Greetings, everyone! I am new to the discussion threads, and I am trying to catch up in my map-making skills. Meanwhile, I was thinking a lot about the following scenario, and was wondering if it was 1) realistic and 2) if someone could take a stab at making a map of it.
There are currently many maps on various discussion threads that show China at a general disadvantage from major international players from about the 1840s through the 1950s. These maps show China losing all or parts of Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinkiang and Tibet, as well as some core lands along the Yellow and Yangze river to various colonial powers, such as UK, France, Germany, Russia and Japan. But what about making a scenario with an alternate China - where the POD is the Chinese Revolution that takes place much eralier than 1911 - say, around 1902 or 1905. That way, when the Russian Civil War takes place, China decides to direct the energies of its growing and restless population outward - to conquer and settle parts of the Russian Far East, Siberia and Central Asia.
From 1911 all the way through 1949, Chinese society experienced constant division and upheaval - attempts at restoring the fallen monarchy, warlords fighting amongst themselves, attempts by central government to establish security, followed by KMT-Communist struggles, followed by Japanese invasion, followed again by the civil war. In OTL, China could not direct its divergent energies elsewhere - it was hemmed in by a strong Russia/USSR, Japan and French/British colonial interests. Surprisingly, Chinese forces often had modern weapons and technology in their possession as they struggled with Japan or amongst themselves - their repeated downfall was government mismanagement of military supplies and resources. For example, in 1895, China and Japan both had modern naval fleets, but corruption on the Chinese side doomed their efforts against more efficient Tokyo.
So imagine a whole different course of events - with the chaos of Russian civil war, Russian anti-communits forces are unable to stem the tide of Chinese soldiers and millions of settlers who are pouring across the borders in the Far East, South Siberia and Central Asia. The Republican Chinese government is using "imperial" messages of new conquest to appeal to various segments of its population not happy with the removal of the Emperor. And it is directing millions of poor people driven from their homes by the inner Chinese struggles to create strong "buffer areas" along China's borders.
As a result, the Russian White Armies are forced into an uneasy alliance with the Russian Communist forces, which see Chinese advance as a threat to Russian territorial integrity. To Russia's west, an agressive Poland, which in OTL ended hostilities with Russia by 1921, presses its advantage against Moscow, as Russia tries to disengage from a now-unnecessary war with Warsaw. Poland gest present-day western Ukraine and most of present-day Belarus. Seeing a much stronger Poland emerge in the east, Germany and Austria unify into a German Union - and UK and France do not object, wanting some kind of a buffer against chaotic "eastern Slavs". Russian Communist and anti-Communist forces are unable to square away their differences, as China takes over much of present-day Siberia, Far East and parts of Central Asia. Japan is taken by surprise by the Chinese actions, though its unable to adequately respond with its military as in OTL, concerned that it wold be dragged into a long war of attrition with the Chinese. While in OTL it managed to occupy parts of Russia for about 4 years, in this scenario, Tokyo is worried about a large-scale war that it is not yet prepared to fight.
America stands aside, musing over the "Eurasian Mess"- instead of post-1918 peace, the world now faces a German Union, a much larger and agressive Poland, a Communist Russia(with some western Central Asian possessions), Monarchist Russia(southern part of today's Russia plus eastern Ukraine), a now-massive China and an agigated and nervous Japanese Empire. Through it all, UK, France, Italy, Netherlands and Belgium still hope to use their influence to make sure all these new powers are too busy with each other to pose a credible threat.
If such map - or discussion - already exists, I would really like to see it! Thanks in advance - I look forward to your comments!
Best,
DCInsider