most blatantly and inexcusably theft and steal and pillage from other great AARs, for I am just a completely unoriginal person.

I never intended my game to turn into an AAR, and just thought that I'd have a game in VIP:R 0.2. However, when the Crimean war struck, for the first time in all of my games, I was suddenly faced with something I’ve never faced before. I shall not say what, you’ll have to read the prologue that shall be posted pretty much in the coming minutes. But after this, I somehow had this idea of taking revenge and… Revenge of the Bear it is! The AAR shall start pretty much in the year 1854 and shall speak of an alternative history Russia that changed far more drastically than it did in the aftermath of the real Crimean War.

As you already understood, the game shall be modded, maimed and tortured at will depending on what I need done. However, the aforementioned processes shall be done simply to improve the game and not give myself unfair advantages.

All in all, I hope that this AAR will give me the courage to finally finish at least a single game until 1930s and not just hop off to another nation as my interest span dies out >.>

The pace of updating shall be slowish until the 4th of June as I am kinda in the middle of exams (next one on Tuesday). So… yeah. The Prologue is already done and Chapter 1 is in the phase of being finished, as I have already played into 1860s, the crucial first years of the new Russian Empire. So, actually, this part might be covered regularly, but once I ran out of notes and screenshots, you'll have to wait for me to play the game again


[center]__________________________________________

The Revenge of the Bear

Ye Table Of Things That Matter
Or
Ye Index

Ye Prologue

Chapter 1: And so it ends, and so it begins...

Intermezzo 1: Suomi 1858

Intermezzo 2: Polska 1858

Chapter 2 : Chaga-chaga-chaga-chaga! Tchuu-tchuu!

Chapter 3 : Flexing the muscles, rattling the sabre

Chapter 4 : The « Little Step » Years

Intermezzo 3 : The Russian Imperial Army

Chapter 5 : Eduard Araviyskiy

Chapter 6 : Russo-German War of 1866-1868

Chapter 7 : Onwards to Tsargrad!

Chapter 8 : Spring Cleaning

Intermezzo 4 : Russian Friends and Allies

Intermezzo 5 : Russia’s Austrian Headache

Chapter 9 : The Unstoppable Russian Tchuu-Tchuu!

Chapter 10 : Social Problems and Achievements

Chapter 11: I Am Hungry, Nothing Personal (Part 1)

Chapter 12: I Am Hungry, Nothing Personal (Part 2)

Chapter 13: Damned is the Dawn of a New Day

Intermezzo 6: God Must Be Lazy

Intermezzo 7: God Must Be Lazy 2

Intermezzo 8: God Must Be Lazy 3

Chapter 14 : “Congratulations, General-Fieldmarshal. Alexander” – Part 1

Chapter 15 : “Congratulations, General-Fieldmarshal. Alexander” – Part 2

Chapter 16 : The Bear Tsar

Chapter 17 : The June Split

Chapter 18 : The Calm before the Storm?

Chapter 19: The Year of the Two Constitutions

Chapter 20: The 125 Pre-Dreadnoughts

Chapter 21 : The Political Thaw

Chapter 22 : Warring on Two Fronts - Part 1

Chapter 23 : Warring on Two Fronts - Part 2

Chapter 24 : The Cliffhanger

Intermezzo 9 : The US Desert Act

Intermezzo 10 : The Kaiserreich

Intermezzo 11 : The Monarchy on the Danube

Intermezzo 12: The Crippled Lion Stands Undefeated

Intermezzo 13: The Boot of Europe

Intermezzo 14: Here be Vikings

Intermezzo 15: Atlas of the Russian Empire - Introduction

Intermezzo 16: Atlas of the Russian Empire – Chapter 1

Chapter 25: Stolypin’s First Year

Chapter 26: The boring year and the unpleasant surprise

Intermezzo 16: Atlas of the Russian Empire – Chapter 2

Intermezzo 17: Atlas of the Russian Empire – Chapter 3 - Colonies - Part 1

Chapter 27: The Visible Russian Hand

Chapter 28: The Hague Peace Conference

Chapter 29: Like Clockwork

Intermezzo 18: Atlas of the Russian Empire – Chapter 3 - Colonies - Part II

Intermezzo 19: Atlas of the Russian Empire - Chapter 4 - Finland

Intermezzo 20: Atlas of the Russian Empire – Chapter 5 - Poland

Intermezzo 21: Atlas of the Russian Empire – Chapter 6 - Bulgaria

Chapter 30: Catching up with the Naval Lag

Chapter 31: Aravian Nights

Chapter 32: Entente Cordiale

Intermezzo 22: The Wild, Wild West

Chapter 33: The Tsushima Incident

Chapter 34: Big Plots around a Little Country

Chapter 35: Happy, blessed Horvatia

Chapter 36: Union of South Africa

Chapter 37: Italy on the Crossroads





.

[Mishgan]

The Revenge of the Bear

Prologue

The great Mother Russia. From the picturesque Polish landscapes in the west to the cold shores of Alaska in the east. From the empty tundra in the north to the ancient city of Samarkand in the south. None doubted its greatness and who would have even dared to? The nineteenth century smiled to the country of the Holy Theotokos as Russian successes literally piled up on the world stage.

The General-Governorate of Turkestan in 1850. Establishment of Imperial authority stopped
the lawless raids on Russian settlements, even if sporadic local uprisings continue to this day.

Faced with the constant raids from the Central Asian khanates, Russia could only react, especially after thousands of its settlers in the periphery of Khiva were taken into slavery. Over a decade, several Cossack expeditions brought down the reclusive khanates of Khiva and Kokand in swift and victorious wars. The khanate of Bukhara remained for a time beyond the reach of Petersburg as London made it clear it did not desire Russian soldiers getting any nearer to its Indian dominion. But a tremendous diplomatic victory was attained when the British renounced all claims over Bukhara and Russia agreed to recognize Afghanistan as the border between the Russian and British spheres of influence.

Russian America and its population of sixty two thousand souls, half of which in Novoarkhangelsk (Sitka) alone

When gold was found not far from the fort of Novoarkhangelsk, “capital” of the Russian Alaskan colony, the Russian-American Company jumped on the opportunity to attract more colonists. And it was successful, for just in a spate of ten years, the fort of Novoarkhangels grew into a town of impressive size, with the area around it counting about thirty thousand souls (including natives), with an approximate sixteen thousand souls working in timber mills to the north and south of the town. All in all, it was estimated that with the influx, the settlers constituted about a half of the Alaskan population, even if the northern most areas remained unsettled and largely ungoverned.

Strong with its successes, Russia asserted a dominative foreign policy, promoting Slavic nationalism and rebellions within the Ottoman Empire. When in the 1850s France “gunboated” the Ottomans into making her the sovereign authority of the Holy Land, Russia protested vehemently. Russian troops entered the Danubian principalities in a show of force, provoking a chain reaction which led to the Crimean war.

That very Crimean War which was where all things ended and all things began. A coalition consisting of the Ottoman, French and British Empires, Kingdom of Sardinia. Hoever, the most humiliating blow was when the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia entered the war against Russia. “Nemetskoe predatelstvo” was how it came to be termed in Russia, the “German treason”.

The "Marmara disaster" would forever mark the Russian naval doctrines and revive the opinion
that Russia needed not only a strong army, but also a strong navy,
especially if it had neither of the two

Despite initial successes in the Caucasus and the occupation of Kars and Trebizond, Russian lines crumbled in Lithuania and Poland. General Pskevitch, commander of the Imperial armies in Poland, had to retreat to Warsaw in the face of the incoming Prussian and Austrian armies that overran the territory of the Congress Kingdom. Only the city of Warsaw escaped occupation as the Russian garrison entrenched itself there, with the unexpected help from the locals who, in between Russians and Germans, decided to side with the former. In the south, the Russian Black Fleet after initial successes in the Marmara sea and the bombardment of Constantinople was completely annihilated by a joint Anglo-French steamer fleet, proving the complete futility of the sails ships in the new era. In the north, the Northern Fleet made a daring raid on the British coastlines, bombarding coastal cities, sinking commercial shipping and troop transports and even sinking a number of disparate British ships, surprised by the daringness of the Russian move. But the raid was short lived as the British and French moved in to sink the Northern Fleet.

The Crimean War ended in defeat as Allied forces overran the Crimean peninsula and Turkish soldiers moved beyond the border fortress of Ismail. In 1854, Nicholas I, seeing his forces crumble and his fleets sent to the bottom of the seven seas, suddenly died. Rumours abound about the Tsar’s apparent suicide by poisoning, albeit none could ever verified and the official cause was cardial arrest. His son Alexander became Emperor Alexander II of all the Russias and had the difficult task of negotiating peace.

And peace was harsh. Russia lost the right to speak for the Christian subjects of the Ottoman Empire in front of the Porte. Russia lost southern Bessarabia to the Principality of Moldavia, one of the Christian vassal-states of the Ottoman Empire. Russia lost the right to establish a fleet in the Black Sea and build fortresses along the littoral. Her armies routed, her fleets sunk, Russia came out of the war defeated.

[robou]

Well... you certainly have your work cut out bringing Russia back from defeat. I will be following

[Mishgan]

The Revenge of the Bear

Chapter 1 : So it ends, and so it begins

In the immediate aftermath of the Crimean War and facing the poor state of Russia’s military and economic situation, Alexander II moved decisively. By the Emperor’s Manifesto, the first Russian Constitution was promulgated. Whilst the Russian Empire remained a largely autocratic state, with immense powers still residing in the hands of the Emperor to be used at his sole discretion, the Constitution none the less introduced important changes. It regulated the status of the Grand Duchy of Finland and the Kingdom of Poland, which were confirmed in their autonomy, albeit bound legally and constitutionally to the Russian Empire.

“In the flicker of a pen, the Russian Empire joined the club of Constitutional states,”
a British newspaper

The Imperial Constitution regulated other matters. The army, the administrative structure, the currency, the powers of Parliament, suffrage. The most important points are outlined below:

I. On the administrative level, all oblasts, with several exceptions (those composing the General-Governorship of Turkestan) were transformed into governorates. The change meant that from here on, just as in governorates, the roles of military and civilian-administrative heads would be separate. Governorates were consolidated to consist of several provinces.

II. The Grand Duchy of Finland was established as an autonomous, but integral part of the Russian Empire, subject to the Imperial Constitution and to the Acts of State Parliament:

- the Parliament of the Grand Duchy of Finland (Eduskunta) was sovereign to enact Acts within the territory of the Grand Duchy of Finland
- the Acts of the Eduskunta could not contravene the Acts of the State Parliament of the Russian Empire
- whilst the Finnish language was allowed as official within the Grand Duchy, it could only be used in addition to Russian
- the Grand Duchy of Finland could not disrespect the decrees of the Emperor of all the Russias, acting in his position as Grand Duke of Finland
- the territorial and administrative organization of the Grand Duchy of Finland was subject to decisions of the Eduskunta with approval of the Grand Duke of Finland

III. The Kingdom of Poland was established as an autonomous, but integral part of the Russian Empire, subject to the Imperial Constitution and to the Acts of State Parliament:

- the Parliament of the Kingdom of Poland (Sejm) was sovereign to enact Acts within the territory of the Kingdom of Poland
- the Acts of the Sejm could not contravene the Acts of the State Parliament of the Russian Empire
- whilst the Polish language was allowed as official within the Kingdom, it could only be used in addition to Russian
- the Kingdom of Poland could not disrespect the decrees of the Emperor of all the Russias, acting in his position as King of Poland
- the territorial and administrative organization of the Kingdom of Poland was subject to decisions of the Sejm with approval of the King of Poland

IV. Wealth-based suffrage was introduced for all Christian subjects of the Empire. Those who wished to vote and be eligible had to pay a tax. Suffrage in the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Finland was subject to consequent decisions by the relevant legislative authorities, but could not contravene the all-Russian suffrage laws by imposing stricter conditions or giving the right of vote and eligibility to non-Christians. Special provisions were foreseen for the elections to the State Duma.

V. The State Parliament was established as a bicameral legislative body, composed of the State Council (upper house) and State Duma (lower house). The State Parliament had tangible legislative powers, it could enact laws for the entirety of the Russian Empire, regulate judicial authorities and elect their judges. It could amend the Imperial Constitution with the consent of the Emperor. The State Parliament had no competence to reglement the House Laws of the Romanov Dynasty and had no power in deciding on questions of imperial succession.

VI. The State Council of the Russian Empire, until then an advisory organ, was officially made the upper house of the new State Parliament. Half of the State Council was appointed by the Emperor (Governors-General of Alaska and Turkestan, appointed by the Emperor to their respective position, were entitled automatic seats in the State Council), with the other half composed of elected representatives as follows:

- 1 representative from each governorate
- X representatives from the Eduskunta of the Grand Duchy of Finland (because the author can’t bother coming up with a number)
- Y representatives from the Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland (idem)

VII. The State Duma of the Russian Empire was established as the lower house of the State Parliament. Elections to the Duma depended on the Suffrage Tax Census. Elector districts were formed based on the density of voters and eligible personas, with each district sending a representative to the Duma. Districts were generally intended to be equal in terms of the number of voters enclosed. Special provisions were foreseen for the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Finland, in case the two autonomous parts of the Empire decide to extend the voting rights, which stated that only those who paid the Voting Tax could vote for the State Parliament of the Russian Empire.

VIII. Serfdom was to be abolished upon the convening of the State Parliament according to modalities and procedures decided by the State Parliament.

The Imperial Constitution introduced other important points. And whilst being far from the most liberal piece of legal text in the world, it was a great step forward. Yes, Russia did not have its equivalent of Chancellor or Prime Minister, with the Emperor retaining exclusive executive powers, but he now had a potent State Parliament to deal with. Yes, suffrage was discriminatory not only on the economic, but also on the religious points, but it was a huge step forward from "none". Yes, the Finnish and Polish nationalists were dissapointed that the Emperor, in his respective local roles, still retained extensive powers. But now their status was no longer at the whim of the Tsar.

The Imperial Constitution was enacted on the 12th of July, 1855, little more than a year after the Russian humiliating defeat in the Crimean War. The first session of the State Parliament was held on the 17th of January, 1856, with the State Duma being split in between two main political parties that emerged from the reform: the liberal Constitutional Democrats and the Conservative Democrats (guess which spectrum they were). Of these, the Conservative Democratic Party held the overwhelming majority.

The serfdom reforms cost about a third of the Russian treasury,
but the long term benefits were immense

The Emperor submitted his plan for the abolition of serfdom to the State Parliament, and, after some modifications, the abolition of serfdom was enacted on the 1st of August, 1856. Overall, the reform saw to the reimbursement of former land owners, passing of land into peasant property. The reform also foresaw an important financial package to encourage peasant activity and productivity in many areas of the Empire, including the Beloros, Maloros and Novoros regions, the Kouban and Siberia. The cost, however, was high, with British economists of the time estimating the reforms at about fifty thousand pound sterling, which was about a third of the Russian treasury at the time. (yes, the author modified the above event a bit because 1’000 is a tad… cheap)

However, the initial expenses soon paid off as the private sector began booming. In the security of Parliament-enacted laws and procedure, entrepreneurs were more confident in starting their business. By the end of the year 1857, Russia was a hive of economic activity as the rest of the world sat by and watched with amazement the rapid transformations occuring in a country they not so long considered nothing but a relic of the past.

[Mishgan]

Ye Speciale Requeste

For completely atmospheric points and whatnot, if some Polish and Finnish speakers read this AAR, be nice and point that out. I'll hammer you with questions for alternative history Finnish and Polish parties and personalities and whatnot to give more flavour to the posts.

__________________________________

Well... you certainly have your work cut out bringing Russia back from defeat. I will be following

Yepyep. Paying the Germans/Austrians back is what kinda scares me the most right now, what with their divisions and techs and alliances and whatnot. But... it won't stop me. *nodnod*

[Hastu Neon]

Very interesting Constitutional set-up. From a game perspective, I assume you have released as satellites Poland and Finland, haven't you?

[Mishgan]

Very interesting Constitutional set-up. From a game perspective, I assume you have released as satellites Poland and Finland, haven't you?

Nope. First of all, I do not trust the AI to manage the territories. Past experiences with a -200 industrial score Poland made me headdesk repeatedly on numerous occasions. I won't even mention Finland.

Secondly, sattelite status is an extremely weird arrangement and I shall depend on the AI, who is very stupid most of the time, to give me or not his expeditionary forces. Taking into consideration the fact that sattelites cannot promote soldier POPs, or so it seems from my games, their input is extremely limited.

Thirdly, attrition in sattelite territory. I guess the beauty of Polish women is so alluring that Russian soldiers stationed there would desert in their thousands. As for Finland, everybody just scampers off to heavy metal concerts.

And, finally, whilst I have missed it out, constitutionally, Poland and Finland do not have their armies, it's all the army of the Empire. And whilst I have no intention of giving myself finnish culture to send a prospective voittamaton suomen sotavoimat into battle, I am inclined to give Russia the polish culture. Which, I have to say, will come in extremely handy to give more flavour to the sooner or later to come "payback to Germans". So, yeah, instead of oppressing Poles I shall be industrialising them and... oppressing their sorry proletariat butts. Mwahahahaha!

[Estonianzulu]

That is an excellent start, I love the detail on the new Constitutional structure.

[stnylan]

Interesting detail constitutionally as Estionzulu says. If you cna navigate the social pitfalls though you should be able to turn Russia into quite a beast.

[robou]

the detail put into that work on the constitution is brilliant. I really love that level of detail!

[Mango Man]

Very interesting start. Will you treat Poland and Finland in the same way as the rest of the empire or will you impose restrictions on what you can do with them?

[Mishgan]

Hmmm... actually, instead of putting off the updates all the way until after June the 5th (mega phrase!), my loyal subjects... euh... readAARz questions have given me the idea of making an atmospheric post for Finland and Poland, describing their constitutional status as I envision it for my little AHRussia.

But it won't be for today, maybe tomorrow or thursday. Got like many many exams in a row starting tomorrow and ending saturday, then close to a week's break before the last exam

[robou]

AHRussia.

i swear, my mind was teling me to read that as Austro-Hungarian-Russia,....

[Dr. Gonzo]

Excellent stuff so far, nice combo of detail and speed (you'v caught up to my 20+ post AAR in 2 )

I'll be tagging along

[Mishgan]

The Revenge of the Bear

Intermezzo 1 : Suomi


Grand Duchy of Finland - Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta - Storfurstendömet Finland


Official Flag of the Grand Duchy of Finland

Russia came into possession of Finland in 1809 as a consequence of the Finnish War of 1808 and 1809. In March 29, 1809 already Emperor Alexander the Ist convened the famous Diet of Porvoo at which the representatives of the Finnish people pledged allegiance to the Russian Tsars. After this, however, Finland’s parliamentarism entered a long period of hibernation as no Diets were convened. Despite this, the Grand Duchy developed and evolved, as the local institutions of self-government strengthened. The Finns maintained a good relationship with the Imperial authorities, proving their continued loyalty to the Russian crown.

It was, thus, only a logical step that the Emperor of all the Russias and Grand Duke of Finland established a Finnish Parliament, and not a simple diet composed of representatives of various classes. The first Eduskunta was elected according to the voting laws introduced by the Emperor, namely the famous voting tax census. The Finnish Party (Suomalainen Puolue) won the most of the seats. Remarkably, the very first act of Parliament was to enact a Grand Ducal constitution in early 1858 which, amongst other things, expanded the suffrage laws to universal male suffrage. This reform was approved by an Act of the State Parliament of the Russian Empire and by the Emperor of all the Russias.

Map of the Grand Duchy of Finland. The Aland Isles,
a major naval base in the making, were under a special
Imperial administration, even if civilian matters were handled by Finnish authorities

The new constitution also regulated the matter of conscription. As the local laws could not contravene Imperial ones, a negotiation was conducted with the State Parliament of the Russian Empire, which resulted in a consensus decision. Whilst conscription into the Imperial army would be enforced in Finland, the number of Finnish recruits would be limited. Finnish recruits would serve together in Finnish regiments, these regiments grouped into Finnish divisions. Whilst Russian officers were quite logically expected to command, the “general commanding language” was established to Finnish and Swedish. These formations would be used to protect the territory of the Grand Duchy of Finland against hostile aggression, as well as participate in defending other Baltic and White Sea territories of the Empire. However, involvement of ethnically Finnish units beyond the set area could not happen without an express approval of the Senate of Finland, the Finnish executive.

As a result of this, sixteen regiments were raised and organized into three infantry divisions. These divisions were part of the Finnish Military District, under the command of the General-Governor of Finland. The disctrict in question, however, was not limited to the Finnish units only, as regiments from other parts of Russia also were assigned to the area from time to time. The order of battle of the Finnish divisions was as follows:

1st Finnish Infantry Division – southern coast, garrison of Helsinki and Tampere

- Helsinki Regiment of the Leib Guard – not to be confused with the Finnish Regiment of the Leib Guard. Whilst the latter consisted of Russian soldiers originating from the areas next to Petersburg, the former was composed of Finnish soldiers.
- 1st General-Governor's Helsinki Rifles Regiment
- 2nd Helsinki Regiment of the Line
- 1st Tampere Regiment of the Line
- Viipuri Regiment of the Line
- Kuoppi Regiment of the Line

2nd Finnish Infantry Division – western coast, garrison of Turku, Aland islands

– 1st Turku Rifles Regiment
- 2nd Turku Regiment of the Line
- 2nd Tampere Regiment of the Line
- Vaasa Regiment of the Line
- Rauma Regiment of the Line

3rd Finnish Jaeger Division – an infantry division responsible for patrolling and defending the northern reaches of the Grand Duchy, as well as the Kola Peninsula.

– 1st Lapland Jaegers Regiment
- 2nd Lapland Jaegers Regiment
- Oulu Regiment of the Line
- Rovaniemi Regiment of the Line

Another point that needs to be specified is that the Finnish executive came to be elected by the Eduskunta, with the post of “Minister of Finland” reserved for the head of the local government. The General-Governor of Finland, appointed by the Emperor, had a double role. First of all, he was the eyes and ears of the Emperor, who communicated with the Emperor and informed him of any acts that might need specific attention for the Imperial veto. However, the General-Governor himself had no executive political powers. On the other hand, the General-Governor was the commander of the Finnish Military District and, thus, also had large law enforcement prerogatives in case of major civil disturbances.

As far as languages were concerned, Finnish was raised to an official language, alongside with Swedish and Russian. However, as the empire quite clearly favoured the latter, Swedish had some hard times ahead of it as the Imperial education reform began to kick in. But on this later.

The first Eduskunta worked only for a bit more than a year and dissolved, with a new Parliament elected according to the new male suffrage laws.

An interesting story is that of the Grand Ducal flag, which became the point of numerous ping-pong battles in between Finnish and Russian politicians. Whilst the Finns favoured a style of Nordic cross to underline their Nordic ancestry, Russians saw in this as a threat to their dominion over Finland and some hot heads even rushed to accuse the Finns of treason. It took several years to find a compromise solution, during which a temporary flag (which was basically a flagged Finnish coat of arms) was flown. Eventually, a compromise solution feauturing a blue nordic cross with a cantonned Imperial flag was reached, which left all nationalists equally dissatisifed: Finnish nationalists had to bear with "that ugly thing in the corner" whilst Russian nationalists had to bear with "pretty corner, everything else ugly".

[Mishgan]

Do note that I have not yet most cheatedly hacked the game to turn a 30k Finnish pop into soldiers. However, once exams are done with, I very much plan on doing so, simply to have my very own flavour units that do nothing but eat on my budget.

Soon to come, Intermezzo 2: Polska. Stay tuned to the thread for more flavour details that have no impact on the gameplay!

[robou]

The Imperial Authorities need to make sure that the Finns don't become to Nordic again...

[stnylan]

The flag thing sounds just like the sort of thing to create a lot of political wrangling - and the compromise equally sounds just the sort of solution the political wrangling usually results in. Nice little update.

[Mishgan]

The Revenge of the Bear

Intermezzo 2 : Polska

Kingdom of Poland - Królestwo Polskie


Official Flag of the Kingdom of Poland

Once maybe the greatest and strongest state in Europe, the glorious days of Poland were far behind. The Congress of Vienna sealed the partition of Poland between Russia, Prussia and Austria and, surely as a sign of political joke, left little “independent” Polish statelet with the pompous name of “Free, Independent, and Strictly Neutral City of Kraków with its Territory”. Some at the time even joked that the name was bigger than the country. The Republic was incorporated into Austria in 1846, following local Polish uprisings.

In Prussia, the “autonomous” Grand Duchy of Poznan endured for some time. Whilst technically Prussia was obligated to encourage the development of the Polish nation, in effect Berlin had little interest in a strengthening of Poznan. And not only because it was a question of Polish against German, but also of Catholic against Protestant, Prussia being quite staunchly the latter. In 1848, the “Province of the Grand Duchy of Poznan” became the “Province of Posen”. In a symbolic, yet very suggestive act, even the “polish coloured” flag of the Grand Duchy was replaced with a more “Prussian” variant.

In Russia, the territory of the Kingdom of Poland, also known as the Congress Kingdom or the Vistulan Country, did not fair much better initially. The ages old rivalry between Catholic Poles and Orthodox Russians were ever present. The Poles demanded autonomy and revolted in 1830. Their rebellion was crushed, the Kingdom remained only on paper. However, when in 1851 Prussian and Austrian forces crossed the border, dispersing and routing Russian regiments on their path, the Poles aided disparate and disorganized groups of Russian soldiers, hid Russian officers away from Prussian and Austrian patrols and even contributed to hit-and-run attacks against the German soldiers. The exact reasons of this popular support to the Imperial armies is unknown. Some speculate that the “German alternative” was even less favourable to the Poles than what little autonomy they had under the Russians.

The Sejm restored the administrative structure in place before 1830,
with the State Parliament confirming the act

But this act did not go unseen, as Alexander II restored the autonomy of the Kingdom of Poland. A Polish sejm was elected and a Polish constitution was proclaimed. Overall, Polish constitutional arrangements were almost identical to those in place for Finland. However, Polish suffrage stuck to the Imperial system. A Polish Minister of Poland was elected by the Sejm in 1859.

Conscription was a hotly debated issue, just as it was in Finland. However, arrangements for Poland were quite distinct. Conscription would be enforced in Poland. Polish recruits would serve in Polish regiments. However, Polish regiments could be assigned to the same divisions as regiments from other parts of the Empire. Moreover, it was decided that Polish soldiers could be used by the Imperial army for “all missions in Europe, up to the Ural in the East and the rivers Don and Volga, to the east of the Black Sea along the general ark of Rostov-Tsaritsin-Astrakhan”. This was much to the dislike of numerous Russian generals that saw no better use for Polish soldiers as cannon fodder in the dangerous mountains of the Caucasus or the burning steppes of Turkestan. However, others quickly understood that the Poles were not against future wars against Germans to liberate their brethren in the north, south and west, but saw little interest in Russian ventures far away from their homeland.

Among other achievements for the Poles in Russia was the recognition of the Polish language as official within the Kingdom, even if Russian was to be “given preference in administration, commerce and courts, especially when communicating and treating with Imperial subjects that master not the Polish language”. The persecutions of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland were also all but finished, much to the disappointment of the Holy Synod of the Russian Church.

The restoration of the Kingdom of Poland was met with great hostility within Germany and Austria, who proceeded to clamp down on any embryos of Polish nationalist revolts. Ironically, in doing this they only further conforted the Poles of Russia that the “German alternative” was right out.

An interesting issue, just as in Finland, was the flag. The Sejm insisted on the “white and red” colours of the old banners of Poland. The State Parliament of the Russian Empire insisted that the flag would have to “make it clear that the Kingdom of Poland was an integral part of the Russian Empire”. Just as in Finland, the wranglings went on. During that period, a multitude of flags were used. Local Polish councils flew a white and red bicolour (both variants of white on top and red on top were flown) or a red flag defaced with the polish white eagle, while the General-Governor of Poland and the forces under his command flew the “St. Andrew's flag with cantoned with polish banner”. When the compromise solution on Finland was reached, the State Parliament proposed a variant of the bicolour with the Russian tricolour in canton, but the Sejm did not accept it and changed the design, by tilting the Russian tricolour ninety degrees and to right edge of the flag. The State Parliament modified it further, this time moving the tricolour to the hoist. The solution was accepted and, just as the case for Finland, caused much anger in nationalist circles on both sides.

[Mishgan]

And that's it, no further updates until at least June the 5th.

Excellent stuff so far, nice combo of detail and speed (you'v caught up to my 20+ post AAR in 2 )

I'll be tagging along

Thank you. But I do intend to take it a tad slower from there on. However, as we all play this game and know how the gameplay works, I'll try to keep it to a minimum and instead try to write out atmospheric posts in such a way as to not make them boring and fall into the tl;dr category

The Imperial Authorities need to make sure that the Finns don't become to Nordic again...

Not many chances of that, I’d guess.

The flag thing sounds just like the sort of thing to create a lot of political wrangling - and the compromise equally sounds just the sort of solution the political wrangling usually results in. Nice little update.

Thankies. I’ve tried to make “compromise” style designs for both the Finnish and Polish flags, all while trying to keep them as simple as possible. So the British “ensign” solution was right out, as not only the ensigns are structurally and graphically complicated, but I also find that somehow the Finns and Poles of the time would have gone “nah thx” with such a style. On the other hand, it could have been symbolically important for the Russians to ensure that Imperial symbolism was present prominently in the flags.

That and I just like making flags. It’s quite relaxing after two criminal law exams during a single day >.>