Sanzo's Sword - A Bobbis Timeline

Chapter Two, Part One


Taken from the textbook “Empire Economics” [1] by Sergi Serov


“On November 1st 1893 Russia stood silent as the Alcoholic who brought them into the twentieth century died; he collapsed on the stairs having long been suffering from ill health [2]. George who had been spending time living with both with his family in the Palace and his own compound in Saint Petersburg now officially moved into his new home at the Winter Palace and began making preparation for his coronation which was to be quaint and relatively low key.

One of the first key appointments George made was to place Zinovy Marakuev into the position Minister for Labour, Marakuev was a populist choice and the skilled Marakuev was able to shape the position into more than it was using it to wield significant influence and power. Konstantin Pobedonostsev who was by this point de facto leader and face of the Conservative Aristocrats considered standing down from his position of Minister to the Far East, however he was talked down from this; his position was so far from Central Authority that he could act fairly freely whilst the protest would do little for the Aristocratic cause)

This was a problem George rapidly came across, during his time at his compound in Saint Petersburg he has been with Radical (Not by today’s standard, but at the time Russia was staunchly reactionary) figures and had developed fairly Progressive policies [3]. The Reactionaries came to a head with George early on, when his rule wasn’t strongly laid down and opposed his “Workplace healthcare and safety reform policy” which would set some workplace standards and create an Independent Bureau to uphold these standards.

This new bureau lacked significant funding and had poor management from the start and as such would be the centre of much controversy amongst workers on its collapse in 1896 [4]. However this was in stark contrast to the highly successful Imperial Financial Authority which along with the Workplace Bureau was a sect of the Imperial treasury, at the time of its creation Sergei Witte worked his way up becoming Chairman by mid-way though 1894, effectively setting up the entire Agency from scratch.

The way in which George politically manoeuvred is still studied to this day by Politicians, he first used a carrot approach offering Konstantin Pobedonostsev even less Central Administration to craft Georges fathers ‘Shift in priorities’, he similarly offered Cabinet posts to many Aristocrats to go along with many Progressive Candidates which would ironically work fairly efficiently during Georges reign (The only exception being Pobedonostsev and Marakuevs feud) those Aristocrats still against George were silenced by the watering down of Georges “Workplace healthcare and safety reform policy” or fear of peasant unrest and isolation from Georges court. As 1893 became 1894 (George having completed this move in 2 months) George had achieved more than creating his “Workplace healthcare and safety reform policy” he had cemented his position in power and created an efficient and working Russia. As George sent his brother Michael to study economics in Britain (which he had become interested in [5]), he began about changing the Russian economy entirely with his control now cemented.


[1] Taken from the Chapter “The Romanov Investment Bubble”
[2] Note ITTL Alexander has a drinking problem and various factions have been undermining him straining his health.
[3] These had also been influenced by George visiting several factories where conditions were poor as well as Charles Booths Review of poverty in the East End of London.
[4] After its collapse George began reforming the bureau before handing that job over to his brother Michael when suffering from ill health and as such would avoid blame for its second collapse in 1902.
[5] Note Chapter One part Two.
 
Last edited:
Well Romanov Russia is shaping up much better.

Still it is uncertain if it will be able to take the strain of Wolrd War I. Enough to avoid the Reds but probably not enough to save a Tsarist regime.

Personally I am hoping the first Wolrd War is avoided entirely.
 
Well Romanov Russia is shaping up much better.

Still it is uncertain if it will be able to take the strain of Wolrd War I. Enough to avoid the Reds but probably not enough to save a Tsarist regime.

Personally I am hoping the first Wolrd War is avoided entirely.

Well I have completely avoided Russia getting Nicholas and Romanov Russia will do better ITTL.

It's debatable whether WW1 is inevitable due to the powderkeg nature of Europe, but it will be different.
 
It's debatable whether WW1 is inevitable due to the powderkeg nature of Europe, but it will be different.
Well, inevitable might be too strong a word. I don't find it impossible that Europe could have kept avoiding having an incident turn into a war for long enough that things affecting the background causes for a Great War changes, merely implausible. Avoiding the specific incident that triggered the OTL Great War is, of course, an entirely different matter.
 
Well, inevitable might be too strong a word. I don't find it impossible that Europe could have kept avoiding having an incident turn into a war for long enough that things affecting the background causes for a Great War changes, merely implausible. Avoiding the specific incident that triggered the OTL Great War is, of course, an entirely different matter.

You would need to make history wind away with various and specific PODS, were as history normally bumbles into events in alot less cohesive way (than is suggested on this site normally)
 
You would need to make history wind away with various and specific PODS, were as history normally bumbles into events in alot less cohesive way (than is suggested on this site normally)
Indeed- or perhaps, not exactly PODs, but deciding that, for a given no-Great War TL, the butterflies just butterflies just the right way. Which is implausible, of course, but strictly speaking not impossible (and if one's main purpose is concentrating on the effects of no Great War, rather than that which flows from a singular POD...).
Incidentally, did you get that PM I sent to you a while back?
 
Indeed- or perhaps, not exactly PODs, but deciding that, for a given no-Great War TL, the butterflies just butterflies just the right way. Which is implausible, of course, but strictly speaking not impossible (and if one's main purpose is concentrating on the effects of no Great War, rather than that which flows from a singular POD...).
Incidentally, did you get that PM I sent to you a while back?

Presumabably it's possible, but not the way this TL is going.

Queries:

  • Do we have any Russian economics experts about?
  • Is it possible for Natalia Brassova to avoid getting married and becoming lover of Vladimir Wulffert {thats from wiki :eek:} in 1894
 
Chapter Two


Taken from the textbook “Empire Economics” [1] by Sergi Serov


Part Two

“Despite the economic boom Russia was about to experience under George I there are some aspects of the Russian economy that didn’t go as well as planned. One important one was the lack of a consumer class in Russia. The Russian people had been emancipated 31 years earlier and had since then had little wealth, as such the ‘Old money’ still controlled many aspects of Russia and it’s fair to say that much of the nations new found wealth failed to trickle down to the lower classes.

The effect that the new economic boom had was to encourage western business to trade in Russia and an example of how many of these ventures failed can be shown with the W.D. & H.O. Wills[2] devastating loss in the Russian market, the people in Russia didn’t know what to do with their wealth and a trend of conservative spending caused several business enterprises in Russia to go bust; and would be a major research point in future years for companies marketing at the Russian market. This was merely one aspect anther was the fact that Competition with Britain had forced many countries to place tariffs to protect their trade and Russia after Spain had the 2nd highest tariff rate which had already put of many trying to sell their products in Russia.

It is a fair point to ask if the Russian people aren’t spending their money on tobacco and trading cigarette cards then what are they doing with their wealth. As mentioned much wealth stayed around with the ‘Old money’ and some was put under the mattress however it neglects that many peasants put their money where they were familiar in the Church and state [3]. Whilst the church spent their money buying various lands and facilities [4] however it caused more problems than it solved for George ironically; he planned to use the money to create a demi planned economy developing various trusts for example the TAP (Tula Agricultural project) designed to buy up equipment and then allow the farmers to rent it [5] which failed like many other projects at the time in this the peasants lacked large farms that made leasing periods short and provide little improvement and yeild similarly many of the peasants didn’t know how to use the new equipment and like many other projects was largely redundant.

The average Russian actually experienced a small relative wealth increase; however Non-Russians received no such luck and continued to live in many cases abject poverty. The government was eager to make sure any economic project that could been done in Russia proper was done in Russia proper; this along with increasing Russification lead to the external elements of the Empire (for example the Polish provinces) feeling increasingly distant from Saint Petersburg (not mentioning the lack of warmth in that relationship anyway)

As Michael studied economics in Britain, George began building Russia her metallurgic and metalworking Industry, coal mining industry, textile industry, sugar refining and oil industries which would all boom under George I as Russia saw 3460 million Rubbles of investment.



[1] Taken from the Chapter “The Romanov Investment Bubble”
[2] They merge with several companies and begin selling tobacco to Russian merchants in 1894 but don’t take the name Imperial tobacco yet.
[3] Much of this is caused by propaganda campaigns and the huge trust and respect in the Church and Monarchy many peasants had.
[4] This will give the Church even more power and influence than OTL and it’s not unfair to compare with the Catholic Church in France and Spain in the early modern period.
[5] Basically watered down collectivisation.
 
Teaser for chapters to come:

---

"Ever since the death of my brother I had wanted to go after the Japanese and had made big of small incidents to provoke them and gain an advantage in the region. It's ironic that in the war that would define supremacy in the Far East for years to come it was the Japanese who came after me and found me surprised and un-prepared." - George I in some of his last days at Gatchina Imperial residence.

---
 

Glen

Moderator
You really should continue this. Haven't had time to do more than skim, but I think it's a worthy effort.
 
Top