The Rise of Russia

[HistoryDude]

The Georgian War took two months to actually see fighting in earnest. In some ways, this is unsurprising - the Russian soldiers needed time to actually reach Georgia itself. The Governor of Georgia knew this, so he closed the gates of his capital in Tbilisi.

Still, those two months weren’t completely free from conflict. Some people in Georgia - especially Russian colonists - opposed independence, as they benefited from Russian rule. The vast majority of Georgians were in favor of independence, so they had formed militias. Many Russian colonists retaliated by forming their own militias, but these preferred to avoid conflict with their Georgian counterparts. They saw the arrival of the main Russian military in Georgia as the moment of their inevitable victory, so they thought that all they had to do was delay.

The Georgian militias, for their part, wanted to begin facing the Russian soldiers in an advantageous position. They thus decided to take bold action. They attacked Tbilisi, the seat of Russian authority in Georgia, where the governor of the area lived. The Russian militias defended the city valiantly, but it was useless. The rebels took Tbilisi in November 1850.

Fortunately, that month also saw the Russian military in Georgia. They quickly made themselves known. They attacked a Georgian militia near the city of Kutaisi, where they achieved an easy victory. However, the Georgians wouldn’t be cowed. They responded by gathering their militias together in Tbilisi, hoping to protect their new capital city.

As December dawned, however, it became clear that a Russian victory might not be as easy as many believed. Sweden, Britain, and Prussia, extremely bitter about past defeats, banded together to demand that Russia grant Georgia independence. They slandered the Russian Empire by calling it “imperialistic” and “oppressive”. The British and Prussians appeared blind to the utter hypocrisy of this.

Of course, Russia wouldn’t be cowed. They insisted that Georgia was a Russian territory by right. What right did foreign powers have to criticize how Russia conducted its affairs? Tsar Nicholas sent this message to his fellow rulers, but the European powers refused to back down. They saw an opportunity, and they wouldn’t squander it.

They threatened to declare war on and invade Russia if Georgia wasn’t granted independence. Tsar Nicholas decided to bring the demand before the Duma and allow them to decide the matter. The Duma’s response was glorious - they reminded the other European powers of how the Great European War had ended. “We were fighting an internal war then, too,” they noted. “It didn’t stop us from utterly destroying your armies. Could you live with the humiliation if it were to happen again?”. After that, the other great powers backed down.

The distraction allowed the Georgians to decide the battlefield for a decisive battle, though, and they did. At the Battle of Kutaisi, a few thousand Georgians utterly annihilated a massive Russian army. In the end, they were forced to withdraw by the arrival of other Russian armies, but their point had been made - the Russians could be defeated.

All the militias that the Georgians had formed then regrouped at Tbilisi and made it clear that they would fight for their freedom there. They sent a letter to the Russian Duma declaring that, “we might never achieve freedom, but we’ll fight for it all the same. We will slaughter your men and set the seeds for the destruction of your proud empire if we must. Must we?”

The Russian Duma met as 1851 dawned. They discussed the words of the Georgians, and Tsar Nicholas supported granting autonomy - they would gain their own Tsar, who would answer to Nicholas and Nicholas alone. The Tsarists and Militarists agreed to these terms - the Tsarists because they obeyed the Tsar, and the Militarists because they were impressed with the military might of the Georgians. The Decentralization Faction opposed it, but they were overruled, which led to an increase in discontent among their ranks. Many would rebel within a year.

 

[HistoryDude]

The Georgian War exacerbated already existing tensions in the Duma, as the Decentralization Faction saw the result as a tragedy that might doom Russia - or, and, to some, more importantly, their party. After all, if a lick of autonomy inspired a revolt once, what was to say it wouldn’t do so again?

Of course, nobody wanted more civil war and instability at that point. Foreign wars were obviously still on the table. Indeed, Tsar Nicholas had already begun planning with the Militarists about expansion in Central Asia, which would ultimately culminate in the Central Asian War a few decades later. They began sending settlers to the territory that was mostly uninhabited but bordered both Russia and Kokand. This settlement occurred throughout the years of 1851 and 1852, although events would conspire to prevent the Central Asian War from occurring for many years to come.

The fears of the Decentralization Faction were far from unfounded, though. Their faction quickly lost support as many Russian nationalists and governors who cared only for their own power left. The faction had soon become essentially irrelevant to Russian politics.

Many of the former members of the Decentralization Faction believed that it hadn’t gone far enough. They formed a couple new factions that wanted reform, but this new coalition’s power in the Duma was basically nonexistent. Many of these new reformers knew this, so they began to consider… less savory options to achieve their goals. The most radical formed a new group, the Petrashevski Circle, in January. The Circle was willing to do anything to promote reform. They sponsored assassinations of their political rivals and the creation of secret militias. For three months, they plotted a general revolt against the Tsar and the Duma alike. In March 1851, however, one of their members realized how far they had gone and had an attack of conscience. He turned in his conspirators, unwilling to see more war tear Russia apart.

That’s the official story, at least. The reality was likely very different. Considering how little time it took for the Second Russian Civil War to begin after this event, it is likely that the Petrashevski Circle was simply an organization of scapegoats. It’s possible that they were even framed for treason.

Regardless, this debacle was actually followed by a brief period of peace and preparation for a new war in Europe. A lot of this peace can be attributed to the Spanish Flu crippling the military of every major faction in Russia and many of Russia’s neighbors.

The Duma met to discuss the Flu, and they actually managed to unanimously agree on something. The Russian government opposed the spread of the Russian Flu* as much as they could, proving that they actually did care about their subjects. The reformers might have only agreed to this in order to save face, especially after the Petrashevski scandal. The militarists - and Tsar Nicholas I - agreed for far more pragmatic reasons. They knew how important it was that Russia have a functioning military. Sick people made for terrible soldiers, after all.

Russia also formed new alliances in case the other European powers - especially a vengeful Prussia or a vengeful Britain - decided to attack them. In April, they allied with Greece, which would open up another front against the Ottomans if a European War did break out again. This was followed by the creation of another alliance with Serbia in May, creating more pressure on the Ottomans and cementing Russia’s place as the leader of the Slavs.


*OTL Spanish Flu

 

[HistoryDude]

The Second Civil War was the beginning of a far greater period - it was the beginning of an age of anarchy, where large portions of Russia had no government, and large portions of it were under occupation - by enemies… or by allies. Many of the allies were likely well meaning, but it is doubtful that they all were, given what happened after.

The Second Civil War was simply a logical result of the First Civil War and of the thousand compromises that were necessary to end that before it split Russia apart during wartime. The First Civil War ended because most of the factions saw a group of common enemies - common enemies that appeared dealt with in 1852. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, yes, but only as long as there is a “my enemy”. Alliances based on hatred or even just on dislike are extraordinarily fragile. Governments based on hatred of a foreign enemy are even more fragile than alliances are.

The Coalition Government that emerged was doomed as soon as the Great European War ended, and the peace established there proved exactly how fragile that government was. It was dominated by factionalism and was little better than the late Holy Roman Empire… and everyone knows how that story ended.

Therefore, it is no surprise that August 1852 saw the end of the Coalition Government. Reformists that wished to continue the legacy of the Petrashevski Circle rose up, and they were quickly joined by other factions. The Betrayal of the Circle had only bought Russia eight months of peace.

Those other factions were myriad, and they opposed each other as much as they opposed the official government of Russia, which should have made them easy to defeat… except, of course, that there was no true government of Russia. The Tsar and his loyalists terminated their temporary alliance with the Conservative Coalition, and the Duma itself refused to support either of those factions, seizing Moscow and setting up an independent government of warlords. This action led to Tsar Nicholas dissolving the Duma, which they naturally ignored. Most of the representatives who supported the Conservative Coalition also left, refusing to be part of what they saw as an illegitimate coup… immediately before launching what amounted to their own coup by seizing control of Nizhny Novgorod in the north and establishing their government there. The Tsar ruled his loyal regions from Saint Petersburg.

The other factions, for their part, established a thousand governments, even amongst those who theoretically supported each other. A few initial alliances were established, but these wouldn’t prove resilient. The Alyeskan factions established their own alliances - the official government in Sitka supported the Conservatives, as they had during the First Civil War, but they didn’t control all of Alyeska anymore. Those in favor of independence, centered in the Aleutian Islands, allied with the Duma, while those who wished to be governed by Russia more directly allied with the Tsar. Factions in support of joining foreign nations did pop up, but they didn’t manage to capture any land during the Second Russian Civil War, so they wouldn’t become relevant until later.

The warlord governors, naturally, chose whichever side seemed the most aligned with their interests. For most, this was the Duma, at least initially. However, the governor of Old Rus (now including Kiev) aligned himself with the Tsar in hopes of gaining power in his new regime. The governor of the Steppes aligned himself with the Conservative Coalition, although his subordinates proved to be less than cooperative.

Of Russia’s allied Tsardoms, Bulgaria sided with the Conservative Coalition, and Georgia sided with the Duma. Georgia figured that the Duma was the least likely faction to attempt a war of reconquest on them. For their part, Bulgaria assumed that the Conservative Coalition was the faction most receptive to attacking the Ottomans and taking territory from them once more.

 

[HistoryDude]

The anarchy in which Russia was embroiled was rife with opportunity - for men and ideas alike. Theoretically, all of Russia had chosen a side, but, in fact, there was a massive power vacuum where anyone could rise up and take power. The Duma was barely a government, and the Tsarist forces were willing to offer large tracts of land and large amounts of money in exchange for support. The Conservative Coalition wasn’t very flexible in this, though - and that would prove to be their destruction.

The beginning of the Second Civil War set a precedent - the war began with offers. The various factions began to court governors - and generals. They would offer deals - greater autonomy or more land for support… and promises of glory. The Second Russian Civil War was more than a war over lands and governments - it was also a war over minds - over the best minds.

Of those great minds, a few stood out. Other factions tried to entice the Tsar to their side with compromises, as they saw an opportunity to knock one of the factions out of the game. But Tsar Nicholas was done compromising. He had tried that, and it had brought both him and Russia only sorrow. A compromise coalition like the one that had ended the First Russian Civil War wasn’t going to emerge. The Conservative Coalition realized that… and refused to do anything about it… except a few of their rogue generals disagreed with their government’s decision. “Posterity will thank us,” they are alleged to have said before attacking Tsar Nicholas under a white flag in Saint Petersburg.

Their actions tore the Conservative Coalition apart. Some agreed with them and moved into the Tsar’s city. The vast majority disagreed, but they also disagreed on why the generals had sinned. Their reasoning ranged from simple pragmatism to higher ideals like honor and mercy. With their differences made clear, most of the individual members of the Conservative Coalition found that they couldn’t bear to work with people who were so grievously wrong in their philosophies. In September, the Conservative Coalition was unmade. The Tsars of Bulgaria refused to pay tribute or accept protection from any of the Russian factions, which meant that they effectively declared independence. The governor of Siberia decided that, if all of Russia couldn’t be conservative, then Siberia would and declared himself Tsar of an independent Siberia. His vassals were lackluster in their support, and even some of his supporters considered this a step too far. Still, no one outright opposed the self-proclaimed Tsar of Siberia… yet.

The collapse of the Conservative Coalition should have been an opportunity for the two factions that opposed them. Unfortunately, the maverick generals had succeeded in one of their goals - their operation had managed to kill Tsar Nicholas I. His son, Alexander, ascended the throne, but the transition was far from seamless. No one knew what this new Tsar would be like, and factions arose that supported all three of his brothers - Konstantin, Nicholas, and Michael.

To make matters even worse for stability, the tantalizing closeness of victory saw the Duma collapse before they could actually emerge victorious. Various warlords began to seek more power, and a few members of the Duma - and defectors from the Conservative Coalition - seized Smolensk and declared themselves the rightful Duma. They proposed a more centralized assembly to govern Russia - something a bit like England’s Parliament or America’s Congress, depending on how cooperative the Tsarist claimants were.

Order had collapsed throughout Russia. Alexander II, upon seeing the state of “his” domain, is said to have cried, “Oh, Lord! What has my line done to anger you so?”. Perhaps the good Lord disapproved of Nicholas’s warmongering. Perhaps there was no god at all. Whatever the case, Russia was now a land of a thousand lords. The Age of Chaos had well and truly begun. It would last for decades to come.

 

[HistoryDude]

The age of anarchy had begun, and many of Russia’s enemies, especially Prussia, wanted to get even, but none dared to try. It seemed as if the powers of Europe still remembered the Duma’s response to them during the Georgian War. Fear kept them in line… and it kept Russia a land of anarchy.

Yegorov, the hero of the Great European War, is said to have declared, “every man in Russia is now a king. Why can we not unite? It seems that Russia needs a common enemy to be stable. Every man in Russia is now a king, and a common enemy is needed. Why has one not emerged? If one never emerges, how can Russia survive itself?”. This is a slight exaggeration… but it helps us understand how the Second Civil War was viewed, and it provides a hint as to why Yegorov did what he did next.

Yegorov committed treason, but his efforts would take a while to bear fruit. He saw a common enemy as necessary to Russia’s survival… and, in the end, he was right. Many nations had the incentive to launch an invasion of Russia, but none had the courage to actually do it… at least not alone. What Yegorov did was offer support that he had no intention of giving in order to force a resolution to the Second Civil War.

The self-proclaimed Nicholas III, who only truly ruled in Poland, heard Yegorov, and he took his philosophy to the next level. He thought that, if Russia needed a common enemy to stay united, then only an endless war could keep it stable. He then began to take steps to trigger that endless war. “History will damn me for my deeds,” Nicholas allegedly proclaimed. “But there will be a Russia in its annals. I’d do anything for that”.

Nicholas, Tsar of Poland, and Yegorov, general in Finland, were only two voices in a vast chorus of discordant notes. The centralized Duma in Smolensk saw themselves as the answer to the anarchy in Russia. After all, it worked in America. Of course, they were naive because Russia and America were two very different nations, but they were intelligent men in all other matters. The Smolensk Duma - and, far more importantly, their philosophy of representative democracy - would become one of the main factions of the Second Civil War, and their ideas would echo across the ages in Russia.

The decentralized Duma in Moscow, for its part, split in half, and one of its halves collapsed within a month. The half that survived ripped off the Holy Roman Empire after the Thirty Years’s War in almost every way. Three people would elect a “Tsar”, and all of Russia would be divided into “Circles” that would each manage internal affairs like taxes and common defense. Many people actually thought that this was a good idea, and it survived for almost the entirety of the Second Civil War.

The half that had collapsed included Moscow, though, and now the first city of Russia was divided between many different polities. These had stopped having any pretenses of loyalty to a unified Russian state. They were independent principalities, duchies, and republics. Yegorov correctly predicted their eventual fate - “their divisions will lead to their destruction”. These now independent polities didn’t have a common alliance to defend against other factions. It was extremely easy for the other factions to divide and conquer them.

The other three Tsars set up their own bases - Alexander II himself ruled from Minsk in the west. Konstantin established his base in the Caucasus Mountains and tried to bring Bulgaria back into the fold. He had a great passion for his religion and saw Russia as the Third Rome that was destined to reclaim Constantinople. The fourth claimant, Michael, didn’t manage to establish a base for his supporters anywhere and settled for becoming the heir of Alexander II.

As the other factions collapsed and clawed their way to glory, the Conservative Coalition waited and hoped that their enemies would destroy themselves. Still, this ended in October 1852, when a patrol from the Smolensk Duma aided a riot in Tsaritsyn… which was controlled by the Conservative Coalition. That one act destroyed the last hope for peace. Both Dumas, the Conservative Coalition, and all of the Tsarist claimants had scheduled a meeting to attempt one final compromise… for November. Tsaritsyn destroyed any chance of that meeting happening. There would be no compromises. An anonymous letter from a soldier serving in Tsaritsyn put it best: “this will be the end of Russia… or its renewed dawn”. The Twilight of Russia was over - either Russia would fall into a night (possibly an eternal one), or it would finally experience dawn.


A/N: Thanks for everyone who voted for this AAR in the Q2 ACAs!

 

[HistoryDude]

The Battle of Tsaritsyn began when the Smolensk Duma’s forces attacked the city of Tsaritsyn, which was controlled by the Conservative Coalition. It only took a few days for the Smolensk Duma to take the city, but the Battle of Tsaritsyn had barely even begun. Numerous other factions within Russia wanted the city.

The reason for that was simple. Tsaritsyn lay on the western bank of the Volga River. It was viewed as a city that could be used to take the entire Volga River, which followed through much of European Russia. From European Russia, the vast territory could be accessed.

It was the perfect place for a first victory for Alexander II… and for Nicholas to make his first inroads into Russia proper. It was also somewhat near the Caucasus where Konstantin had established his throne. All three Tsars wanted the city.

To make matters even worse, the Mayor of Tsaritsyn saw the opportunity inherent in supporting the decentralized Tver Duma. He sent them a plea for aid, and they listened. Three tsars and two Dumas were now in want of a single city, and that was a recipe for disaster.

It was also one that Anton Yegorov could take advantage of for his own plans. Yegorov wanted unity, and he saw a foreign enemy as necessary to achieve that… but he had contacts in Georgia, and that Tsardom supported the Smolensk Duma, at least in theory. In reality, most Georgians didn’t care how - or even if - the Second Russian Civil War ended. Most of Yegorov’s contacts were former members of his mighty army that had won the Great European War.

Yegorov, for his part, despised the idea of absolute monarchy and extreme decentralization in equal measure. He despised an eternity of war even more. He ordered his spy network to find a solution to the succession crisis at Tsaritsyn. He didn’t care who the Tsar was, as long as there was one. He also ordered them to find a way to destroy the Tver Duma.

Of course, Anton Yegorov wasn’t the only man who could manage a spy network. Alexander II also had a spy network, and Nicholas II managed an extensive one that stretched throughout the Russian factions. Yegorov’s network was unique in one way, though - it wasn’t limited by territorial claims. Yegorov had allies and spies throughout every European court, and he fully intended to use as many of those as necessary in order to end the Second Russian Civil War.

The Battle of Tsaritsyn, when it finally did happen, was not much of a battle. Half of it was negotiations, and a further half of what followed was deception. The negotiations and the deception did achieve two things, though - first, they managed to achieve the alliance of Konstantin (who considered his position the weakest amongst his brothers) and the Smolensk Duma, and, second, the other factions managed to divide the supporters of the Tver Duma. Given the nature of the Tver Duma, this was hardly difficult. Yegorov’s query was what ultimately destroyed it, and it was simple: “if you mean to rule as an elective monarchy and divided into small states, what will prevent the states that disagree with your election from refusing to defend your lands?”. Naturally, the answer to that was nothing, and the Tver Duma collapsed.

The other major development of the Battle of Tsaritsyn was the destruction of many Polish forces. This majorly harmed the position of Nicholas II - most of his army was composed of Poles, and many of them were dead. After Tsaritsyn, many of Nicholas II’s advisors began to suggest that he claim the crown of Poland and give up his claim on Russia. He refused, which only made his position worse.

Konstantin came up with a plan to take Tsaritsyn, and it worked perfectly. He snuck a small contingent of his soldiers into the city and used the cover of night to force the Mayor and the citizens to surrender. With Tsaritsyn in his hands, he then ordered his fleet to approach from the Volga in order to defend the city. Alexander II recognized that Tsaritsyn was lost and withdrew his forces.

 

[HistoryDude]

Despite this, Alexander II didn’t believe that the war was over. He had only suffered a single defeat, and the crown of Russia was still his rightful inheritance. Opposing his brother hadn’t worked, but there would be other battles.

Still, Alexander wanted more support from the Russian people. He offered an alliance to the Tsar of Siberia, promising to negotiate some sort of agreement with him in exchange for military aid. He refused to officially recognize Siberian independence, but he heavily implied that generous autonomy was on the table. His messages to the Siberian ruler were also vaguely threatening, though - he pointed out that the only thing protecting Siberian independence was that other factions in the Russian Civil War were too distracted with each other to deal with him, but that state of affairs was destined to end.

To Alexander’s shock, the Tsar of Siberia didn’t see this as a reason to negotiate with him. However, the Siberian ruler did take Alexander’s threat to heart - he recognized that the threat was a logical concern, so he determined that Russia could never be reunited. He intended to make the Russian Age of Chaos last forever, and he sent messages asking for aid in keeping his enemies divided. He found two allies who agreed with his view for different reasons - Yegorov and the self-proclaimed Tsar Nicholas II also wanted to keep Russia divided. Together, these three men formed the Russian Triumvirate, which would become one of the mightiest factions in the Russian Age of Chaos. However, they were a triumvirate, and they were loyal to their Roman roots.

Meanwhile, Alexander II realized that the numerous independent states across Russia were easy pickings for any claimant. He attacked many of them across European Russia, and his first targets, Rostov and Ryazan, were quick to fall. After this, the other independent Russian microstates realized that none of them could take on Alexander II, so they formed the Rus League. This faction agreed that the Kremlin in Moscow was to serve as neutral ground that was owned by no individual state within it. That area would remain purely as a place to plan joint League operations.

Alexander II remained undaunted by the newfound unity of his enemies. “It will not last,” he proclaimed. “The decentralized nature of these ‘alliances’ leaves them too prone to infighting. History has shown us that”. He continued to attack their cities, but many of them began to be mysteriously undefended.

There was a simple reason for this. “Prince” (formerly Governor) Oleg of Kiev had convinced his allies that victory in a pitched battle against Alexander II would increase morale and grant their small group legitimacy. As November neared its end, this battle occurred.

At Tula, a few miles south of Moscow, the two armies clashed, and Alexander’s prediction proved prophetic. Old rivalries within the Rus League reared their heads, and many were killed by “friendly fire”. Prince Oleg saw that his cause was lost and held a meeting in the Rus League’s war camp. There, he chose a few princes and dukes that he believed were smart and capable of winning battles and talked with them in private. On November 30, 1852, these rulers withdrew their men from the battlefield and headed toward Kiev. The additional confusion this caused within the army of the Rus League led to that army’s complete and utter destruction. For Alexander II, the road to Moscow was open.

Prince Oleg and his compatriots, meanwhile, vowed that the Rus League would fight on.

Tula is controversial in popular imagination, and Prince Oleg is mired in controversy. Did he simply see a lost cause and make the smart decision to retreat? Or was he a scheming mastermind that organized a culling of the least intelligent and ruthless men in his own faction? The rest of the war shows us much about Prince Oleg, but historians still debate this topic.

 

[HistoryDude]

Alexander II ruled in Moscow. A new and more stable alliance in favor of decentralization had emerged. Konstantin I ruled in the Caucasus, and his armies had proven their might. Across all of Russia, Siberia had declared their independence, and Bulgaria had moved out of the Russian sphere of influence.

Georgia, for its part, had once been allied with the Duma, but the collapse of that regime had left them unaligned. Many Georgians were in support of establishing a republican regime in Russia… or as much as it as they could. Others viewed Russia’s division as the opportunity to establish a mighty empire.

Yegorov had spies in that Tsardom, and they heard of these plans. Yegorov worried that a Georgian empire was a real possibility, and, despite everything, he remained loyal to Russia as a state. In addition, the aftermath of Tsaritsyn and Tula left Alexander II and Konstantin I as the most powerful people in Russia. Yegorov worried that they would form a duumvirate and reunite Russia as a fragile alliance. He was completely in favor of a unified Russia, of course, but he knew that any alliance would collapse into infighting.

However, he thought that he knew what the claimant Tsars wanted. Neither would tolerate another claimant to their throne if they didn’t think that they had to. Yegorov intended to prop up the power of Konstantin’s regime, and, to do that, he needed to give them more influence. He had his spies suggest to Konstantin that he deal with Georgia.

Konstantin took the advice, but he was suspicious of the spies. They hadn’t proven their loyalty to him at the Battle of Tsaritsyn, so he suspected that they were working for someone else. He followed their advice because it was sound advice, but he also assigned people to check them for suspicious activity. The less careful of them were caught in their treason, but they didn’t have much information about what they were doing. Some didn’t even know that they were working for Yegorov or temporarily against Russian reunification at all.

Still, Konstantin realized that he could use this. He made some of the spies believe that he knew nothing of their plans and then gave them false information. The Intrigue Phase of the Second Russian Civil War had begun.

Of course, Konstantin’s forces defeated the Georgians. To do this, they exploited the same phenomenon that many Georgians had planned to exploit in Russia - internal divisions. The Tsardom of Georgia had many Russian loyalists, and those opposed to Russia were divided. Konstantin sent his spies to whip up unrest across the Georgian population and even in Tbilisi itself. Konstantin then presented himself as a liberator and took Tbilisi, where he installed his own puppet Tsar. Then, he turned his eyes north - toward Moscow, and, in his eyes, legitimacy.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Rus League reached Poland, where they requested an audience with Tsar Nicholas of Poland. Prince Oleg of Kiev set up a temporary war camp in Vilnius and offered a deal to Nicholas. A reckoning was coming… but betrayal lurked in every corner. The Second Russian Civil War was far from over.

 

[HistoryDude]

The deals made in late November changed everything about the war. Nicholas saw how the Rus League could be useful to his plans and formed an alliance with them - an alliance that was honored by the other members of the Triumvirate until that alliance of convenience collapsed. Nicholas viewed the Rus League as fundamentally unstable, and that meant that they would collapse in the moments of their victory, which would allow him to keep Russia in perpetual civil war. This perpetual civil war would occasionally cease when there were foreign enemies, but its very existence would make Russians a race of people who could never be defeated by people who were not hardened by perpetual war.

This logic was extremely flawed, but Nicholas believed it wholeheartedly, which is what matters to the annals of history.

Still, November had one final development that helped determine the course of the war. Konstantin had ordered his spies to stir up unrest near and in Moscow, and they had succeeded. Many in the city believed that a ruler constrained by a parliament would be less likely to sell them out in deals for their own glory, and they began to form militias.

Tsar Alexander II realized that these militias were harmless on their own, but he also realized that they might encourage Konstantin to challenge him sooner rather than later. Because of this, he began expanding his army, advertising the benefits of his planned absolutist rule… and doing absolutely nothing about the militias. After all, he wanted a victory over his brother in order to prove that he was a better ruler. He worried that his previous defeat at Tsaritsyn might negatively affect his legitimacy, so he wanted to balance it with a glorious victory that was far more meaningful. Moscow was the center of Russia, an unofficial capital and larger than St. Petersburg. It also had a far more extensive history than the official capital.

Still, both Konstantin and Alexander failed to consider the Rus League, and both had dismissed the newfound alliance between their other brother and the League as the “alliance of anarchists with a madman”.

Objectively, they were probably right about that, and neither Oleg nor Tsar Nicholas had plans to do anything with their alliance at any point within the two months remaining in 1852. However, they weren’t the only driving factors in their faction - and many of the Rus League refused to surrender immediately without a fight.

One of these polities was Oka, and its capital was Kaluga, which was only a few miles from Moscow itself. Alexander began besieging it on November 28, and, initially, it appeared as though the siege would prove unremarkable.

Appearances were deceptive. Some of Alexander’s soldiers had been convinced by Konstantin’s rhetoric, and a few of his backup regiments were also infiltrated by his men. These men began a mutiny, proclaiming that, “Alexander II is an enemy of the Russian people, the rightful Tsar, and God”. The fighting within the ranks of the besieging army didn’t stop the siege, though. Nobody of importance in Alexander’s army thought that the Rus League was a good idea.

Still, the Battle of Kaluga had begun, and it would only come to involve more factions. Kaluga was sometimes known as the Battle of the Lords, and it certainly earned that name.

 

[HistoryDude]

The initial battle went well for the Rus League and terribly for Alexander. The mutineers wished to fight for this battle alone, but the loyalists refused to serve with men that they knew were going to be traitors. The loyalists told Alexander that accepting the aid of the mutineers would be tantamount to handing Kaluga - and a path to Moscow - to Konstantin on a silver platter, and Alexander agreed with them.

Initially, this led to a massive problem, as it meant that Alexander didn’t attack. The self-proclaimed Prince of Oka took advantage of this by attacking the Tsar’s army himself… with night to cover his approach.

Alexander II didn’t see this brazen surprise attack coming, and he was unprepared for battle. This initially allowed the destruction of a large portion of his army, but his men quickly rallied. The attackers were driven back to the outskirts of Kaluga, but they refused to enter the city. They would stand and fight against Alexander. Alexander II recognized this, and he used it as a lynchpin in his plan to deal with his other problem.

All he needed to do was send people who he suspected of disloyalty to attack first. This would destroy all of his brother’s supporters. They would all die as a result of being on the front lines alone, and Alexander might even be able to sway the survivors back to his side. This situation had only emerged because of the formation of the Duma, after all.

Alexander’s plan worked perfectly - most of the men convinced by Konstantin’s propaganda were killed, but a few survived. Alexander’s followup speech - that any nation with a representative assembly would be prone to infighting that would inevitably end up like the Rus League - convinced many of those that did survive to abandon their treasonous plot, but it didn’t convince all of them.

The most extreme decided that they should launch a suicide attack on Alexander II… but they planned to misdirect blame for their deeds. Indeed, these men, when they attacked, shouted, “long live the Tsar of Poland!”. This successfully redirected blame onto Nicholas, although the attempted assassination failed.

Konstantin arrived in Kaluga soon thereafter but so did Nicholas I. This didn’t exactly hurt the misdirection. Indeed, even Nicholas himself didn’t attempt to deny it, although that was probably because he thought that damaging his reputation in exchange for continued war was a good trade. This was the guy who was trying to prolong a civil war so that it lasted for eternity, after all.

Many of the militarists in the Duma also arrived, and they officially supported Konstantin. Unofficially, it was far more complicated than that. Most of these guys aren’t relevant to the overall history of the Russian Age of Chaos, although many of them did write biographies of themselves. The few who are relevant are Demetrius of Moscow, Paul of Minsk, and Makarov of Tomsk.

Anyway, the three armies clashed, but, as December dawned, their battles were increasingly inconclusive. The city of Kaluga itself was still technically held by the Prince of Oka, even though he had no army by this point.

Even without an army, though, he could still prove relevant. He realized that whoever he surrendered the city to would be able to force the other claimants out by the strategic position it would grant them. Alexander II realized this as well, so he entered into negotiations.

These negotiations paid off - the ultimate deal was one that favored Alexander heavily and gave the Prince of Oka almost nothing. It is extremely likely that Konstantin would’ve given the rebelling man better terms, but he hadn’t offered any, and the Prince of Oka was desperate. He agreed to give up all of his territory and merely become the mayor of Kaluga, but he was allowed to keep that essentially meaningless title.

The aftermath of that agreement saw the opposing armies retreat from the city, but they were far from defeated. A greater prize could still be won, and all parties involved knew that. After all, the legitimacy offered by Moscow paled in comparison to the legitimacy offered by St. Petersburg.

 

[HistoryDude]

Alexander II had Moscow, and he intended to secure that city before expanding his reach further. This left an opportunity for his rivals - St. Petersburg offered the legitimacy of the official capital, so it was, in some ways, more useful than Moscow in terms of legitimacy. Even better, it was controlled by none of the main factions. At the war’s beginning, it had sworn allegiance to the Tsar… but that was when there was only one Tsar. Supporters of the different claimants had fought in the streets for a brief period, but that quickly ended.

St. Petersburg was somewhat stable, but it owed allegiance to no one. The highest government that the city acknowledged was an elected mayor, and even he had barely any power. Still, the peace that had settled in the city was extremely fragile, and it ended as soon as somebody made a move to claim the city.

The Rus League reached out to the mayor, who refused to join them. He said that they were, “the instruments of anarchy who would bring about the end of everything we have worked for”. Oleg knew better than to attempt to cross the territory of multiple rivals that had already defeated him to attack it. Still, the letter was intercepted by Yegorov’s spies and sent to Tsar Nicholas I… as a trap.

Yegorov, after all, knew that Nicholas wanted an endless war, and he didn’t and never had. The Triumvirate was composed of people who had common enemies, but they had their internal divisions as well. The reason why they trusted each other was not out of trust but out of a single principle - they knew that any victory would end in betrayal (or at least Tsar Nicholas I and Anton Yegorov did), but they also knew who their fellow conspirators were. Any extreme premature betrayal would lead to mutually assured destruction of all members of the Triumvirate.

All of which meant that the members of the Triumvirate attempted espionage against one another if they thought that they could get away with it. Yegorov knew that St. Petersburg had no ruler, but he also knew that implying it was under threat of falling to another faction would force his hand - the legitimacy it would grant them might allow them to marshal enough support to attack his land. That was a threat that Nicholas knew existed.

The letter itself wasn’t the trap - the trap was the revelations contained within. If St. Petersburg was up for grabs, then everyone would want it… including Nicholas. In his letter that was sent with the letter from the Rus League, Yegorov implied that everybody knew this information, and they didn’t, but Nicholas took the bait and began marching to St. Petersburg anyway, which was playing right into Yegorov’s hands.

Indeed, everything went so well for Yegorov that some historians - of the Second Civil War and of the Russian Age of Chaos in general - suspect that the letter from the Rus League to St. Petersburg never existed. It is possible that the great general simply forged this offer… and that is supported by the fact that there aren’t any records of it from Kiev itself… although we don’t have many documents from Kiev, given what happened later.

 

[HistoryDude]

Of course, Yegorov was correct in assuming that everyone would want St. Petersburg - Tsar Konstantin, outraged at his diplomatic and military losses, decided that taking St. Petersburg was the perfect way to recover support. He told his generals that he needed to reach the city with an army immediately, but they were skeptical. They pointed out that his armies would have to march great distances to the city, and that doing so might harm their chances of victory.

Unfortunately, Konstantin didn’t care. He had won one victory, but it had meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. He needed to win another in order to keep his faction loyal. He ordered his armies to march to the capital, although he did leave a small force to defend the Caucasus. This move would prove extremely unwise, as it left his territory open to attack and destroyed the faith of many of his generals in his competence.

Sure enough, his armies entered St. Petersburg and were exhausted by their long march. The Mayor of the city refused to bend his knee, even telling Konstantin that he could do nothing to force the people of St. Petersburg to kneel to him. Konstantin legendarily responded that he didn’t need to, as his loyalists that were doubtless present would force the Mayor’s hand.

He was wrong about this. While a small portion of the citizens of St. Petersburg did storm the mayor’s residence, it was nowhere near enough people to force anything, much less a matter of policy for the entire city. Ordinary civilians were able to force the protestors back.

This failure didn’t deter Konstantin, who was only barely talked down from killing the mayor right then. His generals were able to talk him out of this action, correctly pointing out that such a move would prove ruinous for his claim. They reminded him of the ultimate fate of the Conservative Coalition, but he remained unconvinced, claiming that the Conservatives had failed because God himself was opposing their unjust coup. The generals were forced to resort to threatening to tell his soldiers what he had been planning.

Ultimately, none of that mattered. Tsar Nicholas I reached the city in March 1853, and he attacked it immediately, proclaiming that he was Tsar by virtue of blood and being present. The mayor of St. Petersburg, unwilling to allow his city to swear allegiance to a madman, agreed to recognize Konstantin as Tsar in exchange for aid against his brother. Konstantin agreed, seeing this opportunity as divine intervention in favor of his cause.

The most beneficial part of the agreement for Konstantin’s forces was that the Provisional Government of St. Petersburg would give them food and shelter. This would allow them to rest and recover from their long march at long last. Naturally, the Provisional Government would also marshall an army to aid in the defeat of Nicholas the Mad. The Mayor of St. Petersburg, in an extremely unusual statement - mainly because it actually expressed an opinion on a faction in the civil war, even declared that he wished to kill the Mad Claimant Tsar himself.

 

[HistoryDude]

The clash between Tsars Konstantin and Nicholas was way closer than anyone expected or planned for. Tsar Konstantin won in the end, but it was a very close call, and the time that was bought allowed Tsar Alexander II to bring his campaign in Moscow to a close and reach St. Petersburg very soon after the battle ended.

Why was the First Battle of St. Petersburg so long? Because Nicholas decided on two unconventional strategies: first, he appealed to the people of St. Petersburg and the personal honor of his opponents, and, second, he engaged in a very strange form of scorched earth tactics. This allowed him to leave the former capital with a strategic victory.

Tsar Nicholas I sent in a very small portion of his army into the city not to attack its citizens but to convince them that he was perfectly sane and would be a great Tsar. This was a rather Sisyphean task, but he actually managed to pull it off… by emphasizing how Russia under his rule would be free from periodic warfare and extreme politics and how glorious his rule would be. How would he achieve these goals? He would ritualize the periodic warfare by periodically making his opponents fight each other in Moscow, and he would achieve glory by spending his entire reign at war. His agents pointed out that this meant that every Russian would have a chance to gain glory as part of a military force.

This was obviously a terrible argument, but it was an argument, which none of the other Tsars had offered to the denizens of St. Petersburg. Shockingly, many were convinced by it. Many of the more militant of them joined the army of the Mad Tsar.

Nicholas I also exploited the personal honor of his opponents by challenging both Tsar Konstantin and the governor of St. Petersburg to duels. The governor declined, insisting that his duty to his people was greater than his personal honor, but Konstantin accepted, proclaiming that he would “put an end to your madness once and for all”.

The two met on the River Moyka and began their duel on the water. Konstantin attempted to force his brother into the river, but he initially failed. Nicholas refused to allow himself to be forced overboard and dodged Konstantin’s attacks by moving sideways. However, he eventually achieved his goal, and Nicholas went plunging into the waters of the Moyka, but that was far from the end of the story. I’ll let Konstantin finish the tale of the duel by quoting his Memoirs of A Dethroned Tsar.

“As I forced my insane brother into the water, he must have realized that he could not avoid falling into the depths. He stopped resisting and pulled me closer to him. I attempted to escape his grasp, but my brother, although mad, was strong and held onto me. When he finally fell, I was dragged with him. We plunged into the waters of the Moyka, and I feared that the hour of my death was nigh. I resolved to at least force my brother to drown with me, which would give the throne to my brother, who sat victorious in Moscow.

However, both of us could swim, and the shock of hitting the water must have slackened [Nicholas’s] grip. I wriggled free and swam as fast as I could toward shore. My brother followed me.

We both reached land and resumed our duel right then. I had no intention of allowing Nicholas to leave with his life, no matter what tricks he pulled. I knew that he would not be lured into the waves again, so I moved our battle to the great cathedral of St. Isaac. I would end my brother’s life in the shadow of a house of worship, so that no one could deny what I had done.

Once I had completed my task, I would beg forgiveness for the greatest of my sins from the Almighty.

Unfortunately, it seemed like I would only do that after a long wait. My brother proved resilient in his struggle to avoid his just fate, so I was forced to wait.

In the end, my goal went unachieved. My brother blinded me, and I could no longer fight on. I stabbed in his general direction anyway - I could not let even this setback delay me. I hit him, and he screamed, but he managed to snap my sword in half.

While I could not prevent it, he left, proclaiming that our duel had been a draw. It was now June In the Year of Our Lord 1853, and I was left with unusable eyes and a ruined city for my troubles.”

 

[HistoryDude]

Despite the fact that Konstantin was now blind, he could still claim the throne. Russia was unlike the Eastern Roman Empire in that the blind could rule… in theory.

In practice, of course, a blind claimant to the throne had extreme difficulty in actually keeping support. Blindness heavily harmed the ability of a ruler to actually rule… and, arguably more importantly, to command armies.

All of which meant that Tsar Konstantin was in a terrible position after his victory in the First Battle of St. Petersburg. He held the capital, but he was about to face his brother, Alexander II, who had also won a victory. Alexander II’s forces had a huge increase in morale from his capture of Moscow and its surroundings, and he wasn’t blind.

Konstantin considered challenging Alexander I to a duel… but his blindness pretty much made such a duel a foregone conclusion. He still intended to claim his rightful throne, though, so he resorted to fighting a traditional battle.

Konstantin couldn’t really lead his men against his brother, so he was forced to rely on his generals during this battle. This would ultimately prove fatal to his cause in the short term, although he was able to recover from it eventually. Unfortunately, many of his generals were either inexperienced or not completely loyal.

This was actually an enormous problem. Alexander II was able to convince many of the generals that a blind Tsar would prove horrible for Russia, which led to their betrayal and massive confusion within the ranks of Konstantin’s loyalists. The argument about blindness also managed to convince many local officials - including the Mayor of St. Petersburg - to support him as an alternative to Konstantin.

The end result of that was Konstantin’s Inglorious Retreat - where he was forced to leave St. Petersburg to his brother. Indeed, the Inglorious Retreat eventually ended in the Caucasus, which still supported Konstantin, and it temporarily knocked Tsar Konstantin out of being a serious contender to govern Russia during the Russian Age of Chaos.

There were many reasons for this, and a lot of them ultimately rested on the fact that Konstantin was now blind. His blindness meant that the Duma now viewed his chances of success as extraordinarily slim and left his faction, taking large portions of territory with them. They now entered into negotiations with the Rus League, the Triumvirate, and Tsar Alexander II. The outcome of those negotiations would lead to the beginning of a cold period in the Russian Age of Chaos where there was a small amount of direct conflict and a lot of negotiation. This cold period would last until May 1854, and many historians argue that the Second Russian Civil War ended in October 1854, although the counterargument to that is that the war would have almost no new factions, and the cold period didn’t even last a year.

The three main relevant factions were the Rus League, the Triumvirate, and Tsar Alexander II. To his credit, Tsar Konstantin still commanded the loyalty of a large portion of the Caucasus Mountains, and Georgia still supported him.

Konstantin lost most of his generals in the aftermath of the Duma’s defection, as most of them were loyal to the Duma above him. Many of the more inexperienced ones had been killed at St. Petersburg, and a few had defected to Tsar Alexander II over the blindness issue. Indeed, by the time things settled down, he only had around three loyal generals - all of whom would become famous.

 

[HistoryDude]

After the St. Petersburg debacle, all factions in the war settled down to lick their wounds. The Triumvirate was defeated, but they had lost nothing. Tsar Konstantin had lost St. Petersburg, his eyes, a favorable position in the civil war, and nearly his life, but he still retained some lands. The blind man had suffered a horrific setback, and it would take him years to recover from that, but only a fool would ignore his existence entirely.

The greatest victor was Tsar Alexander II, but his victory was extremely hollow. He ruled the two greatest cities in Russia, and that meant absolutely nothing at all. Alexander’s hope had been that a victory at St. Petersburg would encourage his saner brother to reach a compromise and encourage the Rus League to surrender, but neither event had happened. He had only gained his brother’s undying enmity and eternal refusal to surrender. Indeed, his own opinion on the event is summarized in his memoirs, which proclaim:

“I had wanted a critical blow that would permanently end the war, not mere legitimacy. I had legitimacy already. I wanted to reconcile with my sibling, who, despite our conflict, I had loved. I had wanted a negotiated peace that would make everything right, and all I achieved was horrible. My victory meant that Russia’s sentence was to fight itself for at least as long as I lived. My duel with my brother almost killed him, which I will always regret. At the time, I justified it as a price that I paid for victory… but, now, I realize that it was unforgivable. When I blinded my brother, my eyes were truly opened - my ambition had worsened an already horrific war, and my decision had doomed Russia to an eternity of warfare. Perhaps it may yet be spared in exchange for my life…”

Regardless of Alexander II’s personal dark thoughts, he seems to have believed that he had a small window of time to contribute to Russia’s glory. He opened an art collection in Moscow on August 11, 1853, which showed peaceful scenes. It seemed as if he wanted his subjects to believe that peace was possible, even if he thought that he could never witness any peace. To his credit, it seems to have temporarily worked. Alexander’s domain in Russia operated normally for a couple of years and even made and restored diplomatic alliances. It would create most of the infrastructure that the empire would use during the Grand Restoration, and some have argued that the Grand Restoration would’ve been impossible without Alexander II’s deeds.

Of course, Alexander II didn’t rule over a united Russia, no matter how much his subjects liked to pretend otherwise. Anton Yegorov continued to plot from Finland, and his greatest coup was yet to come. Tsar Nicholas I almost managed to secure diplomatic recognition of his independent Tsardom of Poland from France and Austria.

Most importantly, Tsar Konstantin continued to plot his restoration. He managed to secure a great coup by assassinating the Tsar of Siberia in early 1852 and seizing control over the warring remnants of his kingdom between that year and 1855.

The hurricane resumed its mighty winds in May 1854, but things got far worse in December.

 

[HistoryDude]

In March and April, there were mysterious crime sprees throughout St. Petersburg. At first, Tsar Alexander II thought nothing of this - his subjects must be tired of the war, so he tried to pass some laws that would alleviate the effects of the war. He repealed laws that mandated military service, and, to his credit, it did increase his approval ratings. It also increased the effectiveness of his army, as most of the soldiers who subsequently joined his army actually wanted to fight for him.

The crime sprees also stopped, and Tsar Alexander thought that they were just a symptom of unrest… but he was wrong. It turned out that something far more sinister was occurring - many of the criminals had been paid… and some of them even admitted this. Unfortunately, they refused to divulge who they were being funded by, although other sources tell us that their backer was Anton Yegorov.

The point of this was to serve as a minor distraction while Yegorov worked on his big scheme that he believed would effectively end the Second (or maybe the Third?) Russian Civil War. However, he had not expected Tsar Alexander’s response to it, which he didn’t even think was an option. Instead, he had expected the Claimant Tsar to crack down on crime in St. Petersburg, which he hoped would keep Alexander distracted.

Despite this setback, Yegorov was very good at planning on the fly and adjusting his plans to account for unknown variables. He quickly realized that he could sponsor a revolt in St. Petersburg anyway, and this revolt began in May. Yegorov’s methods to force a revolt were simple - he offered money to a few people and appealed to the more militaristic portion of the Russian population by having some of his agents in St. Petersburg decry Tsar Alexander as weak. These papers further implied that Tsar Alexander would be easy to manipulate for domestic factions and for foreign powers.

Of course, this propaganda move had its downsides. It granted Tsar Alexander greater support amongst some of the former supporters of the Duma and even a few supporters of the Rus League. The fact that Tsar Alexander actually was willing to compromise with some of his old foes allowed these alliances to last and arguably allowed the Russian Golden Age to happen.

In the short term, though, the propaganda did manage to cause the Claimant Tsar to lose St. Petersburg. Many of the militarists moved there and attempted to take it for themselves because of its strategic value. The propaganda allowed them to briefly succeed in June, as the Mayor of St. Petersburg was beginning to have doubts about Alexander’s ability to bring peace. This forced Tsar Alexander to march his army of willing volunteers to the city and to besiege it, which ultimately took four months - Alexander only recaptured St. Petersburg in late October 1854.

From a strategic perspective, Yegorov’s schemes succeeded completely - he managed to prevent Tsar Alexander II from doing anything that could change the nature of the war before he could pull off his diplomatic coup d’état.

 

[HistoryDude]

In December, Yegorov’s diplomacy finally paid off when the Swedes declared war on Russia, as they wanted to reclaim Finland. This act achieved a lot of what Yegorov wanted it to - it caused a temporary lull in the fighting between the claimants for the Russian throne. Yegorov had remembered that the Great European War had encouraged a compromise between the different factions of Russia a few years ago, and that taught him that a common enemy was one of the few things that could unite Russia.

He was almost completely right. Neither the Blind Tsar Konstantin nor the Claimant Tsar Alexander II had any intention of losing territory to an outside power, and, interestingly, neither did the Rus League. The Prince of Kiev and his supporters thought that Russia needed to be more decentralized, but they never dreamed of giving up land to a foreign power, which they thought would lead to oppression of the ethnic Russians. The three factions gnashed their teeth about having to work together, but they did cooperate - the alternative was unacceptable.

There were two exceptions to Russia’s newfound unity, though. One was the conservative Tsar of Siberia, who had begun to like having his own small kingdom and worried that the newfound unity of Russia’s forces would move on him next. This fear caused him to ally with the invading Swedes. The other was Nicholas I, who joined with the Swedish invaders for unclear reasons.

A thousand theories about the motives of the Mad Tsar have been proposed, but the most popular are also the ones that make the most sense. The first theory is that Nicholas I had grown attached to his new domain in Poland and wished to make it a truly sovereign state, even if it meant giving up his claim on Russia as a whole… which is supported by the fact that he signed diplomatic negotiations with Sweden, Britain, and other European powers as “King Nicholas I of Poland”... even after the Finnish War had concluded - he actually did that until his ultimate death at the end of the Russian Age of Chaos. The other popular theory fits with his worldview that only an eternal war would keep Russia intact - it proposes that the Mad Tsar thought that the Russian Age of Chaos was coming to an end, and he was trying to extend it.

Whatever the reason why Nicholas I sided with Sweden, he did. Yegorov, for his part, initially offered to guide the Swedish army through Finland, and he technically kept that promise. In truth, he was leading them into a trap in exchange for pardons from both claimants to the title of Tsar for his previous crimes. The Swedes had no knowledge of this until it happened.

However, a few of Nicholas I’s spies did discover Yegorov’s plans and reported them to their master… who responded by sending a letter to both the Swedish army and the Tsar of Siberia about it. The letter to the Swedes was intercepted by spies loyal to Yegorov and destroyed, but the letter to the Tsar of Siberia reached its destination. This caused the two members of the Triumvirate to agree to a secret meeting in the Urals in the middle of January 1855 - where each agreed to support the other’s bid for independence. They also agreed to end their alliance with Yegorov. The Triumvirate, for all intents and purposes, had been dissolved.

 

[HistoryDude]

The unity created by Sweden’s attack was a good thing for Russia, but there were many caveats. Russia had plenty of allies, and they had their own interests - interests that encouraged them to support Russia. To make matters worse, Sweden was also allied with both Britain and the Ottoman Empire. There was a real risk of a Second Great European War breaking out as a result of Sweden’s declaration of war.

Of course Yegorov knew that when he created the plan - he hoped to humiliate the Ottomans in order to prove Russian superiority - and, like most Russians, he saw Russia as the rightful heir to the Roman Empire and, especially, Constantinople. Part of his plan was to trigger a Second Great European War, and he wasn’t the only person in Russia who had that plan.

Tsar Nicholas I wrote letters to both the Ottomans and Britain asking for aid in his struggle for independence. More importantly, he saw another Great European War as a recipe for stability and nationalism - which would, conveniently, aid both Russia and his claimed kingdom of Poland. Which of these nationalities he wanted to aid more is unclear - and it’s possible that Nicholas I had forgotten his original motivations and ideals entirely and merely wished to embroil Russia in eternal war for the sake of war itself.

Tsar Konstantin and Tsar Alexander II, for their part, didn’t want a new Great European War at all - they considered the possibility and concluded that it would lead to the death of thousands in exchange for nothing. After all, their goals - Russian reunification and increased nationalism - could be achieved by a simple war against Sweden.

Most of the other great powers in Europe agreed that another general war on the continent would be a needless loss of life. Many of them were already considering another hotspot of discontent - Hungary, and they didn’t want to embroil themselves in Russian affairs and give their opponents an edge there. Still, Russia’s allies, especially Austria and the Papal States, refused to sacrifice their alliance and agreed to support Russia against Sweden. A Second Great European War seemed inevitable…

Neither Russian Tsar wanted this, and both agreed to a temporary truce and even alliance in order to deal with the invasion. As part of this, they traveled to London to discuss what Britain wanted - and that meeting saw the discussion of many topics. Konstantin did most of the talking, and that would prove extremely significant in later Russian history. He refused to give Britain territory to keep them from intervening (they wanted Alyeska), but he did reach a compromise. Russia and its allies weren’t allowed to annex any land from Sweden, and they shouldn’t noticeably disturb the balance of power in Europe. While this limited the potential gains from the war, it wasn’t that harsh, so the Russian Tsars agreed to its terms.
In exchange, Britain refused to support Sweden’s aggression, and they told the Ottomans that they wouldn’t aid them against Russian wrath if they declared war. The Turks, unsure that the Russian unity wouldn’t last long enough to crush them, decided that declaring war would be an unwise move.

The remnants of the Triumvirate did manage to score an official alliance and recognition of their independence from the Swedish monarch, but this was simply an extension of the civil war. For all intents and purposes, the wider European crisis was averted… for the moment.

 

[HistoryDude]

The forces of Russia’s allies quickly entered the territories of Tsar Alexander II, and he accepted their aid and offered his thanks. Still, it would take a while for the war to begin in earnest.

Indeed, before any conflict occurred, it was discovered that Belgium was unintentionally aiding the Swedes, but they had a very different endgame. Belgium wished for an independent Finland, which they saw as a good ally. Tsar Alexander II discovered that scheme and executed the Belgian spies, but the damage was almost done. Tsar Alexander realized that any other country or even faction could be interfering in Russia’s affairs - he needed to worry about espionage from not only other factions in the Russian Age of Chaos but also foreign powers… which would increase his paranoia and ultimately destroy his regime.

Still, that was a long way off. Alexander managed to placate the agitated Fins by pointing out what would happen if they succeeded in their scheme. They would never be able to keep their independence - even if a Russian faction didn’t bring them to heel, they still needed to worry about Sweden.

In June 1855, a small Russian force fought Sweden at Tornio, but they were defeated. It was at this moment that Russia’s alliances began to prove themselves useful, as Austria defeated the Swedes and drove them out of rightfully Russian territory.

This gave Tsar Alexander the room to maneuver their soldiers, which he quickly did, uniting them with the armies of the Catholic Church. This coalition then met the Swedes in a great battle at Hammerfest, where they won a decisive victory. This opened up most of Sweden to occupation by the Russian Coalition and their allies.

Indeed, most of Sweden was occupied by 1858, but, in January, Denmark signed a peace with Sweden that kept territory status quo ante bellum. This allowed Sweden to reclaim territory, which led to more conflict with the Russian Coalition and their allies.

In March, the forces of both Tsars attacked a Swedish force at Hamar. This city was near a lot of water, but it wasn’t near the sea. Instead, it stood on the shores of Lake Mjøsa, which Tsar Konstantin realized could aid the Russians. The Russian forces won the battle by destroying many of the fortifications that were keeping water out of the city. After they had done that, they left the city.

This left the Swedes with a difficult choice. They could chase the Russians, which would mean abandoning their citizens but might lead to a victory, or they could help the civilians create new fortifications to keep the lake back, but that would mean conceding most of the rest of Sweden to the Russian forces.

Ultimately, the Swedish army decided that the needs of a single city shouldn’t outweigh the needs of the entire country and chased the Russians, which would prove futile. In April, they were defeated anyway at the Battle of Gävle, which occurred near Stockholm. This would lead to panic in Stockholm and a request for a peace meeting.

This peace meeting would prove surprisingly productive, and a peace treaty was agreed upon in August. Sweden would grant independence to Norway, but there wouldn’t be any other territorial changes.

Yegorov told both Tsars that this treaty was a bad idea since it didn’t guarantee that the independent Norway could defeat Sweden, but neither the Tsars nor their foreign allies were willing to commit to a war in the frigid Scandinavian peninsula. Their point was made - aggression against rightful Russian land wouldn’t be tolerated.

 

[HistoryDude]

However, as Russia was fighting with Sweden, they also fought with Siberia, which wanted to distract the Russian Coalition and its allies. They quickly made a couple of mistakes, some of which proved fatal. The Tsar of Siberia crossed the Urals and launched a massive invasion of the territory of the Russian Coalition… which ensured that the war with Sweden was partially delayed.

Of course, this move backfired spectacularly. Neither the Russian Coalition, the Papal States, nor Austria wanted this unneeded delay. To make matters even worse, Denmark managed to temporarily distract Sweden and buy time for their allies to deal with Siberia… permanently.

The Siberians were forced to retreat from the mighty armies of the Papal States and Austria, moving back across the Urals. Unfortunately for Siberia, all of Russia’s allies realized that a repeat might occur if this “Tsardom of Siberia” wasn’t dealt with, so they moved across the Urals and into territory that might have been considered subject to the Tsardom of Siberia.

Not all of the allied forces crossed the Urals, though - very few forces from the Papal States actually crossed and most forces from the Russian Coalition also moved to Sweden. Tsar Konstantin was the only leader who crossed the Urals to lead his army, although most of the army was actually made up of Austrian forces, who wanted a strong Russian state that could aid them against their enemies in Europe. This failed miserably, but we’ll get to the utter disaster that was the Second Great European War will be covered later.

The Siberian forces didn’t attempt to engage their foes in battle, as they likely knew that their chances of victory were low. Still, their hand was eventually forced when the de facto capital of Siberia, Omsk, was attacked. This was an act that their army couldn’t ignore - leaving Omsk would be tantamount to surrendering their arrogant Tsar… and most of the army was still loyal to him.

To his credit, the Tsar of Siberia (whose name remains lost to history, possibly because one of the future Russian Emperors erased all records of it) did lead his army in defense of his capital, but this wouldn’t save him. He fought valiantly for a couple of months, but the forces of Russia and Austria ultimately proved too powerful for him. The Tsar of Siberia was killed in this battle, which heavily harmed the cause of Siberian independence.

Still, a few claimants to the Siberian throne remained. Whether or not the Tsar of Siberia ever had any children is unknown, but some people did claim that they were either one of his children or one of his descendants. Two of the new claimants to the throne of Siberia claimed that they were his sons, and they did gain followers from the former Siberian army. However, many of those were either dedicated to the cause of an independent Siberia or the cause of not following the Russian Tsars. A lot of this was probably because they were Steppe Tribes who didn’t like being ruled by sedentary kings…

This argument is further helped by the fact that, of all the successors, only the aforementioned two tsars actually claimed the title of Tsar. The others claimed to be khans, and they controlled far more territory. Ultimately, however, none of this mattered - the Austrians agreed to remain in Siberia until it was fully pacified and were there until early 1859.

The combined Russo-Austrian forces divided their enemies by bringing their forces into contact with each other. This first succeeded in 1856, when one of the claimant Tsars of Siberia killed the other, pausing only to whisper, “I’m sorry, my brother-in-arms, but division won’t aid our cause”. These words would prove to be extremely ironic, but they also lead some scholars to suggest that the two successor Tsars of Siberia weren’t claiming literal descent from the original one but symbolic descent.

Throughout 1857 and 1858, the Russo-Austrian force engaged in small skirmishes and brought rival forces from the Siberians into contact with one another. This strategy culminated in the Battle of the Four Armies in the Urals, where the Russo-Austrian army fought against the remaining claimant Tsar of Siberia and the newly undisputed Khan of Siberia. Tsar Konstantin’s forces emerged victorious there, and both of his rival rulers were killed. After this, most of the Siberians surrendered to Konstantin, and the remainder joined the Rus League.