Russian Civil War (Early World War I)

This is the Russian Civil war in the Early World War I timeline where the Russo-Japanese War expanded into an earlier first world war thanks mainly to the Dodger Bank incident, which in real life didn't cause a war between Britain and Russia.

The Root causes of the Russian Civil War

As you can see satirical drawing opposite, the root causes of the Russian Civil War was the war with Japan (which expands into a war with Britain) and growing discontent with the Tsar's regime and the ruling Russian elite. The civil strife had been brewing in the Russian Empire for some time, the authoritarian, central government of the Tsar had been oppressing the Russian peasants for hundreds of years. The lack of any democratic representation also had been annoying opposition politicians and people wanting change as there was no real way to do so, the great western democracies of Great Britain, USA, France, etc; were showing a real improvement in how the people should be treated by there government. This lack of representation and long dissatisfaction with the government gave way to numerous political parties. The political teachings of Karl Marx had appealed to numerous people and gave way to socialist parties such as the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party and various other socialist groups. Not just socialists wanted change though, disenchanted nobles and aristocrats in Russia wanted more power and wanted to replace the Tsar in a constitutional monarchy. Other people wanted the monarchy abolished and a democratic republic in place, and some wanted an anarchic state. As well as political motivations, other conquered nations in the Russian Empire such as the Poles, Finns, Latvians, etc; wanted independence from Russia so they could rule there own land. Needless to say the Tsar had many enemies.

All these rising tensions were reaching boiling point and in the real world they would simmer violently in the 1905 Russian Revolution but not boil over until the 1917 Russian Revolution. In this time-line however the 1905 revolution or the 1917 one would neither happen; but they would boil violently in 1906 until 1914. This Russian revolution would split the empire up into 21 different countries and kill millions of people.

1904

The Russo-Japanese War started in 1904 and the initial losses for the Russian Imperial Army caused much disarray and resentment back home towards the army for losing against the Japanese as they were still seen as a lesser nation, certainly not strong enough to beat the Russians. This war did a similar thing for Japan's reputation in real history, however not on the scale as it did in this time-line. The almost complete destruction of the Russian Far East fleet had given Japan control of the seas and free to attack anywhere along the Russian coast. The Tsar didn't like the thought of the Japanese attacking Vladivostok and Port Arthur as this would take out Russian naval power in the far east, so the Tsar sent his Baltic Fleet to attack the Japanese (he couldn't send the Black Sea fleet as the Ottomans wouldn't allow the fleet through their waters). This fleet though would attack some British trawlers at Dogger Bank thinking they were an Imperial Japanese Navy force, after rumours of a Imperial Japanese fleet detachment in the North sea. This incident got Britain to support Japan against Russia and this caused fear of a major military loss from the public now the British were fighting the Russians too. The British formed a blockade in the North Sea to stop Russian merchant ships, which caused a lack of luxury goods in Russia, causing a feeling of discontent in the Russian high classes.

1905-1906

The Japanese take Port Arthur on January 2nd 1905 which creates more discontent in the Russian Empire; and then because of these events and more, caused a march of unarmed, peaceful demonstrators going to the Winter Place in St.Petersburg to present a petition to Tsar Nicholas II on January 22nd, which demanded improved working conditions, fairer wages, and a reduction in the working day to eight hours. Other demands included an end to the Russo-Japanese War and the introduction of universal suffrage. However, the Tsar was in no condition to meet the demands of the workers due to the war and an economic depression sweeping Russia. The demonstrators brought along their families in hope of seeing their Tsar and delivering the petition to him as they believed he would take into account their miseries and attempt to sort their problems for them. They believed it would be a peaceful and patriotic day during which they could pass on their petition to the Tsar. The army pickets near the palace released warning shots, and then fired directly into the crowds to disperse them. Around forty people surrounding him were killed, but he was not injured. Although the Tsar had not been present at the Winter Palace at this time, he received the blame for the deaths, resulting in a surge of bitterness towards himself and his autocratic rule from the Russian people. This act of the Imperial guard gunning down unarmed civilians showed a disregard for ordinary people, and decreased the support for the Tsar's office. The day of this massacre was later described by Tsar Nicholas II as "painful and sad".

The growing discontent for the Tsar caused Nicholas II to agree to create an elected assembly (the Duma) on the 3rd of March 1905 to try to appease the unsatisfied people of Russia. This was a good step as it did please lots of people, but by the end of May, the Japanese have complete control of Manchuria and the entire Sakhalin islands chain (Sakhalin and the Kuril islands) which creates lots of unease back in Russia.

The war continues with an Anglo-Japanese blockade of blockade and siege of Vladivostok towards the end of June. The Tsar decides to break this siege and win back far east Russia by sending in his armies into Manchuria and attack the Japanese garrison at Khailar and besiege it, before going on to re-take Manchuria. The British and Japanese send troops to end the siege as well as destroying the Russian army. This accumulated in the Battle of Khailar.

The Battle of Khailar

The battle of Khailar happened in Khailar which is pictured on the map opposite, but the battle also spread out into the near-by regions. Now Khailar was currently garrisoned with the Japanese 3rd Army and was seen as a major point for the Russians to attack, since it was part of the trans-Siberian-Manchurian railway, so the four Russian armies which had recently been dispatched to the far east where sent to Chita, which is where the Trans-Siberian splits off into the Manchurian railway, one army was to be kept in reserve in Chita (the 9th) and the 10th army was sent into Mongolia to attack some local tribes who had attempted to raid Chita a week previously, before continuing on into China and then Manchuria and attack Khailar from the south west (They left Chita on the 1st July & had destroyed the tribe by the 5th in a small battle). The 7th army (also the biggest of the four Russian armies) followed the railway tracks to attack Khailar head-on; with the 8th army going off the railway tracks to attack Khailar from the direct north. The first image was the state of the armies on July 15th, and as you can see on the image the British army corp and the Japanese 6th army had landed in Seoul and where making their way up to Khailar. However, on the 7th the Russian 7th Army had began to shell the city and then on the 8th the Russian 8th army had attacked the North, and on the 10th the Russian 10th army had attacked the west and had also surrounded the south, the city was now surrounded and under a Russian siege.

However, on the 18th of July, the British & Japanese reinforcements who had been slow to arrive thanks to a Russian militia sabotaging the railway (the militia was destroyed in a small engagement around were the railway passes through Khinuhan mountains on the 13th, which shortened the journey by another day, however the Russian high command thought that the militia would waste more British & Japanese time, and also that Khailar garrison would fall quicker too. Anyway back to July 18th were the supporting Anglo-Japanese army had attacked the Russian 10th army who was surrounding the south of Khailar, the Russians were quickly routed due to the fact it was a night attack and had caught the Russians off guard, the British artillery then began to shell the Russian's east & west siege camps and the Russian 10th & 8th armies retreated in order to regroup with the much larger 7th army north of the city. The British artillery moved into Khailar on the 19th and the British and Japanese armies began to plan a pincer movement to destroy the combined Russian army which had now gone into defensive positions. The British long-range artillery could easily reach the Russian encampments, so on the 20th of July the supporting British and Japanese armies split in two and attacked the combined encamped Russian armies from either side with the artillery shelling the back of the encampment with cannons moving out of the city attacking the front, the Russians with no where to go where slowly beaten into the ground, with an artillery shell hitting the Russian ammo dump, causing it to explode causing 1000+ casualties, as well as destroying most of the Russian supplies, weaponry and ammo. Some of the Russian army managed to escape the encampment and slowly retreated only to have British and Japanese cavalry to chase after them and mow them down, but the majority of the Russians were still encamped and they raised the white flag at around 4 pm after eoght hours of continuous shelling and attacks. However the Russians managed to call for help, and the 9th army began to approach Khailar.

The battle to destroy the three Russian armies had resulted with almost all of the artillery ammo running out though, meaning a conventional battle couldn't be fought, so the Japanese and British commanders came up with a trap, to blow up the rail bridge as the Russians in their trains crossed the river which flowed into lake Hulan. The British and Japanese also spread their forces out around Lake Hulan and the bridge, so that when the bridge explosives were detonated the British and Japanese forces could quickly surround the train and kill off any survivors, the artillery had also been fixed to aim at the rough area were the train would stop.

On the 23rd the trap was set and on the 25th the Russian train arrived as planed with the British and Japanese laying wait to ambush the Russians. Then as the Russian train passed over, the charges were exploded and the artillery began to rain down, after 10 minutes continuous artillery, the ammo was out and the Anglo-Japanese armies rushed in to finish the job, with half the 9th army killed and the other half captured, the battle was an important victory and was the springboard for the Anglo-Japanese attack on Chita later on in the winter.

August 1905 - 1906

With the victory at Khailar, the Anglo-Japanese forces decided it would be best to re-organize and to attack Russia. Then on the 2nd of August the Black Sea fleet mutinied and sailed out into the Black Sea, and on the 4th, the fleet arrived in Cyprus and offered there allegiance to the British.

The Route of the Anglo-Japanese Invasion force (August 6th - September 1st)

The British accepted and stayed in Cyprus to take part of the future invasion of European Russia by the British in a few more years. Rioting started in many parts of the country and due to the Russian military being occupied by the revolutions, the Anglo-Japanese Russian invasion force (1/3 British, 2/3 Japanese) marched into Russia and invaded Chinkuntsk and destroyed the garrison fairly quickly (by the 8th), the invasion force then continued to Chita and attacked it on the 12th and burnt it to the ground, before moving out to attack Lidinsk (Lindinsk is under Japanese control on the 14th), the rest of the invasion force moved onwards to Irkutsk, which was burnt down on the 18th. After this the Anglo-Japanese force turned back around to return to Manchuria, however around 3000 Russian civilians, exiles and separatists coming with the British and Japanese back. They followed the Trans-Siberian railway which the British and Japanese made use of in their attack, but this time with the help of the Russian deserters they tore it all up and Russian mobility and ability to attack Manchuria was now severely limited. The invasion force also raised all the settlements it came across on its way back with some more 2000 Russians deserting with the Anglo-Japanese force. They returned to Khailar by September 1st. Plus while all this was happening, the siege at Vladivostok was continuing, however the Russians were holding out, very well from the naval bombardments. In order to aid the invasion of Maritime, the Anglo-Japanese force which attacked Chita and Irkutusk, moved out of Khailar across Manchuria to attack the town of Kumarsk and from their subdue the rest of the Amur region, before going on to attack Nikolayevsk and north Maritime. On September 25th Vladivostok had fallen and most of the Amur region was taken too. The rest of Amur and Maritime was taken over by the 21st of February the following year, the length of this take over was greatly affected by a harsh winter, and the guerrilla tactics of the Russian loyalists; but the majority of the Russian peasants welcomed a new leadership in the area.

Plus while all this was happening, the siege at Vladivostok was continuing, however the Russians were holding out, very well from the naval bombardments. In order to aid the invasion of Maritime territory, the Anglo-Japanese force which attacked Chita and Irkutusk, moved out of Khailar across Manchuria to attack the town of Kumarsk and from their subdue the rest of the Amur region, before going on to attack Nikolayevsk and north Maritime obaslt. On September 25th Vladivostok had fallen and most of the Amur region was taken too. The rest of Amur and Maritime was taken over by the 21st of February the following year, the length of this take over was greatly affected by a harsh winter, and the guerrilla tactics of the Russian loyalists; but the majority of the Russian peasants welcomed a new leadership in the area.

However before the counter-attack in the winter in 1905, on August 2nd 1905, the Black Sea fleet mutinied and sailed out into the Black Sea, and then on the 4th the fleet arrived in Cyprus and offered there allegiance to the British. This was the last of Russia's main naval strength and were now at the mercy of the British, this caused lots of problems in the war council and cemented the Russian people's worst fears of a major defeat. With these embarising defeats of the army in Siberia and the rioting, a coup was started in St.Petersburg but this was stopped and all the conspirators (of which were mostly anarchists) were killed.

Trotsky's journey to unrivalled leadership of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party

Spurned by the increasing tensions in Russia, Leon Trotsky (who was currently in Switzerland decided to return to Russia with his wife Natalya Sedova in order to make use of the tension in starting a communist revolution. Unlike many of Trotsky's fellow Russian Social Democratic Labour Party leaders, Trotsky made the trip back to Russia via Austria with the help of Victor Adler (a leading Austrian Marxist) and made it into Ukraine using fake passports (Note this was in January 1905). By February Trotsky and his wife moved up to St.Petersburg to take part in revolutionary politics; where he worked with both Bolsheviks, such as Central Committee member Leonid Krasin, and the local Menshevik committee, which he pushed in a more radical direction. The latter, however, were betrayed by a secret police agent in May, and Trotsky had to flee to rural Finland. Trotsky returned to St.Petersburg in October, when a nationwide strike made it possible for him to return to St. Petersburg. After returning to the capital, Trotsky and Parvus took over the newspaper Russian Gazette and increased its circulation to 500,000. Trotsky also co-founded Nachalo ("The Beginning") with Parvus and the Mensheviks, which proved to be very successful.

Just before Trotsky's return, the Mensheviks had independently come up with the same idea that Trotsky had—an elected non-party revolutionary organization representing the capital's workers, the first Soviet ("Council") of Workers. By the time of Trotsky's arrival, the St. Petersburg Soviet was already functioning headed by Khrustalyov-Nosar (Georgy Nosar, alias Pyotr Khrustalyov), a compromise figure, and proved to be very popular with the workersdespite the Bolsheviks' original opposition. Trotsky joined the Soviet under the name "Yanovsky" (after the village he was born in, Yanovka) and was elected vice-Chairman. He did much of the actual work at the Soviet and, after Khrustalev-Nosar's arrest on 26 November, was elected its chairman. The Bolsheviks, Mensheviks and other factions of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party seemed to work together better under Trotsky's leadership and on 2 December, the Soviet issued a proclamation about the Tsarist government and its foreign debts. The following day, however the Soviet was surrounded by troops loyal to the government and the deputies were arrested. Fortunately Trotsky had caught a cold the day before and was bed resting at the time of the raid (Another P.O.D).The other arrested Soviet leaders were tried in 1906 on charges of supporting an armed rebellion. The majority of them were convicted and sentenced to deportation. All of the major leaders in the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party where convicted thanks to this raid, except Trotsky and Lenin.

Lenin grows apart from Trotsky

After this raid Trotsky and Lenin distanced themselves from each other even more; Trotsky fled to Finland and devised a plan to start a socialist revolution as well as his finalised ideas for a communist Russian state. He called for the many different factions and branches of Russian Marxism to join together and raise against the Tsar and to argue about the finer points of Marxism after they had established a provisional socialist government state. This appealed to lots of socialists across Russia and they held many secret meetings across Russia and even with the British and Germans in 1906 to start a revolution to coincide with the invasion of Russia by Germany and Britain. Trotsky decided to start the revolution in Siberia after finding out about the Anglo-German plans for invasion, as Trotsky knew many other revolutionary factions had also been contacted by the British and Germans and so concluded it would be easier to create a communist state in Siberia firstly before moving into Russia proper, as this would allow the Tsar's armies to exhaust themselves putting down the other revolutionary groups and invading Anglo-German forces as well as the Japanese. Trotsky moved the the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party's head quarters to Ayamsk which was deep within the Taimur peninsula in Siberia in order to prevent attack by the Russian Imperials due to its remoteness. From here he called upon all Russian socialists to travel to Ayamsk and Siberia in general, which considering the amount of Russian exiles in Siberia meant Trotsky's numbers in Siberia quickly increased and Trotsky took control of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, and controlled the largest socialist force in Russia, with Lenin's Bolshevik fraction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party the second largest, even though they were technically part of Trotsky's force.

1906 continued

Back to 1906 now, where the British knew they wouldn't be able to match Russian military strength on land so they devised a plan to make use of growing governmental discontent within Russia by sending in spies and agents via Norway to meet with the various leaders of independence movements and revolutionists in Kem the port on the White sea. The British would give arms, some military assistance and political recognition to the future states, in return for military aid and an alliance against the Tsar's forces. The Germans had also become interested in the war against Russia and decided to join the war against Russia. The forces began to be slowly build up and armed riots and coups in Riga and Helsinki began on January 2nd 1906, then a section of the British fleet then entered the bay of Riga and fired on Riga on the 3rd, as well as another detachment of the British blockade attacking Helsinki and another detachment sailing to St. Petersburg and a naval bombing commenced, which was to last until March, when the naval bombardment stopped.

The coups in Latvia and Finland then started to get into full swing as the British made troop landings in Riga, Helsinki, Aland islands and Osd island. Then on the 5th the Polish coup began, however this was much more successful as the Poles where armed much better, then on the 9th the Germans declared war on Russia and invaded Polish Russia and Lithuania. Then on the 12th the Swedish declared war on Russia and attacked Lapland. Then on the 13th Norway declared war, and the crack Swedish and Norwegian snow troops managed to start a successful hit and run invasion of Lapland. The Russians began to quickly lose land and control, but they did sign a peace treaty with the Japanese in March, which meant the Japanese kept all of their territorial gains as well as control of all Russian spheres of influence in China and Mongolia.

With the British and Germans invading, the Poles, Finns, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians,Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Armenians and Crimeans all starting independence revolutions, and the soviets beginning to form a state in Siberia; the Russian civil war has truly began.

The True start of the Civil War 1906

The allied advance into West Russia

The Russian Imperial army had been pushed out of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and the Kola Peninsula; this meant that the Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians and Finns had taken control of their homelands but the Russian Imperials weren't having any of this and viewed it as a foreign invasion. This gave way to a large trench based front along Onega river and to the big lakes of south Karelia; this trench strategy was by the forces near-by to hold back the advance as the massive Russian army mobilized, however the pushes by the mainly German army were so strong that the newly arriving troops to the line had to re-enforce the retreating Russian forces and by April 2nd the Russian Imperial army had stabilized their western front. Elsewhere on the eastern front the Russians began an attack against Japanese held Manchuria, but the Japanese had learned of this attack and marched into Russia to meet the advancing army and they met around Chita. The two armies fought in the 2nd battle of Chita on January 17th which was a decisive Japanese victory. As well as this repulsion, the Japanese also invaded the Kamchatka Peninsula in order to gain some further land, after Japanese reconnaissance reported that only a single Russian militia guarded the main town in south Kamchatka, Petropavlovski, so the Japanese decided to invade based on this, and this information proved true. The Kamchatka peninsula, Sakhalin, the Kurile islands and the greater Manchuria region were under Japanese control and on March 4th 1906 the Japanese and Russian Empire signed the treaty of Chita which caused the Japanese to keep their currently controlled territories in Kamchatka, Sakhalin, the Kurile islands and the greater Manchuria region. This was mainly done in order to free up troops and also the Russian Tsar vowed to regain these lost territories after the war in Europe was over, the Japanese began to assert their control and declare the newly acquired Russian territories in maritime territory and the Amur region as the Colony of Yukiyama as well as declaring Manchuria a jointly controlled state, with Japan and China both running the region. Sakhalin and the Kurile islands are incorporated into the Japanese empire, each as their own prefecture (Karafuto prefecture (Sakhalin) & Chishima prefecture (Kurile islands) and Kamchatka became the colony of Southern Kamchatka; this caused many Japanese settlements to be set up across the new prefectures and colonies.

With the loss of the Japanese from the war, the Tsar's eastern troops were freed up and the Russian High command didn't have to worry about a dangerous two front war with Germany and Japan, both backed up by Britain. The removal of troops from the area allowed Trotsky to gain considerably more control over Siberia and by the end of the year all of Ayamsk, the Tairmur peninsula and the surrounding area.However due to the remoteness of Ayamsk the soviet leadership planed to extend their control to the trans-siberian railway in order to make transport easier; and also to build a railway and telegraph lines from Ayamsk in order for the leadership's commands to be spread to the front lines easily. On May 1st Trotsky proclaimed the Soviet Republic of Siberia and this date was declared a Soviet holiday.

The Crimean nationals had also started a revolution with the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine, however the Crimean Nationals and the anarchists were weary of each other and had different ideals, but they gained support from Germany and England and form their own anarchic republic in the Crimean peninsula. The anarchists knew most of the populace of their anarchic republic weren't anarchists so they vowed to convert them by teaching them anarchic principles and such via propaganda leaflets and speeches by their 'leaders' such as Nestor Makhno (who would later go on to control this anarchic movement).

The Ottoman Empire saw the revolts across the Russian Empire and decided to invade Russia since there armies were already stretched out, so they decided to invade the Caucasus region to regain old land and attacked Georgia. The Ottoman Empire however doesn't side with Britain or German and fights by itself, for itself; this new opponent worries the Tsar as a front in the Caucasus would spread out the army too much, so he tried to form a peace with the Ottomans.

Events of the civil war in 1907

Elsewhere a group of Russian nobles, later known as the Muscowy league was formed in a secret meeting in Moscow. They were planning a revolt against the Tsar and to oust his government and replace it with their own government. This was mainly due to dissatisfaction with the Tsar's government, a will for liberal reform, as well as each of the league's member's desires for more power and money.

Russian Imperial troops in their trenches waiting for the German assault

The Soviets were becoming more focused around Siberia, with loads of Soviet supporters slowly travelling across Russia to join the Soviets. Several factory riots also took place across Russia, the bloodiest being the battle of Tomsk which started out as a factory riot but quickly spread out across Tomsk. Lenin and his Bolsheviks also pledged allegiance to Trotsky, as well as Martov and his Mensheviks, following the lead of several other lesser socialist leaders pledging allegiance to Trotsky. Lenin and Martov were both allowed on Trotsky's council of the workers of Siberia in order to keep factionalism to a minimum.

Also the Turkestan ethic armies where planning their own revolution with the support of most of the population in the Turkestan region; and in November they started an armed coup in several major cities in Russian occupied Turkestan, most importantly Samarkand was taken within a few hours and from that day served as the capital of the Turkestan empire and base of operations for the Turkestan army. This caused the loss of almost all Imperial control in the Turkestan region and martial law was declared in this area.

Also in the Caucasus region the Ottomans had beaten the Russians and drafted a peace treaty, which ceded the Caucasus region to the Ottoman Empire, however no reparations had to be paid to the Ottomans from the Russians as part of the peace dealings. The Russians accepted on July 17th in order to free up troops the Caucasus region was lately becoming increasingly hostile to Russian rule and the Ottomans moved in on July 20th. However Georgian resistance and Armenian resistance had Azerbaijan resistance had all met to form an alliance against Ottoman rule and help each other after their subsequent independence on August 1st and on September 4th they started an armed revolt.

The Russian government however got some help after the Norwegian and Swedish governments agreed peace terms with the Tsar in July, due to them gaining all the land they were promised by the Allies. This did annoy the other allies a fair bit, however they continued to support the Russian Republic and Finland in North west Russia Empire, by allowing allied shipping through Norway and Sweden, gave weapons and financial support also.

Russia loses Moldavia to Romania

Another independence movement started in Moldavia, however the majority of the people in this revolt wanted to be united with Romania. This revolt started in January and quickly spread due to the lack of Russian Imperial troops in the area. Some of the leaders of this revolt met with the Romanian government in March after the revolt had spread out across most of Moldavia; in which they came to an agreement for Moldavia to join in a political union with Romania (similar to that of the UK). The Moldavians and Romanians negotiated for the rest of March until representatives of the Moldavian rebels and the Romanian government met with the Tsar, and they gave the Tsar their deal. The Tsar accepted the deal as Moldavia joining Romania, the Tsar in return would get Russian Imperial troops the right to pass through Romania for the next 200 years, as well some reparations, which was needed by the Tsar for the war effort. This deal was finalized in the treaty of St.Petersburg on April 7th and it was put into effect by April 28th when the last Russian troops moved out of Moldavia, and finally on May 3rd, the money was paid by Romania to the Russian Empire's treasury.

The Crimean "Civil War"

The Black army's anarchist flag becomes well known in Ukraine as the Black March begins

Elsewhere the Crimean anarchists were losing support from the Crimean peasants and other non-anarchists and on April 3rd the Crimean republicans were founded and on September 2nd their army rebelled against the anarchists. The Crimean "civil war" lasts from September 2nd until October 15th. Numerous little battles take place between the anarchists and Crimeans, the anarchists are slowly pushed back and forced to withdraw to Krasnoperekopsk. Lots of the former Crimean Anarchists and lesser members of the Black army, mutiny to join the Crimean Republican army. The remaining true anarchists stayed in Krasnoperekopsk preparing to leave Crimea to find a new land to form an anarchist state. The Crimean Republican army marched on Krasnoperekopsk to drive them out of Crimea and to start stabilizing the peninsula in order to form their own nation. The army arrived outside the city and then sent in a messenger telling the anarchists to clear out of Crimea. The anarchists negotiated to stay for a week before moving out. The rest of the anarchists got together, banded their supplies together and began the Black March on October 15th. The Black March began marching out from Crimea, then to go across west Ukraine, looking for another place to establish an anarchist state. Along the way they tried to convert as many people as they could to their anarchy cause.

The Civil War in 1908

1908 was a violent year with some independence movements gaining lots of additional territory. This year is set out so you can see the events of each of the main factions did in this year.

Peace declared between the Russian Empire and Finland

Bound by the terms of the treaty of Oslo, the Finland government realize that they can't gain any more land and rather than lose men for a needless cause, they decide to leave the war in order to focus on stabilizing and re-building their new nation. So Finland decide to offer peace to the Russian Empire and they both sign the treaty of Viborg on October 3rd which declares Finland's peace with the Russian Empire and and establishment as a recognized state; this however causes the Russian Empire to lose a fair bit of territory. The Finns continue to support the allies though, by allowing troops and supplies through its territory to the Russian Republic. This was a good thing for the Tsar as it is the loss of another aggressor but it was at a large cost of land.

The Imperial Russian Campaigns

The Tsar was facing problems from several areas and devised a plan to deal with them all with a series of campaigns. The first of these campaigns was to be the Western campaign to push out from St.Petersburg against the Russian Republicans and Germans as the Tsar was worried about the allies approaching St.Petersburg and destroying his command centre.

The gulf of Finland is also heavily mined to stop the allies from sailing up and bombarding St.Petersburg. Small torpedo ships where also mass produced to destroy any ships to get through the mine fields. The gulf of Finland became a watery no-ships land and stayed this way for the rest of the war, thanks to the Imperial Russian navy's huge efforts to guard the Gulf of Finland & St.Petersburg (this was done by the Russian naval chiefs to make up for the lack of other actions the Russian navy were able to do).

The 1908 Western Campaign; April-June

This campaign was to be lead by General Aleksey Kuropatkin, the former Russian Imperial Minister of War (1898–1904) who was mostly held responsible for major Russian drawbacks in the early Manchurian war, notably the Battle of Mukden and the Battle of Liaoyang. He had lost his title & much recognition but now the Tsar offered General Kuropatkin redemption by leading this counter-attack against the advances towards St.Petersburg. He spoke with Viktor Sakharov (who was appointed the War Minister after Kuropatkin) as War Minister General Sakharov was in charge of the defensive of St.Petersburg and subsquently the North of the Western Russian Front. However Kuropatkin was overly cautious as he didn't want to fail the Tsar a second time and the majority of his forces became used as backup troops for Sakharov and also to push back the allies in Estonia a small bit; but due to the nature of the trench warfare and Kuropatkin's nervousness not to fail, this campaign just became a large re-enforcement for Sakharov. While this campaign wasn't a failure, it failed to meet its objectives, so the Tsar summoned Kuropatkin to a hearing to decide his future: Kuropatkin managed to convince the Tsar that the expulsion of the allies couldn't begin until the trench line had been stabilized and trying to expand now would cost lots of unnecessary losses. The hearing ended with Kuropatkin becoming second in command in the Russian Western Front. This large amount of reinforcements would keep the line around St.Petersburg largely the same for the rest of the war.

The 1908 Eastern Campaign; June-September

This campaign was primarily to stop the Soviet forces in Siberia. It was started after the western campaign had largely failed and the Soviets where increasing in power, so the Tsar assembled a large army to go and destroy the main soviet strong points, with the main target being Omsk. Imperial forces didn't know about the secret Soviet capital of Ayamsk and so they didn't really know where the main Soviet command centre was, just that it was somewhere deep in Siberia. This campaign was led by Oskar Grippenberg who was offered a similar chance of redemption by the Tsar after losing in some of the initial battles in Manchuria. This campaign against the Soviets made use of the railway to quickly deploy to the front lines and to march to Omsk.

The Imperial Army charging at the Soviet Red Army

The first battle against the Soviets broke through their main line and they spread out pushing back the Soviets on a large scale. Omsk was still very far away and the only way to get their was to fight through Soviet positions. Some of the Imperial army deserted and left to join the Soviets bearing information about the Imperial campaign. With this information the Soviet high command produced a plan which would let the Imperial army to march forward and let them win several battles. Then when they reached the outskirts of Omsk the Soviets would launch a massive counter-attack, breaking the Imperial supply lines and surrounding the main Imperial forces. This plan largely went to plan with the Imperial forces killing more Soviets than predicted but the Imperial forces ultimately lost the battle of Omsk after being surrounded and routed. Lots of weapons where captured and lots of troops deserted to join the Soviets. General of the campaign, Oskar Grippenberg, was executed along with the other troops loyal to the Tsar. This campaign was the biggest failure of the three great Imperial Russian Campaigns of 1908.

The 1908 Southern Campaign; September-November

Aleksandr Roediger was chosen to led the southern campaign to try to retake Ukraine, Crimea and southern Russia in general. This was the last of the campaigns to start as the threats in south Russia where seen the least dangerous and also the Tsar had to wait for troops left over from the other back-up armies, and when there was enough troops, the campaign began, however the southern campaign's troop numbers were no where near as high as the other campaigns, which was quite ironic as it was seen as the most successful.

The Campaign started in early September with troops being sent to re-take Kiev and defeat any other rebels along the way. They reached the outskirts of North West Kiev on the 20th and began to besiege the city on the 21st and then moved into the city on the 22nd. The anarchist's informants had seen the large scale of the Imperial army and they decided it would be best to move out of the city. Nestor Makno knew that defeat was most likely if they stayed defending the city as their army was more suited to attacking and guerrilla warfare. The rule of Boris Fedotova was also seen as less anarchic and more socialist. The majority of the black army decided to abandon Kiev and Boris Fedotova and march out to pillage the rest of Russia.

Boris Fedotova and his loyal troops stayed in Kiev and they numbered considerably less than the Imperial forces. They decided to booby trap the city extensively and defend the city from a selection of sniper nests and defensive strong points to take out as many as Imperial troops as possible. The Imperial troops shelled the city for the first three days and then moved in and took out the remaining strongholds in Kiev. Kiev was declared free of the anarchists on the 30th but the city was largely destroyed.

With Kiev under Imperial control again, Roediger informed the Tsar of his victory and informed the Tsar he was marching south to retake Crimea. Roediger's army marched south and after a week's march Roediger's forces reached the outskirts of Crimean territory and the army re-established order in the city of Melitopol; however word had reached the Crimean separatists about the approaching Imperial army, and the Crimeans had prepared Melitopol, and just after a few hours of the Imperial army trying to bring back law and order to Melitopol, Crimean mortars rained down on Melitopol from hidden Crimean positions around the city. This surprise bombardment killed many Imperial forces and Imperial troops rushed to find out where the mortars where being fired from; however most of the Crimean mortar teams where hidden and to only fire in the initial bombardment, and these mortar teams quickly evacuated. However a few mortar teams where to keep fighting, and they where guarded by machine guns. These mortar/machine gun nests killed many of the Imperial troops and this ambush by the Crimeans also enraged Roediger and he went straight to attack Crimea proper, after learning from some of the captured mortar crew members, that it was a surprise attack by the Crimean separatists. The "Melitopol Ambush", as it would later be known, on October 7th 1908, was to prove very useful in the survival of the Crimean republic in the coming days, as many Imperial soldiers died in this attack, whose additional numbers could of proved the key factor in overwhelming the Crimean defences at Perekop. (October 15th - 24th)

After the surprise attack by the Crimeans, Roediger prepared his troops to expect the worse from the Crimeans as they marched further towards Crimea. Roediger planned to march south west and cross the Isthmus of Perekop and then march into the Crimean heartland. As the army marched to Perekop, they were attacked by many Crimean guerrilla units, picking off further Imperial troops. What Roediger didn't know though, was that the Crimean separatists had greatly fortified the Isthmus of Perekop, and when they reached outskirts of Perekop, Crimean artillery rained down on the Imperial forces and the battle of Perekop started.

For more information on this battle, please click here

After the Imperial forces had been largely held back for the first 3 days, the Tsar's messengers reached Roediger and asked him to go and enforce the Soviet front in the east. Roediger then sent a message back to the Tsar asking if he should take Crimea first. Then on the 28th, the Tsar's messenger returned and the Tsar said that Crimea would be left alone until the much larger Soviet threat had been dealt with. Roediger went along with the Tsar's decision, knowing too well what happens to those in his bad-books. The Tsar had also sent a peace treaty with the message, to be given to the Crimeans, which was given to the Crimeans and peace talks between the Tsar and Crimea began.

Roediger moved his troops out of Perekop, and marched to Perm conscripted lots of troops along the way, and defeated many rebels along the way. However once Roediger's army reached Perm, the Southern campaign was over, and Roediger would later serve as commander for the Russian Empire's Eastern front from his camp in Perm, which Roediger begin to fortify as soon as he reached Perm in November.

Event concerning the Black Army

The Black March of the Anarchist Black Army continues from Crimea into North of the Ukraine, they are attacked by Russian Imperial troops in the battle of Zhashkiv in January. This is a black victory with the Black army continues to march and on March 13th they begin to besiege the city of Kiev. This starts the first battle of Kiev.

The First Battle of Kiev (March 13th - April 22nd)

The Black army attack Kiev from the South West attacking the Holosiiv and Solom'yansk districts first. They eventually take over Holosiiv by March 27th and begin to attack Pechersk; then Solom'yansk was under Anarchist control by March 29th. Then Perchersk fell on April 1st. The Russian commander of Kiev decided to leave west Kiev and withdrew from Western Kiev on April 2nd, destroying the bridges as they retreated. The Dnipro river now protected Eastern Imperial-held Kiev, however this causes the rest of West Kiev to fall under Anarchist control by April 4th.

A stalemate held for a week until the enforced Imperial troops launched an assault against West Kiev on April 14th. This assault was done via small barges but Black Army sniper's were charged with stopping River crossings; the river assault sent 250 troops across on barges, but 107 were killed by sniper fire. Snipers had been adopted as a useful defensive tactic by the Black army when they were guarding the Crimean border but weren't used by the Imperial troops that much. The rest of the assaulting troops were shot down as they clambered out of the boats and from the river to near-by buildings. The buildings lining the river were full of Black army troops in good defensive positions with the Imperial troops having hardly any cover. A Black army lieutenant, Nestor Makhno decided to launch a counter attack against East Kiev using captured barges and the large wooden bridge/plank they had built to cross the gap in the middle of the Struve Railroad Bridge. This two pronged attack caught the Russians off guard thanks to the disarray caused by the earlier failed assault. Black army sent over 5 experimental tachankas to attack East Kiev; these tachankas causes great casualties and disarray as the horses run quickly through Kiev gunning down very one and anything. This is then backed up by the advancing black army troops, with the front line carrying shields which also serve as shooting posts/bi-pods for the rifles & machine guns, which are named Soshka Ekranuvaty (being shortened to Soshekran in slang terms between the black army troops). This leads to a continuous attack by the Anarchists until April 22nd when the remaining Russian troops retreat out of Kiev north to Chernigov.

'Batko' Nestor Makno

With this victory, Nestor Makhno becomes general of the Tachanka Corps of the Black Army following there success in the First Battle of Kiev. He goes about expanding the about of Tachankas from 5 to 50 by the month's end and then to 200 by the end of the year; needless to say Makhno succeeds in this.

As well as Makhno's promotion, Boris Fedotova (a big general in the Black Army and the mastermind behind the Soshka Ekranuvaty) declares himself Mayor of Free Kiev, and the City state of Free Kiev. The loss of this major city causes lots of global shock and has the Tsar sending in a second army to retake Kiev.

The Second Battle of Kiev September 22nd - 30th

The Second battle of Kiev was part of the Imperial Russian Southern Campaign in attempt to re-gain control over Ukraine & Crimea. The Imperial army had several small skirmishes against other rebel groups but remained largely at full strength by the time they reached Kiev.

The Imperial army led by Aleksandr Roediger reached the outskirts of North West Kiev on the 20th and began to besiege the city on the 21st and then moved into the city on the 22nd. The anarchist's informants had seen the large scale of the Imperial army and they decided it would be best to move out of the city. Nestor Makno knew that defeat was most likely if they stayed defending the city as their army was more suited to attacking and guerrilla warfare. The rule of Boris Fedotova was also seen as less anarchic and more socialist. The majority of the black army decided to abandon Kiev and Boris Fedotova on the 20th after they saw the army with their own eyes; and they marched out to pillage the rest of Russia.

Boris Fedotova and his loyal troops stayed in Kiev and they numbered considerably less than the Imperial forces. They decided to booby trap the city extensively and defend the city from a selection of sniper nests and defensive strong points to take out as many as Imperial troops as possible. The Imperial troops shelled the city for the first three days destroying most of the strong-points and the troops moved in to clear each building but they got stuck for a small while when reaching an intact stronghold. On the 27th west Kiev was under Imperial control after being held back by snipers for a few hours and the Russian army proceeded to shell east Kiev until the 29th when they launched an assault on east Kiev and got through after crossing the river to east Kiev. Kiev was declared free of the anarchists on the 30th as most remaining anarchists were killed in the crossing assault. The city was retaken by the Imperial Russians but the city was largely destroyed after all of the shelling by the Imperial artillery.

The Crimean Republic's separatist movement

The Crimean Republic stabilized its territory in the Crimean Peninsula and gained the support of nearly all of the people in Crimea and even expands out of Crimea proper, but the Crimean Republicans get word of the Southern Campaign of the Imperial Russian army, and they begin to heavily fortify the Isthmus of Perekop, and track the Imperial army's route. Then once their informants had confirmed the Imperial forces moving into Melitopol, the Crimeans planned a large ambush in Melitopol with mortars and snipers.

Once the Imperial forces reached Melitopol on the 8th, the Crimeans waited until the Imperial forces thought they had regained control over Melitopol, and then just as the Imperial forces began to relax; a Crimean sniper team monitoring the Imperial forces, blew up the explosives in the sewers of Melitopol, which was the signal for the Crimean mortar teams to fire on Melitopol from the many hidden Crimean positions around the city. This surprise bombardment killed many Imperial forces and Imperial troops rushed to find out where the mortars where being fired from; however most of the Crimean mortar teams where hidden and to only fire in the initial bombardment, and these mortar teams quickly evacuated. However a few mortar teams where to keep fighting, and they where guarded by machine guns. These mortar/machine gun nests where to stay behind and to let the Imperials that the Crimeans had carried out this attack, and this was meant to enrage the commander of the Imperial forces, and convince them to go and attack Crimea proper blindly, as some of the captured mortar crew members where told to give out certain details concerning the Crimean forces. This tactic worked perfectly and the Imperial forces marched to Perekop to cross the Isthmus of Perekop, as it was the largest land path leading into Crimea, and the only one large enough to let a large army pass.

The Imperial forces marched to Perekop, being attacked by Crimean guerrilla units, which picked off further Imperial troops. These continuing attacks on the Imperials, brought their numbers down and nibbled at their morale, and then as they reached the miles of defences and trenches guarding the Isthmus of Perekop, the Crimeans launched a huge artillery barrage on the Imperial forces and the battle of Perekop started.

The Battle of Perekop (October 15th - 29th)

The battle of Perekop was to be the defining battle of the Crimean separatist forces; it would be the great Crimean victory which would go on to be celebrated as the birth of their nation, but it wasn't as glorious as the Crimeans would like their grandchildren to believe. It was in essence, the Crimeans holding back the Imperial army for as long as possible and trying to kill enough of them to stop their assault.

A reserve trench of the Crimean defensive line, with Crimean troops practising their drills

The battle started well for the Crimeans, holding back the initial Russian assaults from the Crimean main line via mortars, machine guns and artillery. This trench warfare was a new defensive tactic that the Imperial forces weren't all that used to, and in the first few days of Imperial charges, hundreds of Imperial troops where killed. The Imperial commander, Roediger, decided to change his tactics after the first five days of fruitless charges; he also dug in and begin to dig forward. However what Roediger hadn't expected was the captured Crimean trenches, to be booby-trapped. As the Imperials began to fill up the first line of captured Crimean trenches, the Crimeans blew up several large pits of explosives arranged along the trench line and wounded almost all of the Imperial forces which had moved into the Crimean trenches and killing many hundreds too.

This left gaping holes in the captured Crimean trenches and allowed Crimean snipers to easily hit scurrying Imperial troops. The Russians had huge numbers though and could still continue, and after they captured the second line of Crimean trenches, the Imperial forces set up clearing charges and blew up the planted Crimean explosives to prevent a similar sneak attack like when the first Crimean line was taken.

This slow advance of Imperial forces continued for several more days, and both sides where close to running out of troops to continue the advance / stop the advance. The Crimeans sensing their lines being broken in the coming days appealed to the allies to send in some battleships to attack the advancing Imperial troops. The mutinied Russian Black Sea fleet vowed to come & help the Crimeans and set sail to Perekop.

However fortunately for the Imperial troops, orders from the Tsar to move out and to go attack the Soviets in the east instead reached Roediger. Along with the orders to move out, was a peace treaty to be given to the Crimeans. Roediger called a ceasefire and sent a messenger to the Crimeans with the peace treaty; the Crimeans accepted the peace and Roediger & his forces moved out.

With this peace treaty, the battle of Perekop ended and a series of peace talks began with the Russian Empire and Crimea. These peace talks would continue until 1909, but no more hostilities between Crimea and the Russian Empire would take place. The Czar did this as he saw the Soviets as a greater threat than the Crimeans who could be attacked again after the Soviets had been defeated. The mutinied Russian Black Sea fleet reached Crimea, who then pledged allegiance to the Crimean separatists and the mutinied Russian Black Sea fleet became the first fleet of the Crimean National Navy.

The Turkestan Coup

More revolts and revolutions across Turkestan happen, increasing the land that recognizes the rule of the Turkestani army, the Turkestani controlled land doubles in size and they begin to carve out their own nation. The Turkestani's success is helped by the lack of Imperial Russian soldiers in the area due to the majority of them in the area defecting to the Turkestani army and cause. Also one General Omar Turan, who was one of the first masterminds behind the Turkestani uprising, became supreme general of the Turkestani army after stopping another Turkestani general from taking over the Turkestani army in a coup. In the wake of this coup, General Turan set out to centralize his control of the Turkestan region and impose his rule and he created the National Turkestani transitional Council to formalize and improve Turan & his supporter's rule over Turkestan, with himself as Commander in Chief. Commander Turan ordered the Tukestani army to focus taking the urban areas of Turkestan before moving onto seizing the country-side in order to win over the urban masses.

The Russian Republic

The Russian Republic makes more advances and gains from the Russian Empire and expands southwards and eastwards. The republic gain more supporters from other liberal-minded Russians and the Russian Republic tries to expand southwards more as their current land which they control is a bit too cold to farm to feed a large population. The Tsar though manages to stop people from St.Petersburg leaving to join the Russian Republic by setting up lots of road blockades and establishing a series of trench lines along the Russian Republic - Russian Empire battle lines. Because of the bulk of the Russian Imperial Forces being around St.Petersburg and Moscow (the centre & west of European Russia), the Russian Republicans began to commit more troops to expanding to the east and South East as there was less resistance.

The Start of Ukrainian Separatist movements

Various Ukrainian nationalists groups (some of which were already staging rebellions) meet in Khmelnitsky to discuss creating an independent state. All of these groups are democratic separatists and they form the Democratic Ukraine Separatists; as all the Ukrainian communists had gone to Siberia, the Imperial royalists had joined the Imperial army and anarchists in Ukraine had joined the Black army, which was currently facing an Imperial assault against its Free Kiev territory. This meant that the Democratic Ukrainian Separatists were rather unopposed and they believed that the other forces would have weakened one another enough so that the Democratic Ukraine Separatists would be able to beat them in battle. The Democratic Ukraine Separatists go meet with the allies to discuss the western front moving into Ukraine more. The allies agree due to the democratic nature of the rebels & similar ideals to the allies. Knowing the war would soon becoming to Ukraine, the Democratic Ukraine Separatists begans lots of revolts across Ukraine and to make the allied advance across Ukraine easier and quicker.

The Soviet Republic of Siberia

The Soviets increase their control in Siberia and establish the Soviet Republic of Siberia in their Siberian controlled lands. The Tsar started the eastern campaign to stop the Soviets. This campaign is mentioned more here. The Soviet forces manage to defeat the Imperial army and get a lot of the Imperial troops to defect to the Soviet cause. Plus by defeating this Imperial assault, the Soviets could expand virtually unopposed.

1909

The Crimean Republic is recognized as an independent state by most countries now and on July 1st the treaty of Yalta is signed, declaring peace between the Crimean Republic and Russian Empire. The treaty also declares peace between Ukraine and Crimea but the Ukrainians continue to fight the Russian Empire.

The Black Army marches onwards!

After being forced out of Kiev, the Black army is fairly spread out and the Czar believes them to be defeated and dispersed. However the anarchists who fled Kiev to the South West continue to march and send out messages to regroup in Kaniv. On January 1st during the New years celebrations in Kaniv the dispersed anarchists meet back up with the main Black army and anarchists start a huge riot in Kaniv and burn it down as they cross the Dnieper (mostly in boats) to the east side and re-start the Black March.

The Black March going towards Moscow

Nestor Makhno becomes de facto leader of the black army (he is known as Batko (father) to his admirers) & Makhno decides to march on Moscow & level it,to show the world the power of anarchy. He gets more & more people to join the Black army & the tachanka corps are expanded vastly and they become a large plundering force. This large expansion of the Tachankas is made possible thanks to a large smuggling operation of machine guns into Russia from Austria by Peter Arshinov

Peter Archinov, the man responsible for arming the Black Army

(Peter is smuggling arms into Russia to sell to revolutionaries & cause of the war, Peter doesn't get caught unlike in OTL) who also then meets Nestor & joins the Black Army. (Note because of the earliness of the Russian Civil war here, Nestor was never arrested for a third time and instead began to preach anarchism & formed his black army anarchist group in 1908 instead). The Black March is back on and they cross over into Russia in November, all while plundering, killing Imperial loyalists, getting people to join the Black army, and setting up small anarchical communities in some of the towns and villages the Black Army seizes. These small communities are either destroyed during the rest of the war, forced to join another group (like the Ukrainian separatists for example) or to leave their communities to go join the Black Army or to go live in Nebesa (once it was formed obviously).

Turkestan continues to cement its control over its territories

The Turkestani army also consolidates its hold on Turkestan and defeats a Imperial Russian assault in modern day south west Kazakhstan. This shows the power of Turkestan to the rest of the world, and the allies pledge support to Turkestan so that they could take away Russia's presence in Central Asia, and very importantly to the British, the main supporter of Turkestan in the allied camp: to protect the British Raj. The Turkestani leadership decide to go and meet with the Soviets to decide on their international borders so that once the Imperial Russian forces in Central Asia had been taken care of, the soviets and Turkestani armies wouldn't just start fighting against each other. Thanks to these victories, and increased international recognition, more Turkestani ethnics join the cause and the size of their army increases lots, and almost all popular support for the Russian Empire in Central Asia has disappeared; with the vast majority of popular support in Central Asia being for Turkestan.

The USSR establishes borders

The USSR continues to expand by defeating, killing and converting Russian Imperials, but after all of that expansion the nation's ambitions begin to conflict with the ambitions of neighbouring Turkestan. The USSR tactfully decides to make a border agreement with Turkestan, to ensure the two nations have good relations, and that these two new nations don't just destroy themselves only just after gaining independence. While the Soviets show restraint and cogitation when dealing with Turkestan; the Soviets couldn't be less introspective when dealing with their other neighbour: the Russian Republic.

The USSR expands westwards as the Russian Republic makes more advances eastward and eventually the two advancing lines meet in the Timan Range of mountains. Negotiations start between the two sides to agree on borders, but these talks break down as tensions escalate, and the two sides couldn't decide upon a common border. A small border skirmish breaks out after a Soviet solider kills a Russian Republican solider, who was allegedly sneaking into Soviet territory to spy and when asked, he refused to leave. This skirmish sends the tensions sky-rocketing and more skirmishes break out, eventually causing the talks break down and an all out battle starting, between the Republicans and the Soviets.

The Battle of Timan Range

With negotiations failed, and skirmishes breaking out across the Soviet-Russian Republic border, an all out battle breaks out with the Soviets launching the first offensive against the Republicans. The offensive was stopped however once the Republicans had set up a defensive line along a river which had a large cliff on the Republican side. The Republicans set up their artillery guns on the cliff overlooking the river, and they provide covering fire for the Republican counter attack.

The Republicans have the advantage of better weaponry supplied by the allies, and they make use of their rifle's longer range by hiding behind trees and shooting Soviet troops from a far, before quickly going back behind the trees. Lots of small sporadic clashes take place as the Republicans slowly advance, and the Soviet's defensive positions are destroyed by the Republican artillery. Soviet snipers high up in trees and on the hilltops, rained precisely aimed bullets down on the advancing Republican troops. As winter begins to take hold and the snow covers the front in white camouflage, the Republican advance eases up; and the Soviets take advantage by using their better camouflaged troops to sneak behind the enemy lines and when the Soviets attacked from the front, the concealed Soviet troops behind them would take advantage and fire too, creating lots of confusion and pointing out the Republican positions to the main advancing Soviet line. The Republicans eventually caught on, and watched their lines much more closely, stopping the Soviets from sneaking behind them. Republicans also started to use camouflage on a wide-spread basis, and would continue to pick Soviet troops off from a far.

The Republicans began to push back the Soviets again, and by the end of January 1910, they had pushed the entire Soviet line back behind the River Petchora. The Soviets set up fortifications along their side of the river, and had snipers on patrol constantly to watch out for any Republican river crossings. However since the Petchora was quite wide and the Soviets had heavily fortified the river, the Republican army dared launch a river crossing mission after their first two attempts failed, and the Soviets built up even more fortifications. The Soviets then tried their own river crossings too, but the Republicans stopped them, and increased their own fortifications. The Republican's final real assault attempting to bombard the Soviet fortifications with their artillery guns before crossing, however this latest Republican breakthrough tactic still failed to give the Republicans their much wanted breakthrough, and the Soviet line remained strong.

The nervous stand off would continue, with both sides sniping at each other, until eventually a ceasefire was called and negotiation began in a settlement sitting on the Petchora river (this settlement would later go on to become OTL Pechora town). These negotiations would end the battle with the Treaty of Pechora. The treaty of Pechora established the River Petchora as the USSR-Russian Republic border in the North, and then once the Petchora had reached the Ural Mountains, the Urals would be used as the Southern USSR-Russian Republic border, if need be.

1910

The battle of Timan range ends with a Republican Victory and the River Petchora is decided as the Russian Republic - USSR border with the treaty of Pechora. For the full battle please see above.

• The Ukrainians greatly expand there controlled territory in the Ukraine

• The Turkestanis expel the Russian Imperial troops from Turkestan and expand further, creating a large Central Asian empire.

Estonia leave the war after signing the treaty of Pskov with various countries which stabilizes and decides its borders too. However Estonia agrees to allow allied troops to move through Estonia, while the war against the Tsar continues.

The Battle of Moscow

Woes for the Tsar continue as on March 4th the Black army reach Moscow and as they attack Moscow, however at the same time the Moscowy League begin there own rebellion too. The Battle of Moscow forms from the subsequent attack from the Anarchists, revolt by the Muscowy league and the Imperial forces trying to hold it. The battle rages on for the rest of March with the 3 forces fighting viciously all around Moscow. The Black army eventually decides to march east to find a place to establish an anarchist state on March 29th; the Moscowy league manages to get a lot of Imperial troops to defect to the Muscowy league through promises of better conditions, pay and a fairer state; the other Russian Imperial troops are pushed back eventually by the Moscowy league and they begin to expand outwards and control of the area around Moscow by the end of the year.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is founded

Chairman Leon Trotsky, founder of the USSR

Trotsky with the help of his loyalists and the Soviet Republic of Siberia formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, with the Soviet Republic of Siberia being the largest and most powerful of the Soviet Republics. The Red Army is declared the national army of the USSR. Leon Trotsky declares himself Commander-in-chief of the Red Army, Chairman of the Central Committee of the USSR, and Chairman of the Central Committee of the Soviet Republic of Siberia.

The various other Socialist groups are invited to create their own Soviet Republic within the USSR, as long as the Republic would follow the same basic socialist principles and guidelines of USSR republics, outlined by Trotsky, a socialist group could create their own socialist republic within the USSR. Martov's Menshiviks and Lenin's Bolsheviks create their own republics as well as several other socialist groups, but these groups are kept under the careful watch of Trotsky's spies and loyalists. Furthermore the amount of Soviet control increases under the watchful command from the USSR capital at Ayamsk.

With its western borders now fixed, because of the treaty of Pechora, the USSR expansion is now aimed to go southwards to its agreed borders with Turkestan, and eastwards into Siberia and the far east.

1911

The Black Army and other Russian Anarchists end their march as they reach Samara and the Anarchist state of Nebesa is declared around Samara and the Ural river (basically east European Russia). They meet with the Soviets in order to establish a border as well, and after some negotiation the Ural Mountains and river is decided upon as the border.

Then after seeing the creation of two new ex-Russian Empire states the Cossacks living around the river Don begin their own revolution and attempt to establish their own Cossack state. Similarly the Tatars and Abkhazians attempt to establish their own independent states respectively.

This is all bad news for the Czar with even more territory lost to rebels and separatists, but things get even worse, as the Russian Republicans and the German lines begin to meet and the Russian Empire's armies begins to split. Czar Nicholas II begins to try to establish peace with the Russian Republicans, the Baltic states, Poland and the Germans; however the Czar shows no peace to the communists, Ukrainians, anarchists or the Muscowvy league. This is why the peace negotiations eventually fail as the Germans and Russian republicans see the communists, anarchists and others as more likely to beat the Imperials in the rest of the war.

The USSR's woes

Julius Martov founder of the Menshevik Federation

The Soviets though face more problems though, as the Menshevik faction led by Martov leave the USSR fearing Trotsky's growing power over them and Mensheviks wanting to establish their own communist state around Viatka following only Menshevik rules and Trotsky's. They form alliances with some of the republics in the USSR and the Russian Republic which also helps to decide its borders. This angers Trotsky and appeals to the Mensheviks to rejoin the USSR with greater autonomy, but they refuse.

The USSR then go onto form a border agreement with the recently formed Anarchic State of Nebesa. In contrast to this, Turkestan break their previous 1909 border agreement with the USSR, with Turkestan citing that the previous agreement was with the Socialist Republic of Siberia, not the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and that those lands are ethnic Turk lands. The Turkestani army pushes the USSR back using their large range of artillery guns (taken from Russian Imperial Army bases in Turkestan), and the element of surprise. Trotsky is shocked by the Turkestani government and demands Turkestan return to the previous borders; however General Omar Turan refuses and offers a new set of borders to the USSR, which are turned down by the USSR; and the conflict intensifies as the two sides couldn't decide on a common border.

1912

• The Russian Empire's forces are split in two after the Russian Republicans and German Lines meet. This cuts of supplies to Moscow and as a result the Moscowy League greatly expand their territory, as do the Mensiviks, Tatars and Cossacks.

• The Abkhazians sign peace treaties with Georgia, Ukraine, the Tatars and the Russian Empire which gives peace from the Abkhazians and stabilizes their borders, which puts them out of the war.

• The Treaty of Baku is signed between the Tatars, Cossacks, Soviets, Mensiviks, Moscowy league, Russian Republicans, Germans, Britains, Abkhazians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Belarusians, Turkestanis, Nebesans, Japanese, Polish and Ukrainians to decide how post war Russian Empire will be split up. This solves the Turkestan-USSR border conflict too.

• The USSR and Poland after the treaty of Baku have all their borders decided with its neighbours and they leave the war since neither Poland or USSR could expand their borders; and both Poland and the USSR saw it more important to consolidate their current lands and recover from the war.

• Nebesa expands northwards and westwards after having its borders decided in the treaty of Baku, and they leave the war as they have nothing else to gain.

• The Don Cossacks also greatly expand their influence and expand their territory lots.

• The Moscowy league also expanded outwards greatly, thanks to finally deciding who would be the Prince of Moscowy out of the main leaders of the Moscowy League of Nobles. On October 17th Prince Ivan of Moscowy was crowned as the constitutional monarch leader of the Grand Duchy of Moscowy. (note I have to do some more research into the Russian Nobility of the time to get a more realistic list of possible Moscowy league members)

1913

• Tartarstan with there controlled territories shown by the Treaty of Baku now taken, Tatarstan leave the war in June after the South Russian Army is defeated by a joint Tatar-Cossack attack in the 3rd battle of the River Don.

• Latvia pull out of the war in early January due to its economy nearing collapse due to a period of total war and more actual nation building being needed such as hospitals, laws, etc. Lithuania also pulls out but in November instead of January; however both of these countries allow the Germans and other countries against the Russian Empire to transport troops and supplies through Latvia and Lithuania.

• Ukraine pulls out of the war with no more land to gain, however they do give a give a few troops to aid the war effort and let their allies through Ukraine.

• The Cossacks push back the Central Russian Imperial Army to around the city of Novgorod.

• The Russian Empire is pushed back in all fronts after each front is only held by one Imperial army, expect the St.Petersburg area which is held by 3 armies.

1914

• The Mensiviks and Cossacks defeat the Russian Imperials in and around Novgorod after the battle of Novgorod which included a 2 month long siege. With this last treaty the Mensiviks and Cossacks gone they leave the war.

• The Other Russian Imperial Armies are pushed back in various places across Russia

1915, the end of the war

Asia after the first World War

Fighting continues in the January of this year, but the Russian Imperial forces are largely pushed back by the allies, and fighting starts in the ruined streets of St. Petersburg around the 24th of January. The Russian Empire surrenders after 10 days of street fighting, and on February 4th with 90% of the Russian Empire's army at the start of the war dead, injured or joining other factions; the Russian Empire surrenders. This puts the Russian Empire, Russian Republic, the Don Cossack Republic, the Mensivik Federation, Belarus, and the Duchy of Moscowy; out of the war. This causes the treaty of Baku to be signed by the Russian Empire which shows there consent to the new Russian order.

The Civil war ended with lots of people dead and several new nations being formed from the former Russian Empire. Many new nationalistic movements gave birth to patriotic nations across Russia. The strongest of these new nations where the USSR, Russian Republic, Muscowy, Nebesa, and Ukraine. The actual death toll would never be known as many smaller rebellions of brutal warlords broke out across Russia; thousands of small, largely, unreported skirmishes took place; and the effort the Tsar took to hide the truth and reality of the civil war from his enemies and people.