I started a thread asking ideas for this TL but since it didn't generate much postage, I decided to just go ahead with the TL. The POD is that Grigory Seymonov, the Baron's superior before going to Mongolia dies in 1919, allowing the Baron to succeed him as Ataman. From there, he strengthens ties with the Japanese and becomes President of the Far Eastern Republic. Within the next few decades, he will grow immensely in power, eventually carving out a great empire that will stretch from Western Russia to Southern China. I'm calling the timeline; 20th Century Khan. Here it is;
1920 - The Far Eastern Republic is created as a result of the desire for a buffer state between Soviet Russia and Japan. Socialist, Alexander Krasnoshchyokov becomes its first president. Japanese troops continue to occupy Vladivostok. The Baron is approached by his Japanese benefactors and is "asked" to merge his small fiefdom into the FER, relinquish control over it and instead serve in the Republic's army. The Cossack Host and local tribal armies which he commanded also become part pf the FER's army, receiving the name, the "Savage Brigade" for their actions under their past two Atamans, the Baron and Seymonov.
Later that year, Admiral Kolchak flees his capital of Omsk under siege from the Reds and heads east, near the expanding borders of the FER whose military expansions are being led by the now Major General, von Sternberg. After being defeated in battle, he surrenders his army to the Baron and heads for the north of Irkutsk but is captured by pro-Soviet leftist forces upon getting there, after which he is put to a summary trial and executed by a Soviet firing squad. A detachment from the Red Army in pursuit of Kolchak engages instead with the Baron's forces. The two armies fight a short inconclusive skirmish that ends in ceasefire. The Baron continues his operations in expanding northward and westward, eventually capturing the Lake Baikal and the whole of Irkutsk for the FER.
1921 - The Baron's operations in expanding the Republic's borders earn him a promotion to General. He also has proved himself as one of the FER's most valuable officers but also as its most dangerous and unpredictable one. He earns the respect of the Army's lowly corporals but receives scorn and jealousy from the other high ranking officers. In June, The Merkulov brothers overthrow Krasnoshchyokov in a coup d'etat. He flees west to Soviet Russia. After a few days, the Baron enters the capital with his Army from Irkutsk and overthrows them in another coup de'tat. The Baron becomes the third president of the FER. He sends his most loyal lieutenant, Colonel Sepailoff to crush reactionary countercoups throughout the FER.
During the first few weeks of his presidency, several Jews are purged from the Army and are even executed. Rumors begin to circulate of the Japanese wanting to replace the Baron with someone less insane. In order to fight such a possibility, the Baron signs the Chita Agreement, a treaty that would allow for more Japanese (Kwantung) military presence in the FER and the opening of major Japanese naval bases in Vladivostok and land bases near the border with China.
1922 - The FER with help from the Kwantung Army whose newly stationed units allowed by the Chita Agreement arrived at the beginning of the year, the Baron launches an expedition to the North, to capture what is left of Eastern Siberia. He caprures a large chunk of the Yakutia. The Baron also signs an agreement with the Soviets that fixes the FER-Soviet border several miles east from the Omsk Oblast, ending the occasional border skirmishes.
In Mongolia, pro-Soviet Mongolian armies attack the capital, Urga but fail to defeat the Chinese armies stationed there. The Red Mongolian leader, Damdin Sukhbaatar is killed in the battle. This attack convinced the Baron of the need to take Mongolia for himself. This land had a special importance to the Baron for this was the heartland of the Mongol tribes he had befriended as a young officer in Siberia and the birthplace of Genghis Khan who he believed himself to be a reincarnation of. He draws up plans of a Mongolian invasion and sends them to General Shinobu Ono of the Kwantung Army. The Kwantung Army, then busy with operations in the north of China initially ignored the plan until General Ono and his staff revisited it. He replies with a letter informing the Baron that the General Staff of the Kwantung Army was "taking it into consideration". Another copy of the plan was sent to Tokyo where it was rejected by the Imperial Government but as the Kwantung Amy was largely independent of Tokyo, the plan would come into fruition.
In the Baron's plan, the Japanese army would not be directly involved in the invasion. It would be executed by the FER's army which would only need Japanese arms and funds instead of actual militray backing. He detailed a route for his forces to enter Mongolia through the Northeast and a plan for an effective siege of Urga. Also, part of the plan was a clever contingency in the event of a failed siege which involved creating the illusion of numerical supremacy. After the invasion, a Mongolian puppet state would be created and placed under the control of the Japanese. The reason this plan was attractive to the Kwantung General Staff was because a presence in Mongolia would mean easier and wider access to China in the event of war.
Meanwhile, the citizens of the FER found themselves more and more forced into the Baron's way of thinking. Buddhist Ethics suddenly became a subject in schools where children were required to memorize and recite the Eightfold Path. Statues of the Buddha, Genghis Khan and Atilla the Hun start popping up in public squares. Antisemitism became a state institution, garnering support from the radical White Russian factions of the FER's government. Antisemtic posters and billboards carrying vicious caricatures made their way to the streets of Vladivostok and Chita. Jews were being rounded up into ghettos. Some even managed to earn the sympathy of the Japanese soldiers stationed there. In one case, an old Jewess was dragged kicking and screaming into the Vladivostok Ghetto but was saved when a Japanese lieutenant intervened and told the lady to go back to her home. She was safe for that night but found herself in the Ghetto a few days later.
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Comments? Thoughts? Please post them.
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1919 - Ataman, Grigory Seymonov is shot dead on one of his raids on the Trans-Siberian Railway. His closest lieutenant, the Baron Roman Ungern von Sternberg, inherits the title "Ataman of the Transbaikal Host" and a small army of Cossacks and local tribesmen. With this, he becomes warlord of the Transbaikal region. He continues his army's raiding operations with monetary and military support from the Japanese.
1920 - The Far Eastern Republic is created as a result of the desire for a buffer state between Soviet Russia and Japan. Socialist, Alexander Krasnoshchyokov becomes its first president. Japanese troops continue to occupy Vladivostok. The Baron is approached by his Japanese benefactors and is "asked" to merge his small fiefdom into the FER, relinquish control over it and instead serve in the Republic's army. The Cossack Host and local tribal armies which he commanded also become part pf the FER's army, receiving the name, the "Savage Brigade" for their actions under their past two Atamans, the Baron and Seymonov.
Later that year, Admiral Kolchak flees his capital of Omsk under siege from the Reds and heads east, near the expanding borders of the FER whose military expansions are being led by the now Major General, von Sternberg. After being defeated in battle, he surrenders his army to the Baron and heads for the north of Irkutsk but is captured by pro-Soviet leftist forces upon getting there, after which he is put to a summary trial and executed by a Soviet firing squad. A detachment from the Red Army in pursuit of Kolchak engages instead with the Baron's forces. The two armies fight a short inconclusive skirmish that ends in ceasefire. The Baron continues his operations in expanding northward and westward, eventually capturing the Lake Baikal and the whole of Irkutsk for the FER.
1921 - The Baron's operations in expanding the Republic's borders earn him a promotion to General. He also has proved himself as one of the FER's most valuable officers but also as its most dangerous and unpredictable one. He earns the respect of the Army's lowly corporals but receives scorn and jealousy from the other high ranking officers. In June, The Merkulov brothers overthrow Krasnoshchyokov in a coup d'etat. He flees west to Soviet Russia. After a few days, the Baron enters the capital with his Army from Irkutsk and overthrows them in another coup de'tat. The Baron becomes the third president of the FER. He sends his most loyal lieutenant, Colonel Sepailoff to crush reactionary countercoups throughout the FER.
During the first few weeks of his presidency, several Jews are purged from the Army and are even executed. Rumors begin to circulate of the Japanese wanting to replace the Baron with someone less insane. In order to fight such a possibility, the Baron signs the Chita Agreement, a treaty that would allow for more Japanese (Kwantung) military presence in the FER and the opening of major Japanese naval bases in Vladivostok and land bases near the border with China.
1922 - The FER with help from the Kwantung Army whose newly stationed units allowed by the Chita Agreement arrived at the beginning of the year, the Baron launches an expedition to the North, to capture what is left of Eastern Siberia. He caprures a large chunk of the Yakutia. The Baron also signs an agreement with the Soviets that fixes the FER-Soviet border several miles east from the Omsk Oblast, ending the occasional border skirmishes.
In Mongolia, pro-Soviet Mongolian armies attack the capital, Urga but fail to defeat the Chinese armies stationed there. The Red Mongolian leader, Damdin Sukhbaatar is killed in the battle. This attack convinced the Baron of the need to take Mongolia for himself. This land had a special importance to the Baron for this was the heartland of the Mongol tribes he had befriended as a young officer in Siberia and the birthplace of Genghis Khan who he believed himself to be a reincarnation of. He draws up plans of a Mongolian invasion and sends them to General Shinobu Ono of the Kwantung Army. The Kwantung Army, then busy with operations in the north of China initially ignored the plan until General Ono and his staff revisited it. He replies with a letter informing the Baron that the General Staff of the Kwantung Army was "taking it into consideration". Another copy of the plan was sent to Tokyo where it was rejected by the Imperial Government but as the Kwantung Amy was largely independent of Tokyo, the plan would come into fruition.
In the Baron's plan, the Japanese army would not be directly involved in the invasion. It would be executed by the FER's army which would only need Japanese arms and funds instead of actual militray backing. He detailed a route for his forces to enter Mongolia through the Northeast and a plan for an effective siege of Urga. Also, part of the plan was a clever contingency in the event of a failed siege which involved creating the illusion of numerical supremacy. After the invasion, a Mongolian puppet state would be created and placed under the control of the Japanese. The reason this plan was attractive to the Kwantung General Staff was because a presence in Mongolia would mean easier and wider access to China in the event of war.
Meanwhile, the citizens of the FER found themselves more and more forced into the Baron's way of thinking. Buddhist Ethics suddenly became a subject in schools where children were required to memorize and recite the Eightfold Path. Statues of the Buddha, Genghis Khan and Atilla the Hun start popping up in public squares. Antisemitism became a state institution, garnering support from the radical White Russian factions of the FER's government. Antisemtic posters and billboards carrying vicious caricatures made their way to the streets of Vladivostok and Chita. Jews were being rounded up into ghettos. Some even managed to earn the sympathy of the Japanese soldiers stationed there. In one case, an old Jewess was dragged kicking and screaming into the Vladivostok Ghetto but was saved when a Japanese lieutenant intervened and told the lady to go back to her home. She was safe for that night but found herself in the Ghetto a few days later.
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Comments? Thoughts? Please post them.