Here's another map that's partly inspired by the
White Kamuy: British Nipponese Islands, 2007 map made last year. This one however is a rather different take on various alternate scenarios for Russia and Hokkaido. Direct dA link
here.
In this version of events, Hokkaido (or rather, Eznoye, being a Russified take on Ezo) is colonized by the Russian Empire, which sparks a chain-reaction in bolstering Russia's grip over the Far East. At the same time, it's also inspired a bit by
Kaiserreich: Legacy of the Weltkrieg and an alternate take on the Russian Civil War, with the (in)famous Admiral Kolchak succeeding in eatablishing a White remnant around Eznoye, Sakhalin and Priamurye...which combined with the rather frontier colonial nature of the region, leads to some curious results.
Also, in addition to some nods to the manga/anime series
Golden Kamuy (and not just in the title, either), I also added a few other reference. The flags and insignia used, in particular, incorporate elements from Hokkaido's OTL flag, the old Korean Empire seal and the OTL Ainu emblem.
And just to be on the safe side, this is not a political piece or propaganda spiel, nor intended to be in any shape or form racist. This is a work of fiction.
All that being said, hope you enjoy!
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マタカムイ+Мата Камуй
Зимний Камуй
冬の精神
WINTER KAMUY
The Free Russian Federation
AD 2019
Situated at the fringes of East Asia, the region comprising the modern Federated Republic of the Russian Far East, otherwise known as the Free Russian Federation, had been wrapped in mystery for countless generations. Even the Japanese, with their proximity to the island known then as Ezo, saw the lands at best an extended march. But beyond what they called the Oshima Peninsula, they had left the native Ainu people largely to their own devices, if nominally subservient to the
daimyo based from Hakodate and eventually, the Tokugawa Shogunate. By the 19th Century, however, that changed forever.
In 1842, as the British dealt a humiliating blow to the decaying Qing Dynasty, Tsar Nicholas I founded a committee to investigate and explore the lands around the Amur River and the island of Sakhalin. The following year, an expeditionary mission was launched, under Yevfimiy Putyatin of the Imperial Russian Navy. More than mapping out the region, however, the aim was also to assess its potential and open up the long-isolationist Japan to trade. Although the latter failed, the former proved more promising, inspiring further expeditions despite protests from either the Qing or Tokugawas.
By 1849, Russian settlers were beginning to establish themselves over Sakhalin, displacing what rudimentary claims the Japanese had over the island. Mines, villages and outposts had sprouted up, bringing in peasants, traders and even missionaries seeking their fortune. More than that, however, some of them were tentatively prodding the northern coastline of Ezo. Despite myriad agreements and compromises involving the Matsumae Clan, who nominally held sway over what gradually came to be called Eznoye, these failed to stop the flow of newcomers into the frontier. With the acquisition of the remote Outer Manchuria from the Qing in 1858, soon named Priamurye[1], and the founding of Vladivostok two years later, this only intensified significantly. Within a few years, Russian outposts were emerging throughout the region. Even in the Japanese port of Hakodate, which had been made an open port thanks to the 1854 Convention of Kanagawa, Orthodox priests, merchants from Irkutsk and even visitors from as far as Moscow were a familiar enough sight. It soon became evident that whatever hold the Matsumae
daimyo, let alone the Tokugawas had over their march was rapidly deteriorating. Thus, though the territories in question weren't yet formally part of Russia, the writing was on the wall.
Then came the so-called
Bakumatsu, known in Russian history as the Oriental Wars. The 1860s see the supporters of the Japanese Emperor rose up in arms against what's seen as a cowardly, decaying order. But while various foreign powers were content to support one side or another, Tsar Alexander II saw an opportunity for securing the Far East. Using the pretext of a trade mission being murdered by samurai loyal to the Tokugawas in 1863, an expeditionary force was deployed under the command of Putyanin, who had become an Admiral by then. While the actual campaign proved straightforward enough, it wasn't until the hard-earned victory at the Battle of Hakodate in 1865 that the entire region, including the entirety of the Kuril Islands, was firmly made Russian land. By the time the Treaty of Vladivostok was signed the following year, the Shogunate was on its death throws, with the Japanese delegation sent to sign said treaty representing Emperor Meiji.
These developments didn't stop distant Alaska from being sold off to the Americans in 1868. Despite this blow, however, the now-displaced colonists were heavily encouraged to resettle in Sakhalin and especially Eznoye, which many among them accepted with enthusiasm. In the span of a few years, new settlements were being established across the region, and with them, the inklings of more trade, farmland and industry. Indeed, the last Governor of Russian America, Dimitry Maksutov, was tasked with running the burgeoning colony from the newly founded city of Aleksandrgrad, situated along what the Japanese had called the Ishikari Plain[2]. Hakodate itself was formally renamed in his honor, coinciding with the erection of an Orthodox cathedral in 1875.
As railroads and steamships criss-crossed the Tsar's vast domains, more came in, ranging from penal colonists to freed serfs, Ukrainian reformists and enterprising adventurers from across the Russian Empire. The discovery of gold, especially in Eznoye, however, truly jumpstarted the region's development. Unfortunately, this brought the newcomers into growing tension not just with the local Japanese, some of whom were exiled samurai families disillusioned with the fall of the Tokugawa. But also the increasingly hostile Ainu, some of which saw the encroaching newcomers as no different from the march
daimyo of yesteryear. Tensions among the three "principal peoples," even bouts of open violence, forced the authorities to enact various policies throughout the 1880s, both to maintain order and deter anyone seeking to find an excuse to seize those lands, whether it be the other Great Powers or a rapidly industrializing Japan. The reforms, commonly dubbed the Korsakov Compromise after Sakhalin's largest city[3], involved the building of more forts, restrictions on settling certain districts and encouraging non-Slavics to take more active roles in society in an attempt at assimilation. Despite initial setbacks and being scoffed at by some of the more hardline elements back in the halls of St. Petersburg, these helped in averting what would have been a violent revolt and bolstering the region's prosperity. And none too soon.
In 1895, Queen Myeongseong of Joseon approached the Russians for aid against Japan, which had set its sights on the Korean Peninsula. Tsar Nicholas II's decision to support the beleaguered kingdom sparks a chain of events resulting in a civil war in Joseon and the First Russo-Japanese War in 1903. The ensuing conflict ended in an honorable peace with the Treaty of Vancouver the following year, with the Japanese largely confined to Liaodong Peninsula and much of Gyeongsang Province. The Empire of Japan, meanwhile grew increasingly intertwined with its military as it sought to channel its ambitions elsewhere across the Pacific. More importantly, however, the Russian forces stationed in the region had conducted themselves with such firm resolve that the war came to be seen as a mark of pride. Even the Japanese and Ainu irregulars displayed such valor that any concerns of possible betrayal were rendered moot. But even with such a "victory," it failed to stem the growing tensions that were going on across the Romanovs' realm. Which only worsened during the Great War that broke out in 1914.
Much of Russia quickly deteriorated as social unrest and a series of catastrophic victories in the European frontlines provided ample breeding ground for revolution. When Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate the throne in 1919, centuries of Romanov rule had come to an end, but the so-called "Kerensky administration" proved incapable of holding the battered country together. Or stop the ascendant Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin from gathering more power, let alone capturing the former Tsar along with his family. As civil war gripped the nation, what's left of the "Provisional Russian National Government" turned to war hero Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak, christening him "Supreme Leader." Eznoye, Sakhalin and Priamurye, the future "Constituent Krai," remained firm loyalist bastions despite attempted socialist uprisings. From there coordinated an organized retreat, bringing in as many "Whites" to relative safety as possible, from peasants and displaced nobility to surviving anti-Bolshevik regiments and Cossack divisions. Alongside Joseon, even their former Imperial Japanese foes found common cause in trying to hold back the "Reds." When it became clear that the nascent USSR was here to say, a more long-term plan was conceived to ensure the survival of the White cause.
in 1925, the Vladivostok Assembly was convened. Thus, the FRRFE was formally established, with the capital distributed among the three "Constituent Krai" in Vladivostok, Aleksandrgrad and Korsakov. Kolchak himself, was appointed President-Regent, opening up any potential restoration of the monarchy at some point in the future. Although the new state would remain under martial law for the next decade, provisions were made for a gradual transition to civilian rule through the Federal Duma. Even with all the preparations and defenses, however, its position in those days was tenuous at best. Yet just as before, Free Russia held firm against the odds. Not even the fall of Japan to socialist revolution in 1946, towards the latter half of the Second Great War, could break down this bastion against Bolshevism. Even while holding back both the USSR and defending Joseon from the emerging "United Socialist Republics of East Asia," Kolchak in his final landmark decree went so far as to welcome Japanese refugees fleeing the Reds. Alongside their well-established counterparts and the Ainu, their valor would ring far through the generations.
Those were long ago. Much has changed, but some remain constant. The USSR remains a persistent presence as a Great Power in its own right, even though its brand of Marxist-Leninism is heavily tinged with warped elements of Russian nationalism. The Free Russian Federation also holds firm, however. While still under the Kolchak line of President-Regents, informally known among the locals as the "New Tsars", the country stands firm as a beacon of democracy, however distorted, and prosperity in the Far East, known for its industry, agriculture and gold as much as its fortified borders. But though it remains committed to the White cause and seeing "All Russias" reunited, the land and its inhabitants have become rather eccentric at best. Though not just in terms of peculiar economic and demographic policies, or of proactive gender equality especially with the sizable number of women in positions of power. If one believes USSR propaganda, it's not purely "Russian" anymore.
True, Slavic Europeans, such as ethnic Russians and Ukrainians, remain predominant. On the other hand, the other Principal Peoples of the state have not only come to be seen as equal members of society but also comprise sizable proportions of the population. Such has their clout grown than towns and cities long tend to include their Japanese or Ainu names alongside formal Russian ones, particularly in districts where they have significant numbers if not outright majorities. The Japanese and Ainu languages, albeit rather Russified, have also gained formal recognition as official languages since Vladimir Kolchak approved further social reforms in 1981. While the Slavics themselves have gone so far as to have adopted Westernized
mon, not unlike a coat of arms, and Ainu-pattern tattoos. Indeed, that the current Prime Minister is an Ainu woman, said to be descended from a noted female huntress yet a patriotic "Kadet," could be interpreted as subtle revenge after generations of neglect by an uncaring world.
More change is underway, however. More than gold or industrial-grade ore, the waters and ground from the Kurils to the fringes of Priamurye, various strategic resources have been found. Natural gas, uranium and rare-earth minerals of potentially large quantities have spurred a new "gold rush," stirring an influx of aspiring entrepreneurs from Joseon, American corporations and even more defectors from the USSR to cross into Free Russia. But with the various socialist powers growing more aggressive and new Chinese rival having long recovered from its century of shame, could this land meet its match, at last? Or would it be lucky...again?
[1] Parts of OTL Primorsky Krai and Kharbarovsk Oblast
[2] Roughly OTL Sapporo
[3] OTL Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk/Toyohara