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One note - since the revolution in Russia didn't happen at all, word Soviet should be crossed out of dictionary. Soviet (plural soviety. adjective sovyetskiy) means "council" or "advice" in Russian and was used to describe all those collective bodies that were supposed to rule during and after the revolution. IMHO, should the revolution really take place somewhere along the Danube, the new form of government should use local words for councils and collectives instead. German or Hungarian - wherever the revolution breaks out.
 
if they were to use modernist/futurist motive of hard mathematically clean lines as eagle they wouldnt go for odnovlyenye but for supremacy for future and modernisation (culturally acceptable of course)... guys who would go for odnovlyenye would go for traditional eagle and woudln't go far.

Here's the thing . . .

I got the idea of SNOR from Ill Bethisad. In Ill Bethisad's timeline the Whites defeated the Soviets in the Russian Civil War, creating a nationalistic government. The clean-lined eagle was the SNORist emblem.
 
One note - since the revolution in Russia didn't happen at all, word Soviet should be crossed out of dictionary. Soviet (plural soviety. adjective sovyetskiy) means "council" or "advice" in Russian and was used to describe all those collective bodies that were supposed to rule during and after the revolution. IMHO, should the revolution really take place somewhere along the Danube, the new form of government should use local words for councils and collectives instead. German or Hungarian - wherever the revolution breaks out.

Maybe if the Bolsheviks take over Germany, the word Spartacist would take over the meaning instead of Soviet. That's a possibility.
 
Maybe if the Bolsheviks take over Germany, the word Spartacist would take over the meaning instead of Soviet. That's a possibility.

yeah, then they would go for danubian states trying to weaken russian presence in mediterranean and show off to western powers they aren't their enemies... Union of Spartacist Socialist Republics of Central Europa :)
 
I like the sound of that :)
 
Agree about the word "Soviet", let's call them "Socialists", "Marxists" or "Communists". So, you'd like a communist revolution in Germany? Interesting thing, I hope that Germany would make the right choice in 1933 :)
 
The Darkest hour of the Russian Empire 2

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Chapter Two: 1930s
Part VII: Death of the legend 1930

After the elections the power in Russia was split between liberals and conservative. KD and LDP got majority in the Senate and saved positions of foreign minister (Liberal-Democrat Konovalov) and economics (financial genius Ryabushinsky, who managed to make so-called "Russian economic wonder" in 1925-1929. But the key position of minister of the interior affairs was lost to a very conservative Alexander Makarov, who already had that post in 1919-1924. 1930s started with a deep economical crisis, which affected all countries with market economy, but in Russia it wasn't so serious...at least...

The Gray September, or the Tsar is dead - long live the Tsar!



Last portrait of the Emperor at the age of 63.​

On 26 of September all radio programs of the Russian Empire stopped for a second and then suddenly changed. Warned citizens of the Empire heard a nervous voice of news presenter, who was shocked by his own words.
Today, on 26 of September, at 6 p.m, a disaster struck our country. Our dear, benevolent Emperor, His Royal Highness Nicholas the Second, died in his room after a heartbreak. Best medics of the Court tried to save his life for three hours, but they couldn't do anything. According to his adjutant, the Emperor's last words were: "Don't cry about me"

After these words the presenters' voice broke, but he managed to keep himself calm and continued:

Nicholas II had been ruling our country from 1894 till 1930 and he saved our beloved Motherland in the dark years of the Great War. His Imperial Majesty's wise policy led to creation of the Constitution and elected Parliament. During his reign our country became a developed industrial state. His Majesty was a friendly, kind-hearted man who never shouted at his ministers and advisors. Official ceremony of the Imperial funerals are planned on 29 of September, and one-month mourning was announced today. Imperial crown prince, Tsesarevitch Alexis, would be crowned two month later as the new Empreror and Autocrat of All the Russias. Imperial prime minister mister Tereschenko and the members of Imperial Senate had already sent their condolences to the Empress. Our Tsar was only 63 when he passed away....
Millions of people couldn't simply believe that. Some of them hated Nicholas II, some of them truly loved him, but nobody of them could understand why that not-so-old, healthy and sporty man could die. Nicholas II was a complicated person with his strengths and weaknesses. But his will helped him to save Russia from the death in 1914. And it was his main decision, the most positive side of his reign.

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The Funerals in St. Petersburg​

St. Petersburg was in one great mourning - people were crying, staring in disbelief at the funeral procession. Their Emperor, their Tsar-the-father, was dead after 36 years of reign. But there was another question - about the heir. Crown prince Alexei (or Alexis II) was just like his father - soft, kind, friendly and patient person. But he became the Emperor when his power wasn't absolute and his personal character wouldn't be so important for a successful reign. Emperor Alexis suffered from hemophilia, and because of his bad health he decided to give more power to the prime minister. But the new Tsar wasn't weak, and he already got through the most dangerous stage of his illness, so some chances to fully recover weren't distant. Russia got new ruler, so we have to speak about him and his father.

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Emperor Alexis II

Born: 1904
Crowned: 1930



Personal Bio

Tsarevitch Alexei (Alexis is Romanized form of his name) was born in 1904 during the Russo-Japanese war, which was lost by his father, Tsar Nicholas II. He was the fifth child in the royal family - before him the Empress gave birth to Grand Duchess Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia. At the beginning of his life Alexei was a normal, funny and healthy boy, but later (at the age of 2) it became obvious, that he was a hemophiliac - that illness was very wide-spread amongst the European monarchs...

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Alexis as a baby​

His ilness was progressing every year, and he couldn't play as other ordinary children. His parents decided to use his free time for his education. Alexei had a very complicated everyday routine - in spite of the fact that he was just a little ill boy, he was still an Imperial crown prince, so he had to visit all important places together with his father. His only friends were his sisters and his dog.

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Tsarevich at the age of 5​

Of course, Nicholas and Alexandra realized, that their son would never become an officer (like all Romanovs did) because of his weak health (Alexei's target was simply to survive to the age of 20 to get through the most dangerous stage of illness, and it was a big question, because most of hemophiliacs died before 15-20 years), but Alexis liked military uniforms, and his favorite dress was a seaman's tunic. He loved the sea very much, and never lost a chance to visit Tsar's yacht (even when his health was in trouble).

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Alexis in sailor's tunic​

When Alexis was about six, he became treated by a very strange person called Grigory Rasputin. Somebody considered him a saint, somebody considered him a mad maniac, but he was very kind with Alexei, and - nobody knew how - he managed to really improve the health of the crown prince. After Rasputin's care Alexei got an ability to go for a walk, play some simple games outdoors, and when Alexis was ill, Rasputin knew how to lower his pain.

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Mysterious Rasputin​

In 1914, when the Great War began, Alexis was 10 years old. His father became a superior commander of the Russian Army, and Alexis wanted to be with him. Nicholas agreed and took the boy to Stavka. Little clever boy in corporal's dress soon became very popular amongst the generals and the soldiers. Meetings in Stavka helped little Alexei to forget about his illness for a while.

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Tsarevitch circa 1914​

Alexei followed his father everywhere. The father was everything for the crown prince, he loved him very much and he had no other authorities. Visiting hospitals, where he saw how terribly the soldiers were wounded, he started hating the war. Once he asked his father:
- Daddy?
- What, Alexei?
- Do you like the war?
- Of course not, son.
- Then why don't you stop the war?
- I can't.
- You can't? You're the Emperor!
- Even Emperors can't stop the war, Alexei...
Alexis remembered his words forever. He understood that his duty was to help soldiers, he knew how popular he was. So, he continued living in Stavka. His illness was hard, and he was taking a lot of medicine every day.

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"Corporal Alexei Romanov", 1916​

After Brusilov's strike, when the war became successful for Russia, he decided to leave Stavka - soldiers' morale was high once again, and he was really missing his family. So, in 1917 Alexis returned to Petrograd and continued his education. The war was a disgusting thing for him, he would become a strong anti-militarist later...

The war was won, and after that his father announced the Imperial Constitution. Alexis, as a crown heir, became very interested in politics. Rasputin was far away (the Emperor broke all connections with him when he understood how unpopular "The Mad Monk" began), so Alexei had only one hope - medicine and court doctors. Alexis read programs of all political parties of the Empire and found Constitutional Democrats' program the most suitable. The Emperor officially supported the Octobrists, and when he heard about his son's opinion, he laughed and said:
- My son is better than me. When I was 15, I always agreed with my father!
Alexei was growing up and his terrible illness started getting through. He became more physically active, spent more time outdoors. He even started working together with his father in the garden, while Nicholas II couldn't even think about it when Alexis was 10. The boy was slowly recovering...

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Like father, like son​

When Alexei was 18 (in 1922), he started education in the Imperial University of Economy and Finances. He was going to be the first Russian Grand Duke who was an economist, not an officer. Alexei himself was a clever and hard-working student, who always got good marks (and not because of his surname).

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Alexei's university​

The crown prince graduated when he was 24, and after that he started preparing himself for the succession for the throne. The "dangerous" age was passed, but Alexei was still ill - more or less "complete" recovery needed 40 years of life. But Alexei didn't think about it - he fell in love with a non-aristocratic girl, which of course caused a scandal in the Imperial family, and he had to break the relationships. So, in 1929 young Russian prince married (after his father's pressure) an Italian princess Giovanna di Savoia, who took Orthodox baptistery and became Grand Duchess Anna Mikhailovna of Russia.

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Alexei's wife​

Alexis' ability to have children was under a big question, because hemophiliacs are often infertile, but if they manage to have a child, that child will be healthy. So, it was an important thing for Alexei to have a child together with Anna. The Empire needed a new crown prince. But in 1930 the terrible news struck the Imperial palace. Alexei couldn't believe in the death of his father, his symbol and idol. He loved his father too much - future Emperor spent a few hours crying in his room, after that he had an access of his illness, so he was able to accept the throne succession only on the next day. After that he became a new Tsar of Russia...probably the most unusual Tsar in history

Царь умер - Да здравствует Царь!
The Tsar is dead - Long live the Tsar!


To be continued
Waiting for your comments
Next update: Christmas!
 
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Long live Alexei, Kill the Bolsheviks!
We salute thee, two-headed eagle!

I am the man who arranges the blocks that continue to fall from up above,
the Russians are free, no more commies for me,
Why should I care about Germans and French?
 
Best of luck to you, my new Tzar. May your days be as glorious and prosperous as your father's.
 
Where did you get the photo for Alexis II? Unless I'm misremembering my Imperial history (and I may be), Alexis never achieved adulthood.
 
welp, you could have gotten a more handsome guy to the pic, along already with a imperial suit ;) (maybe a pic of another uk's king so the tradition of looking like uk monarch stays :D )
 
I'm most curious whose photos you used as well ;) Same goes with post-war pictures of Nikolai II - where have you found them?

So, the Great Depression did not hit Russia... Well, that's good. I'm wondering what's going to happen in Europe. ^^
 
@Sakura_F: Awesome song :D
@Avindian, @Reddenbawker, @Deus Eversor: Of course it's not he. It's one of false-Alexeis who were (together with false-Anastasias) wide-spread in post-war Europe. Maybe the guy on the photo is not too much handsome, but he looks like grown-up Alexei (remember his illness - when you're unhealthy, you don't look good). I didn't put a photo of any foreign monarch because it would be easy to recognize him.
BTW - Edward VIII would be nice for Alexis's photo
@Jedrek: Post-war photo and portrait of Nicholas II were photoshopped by me. Are they good? :)
The Great Depression hit Russia, but not seriously. I'll talk about Europe in 1931-1933 in the next update ;)
@KotoR45: Of course, America will say her word! ;)
 
The first post-war photo of Nikolai II (The one where he's inside a train car's window) was so good I actually found it quite hard to accept that RL tsar was killed in 1918 ^^'. The last pic before his death is a little bit blurry to me, but since it's supposed to be an oil painting, I find it quite suitable :)

BTW, after reading Catrine Clay's King, Kaiser, Tsar, I started wondering whether the Danish royal family shouldn't play some role in this timeline. Before WWI the Danish royal family was king of connection between London and St. Petersburg (Alexandr III and Edward VII's wifes have been sisters; you can tell it by Nikolai II and George V's faces). Maybe, should an international crisis in Europe start, a conference on it should be held in Copenhagen, with the Danish king as host? I believe both the Windsors and the Romanovs would find such place a suitable one.

Another idea - since almost whole Poland is currently under Russian rule, maybe some Polish RL politicians and officers should appear in the AAR? IRL, we already had a Polish foreign minister in Russia (Adam Czartoryski, who served under Alexandr I), and even in Duma there was a couple of Polish delegates. I may try to do some research and send you a short list of potential candidates. Still, if you don't want to tamper with the files, it's OK. :)
 
@Jedrek:

1) About portraits: Thanks, I'm glad to know that my work is suitable :)
2) Danish royal family? Well, more or less all royal houses of Europe were relatives (and most of them were German, like Romanovs, who had only 15% of Russian blood), but it couldn't help in WW1. I don't think it would be useful in WW2-era. :)
3) Poland? Of course senators from Warsaw and Krakow are Poles, so I can tell about them :) Ministers...well, can you find a contemporary pro-Russian Pole, who could be represented in the Imperial Government? As you can see from my elections, it's not hard for me to modify the saves :D
BTW: Konovalov is a bit old, so your candidate would probably become a foreign minister ;)