What factors will lead to the colonization of Russian India? Cleaning up the Aryan Void is one factor, and of course profit but I can't see others
#222 shows the pre-Pandoric war situationFurther south, Haidarabad collapsed after its revolution and civil war. The BEIC held onto the Circars for a while, but in the end the whole region (including most of the former Haidarabad and Berar) ended up being divided into questionable spheres of influence by different states, formally governed by the International Settlement in the coastal city of Guntoor. This was where many of the up-and-coming European powers sought to gain their place in the sun by rather unscrupulous means, including Germany and Italy. The fragmented nature of the International Settlement’s organisation meant that even small countries could gain some representation there, including the Kingdom of Ireland and the Republic of California. To an extent the whole affair was a matter of national prestige, making a mockery of the high-minded claims of ‘enforcing peace and stability’. The exposure of the colonial exploitation in the International Guntoor Region by the Russian journalist Sergei Voroshilov in 1889 was a huge shock which prompted considerable navel-gazing and eventual reform by the international community. To an extent this may also have been backlash from the fact that the countries running the International Settlement had decided to informally exclude Russia; in any case this did not apply to Russian allies, and Corea sought to one-up China’s activities in the land of Buddhism via acquiring a slice of former Haidarabadi land.
Why would they do that? Germany's defeat was decisive, but not total. One-sided demands would merely provide the Vultures with more opportunities.
To opportunistically expand Russia's influence.
This was why Russia entered the Pandoric War, and presumably also the reason why it decided to draw Qing China into its sphere of influence.
India provides much better opportunities for that.
Russia joined the war in order to expand at the western American frontier by taking advantage of the ENA being distracted.
The situation in Central Europe is the opposite.
Have you noticed that Danubia was distracted by the post-war Hungarian revolt yet no more territory was lost to their eastern neighbours?
The main threats to Central Europen states are domestic, not foreign.
The late Beiqing was in a much worse state than post-war Germany.
Expansion in India does not prevent Russia from trying to bully Germany though.
ENA was more or less Russia's peer. Prewar Russia already had a larger military industry than Germany and the acquisition of large areas formerly in Germany's orbit will have only increased this difference. Postwar Germany will therefore look like a much easier target to bully than the ENA did.
Russia probably wanted some time to recuperate immediately after the war. But 10 years or more down the line it may feel ready for new adventures, and will be likely suffering from victory disease.
I also asked in the last thread about a map of what these zones are like particularly after it was explained that there organized so none are self sufficient in order to foster cooperation in line with Societists idealsI recall once seeing a ludicrously revanchist and grandiose map produced by the Islamic State about proposed expansion, and it got me wondering: is there any way we could see the "ideal" map of the Combine, with all the proposed zones? Aside from the fact it would make Societist jargon slightly easier to parse it wouldn't really spoil anything because it's a work of idealized political propaganda (unless the Combine does a hell of a turnaround and swoops in to conquer the world in the final chapter, of course). The format of the current updates seems conducive to it, and what better way to horrify the Diversitarian audience than by saying "if you're not a completely unique individual this'll happen to your beloved nation!" Also I somehow got it in my head the Zone numbers were assigned randomly to eliminate bias in naming conventions but I have no idea if that's correct.
I remember that, I imagine there's plenty of lines cutting right through mountain ranges and riversI also asked in the last thread about a map of what these zones are like particularly after it was explained that there organized so none are self sufficient in order to foster cooperation in line with Societists ideals
Also I somehow got it in my head the Zone numbers were assigned randomly to eliminate bias in naming conventions but I have no idea if that's correct.
I recall once seeing a ludicrously revanchist and grandiose map produced by the Islamic State about proposed expansion, and it got me wondering: is there any way we could see the "ideal" map of the Combine, with all the proposed zones? Aside from the fact it would make Societist jargon slightly easier to parse it wouldn't really spoil anything because it's a work of idealized political propaganda (unless the Combine does a hell of a turnaround and swoops in to conquer the world in the final chapter, of course). The format of the current updates seems conducive to it, and what better way to horrify the Diversitarian audience than by saying "if you're not a completely unique individual this'll happen to your beloved nation!" Also I somehow got it in my head the Zone numbers were assigned randomly to eliminate bias in naming conventions but I have no idea if that's correct.
I'm sure if you tried to explain them to some random person that's what they'd think, and then you hit them with "But actually here's a million words building up to how much more it is than that!" to barely subdued horror.Actually Societism and Diversitarianism remind me of the straw versions of Communism and Capitalism respectively.
I think that's part of the point, really. Especially since LttW is all about historiography more than anything else, the fact that people when explaining history so often resort to straw versions of their own ideologies, or that of which they're opposing, is something that is just uncritically accepted no matter where you are. The people actually living in these times and conflicts and places no doubt have far more nuanced views, but consider every single entry in this timeline has been told from a book or a piece of fiction or etc that is all about taking complex history and distilling it into something comprehensible; generalizations and assumptions are just going to happen and they're going to feed into themselves.Actually Societism and Diversitarianism remind me of the straw versions of Communism and Capitalism respectively.
Did you notice that the Russian Empire is likely going to be very busy in Asia?
Aside from India, there is also the need to deter Feng China elsewhere and deal with Persian shenanigans in Central Asia and insurrections in Yapon.
And how is that supposed to work? Even reduced, Germany cannot be overwhelmed quickly and if that is not possible, others are going to be involved on Germany's side.
What victory disease? The last war was a very costly war in which the Russian Empire jumped on by several different powers and ended up accepting making numerous concessions in the peace negotiations.
It is not something that the people in-charge would want to see repeated.
This still does not mean that Russia must focus only on Asia. Although it might.
Who can those others be? Danubian and Ottoman help wasn't enough in the Pandoric War.
France was not willing to actually fight Russia to defend a non-Protocol member.
And after the Pandoric War intercontinental alliances are unlikely to be valued.
Russia almost single-handedly defeated Germany, Danubia, Poland and the Ottomans while fighting on several additional fronts. Many will interpret this as a sign of great strength.
You know I think it be good to have a slightly spoilery list of which country’s survive to the present day out of Societism control
As far as I know that’s England, Ireland, Scotland, the ENA, France, Russia, and California
Missing any?
Danubia and the Eternal State aren't Combine but they are still SocietistAlso Westafrica, Yamato, Congo, Ethiopia, Matetwa, Natal, Sofala, Gaza, Eritrea, the Eternal State, Obock, Yemen, Rajastan, Gujarat, Chola, Delhi, Nepal, Siam, Cygnia, Perousie, Mauré, Mauréville, Johor, Danubia, Courland, Portugal