An execution preempted: A lethal Otsu incident, Russian empire centered TL
- Thread starter yboxman
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Poor Korea, stuck with Yuan running around Seoul for even longer.
On the other hand, a Qing who avoid the Sino-Japanese War... it's interesting. On the one hand, there's no shock that prompts the final attempt at modernisation. On the other hand, perhaps another decade of peace would strengthen China internally to the point that halting modernisation efforts wouldn't trigger the cycle of civil disruption that eventually saw the collapse into warlordism.
Also: ITTL, the British- and in fact the Japanese- were both sending military missions to China in the early 1890s to investigate a possibility of an alliance, or at least limited cooperation.
If Qing weakness continues to be disguised, perhaps there'll eventually be some fruit from that.
On the other hand, a Qing who avoid the Sino-Japanese War... it's interesting. On the one hand, there's no shock that prompts the final attempt at modernisation. On the other hand, perhaps another decade of peace would strengthen China internally to the point that halting modernisation efforts wouldn't trigger the cycle of civil disruption that eventually saw the collapse into warlordism.
Also: ITTL, the British- and in fact the Japanese- were both sending military missions to China in the early 1890s to investigate a possibility of an alliance, or at least limited cooperation.
If Qing weakness continues to be disguised, perhaps there'll eventually be some fruit from that.
POV
I realize this is a Russia-centric TL, but I think that showing the events you've described from the POV of other powers, such as Great Britain, would greatly enrich the scenario.
Maybe document the world's reaction to the murder of Nicholas II, or their reaction to the expulsion of Jews?
I realize this is a Russia-centric TL, but I think that showing the events you've described from the POV of other powers, such as Great Britain, would greatly enrich the scenario.
Maybe document the world's reaction to the murder of Nicholas II, or their reaction to the expulsion of Jews?
yboxman
Banned
Will try to give it some more attention.
Briefly:
Michael, at this point, is still a teenager and is not doing much more than being schooled. As he grows older he is likely to be shunted off to the millitary as OTL. I can't see any specific reason, right now, why he wouldn't end up in the same scandal ridden romance as he did OTL (only non butterfly reason to prevent that is if the Blue Hussars, or Michael, actually see some combat somewhere rather than spending their time promenading the streets of the capital) though George will probably be more laid back about it than Nicholas.
Xenia is happily wed and not doing anything more challenging than attending social functions. And Olga is painting and brooding and suffering from an excess of maternal attention. George may make a bit more of an effort to get her into a political marriage when the time comes- and being more worldly he will probably be more aware of her first OTL husband's preferences and veto the marriage.
Also, about giving some ships to Montenegro, that's complete nonsence at the moment considering that the Montenegro had extremly short coast, with no good harbours and that Montenegrians were just a bunch of hillbillies what could not operate even a simplest warship larger than torpedo boat.[/QUOTE]
Well they could send Russian officers to go with. But that would piss off AH. and Italy. It's not really something George is aiming at. He just wants to avoid paying for obsolete ships and get some retun on Russia's original investment. Greece is a more likely recipient.
Thanks!Speaking of Elena, in OTL she married the Italian King Vittorio Emanuele III di Savoia, who would be the consort of the Italian monarch ITTL? MAybe it could signl different alliances than the usual, or cause other butterflies.
yboxman, your TL is great, keep going on! (and I like the introspective "Russian literature-like" parts very much)
I'm thinking he marries her younger sister. That's even more likely OTL, since Nicholas of Montenegro would want to balance a good relationship with Russia with Italian protection. When you;re a pint sized principality stuck between two declining but still potentially hostile empires you want all the friends you can get.
He plans to arbitrate and troubleshoot everything from the center, bypassing his own centralized bueacracy to ge to local concerns- partially because he realizes the ministers and buerus he inherited from his father have their own agendas and are running circles around him.
It can't work, of course. It's just too much data for one person to process. Eventually, he will have to institutionalize some sort of balanced decision making process or withdraw back into the prior statues quo.
Next post will deal with the Tonghak rebellion. I've decided the main drivers for it were land hunger and government corruption rather than Japanese influence (and Yuan and his licensed envoys are not making themselves too popular either).
Will deal with Sino-Japanese-Russian relations in that context.
Will be dealing with Anglo-Russian relations next post. So far George hasn't done much different than his father aside from not carrying on with his plans to complete the expulsion of the Jews from Moscow and St Petersburg, so Reactions towards him are not noticebaly different than they were OTL.
Divergence is going to start setting in over 1894-1895 and I'll be dealing with British, French and German reactions to the changes.
Thanks!Just came to say amazing timeline
I wonder, will Russia become ever more like the Imperial Chinese as far as areas in their orbit go? Khiva, Bukhara, Finland, maybe Poland as inner areas, perhaps with Cossack areas as well, and the various Balkan areas in the outer orbit with Japan, Korea, and Ethiopia. Also, how will Old Believers be treated? Will it be realized how their scriptures and ceremonies really had been less changed from centuries before than the Greeks had been under hundreds and hundreds of years under the sway of the Sublime Porte? Will the Armenians and Georgians be given some new special position in the country? Will the Russian title of Czar for the dozen places in the Empire with that title be done away with for good, and the Emperor and Autocrat that the Czars were very intent upon being called as finally be the way people in the West refer to them as? How will the Catholic Unites be treated and might this Czar manage to turn all of the Russia's into Russia, by integrating the adios groups refered to as Rus and Ruth? Basically all of Ukraine and Belarus from IOTL.
yboxman
Banned
#9 1894a:The Siberian Pale
Was planning to make one post for every year but, well, they were growing too long. So I'll be splitting each year into two or three sub-posts.
April 1894,
The reports provided to the Trans-Siberian railway committee are favorable. Construction is proceeding far ahead of schedule, with the newly founded town of Novosibirsk on the Ob now connected to European Russia. Though the bridge across the Ob is not yet complete it is expected that the mighty river will be spanned by year’s end.
And next year…
“Irkutsk?”
Witte nods gravely. In spite of the strains that have developed in their relationship, in the matter of the Trans-Siberian the Tsar shares his passion, indeed he surpasses it. Though he has rarely had time to visit the railway since ascending to the throne, He has attended every meeting of the committee religiously (1), ever ready with sharp queries and brooking no excuse for delays or suboptimal construction.
“Quite possibly. Together with the riverboats and ferries on Baikal and its tributaries…”
“The TransAmur will no longer be quite so vulnerable. We will be able to rush a division of infantry to the Amur from Moscow by train, boat and forced march faster than the Qing can march it from Beijing. Even without an extension to the Pacific we can outflank any Qing threat to the Trans-Ussuri from the East”
An exaggeration, perhaps. But not by much. And a Russian soldier is easily worth three or five Chinese. Or so, at least, the generals claim (2).
George jabs his finger at the Eastern terminus of the map.
“Which helps us not at all if we go to war with Japan rather than China. The Pacific fleet outguns them but it is icebound four months a year. They have massively expanded their army over the past two years in spite of their financial difficulties. They might land a force at Vladivostok and the mouth of the Amur in a winter campaign and seize the Trans-ussuri before our garrisons can be reinforced. (3)”
Witte sighs.
“Construction in the Trans-Ussuri and the Trans-Amur is not proceeding as swiftly as could be hoped. The terrain is simply rougher, materials more difficult to obtain and labor, even with the addition of the Koreans (4), more scarce and less skilled.”
“We need a Ice-Free port in North East Korea. Or a direct railway concession across Jiaoling. Or both. Has your ministry had better luck in negotiations than the foreign ministry? (5)”
“The Qing are stonewalling. It looks like one faction wants to complete their own Mukden-Beijing line before they will even consider leasing a route across Northern Manchuria. The other faction wants to wait until then to openly refuse our request.”
George raises his head sharply.
“That cannot happen. We cannot permit them to join Manchuria to Inner China before we join the TransAmur to European Russia.”
“That… does not seem to be an immediate danger your majesty. Work on the railway has yet to begin, and the funds earmarked for it seem to have been diverted (6)”
“And the Koreans?”
“Say rather Yuan Shikai. There is no point in speaking to anyone in the Korean government, whatever our treaty with Korea claims. Whenever the Koreans do not wish to agree to something they run behind the Qing skirts.”
“We can’t afford to apply open pressure until the railway is more advanced or until we have an Ice-Free naval base in the region. And completion of the railway will be delayed and acquisition of a port forestalled, until we can apply that pressure.”
“That is indeed the crux of the difficulties we face your majesty.”
George nods slowly. Then addresses the other members of the committee.
“I thank you for your service gentlemen. You may leave us now. Sergei, please remain. There are some matters we had best discuss in private”
Witte is nervous and surprised. This is the first time the Tsar has addressed him intimately since their rupture.
In the past six months Konstantin has been dismissed and his roposed measures unimplemented, much to Witte’s and Mathilda’s relief. Nor had the Jews of Moscow and St Petersburg been expelled, the issue being repeatedly deferred. But the Tsar had neither initiated discussion nor shown any receptiveness to discuss the Jewish question further with Witte and his conduct towards him had become formal, though courteous.
The rupture is not quite an open secret in the inner circle surrounding the Tsar but enough rumors are circulating that the other committee members take notice, exchanging glances and whispers as they exit the meeting room.
George, bursting with barely suppressed energy, paces around the gigantic map spread across the conference table.
“We need to give the Qing something to worry about. They have been too complacent since we have put the Japanese in their place. With Japan weakened they feel they can do as they please in Korea with Japan unable to protest, and with Japan resentful of us they feel they can disregard our rightful interests in Northern Manchuria.”
“What do you suggest your majesty?”
“Nothing drastic. Simply let the Japanese know, through unofficial channels of course, that we will not oppose any action they see fit to take to preserve the independence of Korea- and perhaps hint that we will not be petty about collecting their remaining indemnity on schedule should this result in armed conflict. (7)”
“I see your majesty. I trust you will provide similliar instructions to the foreign ministry?”
“I will not. I don’t want the Japanese to become too aggressive after all. I will inform the foreign ministry to initiate no new suggestions to the Japanese and merely to assure them that our policy remains unchanged. It’s best if we leave both them and the Qing somewhat uncertain. I can think of no better way of doing so than leading both to believe a policy difference exists within my government. Depending on developments I can calibrate the message emanating from either ministry to achieve the desired effect.”
Witte is uncertain of the wisdom of this course or of the Tsar’s ability asses the message the Asian governments will receive from his conduct. His ministry has traditionally favored a pro-Chinese orientation placing Russia in a position to negotiate commercial concessions from the Qing in return for mediation with the Western powers. Still, perhaps the Chinese WERE taking Russia too much for granted… and he was in no position to argue with the Tsar.
“Very well your Majesty. How may I serve you further?”
“We need to garrison more troops in the Far East until the Railway is complete. We are entering a window of vulnerability we can not permit our enemies to exploit.”
“Your majesty, the problem is one of supplies. Absent farmers to work the land, or railways to supply them from afar, supplying additional troops is prohibitively expensive. Effectively, the horses transporting the grain to the Far East will be consuming more grain than they provide the troops. And it is not only farmers. Soldiers require a variety of services for which specialized professionals, who are unfortunately very thin on the ground in the Far East are required.”
“Which is why we need more settlers and need them quickly.”
“We have already offered as large a subsidy as we can for settlers moving beyond the Urals, as well as land grants, debt relief, taxation breaks and release from all obligations to their Mir (8). You have seen the numbers of settlers who have responded. They are increasing, but not as swiftly as we might wish. Most of your subjects are attached to the villages of their birth and of course artisians see no advantage in relocating before they have a steady market for their labor. Settling Siberia will, I fear, be the work of a generation”.
“Farmers we can, I think, bring in through another method than enticing Muziks to move East on their own initiative. And it is one I wish to entrust to your ministry.”
“Your majesty?”
“We annually recruit hundreds of thousands of young men, mostly peasants. I want you to take charge of a given percentage of them and have them beat their bayonets into ploughshares. Place them under the direction of agronomist-officers. They will be assigned tracts of land to work under central direction in the Prussian manner- a compny’s worth or more at once. When their term of service is done they will be given the option of remaining and being attached to the relevant Cossack hosts while remaining employees of the state on the land they worked.”
“It will be best, I think, if the men you recruit for this task are evenly divided between areas suffering from the greatest land scarcity and peasant unrest” He continued, tapping the vague borderlands between the old Hetemanate of the Left Bank Ukraine and the Muscovite heartland and non Russians (9) from the Western Borderlands and the Caucaus. Mix them up well. The former will assist in the integration of the latter- and the latter will drain the borderlands of potential malcotents and open opportunities for settlement by Russians."
“And Artisians? Professionals? It is one thing to place a hoe in the hands of an 18 year old recruit but you hardly imagine that young peasant recruits will be able to provide the essential services both a farming community and a garrison force shall require?”
“No, for that we shall draw on another, currently under-utilized, source of skilled labor.”
“Your majesty?”
“I’ve decided to test your proposition regarding the Jewish problem. You say they should be given an opportunity to become citizens? Very well- let us provide them with this opportunity East of the Urals. With so few resident Christian merchants and artisians who might be adversely affected by their activities there perhaps they will not arouse the same degree of hatred that they do in Europe. “
Witte is stunned. Alexander II had advanced a similar proposition during his reign but it had been far less sweeping than that proposed by his grandson and eventually died in committee. There were Jews East of the Urals, of course, just as they were now present in every city in Russia outside the Pale, but they lived in the shadow of illegality, and threatened by constant expulsion and shakedown of their businesses by corrupt officials.
“A brave initiative your majesty. Which occupations do you propose to make permissible to Jews East of the Urals?”
George stuns him again.
“All of them. You keep going on about the power of the market to best direct economic activities, don’t you? Well, let the market judge which Jewish professionals are required for Siberia and which can be filled by Russians better. Jews living East of the Urals will be subject to no restrictions, duties, or disabilities not imposed on my other subjects (10). We’ll see how they do under these conditions. If even when given free reign they turn to parasitism and revolution then it will be necessary to consider harsher steps against them in European Russia.”
“And if not? What if they instead become productive citizens?”
George shrugs.
“Well, we shall see. No sense in putting the cart before the horses, is there?”
“What about your proposed Cossacks settlers? Do you wish Jews, as well as Armenians and Balts, recruited into these formations?”
George snorts.
“I can well imagine the response of the Atamans to this imposition! No, My Great grandfather attempted to assimilate Jews through the cantonment system. If it failed with 12 year old children I see no reason it will succeed with 18 year old men. No, I believe that I have another solution to our problems with Jewish recruitment.”
“Another innovation? Beware, your highness, lest your generals suspect you of being revolutionary.”
Has he gone too far? Can the old familiarity ever be restored? The Tsar breaks out in laughter and the ice which has grown between them over the past winter is finally broken.
“Uncle Sergei just might. But no, this is no radical innovation. Or so I hope. We already recruit Muslim volunteers from the Caucasus into separate formations under Russian officers where their religious strictures can be observed without disturbing Christian recruits.
Why not do the same with Jewish recruits? They will be given a choice of serving in the regular army under the same conditions as their Christian comrades, or in Jewish only units, under Russian officers of course, where they will be required to serve for an additional year as compensation for this consideration. We can thereby separate those Jews who might be assimilated from their more stubborn co-religionists- and at the same time eliminate any excuses the Jews currently give for evading military service (11).”
“That is, of course, a matter for the defense ministry to…”
“No, no Sergei. No evasion. This is your idea (12), and your responsibility to make it work. Jews recruited into these units will be under the purview of the ministry of finance, just as the other special work brigades and guard detachments servicing the Trans-Siberian railway (13). “
Witte feels a queasy feeling in his stomach. Does his Sovereign understand just how much rope he is giving him? Apparently he does.
“You have much work ahead of you- We can discuss this further over Easter dinner. Do bring your family with you.”
(1) As his brother did OTL before ascending to the throne. If Nicholas had anything to contribute to the proceedings of the committee neither their minutes nor posterity has seen fit to record it.
(2) Probably accurately. The problem is that they are finding it difficult not to lump the Japanese into the same category.
(3) There was a Japanese war plan to this effect at some point. It was widely regarded as impractical.
(4) OTL their large scale use was vetoed as they were viewed as a potential security hazard. Greater urgency to the construction.
(5) Byzantine doesn’t even begin to describe the mode of operation of the Russian government. Even under George, perhaps especially under him, ministerial functions do not necessarily follow ministerial titles. Different ministries working at cross purposes abound.
(6) Cixi needs her summer palace just so…
(7) Energetic. Energetic and Stupid or Energetic and intelligent? Time will tell.
(8) As OTL, but more, earlier, and with less official obstructionism.
(9) When George says Russians he means Orthodox Ukrainians and White Russians as well as Great Russians. The “Non Russians” he is referring to are Armenians, Georgians, Moldovans, Poles, Balts and Uniate/Catholic Ukrainians and White Russians.
(10) OTL, Nicholas II offered the same conditions to Jews moving to the Russian leased Areas on the East China and South Manchuria railway, leading Harbin to very nearly become a Jewish plurality city for a time. George is doing this sooner, over a much larger area, and one much closer to Russia’s core territories. Expect a backlash.
(11) Given that Russia only recruited half of each age group to the army at the eve of WWI, and far fewer in the 1890s their obessesion with Jewish draft evasion seems odd. In fact, Jews served proportionally more in the Russian army in WWI than their Christian neighbors. Admittedly, this was because of harsher enforcement (and a higher deferment fee) against them rather than any great enthusiasm to dying for the Tsar. Jews in Germany, Austria and France, who had near full legal equality (in spite of being socially excluded from the professional officer corps), fought in roughly equal proportions to the gentile citizens in their respective national armies.
(12) You can bend the truth when you’re a Tsar.
(13) OTL, Witte got to create his own private army to guard the East China and South Manchurian railway after the Boxer rebellion. They remained under the purview of the ministry of finance until 1917. Generally speaking they were better supplied and commanded and performed better than the regular troops under the control of the ministry of defense.
Was planning to make one post for every year but, well, they were growing too long. So I'll be splitting each year into two or three sub-posts.
April 1894,
The reports provided to the Trans-Siberian railway committee are favorable. Construction is proceeding far ahead of schedule, with the newly founded town of Novosibirsk on the Ob now connected to European Russia. Though the bridge across the Ob is not yet complete it is expected that the mighty river will be spanned by year’s end.
And next year…
“Irkutsk?”
Witte nods gravely. In spite of the strains that have developed in their relationship, in the matter of the Trans-Siberian the Tsar shares his passion, indeed he surpasses it. Though he has rarely had time to visit the railway since ascending to the throne, He has attended every meeting of the committee religiously (1), ever ready with sharp queries and brooking no excuse for delays or suboptimal construction.
“Quite possibly. Together with the riverboats and ferries on Baikal and its tributaries…”
“The TransAmur will no longer be quite so vulnerable. We will be able to rush a division of infantry to the Amur from Moscow by train, boat and forced march faster than the Qing can march it from Beijing. Even without an extension to the Pacific we can outflank any Qing threat to the Trans-Ussuri from the East”
An exaggeration, perhaps. But not by much. And a Russian soldier is easily worth three or five Chinese. Or so, at least, the generals claim (2).
George jabs his finger at the Eastern terminus of the map.
“Which helps us not at all if we go to war with Japan rather than China. The Pacific fleet outguns them but it is icebound four months a year. They have massively expanded their army over the past two years in spite of their financial difficulties. They might land a force at Vladivostok and the mouth of the Amur in a winter campaign and seize the Trans-ussuri before our garrisons can be reinforced. (3)”
Witte sighs.
“Construction in the Trans-Ussuri and the Trans-Amur is not proceeding as swiftly as could be hoped. The terrain is simply rougher, materials more difficult to obtain and labor, even with the addition of the Koreans (4), more scarce and less skilled.”
“We need a Ice-Free port in North East Korea. Or a direct railway concession across Jiaoling. Or both. Has your ministry had better luck in negotiations than the foreign ministry? (5)”
“The Qing are stonewalling. It looks like one faction wants to complete their own Mukden-Beijing line before they will even consider leasing a route across Northern Manchuria. The other faction wants to wait until then to openly refuse our request.”
George raises his head sharply.
“That cannot happen. We cannot permit them to join Manchuria to Inner China before we join the TransAmur to European Russia.”
“That… does not seem to be an immediate danger your majesty. Work on the railway has yet to begin, and the funds earmarked for it seem to have been diverted (6)”
“And the Koreans?”
“Say rather Yuan Shikai. There is no point in speaking to anyone in the Korean government, whatever our treaty with Korea claims. Whenever the Koreans do not wish to agree to something they run behind the Qing skirts.”
“We can’t afford to apply open pressure until the railway is more advanced or until we have an Ice-Free naval base in the region. And completion of the railway will be delayed and acquisition of a port forestalled, until we can apply that pressure.”
“That is indeed the crux of the difficulties we face your majesty.”
George nods slowly. Then addresses the other members of the committee.
“I thank you for your service gentlemen. You may leave us now. Sergei, please remain. There are some matters we had best discuss in private”
Witte is nervous and surprised. This is the first time the Tsar has addressed him intimately since their rupture.
In the past six months Konstantin has been dismissed and his roposed measures unimplemented, much to Witte’s and Mathilda’s relief. Nor had the Jews of Moscow and St Petersburg been expelled, the issue being repeatedly deferred. But the Tsar had neither initiated discussion nor shown any receptiveness to discuss the Jewish question further with Witte and his conduct towards him had become formal, though courteous.
The rupture is not quite an open secret in the inner circle surrounding the Tsar but enough rumors are circulating that the other committee members take notice, exchanging glances and whispers as they exit the meeting room.
George, bursting with barely suppressed energy, paces around the gigantic map spread across the conference table.
“We need to give the Qing something to worry about. They have been too complacent since we have put the Japanese in their place. With Japan weakened they feel they can do as they please in Korea with Japan unable to protest, and with Japan resentful of us they feel they can disregard our rightful interests in Northern Manchuria.”
“What do you suggest your majesty?”
“Nothing drastic. Simply let the Japanese know, through unofficial channels of course, that we will not oppose any action they see fit to take to preserve the independence of Korea- and perhaps hint that we will not be petty about collecting their remaining indemnity on schedule should this result in armed conflict. (7)”
“I see your majesty. I trust you will provide similliar instructions to the foreign ministry?”
“I will not. I don’t want the Japanese to become too aggressive after all. I will inform the foreign ministry to initiate no new suggestions to the Japanese and merely to assure them that our policy remains unchanged. It’s best if we leave both them and the Qing somewhat uncertain. I can think of no better way of doing so than leading both to believe a policy difference exists within my government. Depending on developments I can calibrate the message emanating from either ministry to achieve the desired effect.”
Witte is uncertain of the wisdom of this course or of the Tsar’s ability asses the message the Asian governments will receive from his conduct. His ministry has traditionally favored a pro-Chinese orientation placing Russia in a position to negotiate commercial concessions from the Qing in return for mediation with the Western powers. Still, perhaps the Chinese WERE taking Russia too much for granted… and he was in no position to argue with the Tsar.
“Very well your Majesty. How may I serve you further?”
“We need to garrison more troops in the Far East until the Railway is complete. We are entering a window of vulnerability we can not permit our enemies to exploit.”
“Your majesty, the problem is one of supplies. Absent farmers to work the land, or railways to supply them from afar, supplying additional troops is prohibitively expensive. Effectively, the horses transporting the grain to the Far East will be consuming more grain than they provide the troops. And it is not only farmers. Soldiers require a variety of services for which specialized professionals, who are unfortunately very thin on the ground in the Far East are required.”
“Which is why we need more settlers and need them quickly.”
“We have already offered as large a subsidy as we can for settlers moving beyond the Urals, as well as land grants, debt relief, taxation breaks and release from all obligations to their Mir (8). You have seen the numbers of settlers who have responded. They are increasing, but not as swiftly as we might wish. Most of your subjects are attached to the villages of their birth and of course artisians see no advantage in relocating before they have a steady market for their labor. Settling Siberia will, I fear, be the work of a generation”.
“Farmers we can, I think, bring in through another method than enticing Muziks to move East on their own initiative. And it is one I wish to entrust to your ministry.”
“Your majesty?”
“We annually recruit hundreds of thousands of young men, mostly peasants. I want you to take charge of a given percentage of them and have them beat their bayonets into ploughshares. Place them under the direction of agronomist-officers. They will be assigned tracts of land to work under central direction in the Prussian manner- a compny’s worth or more at once. When their term of service is done they will be given the option of remaining and being attached to the relevant Cossack hosts while remaining employees of the state on the land they worked.”
“It will be best, I think, if the men you recruit for this task are evenly divided between areas suffering from the greatest land scarcity and peasant unrest” He continued, tapping the vague borderlands between the old Hetemanate of the Left Bank Ukraine and the Muscovite heartland and non Russians (9) from the Western Borderlands and the Caucaus. Mix them up well. The former will assist in the integration of the latter- and the latter will drain the borderlands of potential malcotents and open opportunities for settlement by Russians."
“And Artisians? Professionals? It is one thing to place a hoe in the hands of an 18 year old recruit but you hardly imagine that young peasant recruits will be able to provide the essential services both a farming community and a garrison force shall require?”
“No, for that we shall draw on another, currently under-utilized, source of skilled labor.”
“Your majesty?”
“I’ve decided to test your proposition regarding the Jewish problem. You say they should be given an opportunity to become citizens? Very well- let us provide them with this opportunity East of the Urals. With so few resident Christian merchants and artisians who might be adversely affected by their activities there perhaps they will not arouse the same degree of hatred that they do in Europe. “
Witte is stunned. Alexander II had advanced a similar proposition during his reign but it had been far less sweeping than that proposed by his grandson and eventually died in committee. There were Jews East of the Urals, of course, just as they were now present in every city in Russia outside the Pale, but they lived in the shadow of illegality, and threatened by constant expulsion and shakedown of their businesses by corrupt officials.
“A brave initiative your majesty. Which occupations do you propose to make permissible to Jews East of the Urals?”
George stuns him again.
“All of them. You keep going on about the power of the market to best direct economic activities, don’t you? Well, let the market judge which Jewish professionals are required for Siberia and which can be filled by Russians better. Jews living East of the Urals will be subject to no restrictions, duties, or disabilities not imposed on my other subjects (10). We’ll see how they do under these conditions. If even when given free reign they turn to parasitism and revolution then it will be necessary to consider harsher steps against them in European Russia.”
“And if not? What if they instead become productive citizens?”
George shrugs.
“Well, we shall see. No sense in putting the cart before the horses, is there?”
“What about your proposed Cossacks settlers? Do you wish Jews, as well as Armenians and Balts, recruited into these formations?”
George snorts.
“I can well imagine the response of the Atamans to this imposition! No, My Great grandfather attempted to assimilate Jews through the cantonment system. If it failed with 12 year old children I see no reason it will succeed with 18 year old men. No, I believe that I have another solution to our problems with Jewish recruitment.”
“Another innovation? Beware, your highness, lest your generals suspect you of being revolutionary.”
Has he gone too far? Can the old familiarity ever be restored? The Tsar breaks out in laughter and the ice which has grown between them over the past winter is finally broken.
“Uncle Sergei just might. But no, this is no radical innovation. Or so I hope. We already recruit Muslim volunteers from the Caucasus into separate formations under Russian officers where their religious strictures can be observed without disturbing Christian recruits.
Why not do the same with Jewish recruits? They will be given a choice of serving in the regular army under the same conditions as their Christian comrades, or in Jewish only units, under Russian officers of course, where they will be required to serve for an additional year as compensation for this consideration. We can thereby separate those Jews who might be assimilated from their more stubborn co-religionists- and at the same time eliminate any excuses the Jews currently give for evading military service (11).”
“That is, of course, a matter for the defense ministry to…”
“No, no Sergei. No evasion. This is your idea (12), and your responsibility to make it work. Jews recruited into these units will be under the purview of the ministry of finance, just as the other special work brigades and guard detachments servicing the Trans-Siberian railway (13). “
Witte feels a queasy feeling in his stomach. Does his Sovereign understand just how much rope he is giving him? Apparently he does.
“You have much work ahead of you- We can discuss this further over Easter dinner. Do bring your family with you.”
(1) As his brother did OTL before ascending to the throne. If Nicholas had anything to contribute to the proceedings of the committee neither their minutes nor posterity has seen fit to record it.
(2) Probably accurately. The problem is that they are finding it difficult not to lump the Japanese into the same category.
(3) There was a Japanese war plan to this effect at some point. It was widely regarded as impractical.
(4) OTL their large scale use was vetoed as they were viewed as a potential security hazard. Greater urgency to the construction.
(5) Byzantine doesn’t even begin to describe the mode of operation of the Russian government. Even under George, perhaps especially under him, ministerial functions do not necessarily follow ministerial titles. Different ministries working at cross purposes abound.
(6) Cixi needs her summer palace just so…
(7) Energetic. Energetic and Stupid or Energetic and intelligent? Time will tell.
(8) As OTL, but more, earlier, and with less official obstructionism.
(9) When George says Russians he means Orthodox Ukrainians and White Russians as well as Great Russians. The “Non Russians” he is referring to are Armenians, Georgians, Moldovans, Poles, Balts and Uniate/Catholic Ukrainians and White Russians.
(10) OTL, Nicholas II offered the same conditions to Jews moving to the Russian leased Areas on the East China and South Manchuria railway, leading Harbin to very nearly become a Jewish plurality city for a time. George is doing this sooner, over a much larger area, and one much closer to Russia’s core territories. Expect a backlash.
(11) Given that Russia only recruited half of each age group to the army at the eve of WWI, and far fewer in the 1890s their obessesion with Jewish draft evasion seems odd. In fact, Jews served proportionally more in the Russian army in WWI than their Christian neighbors. Admittedly, this was because of harsher enforcement (and a higher deferment fee) against them rather than any great enthusiasm to dying for the Tsar. Jews in Germany, Austria and France, who had near full legal equality (in spite of being socially excluded from the professional officer corps), fought in roughly equal proportions to the gentile citizens in their respective national armies.
(12) You can bend the truth when you’re a Tsar.
(13) OTL, Witte got to create his own private army to guard the East China and South Manchurian railway after the Boxer rebellion. They remained under the purview of the ministry of finance until 1917. Generally speaking they were better supplied and commanded and performed better than the regular troops under the control of the ministry of defense.
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This... This is good. While other timelines (or fanfics) have bigotry of various sorts end immediately because of one leader, this guy clearly would be fine with having everyone shot if they disappointed him. With the reasons he gave their couldn't be much belief that he was becoming weak... If he shared the reasons with others, of course. He doesn't need to explain himself to anyone.
Two minor corrections to your excellent update:
1. Nobody spoke of the Right-Bank Ukraine as "the old Hetmanate" in the late 19th century, even though this area was a hetmanate for a time in the 17th century. The reason is the Polish reconquest of these lands at the turn of the 18th century, which eliminated most of their Cossack past so thoroughly that the Right-Bank Ukraine was felt (by Russians at least) to be a rebellious Polish-dominated province, part of what the Poles called the Borderlands (Kresy) and the Russians the Western Country (Западный край), rather than part of loyal Little Russia/Ukraine proper. It was the Left-Bank Ukraine, which had its hetmans into the late 18th century and still had its Russian-allied Ukrainian Cossack nobility ruling the roost in the early 20th century, that everyone knew as "the old Hetmanate/Little Russia."
2. Russian Cossack hosts were led by Atamans, not Hetmans (actually, they were Acting Atamans (Наказные атаманы) after 1827, when the office of the Ataman of All the Hosts was permanently bestowed on His Imperial Highness the Successor Tsesarevich (the heir apparent to the Russian throne)). The very title of Hetman was suppressed by Catherine the Great, then temporarily revived as honorific-only for Potemkin, and suppressed for good with his death.
1. Nobody spoke of the Right-Bank Ukraine as "the old Hetmanate" in the late 19th century, even though this area was a hetmanate for a time in the 17th century. The reason is the Polish reconquest of these lands at the turn of the 18th century, which eliminated most of their Cossack past so thoroughly that the Right-Bank Ukraine was felt (by Russians at least) to be a rebellious Polish-dominated province, part of what the Poles called the Borderlands (Kresy) and the Russians the Western Country (Западный край), rather than part of loyal Little Russia/Ukraine proper. It was the Left-Bank Ukraine, which had its hetmans into the late 18th century and still had its Russian-allied Ukrainian Cossack nobility ruling the roost in the early 20th century, that everyone knew as "the old Hetmanate/Little Russia."
2. Russian Cossack hosts were led by Atamans, not Hetmans (actually, they were Acting Atamans (Наказные атаманы) after 1827, when the office of the Ataman of All the Hosts was permanently bestowed on His Imperial Highness the Successor Tsesarevich (the heir apparent to the Russian throne)). The very title of Hetman was suppressed by Catherine the Great, then temporarily revived as honorific-only for Potemkin, and suppressed for good with his death.
Two points I'd like to make:
- agreed on Yuan. His presence was quite influential, as unpleasant as it may have been for both the Koreans and foreign dignitaries. Every source by diplomats in Korea during this time ascertains this fact.
- There were tens of thousands of Koreans - twenty thousand OTL, I believe - who are settled around Primorsky Krai. Their main role - which has competed against the original Chinese and won - is feeding the large cities and military garrisons, providing mainly poultry and vegetables. thought might be an interesting fact.
yboxman
Banned
Oops. Was referring to the Eastern, Left Bank Hetamanate, not to the Right Bank ceded to Poland in the Treaty of Pereyaslav. Got confused- amended. This, and the "Russia proper" zone immediately to the North, was the area with greatest Rural overpopulation in the late 19th century.
The idea is that the Great Russians, and transitional "Little-Russian"/"Great Russian" population from this region woill be the cultual-linguistic nucleus around which less sound populations from Bessarbia, Left Bank Ukraine, the Northwestern Krai, the Baltic provinces and the TranCauscasus would aggregate around in the new Siberian settlements.
At the same time, the labor deficit caused by the settlement of Borderland minorities in the east will reduce social tensions and draw in Great Russian immigrants. This policy was used to great effect by the Soviets and also in Moldava by the Tsars. That's why so many Estonians, Latvians and Moldovans are ethnic Russians/Ukrainians.
I stand corrected- amended.
yboxman
Banned
Right, I mentioned them in post #3. OTL, the Tsarist authorities (and later the Soviets) had a schizophrenic attitude towards them, alternately wlecoming them in during the 1860s and 1870s and viewing them as useful agents of influence in Korea and viewing them as spies, saboteurs and a demographic danger.
TTL, the nalance in the 1890s tilts slightly more towards acceptance, and they, and newer immigrants from Korea, are given more settlement and employment opportunities on the TS due to the greater priority alloted to it's completion.
Parts of Moldova were relatively sparsely populated in the 19th century (it suffered from wars into the early 19th century, but was very fertile, well-watered and well-insolated, and so had very high carrying capacity), which left room for some immigration. However, the Western Country was very much overpopulated even in the 19th century, and even with technology of the time. It means that realistic levels of outmigration of Jews and Catholics from Lithuania, Belarus and Right-Bank Ukraine would be unlikely to lead to a labor deficit there, so massive Russian Orthodox immigration to these lands would be unlikely as well.
The Soviet policy of settling Russians and kindred peoples in the Baltics worked only because they built a lot of factories and housing there, thus providing relatively well-paid jobs and decent accommodation for these immigrants (the Holocaust and forced outmigration of the native peoples in the 1940s also helped, but there still would be no labor deficit in the Baltics after the 1950s if not for Soviet industrial investment). I do not think that the Tsarist Russia was able (or willing, or needed) to build many factories in the Western Country.
Of course, emigrating Jews and Catholic peasants would leave their houses and farms behind, but Russian peasants were, as Witte correctly noticed in your TL, strongly "attached to the villages of their birth." In any case, farming in Lithuania/Belarus was probably as hard and unprofitable as in Central Russia, and harder and less profitable than in better-placed southern and eastern provinces of Russia proper. Since most Russian peasants were unwilling to move to these provinces, they would likely be even less willing to settle in the Western Country. (Farming in Right-Bank Ukraine, also part of the Western Country, was very profitable - if you were a Polish count; peasants had it almost as bad as their Belarusian brethren).
Trotsky's father was a prosperous Jewish farmer in Ukraine, so he might well sell his holdings and move to the Amur Country with his family completely voluntarily, since there would be no legal disabilities against Jews in the latter territory ITTL.
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