Well, South Korea and Taiwan OTL are full democracies))
And TTL Ukrainian post-Nazi regime last longer, than OTL Korean or Taiwanese post-dictature.
What Now? - The Question that Defined A Generation
- Thread starter Texas Bulldog
- Start date
And TTL Ukrainian post-Nazi regime last longer, than OTL Korean or Taiwanese post-dictature.
Well I just wanted an actual working Democracy in Eastern Europe.
Since Poland and Ostland are already decided to be dictatorships, the Proto-USSR becoming Democratic seems unlikely and Big Georgia is probably a shitfest of nationalities that will probably make OTL Burma look like Argentina by comparison.
Come, paint my World - in Black, Red and Gold [1]
The reactions to the proclaimation of the 2 ,,Volksrepubliks" and the subsequent German ,,Intervention" were varied :
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics : The newly elected President-Chairman Gennady Zyuganov, a known Nationalist and Germanophobe, had long ties to the Rutkowski-aligned Workers' Party, allegedly stretching back decades to when he was the head of the NKVD's department responsible for stirring up dissidence in the Reich's then-occupied Eastern territories. Thus, despite much of the Red World decrying Rutkowski as a ,,fascist thug" he actually gave him an endorsement, warning the Reich that ,,the Tusk Government will not be given any more leniency in the Proletarian sphere of influence" as well as sending a lot of aid to the PPO's Anti Fascist Militias, fighting alongside the Polish Armed Forces. His quick and efficient silencing of any and all political opponents, even higher ups in the KPSS, was a clear sign that the Gagarinite ,,Council Democracy" had a lot of loopholes that more often than not risked slipping into an actual dictatorship.
United States of America : President Romney and Vice President Anderson, being elected to appeal to drasticly different demographics, similarly had significantly different takes on this conflict. The President was harshly against the intervention, seeing it as Germany flexing its muscles and preparing to push into America's sphere of influence again. Meanwhile the more progressive Vice President Anderson made sure to highlight the various unethical actions of the Rutkowski regime, and heavily implied he was in favor of the intervention. Eventualy, a War Scare and a lack of decisive American stance on this issue reflected on the results of the 2014 Midterms, ones that pulled the Public's attention away from Europe.
Kingdom of Italy - the Local public was mostly concerned with a corruption scandal and some issues regarding voting in the recent snap Election so they didn't give much thought to theese events yet. Yet.
Kingdom of Romania and the Federative Republic of Ukraine - both states adopted a technicly neutral but silently Pro-Polish stance, culminating with the Kiev Accords - Romania agreed to take in Civilian Refugees while the Ukrainians went one step further, promising Asylum to any Polish Soldier willing to lie down his arms after the hypothethical defeat of the Republic (hoping to become the base of a new Home Army that could then be a thorn in the Germans' side for the years to come). However, they stopped short of any actual intervention.
Na wschodzie niedługie o Wolności są sny...
In the end, it was clear from the first day of the War that there can only be one ending - the German flag rising above Kielce's bombed out ruins. Still, Poland gave it their best shot. An immidete Draft and martial law were decleared, with Rutkowski personaly announcing that ,,Today, Poland shall either Win or Perish". Polish Troops began to fortify their positions outside the self-proclaimed Volksrepublics, with Law Enforcement units and local citizens already forming partizan groups behind the lines to harras the mostly unprofessional Volkish troops. However, the arrival of the Tried and Tested German Army proved a turning point. In just a month, half of the country had been overrun. The battle of Kielce was hard fought, but eventualy, the city fell - Rutkowski shot himself, ,,Mamona" fled the city for the countryside while most of the Government (and a lot of MPs) had been captured. After the failed counteroffensive in Lublin the Polish Army all but collapsed, and by the end of 2014 the entire country was, at least on paper, under German Control.
Polish society was somewhat split on the issue. While the Left and Center, and even many Righr Wingers shed few tears for Rutkowski and his goons, many more were still Germanophobes and didn't wish to forever fall into Berlin's orbit. While a loose group of Collaborators was established, creating stable structures (like a Pro German Police Force) proved futile as Poles were simply too scarred by the memories of the past. Multiple small partizan groups emerged, most notably the reborn People's Guard funded by Moscow (mostly comprised of the more radical elements of the PPO and the former Workers' Party) and the Pro Rutkowski Self Defense Movement. However, the former oppossition also organized - Rak resurfaced in Lublin in late 2014, and his Retake Poland NOW! (Pol. Odzyskajmy Polskę DZIŚ!) movement also had a militarized wing that got into more than a few scuffles with the German authorities. More Liberal elements also began to militarize and organize, with the Brotherhood Brigades in the Volksrepublics mostly consisting of Poles and Polish-descended Germans.
Another Generation defined by Questions
So yeah, Poland has been mostly pacified and Germany reigns supreme. However, that begs the question - what the Hell do we do now? There were many questions thrown around in New Berlin (formerly Germania) but 3 main ideas emerged :
The Pan Evropanists, mostly moderate Liberals and Christian Democrats, wished to integrate Poles into a new hypothethical superstate - the Evropean Union, a state to rival the resurgent Russians and bold Yankees. In their ideal vision, Poles would simply become another ,,sub culture" of Evropa, kinda like how Latinos in the USA are Americans but retain much of their culture.
The Orthodoxists, a loose coalition of Left Wing Nationalists and Right-to-Far-Right Elements, had a simple program - integrate the Volksrepublics into Germany proper, split off the Goralenvolk as a seperate Republic and then dump the remaining Polish State as an ,,Independent" vassal state, allowed to govern its internal affairs but completly subservient to New Berlin in foreign policy.
The Frankists - the ,,everyone else" group. They mostly wished to do the same as the Orthodoxists, but less overt - give the Poles actual Democracy and do a sort of ,,I scratch your back you scratch mine" policy, where the Poles get Loans for development and in exchange they stay allied to the Germans. They belived in reconciliation between the nations.
However, for now neither group managed to gain an edge over the others. Federal Grand Chancellor Tusk's stance remained unknown at the time.
However, while the story of the Polish Nation may be coming to an end, the Polish People haven't heard no bell.
The Dąbal Brigade parade in Moscow durring the October Revolution celebrations
To the shock of many people, former Partizan and MP (1994 - 1998 Independent, 2006 - 2014 PPO) Mieczysław Wyględowski, a longtime Socialist and open ally of the Workers' Party (who he saw as ,, well intentioned extremists") fled to Moscow and proclaimed a Government in Exile - the Polish Commitee of National Liberation (Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego, PKWN), with himself as acting President in Exile. He postulated for a ,,Polish Marxist System" based in Garganinist Council Democracy, and flited with Communist Party Chairman Gomułka's (1945 - 1954, executed by Germans) ideals of ,,National Communism". While he certainly wasn't Zyuganov's favorite, he was moderatly popular with Polish leftists and his Nationalism certainly struck a chord with the ,,Gremlin in the Kremlin" so he decided to go with him anyway.
Meanwhile, over in Romania, former Rutkowski-aligned Right Wingers formed the Council of mutual economic aid (Rada Wzajemnej Pomocy Gospodarczej, RWPG) - nominaly an apolitical organization that only saught to help refugees, but in reality a Government-in-exile whoose Chairman claimed to be the rightful successor to all previous Polish Governments. In a shocking twist, RWPG and PKWN signed an actual ,,accord of mutual understanding" in early 2015, essentialy endorsing an idea of ,,The Enemy of my Enemy is my friend" or rather ,,if we shoot one another now neither of us will ever see their Home or loved ones ever again".
And so, the year is 2015. The sun has set on the Third Polish Republic, another failed state to add to the depressingly long list of Polish experiments at statehood. However, as German Tanks roll down Piłsudski Square in Kielce and the Partizans return to their long abandoned hideouts, the question still remains -
What Now?
[1]Reference to the 70s Polish Song ,,Paint my World (Pomaluj mój świat)