Long Live the Permament Revolution! - a Trotskyist Soviet AAR.

[ThaHoward]

Greetings comrades and enemies of the revolution! I have been thinking of making another AAR for a while, and have flirted with a few ideas. First I wanted to make a Austria-Hungary one, but I quickly lost interest. Then I flirted with the idea of a West-German NWO one, but I found the mod somewhat lacking. Now I wanted to make a German AAR with the Kaiser reinstated, and then I got another idea. What about the USSR? The story of USSR is fascinating and I will take it as a learning experience to weave this story of some sort of re-enactment of Leninist USSR, especially as from my observertations Trotskyism, whatever that is, is a pecurious -ism in communist and radical socialist circles. Some see it as reviosionism, others see it is as democratic socialism and others again just an extension of the terror of Lenin and Stalin. But I digress, we'll see how this AAR develop and if Trotsky would be any better than Stalin or worse - or rather what I decide and how the game play out

Now I will lay out a few things, goals, rules etc.

Goals:

-Let Trotsky take power.
-Spread communism to as large parts of Europe as possible, however I won't be doing this as Stalin. For example when Trotsky assume power I might be influencing Romania to make them commie, but I won't do it as Stalin.
-Make France, UK or USA communist. France can be made commie through ideological boosting, but UK (and her Dominions and Puppets) and USA can only be made commie through war.
-Win WW2? And if so, puppet Germany.

Other things: I will play it on alternative history, as if I let Trotsky assume power then the AI should be able to do some shit too. Hopefully one of the other nations will embrace the glorious enligtenment of socialism!

Other than that welcome and I hope you will all enjoy it. And don't let this be a shitstorm over ideology (but if you are knowledgeble about this topic, please don't hesitate to post stuff here or PM me), it is just for fun and I hope you too will have fun to see what happen! And to just make it clear, I have never played as USSR before, so we will see what happen and how I can fare against Hitler and his buds after I recover from a civil war, and perhaps I will even launch the Great Purge just before Trotsky return to make it even more difficult?

Time will tell, will Trotsky (really me) truly make the USSR a socialist state and usher the world into a new era, will it be forgotten under the boots of the Fascist warmachine or will it just be another Stalinist era under a different label? Only time will tell, and I hope you all will join me in finding it out!

Table of Contents:

Inter-War Era:

Stalinist Era:
-Prologue: Workers of the world, unite!
-Introduction: The Devil is a good Communist.
-Chapter 1: Govern Humanely.

Spanish Civil War:

-The Spanish Civil War: Further Beyond.
-The Spanish Civil War: Madrid shall be Fascism's grave.
-The Spanish Civil War: Workers, to Victory!

Beginning of the end of Stalin:

-Chapter 2: Abolish the Cult of the Individual.
-The Border War.
-Chapter 3: The Gravedigger of the Revolution.

Trotskyist Revolution/Civil War:

-Chapter 4: Communism needs Democracy, like the Human Body needs Oxygen.
-Trotskyist OOB.
-Chapter 5: The Second Russian Civil War.
-Chapter 6: The End may Justify the Means, as long as there something that Justifies the End.
-Chapter 7: I like my Beer cold, my Coffee hot, my Revolution - Permament.

Trotskyist pre-Great Patriotic War time:

-Chapter 8: The Revolutionary Fires will reach the entire Continent.
-Chapter 9: 1871 all over again.
-Chapter 10: If you cannot convince a Fascist, acquaint his head with the Pavement.

World War Two:

Great Patriotic War:

-Chapter 11: Operation Icebreaker.
-Chapter 12: You only have to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down.
-Chapter 13: Liberators, not Conquerers..
-Chapter 14: The German army is a machine - machines can be broken.
-Chapter 15: Götterdämmerung.
-Chapter 16: When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck to crush him.
-Chapter 17: A new year, a new hope.
-Chapter 18: Heil dir im Siegerkranz.
-Chapter 19: A game of dominos.
-Chapter 20: Eastern Migration.


First Wave Communist Revolutions:

-Vive la révolution! (France).
-To Arms! To Arms! (Hungary).
-You cannot make a revolution in white gloves (Finland).
-La Muette de Portici (Belgium).
-För brödrafolkens väl (Sweden).

Eastern Storm:

-Chapter 21: Victory in the West. Disaster in the East.
-Chapter 22: The fiercest Serpent may be overcome by a Swarm of Ants.
-State of the World War.
-State of the Union.
-Chapter 23: Sleeping Giants.
-Chapter 24: Downfall.
-Chapter 25: Island Hopping.
-Chapter 26: Waking the Bear.
-Chapter 27: August Storm.
-Chapter 28: Ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation.

The Cold War:

Post War Situation:

-Post-War World: Lenin zeigt an!
-Post-War World: Truth Prevails.
-Post-War World: Befreiung.
-Post War World: Never failing Powderkeg.
-Post War: Red Retribution.
-Post War: Domesticating the Tiger.

Cold War:

-Chapter 29: Eastern Betrayal.
-Chapter 30: Paris Peace Treaties.
-Chapter 31: After Hitler.
-First Congress of the Internationale.
-Chapter 32: Southern Thrust.
-Chapter 33: The Great Gambit.
-Chapter 34: Countenance.
-Chapter 35: Desert Storm.
-Chapter 36: Crisis.
-Chapter 37: Euthanize the Sick Man.
-Second Congress of the Internationale.
-Chapter 38: Boiling Point.
-Chapter 39: A Red Threat to International Peace
-Chapter 40: Endgame.

Second Wave Communist Revolutions:

-Poland is not yet lost (Poland, obviously).
-Norway, in red, red and red (obviously again, Norway).
-Dear Bulgaria, Land of Heroes.
-Anarchism or Synarchism.

World War Three:

Zapad:

-Operation: Zapad.
-Chapter 41: The cliffs of England stand.
-Chapter 42: Seven Days to the River Thames.
-Chapter 43: Orange Revolution.
-Chapter 44: Plywood Cross.
-Chapter 45: Fortress Copenhagen.
-Chapter 46: If you wish for peace, prepare for war.
-Chapter 47: Through Adversity.
-Chapter 48: Proletarian Shield.
-Chapter 49: Grave of Democracy.
-Chapter 50: The Ruby Island.
-Chapter 51: God Save the King..
-Chapter 52: Island Hopping vol.2.
-Chapter 53: Red March.
-Chapter 54: Red Ocean.
-Chapter 55: Enforced Decolonization.
-Chapter 56: Defeat of Atlas.
-Chapter 57: Freegypt.
-Chapter 58: O, God of Our Land.
-Chapter 59: The Forgotten War.
-Chapter 60: The Great Game.
-Chapter 61: Seven Months to Lake Tanganyika
-Chapter 62: Age of Cobalt

-Interlude I: Red Continent.
-Interlude II: Continent of Revolutions.
-Interlude III: Commonwealth of Workers
-Interlude IV: For the protection of the workers and peasants.
-Interlude V: Disunion in Diversity
-Interlude VI: Liberty Enlightening the World
-Interlude VII: Dragons and Knights
-Interlude VIII: Workers of the World, United

Red Dawn:

-Chapter 63: Vostok!
-Chapter 64: Hail Mary.

 

[stnylan]

Will follow with interest, as one of my "want-to-try" ideas for a future game is a Trotskyist Russia.

 

[germandjinn]

subbed

 

[ThaHoward]

Will follow with interest, as one of my "want-to-try" ideas for a future game is a Trotskyist Russia.

subbed

Thank you for watching it! And if you want to have a Trotskyist AAR, Ihope I will show you what not to do as I have never played the USSR before and actually don't like to have big nations.. So it will be interesting to see what happen.

Also except a prologue tommorow, with some relevant backround info, but non relevant for gameplay etc. and then later an introduction of the present day situation before we commence in earnest.. Now also beware that the qwe-as-zx side of the keyboard isn't functioning optimally, so if some weird typos come across it might be just that..

 

[stnylan]

Now also beware that the qwe-as-zx side of the keyboard isn't functioning optimally, so if some weird typos come across it might be just that..

No worries - indeed I almost now consider weird typos a promised feature of the AAR!

 

[Nikolai]

Looking forward to this!

 

[ThaHoward]

Prologue: Workers of the world, unite!

The October Revolution.

Lenin seen prancing around in Stockholm with his umbrella moments before returning to Russia. Closely followed by the Social-Democrat mayor and the press.

The October revolution was the culmination of the Russian Revolution taking place from the 7th to the 8th of November 1917, or the 25th to the 26th of October according to the Julian calender, where the Bolsheviks under Lenin pulled of a coup and stripped the Provisional Government of its powers, making peace in the Great War at the cost of plunging Russia into a bloody and long civil war.

The events leading up to this coup, or revolution as the Soviets named it, are many, too many to each one of them being giving a detailed examiniation and explenation. Russian society had since the revolution of 1905, where Lenin had participated from his exile, had become a hotbed of various radical ideologies. Democrats, liberals, anarchists, but perhaps most important the Socialists and Communists. In short the dominant socialist party of the time was the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party who were followers of Marxism. The Party itself was split between two factions the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. Lenin proclaimed his faction as the majority faction, while in fact his faction was in the miniority. Meanwhile the Mensheviks, meaning the miniority, was in the majority and was led by Julius Martov. Trotsky was also at the time a Menshevik.

The reason for the split between the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks were quite minor, but soon it evolved to greater ideological and practical differences. Most notably for Lenin's advocacy of seizure of power and unwillingness to cooperate with the Socialist Revolutionary Party and moderate democrats. Because of this hardline Trotsky decided to move on to the Bolsheviks and became a close ally of Lenin in 1904. However the revolution did not end in the favor for the Bolsheviks and the Tsar made only a few concessions to the revolutionaries, but the split in the Russian Socialist Labour Party was appereant, and the stage was set for a full fledged revolution.

The borgouise Vanguard of the Proletariat.

And the revolution happened in February 1917. Democrats, soldiers, women, Socialist Revolutionaries (the party), Mensheviks and Bolsheviks participated, side by side. Yet divided. But the greatest divide was when the Mensheviks decided to support the White Army and the provisional government. Many argued Russia was not ready for a revolution, according to the theory of stagism. Without dwelling too far into it, basically a society need to first develop from a feudalistic one (as Russia) to a borgouise-democracy (such as France) and then the workers rise up against the now capitalist society and create a socialist society. Lenin, however, with the ideological support of men such as Trotsky advocated that a socialist revolution was possible in a feudalistic society and that the workers could unite with the peasants (or petite borgouise according to Marx and Engels) to establish a socialist society.

In short Lenin returned to Russia, but few of the time had heard of him. Who were he? An elusive leader who had been living outside of Russia since 1900. But an unlikely alliance emerged. The Germans was pressed on all fronts and saw a chance to end the war and focus all their efforts on the western front. Great amounts of funds were given to the Bolsheviks to further their goals and propaganda in Russia, and with clandenstine negotiations with Swiss middlemen Lenin and his followers were able to return to Russia (almost being stopped in the then Russian Finland by a British agent, but he was let lose to uphold democratic values) to further destabilize Russia and to make peace with the central powers. And Lenin and his followers took power in the Ocotober Revolution, brokered peace with the Germans and started the Russian Civil War. The rest is history.

The flag drained in the blood of the revolution, with the hammer and scicle united.


Enemy of the imperialists and borgouise: Joseph Stalin.

With some photoshopping quite a handsome fella, in his younger years*.

Following Lenin's death Stalin rose from the shadows. A man who had initially been nothing but a grey mouse, anonomous and uninteresting rose to prominence and ruthlessly deposed of all who were in his way - including Trotsky. Ironically many of the Bolshevik revolutionaires were intellectuals and came from middle class families and even lower nobility. Examples of this was Lenin himself and Trotsky. Stalin can not be said to be of such heritage, but rather the son of a shoemaker and cleaning lady. In fact he was the only leading communist pioneer. However his mother managed to secure the future despot a place in then a presitiogous religious school. But the school system was harsh and ruthless and Stalin came into contact with radical societies. Without diving too deep into his childhood, it is speculated that what he fell victim to in the hands of the strict priest regime, is methods he used during his purges.

Inititally during the Russian Revolution Stalin was a proponent of cooperation with the provisional government, but when Lenin returned and implemented his hardline against all who defied him (those who wanted to cooperate were labeled as traitors) Stalin supported Lenin's line. Stalin had in fact little to do with the October Revolution which was mostly the work of Trotsky. Stalin remained a grey mice until Lenin's death, consolidating his power. First he was given the position of minister in the new Soviet government, before he became a commander of the Red Army under Trotsky, serving in the civil war mostly in the Caucasus, which he soon conquered for the Red Army an finally in 1921 his homeland Georgia was conquered with the aid of his comrade Sergo Ordzjonkidize.

The Troika of Lev Kamenev, Joseph Stalin and Grigory Zinoviev.

By the end of the Russian Civil War Stalin was elected as the General Secretary of the Communist Party (the Bolsheviks changed name to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, or Communist Party in short in 1918), by then the position was seen generally as not a prestigious nor powerful one, and Stalin was elected mainly due to his organizational skills, and even Lenin warned against Stalin calling him powerhungry and too rough (but these statements magically disapperead after Stalin came to power, and transformed itself to condemnation of Trotsky instead). Still he was elected and when Lenin was due to health issues, which had haunted him for all of his life, were no longer capable of leading the Soviet Union and he remained virtually powerless until his death in 1924. Stalin and his triumvirate, also called the Troika, saw this as an oppurtunity to extend their power.

This Troika had infact existed since 1917 and consisted of Stalin himself, Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev. The Troika agreed upon most things since 1917 and were close friends, but what really brought them together was their opposition to Trotsky. While Trotsky and the rest of the Communist Party squabbled over who was to lead the Party, and in turn the Union, the Troika emerged from the shadows, and soon they held the Trotskyists away from positions of real power. Kamenev led the central committees meetings, Zinoviev's main contribution was his gift as an orator and Stalin carefully created his power apparatus. As General Secretary it was his job to elect functionaries to central and local positions.

Two good friends in 1919.

Stalin continued to elegantly dance around in the party apparatus, before his death Lenin advised his party to remove Stalin who had gathered too much power at his hands, and removed those who opposed him from power. When the Troika had fulfilled their goals Stalin betrayed them and set them up against eachother and allied with the Right wing of the Party (still communists) and Bukharin to get rid of the Left of the Party, and the two former allies of Stalin was purged from the Party in 1926. And when he stripped the Left of the Party of all power he assumed many of their lines, and even appropriated some of Trotsky's thoughts, all to weaken the Right and Bukharin. When Bukharin was removed from power, Stalin assumed his ideology of Socialism in One Country. From 1927, and the exile of Trotsky, Stalin had united all power to his person and he was in all but name the sole ruler of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Trotsky, heir appereant of Lenin.

Comrade Trotsky is watching you!

Leon Trotsky, or Lev Trotskkij, born as Lev Davidovich Bronstein had all the good stuff coming to him. He was seen as the heir to Lenin. He was a highly respected theorist, aiding Lenin in his justification for a socialist revolution, and making countless of contributions to marxist thoughts. The architect behing the October Revolution, founder and leader of the infamous Red Army, the people's commissar during the war and one of the founder of the mighty politburo. Trotsky, initially a member of the Mensheviks became perhaps the greatest ally of Lenin and after the death of Vladimir Lenin he was at the apex of his power. But he would learn one crucial lesson: The higher they rise, the harder they fall.

Trotsky was introduced to Marxism in 1896, and since political freedom wasn't that big during the time he was arrested in 1898 and in 1900 sent to a four year exile in Siberia. But for whatever reason he didn't like Siberia, so he fled and joined forces with Lenin in London. However during the Party Congress in London during the summer of 1903 Trotsky and Lenin split, albeit shortly, when Lenin founded the Bolsheviks but Trotsky supported the Mensheviks. Despite the short split, this would forever cause division between the two leaders of the revolution.

The bloody sunday.

In 1905 Trotsky returned to mother Russia and joined the Soviet of St. Peterburg. But Trotsky was a man of the revolution, and one of action. He soon found himself in the midst of the general strikes which culminated in the Bloody Sunday. It didn't do much to help Trotsky's case that he supported the armed insurrection that followed, and as such he was given a life sentence of exile in Siberia, but Trotsky again escaped and found his way to London. Following this he wrote several papers named Pravda, not to be confused with the official one, and smuggled it to Russia. What followed was that he traveled around to Switzerland, France, got thrown out of France and then visited the US. There he heard rumors of the revolutio and was quick to get back to Russia to participate in the revolution. And so he did. Once he returned he became an official member of the Bolsheviks and even managed to become the leader of the revolutionary military committee which planned and executed the coup during the October Revolution.

Trotsky thinking about revolutions and other things that excited him.

After the successful coup Trotsky was appointed the People's Commisar of Foreign Affairs and negotiated the Brest-Litovisk treaty, the German gambit had payed off. He resigned as foreign minister following this treaty, and soon became the People's Commissar of Military and Naval Affairs. There he founded and led the Red Army to victory against the White Army. His personal abilities, as a tactician and demagogue were likely key components of the Red Army's victory, but for all his successes he was humiliated by the newly formed Polish nation. Initially the Russian, Ukranian and Byelorussian made gains against the Poles, and in Moscow Lenin and his compratriots celebrated as the revolution spread beyond their borders (and to reclaim signifant territories), but the Red Army and Trotsky was stopped during the decisive defeat in the Battle of Warsaw.

But it was following the worsening health, and eventual death, of Lenin that ousted the golden boy from power. His last real chance to remove Stalin and the Troika from power was to adress the testament written by Lenin himslef. In this testament he wrote that Stalin should be removed from power. The twelfth party congress of 1923 gave Trotsky the oppurtinity to use the testament as munitions against the Troika. But he remained silent and let his last chance slip away from his fingers as he watched Stalin consolidate power around himself. The reason? In the very same testament Lenin had critical remarks on Trotsky's exaggerted self-esteem and feeling of self-importance, and his love for purely administrative endeavours. Despite having lost to Stalin, Trotsky created the Left Opposition, and within this fought against Stalin over the next years and developed his own theory of "Permament Revolution", not to be confused with the one made by Marx and Engels, which were in sharp contrast to Stalin's "Socialism in One Country". In the end this ideological dispute led to Stalin's purges and Trotsky was exiled to Kazakstan in 1928, before he in 1929 was exiled from the Soviet Union alltogether and settled down in Norway. His life work, the first Socilist State in the world, had been lost to him and he was forced to live in humiliation.

The Permament Revolution - an attempt of explenation.

Another version of the four heads: Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky.

The far left is opposed to capitalism, reactionaries and imperialism. But there is one thing they are even more opposed to: themself. The theory of the Permament Revolution is one part a method created by Trotsky to give ideological ground for how nations such as Russia can transform into a Socialist society, and to oppose Stalin and his Socialism in One Country thesis. The dominant theory among Marxists, and the Social Democratic Party, was that socialism couldn't be achieved in Feudalistic societies such as Russia, but instead Russia needed to first experience a borgouise-democratic revolution, reach a level of advanced capitalism and then the workers would unite and overthrow the borgouise who exploited the workers. "History do not repeat itself" he said, and by that he meant they couldn't look to the French and English revolutions as Marx and Engels did. The conditions of France and England was seperate, and the borgouise of Russia wouldn't be able to create the necessary political and land reforms to improve the conditions of the citizens and the economy. Furthermore the workers who had united with the peasants, nd le by the Vanguard Party, couldn't simply stop their revolution. As the hostile borgouise and imperialist powers would seek to end the socialist experiment, so the revolution needed to be Permament. It couldn't be confined to one single country, as it wouldn't be able to hold on its own against the foreign powers. This somewhat muddled theory became after Lenin's death the centerpiece of the Left Opposition as they needed theoretical ground to hold against Stalin and Bukharin who wanted Socialism in One Country.

Leader of the Right Opposition and betrayer of the Permament Revolution, Nikolai Bukharin.

Bukharin seem to be a nice guy.

The other golden boy beside Trotsky, and major theorist alongside Lenin and Trosky was Nikolai Bukharin - or the "party's favorite" as Lenin called him. Like most top members of the Bolsheviks he had too been arrested for revolutionary activities and had in 1911 been exiled to Siberia, and like his rival Trotsky he didn't like the weather of Siberia much and fled. He proved to be a shooting star in the international socialist arena and became a leading figure in the Comitern, which he ironically had first opposed, and the initial years following the October Revolution he was given the responsibility of the Party's propaganda and schooling works. It was here he wrote the books that would make him fmous the ABC of Communism (which again borrowed many ideas from Trotsky's Permament Revolution) and Dialectal Materialism. Bukharin was seen as just a logical heir to Lenin as Stalin and Trotsky at the time, and he formed the Right Opposition. But he allied himself with Stalin and the Troika to chastitise Trotsky, and when they had dealth with Trotsky, Bukharin and Stalin turned against the Troika. But Bukharin would soon fall from power too, and would be stripped of all functions. Bukharin was purged from the party along with Trotsky, and Stalin appropriated several ideas from Trotsky and Bukharin alike and was now the sole and undisputed leader of the party.

Socialism in One Country - pretty self explanatory.

In Mother Russia.

Socialism in One Country is a theory that look upon the events that took place in Europe following the Great War and until 1923. As according to Marx and Engels many nations experienced communist uprisings and the creation of several socialist states, such as the shortlived republics of Bavaria, Hungary etc. But as Marx and Engels predicted all of the world would rise up, only a few nations did so. And the revolutions would be quickly put down and in addition it happened in the power vaccuum formed by the fall of empires. The Soviet Union should instead of facing outward, turn inward. Socialism should not longer be formed globally, but according to Stalin and Bukharin it should start in one country, before they spread out the global revolution. But still there were members in the USSR who were opposed to Stalin and supported Trotsky and a more globally orientated Soviet Union remained, but Stalin felt confident his purges was a success and that he could now move away from consolidating his powers and industrialise the vast lands of the USSR. The world were by his feet, and it seemed as if nothing could stop him.

Stalin, the Father of the Nation having secured his power against the Revisionists and fifth columnists.

-----
*Stalin actually had smallpox at an early age. This anda generally harsh life made him full of scares the rest of his life. All pictures of him were edited to take away said scars and make him appear better.

 

[Nikolai]

Quite an indepth post there, and very interesting history lesson.

 

[ThaHoward]

No worries - indeed I almost now consider weird typos a promised feature of the AAR!

Hope I can deliver then But the most difficult will be the Russian names really.

Looking forward to this!

Quite an indepth post there, and very interesting history lesson.

Thank you and welcome back I hope it was indepth as I really put it all very very simple. I don't want the pre-'36 Russia to take too much place, but I think there need to be some sort of basic understanding to get why Trotsky will come back and take over USSR and so on. And the communist theories are so many, and can be kinda complex. In the end I don't know if Trotsky etc knew everything they were on about or made theories too complex for others to understand. But just let me know if y'all want more backround story, if not we will just proceed to the gameplay.

 

[stnylan]

Good background there.

 

[ThaHoward]

Good background there.

Glad you liked it I'll make a chapter later today (evening CET) or tommorow depending upon amount of work and since it's Halloween today

 

[ThaHoward]

Introduction: The Devil is a good Communist.

State of the Union.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic - both called simply "Soviet Russia".

Soviet society had underwent sweeping changes when the new year's fireworks stilled (and fireworks of war still seemed distant) the first of January 1936. In mere decades Russia and the other soviet republics of the USSR had gone from agrarian societies following a feudal system of old into an age of forced industrialization. The Red Army had been expanded, yet the army and navy were largeley composed of logistical issues and outdated equipment. Most of the lost territory of the former Russian Empire was reclaimed, but the Soviets clamoured for the return of their territories in the Baltic, Poland and Finland. Meanwhile the increasingly Japanese Empire wanted to annex the north of Sakhalin. While the revolutionary state might at first glance look impressive, it was deeply troubled. The major powers of the world hardly recognized the Soviets as a great power, judging them by their performance in the Great War. In their eyes the vast Eurasian country was nothing but a backward nation taken over by demagogues and riddled by incompetence. And perhaps they were right. The Soviet Union itself suffered greatly from a corrupt bureaucracy and many purges in society, the party and the military. And the critics withing the USSR were just as harsh. They argued, motivated by Trotsky's writings and speeches in exile, that the socialist experiment had turned into a bureacratic dictatorship, and that the rapid industrialization were capitalism light and brough much injustice and suffering to the peasantry - an ironic remark as Trotsky himself had advocated for the Stalinist industrialization before Stalin appropriated the ideas for himself. The time had just turned to the first day of '36, a new chapter in the annals of mankind was coming to a dawn and this was the state of the Soviet Union.

Five-years plan: Industrialization, collectivization and modernination.

There is no thing as being too successful!

The Five Years Plan was in many ways a result of a desire to turn the Union into a modern society, an industrial superpower. However it was also the result of the rivarly between Stalin in Trotsky. Initially Stalin had supported Lenin's New Economic Policy (NEP) along with the Right and Bukharin. This was as they were in opposition to Trotsky's vision that the Union had to undergo a forced and rapid industrialization. Stalin used this oppurtinity to get rid of Trotsky and his supporters - along with many other factors. But following the exile of Trotsky, Stalin turned on the Right and the NEP and announced they would now undergo an economic policy of central planning. A planning that would be organised into Five Year Plans. The argument was that the NEP would bring about capitalism to the Union, and one could only become a true socialist state through the devolpment of heavy industries and collectivization. Once Trotsky was gotten rid of Stalin used his arguments against his former supporters.

The results of the First Five Year Plan was many and felt profoundly through the Soviet society. Industrial output had been greatly increased. As examples the production of pig iron 3.3 million tons each year to 6.2 million tons. Coal production 35.4 million tons to 64 million. Furthermore many new factories had been constructed or were under construction, creating many new jobs. By 1923 6.4 million jobs were created per annum. In the agricultural sector Lenin had accepted private ownership, but Stalin and his planners wanted to bring about a collectivization. In 1929 they accelerated the process to include collectivization by force. In 1936 about 90% of the agriculture had been collectivized.

In the workers paradise everyone have to work.

Still the changes was not without its downsides. By first glance, and especially according to Soviet and international-communist propaganda, it was a tremendous success and a workers paradise was in the making. Unfortunately the living conditions of the workers didn't rise, but instead fell during the regime of Stalin. Working regulations were tightened, many of the more liberal policies of Lenin was reverted while his terror regime was expanded drastically. The working day was now expanded to 16-18 hour days, instead of the promised reduction to 8 hours. And many among the peasantry saw the regime as their enemy rather than their benefactor. It didn't help much that the collectivization culminated in a disastrous famine in 1932 and 1933. It was in these conditions that anti-Stalinist sentiments grew. As the anti-Stalinist sentiments grew so did the pro-Trotskyist. Trotsky managed to hold some sort of false purity as his rule had never been tried out in practice, while the ones of Stalin had. The great irony was that the industrialization of Stalin was in many ways the brainchild of Trotsky, but as Stalin adapted to new situations so did Trotsky. Trotsky promised for a more liberal and humane approach to Socialism, appealing to western intellectuals and dissatisfied soviets alike.

The flawless construction plan.

As one can't deny the many negative sides of the first five year plan, so can't one deny its successes. And Stalin intended to continue his success in the Second Five Year Plan. The second one started in 1932, while it officially started in 1933, and greatly expanded Soviet communication lines and put them just behind Germany in steel production. Many new projects was given the green light on new year's eve of '36, and especially the Moscow region and the bordering regions ws given priority. The communication lines was going to greatly expanded in this region in tandem with an expansion of the civilian and military industries. Research in 1936 was also going to prioritize the development of electronic engineering, construction and machine tools. Initially Stalin felt as if his prior purges was not enough and wanted to increase its quality and quantity to purify the state so that it would not fall to Trotskyist and capitalists - or simpler put to not let Stalin lose his power. In the end, however, he was convinced by a close advisor that resources should not be put into a great purge. That this would only fuel the anti-Stalinist purges and that they should instead look toward finishing the second five year plan and make the USSR a true superpower, initially the communication lines in the regions of Kurks, Crimea and Minsk were to be improved. The advisor was one of the few who dared to question Stalin and come out of it alive. Stalin would on new years eve of 1936 hold a speech where he announced "Trotsky and his capitalist lackeys have been purged, it is now time for the workers to unite. To create a true socialist society".

Red Army; the Red Horde of workers.

The divisions and their composition.

The Red Army was the creation of Trotsky and had been led by him during the Russian Civil War. At first their task was to combat the White Army, but soon it became the sole Army of the Soviet Union. And in the years following the Civil War, and especially after Stalin were crowned Tsar made Leader of the USSR, the Red Army had underwent many reforms to make them an arm of the Communist Party. Other reforms was made aswell, especially the lacks seen in Trotsky's disatrous invasion of Poland. In the 1930s Marshal Tukhachevsky developed the deep operations doctrine. It was quite modern for its time, envisioning the use of simultaneous parallel attacks and combined aviation and armored doctrines to achieve maneuver warfare. Where the Soviets had developed such doctrines theoretical, it was their arch-enemy who would be remembered as the father of such doctrines - through sheer desperation and tactical innovations. In 1936 the Red Army had been massively reduced from the 1.6 million army in 1922 to around 500.000. On top of that many of the forces was NKVD divisions, meant for political correctness in the divisions. But many were innovative as the many armored divisions and the sole motorized brigade. Meanwhile other were innovations were being tested such as the use of paratroopers.

Stalin distrusted the Red Army in 1936, his paranoia was exploited by many generals who had petty rivarlies and blamed eachother for Trotskyism. However Stalin was persuaded away from committing a great purge in favor of economical reforms, and it was argued that his massive plans for expansion of the Red Army would do nothing but hurt said Army if most of the experienced officers were to be purged. One of them would have been Tukhachevsky.

Here the Red Army are stationed. Mostly exercising. One can never have too many pushups.


Red Army Air Forces, a dormant titan.

A messy collage of the soviet airforce.

By the early 1930s the Soviet Air Force, or the Directorate of the Workers-Peasants Red Army Air Forces which was its actual name, was an air force in the making. It was mostly mimicking the organization of land armies, but the Soviet industry had managed to produce several domestic airplanes and was increasing their air fleet. They were mostly composed of short range fighters and long range bombers. It may have looked as the Air Force would have been neglected and scrapped as Stalin's paranoia increased. The father of the airforce General Yakov Alksnis was a potential fifth columnist, but he was spared.

The Red Fleet.

Another collage.

The Soviet Navy, or the official name Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet, was in a sorry state when the Bolsheviks came to power. It was composed of mostly derelict ships and many were indeed scrapped and instead their batteries was used for coastal batteries. Still the Union had grand plans. The Red Fleet was to be one of the greatest fleets of the world and in 1926 the first plans was made so that 133 submarines were to be build. In retroperspective this is a sound investment, however as the Great War showed navies are a sign of national strength and pride. Submarines were seen as the poor man's navy - those who could not challenge the major surface fleets of nations such as Britain or Germany. The sorry state of the Soviet Navy was proven in the international community as they weren't a part of the many naval treaties signed, signed to prevent another naval race.

The Third Communist International, the final international (?).

The nation of Tannu What and the remnants of a once glorious empire.

The Third International was the last of the internationals. Its purpose was world revolution and "by all available means, including armed force, for the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and for the creation of an international Soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete abolition of the State". Following the formation of the Soviet Union and Lenin's prestige, the USSR emerged as the de-facto leader of the Third International, or the Comitern as it was also called. However the real-politics of Stalin soon emerged. When he took the theory of Socialism in One Country to heart, and soon the Comitern was no longer an organization of socialist solidarity and armed world revolution, but rather a tool by Stalin. The Left Opposition and Trotskyist would make conspiracy theories to proclaim that Stalin actively hindered a world revolution by being a tyrant of the Comitern who didn't want any other nation to experience a revolution who could challenge the Soviet Union. The Comitern had in many ways been transformed into an alliance where the Communist Party of the Soviet Union directed all other communist parties, and where the People's Republics of Tannu Tuva and Mongolia was recognized as de-facto satellite states of the USSR by the international community.

China, the home of the peasant's revolutions.

Such a rump state can surely never make it into history...

China was deeply riddled by threats externally, Japan, and internally. The government of Chiang Kai-shek had difficulties ruling the vast area and populace and many local warlords ruled. One of them was Mao Zedong. He had been influenced Marxism and Lenin and was perhaps the least Orthodox of the Marxists. This led to many of the Third International shunning him and seeing China as immature of a socialist revolution as being an agrarian society. Mao on the other hand argued for the liberation of the peasants, as Lenin did, and from imperalism, as Lenin did too. But as of now the Red Army of China was severly weakened after they had undertook a series of retreats in the Long March to the isolated location of Shanxi.

Comrde Sheng Shicai have made Sinkiang a virtual Soviet puppet state...

Another communist Chinese Warlord was Sheng Shicai of Sinkiang (Xinjiang) a largely muslim part of China with great sentiments of seperatism. The Soviet Union had extended great deal of a influence over the bordering communist realm. Where Mao's Red Army might have been seen as nothing but a buffer to Nationalist China, Sinkiang had to seek advise and consent from the Soviet Union on internal matters and along with Mongolia was the Soviet Union's real foothold in China.

The road ahead, hindered by fascism in east and west.

1936 was a year where Fascism rose in the west and east, with increasingly aggressive Germany and Japan. Russia was especially afraid to lost North Sakhalin, and there was no secret that Germany and its leadership wanted to get rid of the Soviet Union alltogether. The same may be said about the liberal democracies who viewed the Soviet Union as a major threat to their way of life. The Soviet Union had underwent many changes, but if it were to continue its experiment it had to modernise and thar fast. Their economy had been strengthened and so had the military. But they still had a long road ahead. And in Norway a former Soviet revolutionary flirted with western intellectuals selling himself as a liberal-communist and by making connections in the Left Opposition in the Communist Party... History was about to be written.

 

[stnylan]

A scene-setting post filled with anticipation!

 

[ThaHoward]

A scene-setting post filled with anticipation!

Thanks!

So this is what is going to happen. To speed things up I will post for one year at a time, and the year Trotsky return I will make a post until that and then another one.

 

[ThaHoward]

Chapter 1: Govern humanely.

Stalin impressing the world.

Following the effort to improve the railway network in Crimea, Kursk and Minsk, Stalin and the Politburo decided to counter the increasing opposition from the Left. The Left stepped up their rethorics and critics of the regime, especially the worsening conditions of the workers under the rapid industrialization, and Stalin's instincts told him to root out the weed to purify the state. Insted he was persuaded to show the Trotskyists, and the liberal democracies, that the Soviet Union was prepared to liberalise their politics and end the dictatorship that Stalin had imposed. The Constitution itself, which was named 1936 Soviet Constitution, gave universal suffrage, secured freedom of speech, religion etc. It seemed as if the Soviet Union ws opening up and Stalin loosing his noose upon Soviet society, furthermore it secured the right to work as most western democracies did not have. By the Soviets it was portrayed as a major triumph for Socialism, the Soviet Union and most important Stalin himself. Pravda described Stalin as "genius of the new world, the wisest man of the epoch, the great leader of communism". But for those outside of the Soviet Union and the Left Opposition within viewed it as nothing but a piece of paper. A work of propaganda. The Communist Party was classified as the Vanguard Party and the only party allowed, in the end it didn't matter if one could vote - and as Stalin allegedly said "It's not the people who vote that count, it's the people who count the votes". And other matters of freedom of religion was dubious as religious societies faced great confiscations and the right to work was used as an excuse for poor conditions during the industrilization. The new Stalin Constitution ws mostly mocked by the liberal democracies as a farce. The political left of Europe was divided on the question. Some praised Stalin's while others accused him of revisionism (and they were again accused of revisionism by the Stalinists). In Norway Trotsky remarked "the Soviet Union have transformed itself from a dictatorship of the proletariat, to a dictatorship of bureaucracy".

This will take some time..

Meanwhile the Red Army underwent extensive expansion. The small arms of the infantrists was improved and new armor was introduced the BT-7 over the relatively new T-26. It was better armored, lighter and faster than most of the contemporary calvary tanks of the time. Stalin ordered a massive expansion of the Red Army some 840.000 men were now called into service for the Union, with under pressure from Marshal Tuchachevski many new armored, airborne and motorised formations were established. However the Army was lacking in many fields such as logistics and outdated equipment*.

This should be a welcomed vitamin boost to the industry.

In late May the Gosplan led by Nikolai Voznesensky started to prepare to end the practical terms of the second five years plan and start on the Third Five Years Plan. The second five years plan sought to expand the heavy industry base, and the following plan was to expand the military sector. Voznesensky proved to be a capable Central Planner, even if the second wasn't as effective as the first one, and geared the USSR toward greater industrial capacity and made reforms to quicker construct infrastructure and factories. He claimed that the successes of the Soviet economy was one the whole world would study for years to come, and that even capitalist and fascist nations such as USA, Poland and Germany mimicked the USSR with their expansion of infrastructure and four year plans. Meanwhile the neighbours of the USSR was concerned if the nation was mobilzing their industry for war.

Traktor grieft an!

In accordance with the Third Five Years plan (which had not officially been started yet) efforts were made to increase the military sector. Tank factories, who had previously been used to produce tractors for the collectives, were set up in Sverdvlosk and Chelyabinsk to produce the BT-7 and to look into possibilities to produce much more heavy armed and armored tanks - the T-35.

Happened later than usual.

Meanwhile the Italians managed to correct their poor reputation following the humiliation at the hands of the Ethopians. By middle of June Emperor Haile Selassie capitulated and Ethiopia was turned into a colony of Fascist Italy. In the ensuing chaos the Third Reich manuevered inbetween the seemingly rift between UK and France and remilitarized the Rhineland. The Fascist nations of Europe was appereantly gaining ground, but Germany was left vulnerable as they had prior to the Rhineland Crisis created the "Westwall" in the Badenese-French broder regions leaving their northern border with France unfortified.

It is enough pushups for now.

Following these events the Red Army stopped their massive manuevers and exercises in August. They had gained decent amount of experience and their men had been prepared for the coming war. Thousands of soldiers could be seen in the steppes of Ukraine simulating pocket defenses, deep operations and provoking the Japenese in the Soviet-Manchurian border region.

Another type of sports commence..

Following the end of the Italo-Ethopian war and the Rhine Crisis the world was relieved during the Berlin olympics. Over two weeks of festivities and international sportsmanship was seen as a sign of global fraternity and peace - and German propaganda. Yet only eight days following the Olympiad another war erupted. And this time in Europe. Elements of the Spanish Army feeling threatened by the new left-wing government of Spain pulled off a coup. What was meant to be a swift coup where the Army was to seize power failed as important cities such as Madrid and Barcelona was left in government control. Instead a catastrophe and great tragic gripped Europe.

With these battleships we should crush the Nazis.

As war seemed inevitable due to the surging Fascist aggression it was decided the Red Fleet was to be supplemented with new battleships. The most deadly of them was Project 23 or Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleships which was designed to rival the Japanese Yamato class battlships. Yet for USSR to achieve an oceangoing navy seemed like distant dream. The sheer cost of project 21 and 23 was tremendous and resources was for now put into producing destroyers and submarines for the Red Fleet. The tentative plans was for Project 21 and 23 to be produced from 1938.

The battle of the arctic is about to begin.

Valery Pavlovich Chkalov was a man to be forever immortalised in Russia and the Soviet Union. By mid December he was tasked to make several daring flights. Until the 24th of February he would cross the arctic and the north pole. The most famous flight of them all was the 63hour flight from Moscow to Vancouver, Washington (not Canada) over the north pole nonstop. He would continue to make several daring ultra long trips and was made a hero of the Soviet Union and described as "the New Soviet Man" along with other heroes. These served as living pieces of propganda and was meant to represent the good hard working and selfless socialist man. It also served the purpose for the Airforce to draw from these experiences and develop new airplanes and doctrines. Unfortunately for Chaklov he died two years later, the 15th of December 1938 when he piloted a prototype fighter on her maiden flight.

Kalinin a popular friend of Stalin.

Kalinin was the popular figurehead of the USSR and as with Stalin he grew up in a proletarian family. He joined the Russian Social Democratic Party in 1898 and followed Lenin in the Bolsheviks and as with many of the Bolsheviks he was arrested in 1916, but following the February Revolutoin he was set free. Kalinin was at first at odds with Lenin as he had promoted conditional cooperation with the Provisionl Government and advised against an armed uprising. Still he was well liked in the Party and during the Civil War he was elected as mayor of Petrograd (St. Petersburg/Leningrad) and in '26 a member of the Politburo. But most importantly from 1919 he was made President of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and functioned as the titular head of state of the USSR. The real power rested with first Lenin and then Stalin. But he played an influential role after the death of Lenin and was a part of Stalin's inner circle, and without his aid Stalin might have lost the power struggle to either Bukharin or Trotsky. Kalinin was some sort of unifying state of head such as the monarchs of Europe's constitutional monarchies. He held little power, but his peasant backround was used for what it was worth and he was seen as the "All-Union headman" by the press and society, he was also well liked by the Soviet population who gave him the nickname of Kalinych. In an effort to unify the country, which was needed, he said "If you are called upon to govern humans, govern humanely".

The industry is picking up!

1936 came to an end, and obviously 1937 came next. The second five years plan was now officially over and the Soviet industry had been expanded (82 factories in the military sector to 105), but the USSR still had a long way to go especially as the Red Army had major deficiencies, and the thrid five years plan was welcomed by the military. The Central Ring plan was still followed, but dockyards was to be created in Crimea and Rostov to speed up the creation of submarines and destroyers - and the battleships of project 21 and 23.

The Trotsky's on a vacation in Norway.

But what about Trotsky in '36? In 1936 he lived first relatively quiet in Norway, except for being hospitalised for a few weeks. But in June things started to change. The Labour Party government of Norway became pressured from multiple directions to get rid of Trotsky. By the French as Trotsky had seen the volatile situation in France and had in many articles encouraged mass strikes among the workingmen. Stalin and the USSR obviously wanted Trotsky returned to USSR for a "fair" trial. And within Norway itself the government were pressured by the National Socialist Party headed by Vidkun Quisling. The NS even hired thugs to break into his house, and even if the burglary was thwarted the socialist government of Norway used these "evidence" to build up a case against Trotsky. Then in August the Norwegian police demanded from Trotsky that he was to give up his political activities and all of his letters, sent to and from him, was to be inspected by the police if he was allowed to reside in the country. Trotsky refused this, and soon he was interrogated as a "witness" in the NS raid. In September he was taken by the police on the orders of the Minister of Justice Trygve Lie. There he was placed in a farm outside of Oslo, being guarded by 13 policemen and where he was to reside indoors for 22 hours a day. He was no longer able to participate in the public discourse, but he managed to get one letter The Moscow "Confessions" out to the public, critising the paranoia and despotism of Moscow. In December the 16th he was deported to Mexico, seemingly far away from Europe to ever incite radical ideas and safe from the NKVD. He looked back at his final year in Norway and said "When I look back today on this period of internment, I must say that never, anywhere, in the course of my entire life — and I have lived through many things — was I persecuted with as much miserable cynicism as I was by the Norwegian "Socialist" government. For four months, these ministers, dripping with democratic hypocrisy, gripped me in a stranglehold to prevent me from protesting the greatest crime history may ever know".

-----

*I'm just getting the army to 1939 ingame size.

 

[Nikolai]

Not easy, not for Trotsky, and not for Norway...

BTW, it's Trygve Lie, not Trygve Lien. He was later the first Secretary General of the UN.

 

[ThaHoward]

Not easy, not for Trotsky, and not for Norway...

BTW, it's Trygve Lie, not Trygve Lien. He was later the first Secretary General of the UN.

Sorry I am from Norway myself. Let us say it is a typo. However I will write seperate chapters for the Spanish Civil war. Anyway it is changed now

 

[Nikolai]

Hehe, no problem. It was a good chapter!

 

[Skyhascheese]

subbed!

 

[stnylan]

All sounds fine in the land of the USSR ... I especially like the quick update on Trotsky at the end.