Socialist Siberia (1983: Doomsday)
From Alternative History
Motto: Труд, Социализм, Возрождение (Labor, Socialism, Revival) | |||||||
| Capital: | Krasnoyarsk | ||||||
| Largest city: | Ulan Bator | ||||||
| Other cities: | Chita, Bratsk, Ulan-Ude, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Blagoveshchensk, Ulan Bator, Urumqi, Aksu, Pavlodar and many others | ||||||
| Language: official: | Mandarin (Chinese), Russian (official) | ||||||
| Other languages: | Mongolian, Uyghur, many others | ||||||
| Type of government: | Socialist Federation, Single-party communist state | ||||||
| General Secretary of the Communist Party: | Aman Tuleyev | ||||||
| Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet: | Aman Tuleyev | ||||||
| Area: | app. 17,017,500 km² | ||||||
| Population: | app. 30,000,000 inh. | ||||||
| Independence: | 1984 | ||||||
| Currency: | Ruble | ||||||
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The Union of Sovereign Socialist Republics (Russian: Союз Суверенных Социалистических Республик, transliterated as Soyuz Suverennyh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik [USSR]), also known as Socialist Siberia internationally,the USSR for short, the Socialist Union and as Соцсоюз in the USSR, is the largest and most powerful country in the Northern Hemisphere.
Despite making up around half of the area Soviet Union during the Cold War, north-eastern Kazakhstan, Soviet Siberia and the Russian Far East handled World War III and the Doomsday that followed fairly well. Although all of the major cities and Russian bases stationed in the area were nuked, the isolated population lived mostly outside these areas, and the vast wilderness surrounding them allowed much of the population and government to escape the radioactive fallout. After the war the surviving population slowly began to come into contact with each other.
They soon learned about how a false alarm accidentally lead to the launch of all NATO and Warsaw pact nuclear missiles and destroyed most of known civilization in the northern hemisphere. When they tried to contact the Soviet Union west of the Ural Mountains they also discovered that most people here had been killed in the ensuing chaos. What little remained had fallen into anarchism along with most of the rest of Europe.
Understanding this and knowing how important it was to have a strong socialist government to rebuild, the surviving leaders of the Soviet Union came together to discuss how to best handle the situation. Six months after Doomsday, Geydar Aliyev, reaching the western borders of territory still controlled by the USSR, was unanimously elected by the remaining political leaders as the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and the General Secretary of the Communist Party, owing to his high ranking position in the Andropov government. A little after a year from doomsday on December, 23, 1984, Siberia, the provisional government of Kazakhstan and the Russian Far East declared themselves the Union of Sovereign Socialist Republics, and the successor state to the Soviet Union.
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[edit] History
[edit] Doomsday
As reports of incoming American ICBM flooded Soviet airwaves senor officials, political leaders, and high ranking military commanders were rushed to command bunkers throughout the Soviet Union. While these people in Eastern Europe and Central Asia usually did not have time to escape the missiles launched from Western Europe, the officials in Siberia had extra time to reach these fortified areas. Better yet was that much of these bunkers were well hidden from western intelligence, and virtually unknown to the Chinese. All aircraft and warships stationed in Siberia were ordered to leave over the Pacific and Arctic Oceans partially to destroy American targets over them and partially to avoid getting destroyed at home.
The civilians living in Siberian cities however had less warning and were given evacuation orders only moments before the nukes hit. Most military bases and all major cities were hit. Most notably hit was the port city of Vladivostok, and the biggest of Siberian cities Novosibirsk where up to 4 million people died alone. Compared to the rest of the Soviet Union however, Siberia had handled this disaster favorably better. All in all it had been hit by less than 14 nuclear devices. Given that almost all of these went off in the south or along the southern Pacific coast and that most of the small towns in the north were unaffected, Siberia, north-east Kazakhstan and the Russian Far East had a legitimate chance of survival. In the mean time however the surviving Soviet government had to deal with the thousands of military men and women coming back to destroyed ports and bases, and hundreds of thousands of people trying to escape the blown up cities.
[edit] First Responses
As the first refugees began arriving in the still functional Siberian cities, Soviet officials hoarded them into shanty towns along the Trans-Siberian railway. Conditions were appalling as Soviet officials tried to organize the last part of the USSR with any form of stable government. Survivors came from all parts of the country, hoping to receive shelter. The Soviet officials quickly started organizing the rebuilding of parts of the Trans-Siberian railway still under their control. Military officers bickered with surviving politicians about who should be the legitimate successor to the Premier until in December of 1983 a surviving member of Andropov's inner circle arrived at the vague borders of the still functioning parts of Russia, Geydar Aliyev.
[edit] Rebuilding (1984 – 1993)
Aliyev was quickly chosen to be the head of state and started to quickly reorganize and rebuild the shattered country. Agriculture productivity was increased and organized around the southern part of Siberia and in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. Military personnel started building new bases and border patrol units defended the country from rouge generals. He strengthened his rule and became the main decision maker in the Socialist Union.
Contact with Alaska was established soon after Doomsday and the government, seeing their desperate situation, provided aid to the Alaskans and relations with them were strained at best,because the Alaskans considered them the main cause of World war 3. Tensions began to arise when ANZUS pact members, Australia and New Zeland, along with the APA came to Alaska. Conflict had never officially ended and skirmishes between them happened all along the Bering strait. However,both sides quickly realized the futility of continuing to fight and a peace agreement was signed in Sitka in 1987, which would later be known as the "Sitka Accord".
He strengthened relationships between the USSR and the countries of Uyghuristan and Mongolia and signed the "Mutual-Defence and Economic Cooperation Treaty" with them, eventually annexing Mongolia, as well as the Third East Turkestan Republic into the Union in May 1989.Constant border raids by Chinese raiders prompted Aliyev to invade Northeast China and ensure stability in the region. In April,Siberian tanks invaded Manchuria and eradicated all opposition. Manchuria was temporarily designated as a territory and put under military rule. It was not until November 1995 that the Territory became an integral state in the Union and was renamed the Manchurian Socialist Republic. By the beginning of 1993, the Soviets were the worlds main exporter of raw materials and a respectable part of the (then known) international community.
[edit] New challenges (1993-2000)
International relations remained tense during this period, with trade being conducted with surviving Asian and Oceanian countries, as well as Latin America. Aliyev was fearful of another cold war, this time happening between the ANZC and the SAC and continued to stress the necessity of cooperation between them. Foreign policy was focused on trade and exporting socialism wasn't an objective, since most countries embraced a form of socialism best suited for their needs. Relations with other openly communist countries was, however, very valuable to the USSR and ever since establishing contact with Cuba in 1997 it has been the Socialist Union's main ally. They started actively helping the Sandinistas in the Costa Rican civil war, and the Socialist Union is still a major player in the region,strengthening socialist movements across the Caribbean. States like Nicaragua, Costa Rica,Limón and the Dominican Republic were considered to be steadfast Siberian allies. Domestically, it was one setback after another for the Chairman. The people, worried about his autarchic rule and economic turmoil, started protesting and demanding greater freedom. Aliyev, worried about his deteriorating health, stepped down from rule in early 2000, being replaced by Aman Tuleyev.
[edit] Present day (2000-present)
Tuleyev has continued his predecessors policy of regarding the former territory of the USSR and PRC as legitimately a part of the Socialist Union and has rebuffed any offers of other nations trying to lay claim to that territory. Relations with Tibet, however, remain friendly. The Siberians, eager to increase their influence in the Carribean, happily did what they could to lead Costa Rica and Nicaragua to the negotiating table. Costa Rican and Nicaraguan officials traveled to the Russian Pacific port town of Sovetskaya Gavan late in 2002 and agreed that a referendum should be signed in Guanacaste. This was a major victory for Siberian diplomacy. There have been major tensions between the USSR and the SAC,as the Latin American Confederation consideres that the Siberians are acting in their sphere of influence. Tuleyev has started strengthening relations with the SAC,trying to maintain a positive reputation in international relations.
The Socialist Union is still the main exporter of resources to the rest of the world and starting to develop it's electronics industry, benefiting economically and thus raising the standard of living in the USSR. His rule has been mostly peaceful, although rising tensions in international relations have increasingly started to worry the Siberian leadership.
[edit] Military
The USSR has kept all of the titles and structures of the Soviet Armed Forces, consisting of the Army, Air Force and Navy. The Army has under its control all of the armies which remained intact during Doomsday which are under the control of the Siberian, Far East, Uyghur, Kazakh, Mongolian, Ural,and Manchurian military district, and PRC forces willing to join the USSR. Border patrol units are under the control of the Ministry of Interior (MVD) in the Republics, while the control of the Ural Territory is solely in the hands of the Army. The GRU (Russian:Главное Разведывательное Управление, meaning Main Intelligence Directorate) currently has roughly 30,000 men in active Spetsnaz units and has adopted the name Vityaz (Russian: Витязь, "Knight") from the MVD for its principle elite Spetsnaz unit. The KGB employs mostly spies but has continued to operate the Alpha (Alfa) Group (also known as Spetsgruppa A), one of the most currently well known Siberian elite units.
Men and many women are subject to draft at the age of 18. The draft can be postponed due to continued education. Most universities have an obligatory Military Chair which is in charge of military training of all able-bodied male students to become officers of reserve of a particular military specialty depending on the university. The term of service is 18 months. Draft-dodging is a criminal offense and is punishable by prison time.
The Siberian military employs an advanced model of the AK-74 and the AK-74M as its principle assault rifle. The Makarov pistol has gone out of use as the Siberian officials opted to introduce the Tokarev-90, an advanced version of the original, now being able to chamber 12 bullets. The Naganat revolver has been issued as a commemorative weapon for retiring generals. New weapons, such as the Saiga-12 shotgun, have also found its way into the Siberian military.
Siberian Military District: District Troops (5th Guards Tank Division, 11th Air Assault Brigade)
5th Army (81st Krasnograd Order of the Red Banner Guards, 121st Order of Red Banner Motor Rifle Division, 127th Roslavl Machine-Gun Artillery Division, 129th Machine-Gun Arty Division, 130th Machine-Gun Arty Division) , 36th Army (1st Motor Rifle Division, 1st Guards Tank Divison - both formed after Doomsday)
Far East Military District: 35th Army (21st Guards Motor Rifle Division, 128th Machine Gun Arty Division, 270th Motor Rifle Division), 68th Corps (18th Machine Gun Arty Division, 33rd Motor Rifle Division)
Kazakh Military District: 1st Corps (131st Motor Rifle Division) - formed post-Doomsday
Uyghur Military District: 2nd Corps (1st Motor Rifle Division, 34th Guards Artillery Division - formed post-Doomsday)
Mongol Military District: 1st Army (mainly former Mongolian forces-2nd, 3rd Motor Rifle Divison, 1st Guards Tank Unit)
Ural Military District: 201st Motor Rifle Division, 2nd Army (2nd Guards Tank Army, 27th Guards Motor Rifle Division), 41st Army (85th Motor Rifle Division, 74th Motor Rifle Brigade, Yurga (Constant readiness) )
Manchurian Military District: 7th Army(81st Guards Motor Rifle Division, 129th Guards Machinegun-Artillery Division), various elements of the former Shenyang Military District, now in the 9th Army
The Socialist Armed Forces have around 1,250,000 men and women currently serving in the military.
[edit] Politics & Society
Through reforms made by Chairman Tuleyev, Soviet politics have been made more democratic and akin to Lenin's designs; a democratic-socialist form of Communism is the dominant ideology. Citizens over the age of 18 freely engage in elections, choosing the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet every 5 years, although the one-party system is still in place.
Citizens have the right to freely gather, the freedom of speech and press, but the KGB still has the right to invade people's privacy so it could gain information on dissidents and the agency's influence on everyday life is quite strong. The propaganda machine is as active as ever, trying to legitimize this invasion of privacy by stating that the government has done wonders in keeping it's citizens safe, which is more than true in the post-nuclear age. The larger cities are crowded and officials give incentives for people to move to smaller cities and villages.
There is no law regulating the amount of how many children a family can have and abortion is legal. Same sex marriages, however, are not. Through reforms, faith has also been established as a personal choice and it is not frowned upon. The number of Orthodox Christians, led by the Patriarch of all Russians in Exile, has risen over the years and account for 64.7% of the population. The rest are mainly Buddhist (19.5%) Muslim (7.9%) or atheist/agnostic (7.9%) .
[edit] Economy
Siberian industry produces metals and metal products, textiles, vehicles, agricultural equipment, and construction materials. Most of the industrial centres lie on an east-west axis along the Trans-Siberian Railway, which was rebuilt to the Pacific coast city of Sovetskaya Gavan in 1987. It remains, along with newer lines, such as the Baikal-Amur Railway (completed in 1990) and the Amur-Magadan Railway (completed 1993), the major regional transport link. Because of the difficulty of building roads and railways on permafrost, air transport has assumed increasing importance in both travel and transport.
Agriculture in the Socialist Union is extremely limited by harsh climate and poor soils. Excellent soils are present, however, in the west and south-west, from the Ural Mountains to Lake Baikal. The region's principal crops include wheat, oats, rye, barley, and sunflowers; livestock-raising and dairy production are also important. Crops grown in eastern Siberia include potatoes, grain, sugar beet, and flax. In the far eastern part of the region, people herd reindeer for their milk, flesh, and hides.The cultivable area is continually being expanded, especially to the north. Siberia also has significant timber and fishing industries.
The Socialist Union is especially rich in mineral resources, most notably coal, gold, iron ore, natural gas, and oil. Siberian mines formerly supplied the majority of Russia's gold, making the country one of the world's largest producers. Vast reserves of natural gas and oil are located in the region. A pipeline connects refineries in Irkutsk in central Siberia to the Pacific coast cities of Magadan and Sovetskaya Gavan. There are also important deposits of uranium, nickel, copper, manganese, diamonds, tin, and cobalt. Large hydroelectric power plants are installed in Siberia near Bratsk, and Krasnoyarsk.
Mongolia has rich mineral resources, and copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold account for a large part of industrial production.The majority of the population outside urban areas participate in subsistence herding; livestock typically consists of sheep, goats, cattle, horses, and Bactrian camels. Agricultural crops include wheat, barley, potato, vegetables, tomato, watermelon, sea-buckthorn and fodder crops.Industries include construction materials, mining (coal, copper, molybdenum, fluorspar, tin, tungsten, and gold), oil, food and beverages, processing of animal products, and cashmere and natural fiber manufacturing.
Uyghurstan is known for its fruits and produce, including grapes, melons, pears, cotton, wheat, silk, walnuts and sheep. Uyghurstan also has large deposits of minerals and oil and gas extraction industry in Aksu and Karamay is booming.
The rural population of Manchuria is heavily concentrated in the warmer southern part of the area, where very warm to hot summer weather permits crops such as maize and millet to be grown with high yields. Soybeans and flax are also very important, as are wheat and barley. The region possesses large flocks of sheep, and pigs are abundant in the more densely settled southern part. The northern half of Heilongjiang is so cold and poorly drained that agriculture is almost impossible; however, the Amur River provides very rich fishing prospects, and sheep are even more abundant than in southern Heilongjiang.
Manchuria is a traditional industrial base, focusing mainly on equipment manufacturing. Major industries include the steel, automobile, shipbuilding, aircraft manufacturing, and petroleum refining industries. The government is initiating plans to rebuild the destroyed industries of Manchuria.
The Socialist Union is one of the most important exporters of military equipment in the world and, alongside its mineral exports, accounts for the majority of the countries GDP.
[edit] Administrative division
Socialist republics (full members of the Union) :
- Soviet Federative Socialist Republic of Russia
- Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic
- People's Republic of Mongolia
- Uyghur Socialist Republic
- Manchurian Socialist Republic
Current union territory:
[edit] Space Program
Ever since the destruction of Baikonur on Doomsday and the Salyut 7 Crisis , the USSR has struggled to make advances in space exploration. Only after the first years of restructuring did the Siberian government focus on getting back to space. A new cosmodrome, the Vostochny Cosmodrom, was built in the Amur Oblast in 1998 and contact with some remaining satellites was reestablished. Plans included building the planed Mir space station, launching the GLONASS (Russian: ГЛОНАСС, abbreviation of ГЛОбальная НАвигационная Спутниковая Система; tr.: GLObal'naya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema; "GLObal NAvigation Satellite System" in English) satellite network and other ambitious scientific projects.
So far, the agency has succeeded in successfully launching a GLONASS test satellite named "Tsiklon" (Russian: Циклон), while the Mir Space Station is still in early planning stages and serious development will begin sometime after 2020. The agency still employs older, reliable satellites, such as the Molniya military communication satellites, which is also used to broadcast the Siberian television network, the Meteor weather observation satellites and the occasional Foton scientific satellite.
Future plans are quite ambitious, however budget problems, the unwillingness of some LoN members and technical issues have slowed down space exploration till earthly issues are dealt with first..jpg)
[edit] Current Conditions
The USSR, like Cuba, takes pride on being one of the few surviving post-Doomsday Communist states. According to its 2001 Census, Russians still predominate demographics (ethnically and culturally), although the USSR has an increasing number of Chinese, Uyghur and Mongolians due to the integration of the Mongolian People's Republic and parts of the former PRC. It openly engages in economic trade with mostly neighboring as well as allied nations, such as with Japan, Cuba, and ANZC-controlled Alaska, though heavily monitored. The infamous KGB remains active to this day.
It has emerged as a "silent" power in the North; there are rumors of outposts stretching as far south as former North Korea. As recently as 2007, plans were presented to the Politburo on a possible expedition into European Russia. Initially aimed to survey the post-Doomsday wastes, its goals soon tended towards establishing influence, and recolonization of the destroyed western parts of the Old USSR. It still remains under government scrutiny, though insiders are suspicious. It currently actively supports the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan which has put it at odds with Pakistan and tensions remain high and on the brink of severing all diplomatic ties.
[edit] International relations
Siberia is a member of the League of Nations. Other than Cuba, the USSR is continuing to support socialist movements around the world, especially in the Caribbean and Central America, by name Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, as well as the People's Republic of Angola in Africa.
[edit] See also
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