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Really nice AAR, I really enjoy it. Looking for more man, looking for more :D
 
Part 9 - The Coming Storm

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By the 1910s, with the “Belle Époque” now in its twilight, the situation in Europe grew increasingly dire, as the colonization of Africa aggravated tensions and rivalries among the Great Powers of Europe. Indeed, economic and military rivalries accelerated and accentuated the rapidly degrading economic situation. Then, on October 3rd 1917, the London Stock Exchange, the most important and influential stock exchange in the world, crashed. This economic crash, which would later be referred to as the “Great Depression” sent shockwaves through most of the world, with the British Empire being by far the largest and most powerful industrial force in the world. The German Empire suffered terribly in the crisis, its economy being greatly tied to the United Kingdom, the Empire’s greatest trading partner.

Rise of Russian Fascism (1915-1922)

Russia was also greatly affected by the economic crisis, which not only wrecked havoc on its relatively weak economy, but also greatly exacerbated its internal problems and pressures. While the widespread democratic reforms introduced in 1897 by the Tsar were intended to promote unity in the Empire (in order to avoid a repeat of the Russian civil conflicts that occurred from 1887 to 1896), they instead fostered even further division amongst the various political ideologies. These divisions and the resulting dissent gave rise to various militant and paramilitary groups which adhered to a new ideology, which emerged in Russia as a result of the country’s decline from greatness. The term “Fascism” was coined by well-known Italian journalist Benito Mussolini, who would later become famous during the 1920s for his anti-war activism and various essays on pacifism. These fascist groups grew considerably from 1915 to 1917. Following the Great Depression, support for the Fascists grew exponentially. In 1919, the Russian National Fascist Party (RNF), a coalition of the various fascist movements was formed. Under the leadership of Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, a charismatic officer in the Imperial Russian Army, the RNF (who’s members were commonly known as Blackshirts) grew greatly and earned the support of many of influential factions in Russia such as the military and the business class. As the economic crisis worsened, the Russian Fascists continued to gain strength. Despite this, the Tsar repeatedly refused to acknowledge the Fascists as a legitimate party and made many attempts to outlaw them, for fear of what they might do if they were ever to seize power. Soon, the Fascists realized their only chance at power would be if they seized it by force. In 1922, the Tsar appointed many Socialist ministers to his cabinet, greatly angering both the Fascists and the factions who supported them. Wrangel decided it was time to act: he and more than a thousand Blackshirts marched from Moscow to St-Petersburg to demand the resignation of the current government and the appointment of Wrangel as Premier to the Tsar (the equivalent of Prime Minister in Britain).

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Russian Blackshirts saluting a superior in Moscow in 1921

Upon hearing about this, the Tsar declared all members of Wrangel’s RNF to be traitors to the crown and sent troops to arrest the Fascists. However, as most of the military supported the Fascists and their cause, the troops not only failed to arrest the Fascist, but actively joined the march. On October 17th 1922, the Fascists reached St-Petersburg and still met with no resistance from the army. Under threat of a coup, the Tsar was forced to cave in to the Fascist demands. Two weeks later, an abortive communist coup gave the Fascists, now holding majority government, a good enough pretence to dissolve all democratic institutions and grant unlimited powers to Wrangel. While the Tsar vehemently objected to the reforms, he dared not use his veto because the Fascists were still supported by the entire military along with several influential members of the business class. His opinion was therefore ignored and the new act passed unanimously. Over the next few years, Wrangel and his new regime cracked down hard on every single opponent of their regime from communists to the various nationalist movements within Russia. Furthermore, masterful use of propaganda meant that the Fascists were able to forge a new kind of unity based on the ideas Slavic superiority. As a result, the Russian Empire’s foreign policy during the 1920s and 1930s was very much influenced by this pan-Slavic nationalism.

The Second American Revolution: Communism in America (1890-1911)

Meanwhile, in the US, the brutal Manhattan Massacre while appearing to have curbed the spread of communism instead became a rallying cry for the working class. By the early 1890s, the communists had gained considerable importance in the United States. The government in Washington tried very hard to quell the communists; however their efforts only seemed to spur them on further. In 1906, following the murder of Charles Ruthenburg, a prominent member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA), uprisings all across the US toppled municipal governments. Large parts of the army defected to the Communists: it was the beginning of the Second American Revolution. The Communist victory in the ensuing civil war [1] gave birth to the American People’s Republic of (the APR) in 1911. Slowly but surely, William Z. Foster, Ruthenburg’s successor as head of the Party, consolidated the government’s power, abolishing the Constitution and drafting the “People’s Constitution”. In it, the Federal government became the only legitimate governing body, effectively abolishing the State’s powers. Dissidents were arrested and/or executed and all newspapers and radio stations came under the control of the state. Many dissidents fled to Canada, but most were not so lucky. The revolution also caused most of the Great Powers to cut off trade to the APR in the hope of isolating communist state. However, this would also have the consequence of largely protecting the APR’s economy during the Great Depression due to its almost complete autarchy by 1917 (due to having been largely removed from the capitalist world system). The APR’s apparent immunity to the Great Depression seemed to validate the theory of Marxism and contributed to Socialist and Communist agitation across Europe.

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The official flag of the American People's Republic, adopted in 1914

The Fall of the Bourbon Monarchy: Fascism in France (1909-1926)

Following the French Restoration, there was hope once more of a new era of greatness for the country. However, France, short of expanding its colonies in Africa, had no room to expand (being hemmed in by the Anglo-German alliance). Therefore, the initial elation at the return of the monarchy gradually turned into disappointment. Indeed, the economy still hadn’t caught up to that of the United Kingdom or that of the German Empire and most of the population (who, contrarily to the ruling class, much less enthused about the restoration) started to resent the return of the king. Furthermore, the King’s handling of various political scandals involving widespread corruption of the ruling elite led to further discontentment. With the monarchy’s authority so weakened, the rise of extremism in France seemed inevitable. Various political and paramilitary groups started popping up, so much so that the King’s political police was unable to stop them. The economic crisis in 1917 would deal a devastating blow to the monarchy, who saw its popular support crash. Finally, in 1921, a noble was accused of killing a servant after the victim supposedly disrespected him. However, the he was the son of a powerful noble as well as being an important officer in the French army. Therefore, the noble was tried in a military court and quickly acquitted despite strong evidence (along with 3 eyewitnesses) of his guilt. Following this news, riots broke out all over France, demanding the situation be rectified. When the King set in the army, the people had had enough: the King had to go. Members of various underground Fascist and Communist paramilitary groups decided to join forces with the Republicans and the Socialists in order to overthrown the monarchy. Faced with this common front, the army was largely powerless to stop the rebels from marching to Versailles to overthrown the King. However, despite the tenuous alliance between them, the rest of the coalition remained wary of the Communists, who they themselves were mistrustful of their so-called allies. Indeed, the Communists were kept close by and, despite them being much closer and well placed for an assault on Versailles, the Coalition forced them to wait for the others for fear that, once they captured the city (and the King), the communists would turn on their allies (as they themselves were plotting to turn on the communists once Versailles was taken). In February 1922, as the Coalition towards Versailles, the King’s bodyguard betrayed him, killing him in his sleep and declaring Versailles to be open to the Coalition. Upon arrival in Versailles, the Coalition turned on their Communist allies and arrested them with the help of the army. They then declared the end of the Kingdom of France and proclaimed the creation of the Fourth French Republic. A provisional government formed in the following months comprised of the most important leaders of the Coalition. However, the Socialists and the Republicans attempted to keep the Fascists in check by giving a few, unimportant governmental positions. However, over the next four years, through various political intrigues, betrayals and murders the Fascists were able to jockey for positions of power within the Gouvernement Provisoire. Finally, in 1926, following an attempt on the life of Jacques Doriot, leader of the Party National de France by the remnants of a communist paramilitary group, the Fascists were able to force through a bill giving the French President unlimited powers. Following this decree, all dissent was violently crushed. Soon, all aspects of life in France had fallen under the control of the Fascists.

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Official flag of France under the fascist regime of Jacques Doriot, adopted in 1928

Meanwhile, extremist movements in the Balkan states threatened the already tenuous peace in Europe...

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Finally over ! Just some notes: the reason why I don't talk about the actual American Civil War and I address the rise of extremism in the Balkans in one sentence is because: 1) The making of the update had taken long enough, and I just wanted to put the damn thing online and 2) because would have gotten confusing and convoluted so for simplicity's sake I left those parts out.

However both will be addressed and properly fleshed out in their own bite-sized Annex chapters :)
 
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Wow - quite a different Europe then! Your depictions of the revolutions seemed very plausible to me, so well done. I can particularly imagine the French and Russian hardliners turning on their ineffective monarchs in the face of German supremacy. This must leave Germany in a somewhat awkward position now though!
 
the way i see it is this.

the two alliance in the second great war would be Germany, England , Belgium , canada, and italy versus
Communist America ,Fascist France , And communist Russia as the tripple entente.
the neutrals would be the netherlands switzerland sweden and the iberian peninsula. an maybe a late comer mexico
 
the way i see it is this.

the two alliance in the second great war would be Germany, England , Belgium , canada, and italy versus
Communist America ,Fascist France , And communist Russia as the tripple entente.
the neutrals would be the netherlands switzerland sweden and the iberian peninsula. an maybe a late comer mexico

Russia's fascist.
 
the way i see it is this.

the two alliance in the second great war would be Germany, England , Belgium , canada, and italy versus
Communist America ,Fascist France , And communist Russia as the tripple entente.
the neutrals would be the netherlands switzerland sweden and the iberian peninsula. an maybe a late comer mexico

Facists signing an alliance with communists?

Surely you jest, the facists would be more toward the neutral/monarchies/democracies than commies.
 
Interesting development. Is the APR the only communist stat in the world?
 
Bloody hell, Bismarck and Hood have their work cut out for them!
 
the way i see it is this.

the two alliance in the second great war would be Germany, England , Belgium , canada, and italy versus
Communist America ,Fascist France , And communist Russia as the tripple entente.
the neutrals would be the netherlands switzerland sweden and the iberian peninsula. an maybe a late comer mexico
Facists signing an alliance with communists?

Surely you jest, the facists would be more toward the neutral/monarchies/democracies than commies.

Your not too far off in your alliances there red1 ! All I'm willing to say right now is that things are going to get real rough, real soon ;)

As for the Fascists not wanting to ally the communists, I personally feel that while the Fascists are certainly vehemently anti-communist, one must remember they aren't above using Realpolitik to further their aims ;)

Interesting development. Is the APR the only communist stat in the world?

Yes, the APR is currently the only communist state in the world at this time and is very much an international pariah like the Soviets were.

Wow - quite a different Europe then! Your depictions of the revolutions seemed very plausible to me, so well done. I can particularly imagine the French and Russian hardliners turning on their ineffective monarchs in the face of German supremacy. This must leave Germany in a somewhat awkward position now though!

Yes, Germany (as well as the UK, who now needs to worry about securing the vast expanses of land in Canada) is in a very, very awkward position. Not only is it now facing a two front war, the Empire also has to defend it's colonial possessions agaisn't the French and possibly the Ottomans (who may or may not have designs on Egypt :eek:). So yeah, the storm is coming, and it will be big indeed
 
Ok so just so y'all know: my hard drive failed completely on me and I had to replace it and I just got it back up and running :))). Fortunately I have a backup of most of my stuff, but it's old and I'll need time to determine how bad the loss of data is.

However, fear not, this is surely but and minor speedbump and I hope to finish the two annex entries by the end of next week :)
 
The loss of data was much worse than anticipated. At this point, I'd have to put a significant amount of time and effort to remake most of the maps and all the stuff I had planned for future updates, time I just don't have what with work and life and everything.

This was fun, unfortunately events have transpired to make continuing this a massive chore, and so I am forced to end the AAR :(

However, I will make wrap it up with a rough overview of what "the vision" was. Y'know, give it a proper ending :)
 
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Well, will you still make new AARs after this one?
 
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