For every enemy defeated, an ally is gained. Sooner or later the Russians will fall - the odds they have to fight are just too much.
Report on the Eastern Front said:…
Forces all along the front have been suffering losses. The most notable was the near total destruction of the Italian divisions, whose remnants were rolled together with the French divisions. American divisions have been performing well, though it’s evident our supply lines are being incredibly stretched as we penetrate deeper in to the Russian Empire. Our Italian comrades are facing similar issues in the Caucasus, creating difficulty for the progress of our war.
The war against Germany was fierce enough, the war against Russia is something we did not want. After fighting for nearly three years against Mitteleuropa, a brutal and hard-won fight, only to fight a fresh enemy was not needed. We know that the Russians too have their own set of problems, as Marshal Denikin’s rule is being opposed from within, and the Tsar might be moved to shuffle up the government if the tolls of the war continue the way they do. Vast swathes of the population have been mobilized against the Syndintern, creating discontent in those sectors. Nationalism has served to give the government an ability to avoid this from going against them.
Riga was the center of all this. Syndintern Command had initially projected a capture of the Imperial capital at St. Petersburg, but the Russian military surprised us all. Riga was the center of our fight against the reactionaries, but we were not invincible. Already within the chambers of Paris, people who felt that the Internationale had already achieved so much could afford to abandon their objectives in the east, even if it meant betraying our comrades there.
The winter is coming, and it is one that we have come to fear. I used to think covering the Art Festivals back home was a bore- now I could only wish I was back doing that.
Declassified documents from a meeting of the Syndintern High Command said:Editor’s note- this appears to have concerned a meeting held in Berlin between representatives of the Syndintern military, as well as high ranking military officials. The most notable are Henri Tanguy from France, Steve Nelson from the Combined Syndicates, Tom Wintringham from the Union of Britain, and Camillo Berneri of Italy. A representative of Ernst Thälmann’s is in attendance too, though he does not remark on the proceedings.
…
Wintringham: We have already achieved what the war demanded – the destruction of the German Empire and the creation of a Europe filled with socialist governments where there had previously been none. We cannot feasibly at this stage hope to destroy the Russian Empire. The British are tied up enough in Africa against your reactionary kinsmen. Again Comrade Tanguy, we must be open to ending this war with the Russian Empire so that we may turn our attention to consolidating our victory in Europe. [NAME REDACTED] has already reported his failure to connect with the remnants of the New Bolsheviks in Russia. We cannot hope to create a real government in Russia if we do not have people we can even work with.
Berneri: I have the same sentiments expressed by the members of the Council of the Republic in Italy. Chairman Bordiga and President Togliatti both have become critical of the direction of the war against the Russian Empire so far. Even among my fellow Anarchists there has been a collapse of support in continuing the war any further. Much of our military is divided between Europe and the Middle-East as is the case with the British. This has created substantial difficulty for us in being able to supply our soldiers over these long distances, particularly in the Middle-East on the Caucasus Front. We are already worried about bastions of reaction in the former realms of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire attempting to capitalize on the strains of war to trouble our new allies.
Tanguy: I understand completely. However I have my hands tied with Chairman Makhno when it comes to the war effort, he desires to utterly destroy Russia. I cannot help but feel this may be reawakening memories of his experience in Ukraine, where he feels the need to fulfill his promise to the many comrades he left in that country.
Nelson: On behalf of General Marshall, I can only say that the Combined Syndicates is prepared to go the distance in the war effort. We however also feel that we cannot continue this war for too long without consolidating our victories across the world. We too must focus on reconstruction and combating remnants of our enemies in the Americas, a sentiment I’m sure my General Durruti can also relate to this with the situation in Spain.
Durruti: Indeed. Make no doubt that we are firmly committed to World Revolution and grateful to the Syndintern for the help we received in our own struggle. But we must also be realistic and admit that a war that has been running this long is undoubtedly going to be more harmful to us in the long run.
Tanguy: We can not, of course, simply call peace. We must set down some objectives and put the Russians in a position to make peace. They are not going to take our offers seriously right now.
Berneri: We are not sure of that. For all we know the Russians may be just as uneager to pursue this war any further. I can’t imagine with its recent conquests in Asia that it can think to continue this war any longer without a challenge to its authority.
Tanguy: We must deliver some sort of ‘victory’ before we can get the Russians to agree to peace. Ideally I would say this consists of capturing the Baltics and the Caucasus, while preventing a breakthrough from Ukraine. If we can prevent the Russians from breaking through at these areas, we might be able to get them to the table and secure a peace favorable to our intents.
Nelson: General Marshall had instructed me to inform you all that we are prepared to bring to bear the Combined Syndicates’ full strength in ending this war. We can only do so much however- we must be able to reverse these series of defeats before we can even consider taking control of the Caucasus and Baltics.
Wintringham: The Republican Navy will be brought to the Baltics to provide what support we can in lieu of much of our forces tied up in Africa. I’m certain that the Russian Navy cannot be a match for our forces, and this should benefit our ability to damage Russian supply lines.
Tanguy: I will forward these recommendations to Makhno. Hopefully he will accept this is our only realistic approach now.
Selections from “The Other War” said:…
We had gathered in the basement of what seemed to be a burned out tavern. Maybe it was a hotel. I really couldn’t tell what it was beyond the few pieces of burned out furniture and what seemed to be a fireplace. I had often tried to picture the place filled with warmth and laughter to pass the time, to remind me of simpler times back home in Napoli.
The officer called us down for a meeting to discuss our plans. In reality, he was trying to calm us down. The past few weeks saw our enthusiasm and energy from reclaiming the Riga area into one of dread as we learned the Russians had surrounded us from all sides. Indeed, even though my comrades doubted me, I had been part of one of the Italian divisions that took part in the failed defense of Klaipėda [1]. It had been nearly two weeks since I was split up from my regiment, and I did not know if they too were able to break out of the city before it fell or not. I wasn’t the only person ‘lost’, so to speak. Within my division there were also several Germans who had also faced the same fate and found themselves folded into a French division. One of the men later confided in me that it was a confusing situation for him, for he had in the later days of the failing German Empire been drafted as a part of an ‘emergency’ battalion for Frankfurt’s defense, only to later get drafted to fight alongside those he had originally fought against. I asked him why he was afraid to tell this to the others, and he said he was worried they would cast him out as a ‘reactionary’ and deal with him accordingly. I could tell from his eyes that this had apparently occurred to someone he had probably known, and I decided not to press the issue any further.
…
Riga was a bombed out mess. It was clearly a city with much history and life, indeed one of the major ports in the region and an essential part of the German schemes for the so-called United Baltic Duchy. I couldn’t help but be reminded of Comrade Gallo’s recollections of the Italian volunteers in the United States during their initial landing in New York City and the urban combat they faced there in the skeleton of a once majestic city. Like rats we scurried through the husk of the city, taking cover from peering eyes of the Russians who were beginning to shell the city indiscriminately to destroy our hold outs. We were not sure what was going on in the outside- were the rest of our allies working to relieve us? Had they abandoned us as a necessary sacrifice? I had almost been driven mad wondering what was the point in continuing to fight were it not for the British beginning to supply us through the bombed out port in Riga, which at least told us that we were not going to be left behind by our comrades.
I don’t think I had ever faced a situation like this before. I had seen fighting since the opening days of the war, right up to the fall of Vienna and later Berlin, but never did I feel as threatened as I was in those closing months of 1945. My mood was not relieved with the coming of winter weather, the cold winds stinging against my frail body and obviously not relieving my outlook on the situation.
…
November 5th was a bad day for everyone in Riga. The Russians made their big push, coming from both the north and the east, supported by artillery strikes all around the city. The French division I had been with since the beginning was destroyed when the old building we had been operating out of got demolished during one of the strikes. The remnants of the division was lost as our officer had perished in the blast, and it dawned on me as I began to run through the city that the others had begun to follow me. Maybe the thought of me as the next man in charge, but I think personally that it dawned on us we would fare better together than we would individually. We had to focus on fighting our way back to the main emplacements in the city center, and this consisted of an over glorified hide-and-seek with Russian soldiers. We killed where we had to, but otherwise avoided it. We could not afford to get drowned out by some eager Russian cadet fresh out of school wanting to take credit for flushing out ‘Syndie Scum’.
A full day later we managed to make it to the main bulk of the forces and were once again worked into another division, though it was a rather ad hoc assignment. Even the main commanders were scurrying to get their plans together, trying to come to terms with both the staggering assault and the considerable difficulty in acquiring supplies through the British ‘lifeline’ from the Sea to the people in the pocket. We were assured that from German positions in Königsberg a fresh attack was taking place, joined by extra divisions in Poland. Just hold out for a few more days and we promise you will be relieved; it will be all over. And on the other end incessant Russian propaganda aimed at demoralizing us, offering us safety if we surrendered, telling us we were abandoned by our ruthless ‘planners’ in Paris and we would fare better under the infinite mercy of the benevolent Tsar.
…
The following days was one bombardment after another, followed by the ever tightening Russian noose around our headquarters. I had learned a bit of bad news through some informal channels, someone close to one of the officers holding out the pitched defense. The French had attempted to relieve pressure on us by opening up an assault on what they thought was a lightly defended area in the Russian Empire- the recently annexed lands of White Ruthenia. The assault took the city of Navahrudak, but was swiftly followed by an overwhelming counterattack by the Imperial bastards, drowning out our comrades with blood and iron.
Defeat on Russia’s turf
Within our little spot of paradise, we had managed to hold the western coastline, hoping for the bridge between there and Syndintern lines to merge once more. But we were getting pressure from the east, and we in Riga were going to absorb the brunt of it. Be it through the barrel of a rifleman or the shells of artillery raining down on us.
…
It was not until December 1st we received good news. It seemed a breakthrough had finally occurred from Syndicalist lines, managing to take back control of Klaipėda and moving ever close to restoring our connection to the main battle lines. Reportedly it had been spearheaded by an Italian- a rare feat on the European end of the Russian war. [2]
The main reason for the sudden turn in our prospects though was the involvement of the Americans- fresh troops and new equipment helped bolster our exhausted numbers. It was much needed at this stage, considering the damages the French took while arguably acting as the backbone of the effort against Russia.
…
I can’t remember much of what happened in the following days. At some point the Russian offensive got fiercer and we began to get heavy casualties. Air raids became more frequent as much of our hiding spots got bombarded to the ground. I got split off from my division, buried under the rubble of a small store. My comrades had probably thought I was dead and did not want to try and waste time looking for a dead body with Russians behind them. I had survived in part to falling through to the basement, but had no way out.
I lost track of days in the rubble, having only a tiny room to maneuver in there. I tried to conserve what little food I had on myself, and tried to stretch my water even further. It did little for me- I had run through the food in three days and the water in five. For four more days I was left with nothing, having only the noise of carnage outside to remind me that someone might pass by looking for me. I had managed to find a small opening and hung out a red star, the emblem of the Italian People’s Army, with “Help Me” scrawled on it in Italian, and in crude English, Spanish, and French.
I don’t know how many days later was it, but I was finally dug out by the entering American soldiers. Somehow they had seen my rag and began digging around it until they found some trace of me. I was told later that they had almost left me there thinking I had died, but by some chance I was pulled out in order to make sure I was dead or not. Those who had treated me later had remarked that indeed I looked skeletal, but I have no pictures to provide any sort of illustration. I suppose it is for the best.
…
Hmm... with the Russians still undefeated, some kind of compromise will need to be found.
Maybe a neutral buffer state could be formed in Lithuania? And Poland's eastern border rounded off in some places, and pulled back in others? The Caucasus is worthless, and should only be treated as collateral for negotiations with the Russians.
L’Unita said:Updates from our Correspondents
A massive counterattack carried out across the spring of 1946 has finally relieved the fighters of the Syndintern Military, finally putting the reactionaries of the Russian Empire on the run. Commanders are confident that the whole of the Baltics shall be liberated and join the growing community of the brotherhood of socialist nations.
With the fall of Tallinn to the American led divisions on May 5th, the Russian Empire has retreated deeper to defensive positions around the capital at Petrograd and is continuing to resist further attacks from Poland. Where will the armies of the Syndintern turn next? Will they finish this long war once and for all?
The mood among soldiers here is mixed [1]. Some are very happy with the tide of the war turning and hope that like in Vienna and Berlin, red flags will be unfurled over the old palaces of Petrograd where Comrade Lenin and the Bolsheviks rose up over 29 years ago. They feel that we may be able to finish what the Bolsheviks started. Others however, appear to be more ambivalent; one soldier, who only gave his name as Lucio, felt that the war had already dragged to on. When asked whether the fall of Petrograd would be significant, he shrugged and told me “You think that would cause this country to give up completely? Only a total victory can achieve that, and that would expect even more out of us, after giving so much already”.
Whatever the case, the situation now is much different than it was a year ago, when the Syndintern was attempting to prevent a breakthrough by Russian forces into Poland itself.
I was hoping Poland would get their eastern border pushed a little more into Russia. It seems like the Syndicalists didn't gain much at all, except making Russia weaker.
could you show the rest of the new borders ?
Good AAR.
Russia was strong and good! One against all those syndie dogs. Hope next war Russia will nuke back fairly
That is good for AAR, right. So add some RRisc or events with anti-sidicalism in the country(then they will be added in the mod probably, heh)*Personally* had I wanted to, the recent push could have easily resulted in Russia's collapse. I just didn't want this to turn into another total conquest type scenario because it's been done before- I want some tension to remain in the future years. So I started to work in the real concerns of trying to focus on reconstruction, war exhaustion, internal opposition, etc. that HoI games don't incorporate too well imo. I was surprised that the war turned in favor of Brazil too.