Well, this is my first AAR, and at this time, the first major nation (sorry, ChiCom and Ethiopia 
) HoI AAR by a consumer, on the Paradox forums at least. Sorry if it's a bit blase- I'm new at the game and AAR's alike, and WWII hasn't quite started yet. Anyway, expect the next update day after Thanksgiving. So, without any further ado here are numerous excerpts from the definitive textbook on the USSR.
The History of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War
Chapter X: 1936 and the Soviet-Romanian War
On January 1st, 1936, Josef Stalin celebrated the dawning of the new year in the typical Soviet fashion: consumption of vodka and an enthusiastic speech delivered at Red Square. This year, though, he assured the people something magnanimous: his resolution was to expand the size of the Comintern, in order to further the worker’s cause.
However, behind all his claims, a certain emptiness prevailed. Production of consumer goods was down, the industrial sectors of the nation were weak and scant, and the military was nothing more than communist rabble. With about 200,000 soldiers, most were garrisoned along the Polish and Finnish borders. Little did any of the officers suspect that the USSR’s first major military campaign would be against their Romanian neighbor.
In late January, 1936, Stalin made demands that the nation of Romania join the Comintern. Subsequently, he also requested the same of the tiny communist nation of Tannu Tuva. Much to his chagrin, though, both denied. Stalin was furious. Rumor has it that he trashed three chambers of the Kremlin, however, this cannot be verified and may have been just opposition propaganda.
Nevertheless, Stalin was now fixated with making Romania part of the fold. The rich oilfields of Ploesti served as a temptation, although the Russian oilfields of Baku out produced the Romanian ones twofold. So, in February of 1936, Stalin once again demanded that Romania joined the Comintern. Not surprisingly, they again declined.
At this time, the strategists in the Kremlin devised the ultimate plan: Operation Oil Field. More than 200,000 Soviet soldiers were called to action, about half of whom were put under the command of General Chuikov. Hundreds of tanks and more than 200 fighter aircraft were to assist the infantry in their task of conquering the nation of Romania. The Black Sea Fleet, consisting of over a dozen capital ships, was also positioned near the Odessa coast in the Black Sea for further reinforcement.
And so it was, on February 27th, 1936, war was declared. More than 180,000 Soviet infantrymen bore down upon the 120,000 man Romanian force commanded by General Ion Antonescu. The Soviet air force, however, did not take into account the 400 fighter aircraft in possession of the Romanians. A week of brutal fighting ensued, and some 20,000 Russians perished, along with an estimated 30,000 Romanians. The Soviets, though, were forced to retreat to Odessa. About 50 Soviet aircraft had also been shot down in the battling.
Stalin was infuriated. He was in complete denial of the facts of the matter: that the puny Romanians defeated the glorious Soviets.
And so it was that General Chuikov, now with about 150,000 troops, split up his command roughly evenly, and decided on a two-pronged assault on Romania. However, the Romanians too figured this, and split up their forces, with about 120,000 men on the Odessa border and 60,000 more troops (including cavalry and tanks) along the rest of the border of Russia.
Before this attack could commence, though, the Romanians launched a counter-offensive spearheaded by Antonescu. After strafing Chuikov’s forces numerous times, the 120,000 Romanians assaulted the 150,000 Soviets garrisoned in the port city of Odessa. The following running battle and siege lasted nearly 80 hours, and also involved shore bombardments courtesy of the Soviet Navy. [It is estimated that over 2,000 Romanian soldiers alone were killed as a direct result of the Soviet bombardment]
At the end of the battle, the Soviets were the victors, keeping the territory of Odessa within their control. This success did come with a heavy price, though, as roughly 40,000 Soviets are thought to have perished. The Romanians didn’t escape with light casualties, either, as their dead numbered about 60,000. More people died in these four days of fighting than did in a month of warfare in the Great War.
After three months of offensives and counter-offensives launched by each side, the front stabilized, and a stalemate ensued. Officers who fought in the Great War noticed many parallels in this stalemate in the trench warfare of the western front. For two months this bloody stalemate dragged on, without either side taking any significant gains. Finally, in August 1936, a white peace was agreed, and the status quo resumed. An estimated 300,000 Soviets and 200,000 Romanians died in the seven-month conflict.
The Soviet behemoth had been humiliated.
XI: The Annexation of Tannu Tuva and the Expansion of the Fragile Economy and Allies Alike
After the war with Romania had concluded, Stalin once again turned his eyes to possible Comintern members. The Spanish Civil War had erupted just a month before the end of the war with Romania, and Stalin had sent material aid to the Republican forces. Furthermore, Soviet diplomats and agents in the nations of Yugoslavia and Persia successfully expanded the influence of Soviet politics.
In November of 1936, Stalin demanded for a second time that Tannu Tuva join the Comintern. Not surprisingly, for a second time, Tannu Tuva declined. For this action, Stalin organized a punitive expedition of a single infantry division to the capital of the small nation with the purpose of annexation.
The plan was conducted without a hitch, and in April 1937, 10,000 Soviet troops marched unopposed into the undefended capital of the miniscule and landlocked nation. Tannu Tuva thus became a part of the USSR without a single shot being fired, excluding the shots fired when a clumsy Red Army private dropped his weapon in a celebratory parade.
Stalin was completely enthused with this recent success, and celebrated it accordingly. For his sole delight, a host of renowned Tuvan throat singers performed exclusively for him and cadres in one of Moscow’s most upscale opera houses.
During all of Stalin’s happiness, though, the economy gradually became shambles. The USSR, supposedly a worker’s paradise, sorely lacked the industrial base required to ensure that title. Consumer goods were so low that the level of dissent soared exponentially, and government sponsored research even fell to the wayside. It was because of this that in mid 1937 Stalin launched a massive initiative to expand the nation’s industrial capacity.
After starting this program, he also opened up to the world market, trading his excess coal for the vital resource of rubber, which he would need should he pursue any long term armed conflicts in the near future.
Economic development was not the only aspect that developed during this period, though. Stalin was informed of an alleged conspiracy amongst some of the higher-level military officers, presumably plotting a coup. As a result of this, thousands of officers conveniently ‘disappeared,’ and dozens of generals were executed after hasty show trials. Twice this Great Purge commenced. More than 20,000 lay dead in its horrid wake.
By this time Stalin had not neglected his pursuit of more allies- he launched a drive of diplomatic pressure in the nations of Yugoslavia, Persia, Turkey and Iraq. Pressure on Republican Spain had long ceased, ever since Franco’s forces conquered it. By late 1938, Persia, although not communist (though still a totalitarian regime), formally allied herself with the Soviet Union. Yugoslavia came close to doing this as well, but ideological differences prevented her from doing so. Meanwhile, Iraq was coming too close for Britain’s comfort in joining the Soviet cause, there being numerous Soviet sympathizers in the upper echelons in Baghdad…
) HoI AAR by a consumer, on the Paradox forums at least. Sorry if it's a bit blase- I'm new at the game and AAR's alike, and WWII hasn't quite started yet. Anyway, expect the next update day after Thanksgiving. So, without any further ado here are numerous excerpts from the definitive textbook on the USSR. The History of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War
Chapter X: 1936 and the Soviet-Romanian War
On January 1st, 1936, Josef Stalin celebrated the dawning of the new year in the typical Soviet fashion: consumption of vodka and an enthusiastic speech delivered at Red Square. This year, though, he assured the people something magnanimous: his resolution was to expand the size of the Comintern, in order to further the worker’s cause.
However, behind all his claims, a certain emptiness prevailed. Production of consumer goods was down, the industrial sectors of the nation were weak and scant, and the military was nothing more than communist rabble. With about 200,000 soldiers, most were garrisoned along the Polish and Finnish borders. Little did any of the officers suspect that the USSR’s first major military campaign would be against their Romanian neighbor.
In late January, 1936, Stalin made demands that the nation of Romania join the Comintern. Subsequently, he also requested the same of the tiny communist nation of Tannu Tuva. Much to his chagrin, though, both denied. Stalin was furious. Rumor has it that he trashed three chambers of the Kremlin, however, this cannot be verified and may have been just opposition propaganda.
Nevertheless, Stalin was now fixated with making Romania part of the fold. The rich oilfields of Ploesti served as a temptation, although the Russian oilfields of Baku out produced the Romanian ones twofold. So, in February of 1936, Stalin once again demanded that Romania joined the Comintern. Not surprisingly, they again declined.
At this time, the strategists in the Kremlin devised the ultimate plan: Operation Oil Field. More than 200,000 Soviet soldiers were called to action, about half of whom were put under the command of General Chuikov. Hundreds of tanks and more than 200 fighter aircraft were to assist the infantry in their task of conquering the nation of Romania. The Black Sea Fleet, consisting of over a dozen capital ships, was also positioned near the Odessa coast in the Black Sea for further reinforcement.
And so it was, on February 27th, 1936, war was declared. More than 180,000 Soviet infantrymen bore down upon the 120,000 man Romanian force commanded by General Ion Antonescu. The Soviet air force, however, did not take into account the 400 fighter aircraft in possession of the Romanians. A week of brutal fighting ensued, and some 20,000 Russians perished, along with an estimated 30,000 Romanians. The Soviets, though, were forced to retreat to Odessa. About 50 Soviet aircraft had also been shot down in the battling.
Stalin was infuriated. He was in complete denial of the facts of the matter: that the puny Romanians defeated the glorious Soviets.
And so it was that General Chuikov, now with about 150,000 troops, split up his command roughly evenly, and decided on a two-pronged assault on Romania. However, the Romanians too figured this, and split up their forces, with about 120,000 men on the Odessa border and 60,000 more troops (including cavalry and tanks) along the rest of the border of Russia.
Before this attack could commence, though, the Romanians launched a counter-offensive spearheaded by Antonescu. After strafing Chuikov’s forces numerous times, the 120,000 Romanians assaulted the 150,000 Soviets garrisoned in the port city of Odessa. The following running battle and siege lasted nearly 80 hours, and also involved shore bombardments courtesy of the Soviet Navy. [It is estimated that over 2,000 Romanian soldiers alone were killed as a direct result of the Soviet bombardment]
At the end of the battle, the Soviets were the victors, keeping the territory of Odessa within their control. This success did come with a heavy price, though, as roughly 40,000 Soviets are thought to have perished. The Romanians didn’t escape with light casualties, either, as their dead numbered about 60,000. More people died in these four days of fighting than did in a month of warfare in the Great War.
After three months of offensives and counter-offensives launched by each side, the front stabilized, and a stalemate ensued. Officers who fought in the Great War noticed many parallels in this stalemate in the trench warfare of the western front. For two months this bloody stalemate dragged on, without either side taking any significant gains. Finally, in August 1936, a white peace was agreed, and the status quo resumed. An estimated 300,000 Soviets and 200,000 Romanians died in the seven-month conflict.
The Soviet behemoth had been humiliated.
XI: The Annexation of Tannu Tuva and the Expansion of the Fragile Economy and Allies Alike
After the war with Romania had concluded, Stalin once again turned his eyes to possible Comintern members. The Spanish Civil War had erupted just a month before the end of the war with Romania, and Stalin had sent material aid to the Republican forces. Furthermore, Soviet diplomats and agents in the nations of Yugoslavia and Persia successfully expanded the influence of Soviet politics.
In November of 1936, Stalin demanded for a second time that Tannu Tuva join the Comintern. Not surprisingly, for a second time, Tannu Tuva declined. For this action, Stalin organized a punitive expedition of a single infantry division to the capital of the small nation with the purpose of annexation.
The plan was conducted without a hitch, and in April 1937, 10,000 Soviet troops marched unopposed into the undefended capital of the miniscule and landlocked nation. Tannu Tuva thus became a part of the USSR without a single shot being fired, excluding the shots fired when a clumsy Red Army private dropped his weapon in a celebratory parade.
Stalin was completely enthused with this recent success, and celebrated it accordingly. For his sole delight, a host of renowned Tuvan throat singers performed exclusively for him and cadres in one of Moscow’s most upscale opera houses.
During all of Stalin’s happiness, though, the economy gradually became shambles. The USSR, supposedly a worker’s paradise, sorely lacked the industrial base required to ensure that title. Consumer goods were so low that the level of dissent soared exponentially, and government sponsored research even fell to the wayside. It was because of this that in mid 1937 Stalin launched a massive initiative to expand the nation’s industrial capacity.
After starting this program, he also opened up to the world market, trading his excess coal for the vital resource of rubber, which he would need should he pursue any long term armed conflicts in the near future.
Economic development was not the only aspect that developed during this period, though. Stalin was informed of an alleged conspiracy amongst some of the higher-level military officers, presumably plotting a coup. As a result of this, thousands of officers conveniently ‘disappeared,’ and dozens of generals were executed after hasty show trials. Twice this Great Purge commenced. More than 20,000 lay dead in its horrid wake.
By this time Stalin had not neglected his pursuit of more allies- he launched a drive of diplomatic pressure in the nations of Yugoslavia, Persia, Turkey and Iraq. Pressure on Republican Spain had long ceased, ever since Franco’s forces conquered it. By late 1938, Persia, although not communist (though still a totalitarian regime), formally allied herself with the Soviet Union. Yugoslavia came close to doing this as well, but ideological differences prevented her from doing so. Meanwhile, Iraq was coming too close for Britain’s comfort in joining the Soviet cause, there being numerous Soviet sympathizers in the upper echelons in Baghdad…
