I was rooting for de Gaulle's glorious return to the mainland, but I can tolerate his downfall if it was due to supervillain Beria!Maybe they postponed it, after he came up with an idea of how to deal with the "French problem"
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Because they're trying to splinter the Not-Quite-Alliance between the Russians and the Entente, and that was one place they could get quick leverage. Assassinate a Russian diplomat, leak some information to the Gaullist regime, and watch them fall out. Maybe the French will go off in a huff on their own, but ideally there's a ferocious diplomatic row between the Entente and Russia and the Russians start having second thoughts about spending lives and treasure restoring an ungrateful government to Britain - or Russia start working on their own British government and there's another row/point of fracture. I'm sure the British secret ops are also trying to find other places where there are disagreements and push on those, but this particular post was easiest to kick down.
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Sorry i need an extra day or so.
The Russian Gov...i mean some private businessmen need to go buy some uranium and there's a characterization i want to get right.
The Russian Gov...i mean some private businessmen need to go buy some uranium and there's a characterization i want to get right.
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IIRC the known and mined deposits of uranium in 1940s OTL were in the Congo and in Sudetenland. I'm very curious about the super secret trade now. Where does Russia(n private citizen) want to buy from.
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Romania also had some Uranium that was mined and spirited away to Russia during the late 40's OTL. It's a bit early for it, I guess, but Romania was was home to numerous Russian army groups for quite some time here.
Chapter 277 A Heart of Darkness
“If even half of what we hear of what the French and Germans are up to in Africa is true then we want no part of it for Russia. We should hope the Kaiser will, once the new Parliament is elected and at his call, regard the situation with wisdom, compassion, and consideration for the local population.”
- Tsar Vladimir
“The progress of the Damocles project, while uncertain, is of dire concern to us. The progress (and secrecy) of our own efforts must be of the highest importance. If this area of inquiry is to yield the secrets the scientists have informed us it may yield, we must be the first to discover them, whatever the cost.”
- Also Tsar Vladimir
“His Majesty’s directive on the atomic research matter was unequivocal. Given those instructions, we must obtain the required materials, whatever the cost may be. Forcing a return of the territories involved to Belgium is not yet possible, so the task falls to us. We may take solace in the fact that these former Communard arms will likely find new employment against their old owners.“
- Classified Briefing document, Operation “Percussion”
Shinkolobwe, Mittelafrika
Buinov stared at the lump of grey and yellow rock as Alekperov ran his equipment over it, then went back to scanning the room, its entries and exits. The offices at the mine site were elevated, timber constructions with plenty of windows and doorways. The veteran of the American deployments felt horribly exposed standing amid it all, in a suit, as Alekperov’s equipment squeaked and sputtered.
“As you can see herr Alekperov, the pitchblende here is of a particularly high richness, a geological marvel really.” The German’s name was Klatten, short, tanned, but not scarred, he was clearly a back of house type. He’d been assigned to help them verify a range of samples Alkperov had had pulled at random from the vast ore and tailings piles.
Alekperov said something about ore purities, the Germans were claiming figures above sixty per cent, Buinov was fairly sure the notes he’d read before this bloody safari had said a half a per cent was generally seen as ‘good enough’ in the Canadian ores they’d been using so far. Obviously there wouldn't be any more of that. Buinov wasn’t really listening too closely though, his ears were open to the noises of the mine outside.
There was the thrum of water pumps and mechanical lifts, the clang of tools on stone, yelling in German and local languages; all mixed together as hundreds, maybe thousands of blacks laboured in the cuts below them, extracting more of this stone from the earth.
Then, cutting through it all, the occasional scream, and irregular ping of distant gunfire.
“Is something wrong, herr Buinov?” the German was looking at him now.
Buinov might be twitchy, but he Had read the material. “Personally I feel that your Government’s requests; enough firepower to level a town for a handful of ore, machine tools and factory equipment for tailings...that does seem wrong to me, herr Klatten.”
Klatten furrowed his brow and burst into a commercial defence of the offer. That worked for Buinov. Let them think he was just another businessman out to scam a profit selling discount ores to Viennese or Moscow universities. “And I am confident that, were you not interested, the Stadthalder could readily find purchasers elsewhere, perhaps Japan, or in the Vaterland.”
Alekperov followed his brief and tried to recapture the attention to get Buinov freedom to surveil again. “No need for such threats friend, no doubt the Stadthalder understands that our access to the surplus Commune stocks being sold off by the Russian army make us singularly placed to fulfil his needs in a way other buyers are not. And it is not for us, here. to debate such matters, the price has been discussed elsewhere, I am concerned only for the quality of the ore.”
Klatten started to relax again “and it meets your requirements? You shall recommend the purchase?”
“It is in my power to do so, and I’m confident in these readings so far…”
Buinov heard more gunfire in the distance, and more screams. “I’m concerned about transport and security. How will you get it to the port?”
“They’ll carry it to the railhead.” The new voice was like Ice, the new arrival standing at the door wore naval uniform and gold braid. An Admiral, at least assuming Goering hadn’t started inventing his own uniform flairs.
Klatten struggled to hold a smile “Herr Buinov, Herr Alekperov, I can I introduce the commander of the Marine-Korps-Mittelafrika, Admiral Heydrich.”
The new arrival was a steel eyed Teuton with a high forehead and dead expression. Buinov’s partner hesitated so Buinov decided to try and smile through it all “A long way from the ocean Admiral, are these puddles Marine-Korps jurisdiction?” he tried, pointing down at the tailings pools.
Heydrich starred and offered a half smile in return. “The Marine-korps answers directly to the Stadthalder herr Buinov, which means our jurisdiction is anywhere he considers of particular interest.”
The overly eager diplomatic type, Klatten seemed almost excited by this statement “we are genuinely grateful to have the marine-korps take such an interest in this facility. As you’ll appreciate gentlemen, the schutzetruppen are local armies, raised from each of the constituent states of Mittelafrika. We found this made their quality variable.”
“And their dedication to their task suspect” finished Heydrich. “The African is capable of hard work. Like anyone he can be conditioned as long as incentives and punishments are uniformly and predictably applied. My marines are better suited for this task than locals.”
Buinov didn’t let on how exactly he knew about what this icy admiral was going on about. When Goering had grabbed for power when Germany fell, there’d been rumblings among some of his subordinates, there had even been some tense standoffs between different Schutztruppe units who answered to the various colonial leaders.
But the air force and the navy answered to the Stadthalder directly. Now the Schutztruppen served at the front, fighting the reds along thousands of kilometres of harsh terrain or putting down troubles in remote areas of Mittelafrika.
On the streets of Dar es Salaam, you mostly saw ‘luftwaffe ground troops’ carrying out garrison duties.
And when leaders needed culling or the natives needed disciplining, the Stadthalder called the navy.
“Do you have particularly many problems with the workers here Admiral?”
Heydrich smiled “We did.” In that moment Buinov could have sworn he felt his blood chill in his veins. “And of course the reds take every opportunity to cause trouble. They stir discontent, they have even launched several offensives in our direction. But they have been handled.”
Buinov raised an eyebrow “The offensives or the discontent?”
“Both. The Stadthalder’s marines will guarantee deliveries. The Africans are appropriately conditioned, they do not lose ore, they do not slacken in their work, and they do not speak out of turn.”
Alekperov was nodding, but Buinov’s danger senses were firing, he stared at the Admiral, hands at his hips but seeking the comfort of his sidearm, concealed under the suit. “And how have you achieved this feat of worker motivation, Admiral? Perhaps there are lessons we could apply to our own mining concerns back in Europe?”
Heydrich cocked his head and then smiled. “As I said, the African responds to the uniform and predictable application of incentive and punishment."
Another pair of gunshots.
Alekperov moved to disarm the whole thing. They didn’t want to be here, he knew that, Buinov knew that, but there was a job to do. “We’ll purchase the entire stock Herr Klatten, four thousand four hundred and twelve tonnes of ore, the grade B and C tailings, and whatever monthly production you manage.”
Klatten was beaming. Hedrich nodded respectfully “you should expect us to lift production here considerably, is your company prepared to commit to such a large forward purchase?”
Buinov stepped forward and offered Heydrich his hand. “We’re confident in the commercial opportunity, your useless rocks for our mining equipment, machine tools, and ex-French guns.”
“And the ammunition, herr Buinov” the words were uttered with a smile.
“And the ammunition, Buinov confirmed.”
As he did, he heard another gunshot, but it too was quickly lost in the cacophony of the working mine below.
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I feel very conflicted giving this update a Like. I mean, it is well written, but I didn't like it, it made me feel queasy, if anything.
Because Heydrich is da beast.
Because Heydrich is da beast.
Crowd favorites entering the story again Nice insight into the field level goings on in Mittelafrika.
Nice insight into the field level goings on in Mittelafrika.
Russia, Petrograd.
"It's no use Yakov, we need a frontrunner."
The rather inconsiderate puff of cigarette smoke told Pytor what his aid thought of that idea.
"I'd ask you to put that thing out, but as practically everyone smokes in the duma, I doubt it would make a difference."
The aid shrugged his shoulders, "you pay me to be your political aid, not to aid you in living a smoke-free life. If you want me to stop smoking in front of you, pay for my cigarettes, or even better, get me some of those cigars our former American friends are definitely not hoarding on mass as undeclared assets to make a future killing once existing stockpiles run out. You know, those business people you've been meeting for a drink every other day for the past three weeks now?"
"I have, of course, no idea what you are talking about and don't think I haven't noticed you didn't answer my question."
Another puff of smoke joined the chorus of a hundred others as the two moved through the corridors of the duma, "You didn't ask, you just said it."
"I expressed my political assessment of the matter, surely you can do the same?" said Pytor, passing what certainly looked like a cigar box to his aid.
The surprised aid put out his cigarette and quickly tucked away the box in his coat, "always one step ahead of me. Of all of us really. If you hadn't stepped in, the party would have been eaten up by one of those conservative cliques and the irrelevant Republican holdouts like most of the left-SRs did. You showed us how we could do both, why do you think someone else should champion that concept to the masses?"
"For one, you know a Jewish candidate will always face an uphill battle in the general populace. For another, I prefer to get things done in committee while everybody else does the fame and glory bit. That was our understanding with Alexander; he won us the state while we tried to keep it together. I can negotiate, I can compromise, I can talk to people who would rather be shooting each other, but dealing with the press and kissing babies isn't what I joined politics for."
"The party doesn't currently have a frontrunner who won't alienate the delicate inter-factional balancing act you've created, well, other than you."
Pytor snorted, "the party doesn't have a frontrunner, period. Too many technocrats and intellectuals, not enough vote winners."
"Savinkov has been sniffing around party headquarters again..."
Pytor shook his head, "no, I am not letting that man back into the party unless there is no other alternative. He could eat us alive."
"He's popular with the peasants and has the biggest former right-SR following other than us. We will have to be competitive with the peasants if we want to be nationally relevant. As things look, the Kadets and the Left-SR's will dominate the big cities. Too many parties compete over the urban vote as it is."
The doors to the foreign policy committee's office opened before Pytor could respond. As the other members flooded inside, he stopped and thought for a moment before nodding. "I don't trust him, but I won't argue if you happen to talk with him; figure out what he wants and if he's tame enough to work with these days."
Yakov snorted, "Savinkov doesn't do tame."
"So long as it's aimed only at Bukharin's gang and he operates in the bounds of the law, it's tame enough for me. The Imperial Democrats can only hope to win power if we prove ourselves to the public on these 4 points; service to the Tsar, social reforms for the people, an imperial destiny for all, and strength abroad."
Yakov returned Pytor's draft speech to him as the latter turned to enter the assembly, "you are sure this speech is a good idea with things as they are?"
"When everyone else is trying to climb down a tree, then it's time to climb up as high as possible."
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Pytor Rutenberg, speech to the Foreign Policy Committee "Britain and the War Against Syndicalism".
* As leaked to the Imperial-Democrat party journal and later published nationally under the title "Victory today for the peace of Tomorrow."
A year ago, I described the war against Syndcalismas as a war between the future of civilization on this Earth as we know it or a future of Totalist tyranny and barbarity. Such was the strength of the Sorelian monster that many of us, even I at one stage, sought to delay if not avoid a conflict we feared we would not be able to win. In the folly of such thinking, we thought the foe could be reasoned with and that the flow of history could be delayed until we were ready.
The defeat of France and the continental powers of the Internationale by our brave soldiers and allies has removed that mortal sense of vulnerability but we would be wrong to think ourselves secure from the Syndcalist Scourage. Syndcalism does not recognize the results of battles and border changes as we do. In its eyes they are a minor setback. Whereas we see the vanquished red powers of Europe helpless before us, the Syndicalists see impure red regimes doomed to fail with the same certainty as they predict our Empire's fall. While that overconfidence allowed us to win a great victory, we must not become overconfident in our newfound strength.
For the red idealogue, years and defeats matter little so long as there is a potential for poverty and discontent on which to latch himself back into the halls of power. The old Tsarist state fell to a food riot, the Third French Republic to a general strike, the United Kingdom to a minor labour dispute. At every turn, the Syndicalist has stared down the guns of states and Empires knowing that under the right social conditions many of those same guns would fall into his hands for use against us.
While the foe may bargain and offer us every assurance from its present position of weakness with the same platitudes as any normal state, it is but a ploy designed to maintain its power base and lull us into a false sense of security. While we rest on the laurels of victory, you can be sure that the foe is already plotting our demise. Every nation in which we allow it to fester unchecked will merely become the source of the next outbreak of Syndcalist oppression over the rest of the world.
The task is not yet done my friends, Britain remains shackled to the despotic rule of Mosley and his gang. While some rightly point out the challenges of defeating that island power, failing to do so would not only leave the people of a great European civilization in cruel bondage, it would also leave Britain as an ever-present Syndcalist threat: a port of call for every exile and agent-provocateur in their mission to undermine the peace of Europe and our Empire. A peace now would leave it unsinkable carrier for the growing military might of the Combined Syndicates of America in the inevitable war against the resurgent reds in the future.
Faced with such an intractable threat, I ask that Russia commit itself to the principle that there shall be no peace with Syndicalism as readily and as absolutely as it did at the start of the war with France. For our own sake as well as the peace of the world, this war cannot end without the complete and irrevocable defeat of Syndicalism in Europe. To that end, I propose that we meet this obligation with renewed resolve and confidence so that future generations do not die in our stead.
We are not alone in this struggle; all of free Europe stands behind us, and who more so than the British Empire which has suffered war and exile twice over in the cause of liberty, God, and civlization? In his book, the Fall of Númenor, British exile author J.R.R Tolkien told the story of how the evil sorcerer Sauron tricked the people of Númenor to break faith with their gods in pursuit of immortality. The Gods cast Númenor beneath the waves in retribution and only an uncorrupted few flee to the safety of other lands. How many millions have come to our Empire fleeing the advance of Syndicalism abroad? How many more will be similarly dispossessed?
Should we believe the word of the dark lord Mosely, then Britain will forever remain buried under the waves of despair; imprisoned behind its moat defensive as a modern-day Atlantis. The strength of this "Anglo-American brotherhood" and its increasingly triumphalist celebration of an "English Socialism" as the true anti-thesis to our Russo-Roman Empire shows us that there can be no peace with Syndicalism. As Britain rescued the imperial family from the Bolsheviks, and with it, the present fortunes of Russia, so must we facilitate the return of the king to Albion. With him go our hopes and dreams for a century of peace and prosperity in Europe.
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Just realized the killers' weapon is a Welrod pistol. Historically developed in the UK during WWII, this seems to indicate there are some shenanigans going on! This would certainly vindicate the French, but they don't have the pistol...They were oblivious to the suppressed *click* *click* of suppressed gunshots that punched through his skull.
Can I take a moment to brag on how I managed to make a Lord of the Rings reference while keeping it in-universe
Next in my line of posts, I am thinking of a TTL interpretation of Journey's End and doing stuff from the UoB perspective for a while.
Nice catch! Figured something was amiss there! Though for all we know, it could be exiled French Communards in UoB service.
Next in my line of posts, I am thinking of a TTL interpretation of Journey's End and doing stuff from the UoB perspective for a while.
Nice catch! Figured something was amiss there! Though for all we know, it could be exiled French Communards in UoB service.
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Chapter 278: An Entente, not quite so cordiale.
Extract from a letter by Prime Minister Billy Hughes to the Imperial Staff - Sydney.
“The halls of the Imperial Staff echo with debates over the truth of this bloody thing. Were the French responsible? Is this some effort by the Internationale to split the Entente? Is the entire thing a Russian fabrication. So the arguments go on.
As they argue, it seems all involved are too quick to comfort themselves, even after the crushing defeat in Canada, with what still, by strain and by miracles, remains of our strength.
They remark that the Royal Navy remains larger than the fleets of Japan or Russia, speak proudly of the quality of the ANZAC divisions that have seen combat, and ask ever greater concessions from an Australasian treasury bolstered by the liberation of bullion from New York City.
Those strengths are real. The salvation of the Royal Navy and the many refugees from Canada has been essential in preserving our position. But all of this is temporary, doomed to fade away. They equip us for decisive action at an inflection point of history...and will scorn us if we ignore it.
The great ships of which we are so proud lie thousands of kilometres from the yards that birthed them. When Halifax’s turbines finally go, she will go no further as there is no facility in this country which can produce a replacement to her requirements. HMS Dominator’s magazines are deep, but once those magazines run dry, they will never fill again, for Australia cannot produce shells suitable for her weapons.
In time, Japan, Russia, Mosley and Browder will produce new ships, new planes. Against them our strength will fade, as this brave nation of near eleven million struggles to give succour to its many new arrivals. We in the Antipodes can not sustain the burden of Imperial defence alone.
There still exists one chance. An opportunity to reclaim the Home Islands, and salvage the Empire. But if this opportunity is left to slip, we will watch as the Royal Navy rusts at harbour. We will feel the tightening grip of austerity as American gold runs out and Japan and Imperial Europe convert from eager partners to ambitious neighbours, scorned by our stubbornness.
Dreams of restoration will give way to home defence as the Russians or Mosley govern in distant Britain, and a tired population is left to ask...for what did we sacrifice two generations of our young men? Why is it that we produce five calibres of heavy naval gun shells but cannot house or people, feed our hungry, or comfort our sick.
Australia and New Zealand, this confederation of Australasia, has given everything, and will give everything for two things.
The Mother Country, and the Empire.
But they will not struggle forever for some frogs in the desert.
The path home, the path to final victory still exists. It is narrow, and bloody. It will demand the exertion of our last military resources, it will require painful compromises and expensive cooperation. But it is there, albeit narrowing by the day.
That path does not run through Algiers.
As such, it is with all due respect that I would make it very clear that, frankly, I don’t care what happened with the Russian diplomat or what games the French are playing. The Australasian Government's unofficial position is that it doesn’t give a rat’s backside about reds on the Savannah if it means giving up on the only goal that matters.
It should go without saying that His Majesty’s Australasian Government will gladly furnish transportation to Delhi or Algiers for any member of the Imperial staff who feels strong disagreement with this assessment.
Yours Most Sincerely
William Morris Hughes"
From “Curtain Call, the end of the Anglo-French Entente”
The Entente between the French Republic and British Empire had shaped the course of 20th century history. It had endured the bloodletting of the weltkrieg, survived post-war economic and political collapses, persevered even as both signing Governments were evicted from their homelands and went into exile, and stood fast when the reds came for Africa and Canada.
It can be said to have entered terminal decline on the 28th of August, 1942 when it emerged that ANZAC troops had facilitated the escape of the Count of Paris from home detention in Algiers.
At first examination, it might seem odd that the enduring Entente would come to an end over the matter of a murdered Russian diplomat and misappropriated intelligence. The French after all had denied any involvement and claimed the intelligence had been otherwise obtained, and while the circumstantial evidence was obviously damning, most scholars conclude that it seems unlikely, at the very least, that the highest levels of the Algiers government would have authorised the violation.
The alliance collapsed instead because the incident brought about an escalation which forced the last vestiges of the British Empire, now based in Melbourne Australia, to choose between their long alliance with the Algiers French and the economically and military ascendant Russians and Japanese.
Saint Petersburg demanded Melbourne pressure Algiers to comply with Russian demands for free movement for exiles back to France, including the Count of Paris. Algiers called on its ally to use what leverage it had in order to get the Russians to back down and finally enter into negotiations without preconditions.
The British Imperial Staff vacillated somewhat, citing the long alliance with France and concerns over Russo-Roman expansionism and power.
The Australasian Government however, by now the leading voice in the British Empire, came down firmly and decisively on the side of Saint Petersburg.
Prime Minister Huges, the hard-wrought, eighty year old, London born, strongman had steered Australia through the Weltkrieg, before heading Australasia after its creation. While oft subordinated legally to Governors General Birdwood or Chauvel, he was the real power in the Australasian state, and had helped hone the nation’s industry, economy, and psyche towards an almost single minded focus on the reconquest of Britain which went far beyond the sentiments expressed in Canada.
Direct, occasionally foul mouthed, mediocre in competence and utterly fanatical in his cause, Hughes made his Government’s position clear. A murder in the desert didn’t concern him, nor should it concern the British Empire. Instead, realpolitik made the situation plain and simple.
Australasia’s exports did not go to Algiers, they went to Tokyo or via Suez to Imperial Europe.
Australia’s imports did not come from Oran, but Vladivostok, Osaka, or Vienna.
Imperial Russia had men, aircraft, and money. De Gaulle had none of that.
And Australasia itself faced significant challenges. It had an immensely powerful fleet, and a strong army for its size, but the limits of Australasian industrial capacity and human resources meant that simply sustaining the Royal Navy would not be possible forever, and modernising it to keep up with Japan or Russia would be beyond an impossibility.
So, Hughes argued, if Britain was ever to be reclaimed, it had to be reclaimed soon, and with Russo-Roman assistance.
Prime Minister Hughes did not, as the Canadian Exiles were quick to emphasise, have the power to make British Imperial foreign policy. But removing him under the circumstances was all but impossible and, as the Prime Minister was quick to stress, he would be more than welcome to arrange transportation for any naysayers to Delhi or Havana if they insisted on providing contrary advice to the King.
After years of loyally following the lead of London, and then Ottawa, the Australasians made clear that they were in the vanguard now, and demanded the ear of the King in doing so.
That meant Algiers could “if they want to stick with us; shut up, fall in, and march on.”
As far as Hughes and his advisors could see, De Gaulle had little choice but to fold. He was alone, in danger of losing his only ally, and was now stripped of one of his bargaining chips vis a vis Russia. As ANZAC troops made moves to withdraw from Algiers, Melbourne was confident it had grabbed the Entente by the horns, and had ushered in a new relationship one where Algiers, like Delhi, would fall in behind the Australasians who were finally ready to get things done.
As history would soon show, De Gaulle and his Government would not be so ready to subordinate their foreign policy to the Antipodes.
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I'm always surprised how little use (or even interest in many games) the Entente has for Delhi. A united India has more population than the rest of the Empire combined, a pretty decent amount of industry, and can be helped technologically for production of modern equipment. And yet routinely a country which could provide 150 divisions gets ignored by the entente or allowed to fall to the Syndies in Bengal (or the Princes in the south, if someone backs them).
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I feel very conflicted giving this update a Like. I mean, it is well written, but I didn't like it, it made me feel queasy, if anything.
Because Heydrich is da beast.
If i've written him correctly, then the presence of someone like Heydrich is never going to make people feel comfortable. He's Goering's troubleshooter, keeping order when the softer, more cooperative approach that some of the colonial administrations with Mittelafrika have tried to adopt.
Crowd favorites entering the story again
It also gives me a chance to justify why the Internationale seems so incredibly fixated on conquering the Congo rather than doing things like taking Cuba or reinforcing Britain.
A fantastic entry as always, a few observations:
1) The Imperial Democrats are essentially hedging the Conservatives, by outflanking them on the right here. Rejecting negotiations with the Union of Britain essentially makes them look like they're harder on Syndicalism, which shuts down some of the attempts to try and tar them as syndicalist sympathisers in disguise.
2) Savinkov may have been pardoned during the Kerensky era but he is still implicated in the assassination of Grand Duke Sergei for example. Don't expect him to find many friends in the Palace unless he's moved away from rubbishing the Tsars and Tsarism. I'm interested in how he'd have to reinvent himself - more outward looking?
3) Did you deliberately have everyone smoking rather than drinking because there hasn't been any total repeal of alcohol restrictions as there was in 1925 historically? if so bravo. I imagine the law was likely moderated at some point, but there has certainly been no return to cheap, freely available, socially acceptable Vodka.
It's a classic whodunnit. I will say De Gaulle didn't order the killing, even if the French did end up using the intelligence when it fell into their hands.
Can I take a moment to brag on how I managed to make a Lord of the Rings reference while keeping it in-universe
Next in my line of posts, I am thinking of a TTL interpretation of Journey's End and doing stuff from the UoB perspective for a while.
Nice catch! Figured something was amiss there! Though for all we know, it could be exiled French Communards in UoB service.
Yeah, you deserve some points for that.
While I haven't done a chapter on it, it's not that India is being ignored, it's that it's impossible to ignore:
The Commune may be dealing with the Madras lead uprising in the South right now, but the red Indian army far outnumbers its Dominion opponent. As a result, I imagine Delhi's indigenous rulers are very, very reluctant to release troops or treasure for overseas campaigns when there is a real and imminent threat on the border.
Australasia still buys into a return to the Home Islands, Delhi is looking far closer to home, and any effort to compel them risks the local rulers simply discarding British influence entirely as a self defensive measure. Delhi is probably actually advocating for all those Australasian troops and Canadian exiles to come join a campaign in India...but the anglos are always going to be blind to that possibility if the home islands are being dangled before them...
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As someone who has been to Russia I would imagine that instead of the drinking of Vodka there would be much more beer/wine involved. It wasnt until 2013 if I recall Russia even catagorized beer as alcohol versus a soft drink.
In many ways in Russia, drinking beer versus Vodka would be seen as more "progressive" as it would lead to 1. getting less shitfaced 2. would emulate the german drinking habits 3. also would seek to have a british style pub culture. In Russia in the 1990s if I recall they even had a beer drinkers party.
I could see based on class and economic lines the upper classes/monarchists/capitalists drinking wine and champagne and maybe foreign liquor, the urban working class and middle classes/labor drinking mostly beer, and the peasants and nationalist. non posh right drinking vodka
If we're angling to retcon in KR4 Savinkov to the AAR it should be said that Savinkov's Fascism is aggressively Republican and incredibly hostile to the Romanovs. If he wanted to work within the new system he would have to abandon a pretty foundational part of his ideology.
TBH though the successes of the Romanov's and the conquests in Europe might make him abandon his beliefs. Or he would be rotting in a Siberian prision under the tender care of the Okhrana.
In OTL he was deputy war minister to Kerensky and was kicked out for being involved in the Kornilov coup. I could see him being a minister in the interwar period as someone who would be on the right of the political spectrum and would be favorably inclined to a military government
TBH though the successes of the Romanov's and the conquests in Europe might make him abandon his beliefs. Or he would be rotting in a Siberian prision under the tender care of the Okhrana.
In OTL he was depouty war minister to Kerensky and was kicked out for being involved in the Kornilov coup. I could see him being a minister in the interwar period as someone who would be on the right of the political spectrum and would be favorabily inclined to a military government
Exactly what I am going for there. Also, Pytor has a vested interest in personally preserving good relations with the British Empire so he can dig up a certain document in the future. He will put Russia before his other side project, but when those interests meet it gives him all the more reason to come down harder.
Not yet sure what I am doing there, the real problem is that without Kerensky the Right-SR's don't really have that many widely known figures to its name. I studied Russian history a bit in my BA (early modern to the revolution), but I can't pretend I know it in depth so I am playing with what I know. The thinking here is that the Imperial Democrats want to break into the countryside because the cities are too competitive and Savinkov, while he is largely replaced by Wrangel in this story due to it using that incarnation of the mod prior to the KR Russia rework, is still a likely candidate to be an influential figure in that regard.
That said, you raise a good point; perhaps the Imperial democrats need to contemplate a face to the palace and a face to the peasants. I am not sure who to pick for the former though, some socially-minded noble would be ideal or perhaps a retired general; any figures in mind that can assume such a role?
I didn't think of the repeal stuff actually, so I can take credit for it. The reason I started that running gag is that Rutenburg died in 1941 from smoking-related illnesses. The way I see it, Lenin and Trotsky dying in TTL (which he wanted Kerensky to execute at the time as vice-mayor of Petrograd) took away the pressure
That, and I watched a lot of old films when I was young and in them practically the entire world is smoking (probably tobacco advertisers at work)
I intend do some stuff about the UoB exploring my impression of how you portray Mosely's dictatorship from someone on the ground, probably from the perspective of a Great War veteran. I intend to take Journey's End and transform it into a propaganda piece bad enough to give him a nervous breakdown. I will probably combine elements of my critique towards the 1960s revisionism of the war; from the selective editing of the war poets to Oh, What a Lovely War!
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... going to be hard to prosecute him in the future if he's in charge of the clean-up. Probably not much evidence left, at least no in plain sight.
Goering better watch out though, I wouldn't give that man too much power over the security services if I were him. Probably why you made sure to make both the Luftwaffe and the Marines the elite components of the MA army, that way, Goering will have the proverbial paratroopers to save him in a pinch
On the topic of India, darn, that isn't good. Unless Delhi DoWs them while the red army is faced southwards, then their only chance is an Entente landing in Burma.