Tsar Konstantin is finally at peace. Russia owes him a tremendous debt. Hopefully, Tsar Nicholas and the Duma will work to better Russia and not just their own agendas. May we have a year of peace in honor of Konstantin? Thank you
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The Age of Peace: The Early Years of Tsar Nicholas
The first constitutional convention didn’t achieve anything. The Duma decided that doing anything that might annoy the Tsar was a bad idea, especially given how that had ended for their legal predecessors. As such, their constitution granted a lot of power to Tsar Nicholas - he and his successors could overrule the Duma whenever they wanted, and they could even veto the election of certain members of the Duma.
While this worried the Tsar because he was worried about one of his successors becoming a tyrant, he reluctantly accepted their constitution. He hoped to rule for a long time, and he hoped that the Duma would eventually amend the constitution during his reign.
Before he could make any serious moves with his new Duma, however, he needed to ensure that Russia could maintain peace with the rest of the world. He reluctantly confirmed the concessions that his father had granted to Sweden and Finland in exchange for a permanent alliance with Sweden and a coronation in Finland.
He also started reforming his military. He had been raised during the First World War and its grim aftermath, which meant that he had almost never known peace. Having secured his northern border and internal peace, he then got to work on ensuring that his other borders were secure. The first thing that he did was summon Chibisov and ask him to lead a standing army on the western border. Chibisov agreed, and Tsar Nicholas recruited many of the Russians that lived near the Baltic to serve in his army. He also allowed retirement from his new army, which was a novel idea in Russia.
He then made diplomatic overtures to Britain and the Qing Dynasty in China, asking to discuss their borders. The Qing Dynasty, which was facing both serious internal conflict and encroachment from European colonizers, agreed as soon as they got the message. Britain took a lot longer to respond.
The Meeting at Beijing between Tsar Nicholas and the Qing Emperor was a complete success. The Qing Emperor agreed to drop all claims on Mongolia and to recognize the border in Siberia as the Argun and Amur Rivers. Russia would also receive all islands along the border. This stabilized the Siberian border. It also gave the Qing room to deal with their other problems. Qing soldiers were also allowed to move through Russian territory to attack their enemies, although neither nation signed a formal alliance.
Britain, meanwhile, agreed to meet with the Tsar and a few members of the Duma in Stockholm to discuss both the border and “other issues”. The Tsar didn’t agree outright, instead handing the Duma the letter and telling them to vote on it.
They voted to accept, as many shared the Tsar’s concerns about the border. A lot of the Duma’s delegates also saw Britain as their largest threat. They voted to send a few of their leaders as their representatives, and they empowered these men to “act in their name”, which meant that a majority vote of these people at the Meeting counted as the approval of the entire Duma. In April 1898, they left for Stockholm and a meeting that would change Russo-British relations forever…
While this worried the Tsar because he was worried about one of his successors becoming a tyrant, he reluctantly accepted their constitution. He hoped to rule for a long time, and he hoped that the Duma would eventually amend the constitution during his reign.
Before he could make any serious moves with his new Duma, however, he needed to ensure that Russia could maintain peace with the rest of the world. He reluctantly confirmed the concessions that his father had granted to Sweden and Finland in exchange for a permanent alliance with Sweden and a coronation in Finland.
He also started reforming his military. He had been raised during the First World War and its grim aftermath, which meant that he had almost never known peace. Having secured his northern border and internal peace, he then got to work on ensuring that his other borders were secure. The first thing that he did was summon Chibisov and ask him to lead a standing army on the western border. Chibisov agreed, and Tsar Nicholas recruited many of the Russians that lived near the Baltic to serve in his army. He also allowed retirement from his new army, which was a novel idea in Russia.
He then made diplomatic overtures to Britain and the Qing Dynasty in China, asking to discuss their borders. The Qing Dynasty, which was facing both serious internal conflict and encroachment from European colonizers, agreed as soon as they got the message. Britain took a lot longer to respond.
The Meeting at Beijing between Tsar Nicholas and the Qing Emperor was a complete success. The Qing Emperor agreed to drop all claims on Mongolia and to recognize the border in Siberia as the Argun and Amur Rivers. Russia would also receive all islands along the border. This stabilized the Siberian border. It also gave the Qing room to deal with their other problems. Qing soldiers were also allowed to move through Russian territory to attack their enemies, although neither nation signed a formal alliance.
Britain, meanwhile, agreed to meet with the Tsar and a few members of the Duma in Stockholm to discuss both the border and “other issues”. The Tsar didn’t agree outright, instead handing the Duma the letter and telling them to vote on it.
They voted to accept, as many shared the Tsar’s concerns about the border. A lot of the Duma’s delegates also saw Britain as their largest threat. They voted to send a few of their leaders as their representatives, and they empowered these men to “act in their name”, which meant that a majority vote of these people at the Meeting counted as the approval of the entire Duma. In April 1898, they left for Stockholm and a meeting that would change Russo-British relations forever…
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Let us hope... Nicholas, at least, seems to care about Russia.
We also got a long period of peace, so I can focus on things other than warfare now!
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Hopefully, the DumA have mended their ways and peace with GB is imminent. Tsar Nicholas is the rare leader who is granted more power than he wants. Thank you
The Age of Peace: The Stockholm Meeting
Britain’s continuous concern about Russia was that they planned to overturn the European balance of power and go on a conquering spree across all of Eurasia. Many of their politicians shared a common fear - the “Eurasian Empire” or even just a “European Confederacy”. Any moves towards the unity of the European continent was something to be fought at all costs.
Tsar Nicholas quickly reassured Britain that he had no plans to expand past the Prussian border in central Europe. However, he noted the new alliance between France and Italy, and he theorized that Germany might not be opposed to joining it or to use it to conquer Austria-Hungary… a prudent move that played on British fears of a unified Europe. It would also prove to be prescient.
The actual border itself was far more contentious within the Duma, as was the situation in the Balkans and the Caucasus. The Tsar had no opinion about either of these “southern borders”, but many within the Duma did. A few members of the Duma favored a subjugation of the entire Near East, and they evolved from the shattered remnants of the militarists and the conservatives. They were an extreme minority in the Duma, and there was only one person within the delegation at the Stockholm Meeting that espoused this view.
Anti-Ottoman sentiment was far more prevalent, however - for both religious and political reasons. The idea of Russia as the Third Rome and the legitimate successor to the Byzantine Empire was extremely prominent, and it had many supporters among the delegation. These supporters would enter into their own negotiations with the British representatives over the Balkans, and they would form the nucleus of the later Roman Party.
Those negotiations would eventually lead to the Treaty of Stockholm, which settled a partition of the former Ottoman Empire into both British and Russian spheres of influence. Russia would drive the Ottomans from Europe and most of Anatolia in an alliance with Bulgaria and without interference from Britain in exchange for a promise that Russia wouldn’t interfere with a British occupation or even conquest of the Near East. This would enable a few of Russia’s later treaties with the Ottomans.
Meanwhile, the Tsar himself and the rest of the Duma’s representatives, which represented a broad coalition of political views but agreed on the need for stable foreign relations, were negotiating an alliance with Britain. This alliance agreed on the border between Russian Central Asia and British India - the Hindu Kush and the Pamir Mountains. That agreement effectively allowed Russia to peacefully vassalize and potentially annex Kokand, Bukhara, and Afghanistan. Persia was left as a neutral nation that neither power would attempt to influence or conquer.
The settlement of the Russo-British border in Asia and the situation in the Balkans removed all obstacles to an outright alliance between Russia and Britain. Tsar Nicholas, King Karl X of Sweden, and Queen Victoria personally signed the Stockholm Accords on behalf of Britain, Sweden, Russia, and Finland. These Accords agreed to the formation of an alliance and a defensive pact between their participatory nations. At Britain’s insistence, they were left open-ended, so that other nations would be allowed to join.
A small faction in the Duma bitterly opposed the Stockholm Accords, and, in the election of 1900, they formed the first opposition party. Their “Russophile Party” lost most of their seats to the momentary alliance between the other delegates (including the members of the Roman Party), who called themselves the “Loyalist Coalition” and insisted on the continuation of the Stockholm Accords.
Tsar Nicholas quickly reassured Britain that he had no plans to expand past the Prussian border in central Europe. However, he noted the new alliance between France and Italy, and he theorized that Germany might not be opposed to joining it or to use it to conquer Austria-Hungary… a prudent move that played on British fears of a unified Europe. It would also prove to be prescient.
The actual border itself was far more contentious within the Duma, as was the situation in the Balkans and the Caucasus. The Tsar had no opinion about either of these “southern borders”, but many within the Duma did. A few members of the Duma favored a subjugation of the entire Near East, and they evolved from the shattered remnants of the militarists and the conservatives. They were an extreme minority in the Duma, and there was only one person within the delegation at the Stockholm Meeting that espoused this view.
Anti-Ottoman sentiment was far more prevalent, however - for both religious and political reasons. The idea of Russia as the Third Rome and the legitimate successor to the Byzantine Empire was extremely prominent, and it had many supporters among the delegation. These supporters would enter into their own negotiations with the British representatives over the Balkans, and they would form the nucleus of the later Roman Party.
Those negotiations would eventually lead to the Treaty of Stockholm, which settled a partition of the former Ottoman Empire into both British and Russian spheres of influence. Russia would drive the Ottomans from Europe and most of Anatolia in an alliance with Bulgaria and without interference from Britain in exchange for a promise that Russia wouldn’t interfere with a British occupation or even conquest of the Near East. This would enable a few of Russia’s later treaties with the Ottomans.
Meanwhile, the Tsar himself and the rest of the Duma’s representatives, which represented a broad coalition of political views but agreed on the need for stable foreign relations, were negotiating an alliance with Britain. This alliance agreed on the border between Russian Central Asia and British India - the Hindu Kush and the Pamir Mountains. That agreement effectively allowed Russia to peacefully vassalize and potentially annex Kokand, Bukhara, and Afghanistan. Persia was left as a neutral nation that neither power would attempt to influence or conquer.
The settlement of the Russo-British border in Asia and the situation in the Balkans removed all obstacles to an outright alliance between Russia and Britain. Tsar Nicholas, King Karl X of Sweden, and Queen Victoria personally signed the Stockholm Accords on behalf of Britain, Sweden, Russia, and Finland. These Accords agreed to the formation of an alliance and a defensive pact between their participatory nations. At Britain’s insistence, they were left open-ended, so that other nations would be allowed to join.
A small faction in the Duma bitterly opposed the Stockholm Accords, and, in the election of 1900, they formed the first opposition party. Their “Russophile Party” lost most of their seats to the momentary alliance between the other delegates (including the members of the Roman Party), who called themselves the “Loyalist Coalition” and insisted on the continuation of the Stockholm Accords.
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This is a different Duma - less concerned with going to war over every little thing and actually a multi-party system!
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Wow...fixing the great game in favour of both sides, Russia gets a warm water port, ostensible control over constsntiople and an alliance with britian...very powerful juggernaut.
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It is amazing how one will allow another to expand if one get their own piece of the pie. What did the Russophiles want and expect? Thank you
The Age of Peace: The Great Modernization
The Loyalist Coalition won the elections of 1900, but they quickly collapsed as a unified force. Lacking a common enemy within the halls of government, they had a thousand different, often mutually contradictory, ideas for how the Duma should run and what policies it should pursue. From 1900 to 1905, this situation remained, effectively locking Russia into a static and unchanging state... for a while.
In 1905, Tsar Nicholas got tired of the stalemate, and he realized one major thing that he had forgotten to bring up at the constitutional convention - how long delegates would serve in the Duma. An election had occurred in 1900, but that was only because there had been an enemy party that most delegates wanted to remove from power. As things stood, another election would never be called - far too many delegates feared losing their power and weren’t confident that they would be reelected. Tsar Nicholas knew of only one way to achieve a functioning government once more - order them to call new elections for every seat in the Duma.
He did that in 1905, and the result was simple - delegates organized themselves into parties with specific policies. The delegates who refused to join a party almost always lost reelection. The few who remained in the Duma became known as “independents” and were treated as wild cards to convince to support legislation. The first thing that this new Duma did was pass the “Elections Bill”, which mandated new elections every five years. This was even enshrined in the new Russian Constitution!
The new majority party was the Modernist Party, which supported the Tsar’s policy of raising standard armies and insisted on hiring other Europeans to train these new armies in order to ensure that they were an effective fighting force.
The majority of the Modernist Party lasted a total of five years, but they achieved their entire platform. Tsar Nicholas agreed to support their “Serfdom Bill” in 1907, which abolished serfdom across the entirety of Russia and even gave the serfs control over some of the land that they had worked. It also gave serfs voting rights. A few members of the Traditionalist Party accused the Modernists of “packing the electorate” to ensure that they reigned forever, but this fear proved unfounded.
Additionally, the power of the governors was massively reduced. The Modernist Party and Tsar Nicholas agreed on this, blaming their increased power on the Russian Age of Chaos. In order to reduce it, the few remaining hereditary oblasts were abolished, and all governors now had to be appointed by the Tsar and approved by the Duma. They also wouldn’t get complete power over their oblast even once this was done - the Duma voted to establish local assemblies that could veto any act of the governor in an oblast with a simple majority.
The last great reform of the Modernist Party was the “Nobility Act”, which stipulated that hereditary royal titles were reserved for the royal family. Anyone who wanted a royal title had to ask the Tsar to grant it, and anyone who wanted a royal title with any actual power had to gain the Duma’s approval. Most historians agree that this was targeted at the Duke of Mongolia, as it meant that his family would lose their authority on his death. The Duke himself clearly understood this since he briefly considered revolting before remembering that there was a standing army in his duchy that would almost immediately crush him.
The Modernist Party’s rule is known as the Great Modernization, and it ended in 1910. The Modernists quickly split over what to do, dividing on what to “modernize” next. The resultant split ensured that nobody got a majority in the Election of 1910.
This forced the formation of a coalition between the Roman Party, the new Socialist Party, and the Peace Party. The result is generally known as the Socialist Regime, and their tenure over the Empire was remembered with nostalgia for decades afterwards.
In 1905, Tsar Nicholas got tired of the stalemate, and he realized one major thing that he had forgotten to bring up at the constitutional convention - how long delegates would serve in the Duma. An election had occurred in 1900, but that was only because there had been an enemy party that most delegates wanted to remove from power. As things stood, another election would never be called - far too many delegates feared losing their power and weren’t confident that they would be reelected. Tsar Nicholas knew of only one way to achieve a functioning government once more - order them to call new elections for every seat in the Duma.
He did that in 1905, and the result was simple - delegates organized themselves into parties with specific policies. The delegates who refused to join a party almost always lost reelection. The few who remained in the Duma became known as “independents” and were treated as wild cards to convince to support legislation. The first thing that this new Duma did was pass the “Elections Bill”, which mandated new elections every five years. This was even enshrined in the new Russian Constitution!
The new majority party was the Modernist Party, which supported the Tsar’s policy of raising standard armies and insisted on hiring other Europeans to train these new armies in order to ensure that they were an effective fighting force.
The majority of the Modernist Party lasted a total of five years, but they achieved their entire platform. Tsar Nicholas agreed to support their “Serfdom Bill” in 1907, which abolished serfdom across the entirety of Russia and even gave the serfs control over some of the land that they had worked. It also gave serfs voting rights. A few members of the Traditionalist Party accused the Modernists of “packing the electorate” to ensure that they reigned forever, but this fear proved unfounded.
Additionally, the power of the governors was massively reduced. The Modernist Party and Tsar Nicholas agreed on this, blaming their increased power on the Russian Age of Chaos. In order to reduce it, the few remaining hereditary oblasts were abolished, and all governors now had to be appointed by the Tsar and approved by the Duma. They also wouldn’t get complete power over their oblast even once this was done - the Duma voted to establish local assemblies that could veto any act of the governor in an oblast with a simple majority.
The last great reform of the Modernist Party was the “Nobility Act”, which stipulated that hereditary royal titles were reserved for the royal family. Anyone who wanted a royal title had to ask the Tsar to grant it, and anyone who wanted a royal title with any actual power had to gain the Duma’s approval. Most historians agree that this was targeted at the Duke of Mongolia, as it meant that his family would lose their authority on his death. The Duke himself clearly understood this since he briefly considered revolting before remembering that there was a standing army in his duchy that would almost immediately crush him.
The Modernist Party’s rule is known as the Great Modernization, and it ended in 1910. The Modernists quickly split over what to do, dividing on what to “modernize” next. The resultant split ensured that nobody got a majority in the Election of 1910.
This forced the formation of a coalition between the Roman Party, the new Socialist Party, and the Peace Party. The result is generally known as the Socialist Regime, and their tenure over the Empire was remembered with nostalgia for decades afterwards.
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Yup. Also, strictly speaking, that's a promise not to oppose an attack on the Ottomans. That's not done quite yet.
The Russophiles just hated negotiating with the British. Predictably, they won nothing and aren't in power.
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The Age of Peace: The Socialist Regime
The new socialist government immediately began to focus on improving the lives of ordinary citizens. A key target of these initiatives was the former serfs, who had helped elect them in the first place. In order to placate them, the new government passed a law that stated that an owner had to sell land that a former serf was “renting” and working on if the now freedman wanted to own the land. This immediately worried former serfholders, but the final law satisfied them by including a clause that prevented a deal from being completed without the consent of both parties involved.
Very few serfs actually bought land from their former overseers. Instead, they bought abandoned land from the rebellious nobles who had once made up the Duma. Since this land had belonged to traitors, it was officially the property of the Russian state, but they hadn’t done anything with it since the beginning of the Age of Peace. The socialists directly sold it to former serfs in order to keep their support without alienating their landowning supporters.
The new regime also passed laws that regulated health. The Modernists had hired many foreign businesses - especially from Britain and the United States - to help modernize the country, but this was making many Russians work in factories. The Socialist Regime solved this by creating a set workday (11am to 8pm) and ordering businesses to provide mandatory vacation. “It would not do to change the serfs from being bound to the landowners to being bound to foreign businesses,” the socialist representative from Moscow wrote as a justification for the new law.
Unfortunately, this quickly proved problematic. The businesses that now operated in Russia commanded a great degree of influence on the United States, and they heavily disapproved of this new policy. The United States even threatened to go to war with Russia over the issue, which worried the people. The Election of 1922 reflected that worry, as the socialists lost a few seats. They decided to threaten the United States, accusing them of being a plutocracy and reminding them about Russia’s new pact with Britain, which could invade from Canada. The United States backed down, but it would be the beginning of an enduring rivalry.
The Socialist Regime’s other foreign policy was staunchly anti-communist. This was meant to further distance themselves from the rebellious and violent communists across the world. They aided Britain in crushing an attempted communist uprising in 1923, and they launched an invasion of Persia that overthrew that country’s communist regime in 1926.
In 1930, however, this policy began to start being problematic. 1930 was when the governments of Spain, France, Italy, and the Netherlands were overthrown by communist revolutions. The new governments of these countries then formed the United Marxist Republics of Europe, or UMRE. Russia was officially allied with Spain, and they aided the Spanish Kingdom in establishing a government in exile in Cuba and Puerto Rico.
In 1936, the UMRE invaded Belgium and Luxembourg, and Russia and Britain both threatened to intervene. The UMRE refused to back down but offered to negotiate with the “reactionaries”. The resulting Treaty of Venice allowed the UMRE to annex Wallonia and Luxembourg but left Flanders independent. The UMRE invaded Flanders in 1937 anyway, and Russia declared war. Britain, Spain-in-exile, Portugal, and even Germany followed suit within a year. The Second World War had begun.
Very few serfs actually bought land from their former overseers. Instead, they bought abandoned land from the rebellious nobles who had once made up the Duma. Since this land had belonged to traitors, it was officially the property of the Russian state, but they hadn’t done anything with it since the beginning of the Age of Peace. The socialists directly sold it to former serfs in order to keep their support without alienating their landowning supporters.
The new regime also passed laws that regulated health. The Modernists had hired many foreign businesses - especially from Britain and the United States - to help modernize the country, but this was making many Russians work in factories. The Socialist Regime solved this by creating a set workday (11am to 8pm) and ordering businesses to provide mandatory vacation. “It would not do to change the serfs from being bound to the landowners to being bound to foreign businesses,” the socialist representative from Moscow wrote as a justification for the new law.
Unfortunately, this quickly proved problematic. The businesses that now operated in Russia commanded a great degree of influence on the United States, and they heavily disapproved of this new policy. The United States even threatened to go to war with Russia over the issue, which worried the people. The Election of 1922 reflected that worry, as the socialists lost a few seats. They decided to threaten the United States, accusing them of being a plutocracy and reminding them about Russia’s new pact with Britain, which could invade from Canada. The United States backed down, but it would be the beginning of an enduring rivalry.
The Socialist Regime’s other foreign policy was staunchly anti-communist. This was meant to further distance themselves from the rebellious and violent communists across the world. They aided Britain in crushing an attempted communist uprising in 1923, and they launched an invasion of Persia that overthrew that country’s communist regime in 1926.
In 1930, however, this policy began to start being problematic. 1930 was when the governments of Spain, France, Italy, and the Netherlands were overthrown by communist revolutions. The new governments of these countries then formed the United Marxist Republics of Europe, or UMRE. Russia was officially allied with Spain, and they aided the Spanish Kingdom in establishing a government in exile in Cuba and Puerto Rico.
In 1936, the UMRE invaded Belgium and Luxembourg, and Russia and Britain both threatened to intervene. The UMRE refused to back down but offered to negotiate with the “reactionaries”. The resulting Treaty of Venice allowed the UMRE to annex Wallonia and Luxembourg but left Flanders independent. The UMRE invaded Flanders in 1937 anyway, and Russia declared war. Britain, Spain-in-exile, Portugal, and even Germany followed suit within a year. The Second World War had begun.
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Not really Neo-Socialists. They're more conservative than you would expect.
Also, the AAR is nearing its end - we have 4 more updates on WW2, an update on Alaska, and then a few updates covering Russia and Byzantium's relationship (including the Ottoman wars), and then this AAR is done...
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Well...at least they aren't remotely strong enough to fight Russia, Germany and Britain. Things seem to be looking up for Russia and Russians. Democratising, liberalisation, no more peasants, no more serfs, industrialisation, good allies, influence with the US, Russia has Russian empire amounts of land and power but much better stability and money...
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11 to 8 seems very unusual and some businesses would operate better with second or third shifts. Protect Flanders or it will become another Poland. Thank you
World War II: The German Front
Belgium and Luxembourg fell within days. The UMRE had a weapon that they had stolen from the Germans - tanks. They made invasions quick, but the UMRE had spent years preparing for a war - years preparing to conquer Russia and every nation between them and it. The allies had only known about the war for mere months.
Peace had made Russia complacent. The speed with which Belgium and Luxembourg fell had shocked them, as it shocked their allies, especially Germany. The Germans were the UMRE’s next target, and they knew it.
Unfortunately for the allies, that didn’t matter. The Rhine had been crossed with almost no resistance by 1938. The people of Germany, for all that they were descended from the militaristic Prussians, had been exhausted by their wars of unification and their wars against Russia. They needed far more time than they had.
Marxist revolutions within Germany didn’t help. The Bavarian monarch was overthrown by them, and Bavaria allied with the UMRE, although they refused to join. Mecklenburg fell to a combined communist revolt and attack, and the Marxists advanced along the Baltic. Their target was Russia - many French and Italians were still annoyed about the failure of their unprovoked attack and longed for revenge.
A great German army with tanks finally managed to mobilize in July 1939 on the western banks of the Elbe River, and the first great battle of the Second World War was fought.
The Battle on the Elbe was a bloody affair that took two long and cruel months. The German tanks were united with the great Russian western standard army, and the advance was stopped. Russian cannons fired across the river and killed many men on both sides for around a month, and the German tanks fought against the communist ones in a glorious combat. Even despite this, though, the UMRE’s forces had expected and prepared for resistance - most of their army was engaged at the Elbe. The Germans were fighting valiantly, but they were losing.
Thankfully, Tsar Nicholas, who was commanding the Russians on the Elbe’s eastern banks, realized this. He ordered a war council with his allies, and they determined the major advantage that the Western Europeans had. They were quick and could conquer territory in a short amount of time. Tsar Nicholas knew that the easiest way to fight that was to force them into giving up time. He also knew that their need for vengeance outweighed everything else.
At the Eastern Elbe Conference, the Germans and Russians agreed on a common strategy - let the Germans advance across the Elbe. Let them attack and plunder Russian settlements. Give them their revenge and then rip them apart.
It was cold and cruel, and the Tsar despised it, but it was pragmatic. It would ensure a quick victory in this war and prevent the suffering of millions of people on both sides. Even so, Tsar Nicholas’s war journal survived him, and it tells us of how he felt about the strategy - “it is the kindest option… so why does it taste like ash?”.
Meanwhile, the British landed in Brittany and Galicia, hoping to open up a second front. They encountered little resistance - most of the UMRE’s army cared nothing for their ideology or for their leadership’s dreams of world conquest. Most of their army had joined up for revenge for their defeat in the War of Western Aggression, and that could only be achieved in the east. Even their leaders’s council agreed with this plan.
Perhaps they could have ensured their nation and their ideology’s survival if they had been more pragmatic. Still, as October 1939 dawned, the UMRE looked to be on the verge of subjugating all of Europe from Spain to Russia.
Peace had made Russia complacent. The speed with which Belgium and Luxembourg fell had shocked them, as it shocked their allies, especially Germany. The Germans were the UMRE’s next target, and they knew it.
Unfortunately for the allies, that didn’t matter. The Rhine had been crossed with almost no resistance by 1938. The people of Germany, for all that they were descended from the militaristic Prussians, had been exhausted by their wars of unification and their wars against Russia. They needed far more time than they had.
Marxist revolutions within Germany didn’t help. The Bavarian monarch was overthrown by them, and Bavaria allied with the UMRE, although they refused to join. Mecklenburg fell to a combined communist revolt and attack, and the Marxists advanced along the Baltic. Their target was Russia - many French and Italians were still annoyed about the failure of their unprovoked attack and longed for revenge.
A great German army with tanks finally managed to mobilize in July 1939 on the western banks of the Elbe River, and the first great battle of the Second World War was fought.
The Battle on the Elbe was a bloody affair that took two long and cruel months. The German tanks were united with the great Russian western standard army, and the advance was stopped. Russian cannons fired across the river and killed many men on both sides for around a month, and the German tanks fought against the communist ones in a glorious combat. Even despite this, though, the UMRE’s forces had expected and prepared for resistance - most of their army was engaged at the Elbe. The Germans were fighting valiantly, but they were losing.
Thankfully, Tsar Nicholas, who was commanding the Russians on the Elbe’s eastern banks, realized this. He ordered a war council with his allies, and they determined the major advantage that the Western Europeans had. They were quick and could conquer territory in a short amount of time. Tsar Nicholas knew that the easiest way to fight that was to force them into giving up time. He also knew that their need for vengeance outweighed everything else.
At the Eastern Elbe Conference, the Germans and Russians agreed on a common strategy - let the Germans advance across the Elbe. Let them attack and plunder Russian settlements. Give them their revenge and then rip them apart.
It was cold and cruel, and the Tsar despised it, but it was pragmatic. It would ensure a quick victory in this war and prevent the suffering of millions of people on both sides. Even so, Tsar Nicholas’s war journal survived him, and it tells us of how he felt about the strategy - “it is the kindest option… so why does it taste like ash?”.
Meanwhile, the British landed in Brittany and Galicia, hoping to open up a second front. They encountered little resistance - most of the UMRE’s army cared nothing for their ideology or for their leadership’s dreams of world conquest. Most of their army had joined up for revenge for their defeat in the War of Western Aggression, and that could only be achieved in the east. Even their leaders’s council agreed with this plan.
Perhaps they could have ensured their nation and their ideology’s survival if they had been more pragmatic. Still, as October 1939 dawned, the UMRE looked to be on the verge of subjugating all of Europe from Spain to Russia.
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Well... not long term at least. They went to the Nazi German school of warfare, though, so their rip-off blitzkrieg initially did okay. On the other hand, their entire strategy relied on attacking before their enemy mobilized large armies, so... they're utterly screwed in the long run.
Technology is a bit behind OTL here - they do have tanks, but there are no airplanes... at least not yet.
Too late. Whoops!
Where will this generation's Tsaritsyn be fought? Behind the tech curve, no bio/chem/nuke weapons to be dropped from balloons? Scorched earth, let the French commies choke on stale croissants. Thank you
World War II: Across the Elbe
Looks can be deceiving. Germany was far from completely occupied, and resistance groups - no matter how disorganized - still threatened the regime from Spain to the Netherlands. Russia was preparing for a massive confrontation - the Marxists were raiding East Prussia, and that could never be allowed to stand for any significant period of time.
The decisive battle came at Kaliningrad. The Westerners had let out some of their rage upon the Russian citizens in the area, and that angered the Russian inhabitants of Prussia, just as the Tsar knew it would. Aided by their righteous fury, Russian tanks attacked the Marxist ones, and individual soldiers commandeered enemy tanks and used them to sow confusion and chaos in the Marxist ranks. The cannons were left unused, as there was too much of a risk of friendly fire.
Even with that, the Battle of Kaliningrad lasted less than a month - and changed the war irrevocably. The Marxist tanks were forced to attempt a retreat, but the Russians pursued them - both in tanks and on foot. Only a few of the Marxist soldiers ever reached the Elbe, where they met a small fleet of their allies and escaped back to the Netherlands. The vast majority of the attackers were either captured or killed.
Germany quickly took advantage of their new advantage. They occupied Bavaria and installed a friendly regime that renewed their allegiance to the Kaiser, and they recaptured and outright annexed Mecklenburg. From there, they moved to recapture their lost territory in the north and had reached the Rhine by the beginning of 1940.
For his part, Tsar Nicholas interrogated his prisoners. He found out that many were not loyal to the United Marxist Republics of Europe, and a few were even spies from resistance groups. He played on their nationalism and organized the first official resistance movements to the Marxists - this event was the beginning of the Renewed French Republic, the Italian Resistance, and the Alliance of Free Dutch. All three of these new groups formally allied with Russia and began to recruit.
Tsar Nicholas also allied with the Spanish government-in-exile and the United States. The United States even joined the war on the Alliance’s side in April 1940. Their initial contributions were not men but something even more important - money. This money allowed the creation of a small Russian fleet.
This fleet united with the Swedish fleet in the Baltic and escorted a large Russian army, led by Nicholas Yegorov, the descendant of the famous Anton Yegorov, to the Netherlands. This army quickly seized control of the Hague and moved across the Low Countries. They encountered next to no resistance until they finally reached Brussels. There, they encountered a massive Marxist army.
The Battle of Brussels drastically shortened the war. Yegorov the Younger, as he is often known, led his men in a glorious battle. At first, the two sides were almost evenly matched, but the great commander lured his foes to the Senne River with a small portion of his force and instructed the majority of his men - including all of his cannons - to meet him from the other side. This turned a relatively even contest into a repeat of the Battle of the Elbe with an even greater advantage for Russia.
By dawn, the Marxists had fled. The Russian army stood victorious and stole the last of their enemy’s tanks and artillery. For all intents and purposes, the war’s conclusion was at hand. Still, a lot of ground needed to be conquered before the UMRE was completely destroyed. This would prove to be a massive issue before the war ended.
The decisive battle came at Kaliningrad. The Westerners had let out some of their rage upon the Russian citizens in the area, and that angered the Russian inhabitants of Prussia, just as the Tsar knew it would. Aided by their righteous fury, Russian tanks attacked the Marxist ones, and individual soldiers commandeered enemy tanks and used them to sow confusion and chaos in the Marxist ranks. The cannons were left unused, as there was too much of a risk of friendly fire.
Even with that, the Battle of Kaliningrad lasted less than a month - and changed the war irrevocably. The Marxist tanks were forced to attempt a retreat, but the Russians pursued them - both in tanks and on foot. Only a few of the Marxist soldiers ever reached the Elbe, where they met a small fleet of their allies and escaped back to the Netherlands. The vast majority of the attackers were either captured or killed.
Germany quickly took advantage of their new advantage. They occupied Bavaria and installed a friendly regime that renewed their allegiance to the Kaiser, and they recaptured and outright annexed Mecklenburg. From there, they moved to recapture their lost territory in the north and had reached the Rhine by the beginning of 1940.
For his part, Tsar Nicholas interrogated his prisoners. He found out that many were not loyal to the United Marxist Republics of Europe, and a few were even spies from resistance groups. He played on their nationalism and organized the first official resistance movements to the Marxists - this event was the beginning of the Renewed French Republic, the Italian Resistance, and the Alliance of Free Dutch. All three of these new groups formally allied with Russia and began to recruit.
Tsar Nicholas also allied with the Spanish government-in-exile and the United States. The United States even joined the war on the Alliance’s side in April 1940. Their initial contributions were not men but something even more important - money. This money allowed the creation of a small Russian fleet.
This fleet united with the Swedish fleet in the Baltic and escorted a large Russian army, led by Nicholas Yegorov, the descendant of the famous Anton Yegorov, to the Netherlands. This army quickly seized control of the Hague and moved across the Low Countries. They encountered next to no resistance until they finally reached Brussels. There, they encountered a massive Marxist army.
The Battle of Brussels drastically shortened the war. Yegorov the Younger, as he is often known, led his men in a glorious battle. At first, the two sides were almost evenly matched, but the great commander lured his foes to the Senne River with a small portion of his force and instructed the majority of his men - including all of his cannons - to meet him from the other side. This turned a relatively even contest into a repeat of the Battle of the Elbe with an even greater advantage for Russia.
By dawn, the Marxists had fled. The Russian army stood victorious and stole the last of their enemy’s tanks and artillery. For all intents and purposes, the war’s conclusion was at hand. Still, a lot of ground needed to be conquered before the UMRE was completely destroyed. This would prove to be a massive issue before the war ended.
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See this update. The Cold War in this world will be very interesting, although that's outside the scope of this AAR...
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