"For the Republic!" - A Russian Republic KR AAR

[Patrick Harte]

Introduction


January 7th, 1936, Petrograd.


Not two hours had passed from President Kerensky’s assassination in the hands of a lone gunman and Pavel was sitting, waiting, thinking. As Prime Minister of the Republic he knew that the austerity measures enacted three days ago were going to increase social discontent, but he never thought it would come to this. All that had been built in the last nineteen years was at stake, and that feeling made him nervous… and desperate. Yet he had a plan, and if Russia was to be saved, he would need help.

“Excuse me Prime Minister, the Grand Duke will see you now. Please, follow me.”

He stood up and followed the secretary down the hall. She opened the door and made him a sign to enter the room. “Here we go” he thought.

Beyond a huge desk sat Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich Romanov, senator of the Republic and the most prominent member of the Romanov family. He had his attention in some papers and didn’t notice Pavel entering the room. After a minute, Pavel coughed.

“Ah, Pavel! Come, please. Sit with me.” said Dmitri smiling.

Pavel sat in one of the chairs across the desk and examined Dmitri. He was aristocratic, yes, but also charismatic, which helped him be loved by the common people. He was brilliant in political manoeuvring and had the support of most of rightist politicians. Although he was never close to be Tsar in the line of succession, he was groomed to rule, yet not to govern.

“This is terrible Pavel, the President is dead! Such a tragedy, I remember when I first met h-“.

“Sorry for interrupting you Grand Duke, but this is not a social visit. The country is thrown into chaos, once again, and something must be done.”

Dmitri frowned, his smile disappearing. He did not like being interrupted. “This storm will pass, the army will take care of that. There’s no need to worry.”

“With all due respect, I think you don’t grasp the urgency of the situation. Right now the Mensheviks are talking with the Left Social-Revolutionaries. If those talks succeed, they will have enough support to form government and Iraklij Tsereteliy will be proclaimed the new Prime Minister.”

Dmitri leaned back on his chair, confident. “So? The Constitution allows that. I might be a Romanov, but I support the Republic. You should remember that I supported Tsar Nicholas abdication. Or are you afraid of losing your position in the government?”

Pavel was infuriated, but he managed to hide it. “This has nothing to do with me. If a Left SR-Menshevik coalition secures a majority in the Duma things will not fare well for any of us. Not only we will be one step closer to revolution once again but most reactionary groups won’t allow it. Baron Wrangel has been informed of the situation and is planning a coup in the event of a socialist government.”

Dmitri’s eyes widened in shock. “Pavel, you know I’m a conservative, but Wrangel is beyond all reason! If he were to take power, we would be back where we were half a century ago! Not only that, the socialists would rise in arms and civil war would be unavoidable!”

Pavel sighed. “Yes, that’s why I’ve been contacted by Marshall Denikin. If no better option appears, he will command the army to storm the Duma, dissolve it, and declare martial law. And as soon as thing cool down, return to a constitutional government.”

“That’s not a bad outcome, but yet, you’re here. What’s in your mind Pavel?”

“You are a well-known politician, and a republican. You are charismatic, politically able, and above all, a Romanov. We can get the support of the moderate left, the liberals and the conservatives. Together we can save Russia from socialism and the reactionaries. It’s in our power to bring order, stability, and finally freedom to the Russian people. But for that, we must be quick, and get the Senate in line.”

“Y-You want me to be t-“, Dmitri stuttered.

“Yes. I want you to be the next President of the Republic.”

 

[Dr.Livingstone]

Subbed.

 

[RealityGuy]

Soooooooo many Russian Kaiserreich AARs

 

[General Awesome1234]

Soooooooo many Russian Kaiserreich AARs

But it's different every time!

 

[RealityGuy]

But it's different every time!

Bet you a dollar it's not

 

[General Awesome1234]

Don't worry, the Soviets chose to extended the non-aggression treaty for another 3 years.

Bet you a dollar it's not

Challenge accepted

$ <----that is my dollar

 

[RealityGuy]

You don't need that Colt556's quote, its another AAR.
$- my dollar. IT WILL BE THE SAME AAR!

 

[General Awesome1234]

accidentally added two quotes


It's on!

 

[Patrick Harte]

Subbed.

Thank you!

Soooooooo many Russian Kaiserreich AARs

IMHO, it's the most fun KR country to play!

But it's different every time!

Yes! And I hope you like this one!




Chapter 1: Reorganization of the Russian Republic – Part 1


When Dmitri Pavlovich Romanov became President of the Russian Republic all the political, economic and social elements of the nation were in disarray. For the second time in a generation, the Head of State of Russia had been assassinated. Rather than fear for his own life, he saw this as the opportunity to carry Russia forward in a new era of democracy and at the same time save his dynasty’s honour by being the ones to carry on such process. So when for security reasons the Senate proposed to bring the Okhrana back, Dmitri refused stating “There will be nothing secret in the Russian Republic, no secret police, no secret laws, and no secret policies which would endanger the institutional integrity of the Republic in the eyes of its people.”

The economy was not in a good place by that time, and things worsened when a crash in the Berlin Stock Exchange rapidly transformed into an international economic crisis that affected not only MittelEuropa but also all countries that had economic ties and traded with the German Empire, including the Russian Republic. As the economic situation deteriorated, the state entered not only a financial crisis, but also a fiscal one. Most of its budget had been used to repay the Brest-Litovsk reparations a month back, and it became harder for the state to collect taxes as people saved their money to solve their everyday goods. To address this issue the President decided, on the advice of Prime Minister Milyukov, to sell government property that belonged to the Romanov family before the Civil War.

While this measure helped the financial situation of the state, the people asked for their economic problems to be addressed. In Moscow, the workers organized a strike with support of local Menshevik politicians. The local authorities couldn’t solve the problem and asked to central government for assistance. While enough of the worker’s condition were accepted to end the strike, both the President and the Prime Minister saw how inefficient the government structure was to solve this issues and decided to reform the state burocracy. While the socialist wanted the recognition of the Soviets, the conservatives pushed to re-institute Zemstva and regain power in the local level. On the other hand, the reactionary landowners asked for a re-enserfment of the peasant population hoping that a Romanov head of state would want a return to the old order. Yet the coalition of liberals, moderate leftists and moderate conservatives passed the “State and Tax Reform for a Modern Russia Act” which created a new hierarchical burocracy based in the principles of subsidiarity in which each level of government would have its own budget and taxes to collect, and all legislation this bodies created be in line with the national legislation passed by the State Duma.

 

[DKM]

subbed

 

[Lunarc]

GOOD.

 

[Milites]

Great to finally see a Russian AAR with Pavel Milyokov in the driving seat. Russia shall bring liberty to the people of Europe!

 

[Patrick Harte]

subbed

Thanks!

GOOD.

The better is yet to come!

Great to finally see a Russian AAR with Pavel Milyokov in the driving seat. Russia shall bring liberty to the people of Europe!

It's a great honor to have you here Milites. I hope you enjoy the ride!




Chapter 1: Reorganization of the Russian Republic – Part 2


The next years would see the progressive creation of a political balance between the liberals that followed Prime Minister Milyukov and the conservatives leaded by President Romanov. They arranged to carry on their agenda in their respective places of power. The Kadets, assuring the control of the State Duma, would be in charge of the internal affairs of the country, while Dmitri being President and controlling the Senate would take charge of Russia’s foreign policy. The logic behind this agreement was that liberalization would weaken the socialist’s cry for freedom and a more open society. On the other hand, a conservative foreign policy would mean satisfying the most reactionary elements of society that pushed for military expansion of Russia to its old borders and beyond. When describing this years, historians would say this was the time of “liberalism inside Russia and conservatism outside Russia”.

This agreement was first tested when Maria Bochkareva, hero of the both the Great War and the Civil War, requested both the Chief of Staff Anton Denikin and President Romanov the creation of the 1st Women’s Division of Death that would combine the existing women’s battalions of death. While Denikin had reserves about the matter, Dmitri saw a political opportunity to take advantage from. By allowing women to serve in the army, the government could gain support from the liberals and the moderate left, while also pleasing the conservatives by growing the ranks of the Army. When he presented the idea to Milyukov for this to be made law, the Prime Minister explained the need to reform the Civil and Criminal Codes which were outdated, including equal economic and social rights for women as first step towards giving them the right to vote.

To secure his control over the conservatives, Dmitri created a new political party with his friend Feliz Yusupov: Indivisible Russia. This way, no rogue conservative voices would be heard in the Senate nor in the Duma, and the coalition with the liberals of Milyukov would be strengthened. And this was proven the right move when Patriarch Kiril made a public statement asking for the clarification of the status of the Orthodox Church while saying that orthodoxy should be declared the State Religion in a constitutional amendment. Seeing the Patriarch and the Church as institutions associated with the old order, both the President and the Prime Minister agreed that this new Russia, to be modern, must be secular.

Although more freedom was being given to the russian people, socialist elements of society were still not convinced, and organized workers’ demonstrations for time to time. Yet the authorities respected their right to protest and left them be. While the demonstrations went on, a meeting between the President, the Prime Minister, the Chief of Staff and the Admirals of the Navy went on. This would be the first step towards the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Republic. While Admirals Von Wirén and Bosrem presented good cases for their proposals, it was Mikhail Berens the one who convinced Dmitri and Pavel that the sea carriers where the future that would give the Russian Republic to ability to project its power and influence all around the world.

 

[Attalus]

Subbed !
Democracy for Russia !

 

[Davisx3m]

Subs*

 

[Mr. Santiago]

Subbed!
Nice to see a republican, democratic Russia for a change

 

[Patrick Harte]

Subbed !
Democracy for Russia !

Subs*

Subbed!
Nice to see a republican, democratic Russia for a change

Thanks everyone! Sorry for not updating this alst few days, had to go in a work trip but now I'm back.




Chapter 1: Reorganization of the Russian Republic – Part 3


Critics of how to state religion issue was resolved started to appear all over Russia. Priests, bishops, conservatives, reactionaries, peasants, soldiers made their voice heard for almost a month and a half, all rallying behind Patriarch Kiril. The government, when defining the Russian State as modern and secular, gave freedom of cult to its citizens. And with the freedom of speech ratified into the constitution, the Prime Minister and the President decided to let them be. Ignoring them was the best course of action to let the situation stabilize.

By November, the issue of the economy started to appear in the public opinion and Prime Minister Milyukov recognized it was time to address this issue. The economic situation wasn’t getting any better and the World Economic Crisis didn’t give any signs of stopping in the near future. By their political agreement with the President, it was the Prime Minister’s responsibility to address this problem. While in the last decades some industries had been created, Russia was still a nation of peasants. This situation was the base of the conservatives and reactionaries power. Milyukov realized that for Russia to truly be modernized it had to become an industrial powerhouse. But this required a huge investment, an investment the government could not afford because of its financial and fiscal situation. So it was decided that new legislation should be passed in the State Duma ensuring the proper incentives for the wealthy, be them part of the old nobility or of the liberal elite, to invest in creating new industries.

As the state of the navy was addressed a few months earlier, now it was time for the reformation of the army. There were four proposals presented before the President and the Prime Minister. While Marshal Denikin was a hero of the Civil War and the most respected military commander of the Armed Forces of the Republic, his views were seen as outdated and too reminiscent of the tsarist era army. Both Wrangel’s and Shatilov’s proposals were somehow innovative, but both Dmitri and Pavel didn’t trust them, as they were prominent figures of the reactionary faction of the army and if given too much power over the armed forces they could pose a threat to the stability and continuity of the Republic. Finally, Markov’s proposal was the most interesting because it used new tactics still unseen by the world that countered the current military doctrines that were born from the Weltkrieg. It was decided that the new Russian Army would be a professional army, the most modern and well equipped in the world. While the first steps to enforce this decision were made, socialist politicians decided to organize a strike as they saw that this new economic policy wouldn’t help solve in a rapid way the issue of unemployment. Once again, enough of their demands were accepted for the strike to end.

While the economic situation was slowly improving, the Prime Minister saw that socialist agitation didn’t dwindle, and it still had its effect over the workers. Unemployment was still high, and the socialists benefited from that. But when Admiral Berens and General Markov presented their plans to modernize the existing armed forces, Milyukov saw all interest aligning. Military industries and shipyards would be subsidized in order to carry on this modernization pleasing the conservatives. But they would be obliged to hire unemployed workers to part them from socialist influence. This increase in military production would help the economy recover more quickly, and prepare the armed forces to defend Russia’s new democracy.

 

[General Awesome1234]

Ouch, that's a lot of dissent! But I guess progress cannot be stopped!

 

[Dr.Livingstone]

I love the mobility doctrine. Such a good tech tree.

 

[Patrick Harte]

Ouch, that's a lot of dissent! But I guess progress cannot be stopped!

Well, liberal Russia has the best dissent-reducing ministers.

I love the mobility doctrine. Such a good tech tree.

It's the best. Sometimes I don't pick it for roleplaying reasons, like when playinf with China, or Japan.