2015 Alaska General Election
Throughout most of the 19th century, the Russian Empire's colony in Alaska was never very profitable or well inhabited. The Russian Empire gained so little from the colony that in the 1880's a deal to sell it to the British was almost successful, but the British negotiators thought that the land was worth less than the Russians were offering. In the 1890's and the early 1900's, several gold rushes would push several thousands of immigrants from Russia to move to the colony in search of fortune with the Russian government encouraging many to move. Immigrants from the neighboring Commonwealth of America would also move into the now growing colony.
During the Russian Civil War (1917-1925), Alaska would remain in the hands of the White Army throughout. However in mainland Russia, the Whites would not do as well. In 1918, the Red Army would execute Tsar Nicolas II, his family, and many other members of the Romanov dynasty dealing a huge blow to the monarchist forces. In 1921, the White forces, now pushed far to the East and led by
Alexander Kolchak, would name Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich as
Tsar Kirill continuing on the imperial legacy. In 1922, many of the White forces and the newly crowned emperor would flee the Russian mainland for the Alaskan colony. Thousands of Russian civilians would flee the Red forces to the colony as well. By 1925, the last of the White forces in Russia would fall to the Red Army ending the Civil War.
In Alaska, the remnants of the Russian Empire would find much difficulty on the American continent. There only salvation would come from the British and specifically Americans who would greatly support the government-in-exile. In 1941, Alaska would begin to hold elections for the State Duma for the first time since being exiled, but in every election for several decades, a block of pro-monarchist, pro-Russian parties would dominate. The Russian remnants would struggle in Alaska for several decades slowly losing relevance as nations began recognizing the Soviet Union as the legitimate ruler of Russia and began using just "Alaska" to refer to the small Empire in order to placate the now strong communist power. In 1949, the League of Nations would vote to grant the USSR a seat in the body, and change the Russian Empire's name to the "
Russian Empire in Alaska".
In the 1950's, the AIaskan capital of Novo-Arkhangelsk would begin to reach capacity in the small space it occupied. The city of Ankoridzh on Cook Inlet had surpassed it as the largest city in the country, so the Alaskan government in 1957 would move the location of the State Duma and the royal palace to
Ankoridzh to serve as the new capital. In the 1960's, Alaska gained a huge boon when large amounts of oil was discovered on its the Northern coast. Alaska's economy took off and would attract many more American immigrants to work in the oil industry. Alaska seemed to be doing very well for itself; in 1975, however, forecasts for the upcoming election pointed towards liberal and social democratic parties winning a possible majority for the first time in the country's history. In response and at the behest of the government,
Tsar Vladimir, Kirill's son, announced that the election would be postponed indefinitely. The postponed election lead to the
Alaskan Civil War (1975-1976). During the Civil War, Native Alaskans and American settlers would largely join forces to fight the Russian pro-monarchists even though the two did not have much good will toward each other. But even combined the monarchist forces ultimately prevailed and from 1975-1997, Alaska would be a dictatorship and held no free elections.
By 1997, Alaska hadn't held an open election in 22 years and would be facing strong influence from the other North American states to democratize. The Commonwealth in 1993 placed sanctions on Alaska after their repeated refusal to hold elections.
Tsarina Maria, who gained the crown in 1992, was more open to democracy than her father, and in 1997, Alaska would finally hold elections for the State Duma and write a new Constitution for the country (though would still continue to claim the entirety of the old Russian Empire as rightfully theirs). In the first elections, the
Constitutional Union, a right-wing party that supports the monarchy and Russian unification, won with a sizable majority, and would continue to handily win every election held since 1999. Since the Soviets Union's fall in 1985 and their replacement with the Russian Republic, there has been talks to reunify the country, but it always stalls due to Alaska's insistence on keeping the monarchy intact.
In 2015, the
Constitutional Union (KS) would win a majority giving
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev another term in office. The
Union of Democrats and Liberals (SDL), a broad center-right to center-left party that supports Alaskan Independence and led by co-leaders
Ana Murkowski and Boris Edgmon, would continue to perform well among Native Alaskans and in urban areas. The far-right
Justice Party for Russia (PYR), an ultra-nationalist party led by
Alexander Lukashenko which also supports Russian Reunification, would also gain seats in the Duma. In the upcoming 2020 elections, due to a worsening economy caused by a shrinking oil supply, numerous corruption sandals from the Medvedev government, and continued international trade tension with Japan, the SDL is currently projected to make huge gains and to possibly unseat the KS and secure a majority. Tsarina Maria has repeatedly stated that unlike her father, she would honor the results of the elections regardless of the winner.