Russia, One and Indivisible: A White Victory Timeline

[Merovingian]

From “Recollections on the Russian Civil War” by Eric Blair

Fanya Kaplan can be considered alongside Gavrilo Princip to be one of two people who unintentionally had the greatest effect on the history of the Twentieth Century, and for the same reason; they assassinated someone important, in Kaplan’s case, Vladimir Lenin. Contrary to the popular image of Kaplan presented in the propaganda of the Kolchak regime, Kaplan was no White sympathizer; she was a Jewish socialist who assassinated Lenin because she felt he betrayed the reveolution and made himself a new Tsar, not out of any sympathy for the Whites. Regardless, Kaplan’s assassination of Lenin may have won the Civil War for the Whites.

Following Lenin’s death, Trotsky, due to his influence as the leader of the Red Army, was declared to be his successor. However, Trotsky had a habit of making enemies, and a troika consisting of Nikolai Bukharin, Grigori Zinoviev, and Joseph Stalin[1] was formed to oppose Trotsky’s government. Trotsky based his government out of Moscow, while the troika based theirs out of Petrograd. While the Reds collapsed into infighting, the Whites found themselves in an ideal position.

The two Bolshevik governments, in true leftist fashion, focused almost all of their attention on each other instead of the Whites, which left them both vulnerable. As the Bolsheviks squabbled amongst themselves, they gradually but surely lost more and more territory to the Whites. The Bolsheviks also lost a lot of support without a unifying charismatic figure in the form of Lenin. By 1920, the Whites had reconquered the majority of Russia.

From the Memoirs of Alexander Kolchak

After the war was won and the Bolshevik traitors were defeated, their was still the question of how Russia would be governed. We had both monarchists and republicans within our ranks, and in the end a compromise was formed in which Russia would be theoretically a monarchy, but under a regency without any monarch present[2]. What would become the Regency Council of Russia was formed by Pyotr Wrangel, Anton Denikin, Nikolai Yudenich, Yevgeny Miller, and myself. I was elected to be the Chairman of the Regency Council in addition to Supreme Ruler of Russia.

Also to appease the republicans among our ranks, and former socialists who had sinceo abandoned their treasonous convictions but remained true to their ideals, we were forced to allow the creation of a constituent assembly in addition to the Regency Council. Thus we allowed for an elected Duma, divided into an aristocratic upper house and an elected lower house, but ultimately still beholden to the Regency Council. With the Red Menace defeated and Russia secured, it was time that we began to loom forwards to what the future would hold.


[1]Stalin at this point wasn’t that influential within Bolshevik politics, but still made a name for himself funding Lenin’s movement through his criminal activity

[2]Think Franco’s Spain or Horthy’s Hungary

 

[Whiteshore]

Well, this looks interesting. Watching this with great interest.

 

[Lalli]

I have always wanted to see TL where POD is Lenin's succesful assassination. Watched.

 

[Merovingian]

Well, this looks interesting. Watching this with great interest.

I have always wanted to see TL where POD is Lenin's succesful assassination. Watched.

Thanks. My great great grandfather was a White emigré, and so I’ve always been interested by the Russian Revolution and Civil War. I agree that Lenin’s failed assassination is an underused POD.

 

[Merovingian]

From “Finland: A History” by Paavo Lipponen

While the anti-communist White forces would win in Russia, in Finland they would loose. When the White Army reconquered most of Russia following the death of Vladimir Lenin, they turned their eyes toward Finland, as well as Russia’s other former territories. It should be known that Finland was not the only former Russian territory that the Whites tried to reconquered, and indeed, was lucky that it managed to retain its independence. The short-lived separatist republics of Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia were entirely reabsorbed into Russia.

Poland and Finland were and are incredibly lucky that Kolchak considered them to be of secondary importance. In Ukraine, in Belarus, and in the Baltics, the White regime underwent significant attempts to destroy the local identity so that they would never even consider independence again, with Ukraine even being officially renamed “Malorossiya” or “Little Russia.” In some cases, publicly speaking a native language instead of Russian was illegal, although restrictions were loosened in the later years of the Kolchak regime.

In Finland in particular, Kolchak provided the Finnish Whites with military and material support. However, this had the reverse effect of tarring the Finnish Whites with the brush of their Russian equivalents who wished to see Finland’s independence lost. The Red Guards were also helped by the arrival of former Russian Bolshevik Mikhail Tukhachevsky, who fled Russia following the White victory. Tukhachevsky would help the Ted Guards win their decisive victories at Tampere, Viipuri, and Helsinki[1].

From “The Okhrana: A Forgotten Legacy of Terror” by Vladimir Petrov

Supreme Ruler Alexander Kolchak is dead, his regime a distant memory. However, his legacy is full heavily controversial in modern-day Russia, with his defenders claiming that he was a necessary evil or even a hero and his detractors condemning him as a brutal dictator. Amid the debates over Kolchak’s rule, you will inevitably hear the word “Okhrana”, referring to the Vozhd’s infamous secret police. The Okhrana itself predates Kolchak, originating after the assassination of Alexander II, but it was under Kolchak that it would reach new heights of terror.

Perhaps the Okhrana’s most well-known tactic, at least outside Russia, is that of katorga. Katorga was the deportation of political prisoners to labor camps in remote regions of Siberia. Conditions in Kolchak’s labor camps were harsh, with a system of forced labor of political prisoners fueling the Kolchakist regime and only being abolished after the Supreme Ruler’s death. The Okhrana was also infamous for it use of torture. The Okhrana’s torture chambers were far more infamous in their time than the labor camps; the goal of katorga was to ”reform” dissidents as productive members of Kolchakist society, the torture chambers were for those the regime didn’t consider worth keeping alive[2]. Even still, the Okhrana’s reign of terror is often forgotten in Russian accounts of Kolchak’s rule.



[1]IOTL, the Finnish Whites would win these battles

[2]”Better than Stalin” is hardly synonymous with “good”

 

[Lalli]

I am sorry but now this is gone impossible. Impossible part is your explanation on fate of Finland. If POD is Fanny Kaplan's succesful assassination of Lenin on August 30, Reds can't win anymore Finnish Civil War since they were crushed already some months earlier. So war in Finland was already effectively over and Whites had firm control every squaqre meter of Finland.

 

[ahmedali]

I am sorry but now this is gone impossible. Impossible part is your explanation on fate of Finland. If POD is Fanny Kaplan's succesful assassination of Lenin on August 30, Reds can't win anymore Finnish Civil War since they were crushed already some months earlier. So war in Finland was already effectively over and Whites had firm control every squaqre meter of Finland.

Not only that, but it is highly improbable that Kolchak will become the white Stalin and he is a Kelchak

The man did not want to become a ruler, but was content with a simple life as a retired admiral

Denikin ruling Russia with Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich as his puppet czar is a more likely scenario

 

[Merovingian]

I am sorry but now this is gone impossible. Impossible part is your explanation on fate of Finland. If POD is Fanny Kaplan's succesful assassination of Lenin on August 30, Reds can't win anymore Finnish Civil War since they were crushed already some months earlier. So war in Finland was already effectively over and Whites had firm control every squaqre meter of Finland.

Noted. I included a Red Finland to add something unique to the TL, but since it seems to be rather implausible I’ll retcon it.

Not only that, but it is highly improbable that Kolchak will become the white Stalin and he is a Kelchak

The man did not want to become a ruler, but was content with a simple life as a retired admiral

Denikin ruling Russia with Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich as his puppet czar is a more likely scenario

Kolchak isn’t supposed to be a White Stalin, I think Franco or Pinochet would be a better comparison. I’m aware that Kolchak didn’t want to be a ruler, but that makes it more likely that he would be chosen over someone more ambitious like Denikin, since the White generals each have their own interests. As a result, Kolchak’s stuck as Supreme Ruler, whether he likes it or not. As for installing a puppet tsar, the Whites were divided over whether or not to restore the monarchy, I think a permanent regency similar to Franco’s Spain or Horthy’s Hungary is more likely.

 

[ahmedali]

Noted. I included a Red Finland to add something unique to the TL, but since it seems to be rather implausible I’ll retcon it.

Kolchak isn’t supposed to be a White Stalin, I think Franco or Pinochet would be a better comparison. I’m aware that Kolchak didn’t want to be a ruler, but that makes it more likely that he would be chosen over someone more ambitious like Denikin, since the White generals each have their own interests. As a result, Kolchak’s stuck as Supreme Ruler, whether he likes it or not. As for installing a puppet tsar, the Whites were divided over whether or not to restore the monarchy, I think a permanent regency similar to Franco’s Spain or Horthy’s Hungary is more likely.

Among the white Russian generals, Anton Denikin was the strongest of them, the closest to Moscow and the closest to Franco (royal and Orthodox, religious but so practical that he offered Poland to recognize independence)

Belusudsky being a socialist supported the Bolsheviks so you need to get rid of him and make Damowski the president of Poland to make Poland help the White Russians

Regardless of ideologies, the prominent white Russian generals are royalists, so the Romanovs are likely to be restored either with Nicholas Nikolayevich (the generals' favorite)

Or Cyril Vladimirovich (controversial for siding with the revolution, but he will become the head of the only surviving branch of the Romov family, ignoring him and appointing his son Vladimir as heir to Nicholas)

As for Finland, ending the civil war early would make Mannerheim's plan to intervene in the Russian civil war happen, so we might have Greater Finland.

Thus Mannerheim his power is stronger and becomes Finn de Gaulle and forms Finland in his image

(I read that he wanted Prince Aage son of Prince Waldemar of Denmark of Denmark, to be crowned King of Finland as an alternative to the Duke of Hesse to make the Finnish monarchy acceptable to the Entente. According to Gustav Edmann, the Finnish ambassador to Denmark Prince Aage expressed his willingness to accept the offer.)

This happened some time after Fanny tried to kill Lenin, which means it happened after POD

But excited about what you're going to do

 

[boredviewer1234]

I admit, this timeline does seem a bit unlikely but far from impossible, after all the civil war very complex and their certainly was enough factions in conflict the whites could have lucked out with them fighting each other to take power and hold it, with Lenin gone early the socialists being in disarray makes it more likely.

Poland and Finland were and are incredibly lucky that Kolchak considered them to be of secondary importance. In Ukraine, in Belarus, and in the Baltics, the White regime underwent significant attempts to destroy the local identity so that they would never even consider independence again

To clarify when you mean Poland do you mean Russian and German Poland while they lost all the pieces of Lithuania, Belarus, Baltics ect to the whites and made a status quo peace?

Though on the topic of red Finland, I can sorta imagine it as a for lack of a better word wag the dog state for Russia, communist Finland provides a convenient justification to crackdown on socialists, it means the Entente has a reason prop a war torn Russia up out of fear of communism spreading, Finns had a low usage of Russian and trying to redefine communism as for lack of way to describe it Finnish ideology will lessen it's appeal among Russians. Plus they can try and annex them later holding onto the rest of the empire is worth far more than Finland for now.

 

[ahmedali]

I admit, this timeline does seem a bit unlikely but far from impossible, after all the civil war very complex and their certainly was enough factions in conflict the whites could have lucked out with them fighting each other to take power and hold it, with Lenin gone early the socialists being in disarray makes it more likely.


To clarify when you mean Poland do you mean Russian and German Poland while they lost all the pieces of Lithuania, Belarus, Baltics ect to the whites and made a status quo peace?

Though on the topic of red Finland, I can sorta imagine it as a for lack of a better word wag the dog state for Russia, communist Finland provides a convenient justification to crackdown on socialists, it means the Entente has a reason prop a war torn Russia up out of fear of communism spreading, Finns had a low usage of Russian and trying to redefine communism as for lack of way to describe it Finnish ideology will lessen it's appeal among Russians. Plus they can try and annex them later holding onto the rest of the empire is worth far more than Finland for now.

The nucleus of Poland means Russian Poland (in which Warsaw is located)

Frankly red Finland is less likely without the strongest Bolsheviks

 

[boredviewer1234]

The nucleus of Poland means Russian Poland (in which Warsaw is located)

Frankly red Finland is less likely without the strongest Bolsheviks

I see thanks for that clarification.

I do agree a red Finland is unlikely but it was not stated to be a strong one, given in the OTL something like 1.2% of the population died with a white victory, here with by the sound of it a much more bloody civil war to the point the reds are needing men like Mikhail Tukhachevsky, to command says how badly they are doing.

So I see a Red Finland being regarded as weak state and historical blip that won't last with White Russia seeing them as no real threat and to be resorbed later on when they are more stable.

Not very likely I know but it's a explanation.

 

[ahmedali]

I see thanks for that clarification.

I do agree a red Finland is unlikely but it was not stated to be a strong one, given in the OTL something like 1.2% of the population died with a white victory, here with by the sound of it a much more bloody civil war to the point the reds are needing men like Mikhail Tukhachevsky, to command says how badly they are doing.

So I see a Red Finland being regarded as weak state and historical blip that won't last with White Russia seeing them as no real threat and to be resorbed later on when they are more stable.

Not very likely I know but it's a explanation.

A weaker Bolshevik might mean no Finnish civil war or a shorter war and a stronger white victory, so the Finnish regent Mannerheim would step in to help Uniditch and expel the Bolsheviks from Petrograd.

This means the establishment of the great borders of Finland and thus Mannerheim dominates the country and makes it in his image

 

[Merovingian]

From “A Modern History of Russia” by Pyotr Kamenev

Following the White victory in the Civil War, Supreme Ruler Alexander Kolchak was declared Chairman of the new Regency Council. Kolchak and the Regency Council would establish a right-wing military dictatorship. Belarus, Ukraine, the Caucasus, and the Baltics were reincorporated into Russia, while Finland’s Regent Carl Gustaf Mannerheim would reconquer the former Grand Duchy of Finland as well as Karelia, and the new Republic of Poland would secure its independence to the west. During his tenure as Supreme Ruler of All Russia and Chairman of the Regency Council, Kolchak would focus on rebuilding Russia after the civil war and restoring Russia’s old tsarist institutions after the red menace was defeated.

Kolchak would ultimately not rule in Russia for too long. In 1925, once Russia had been sufficiently rebuilt, Kolchak resigned as Supreme Ruler[1], with Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich being crowned as Tsar Nicholas III, Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia. The new Emperor Nicholas III, remembering what happened to the other Nicholas, would generally remain an apolitical constitutional monarch. However, Russia under Nicholas III was still hardly a functioning democracy by any definition of the word. The Tsar could and did appoint and dismiss Prime Ministers at his will, political parties deemed to radical by the Russian establishment were often banned, and many higher-ups in the military were actively opposed to Russia’s fledgling democracy. Even with the Bolsheviks defeated, it seemed Russia was just one major crisis away from full-on dictatorship.



[1]Kolchak IOTL wanted to retire after the Civil War. While circumstance forces him to stay in power for longer ITTL, he still ultimately hands over power to someone else.

 

[Whiteshore]

So, Russia's borders are 1922 borders of the USSR+Baltic States?

 

[Lalli]

So, Russia's borders are 1922 borders of the USSR+Baltic States?

I think that more or less. Probably it has too direct control over Tuva. And Russo-Polish border might be bit different.

That has too intresting effect on Germany. I suppose that Germany still lost WW1 and got as harsh terms. I don't know would Russia make any deals with Germany but at least rise of nazis are eliminated since no communism as boogeyman.

 

[Gabingston]

In 2925, once Russia had been sufficiently rebuilt, Kolchak resigned as Supreme Ruler[1], with Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich being crowned as Tsar Nicholas III, Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia. The new Emperor Nicholas III...

Wow, that's an awfully long Russian Civil War. I don't think people like Kolchak and Nicholas III would be around for a thousand years.

 

[Chernabog90]

So how industrialized is Russia in this world, since say what you will about stalin insane plan, it did help in industrialized russia

 

[Lalli]

So how industrialized is Russia in this world, since say what you will about stalin insane plan, it did help in industrialized russia

Probably lesser than in OTL. But in other hand army should be in better condition since that dictator whoever is in power in 1930's doesn't kill best generals.

Just wondering what Poland is going to do. It is probably really paranoid and wants protection. Would it ally with Germany against Russia?

 

[Ajobek]

So how industrialized is Russia in this world, since say what you will about stalin insane plan, it did help in industrialized russia

Probably the rate of industrialization will be slower, however they wouldn't be white migration and lose of Quality work force, so starting point of industrialization will be higher.