Zhirinovsky's Russian Empire
- Thread starter Pellegrino
- Start date
Notice that the UIS simply move into Vukovar (where the JNA had 36,000 troops stationed just months earlier). After Romania exposes that problems with mobilization, the UIS needs a Grenada. So they use a precision strike to capture the nearby city of Osijek after the Serbs basically break the Croatian army's back. It almost is the equivalent of jumping into the fight after the battle has been won. It is a short term morale boost, but you notice that although they apparently have "an open road to Zagreb" they don't move past Osijek? As this war drags on the problems with supply lines and desertions been to emerge. But for the short term, it looks like a huge win for the UIS.
Also, note that the Croatians in OTL were badly outgunned in 1991 and 1992. But the balance slowly shifted over the course of the war. Here massive NATO aid may tip the balance, as we can already see the UIS is really burning the candle at both ends, and now with sanctions it will be that much tougher to keep it up.
The funny thing is that Bush is going to be rehabilitated over time when people see how much of a headache the UIS is for President Kerrey (hence his son getting elected). People are going to see that his sanctions and his ability to create strong coalitions were actually a plus, and that not rushing into a war over Croatia actually was the better plan.
But for the 1992 election, Zhirinovsky proves to be a disaster for Bush
I like how Zhirinovsky announced his "support" for Constantinescu so that he would be defeated. Nice update!
But that book title ("Croatia: The Nation That Almost Was” ) kinda sorta implies that Croatia is screwed...
Bruce
Well, in the prelude we see that, despite everything that might occur from 1992-2012, the UIS is still in the Krajina and Croatia's economy is nowhere near where Sovenia's is. So Croatia will not be the nation of economic prosperity and European integration that many Croats in 1990 envision. But that doesn't mean they won't still give the Russians a tough fight over the Krajina over the course of this TL. From the prelude one could also assume that it really isn't until well into the Lebed presidency where the Russians find a way to finally "defeat" the Croats.
Looks like Bush is going to be utterly fucked in the election.
Great writing as ever please keep it up!
Great writing as ever please keep it up!
Well, we know he ends up being tried for war crimes, so I wouldn't say he gets away with it.
Did Zhirinovsky try to get "corridor" via Lithuania to Kaliningrad?
With rest of baltics spliting, trying to blackmailing Lithuanians (especially after "transit crisis" in Romania) may be next .
By now seems that their find themselves in situation simillar to Poland back in 1939, with Kaliningrad being Eastern Prussia (ironicaly, it is that same area).
And, I just thinking. If Zhirinovsky being so mad, that he did offer Germany next partition of Poland, maybe we will se him proposing Poland partition of Lithuania, with Poland taking Vilnius/Wilno area and Russia the rest of it?
I guess the could honestly belive thats colud help improve Polish-Russian relation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Poles_in_Lithuania_Barry_Kent.png
Maybe he also trying to play Polish card there like Soviets in early 1990's and weakening Lithuania by supporting Polish separatism in region?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_National-Territorial_Region
It should antagonised Lithuania with Poland and as a result isolate Lithuanians form the west and prevent thier admission into NATO and make them defendless against UIS, just like he use Romanian-Hungarian hostilities to make Bucharest isolated and defendless.
With rest of baltics spliting, trying to blackmailing Lithuanians (especially after "transit crisis" in Romania) may be next .
By now seems that their find themselves in situation simillar to Poland back in 1939, with Kaliningrad being Eastern Prussia (ironicaly, it is that same area).
And, I just thinking. If Zhirinovsky being so mad, that he did offer Germany next partition of Poland, maybe we will se him proposing Poland partition of Lithuania, with Poland taking Vilnius/Wilno area and Russia the rest of it?
I guess the could honestly belive thats colud help improve Polish-Russian relation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Poles_in_Lithuania_Barry_Kent.png
Maybe he also trying to play Polish card there like Soviets in early 1990's and weakening Lithuania by supporting Polish separatism in region?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_National-Territorial_Region
It should antagonised Lithuania with Poland and as a result isolate Lithuanians form the west and prevent thier admission into NATO and make them defendless against UIS, just like he use Romanian-Hungarian hostilities to make Bucharest isolated and defendless.
And so the Russian military became the dominating force in the UIS.
How stupid of Ion Iliescu. He should have forced NATO to support him on this issue by threatening to allow the transit of the former Northern Group through Romania.
After all, NATO staates were at least partially responsible for his dilemma.
The Central Asian orange countries were represented in Tula.
Why didn't Moldovia send any delegates to the Tula Accords despite the UIS control of the country?
Huh. Why did Pakistan end up falling into civil war despite the absence of the unpopular cooperation with the USA?
Were the Crawford Accord really responsible for the fall of the Pakistani central government?
Why were the guards of the US-American embassy in 2012 unable to do their job?
By the way, after the Polish embassy crisis in 1992 this part of the prelude seems kinda out of place and should be rewritten.
The besieged embassies in Moscow would left a stronger impression on the West than the less bloody Iranian hostage crisis.
I think it was asked before, but what is the future of space flight and exploration in the UIS, and the future of international endeavours(such as the ISS OTL)?
Zhirinovsky doesn't strike me as a particularly technology savvy type, yet it would seem strange to me if he would spend no effort trying to prolong the operation of the Mir, which arguably still functions as an object of prestige for the UIS(especially if there will be no (international) counterpart to the ISS in this TL).
To be exact, if he manages to develop an interest in the UIS space program I suspect he would be mainly interested in matters of prestige, Zhirinovsky seem bold enough to try and have the UIS try to put the Russians on Mars.
Regardless, a re-ignition of the space race would do much for the progress of space flight and exploration in TTL.
It makes me wonder how technology in general will progress in this TL(As arguably there will be some divergences and events that will either speed up or slow down the speed of technological and scientific innovation in one area or the other).
Zhirinovsky doesn't strike me as a particularly technology savvy type, yet it would seem strange to me if he would spend no effort trying to prolong the operation of the Mir, which arguably still functions as an object of prestige for the UIS(especially if there will be no (international) counterpart to the ISS in this TL).
To be exact, if he manages to develop an interest in the UIS space program I suspect he would be mainly interested in matters of prestige, Zhirinovsky seem bold enough to try and have the UIS try to put the Russians on Mars.
Regardless, a re-ignition of the space race would do much for the progress of space flight and exploration in TTL.
It makes me wonder how technology in general will progress in this TL(As arguably there will be some divergences and events that will either speed up or slow down the speed of technological and scientific innovation in one area or the other).
My knee-jerk reaction here would be that Zhirinovsky has managed to single handedly put space programs world-wide in stasis for the next 15 years. With sanctions in place or coming into play in the near future, I'm hard pressed to figure out a way the UIS can scrape together enough funds to even keep Mir orbiting. The station is still 2 modules short of completion that OTL depended on U.S. funding which most definitely won't happen here. It all depends on how often the UIS economy fluctuates between horrendous and crap-tastic and what kind of priorities Zhirinovsky decides on. Having a delusional psycho in complete control of most of the old USSR could mean some fantastically audacious designs for space projects, but most of these I see as never getting past the sketching stage as Zhirinovksy might just lose interest when Mir-2 doesn't go up into orbit within a month of the proposal and moves on to something else.
However, while the Shuttle-Mir missions and the ISS as we know it are certainly out, I'd like to think that in a comparative world where Best Korea had their own space station in orbit we'd be seeing demands from Capitol Hill for the U.S. to get its act together and get something even better into orbit, so we might see a similiar push here while Mir is still flying. This for some odd reason gives me the delightful mental image of astronauts and cosmonauts shaking their fists and firing rocks from slingshots whenever the stations cross orbital paths.
His support of seperatist movements will exceed anythign we see ITTL, and it will cause major problems all over the world for not only NATO and Western nations, but even countries hostile to the west. Also, many stable nations in OTL will struggle with these revolutionary groups (Romania for one).
As for Armenia, the Armenia genocide will suffer a diplomatic backlash as any mention of it now by Armenians opens the door for questions about the Armenian role (and denial) for war crimes on the road to Alat during the Azerbaijani conflict. Armenia does gain a lot in terms of land, but now they are shackled to Russia as they are seen as a close ally and co-conspirator with the Russians in the UIS.
You know, I am still trying to decide on how to work the space program in this timeline. I know very little about the space program, and I am sort of terrified of the update that will come discussing it. I don't want to do it until I have properly researched it, and I want to make sure I don't have anything that would cause this TL to suffer by throwing something together without doing the appropriate homework. But I see so many ASB's in space (no pun intended) and I am honestly worried. To be honest, I think you are right. Zhirinovsky would want to keep the space program alive, but in coming posts we are going to see a major economic crisis that would make even Zhirinovsky question weather it is worth continuing. Still, a race to Mars does seem interesting...
The writing in this TL is incredibly immersive, something I have seen few be able to pull off.
As far as a TL that was able to make me feel like it was actually real: I can safely say this one is the only one to have pulled that off.
I think this in most part due to the variety of writing styles and the use of an "article" format in giving information.
All I can say is: Keep up the excellent work.
Zhirinovsky seems keen on insane and daring endeavours, trying to get the UIS to establish a pressence on Mars definitely fits into that category.
But as Desperado mentions, much will depend on Zhirinovsky being able to accept that such endeavours take time, and lot's of funding.
I did some research and the Apollo program cost a whopping 170 billion USD(adjusted for inflation), on the other hand, the Mir program cost a little over $4 billion during its lifetime.
And as mentioned earlier, if UIS decides to pursue a Mars program the US and the west will be quickly to follow suite (thus if it is indeed pursued a new space race TTL is inevitable).
That does beg questions though regarding the state of the UIS economy.
If things are to improve I would suspect that, like Putin did OTL, Zhirinovsky has to strengthen and affirm the UIS status as an energy superpower, which in this case means that he will have to reestablish trade between China and the UIS(And most likely India as well). The UIS is in one way in a fabourable position as it can undercut the prices of OPEC in regard's to oil and natural gas. Sooner or later with the emerging economies of China and India the leadership of both countries are going to realise that in order to stay competitive they will have to deal with Zhirinovsky's UIS.
Which brings us to another reason as to why I believe the EU will be less prosperous TTL than OTL(Besides more resources being spend on the military). Without cheap UIS oil and gas most of Europe will largely have to rely on the more expensive OPEC(And to a lesser extend countries like Canada and Mexico). OTL a lot of European countries(Especially in the East) are dependent on Russian oil and gas, unless things cool down such a state of afairs will be impossible TTL.
Also, larger market's generally have more leverage on the international stage, and with the UIS controlling most of the former Soviet Union that means the UIS is still somewhat of an economic heavy weight(With a tremendous amount of natural resources at it's disposal and a sizeable labour force). Also, much will depend on Zhirinovsky fixing the country's fertility rate(Like Putin is doing OTL) and keeping the people inside it's borders(The former USSR could have been much more populous OTL had it not been for the mass emigration to the west).
I look forward to the next update.
EDIT: Changed the format
Last edited:
Great questions Paul!
Yes, but the question remains…does the tail wag the dog, or is it the other way around. Zhirinovsky might just be Hitler without the micromanaging.
This was a little unclear in the update, basically Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, all sent elected representatives from their countries to sign the Tula Accords. Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan all declared independence, and it was the “Government in exile” that sent representative. The Military governor of Azerbaijan signed on behalf of Azerbaijan.
As for Moldova, I promise that will be cleared up soon. Basically, they didn’t sign yet because Zhirinovsky is still trying to fill the country full of Russians and Ukrainians.
OK, Spoiler alert here:
Zhirinovsky is a master of ethnic strife.
We know he supports separatist movements all over the world.
Iran and India put sanctions on the UIS, we can assume Pakistan did as well.
What self proclaimed republic is inside of Iran and Pakistan? (Answer: Baluchistan)
What is the easiest way to get India to change its mind about sanctions? (Answer: fuck with Pakistan)
What is the easiest way to fuck with Pakistan and Iran at the same time (you can see where this is going…)
And how would the USA respond if Pakistan told them to take a hike after 9/11 (answer: cut ALL military aid).
So, billions of dollars worth of weapons and training going to Baluchistan, kept in check thanks to US aid that suddenly disappears. Throw in a coup that the Islamist opposes and the end result is a civil war.
Agreed. I plan to rewrite that (although I can no longer edit it).
Yes, but the question remains…does the tail wag the dog, or is it the other way around. Zhirinovsky might just be Hitler without the micromanaging.
The Central Asian orange countries were represented in Tula.[/FONT said:
This was a little unclear in the update, basically Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, all sent elected representatives from their countries to sign the Tula Accords. Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan all declared independence, and it was the “Government in exile” that sent representative. The Military governor of Azerbaijan signed on behalf of Azerbaijan.
As for Moldova, I promise that will be cleared up soon. Basically, they didn’t sign yet because Zhirinovsky is still trying to fill the country full of Russians and Ukrainians.
Huh. Why did Pakistan end up falling into civil war despite the absence of the unpopular cooperation with the USA?[/FONT said:
OK, Spoiler alert here:
Zhirinovsky is a master of ethnic strife.
We know he supports separatist movements all over the world.
Iran and India put sanctions on the UIS, we can assume Pakistan did as well.
What self proclaimed republic is inside of Iran and Pakistan? (Answer: Baluchistan)
What is the easiest way to get India to change its mind about sanctions? (Answer: fuck with Pakistan)
What is the easiest way to fuck with Pakistan and Iran at the same time (you can see where this is going…)
And how would the USA respond if Pakistan told them to take a hike after 9/11 (answer: cut ALL military aid).
So, billions of dollars worth of weapons and training going to Baluchistan, kept in check thanks to US aid that suddenly disappears. Throw in a coup that the Islamist opposes and the end result is a civil war.
By the way said:
Agreed. I plan to rewrite that (although I can no longer edit it).
After NATO bailed on Poland, he decided to play it on the down low and try and fly under the radar. He knew if he pushed to join NATO too hard and was rejected; a Russian invasion was almost a certainty. But get to cozy with the UIS and he had problems with the UN and NATO on sanctions. So he tried to play it down the middle…and failed.
Because the Polish embassy crisis was a slow moving freight train that the Americans saw coming. They sent in marines to protect it. The 2012 embassy crisis was a sudden and unexpected event that caught the Americans off guard.