Chapter Two : Between debts and crashes
"Is there no way around this ?" Wrangel loudly asked.
"Marshal, I'm afraid that there isn't."
Nikolai Alexeievich Maklakov, the Economy Minister of the National Defense Council, heard the Marshal swear under his breath. Silence came back to the Winter Palace's Malachite Room, from which Russia had been governed since the early days of the Kerensky regime. It was the first time he'd seen him in such a state of anger. Wrangel handed him back the dossier he had just been given. As if to confirm once again the gravity of the news, Ignatiev reflexively opened it and stared at the first page.
In late 1935 Germany had demanded an advance payment concerning the war reparations dictated by the Brest Litovsk Treaty. Kerensky's government hadn't effectively planned any sort of coherent response. They had only made sure that all the media wrote about was the much praised New Year Bill. Now, it befell to the new government to make up for the mistakes of the old.
Harsh austerity measures would have to be implemented with haste. Every branch of the public services would suffer, but the welfare state would be hit the hardest. This meant that the poorest of all Russians would see their situation agravate, often leaving them in desperate situations. In these times of political troubles, the timing could not be worse. There would be no triumphant wind of change to accompany Wrangel's accession to power. No great reforms, no replacement of talks and compromises by swift actions and decisions – the kind that made authoritarian regimes look glamorous to the eyes of the masses. At least, not until later. For now, the new regime would have to adopt a defensive position, and brace itself to bear the brunt of a social conflict, the like of which Russia hadn't seen for fifteen years. A government bill altering the changes to the 1936 state budget was signed on January 18, a mere 48 hours after the coup.
The National Defense Council's popularity was low, as its accession to power had come as a complete surprise. However, as the days passed, more and more people declared themselves in support of the new regime, or at least against any serious resistance. A political party, the SNP, was created to organize civilian support to the Council.
To everyone's surprise, Marshal Denikin had met with Marshal Wrangel, and the two of them had come to an agreement. The meeting was held in presence of Marshal Kornilov, whow as known to have cordial relaitons with both of them. Denikin, Wrangel's main political rival in the military, would remain the commander of the Western Military Region. It was speculated that Denikin acted this way out of patriotism : he knew that any open conflict among the conservatives would lead to the destruction of what had been won in 1921. Despite his worries about the fanaticism of Wrangel's subordinates, he accepted his defeat with stoicism.
As a guarantee of his good faith, he voiced no opposition to a sudden reorganization of the ground forces. The best divisions of the Western, Northern, Southern and Far Eastern Military Regions – 15 Rifle Divisions and 2 Cavalry Divisions supported by three tank battalions – were assembled in an army-sized unit, the Capital Defense Command. The CDC was put under Wrangel's direct control, and all divisional commanders were replaced by members of the ROVS inner circle, except for those who were already sympathizers of the new had of state. This new formation, which gathered the only truly combat-worthy troops of the Russian army, was ordered to take positions around Petrograd in order to secure the new regime. By January 26, the day Wrangel confirmed his right-hand man Pavel Shatilov as the Head of Government, most troops were in place. Three days later, they began a series of large-scale military exercises. This manoeuver had two goals. First, it distracted the population's attention from the recent stream of bad news and demonstrated the regime's power to the Reds. Second, it reinforced the preparedness of the troops in case of insurrection. To everyone's surprise, there was no major bolshevik uprising. Gunfights bewteen communist militias and local police forces had been reported in Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod, but that was all.
CDC troops around Petrograd
Shatilov's nomination as Vice-Chairman of the National Defense Council
Russia held its breath, still fearing the worst.
A few days later, the Berlin Stock Exchange crashed in an event that would be known as Black Monday.
For about a dozen days, Germany's eyes had been set on Russia and its unexpected transformation into a military dictatorship, with differents authors and intellectuals each giving their predictions. A majority of them were of the opinion that the new regime wouldn't last a year.
Everything changed when the Berlin Stock Exchange crashed. Suddenly, the rest of the world didn't matter anymore. Businessmen who weren't busy throwing themselves out of windows quickly left the country. The government seemed to be powerless, and the Kaiser's reassuring speech didn't convince anyone. The unity of the Mitteleuropa, but also of the German Empire's power on a global scale, was shaken as Germany demanded extra tax revenues from its colonies, and enacted protectionist laws to protect its farmers against Ukrainian competition.
Analysts, diplomats and idealists had seen Germany as a weak and tired nation in the recent years. Now, it appeared as a crumbling empire.
In this atmosphere of international panic, the two decrees Pyotr Wrangel signed on February the fourth went largely unnoticed on the global scene, although they would have deep consequences for the Russian people.
First, Wrangel announced that the capital would be changed to Moscow. All sorts of reasons were given. Going back to the old, historical capital city seemed like a choice of consensus. Moreover, all military planeers agreed that its geographical situation was more advantageous. It was also a mean for the new regime to distance itself from the rumours that the monarchy would return. There were actually harsh debates among the nationalist circles associated with the military government. Some favored a return of the Romanovs. But who should the new monarch be ? The legitimate pretender, Kyril, was seen as too liberal for many of the officers. Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich had more supporters. Some zealous officers declared that Russia didn't need another crowned head, and that a heavily militarized republic should be maintained, with Wrangel as its president for life. Some overly enthusiastic captains in ROVS meetings even argued that Wrangel himself should become the new tsar. In truth, moving all government offices to Moscow – alongside the powerful Capital Defense Command – was a way to cool everyone's head. 7 divisions were taken from the Western Military Region and added to the Capital Defense Command, were they joined the rest of the troops in continuing military exercices and anti-terrorist activities.
The CDC, having been redeployed around Moscow.
The second decree's effect was the reintroduction of the Okhranka, the monarchy's secret police. If some had hoped that Wrangel's regime could be liberal in nature, their hopes had now vanished. Staffed with members drawn from the country's intelligence agencies, the military and the police, it would form the regime's sword and shield against its inner enemies. All members were required to swear an oath of loyalty to Pyotr Wrangel. The Vozhd - the Russian word for "chief" or "leader", as propaganda broadcasts and posters soon called Wrangel - had quiet opponents in the military and the Senate, but not in the Okhranka. Under the leadership of Mikhail Meandrov, the organization would play a central role in the stabilization of the political situation and the survival of the new regime.
War erupted in India, between Afghanistan and the Dominion of India. The conflict was short, and ended with a complete defeat for Afghanistan, which had to return Peshawar and Quetta to the Dominion. This war was largely ignored by the public opinions of the civilized world. Despite its brutality, history would only see it as one among the long list of bloody conflicts fought during the last years of the 1930s.
The situation at the start of the war.
The shrunken borders of Afghanistan, following its defeat.
The two submarines that had been under construction on the first of January had just been commissioned, and the last
Orfey-class destroyer was on its way to completion. The limits to Wrangel's authority over the Navy appeared quickly, as different factions argued for drastically different naval construction plans. The support of the Navy was seen as vital to the new regime : the last thing the National Defense Council wanted to see was a sailors revolt in Petrograd, led by an overconfident admiral. Russia didn't need another Kolchak.
The majority, siding behind Admiral Kolomeitsev, wanted a new capital ship to supplement the four aging
Gangut-class dreadnought battleships. Bostrem's faction asked for more submarines. Finally, Berens, Wrangel's man in the Navy, argued for a class of four light cruisers : they would serve as escorts for a future aircraft carrier.
A solution of compromise had to be taken. The Russian shipbuilding capabilities were extremely weak, and the underfunded design teams didn't have a single truly impressive ship to propose. Whatever would be built would be very average at best, and take ages to be completed.
Compromise was found in the decision to build a pair of battlecruisers, to be named
Borodino and
Sarikamish. Displacing 29.000 tons and armed with nine 356mm (14 in.) guns in three triple turrets, they would be able to reach a top speed of 31 knots. Serious doubts were voiced about the ship's protection, and many considered it inferior to ships launched in recent years in other navies. However, this opposition quickly fell quiet as the two
Borodinos had gathered some support from all factions. The conservatives saw them as the next best things compared to real battleships. The supporters of trade interdiction somehow managed to convince themselves that they would be gigantic surface raiders. Finally, Beren's men were adamant that carrier-centered tactics still had some place for fast big guns warships, able to follow carriers and provide coastal support.
As the first steps were taken to begin the construction of
Borodino, disaster struck Russia. Some experts estimated that the Berlin crash would impact Russia within three months. Indeed, Germany had major commercial interests in the country.
The shockwaves hit Russia three weeks after the initial crash.
