The Squabbling Russian States
Ever since the dissolution of the USSR and the final defeat of the Russian menace, the Allies had gone through measures to prevent the bogeyman of a Russian resurgence, however likely or unlikely that may be, from ever rising again. Some major points:
-No nation shall have a military larger than three persons per thousand people in their land, though the FRR and Russian SFSR are limited to just two.
-No nation bound by the treaty is allowed to own weapons of mass destruction of any sort, to enforce this clause, UN inspectors are to be allowed free access to any openly declared nuclear facility, and have the right to demand an inspection of any other military facility with at most a week’s notice. Uranium in nuclear power plants are not to be enriched over 2.33%.
-No nation from the former USSR shall merge with another, breaking this clause will be taken as a declaration of war against the nations of NATO. (This did not just apply to just the nations involved in the 1993 Geneva Treaty, as Belarus found out when pro-Russian MP Aleksandr Lukashenko suggested a merger with the FRR, leading to him quickly getting shouted down by both the Anglo-Americans and Freyist Pact.)
-All nations shall enforce freedom of religion, speech, the press, of assembly, and bring redress to any grievances related to such. Religious, cultural, and ethnic minorities must be guaranteed freedom from religious or ethnic persecution. If demanded, they shall also be given autonomous status in their nation. (This clause, while only directed towards the original states created from the
1993 Treaty of Geneva, eventually was signed by almost all former members of the USSR, notably Ukraine and the nations of the Caucasus. Despite the clause of the treaty stating that ethnic minorities were bound to treat all groups with respect, many states did not heed this. For instance…. The ethnic states in Central Russia were rather unstable, as some of them had large Russian minorities, or even majorities and pluralities... Many of these states had unfortunately turned to ethnic cleansing to even stay viable. America and its allies were unable to prevent this, to the shame of the administration at the time. (Though a frightening number of Americans believed that this large scale eviction of Russians was justified, as punishment for the Russian people setting off WW3, a sentiment that some Americans even today harbor.))
-NATO can freely base themselves on the territory of the Russian states. (This includes Britain’s chain of naval bases along Russia’s Arctic coast, which the nation uses as its point to spread Britain’s sphere of influence. British ships frequently patrol the Northeast Passage for suspicious activities, and they usually help the UN to police the sea route. It had been declared an international shipping route since the dissolution of the USSR, though Canada had tried to prevent this out of fear that the same may occur to the Northwest Passage. Many British, and some American maps name the Barents Sea (named after Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz), the Willoughby Sea, after the English explorer who claimed Nova Zeimia (Novaya Zemlya) for the British.
Belushya Guba (or New Shrewsbury), the largest town on the island, has a high British population. Some on the island advocating that Nova Zeimia should be annexed as a crown territory, though this does not see much widespread support.)
America’s allies have in general, done a good job in seeing through that the threat of a sudden Russian revival didn’t catch them off guard. Even during the turmoil of the 90s, the British and Americans were notable for a police action in Bashkortostan, where in a break with foreign policy at the time, they intervened to protect nearby Tatarstan and Udmurtia from invasion from their ethnic Russian leader, Alexander Lebed. Russians made a plurality of the nation at the time, and elected the strongman to the presidency. While the West was distracted, Lebed exceeded the cap on military size by almost three times, likely planning to unify much Russia under his rule. Before he was killed in an American operation, Lebed found strong support among ethnic Russians in the FRR as well as the neighboring Tatarstan and Udmurtia. If not for Anglo-American intervention, it is likely he would have unified the four states, and possibly even gone further than that. America would not take its eye off of affairs in Russia just yet. To name an example, the Tuvan Republic saw small scale support from the U.S. and U.K. in warding off a war with Zhirinovsky over control of Krasnoyarsk and nearby oil fields in 2006. Buryatia’s expansionist war with Yakutia over natural gas deposits and the entirety of Lake Baikal brought in both Japan and China on Yakutia’s side, with China making small scale annexations of its territory, and Japan’s puppet, Green Ukraine, doing the same. America also rented out shipments of arms to Yakutia for purposes of self-defense. America’s commitment to small scale policing actions in Russia proved to be one of the more notable examples of breaks in [President]’s isolationism during his time in the presidency. The idea of toning down American presence in Russia is an unpopular issue to this day, and even most isolationists agree in the idea that it would be a fool’s errand to think that Russia wouldn’t just stay as it is without western intervention.
Rough grouping of the former states of the USSR by freedom
Free and independent: Republic of Samara, Moscow Republic, Free Altai, Chuvashia, Yakutia
Semi-free and independent: Mari El, Tuvan Republic, Mordovia, the FRR, Kalmyk Khanate
Not free: Russian Republic of Siberia, Bashkortostan, The Russian SFSR, Tatarstan, Udmurtia
Puppets: Green Ukraine, Buryatia
The Republic of Samara surprisingly transitioned quickly into a multi-party parliamentary democracy based on the UK’s Parliament. Following the example of the Czechs, the country has remained relatively stable, and the Communist Party rarely wins elections outside of state office. Even then, the communists are Marxist-Leninist instead of say, Stalinist or National-Bolshevik. The Moscow Republic has also found success though that's partially based on its wealth per capita and many of the perks of being the former capital of the USSR giving it benefits. Moscow has transformed itself into a tax haven, drawing money from around the world and giving it a stable source of income in the process. Party politics are often rather volatile though, as many authoritarian candidates often win elections, and parties often rise and fall quickly. Corruption is widespread and kleptocracy is seen as business as usual.
Left: Former Tsar Nicholas Romanovich Romanov, crowned the tsar of the FRR in 2000.
Center: Imperial Highness Maria Vladimirovna who is the current monarch of FRR as of 2010
Right: Is current FRR president, President Mikhail Prokhorov.
Semi-free states are for the most part democracies and have most basic freedoms, though many of them censor political parties the governments don't agree with, or sometimes limit freedom of speech. Ethnic states like Mari El, Mordovia, and to a lesser extent, Tuva, treat Russians like second class citizens, and have been known to censor pan Russian groups, in even groups promoting Russian culture in some cases. Russians still have the right to vote, though they're becoming a weaker and weaker force as they migrate to places like the FRR, Samara, Free Altai, etc. The FRR today remains deathly scared of revanchist political parties or communism coming back to their nation, and for the most part censors relevant groups at the bud. It maintains a highly fortified border with the SFSR, one of its main enemies. (Contrary to popular belief, the name “Free Russian Republic” is not a republic. It has been a misnomer since 2000, with the crowning of Nicholas Romanovich Romanov, then 77. Debate over who the true heir to the Russian throne was had been fierce, until the Duma stepped in to resolve the issue, proclaiming him the Tsar. After his death in 2010, he was left without surviving issue, and with his brother also dead, the throne passed on to her Imperial Highness Maria. Interestingly enough her husband was 7th in line to the German throne at the time of her coronation. The role is completely ceremonial though, and holds little if any power.) The FRR is a member of the Freyist bloc, and usually aligns its foreign policy with that of Germany, Italy, and Poland as a result. The current president is Mikhail Prokhorov.
Left: Former Chairman Aleksandr Dugin of SFSR, who created a cult of personality
Right: Current Chairman Gennady Zyuganov
Vladimir Zhirinovsky who is the head of state (or
better known as being the dictator) of
the Russian Republic of Siberia
A great many states in the former USSR are unfree, such as the SFSR, the remnant state of the once proud Soviet Union. The hermit state had gone on a downward spiral in recent years and was crippled by sanction after sanction by most western powers after attempting to fund communist movements to other parts of Russia. Borders with most neighboring states closed, with the FRR having some of the most extreme security measures on the planet. Its ideology, which it calls
Neo-Stalinism combined both aspects of Stalinism and Focoism with extreme Russian nationalism and a cult of personality around the Party Chairman. Before his assassination by party officials, it was led by Aleksandr Dugin, a rabid ideologue... Defectors at the time spoke of horrible conditions, frequent famine, and an almost cult-like reverence for Stalin and Dugin combined. From the capital of New Stalingrad (formerly Yekaterinburg), the skyline is still marked by the famous March Towards Progress statue… Built on top of the former location of the Kharitonov Palace, it depicts Lenin and Stalin holding their hands up together in the air, and is said to be visible for miles. The government declares it the tallest statue in the world. The SFSR has ensured that any Western intervention would quickly become a quagmire, as all citizens are armed and have been ordered to fight to the death to protect the Fatherland. Even still, it fell in 2000 from a party coup of more “moderate” leaders, despite his cult of personality…. Unlike other isolationist states like North Korea which did have foreign backers at some point with the Soviets and Chinese, the SFSR was left with literally none, and was left unsustainable as a result. The policy of the current chairman Gennady Zyuganov involves trade with the outside world, and limiting attempts to spread its ideology to the other Russian states, staying rather isolationist. Conditions today aren’t good for the Russians living there, but certainly not as bad as when Dugin ruled. The Russian Republic of Siberia is the bogeyman for much of the Russian nations, led by the loose cannon Zhirinovsky. The fascist state, (though it obviously doesn’t claim to be one itself), is said to have developed sarin gas in case it is needed for self defense. Elections happen every four years, though only his Liberal Democratic Party (an ironic name on two counts) is listed on the ballot. Overall, conditions in the state aren’t horrible, (the nation has managed to maintain a decent standard of living comparable to pre-war conditions), though the state has restrictions on freedom of speech and is intensely xenophobic. After the overthrowal of the Russian Lebed, the new regime in Bashkortostan was infamous for turning a blind eye (and some case condoning) ethnic cleansing of Russians living in the country by local militias. A large scale migration outside the nation by ethnic Russians began, also draining talent and many opportunities in possible investment in the nation as well. Tatarstan and Udmurtia saw this to a lesser extent as well, though nations such as the Kalmyk Khanate also saw some migration of Russians even though the Kalmyks themselves weren’t engaging in ethnic cleansing like other nations were. Meanwhile in Japanese Siberia and Japanese Kamchatka (as the Japanese began to call it now) surprising also saw little migration of Russians due to the fact the Russians there were being treated as equals allowing to keep their traditions and speak their native tongue, while at the same time having to adopt a secondary Japanese name and learning Japanese as a secondary language as well. This is mainly due to the fact many Russians during World War III and the Russian Civil War saw the Japanese as saviors freeing them from Soviet authoritarian rule.
Young boys living on the streets of Medvedevo, Mari El, who are most likely apart of local Russian gangs. This picture was taken
in May 1998 by an American journalist. This picture showed the harsh sad reality of the lives of Russians living in post-Soviet states.
When it came to the life of Russians who lived in nations that treated them as second class citizens especially in nations such as Mari El, Mordovia, and Tuva, many Russians often lived in runned down neighborhoods that looked very similar to how African-American neighborhoods were like during the times of segregation in the US. Many Russians living in these areas often worked jobs that paid only enough to keep a roof over their heads, or if lucky enough enough to allow themselves to have television. Education especially tertiary education was rare for Russians living in these countries as many would end up working straight out of secondary school, and in plenty of cases some would end drop out of school at young ages such as 14 in order to get full-time jobs to help their families. Crime was also common in such neighborhoods as many young teenagers and children would often run away from home and join gangs, thus resulting in many engaging in criminal activity such as robbery, theft, drug trafficking and even murder. To make it even more depressing many young teenagers were getting addicted to drugs such as heroin and cocaine that in Mari El many teens who were involved in gangs were already addicted to such drugs.
