The Years of Peace (1925-1929)
Overall the late 20's was a relatively peaceful decade as nations gradually recovered from the horrors of the World war and the latter chaos, though there was an exception in eastern europe, where a war long brewing was ignited.
The Commonwealth is further reformed to be more centralized with still 4 separate parliaments, but one federational leader to be in charge
After a long debate and a boycott by the National Democrat movement, the May Constitution is introduced for the Polish state. The act introduced the idea that the state is the common good of the citizens and limits the Senate's and Sejm's power while strengthening the President of Poland to provide for a strong leader, with the president responsible for choosing the members of the government, which is responsible to the parliament and is the Commander-in-chief of the United Commonwealth Army and has a right to issue decrees and veto the Sejm's acts and the president has the right to name his successor in case of war if a 2/3rd majority of the people or the Sejm does not disagree with the choice. It is controversial with some authoritarian features, but now the official constitution of the Polish Republic. The Commonwealth Confederation now has 1/4 of it's seats given to each of the 4 nations and thus creates a parliament of the 4 constituent countries with it representing them in foreign affairs, while they represent themselves in domestic affairs.
As well as this the Commonwealth parliament decided to reform the 4 separate militaries into one combined military with a centralized military leadership, becoming the "Commonwealth Army" and a common currency, the "Commonwealth Crown" pegged to the gold standard. The Commonwealth Confederation further rebuilt, opening more trade links across the Intermarium alliance and with Czechoslovakia along with inside the country. The Commonwealth Confederation also signed a treaty of friendship with Finland agreeing for mutual trade and a defensive guarantee against the RSFSR. The Silesian land, being small and subsidient on Poland, was influenced by Poland into passing the Act of Stateship, turning it into a state of Poland and thus abolishing its function as the 5th republic in the commonwealth. The polish 5 year plan is continued, but due to delays is only finished in 1928. The Polish Government launches a second 5 year plan, focused on industrializing the heartland even more for the next period of 5 years.
Meanwhile Lenin died at the far eastern front after denouncing Stalin and the USSR entered a crisis with the Provisional Priamurye Government invading Siberia, taking advantage of the chaos. After weeks of civil war, Leon Trotsky rose to power, swearing to spread the revolution to the world. He immediately drafts and installs the Act of Union, which forms the Mongolian SSR, Russian SFSR, Transcaucasian SSR and unites them into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The Civil war continuing on reaches a climax, as Trotsky enacts the “Vladivostok Offensive”, launching it in March of 1926, quickly seizing land west of the Amur river and Kamchatka, before bogging down in the trenches east of Amur, but slowly pushing through. He decided that with victory in the far-east in his grasp, he must spread the revolution into Europe and so he invades the Commonwealth to form a land bridge to the German Reich to further the communist revolution. The Russian troops, quickly overrun the few trenches available in the commonwealth though delayed in Finland by the Mannerheim Line, while continuing the advance in the far-east with artillery bombing Vladivostok, though it’s pacific fleet is eliminated in a disastrous battle near Kamchatka.
Both Turkey and Greece see it opportunistically, but neither invades fearing the other to invade them in the moment of weakness and so staying neutral
Across the Ukrainian, Lithuanian and Belarusian fronts, USSR vanguards, having infiltrated the commonwealth, prior to the invasion enact Plan Red Surge.
As the Commonwealth forces start slowing down the rapid USSR’s advance, the Red Surge results in mass revolts throughout Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus against Polish responsibility for the war and “subjugation”. While the effects are not as strong as hoped for by Lenin, they are enough to demoralize the commonwealth and launch Phase 2 of the advance, designed to quickly capture the capitals, Minsk, Kiev. Meanwhile the second red surge is enacted in finland by remaining Finnish Reds, resulting in a partial collapse of finnish defenses and the russian troops advancing past finnish karelia, though at a heavy cost.
Though initially successful, exploiting the feeling of subjugation by Poland of the ethnic minorities with Minsk, Kiev, Helsinki, Lublin, Khabarovsk fallen to the USSR and vanguards of the USSR army even reaching Bialystok and Lublin, the promised worker’s revolution fail to materialize and with Allied and Japanese support, dangerous supply lines and the running out of initiative, the USSR's advance peters out at the outskirts of Warsaw and Vladivostok, with the enemy combatants, now with Allied support overturning the Soviet advance and gradually reclaiming occupied land and in 1929 even advancing into the USSR, with Finnish Forces capturing Leningrad and Commonwealth Forces recapturing Donetsk. A failed coup against Trotsky is the last straw, pressuring him to seek an armistice. The armistice eventually leads to the Peace of Leningrad (1929) with the following terms:
- The USSR and Priamurye Provisional Government recognise each other and create their borders at the Amur River
- Kamchatka is ceded to the USSR
- The Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (i.e. Karelia) is ceded to Finland
- St. Petersburg is to be demilitarized
- The Azov Sea is to be demilitarized
- Minor border changes as cities with russian majority are transferred from the commonwealth to the USSR
- Both sides agree to a 10 year non-aggression pact
- No Army is to go within 5 km of the border with the opposing party
- Mongolia is to be kept as a SSR of Russia
The Provisional Priamurye Government officially recognised what was de facto recognised before (i.e. that it logistically cannot conquer mainland Russia and thus is only representative of the land east of the Amur) and so renamed itself “Transamur”.
Trotsky lost support after being defeated and forced to sign such a “humiliating peace” and so many supporters defected to Stalin who launched a revolution against Trotsky, soon victorious as Trotsky’s supporters defected, leading to his exile from the USSR. Josef Stalin abolished the Act of Union, denouncing it as a mark of defeat, restoring the Russification and the RSFSR being the primary government. Transcaucasia SSR and Mongolia SSR both revolted but were quickly pacified by russian troops.
The Mad Baron of Mongolia is angered at the white russian betrayal of his nation and tries to escape White Russia, but is betrayed and given to the reds in return for monetary compensation where he is imprisoned, while his regiment disperses to resist in Mongolia.
The Locarno Honeymoon happens as relations between germany and the west increase with the world experiencing an economic upturn, though relations between Germany and Poland stay very hostile, with Poland infiltrating Masuria and Germany infiltrating Danzig. The democratic parties experience a growth while the radicals to varying degrees decrease
Kemal is assassinated in the ottoman empire by ultra-nationalists in anger of his incompetence and defeat to the Greeks, making the turkish situation even more volatile with the Ottomans becoming increasingly revanchist against Greece.
Meanwhile Italy angry at being betrayed in the Mutilated Peace and having succumbed to Mussolini’s march on Rome bolsters ties with the Spanish Authoritarian Regime and with Nationalist China after Chiang Kai-Shek takes power over the Kuomintang, starting an alliance later referred to as the "Triple Alliance", an alliance between Fascist Italy, Authoritarian Spain and Nationalist China.
The US became more isolated, seeing European matters as not affecting them. Britain and France, once strong allies in the heat of World war 1 after Rheinland fractured, and their relations are much more ambivalent with many French seeing it as a British betrayal while the brits see it as French arrogance, further fracturing their relations