Russia in the 20th Century: a Kaiserreich AAR/Story

[FlyingDutchie]

OOC: What's Markov's stance on the return of a constitutional Tsardom?

Markov was one of the officers supporting the Kornilov putsch. Later he sided with Denikin and Wrangel in the south. I guess you could see him as one of the many officers whose loyalty to Russia comes before loyalty to some noble, even if he's the czar.

To Stormbringer, good job with Don-Kuban, Georgia and Primorsk. Is Georgia a puppet or part of our alliance?

As for the current matters facing the administration, I apologise for being late to react. But still, here is my advise.

- The army still proposes action in Asia first. The unpredictable regimes in Turkestan and Mongolia are the biggest threat to the peace in the region. We propose setting up a puppet in Mongolia afterwards. As for Central Asia, we still propose including all of the former Alash Orda into our great nation, mainly because of thestrong cultural and historical ties between us and the Kazach. We propose to split Turkestan into a rump-Turkestan, Uzbekistan and Kirgizistan.

-Composition of the army. To make the most of General Markovs ideas, we need a solid motorized army, we advise adding motorized, mechanized and armoured division together for combined-arms bonus. Perhaps some mountain divisions can be build, which will give us an advatage in future campaigns in the Caucasus

- Composition of the airforce. This minister never understood the use forstrategic bombers, preferring to destroy enemy forces with CAS and tactical bombers. We therfore advise not wasting too much IC on strategic bombers.

- Composition of the navy. The army does not care about some drunken sailors and their toy boats. As long as a new fleet has amphibious capabilities, were happy.

[Stormbringer]

Semyon Timoshenko (January 1939 – January 1940)



Semyon Timoshenko, born 1895, was born into a peasant family in southern Ukraine. He was drafted into the Russian army during the Weltkreig and served as a cavalryman. He joined the Red Army following the revolution and fought at Tsaritsin, where he was captured by soldiers of Anton Denikin’s Volunteer Army. He spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner.

Kerensky rehabilitated all but a handful of Red Army soldiers after the Civil War and Timoshenko entered the military service once again. Since he fought for the Bolsheviks in the Civil War he always remained outside the “Denikin clique” that ran the Russian Army and as a result received postings away from Moscow and St. Petersburg. Nevertheless, he proved to be a most capable officer and rose to the rank of General by 1930. Following Sergey Markov’s appointment as Chief of Staff Timoshenko was sent to the Mongol border during Markov’s reorganization of the army.

The Mongol-Turkmen alliance destroyed the last remnants of Kazakh resistance during the winter of 1938-1939, and some Russian-populated areas of Kazakhstan came under Mongol control. The Turkmen leadership announced that the goal of the Turkmens was to restore the Islamic Caliphate (including all of southern Russia) and the Mongols were openly talking about taking Siberia from the Russians. General Markov begun a massive movement of Russian troops to the Central Asian border and in late March the minor border skirmishes of the previous few months finally transformed into a full-scale war.



There were four top rank officers on the border. Markov and his officers commanded the front from Omsk where the Turkmen forces were concentrated, Zhukov and his newly created Armored Group were at Novosibirsk, and Generals Semyonov and Timoshenko were commanding the effort against the Mongols from Ulan-Ude. In all, this was the largest military operation of the Russian Army since the Weltkreig.



When the Russian offensive started in April, Timoshenko was in charge of the attack on Ulan Bator. His units brought heavy artillery fire upon the Mongolian positions, obliterating enemy positions. General Timoshenko was not one to use a division when an army would do, and so his men continued to advance slowly, wiping away any remnants of Mongol troops with overwhelming artillery fire. In the hills of Mongolia this process took months but finally Timoshenko was outside of Ulan Bator.



There were indications that the Mongol defenders of the city may be willing to surrender and General Semyonov tried to persuade Timoshenko to negotiate with them. “The only kind of surrender I accept is an unconditional one,” Timoshenko said and ordered the artillery to shell the city. Almost a third of the city’s population was killed by the end of the ordeal, and the Buddhist Monastery that was the founding center of the city was whipped out. The Russian Army took what remained of the city on May 22nd.

Baron von Sternberg was presumed dead in the siege of Ulan Bator, although his body was never recovered. Even if he did escape he never attempted to lead a resistance against the Russians from anywhere outside the city and Timoshenko installed a loyal pro-Russian government in the city. The remainder of Mongolian resistance collapsed as news of Ulan Bator’s capture and von Sternberg’s disappearance spread and Mongolia was effectively knocked out of the war.



On the Turkmen front the events were not going nearly as well for the Russians. Despite initial success in defeating the Turkmen armies the Russians found it hard to advance and hold ground. Some towns and villages must have changed hands a dozen of times during those few months. Frustrated with the pace of the war General Markov announced a re-organization of the front that included bringing in the forces that were previously involved in Mongolia. The plan was for General Timoshenko to attack from Altai, proceed to Alma Ata, and then to move to Tashkent, while Markov and Zhukov tied down Turkmen forces in the north. In early July Russia begun this second offensive.



Timoshenko’s tactics proved to be useless in the mountains of Central Asia. His infantry with artillery brigades were bogged down and advanced at a snail’s pace. They never saw any action at all during the campaign, taking one village after another without resistance, but the progress was dismal. In the west an offensive near the Aral Sea went poorly and a group of Russian troops was cut off by a Turkmen counter-attack. By the end of August the situation looked no better than it did two months ago. As a result Markov transferred over command of the eastern section of the front from Timoshenko to Zhukov who in turn devised a new plan to bring the Turkmens to their knees.



Zhukov’s “March to Tashkent” was the first effective use of an Armored Group by any country. In less than a month Zhukov penetrated deep into Turkmen territory, seizing the major population and industrial centers of the country and decimating the defenses Turkmens tried to put up. After the fall of Tashkent the remaining Turkmen forces surrendered or dispersed, and the sporadic resistance was put down by remaining Russian forces.



While war in Central Asia was coming to a close Timoshenko was reassigned to the Caucuses. Tensions between the Russians and the Azeris have been escalating ever since the Azeri government decided to eject Russian companies from Azerbaijan. Negotiations were underway in Baku, with Nekrasov trying to persuade the Azeris to allow the Russians back in. The Azeris, relying on their alliance with Persia and Afghanistan, were refusing.

Finally, in October, negotiations broke down. Smirnov and Chernov were reluctant to act against Azerbaijan but Russia needed oil and the Azeri oilfields presented the only plausible solution. Markov was not happy with Timoshenko being the commanding officer in the Caucuses, but reassigning him right before a war was to start would be equivalent to saying that Markov held absolutely no trust in him, and Timoshenko was allowed to stay.

This time around Timoshenko proved to be rather effective. His artillery decimated the enemy military while the Special Mountaineer Forces that were based in Grozny advanced quickly through the mountains. Still, the war dragged on in the snow-covered mountains until December 14th, when Baku was taken and the Azeri government replaced with a pro-Russian one. Officially Russia was also at war with Persia and Afghanistan but no actions were taken against them so far, and probably wouldn’t until the end of winter.

By January 1st Markov and Zhukov arrived in Baku and took over command from Timoshenko. Despite his good performance in Azerbaijan Timoshenko would forever be remembered for his brutal assault on Ulan Bator and would from now on only play secondary roles in the Russian military operations.


OOC: Sorry, forgot to take screenshots of the war in Azerbaijan. In Central Asia, for now there is a Kazakh and a Uzbek puppet governments. I wanted to create the Kyrgyz, Turkmen, etc. puppets as well, but something is messed up with the tags, the Turkmens show up where the Kyrgyz should be.

[TRP]

So much useless puppets

Could I resign from the post of internal affairs? R/L has me dedicate my time elsewhere atm. I like your concept, however, and it seems to be picking up in other newer AARs aswell (the Hungary AAR, Lithuanian KR AAR for example). If I manage to pick loose some free time in January I'd love to try and take this concept to the limits in a very short-duration mini-AAR, introducing players as party leaders, have players establish their own parties, give control of the nation to whoever is elected Prime Minister. We'll see what we can come up with

-Vincent

[Stormbringer]

Sad to see you go Vincent. You can certainly move from Internal Affairs to just being and Adviser and we will appreciate your comments whenever you get the chance to make them. I am sure someone will pick up the position.

I'm also glad to see this concept evolving. This is not exactly what I had in mind when I started the AAR, but I am happy to run with it and see where it takes us.

[TRP]

Sad to see you go Vincent. You can certainly move from Internal Affairs to just being and Adviser and we will appreciate your comments whenever you get the chance to make them. I am sure someone will pick up the position.

I'm also glad to see this concept evolving. This is not exactly what I had in mind when I started the AAR, but I am happy to run with it and see where it takes us.

Yes, I think it will be an interesting concept, break up the Author/Reader system and make an aar written and played by everyone . Possibly coming soon

" 'Realpolitik' - A (country not chosen yet) Democratic miniAAR' "

[yourworstnightm]

The smartest postwar plan for Central Asia;
a) annex ethnic Russian territory
b) create a free Kazakh nation as well as a frinedly government in Bukhara.

With Caucasus and Central Asia under Russian influence, Russia should turn her attention towards West, and do all to create a Union with Belarus and Ukraine.

[Stormbringer]

We are still at war with Persia and Afghanistan, or is that not important?

[FlyingDutchie]

Trying a regime change in Afghanistan and Iran? Both are of secondary importance I guess, but more friendly regimes never hurt. Strengthens our position in the Middle-East too...

I am still of the opinion that Belarus, the Baltics and Ukrain should become part of our Empire by the way .

Hope you don't mind too much of us all interfering with your AAR, guess some of us can get a bit carried away .

[Stormbringer]

Not at all, I love the fact that so many people get to participate. And its not that I prefer a war in Persia first, it is the fact that we ARE at war since we invaded Azerbaijan. And we can either stall the Persians for a while and take care of Ukraine, or we can finish the war in Persia and then turn to Ukraine.

[Stormbringer]

ELECTIONS

The 1940 elections are just 4 months away and planning is now underway! There are in fact two elections that will take play in April of 1940 – the first to elect the next President of Russia, and the second to elect all 450 members of the Duma. Excitement all around!

To familiarize yourself with Russian politics and the political situation please see here (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...9&postcount=32) and here (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...&postcount=206).


PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

The President is the single most important person in Russia and has the broad power to direct domestic and foreign policy. Here are the candidates for the post:


Nikolai Yezhov (Blood and Fatherland)

Yezhov served briefly in the Russian Army and then in the Red Army during the Civil War. Since then he had made a career in Russia’s Intelligence Agency, becoming a promising young operative. He rose to the forefront of Russian politics when he emerged as one of the leaders of a young nationalist movement that advocated for a strong, expansionist Russia but at the same time cut off all ties to the Tsarist past.


Dmitri Romanov (Conservative)

Grand Duke Romanov is not the head of the Romanov family (Vladimir Romanov is) but he is the most politically active of the former Imperial family. He does not directly advocate for a restoration of the Monarchy, but some fear that he would move in that direction if elected. Primarily he is seen as the leader of the wealthy landed elite and the aristocrats who still cling to what power they have left, and some believe that he would work to further the interests of that class rather than of the country as a whole.


Vasily Maklakov (Constitutional Democrat)

The Kadets had a difficult choice in nominating a candidate. On one hand Smirnov is the clear leader of the party, but on the other hand he is quite inept at politics. In the end Maklakov was chosen as a candidate. A lifelong liberal politician he is full of liberal elitism and has trouble connecting with ordinary people, but he is an exceptional jurist and emphasizes economic growth and prosperity as the key goals moving forward.


Viktor Chernov (Social Revolutionary)

The incumbent President he suffers from being too “academic” and not political enough. He has a brilliant mind but everyday people are not impressed by philosophical discussions about the nature of social justice. Still, he is a champion of social justice and has a record of four years during which he has accomplished more than Kerensky had in the previous two decades.


Nikolai Bukharin (Menshevik)
Bukharin is a true populist and a great political operative. Everyone expected Irakli Tsereteli to be the nominee, but Bukharin convinced Tsereteli of a need for a broad lifet-wing coalition and, of course, the need to nominate Bukharin. He comes with the stain of being a former Bolshevik, but he is apparently “reformed” and now is pushing for a radical leftist agenda of worker empowerment and wealth redistribution.


LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS

The Duma is not as important as the President, but it still controls almost all national legislation and will limit what kind of policies the President can implement.

Blood and Fatherland

A coalition of former and current military men, supposedly supported by Peter Wrangel. These men advocate a strong state that can control the society and the economy, and aggressive expansion abroad. Unfortunately, while they may be patriots, they do not appear to have a significant constituency outside the officer corps.

Conservatives

A loose coalition of politicians who hold conservative views. It includes Monarchists, landowners led by Vladimir Purishkevich, and aristocrats such as Nikolai Trubetskoy. In general these men support policies that benefit them – extending Russian access to resources abroad, divesting power to local organizations they can dominate, and keeping workers from organizing. Unfortunately for the Conservatives their power is waning fast as a new bureaucracy takes a hold of the country.

Union of October 17

With the deaths of Rodzianko and Guchkov the party has lost a lot of its unity and appeal. Formerly a party that advocated for reform to set up a Constitutional Monarchy it now finds itself in a position where it is, at least in name, Monarchist, which puts it far right of center of Russian politics, but advocating domestic policies that nobody on the right supports. Still, it is an attractive choice for liberal aristocrats and upper classes that balk at the nearly reactionary policies of some Conservative politicians.

Constitutional Democrats

The death of Pavel Milyukov left the Kadets without a real political leader. Smirnov is the ideological leader of the party that cherishes individual liberty and market economics, but he is unpopular. Market economics appeals to the growing business class in Russia and the hawkish foreign policy advocated by the Kadets gives them some support across most urban constituencies. Outside of the cities though the party has almost no support.

Social Revolutionaries

Chernov and Tereshchenko are both relatively popular figures and the party’s primary issue of social justice appeals to workers and other middle and lower class people. This party can point to real accomplishments while in office, giving it more credibility, and is by far the best recognized name across the country. It struggles in rural areas where literacy rates are low and the peasants have a hard time with understanding the party’s platform.

Mensheviks

The names tuck after the Civil War even though the Bolsheviks no longer exist. They are an outright socialist party which supports worker’s rights, land and wealth redistribution, etc. It is strong in major industrial cities where the worker’s unions provide a bulk share of its votes, but it is hard pressed when competing with SRs for the more moderate voters.


WHAT YOU CAN (AND SHOULD) DO

You can, and should, express a preference for your candidate and party. That alone, however, won’t do too much. What you need to do is create a platform and election strategy for your candidates, including things like what the candidates promise, where they should campaign, what issues they should focus on, etc.

In addition, everyone, but especially those of you who don’t support a specific party, can write up your analysis of what is going on. Which party you expect to gain/lose ground in places and why, what issues you believe to be the most relevant and why, etc.

All of these things combined will determine who wins the elections.

ELECTIONS ARE OVER LATE TOMORROW EVENING. SO DON’T DELAY TOO LONG.

[FlyingDutchie]

### Top Secret ###

Analysis on the vote of the army

To the advisor to the army,

with the current elections coming up, we tried to analyse how the soldiers and officers of our army will vote.

The average soldier is a half literate young man from the countryside, enlisted during the rebuilding of the army in the last few years. Most of these man have never left their village of birth before enlisting. They tend to vote for either the conservatives, representing the values they grew up with, or the SR, being the government that led them and the nation to victory. All other groups are represented to a lesser degree.

Our estimate would be
1. Conservatives - most enlisted man are sons of peasants after all
2. Social Revolutionaries - the goverment has done a good job
3. Mensheviks - some Reds have re-enlisted
4. Blood and Fatherland - populism can take root under the more extreme officers
5. Constitutional Democrats - liberal views have never trickled down towards the poorer sections of our society

The officers on the other hand are a completely different story. Basically they can be grouped in three groups: the white veterans, the red veterans and the new career officers.

A large number of our highest officers are veterans from either side of the civil war. The White officers still hold dominance, being the men who lead Kerensky to victory. Wrangel, Kornilov, Denikin and Markov are all part of this group. Yet Wrangel and his close friends have voiced their concern with the weakness they associate with democracy. Some even suspected Wrangel of attempting a coup. His current condition means he cannot leave the hospital, leaving the extreme Blood and Fatherland without a popular figurehead to campaigm for them.
Denikin and Markov have both served under Keresky and Chernov, and are known for their moderate political views. Perhaps one of these men will speak out and will support one of the democratic parties. Their voice carries significant weight with soldiers and civilians alike.
A small number of officers, like Marshall Sherbatchev, still wish to return to the old order of things and fight for the return of the Czar. That Sherbatchev was one of the reasons the Brusilev-offensive failed does not help his cause though.
The Red officers are split over the parties too. Some of the more ideologically minded might openly support Bukhanin, several others have distanced themselves from the Mensheviks and vote either SR or Blood and Fatherland!
All by all we expect the vote of our officers to be completely split, although the more well known officers might openly support a party.

### Top Secret ###

###############

### Top Secret ###

The strategy to influence the votes of our men

To the advisor to the army,

as you instructed, we have forbidden any open support to Blood and Honour, proclaiming that our role as protector of Russian democracy is not compatible with the visions of Blood and Fatherland.
Generals Denikin and Markov will give interviews to national newspapers speaking about the dangers Russia faces in the form of extremism. Wrangel will NOT give any interviews. Keep him closed in for healthreasons if he protests.
We hope this will be enough to keep the current government in charge, although we will not contest any democratic victory of another party besides Blood and Fatherland.
We still have some further plans in case the elections threatens to go wrong.

### Top Secret ###

[Stormbringer]

Excellent job FD! This is exactly the kind of thing I want to see. Up: Conservatives, Democratic parties, Down: Blood and Fatherland

[FlyingDutchie]

Excellent job FD! This is exactly the kind of thing I want to see. Up: Conservatives, Democratic parties, Down: Blood and Fatherland

Can I advise one of the parties too, besides simply acting at my capacity of advisor to the army? Personally feel an army should try to refrain from politics (Clausewitz and all) but I have my own opinion too...

[yourworstnightm]

We need stability. The navy fears that a regime change would cause unease and chaos, which would hurt all plans of ever rebuliding naval glory. The navy feel that the best candidate would be Chernov, and at least most of the officers are ready to back him. Some of the sailors support Bukharin and Yezhov, but the message from the navy is clear; we wish President Chernov and the Social Revolutionaries all luck in the upcoming election!!

[Stormbringer]

Can I advise one of the parties too, besides simply acting at my capacity of advisor to the army? Personally feel an army should try to refrain from politics (Clausewitz and all) but I have my own opinion too...

Please, by all means. There is not really a very clear separation her between IC and OOC personas, but the more stories and posts we have here the better. You can even advise every single party if you want.

[yourworstnightm]

More indepth analysis of the naval votes;

The officers are ready to back Chernov and the Social Revolutionaries. They fear a change of government would increase the instability of Russia and are willing to throw their lot behind Chernov. His government has at least started a stabilization process. Some officers of more aristocratic background will throw their lot behind the Conservatives.

The sailors are men of poor background without any real understanding of politics. Most will vote Chernov and Social Revolutionaries because their officers say so, but some are moved with the rethoric of Yezhov and Bukharin, so expect some votes for the Mensheviks and Blood and Fatherland.

The navy is much smaller than the army, so these votes will weight less than the army votes.

[Stormbringer]

Anyone got anything to say on how people outside the armed forces are expected to vote?

And btw, since Vincent is busy IRL we need a new Domestic/Economic policy adviser. Any takers?

[FlyingDutchie]

The votes of many people seem to go towards the current government. Under Chernovs rule Russia has changed from a husk of a country to a Great Power. Her armies are large and modern, her industry prospers, old territory is regained and the rights of the common people are respected.
The old aristocrats still hold power in many parts of the countryside though, but even there Chernovs reforms are changing life for the better. The support towards 'Faith and Nation' means the relation between government and the church are cordial, even if the Patriarch might have hoped for more. The conservatives are thought to remain a factor of influence, although their support is waning as long as they remain a party led only by aristocrats

Bukhanin remains popular as ever. If he can prove that he is truly reformed, he might take several of the growing industrial cities.
Blood and Fatherland might struggle. The leadership of both Army and Navy are taking strong steps against the organisation and have even threatened to take steps against them. The fact that Yezhov is an angry little man with little charisma doesn't help either.
The kadets are expected to keep their current size. They claim the industrialisation programme as their succes, but they remain a party of shopkeepers and the urban elite.
The octobrists are losing strenght to the monarchist conservatives and blood and fatherland. Of all parties they ar expected to lose the most.

As to Vincents position, I think one of the advisors without a portofolio should have it.

[Stormbringer]

Yeah, I expect one of the advisers to pick it up, just making sure that it gets mentioned so they see it. Keep up the good work!

[ColonelIronboot]

*sneaks out of the Foreign Ministry building and glues a poster to the wall*