Grand Duchy of Siberia Великое Герцогство Сибирское Velikoye Gertsogstvo Sibirskoye |
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| Capital | Nobosibirsk | |||
| Official languages | Russian | |||
| Recognised regional languages | Siberian Tatar, Altai, Kazakh, Khakas, Chuvash | |||
| Government | Constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy | |||
| - | Grand Duchess | Maria II Vladimirovna | ||
| - | Chairman General | Sergei Shoigu | ||
| - | Noble Chairwoman | Lyudmila Ungern-Sternberg | ||
| Population | ||||
| - | census | 25,505,000 | ||
The Grand Duchy of Siberia (Russian: Великое Герцогство Сибирское, Velikoye Gertsogstvo Sibirskoye) or Siberia is one of Russia's Grand Duchies, covering 25% of all Russia, and located completely in Asia.
Despite the name, the Siberian grand duchy does not cover all of geographical Siberia, but only 2/3 of it, as the rest is covered by the Grand Duchy of the Far East. It also borders the Grand Duchy of Central Asia to the south.
All of Siberia is located in Asia, and forms a part of Russia's Asian grand duchies.
History[]
The first road connection between Moscow and Irkutsk, the Siberian Route, was built in 1760, and benefited the town economy. Many new products, often imported from China via Kyakhta, became widely available in Irkutsk for the first time, including gold, diamonds, fur, wood, silk, and tea. In 1821, as part of the Mikhail Speransky's reforms, Siberia was administratively divided at the Yenisei River. Irkutsk became the seat of the Governor-General of East Siberia.
Russian Civil War[]
During the Russian Civil War, Siberia was home to many fierce battles against Bolsheviks and Whites, particularly monarchists, who recognized Grand Duke Nicholas I Nikolaevich as the Emperor of Russia.
The Whites of Siberia were led mainly by Ataman Gregory Semyonov, Baron Nikolai "Roman" von Ungern-Sternberg and Admiral Admiral Kolchak. The former two allied against not only the Bolsheviks, but against Admiral Kolchak, and led a series of bloody battles against the Bolsheviks.
They established a stronghold in the cities of Irkutsk and Novosibirsk, where after the White successes in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Tsarytsin, moved to pincer the Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg, siezing most of Russia's key cities for the White Movement.
Interwar Period[]
The White Russian State was shortly established, and led to the resurgence of the General Assembly, with the Bolsheviks being banned from any representation in Russian politics. In 1921, Kiril I Vladimirovich was recognized as the Autocrat of all Russia, succeeding his cousin Nicholas II as the Tsar.
However, many monarchists of eastern Russia and Siberia favored Grand Duke Nicholas I Nikolaevich, and thus, Siberia for a while, remained a stronghold for this camp, up until Nicholas I's support group fell apart for many reasons. Unlike Kiril I, Nicholas I was not in Russia, which already drew the ire of resentment among many. In addition, Kiril I was able to rally opposing groups, especially anti-Bolshevik Leftists.
What stood more, was Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg's eccentric and violent behavior, causing even his own Asiatic Cavalry Division to turn on him, and support the ascent of Kiril I. Baron Ungern had acted as Nicholas I's right-hand man, and would have became Procurator General had the camp gotten their way.
Eventually in 1922, Baron Ungern fled to China. Even so, Siberia continued to experienced clashes between the Tsarist state, and Bolshevik remnants, including a fierce battle between Yakuts and Bolsheviks in 1923 and an assassination attempt against Tsar Kiril I, considered the last major battles of the Russian Civil War.
After all was said and done, Baron Pyotr Wrangel and Tsar Kiril I decided to create a single Siberian administrative territory, fortify the Trans-Siberian Railway, as economic relations with the world were restored. The two also put emphasis on developing Novosibirsk and Irkutsk.
As Tsar Kiril's children were well too-young to govern, the Regency of Siberia (Регентство Сибири) was established.
Militarily-speaking, all of Siberia fell under the Far Eastern Theater of the Russian military, with Boris Rezhukin as its first commander. The Trans-Siberia Railway was renovated to improve movement of goods and manpower in the Chinese and Korean trade. The influx of Chinese investors in Siberia stimulated the local Siberian economy.
With the rise of Empire of Japan, a large number of Japanese investors sought fortunes in Siberia, and it is estimated that Japanese were the highest foreign investors in Siberia. THis caused a rift in Russian relations with the West, with Russian foreign minister ??? ???? telling Japan that it would be there if the West choked its economy. Japanese-owned businesses in Siberia had a habit of hiring native Asiatic peoples, such as the Yakut.
However, in 1937, nearly overnight, Russo-Japanese relations froze after Roman Gul's successor, Boris Rezhukin ordered an attack on Japan in the Chinese port city of Nanjing. The 3rd Siberian Army was used to attack the Japanese. Instantly, the local Siberian economy suffered as a result of the "Japanese flight", or the amount of Japanese businessmen leaving Russia en masse, fearing retaliations.
World War II[]
During the Second World War, Siberia for the most part, was not involved in fighting. Only the far-eastern frontiers near Japan experienced sproadic attacks by Japanese aerial and naval forces, simply as sabotage forces, however Japan had no true real objective, but the Showa Emperor did state that in the event of a Japanese victory, the Transbaikal would become an objective.
Instead, Siberia was home to a large reserve force, that utilized for the various fronts in the Great Patriotic War. It isn't until the Manchuria offensive that large amounts of troops from the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Siberian Armies would be used against Japanese forces, as well as Cossack Siberian armies.
Politics[]
Currently, Siberia is headed by the Grand Duke, or a Grand Duchess currently, namely Maria II Vladimirovna, the second daughter of the current Empress, Maria I Vladimirovna.
Below the Grand Duchess/Grand Ataman, the Chairman General, who handles internal military affairs and Vice Chairman, Noble Chairperson in the case of a noble, wield constitutional civil powers.
Economy[]
Siberia provides for 9% of the national economy. Oil extraction, mining and winter tourism provide for most of the income of the local Siberian economy.
Metallurgy and Mining[]
In this area of plateaus, mountains, and river basins, the major cities—Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk—are located along the Trans-Siberian Railroad. There are hydroelectric stations at Bratsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Irkutsk. Coal, gold, graphite, iron ore, aluminum ore, zinc, and lead are mined in the area, and livestock is raised.
In western Siberia—marshy and thinly populated in the north, hilly in the south—is of growing economic importance, mostly due to the abundance of natural resources: oil, coal, wood, water. There are vast oilfields in the West Siberian petroleum basin, and Russia's largest oil refinery is in Omsk. The Kuznetsk Basin around Kemerovo and Novokuznetsk is a center of coal mining, and the production of iron, steel, machinery, and chemicals. Logging is a significant industry throughout the region. Hydroelectric stations dam the Ob near Novosibirsk and Kamen-na-Obi. The navigable Ob-Irtysh watershed covers most of this area, and the southern part is also criss-crossed by the Trans-Siberian, South Siberian and Turkestan-Siberian rail lines. Agricultural products include wheat, rice, oats, and sugar beets, and livestock is raised.
Transportation[]
The Trans-Siberian Railway (Транссибирская магистраль) is one of the world's largest and longest railway systems that connects the various cities throughout Siberia. Currently, 2/3 is now utilizing Japanese maglev technology.
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