Recent content by Karelian

  1. Non-Communist Czechoslovakia: bad in the short term, good in the long term?

    Finland was a front window to the West because it was so small and techically a Baltic island from a military point of view. Communist takeover was also initially deemed like a foregone conclusion and thus it was not rushed. Then, after the Greek Civil War started, Stalin opted to maintain the...
  2. for WW3 stories: the Soviet dilemna about... French nuclear weapon or "Why the Rhine was the limit"

    This was true until the 1970s, until it no longer wasn't. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb285/doc02_I_ch3.pdf By 1981 the Soviet General staff had concluded that nuclear use would be both catastrophic and counterproductive to combat operations in the European theater. The employment of...
  3. Russia and Germany as allies in an alternate WW1

    Because their key industrial and agricultural land areas would not be occupied, massive amount of rolling stock would not be lost, there is no Caucasus front to support, and the smaller frontage against Austria-Hungary means a smaller wartime army = more men left at home for agricultural work.
  4. Russia and Germany as allies in an alternate WW1

    No. From the 1860s to the outbreak of OTL WW1, Russia was providing a significant share of imports to the global wheat trade. This economically vital commerce went through the Black Sea, which is why the Russian Empire was so obsessed with controlling the Straits. Russia failed to feed itself...
  5. Russia and Germany as allies in an alternate WW1

    The most logical war plan of the Berlin-St.Petersburg coalition or "Willy and Nicky against the world" would certainly be to defeat Austria-Hungary first. The Austrian war planning would be hard-pressed to defend against such a formidable combination, so one could argue that whoever is in charge...
  6. WI: Kühlmann's "Peace Kite" Flies, a Negotiated End to WWI in 1917?

    http://finland100.fi/2017/09/11/on-26-march-1917-the-first-socialist-led-government-in-the-world-started-to-rule-finland/ This site is full of useful articles to give you the overall picture. A short answer: no. A Finnish Civil War of some sort stemming from the power vacuum in the country is...
  7. WI: Kühlmann's "Peace Kite" Flies, a Negotiated End to WWI in 1917?

    But a truce at the Western Front would have significant consequences in Russia and the Grand Duchy as well. The OTL Finnish Civil War was caused by very specific chain of events, and such a major butterfly would reshuffle the situation quite a bit. For starters, the Petrograd Ingrian Finnish...
  8. Post 1905 Sanity Options For Czarist Russia

    Mannerheim has nothing to do with Finnish politics in 1905, he is an aspiring imperial cavalry officer and does not even live in the Grand Duchy.
  9. Post 1905 Sanity Options For Czarist Russia

    Get the reformist middle class on board again by giving the Duma and zemstvos genuine power. Instill a martial law to Grand Duchy of Finland to remove the terrorist safe haven from the outskirts of Petrograd. Offer a land reform to calm the Finns down. Continue the Stolypin land reform plans...
  10. Sequel de Mayo (Cinco de Mayo, Vol. II)

    Everyone attacking everyone else and burning their prewar armies and munition stockpiles down in the process. Form follows function, but somehow I envision this war will feature less mud and more hills and mountains than the OTL 1914-18 slugfest.
  11. WI: Kühlmann's "Peace Kite" Flies, a Negotiated End to WWI in 1917?

    The situation in occupied Eastern Europe is interesting. Starting from North: 1. Murmansk is full of supplies, and Vikzhel (The executive committee of the All-Russian Union of Railwaymen) is still united and the de-facto kingmaker in the country. 2. The Senate declares itself as the highest...
  12. The March of Time - 20th Century History

    POi Point of divergence, the moment (or moments) where the scenario moves away to the realm of speculation from actual history.
  13. Sequel de Mayo (Cinco de Mayo, Vol. II)

    Interesting. What are the Arab-majority provinces up to?
  14. The March of Time - 20th Century History

    Stay tuned. Nah, stating something so obvious is not harsh at all. As it is, I have a backlog of researched material that I'll compile into updates whenever there is time to do so. Summer months are thus more active than winters, on average.
  15. The March of Time - 20th Century History

    He and his fellow republicans at Xiamen are smuggling in weapons from Japanese Taiwan, trying to figure out their next steps in a brand new post-Qing China.
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