Soviet Union (Earlier Brest-Litovsk)

Civil War (Spring,1918-Winter 1918)
After signing the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, the Russian government quickly went about stabilizing its hold on the vast lands inherited from the Russian Empire. Control over the Ukraine and Belarus was quickly established and Karelia was forcibly taken from Finland in early March, with Finland agreeing to hand the territory over after it proved unable to defend it. It quickly declared all the various nationalities in the country to be equal and no official language would exist in the new order, although it would de facto remain Russian. New jobs were promised, as well as free education, industrialization and social equality.

The Bolshevik government also saw no need to antagonize their former Allies and allowed the Czechoslovak Legions to pass through Russia and then go through the port of Murmansk to link up with their Western Allies. Although still not trusting them, this act of good faith, coupled with the Spring offensive of German forces on the Western Front and the reluctance of the U.S.A. to enter the war was enough for the Allies to not actively help the White Movement in Russia.

After securing the neutrality of Europe in its internal affairs, the government led several campaigns through the Summer and Winter of 1918, mainly against the White movement in Transibiskal, which was helped by Japan, although Britain and France continually demanded they cease antagonizing the Bolsheviks. No direct Japanese ground forces were given, which atributed to the Red Army's decisive victories over general Kolchak and other leaders in Siberia. Some managed to flee through Manchuria and Vladivostok before it was taken, while the rest were shot for treason.

Movements in the south, led from Novocherkassk, and movements in the north, led from Arhangelsk, were then crushed by October, with final battles lasting till December.

Forming the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
After a quick civil war, Lenin set out to appease the many nations of Bolshevik Russia, who were mostly kept in check through the civil war but were now demanding greater representation in the state. Thus, keeping his promise, Lenin created the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, while the rest of the state was corraled into the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and promised greater representation after further consolidation of power in the Communist Parties hands. On March 22nd 1919 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics came to be. From there on, Lenin would introduce the new NEP in June of the same year. The New Economic Policy (NEP) replaced the policies of War Communism which attempted to obliterate any signs of the market economy in the Soviet Union. he laws sanctioned the coexistence of private and public sectors, which were incorporated in the NEP, which on the other hand was a state oriented "mixed economy".

Rather than repossess all goods produced, the Soviet government took only a small percentage of goods. This left the peasants with a marketable surplus which could be sold privately. The state, after starting to use the NEP, moved away from Communist ideals and started the modernizing of the economy, but this time, with a more free-minded way of doing things. The Soviet stopped upholding the idea of nationalizing certain parts of industries. Some kinds of abroad investments were expected by the Soviet Union under the NEP, in order to fund industrial and developmental projects. The policy proved to be a success, as the Soviet Union had recovered agricultural production levels from before the war (1913) by 1921.

Industrialization was also quickly conducted and by 1922, industrial capacity had surpased that of pre-war levels. Literacy levels had also risen and most of the population started living in cities in just under five years.

Excursion into Mongolia
Ever since the end of civil war in Russia, the newly formed Mongolian People's Party had fought a desperate war for independence. Roman Ungern von Sternberg had led raids on Soviet territory in the past and was now occupying Mongolian territory for the Chinese. The Red Army quickly led a campaign against their enemies in Mongolia, capturing and killing Sternberg in the process, while signing a peace agreement with the Chinese who relinquished control of Mongolia.

The Mongolian People's Republic was declared in October of 1919. The relationship between the two countries quickly grew close, with a majority of the cabinet in Mongolia led by Russian revolutionaries. In an unprecedented move, Mongolia conducted a plebiscite in 1923, to see if its people would be willing to join the USSR. An overwellming majority, over 85% of the population chose to enter into a union with the country. On the 25th of September, the People's Republic of Mongolia was renamed into the Soviet Socialist Republic of Mongolia and officially admitted into the Soviet Union.

Lenin's legacy
All was not well with the leader of the new nation, however. Lenin's health had been failing since mid-1923 and he had experienced several seizures throughout the year. In early 1924, Lenin decided to make one last public appearance in February, as he felt his time had come. In his speech, he denounced Stalin, while at the same time praising Lav Trotsky, shocking the assembled members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He once again reiterated his stance on Democratic Centralism and it being the will of the people, before leaving the hall, being hailed by thunderous applause.

Lenin would quietly die in his sleep a month later. Trotsky, being de facto picked by the beloved leader, had no problem in becoming the leader of the government apparatus, while Stalin was marginalized and quickly forgotten.

Exporting Communism (1925-1932)
Trotsky quickly expanded the industry even further, doubling its productivity levels from 1924 in under a year. Although he had been a supporter of exporting socialism in the past, he knew that with liberal movements being created all over Europe and the advent of the European Trade Organization in early 1922, communist rhetoric could not find a foothold in Europe. Thus, he set his sights to the east.

The Soviet Union started actively helpin Chiang Kai-shek after he had become leader of the KMT, even favoring cooperation between communists in the country with its leadership. Throughout 1926 till April of the next year, the USSR actively helped in China's northern expeditions to rid the country of various cliques, with Trotsky confident that he would be the one who would turn the tables on the KMT when the time was right. However, this was not to be, as Kai-shek ordered all the communists in the KMT to be killed.

Trotsky, furious with this setback in China, ordered Red Army officials to start divising a plan of attack on China, to topple the „corrupt back-stabbing nationalists“. He started actively arming the Communist Party of China, as well as further industrialising his own government. He also actively supported Uyghurs in Xinjiang and promised them representation and recognition after taking over China.

Finally, in Spring of 1930, the USSR had amassed a sizeable army on the western border of China, while strenghtening defenses around Primorskaya Krai. The invasion commenced on May 15th and was conducted by 12 army divisions, with heavy bombing of various strategic locations in China. The attack was further supported by the CP of China and the Uyghur nationalists. Xinjiang was quickly liberated by August of the same year and was promptly renamed into the Uyghur SSR and admitted into the Soviet Union in October of 1930. The rest of the country would prove more troublesome, however. The Soviet war machine had largely begun to stall, as endless waves of Chinese footsoldiers slowed their advance. There were fears of loosing the massive gains in China, while the CPC's position was endangered. Help would come from an unlikely source, as Japan, itself wanting to get as much territory in China as possible, staged an invasion of Manchuria in July of 1931, overrunning the Chinese defenders, who did not expect to fight the Japanese advancing from Korea. This invasion helped the Soviets to reorganize and they once again pushed deeper into Chinese territory.

Chiang, unable to withstand the immense force of these two foes, managed to flee Nanchang, just as communist partisans and Soviet bombers attacked the capital. It was occupied in February of 1932. The rest of the campaign delt with various warlords still left in China, while a border agreement between the CPC and Japan was signed in April, 1932. By December, the country was firmly in communist hands and on Christmas, 1932, the People's Republic of China was officially proclaimed.

Consolidating the communist rule (1933-1940)
Although over a quarter of a million men had been lost in the war, Trotsky had achieved a massive victory. He had secured an ally with massive future potential, a giant just ready to play its part on a global scale. Now was the time to grow and prosper and consolidate one's grip on power.

Relations with Europe and the U.S. were at an all time low, but Trotsky's current short term enemy was apparent: Japan. An aggressive Japan had been growing in power ever since the military had taken control and was now beginning to make its bid for power in the Pacific and Asia as well. A future conflict was also inevitable due to the humiliating defeat after the 1905 war and the loss of territory.

The country would start investing more in technology from then on, as new tactics and inventions were predict to cause a greater advantage in the war to come.

During this time, the USSR helped the PRC attack Tibet, the only rouge faction of China left. The invasion was carried out during the Summer of 1935 and was a complete success. Its ally did not stop there, however. The new leader of the PRC's Communist Party, Mao Zedong, started to openly demand territory under effective control of the British Empire, as well as the entirety of Bhutan and Nepal, which were under British protection. This did not sit well with the USSR's leadership, as it was seen as needless provocation.

Surprisingly, Britain consceded to their demands and in 1937, Neville Chamberlain and Mao Zedong signed an agreement that protection of the two aforementioned countries, while the territory in question was given to China outright. China eventually occupyed its new protectorships and annexed them into the PRC. Although pleased with their results, the USSR saw that Mao's rule was beginning to make China too autonomous and they were drifting apart from the Soviet Union.

Thus, a covert operation, conducted by NKVD and GRU operatives ensured the Chinese leader would be in an „accident“. Mao Zedong was killed on May 3rd, 1938 in what seemed to be a car accident. He was replaced by a much more agreeable leadership. Plans were soon formulated for an attack on Japan, dubbed the „Setting Sun“.

Soviet-Japanese War(April,1941-January,1942)
The battle plan was a simultanious attack conducted from China and the Russian Far East on Manchuria, while the USSR would conducted separate operations in the Kurils and South Sakhalin, while the PRC would deal with capturing Taiwan alone. The attack commenced on April 2nd, 1941 and caught the Japanese completely of guard. The surprise on the border was so complete that some forward units gave up without a fight to advancing Soviet and Chinese forces. The pincer move the joint forces conducted were over the oversight of generals Zhukov and Tukachevsky, who created the plan. It took the combined forces two months to take over the entirety of Manchuria, which was promptly given to the PRC. From there on, both forces would push through Korea, liberating it.

Meanwhile, the Soviet Union was successful in retaking South Sakhalin, while fierce naval warfare was being conducted in the Pacific. The Taiwan invasion was stalling, as Chinese forces were undersupplied during the whole attack. In the end, Taiwan was taken in August of 1941.

The invasion of Korea was a hard fought battle as well. The invaders were quick to establish a government named the Democratic Republic of Korea, which would inspire the nation to rise up and fight. This slow grind through Japanese occupied Korea would take around six months to complete, ending during mid-December when the entirety of the peninsula was firmly in the hands of its people.

The war would have lasted indefinately, were it not for the interference of the U.S. Fearing the alarming expansion of the Soviet Union, it demanded a cesation of fighting, telling the USSR that it would not hesitate to use force to stop the combat. This aggresive stance was one of the reasons Charles Lindberg was chosen to be the countries president, and it was obvious he ment business. Having such an enemy was not in the best interest of the country. Thus, in January 1942, a cease fire was signed. No formal peace treaty was signed, and this situation would not be resolved until the mid-eighties.

Post-war Soviet Union (1943-...)
The country had achieved the short term goals its leader had set before it. Now, consolidating its power, it was able to turn to making the revolution global....

Economy
The Soviet Union has one of the strongest economies in the world, being surpased by U.S. and the ETO. As it had aggravated a severe economic collapse caused by the war, in 1919 Lenin replaced War Communism with the New Economic Policy (NEP), legalizing free trade and private ownership of smaller businesses. The economy subsequently recovered fairly quickly. The government decided to continue pursuing the policy, with greater emphasis on industrialization. Elements of a planned economy were introduced, but only in state owned bigger industries, while smaller enterprises were allowed to continue conducting business freely.

A wide range of industries constitute the Soviet industrial sector, including machine-building and metal-working, metallurgy, chemicals, petroleum and natural gas,coal mining, forestry, defense industry, textiles, food processing, and construction. By 1980, the Soviet Union had the world's second largest industrial capacity with 20 percent of total world industrial output, leading the world in producing oil, cast iron, steel, coke, mineral fertilizers, locomotives, tractors, and cement. Advances in technology were always a staple mark for the Soviet Union and that has continued, both in the civilian and military sector.

A number of basic services are state-funded, such as education and healthcare. In the manufacturing sector, heavy industry and defense were assigned higher priority than consumer goods production through most of the 1940s but heavier emphasis on consumer goods was achieved after the death of Trotsky in the mid-50s.

Government & Politicis
The CPSU controlls the government apparatus and takes decisions affecting economy and society. The Communist Party follows the ideology of Marxism-Leninism and operates on the principle of democratic centralism. The primary CPSU bodies are the Politburo, the highest decision-making organ; the Secretariat, the controller of party bureaucracy; and the Central Committee, the party's policy forum. Party members occupy positions of authority in all officially recognized institutions throughout the country. Since the ascension of Mikhail Gorbachev to the head of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the policies of greater freedom of speech (Glasnost) and his economic and political reforms, the Soviet Union has been perceived as a free country, but still lacking any decision making that does not follow Marxist-Leninist rhetoric.

Military
The Soviet Armed Forces are the principal fighting force of the Soviet Union. The military was restructured into its current state, largely through the Kruschev reforms of 1955, when the military was renamed from its previous name, the Red Army. The army had seen serious fighting through its history, ranging from the short Civil War of 1918 to the Sino-Soviet war and the Soviet-Japanese war, continuing through participation in the Vietnam and Afghanistan wars and ending with the Gulf War in 1991. The military consists of four branches:the Soviet Army, Air Defence Forces, Air Force and the Navy.

The Army currently employs a mostly professional force, while conscripts need to serve a six month, basic training tour. Around 1,500,000 servicemen are currently in the Army. The Soviets employ the T-90 as their MBT, while the T-80 is also still largely in use. The standard small arms of the army are the AK-108, a derivative of the famous AK-47, while the main sidearm is the MP-443 Grach, replacing the aging Makarov in the early ninties.

The Air Force is currently the largest in the world, employing thousands of aircrafts of various purposes. The principal multirole fighter is the MiG-35, developed in the late 1990s, while the Sukhoi Su-47 is its most advanced stealth fighter. The most advanced helicopter is the Mil Mi-60, created in the early 2000s.

The Soviet Navy is currently the second largest navy in the world, second only to the United States.