[RFC] The Great Russian Adventure, 1864-1940

PROLOGUE

From time immemorial, the Russian Empire had been a global power rivaled only by the Chinese and the Ottoman Empires. At its peak, it had stretched from Germany in the West to Central Asia in the East, from Siberia in the North to the Balkans in the South. It was an empire of millions, with peasants, merchants, fur traders, miners, loggers, and soldiers flowing throughout the empire through the expansive and well structured roads that connected the entire empire to the metropolis of Moskva. From the inception of the Russian Peoples in the depth of the Dark Ages, plagued by barbarian incursions, Viking intruders and surrounded by uncertainty and a shroud of mystery, they had conquered Germany in 1350, expanded throughout much of Eastern Europe, vassalized England, Vikings, Netherlands and Portugal, and created the largest army to ever walk the face of the earth.

However, fate is not kind to empires. At best they may persist for thousands of years without any major disruptions, at the worst can last only a few decades before disaster strikes. The rapacious expansion of the Russians in the pursuit of land, gold and glory took a massive toll on the stability of the empire. Over the centuries, old empires died, new ones were born, but Russia mostly remained the same for nearly 500 years. Change was rare, aside from the adoption of free markets in 1840. The Tsars would not permit anyone to unseat them from their golden throne of power and fear, and most people were too scared or overworked to rise up in anger, until the 19th century. Things began to rapidly change without any indication of stopping, until the tidal wave of inevitable collapse was upon the Russians. Herein lies the story of the latest period of the Russian Empire, the nearly 100 years that tore the old empire apart with numerous revolutions and a brutal civil war.

Welcome, Young writer, to the land where the strong control all and the weak "cultured" people burn, where the advanced destroy the primitive, where the UN is a tool for world domination, where democracy is just a means of building things quicker while communism is the most effective economy for large empires more often than not, where those who conquer the quickest and than keep control of their spoils are the most respected, where men love to start as cavemen on their trip to the cosmos, the heavens fall twice with incantations of unbelievable power, where the ultimate religious authority is a white, radioactive rock that can burst forth sometimes with the radiance of a thousand suns[1], where the forecast is continued war in a hell-hole of eternal war against Eurasia EastAsia with a 100% chance of mushroom clouds, or have been forced to abandon their own home due to thermonuclear warfare for the stars. All at the dance of those voyaging writers, who place with the lives of trillions for the purposes of their game.

This is Civfanatics. Only The the strong will flourish under its members iron rule and titanium fists. The weak will be perished, the strong ganged on, the cunning survive.
Do you have what it takes, oh maybe wise and definitely greedy writer?

Standard initiation. Brainwashing starts next week at 10 am.




I'm Niccolo Edwards; the quasi-quasi-official greeter for this sub-forum, IARR participant and (usually) a member of the human race.
I must say I'm a fan of Russia, both as a civ and as a story. I hope to see more of this soon. So with that... subbing.

Was looking for a new story to use a strategy guide; was not disappointed.