History

1946
Yugoslavia

Tito negotiates a peaceful annexation of Albania.

A pro-democratic capitalist alliance is proposed to all European nations East of the Iron Curtain.

Peaceful relationships are established with many communist and socialist nations.

Yugoslavia is currently the Eastern European nation with the highest GDI score as well as the lowest percentage of homelessness, poverty and homicides. Russian Democratic Federative Republic

Begins Operation Osoaviakhim in occupied East Germany which is carried out by the Okhrana the objective is to move and employ forcefully or otherwise German scientists and engineers that were involved in the German rocket program and another top secret program

Proposes the Eastern European Recovery Program also known as the Grigorenko Plan to Poland Czechoslovakia Hungary Romania Yugoslavia Turkey and Albania to help rebuild the damage of the 2nd Weltkrieg (Basically Russian Marshall Plan)

Also begins reconstruction in the former territories of Ukraine Belarus and the Baltic states

Meanwhile in the East the Russian Army begins to regroup in Korea in preparation for Operation August Storm

In April the I-25R Russia's first fighter jet takes its first flight and soon to enter service in 1948. Device 501. Mikoyan-Gurevich Istrebitel mod.24R Specifications

Crew: 1

Maximum Speed: 537 mph

Service ceiling: 13,000

Armaments

1x 37mm autocannon

2x 23mm autocannons South Africa

South Africa doesn't so much enter as it does crash into 1946. Only two months past a tumultuous military coup that left a dozen senior ministers dead, the country is in shambles.

The streets of South Africa's ports are packed with refugees, who sleep homeless in the streets and in tent-cities formed on the beaches near the harbours from which they arrived months ago. An influx of five million people in three months has left state infrastructure floored, with homelessness, poverty and starvation at an all-time high. Violence between native South Africans and refugees, and even between the different nationalities of refugees, is endemic.

From the government buildings in Cape Town, still only partially kitted out after the capital was moved from the battle-damaged Pretoria, General Montgomery and his staff assess their situation. Montgomery instigated the coup on the orders of his superiors in Canada, and yet has now found himself calling the shots in the country, with the civilian government subordinate to his armed forces.

The South African National Party, under hardliner D. F. Malan, makes continued calls for an end to the British Preservation Junta, and the expulsion, or at the very least segregation, of the refugee population. For now, the military government begins the refugee housing process, constructing large refugee camps on the outskirts of major cities in which to keep the outsiders until a civilian government can get to work building proper residences. The most notable camps are Camp Bloubergstrand in Cape Town, which becomes nicknamed New Liverpool, and Camp Umhlanga in Durban, which gains the nickname New Wales due to its pronunciation. The more historically-knowledgeable refugees decry this as a reopening of the concentration camps used during the Boer War, but they are quickly whisked off to detention centres before they can kick up too much of a fuss.

In these refugee camps, a massive census effort takes place in an effort to catalogue every new arrival to the country, so that citizenship efforts might be begun in the future.

The first signs of much more serious discontent with the government come in December, when a prominent left-wing movement, the African National Congress, stages an uprising in the city of Bloemfontein. Fighting rages in the urban centre for several weeks before the ANC are eventually driven out of the city. This marks the start of a campaign of guerrilla and partisan warfare conducted by the ANC, who begin to operate extensively in the vast rural areas of South Africa.

Yugoslavia

Joins Russia's proposed alliance. Tibet

Tibet attacks parts of China for a while but soon pulls out. Bharat shares the same view with the rest of the syndie bloc of Russia being dirty reactionaries and don’t even recognize the Russian Democratic Federative Republic (and by extension most of Eastern Europe) as a legitimate government.

Second of all Bharat is VERY anti imperialist and sees Russia doing stuff in Asia like retaking Central Asia as Neo-Colonialism. Yet some officials hope to change that. South Africa is currently having a mass revolt by the socialist African national congress and with the Royal Navy stuck in port there Indian Ocean islands are ripe for the taking...

Meanwhile, Malaysia is looking pretty vulnerable due to Japan's focusing on Korea thanks to the Russians... The Second Sino-Japanese War rages on, as Japanese troops fight fanatically for control of the Korean peninsula. Russian troops have by May pushed to the 36th parallel north, reaching the city of Daejeon, and a line of Japanese defences known as the Gyeongbuk Line.

In China, United Front forces liberate Beijing after a bloody struggle. As the battered flag of the United Front is raised in Tiananmen Square, all reckon that Japan's occupation of China is fast coming to an end, as many forces flee en masse to the Home Islands. And yet, tensions are fast rising between the two main factions of the United Front, the Zhili Republic in the north and the Federation in the south. Already, some clashes between the two sides have broken out on the front between the two sides. The IWAF and Russia come to loggerheads over access through the Turkish Strait, formally controlled by Russia. British and French diplomats demand untaxed access through the strait, as their old allies in the Second Weltkrieg. Russia disagrees, and in response a joint Red Navy-French Navy Task Force is dispatched into the strait as a show of force.

The mandate of Belgium "elects" a Syndicalist government, that takes power as the first administration of the Republic of Belgium. Elections are held in Russia. India

India (Bharat) will work on calming down and stopping Muslims and Hindus from fighting so the country won't split in half. Russian Democratic Federative Republic

Operation August Storm begins: the full might of the White Army smashes through the Gyeongbuk Line completely annihilating the the Japanese Third and First area army no... they literally don't exist anymore.

With the Imperial Japanese army completely shattered Russian troops easily blitz into Southern Korea they quickly reach most of the southern cost and prepare to advance on Busan the last Japanese controlled city from all sides.

Meanwhile back in the west the Russian Black Sea navy is mobilized and sails to the Bosporus leading to a standoff that can very much be the beginning of a Third Weltkrieg.

With the rising unpopularity of socialism the Constitutional Democratic Party manages to pull a win in the 1946 elections over the Socialist Revolutionary Party Mikhail Tereshenko becomes the Third President of the Russian Democratic Federative Republic.

We also propose the creation of the Eurasian Treaty Organization to Poland Czechoslovakia Hungary Romania Bulgaria Turkey Iran Finland and Yugoslavia the main purpose is a defensive alliance to protect Eastern Europe against the syndicalist west a attack on one is an attack on all... South Africa (May - August)

Insurgent activity by the ANC continues across South Africa, though fierce British reprisals for the Bloemfontein Uprising hit the organisation heavily. On the 7th June, the ANC’s most high-profile attack since Bloemfontein is carried out, when a British convoy of South African politicians on an inspection of the north is ambushed. 14 cars are destroyed, and the South African education minister and a British engineer killed. More of the same follows, with one village in Rhodesia becoming so renowned for being a site of ambushes that the British have it bulldozed. A regular feature of anti-insurgency operations sees units perform operational jumps from RAF planes over rural areas of the country where road quality is negligible. Often in these operations only 1/10 soldiers will be SAS, with their numbers spread thin across the country.

To make up for shortages of manpower loyal to the British Preservation Junta, large sections of the Royal Navy are temporarily decommissioned, their ships put into harbour and their crews swapping sailing for riot-policing. To add insult to injury, lack of security in the harbours themselves leads to a major embarrassment when one of the country’s precious few battleships, HMS Centurion, is crippled and sank in Port Elizabeth Harbour by an explosive later found to have been planted by ANC partisans.

South Africa needs allies, and fast. In July, General Montgomery crosses the Indian Ocean to arrive in Australasia, with the intent to repair the rift in South African-Anzac relations. Montgomery meets with Field Marshal and former colleague Bill Slim, who represents the Australasian military. He is able to secure the transfer of half of Australia‘a Gurkha divisions, as well as additional munitions and combat supplies for South Africa, but further talks to completely normalise relations between the two states are torpedoed when Montgomery insults Slim in an argument. Yugoslavia

Establishes a “safe capitalist” economy. Because of the surplus of government money, Yugoslavia transitions to a full capitalist economy. A free market paradise, some might say. However, as problems of widespread debt, poverty, and bankruptcy, the government sets up safety nets and ties up loopholes in laws so small businesses and individuals can remain in business and money can continue to circulate. Also joins the ETO. The American nuclear program has suffered greatly from the past civil war, and the Russians were a bit behind anyway historically, relying heavily on their spies to steal info from the Americans. The Germans were close but got killed, and France and Britain took most of their information. Nuke test launches will begin soon. Generally its felt that the Second American Civil War killed everyone not a Syndicalist. But as they're an extreme-left state, there are lots of arrests and purges every week of suspected counter-revolutionaries. (September - December)

A massive escalation in the Straits Crisis; a Russian patrol boat attempting to sneak through the blockade is rammed by a Red Navy warship: one fatality from the ramming, with the rest of the Russian crew captured. The world holds its breath, and all think the same: someone has to give in, or all of Europe will burn.

The French mandates of Bohemia and the Netherlands "elect" Syndicalist governments, becoming Republics in the process.

The formation of the ETO is formalised, as all of Russia's eastern-european allies agree to joining the organisation. The last Japanese forces withdraw from mainland China. It's generally reckoned they'll soon be driven kicking and screaming out of Korea as well.

Conflicts between Zhili and the Federation boil over, with skirmishes flaring up all along the border between the two. A particularly bloody confrontation in the city of Zhengzhou leads to the Zhili Republic formally declaring war on the Federation, destroying the Chinese United Front, and resuming the Chinese Civil War. Russian Democratic Federative Republic

The Red Navy capture of a white navy patrol boat is seen as an Act of War a 30 day ultimate is given to the IWAF: Return the Boat and all of its crew or else.

Begins mass remobilization of the Army in Europe which begin to mass all across the border with the IWAF and West Germany should the ultimatum be declined or expire '''then the White Army shall march west... it seems a third Weltkrieg is imminent'''

As Russian and IWAF troops face each other waiting for who will fire the first shot meanwhile in the East Russian troops assault Busan and after weeks of heavy and brutal fighting taking many casualties on both sides the Russian Tricolor is raised over the city signaling the fall of the last Japanese hold out in Korea. Operation Varangian. South Africa

A second uprising by the ANC takes place in the port-city of Durban, but the army had been tipped off hours beforehand. Only half an hour after the opening shots of the fighting begin, a Royal Navy battleship shells the city, on the orders of Major James Cassels, the man in charge of British forces in the city. The bombardment destroys much of Durban but, as many notice, spares the White-populated districts. Cassels then orders an assault, and his forces quickly liquidate the ANC's troops. Oliver Tambo, the commander of the ANC's forces, orders his troops to fall back into the countryside, defeated though having learnt important strategic lessons.

This conflict breaks the back of the ANC, at least for the time being. Partisan activity diminishes in the subsequent months, as the ANC licks its wounds. In the aftermath of Durban, the National Assembly threatens to call a general strike unless the Preservation Junta stands down.

Field Marshal Montgomery meets with the leader of the Assembly, the right-wing D.F. Malan, who heads the National Party. Despite the latter's previous opposition to the British regime, the two men get along well, finding common ground in regards to civil rights. An agreement is eventually reached: Malan will head a civilian government in the new year cooperative to the British Government-in-Exile's demands, and in response Montgomery will endorse Malan's controversial proposed Apartheid system, that would exclude any Blacks from holding positions in government.

This development is a welcome surprise for much of the White and refugee population, but to the Black population it is a terrible development. Despite the ANC's crippled position, membership for them soars. The repercussions of this agreement will stretch far into the future.

1947
At the edge of destruction, the IWAF blinks first and retreats. The Red Navy withdraws from the strait, and all of Europe breaths sighs of relief. The crew are returned into Russian custody, though the boat is retained by the Red Navy, later to be put on display in Marseille.

This may very well be the end of the reigns of Sylvia Pankhurst and Leon Jouhaux, who are seen by their people and party high-ups as having betrayed their countries and backed down from the Russian menace when they were this close to victory.

The Mandate of Austria elects a democratic government, though this is promptly overthrown in a coup by the Austrian Syndicalist Party, who declares the previous election illegitimate, and joins the IWAF as the People's Republic of Austria.

The concept of the Doomsday Clock is introduced by the Russian Sciences Board, meant to symbolically show how close the world is to destroying itself in a cataclysmic Third Weltkrieg. The AK-47 is invented. Russian Democratic Federative Republic

Basically everyone in the country breathes a sigh of relief... with that we demobilize our troops off the border with the IWAF.

In response to the IWAF we create the Federal Republic of Austria in our occupied zone which has its own actual free and fair elections and promptly joins the ETO. Begins adopting the AK 47 as the main rifle for the Army.

The t-45 Medium Tank enters service which by the end of the year begins to be produced in ridiculous amounts.

Offers a deal with the Imperial remnants over in South Africa: We will send volunteers and military equipment to help fight against the ANC also recognize the exile governments as legitimate over the IWAF (Except for German South West Africa) however in exchange Port Elizabeth will be leased to the RDFR for 55 years. The Second Sun Rises. South Africa

In the National Assembly in Pretoria, open for business once more, D. F. Malan declares this an opportunity for South Africa to move on from the crippling instability of the past year. Standing on the speaking platform with him are British exiled leader Winston Churchill, and Australasian general Bill Slim, whose presence is a message that the rift between South Africa and Australasia is being closed. Shortly after, Churchill delivers a speech I which he denounces once again the Syndicalist regime of Western Europe; "From Hamburg to Trieste, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent." Churchill calls on the "esteemed Democratic powers of Russia" to defend the surviving democratic bloc from the "insidious autocracy of Syndicalist thought".

Shortly after, the first Russian military personnel arrive in South Africa. Mostly military advisors, engineers and officers, their presence is only really noticeable in city centres, where Russian men become a common site at city bars and hotels. This is significant however, as marking the beginning of Russian participation in the growing South African War.

A conference at Pretoria sees the exiled territories of the Kingdom of Portugal formally join the Commonwealth of Nations, having been a member of the old Entente before its dissolution.

In September, British forces launch Operation Windsor, an attempt to capture and destroy the identified communication centre of the ANC, the town of Gwelo. Despite taking ANC command by surprise, and almost capturing the ANC's leaders Oliver Tambo and Robert Mugabe, the ANC scrambles away into the savanna, avoiding what would likely have been a killing-blow.

As per the Russian agreement of assistance, control over the naval base of Port Elizabeth is ceded to Russia. The Royal Navy, of which a large amount was stationed in Port Elizabeth, relocates to Naval Base Simonstown near Cape Town.

1948
The IWAF introduces a German currency into the German Mandate, the Deutsche Mark, ending any pretence of the two German occupational zones reunifying.

A popular revolt takes place in the Levant, by Jewish partisans led by the rebel group Irgun. Taking rapid control of much of Palestine, the group fights against Egyptian counterattacks, with surprising success.

An uprising of Papuan nationals in Dutch New Guinea is violently suppressed by the Dutch Government-in-Exile. French President Leon Jouhaux is ousted in a bloodless coup, by his Chief of Security Marc Augier. Augier begins to enforce a distinctly Totalist regime in the country, emphasising a hardline stance against the ETO.

And in Russia, a colossal explosion heralds the birth of a new age... Somewhere in the Siberian wilderness. (February)

It was oddly cold in the bunker, President Mikhail Tereshenko reflected. Given the rows of machinery and the amount of people huddled into the small room, he would have expected the place to be uncomfortably warm. Instead, there was a distinct chill in the air, as around the President scientists scurried about and whispered between each other.

Mikhail looked around him. Off to his right stood his Vice-President, Alexei Kosygin, murmuring to the imposing figure of Chief Scientist Igor Kurchatov. Behind Mikhail was Defence Minister Pyotr Wrangel, standing alone uncomfortably with his hands clasped around his elbows. The Minister had been called away from Irkutsk where he’d been coordinating the continued war against Japan. Mikhail knew he’d rather still be there rather than here in the middle of Siberia.

All in all, Mikhail thought, if this test went wrong, Russia’s government would take a considerable blow.

A voice wrenched him from his thoughts. From the other side of the room, deputy chief scientist Andrei Sakharov ordered everyone to put on their darkened glasses, and warned the assembled delegation that failure to do this would mean permanent blindness. Mikhail duly put his on, and looked up to the small and very thick observation window that surveyed the barren Siberian landscape.

“30 seconds till detonation.”

Across the room, conversations fell silent as all turned to watch the window.

“15 seconds till detonation.”

Mikhail wondered whether the glass really was strong enough. Had this been a mistake?

“5 seconds.”

“4”

“3”

“2”

“1”

And the Siberian landscape was consumed as a second sun briefly burst into life in the Russian wastes. In the observation room, there was a collective gasp, as through the window they watched a towering dark mushroom cloud blossom over the test site.

A moment’s pause, and then cheers erupted from the scientists present. Mikhail began to applaud, and he was followed by his staff. Someone went around serving drinks, as the President made his way over to the grim-looking Kurchatov.

“So we have three more of these?” he asked the scientist quietly.

Kurchatov nodded, continuing to survey the looming column of ash in the distance.

Mikhail Tereshenko frowned, as if he could feel the weight of the vast consequence of this innovation fall upon him. And kilometres away, the black mushroom cloud climbed above a devastated landscape, heralding the dawn of a new, terrible era. Russian Democratic Federative Republic

With the success of Operation Varangian Russia is now currently the only nation to have the atomic bomb....for now.

The I-25R officially enters service in the white Air Force.

Using air bases in South Africa we begin using I-25Rs to perform napalm strikes on ANC insurgent hideouts in order to flush them out.

In the aftermath of the straits crisis it’s revealed that our navy is heavily inferior to the navies to the IWAF and so we begin the largest naval expansion in Russian history one that will make Peter the Great proud a flood of orders for the construction of new Destroyers cruisers along with the construction of 3 newly designed Moskva class Aircraft Carriers. Also begins a massive sailor recruitment drive.

Offers The Cairo Pact support against the Israeli rebellion however just like South Africa there is a price: the ports of Latakia Tobruk and the Dahlak Archipelago must be leased to Russia for 55 years. A second sun rises over Okinawa and Nagasaki. The soldiers woke to the sounds of hand-cranked sirens blaring, and the low, distant roar of perhaps a hundred aircraft. Soon, the air was filled with shouting of frantic orders, as diesel engines roared to life and manoeuvred large anti-air batteries to face the incoming swarm of fighter jets and bombers.

The Japanese soldiers were exhausted, their nerves fried, running only on adrenaline and fanaticism. For three days now, Russian air squadrons had harassed the Japanese on Okinawa, battering every inch of the anti-aircraft defences on the island. The commander of the some-150,000 Japanese soldiers on the island, a veteran of campaigns in Korea but until recently only a mid-level officer, figured he knew what was happening; the Russians were prepping for an aerial invasion of the island. He’d heard of similar tactics being used in the Second Weltkrieg in the west. The only odd thing, the officer had pondered, was that Russian bombing raids had almost entirely spared the civilian quarters of the city; but he figured he knew the answer to that too. Russians, unlike the superior Japanese war machine, were weak, too concerned with trivialities like civilian wellbeing, humanitarian corridors; just another one of the many reasons why the White Army would surely lose this conflict in the end.

When for the fourth day the officer was awoken from a fitful sleep to the barking orders of his subordinates, it was with great reluctance that he dragged himself from his modest cot and stomped out into the island’s fortification systems to command his troops. By this point, the Japanese anti-air defences were in abysmal condition, having been bombed into near-complete ruin. As the Russian Air Force roared over the skies of Okinawa once again, only a few volleys of flack and shell-fire rose to meet them.

Something was immediately wrong: the Russian jets weren’t dropping bombs. The officer, and many of his men, stared up in confusion as the Russian planes screamed across the sky and into the distance, seemingly not doing anything. Someone near the officer pointed to where all present could just make out a small black dot falling rapidly towards them.

And then the world was bathed in a blinding baptismal light, that bleached the island of Okinawa in an annihilating, all-consuming hellfire. The officer, all his men, 150,000 other inhabitants of the island, were wiped off the face of the earth like dust in the breeze.

My life

came like dew

disappears like dew.

All of Naniwa

Is dream after dream The end...?