Communist International (TUE)

**Dev. Status** | Conceptual

*"As I was walking that ribbon of highway,*

*This land was made for you and me."*

- *"This Land is Your Land" by Woody Gurthie*
The **Communist International** or **Comintern** for short is a collection of socialist states that grew out of the alliance formed between the Union of American Socialist Republics, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the left wing of the Guomindang in China, and numerous Socialist states in Latin America from Mexico to Chile and the assorted Communist, Socialist, and Syndicalist parties in Capitalist nations. Though once divided by the bickering between the USSR and the UASR and the other large players over the path of the Communist movement, the Comintern now stands as a united popular front for the success of Socialism in the world; united by their common struggle to defend the hard won gains of the revolutions from Capitalist reaction. The Alliance of Free States hoped to break the Comintern in the second and third world wars; but has only pushed them closer together.

Now with the task of rebuilding the world set before them in the wake of the third world war; the Comintern continues to look for ways to spread the revolution and defend its gains. Though China was lost in the fiery conclusion to the Chinese civil war as Jingwei and Jieshi were both defeated by Xishan; gains were made in the middle east, asia, and Africa as the Communist movement continues to flower. But the world has become an increasingly strange place, and the Capitalists are also recouping lost strength and assessing ways to grow their exploitive system in the aftermath of the third world war. But as has been said before "The Revolution is not a dinner party", and the optimistic spirit of the Comintern continues to burn bright and the swift moving forces of the Comintern are ready to meet the challenge.

## Background

### Birth

The Communist International began as a collection of Communist and Socialist parties and organizations throughout the world in the second half of the victorian era; though what is most often called the Comintern is the third such international, founded in 1919 shortly after the birth of the Soviet Union. With America exhausted and embittered by an early entry into the first world war spurred on by more imperialistic administrations that sent a million of its young sons to early graves and sorely tested the unity of the country whose Progressives never had a chance to take power with McKinley avoiding assassination, the American Socialist Labor Party; the face of a unified American socialist movement; had an ascendant star in the organization. At first the Soviet Union stood largely alone, with Stalin committed to "building socialism in one nation" save for some minor allies such as Mongolia and the unrecognized state of Tannu Tuva; many within the USSR even fearing that another socialist great power may even threaten the legitimacy of Stalin's regime. However, the dam broke in America in 1932, as the depression mired nation decided it had had enough and voted the Socialist Labor Party (now renamed the Worker's Communist Party); which had usurped the Democratic party as the party of opposition in the 20s; into power with landslide electoral victories in America's young "congressional" style of government intended to curb the power of the presidency.

The response was swift and violent, with reactionary elements in America quickly attempting to launch a putsch and thus "safeguard America from Communism" under the leadership of figures like MacArthur and Kennedy. While progressive republicans and much of the democrat party; whether under John Nance Garter's bourbon democrats or the populists who hadn't jumped ship to the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party like Huey Long decided to support the Socialists either out of a support for their ideals or a belief that the putschists had violated the constitution they were claiming to defend, the war was bloody if swift. The Second American civil war would end in a resounding red victory by 1934, with the aid of volunteers from across the planet and the aid of the USSR who finally caved into pressure to aid the Americans despite Stalin's protestations against the provisional government calling an article 5 convention to create a new basic law for their new Union of American Socialist Republics. With the nations of western Europe unwilling to draw themselves into another world war for the sake of the Putschists; the last world war still fresh in their memories save to sternly warn the UASR against interfering with their colonies, or the Island of Cuba which the defeated Putschists fled to in order to create a USA in exile.

The American revolution soon spread south, with Mexico, most of Central America, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic all swiftly forming Communist governments as a great wave of revolution engulfed the new world. This sparked panic in the halls of government in Europe and Asia; the calls of world revolution were being heard across the world and nobody seemed to know how to stop it. However, early in 1933; a different sort of government came to power in Germany with the ascension of Adolf Hitler to the Chancellery. With the Nazi party having railed against the electoral success of the American Worker's Communist Party and warning that only anarchy would follow if the same happened in Germany, the Nazi party became the party of government and joined Italy and Japan as one of the world's fascist nations. With the Red victory in the second American Civil War Hitler called on fascist parties around the world to unite and build a bulwark against the spread of Communist decadence and in 1934 he was rewarded when Arnold Leese and Marcel Bucard took over their respective governments following votes of no confidence against the sitting parties; followed by similar fascist ascendancies in many smaller countries of Europe. Liberalism died to thundering applause as the fascist wave soon engulfed other countries; with Brazil, Venezuela, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia joining them alongside the Benelux Nations, Portugal, and Scandinavian countries.

The Comintern and this new Alliance of Free States (free from "communism and internationalism" to be exact) would have their first contest in the Spanish Civil War. However, a reluctance to start a general war allowed the Fascists to soon add Spain to the growing list of fascist nations. Divides between Stalin's Soviet Union and America's Democratic Socialist Union further worked to paralyze the comintern; though they at least agreed to cooperate on the matter of ensuring the completion of China's revolution with the offer of support to not only the Communist Party of China but the leftist faction of the KMT; lead by Wang Jingwei, while Japan supported Chiang Kai-Shek's rightist faction and bring about a Communist revolution in Iran. However, despite their ideological divide, the Soviet Union needed the American Republics and their trade, and Stalin was forced to accede to growing more and more marginalized in his own government if he wanted the aid of the new world. At the same time, the fascists consolidated their grip over colonies seized from America during its turmoil; Japan now in control of Hawaii while France seized the Philipines, preparing to force the comintern on a war on all fronts.

It would not be until 1950 however, that world war would at last break out. With the European side of the Alliance pushing through neutral nations such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Greece, Romania, and Bulgaria to press into the Soviet Union while the UASR was invaded through Canada and war erupted far to the south with the Integralist assault on the Latin Comintern; even the pacific was not safe as Japan and the pacific squadrons of Britain and France dueled with the Comintern's pacific fleets. This war sorely tested the Comintern as new technologies of rapid battlefield production and increasingly esoteric weapons were deployed by both sides to attain victory; deep battle and defense in depth doctrine testing itself against Blitzkrieg and Maginot defense. Communist insurgents in Africa and Asia battled against the forces intending to crush them while titanic armies and navies battled across the planet. However, the Comintern would soon go from retreat and defense to punishing counter attacks as its advantages in production and reserves and increasing adaptation to Alliance tactics began to grant it victory after victory. By 1956, the war had come to the Alliance and only a brief (and limited) nuclear exchange convinced the Comintern to relent and hear the Alliance's peace terms. However, the war was over and America's model of democratic communism had advanced with the end of colonial rule in Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon; many west african colonies; and northern Indochina, while the once neutral natioons of eastern and central europe were now proud members of the comintern.

### The Chill comes

The limited victory of the Comintern would see the end of truly fascist governance over much of the Alliance. With the death of Hitler in the final days of the war the Nazi party succumbed to a leadership vacuum it could not recover from before demands for elections could no longer be ignored. Leese and Bucard similarly perished soon after the war and left their parties adrift. The Liberal Party of Britain; long a political afterthought following its disgrace in the first world war, returned to power in coalition with tories who opposed the British fascists. France brought the Party of the Republic into governance, while Germany saw an unusual coalition of Monarchists, Christian Democrats, and Liberals come to power and declared a second empire. This was received with jubilation in the Comintern, who hoped that soon they would follow America in a transition to communism. The Americans had further reason to celebrate, as the death of Stalin allowed for advocates of a more American style of Communism to take power in the USSR and institute multiparty socialist democracy much like in America. While some warned that this peace could not last forever, the consensus was that with the presence of Nuclear weapons, nobody would be foolish enough to allow another war of the superpowers to happen again. Especially when Japan announced it would be departing from the Alliance.

That is not to say that the next period of history would be a peaceful one. Low level insurgent conflict and proxy wars would continue to rage through the period and trouble in China would see the rise of a third vision for the world's oldest civilization that began to sweep away both established factions. The continuing war in Indochina would be a particularly sore point as the Comintern supported Communist rebels in the South against the Alliance's backed Nationalist regime. But for most, now was a time of peace and healing. Swords were turned into plowshares and the shocking horror of the second world war passed into cultural memory. With the second world war over, the Comintern also turned to internal change; with a second cultural revolution sweeping the socialist nations of the world as a new generation that had grown up knowing nothing but the new system pushed for a full realization of all the talk of liberalizing social mores. Free love went from something discussed to something embraced, environmentalism became a rallying call, strong pushes were made against racism and sexism in culture as well as law.

New parties would even arise, with the American Worker's Communist Party splitting into the left-communist Communist Liberation Party and the more Centralist Communist Unity Party, while social ecology parties such as America's social ecology union would rise up to major party status. This new left helped to change the face of the Communist International as the youth made their voices heard with the help of initiatives to lower the voting age to sixteen across the Comintern. Despite the optimism of this era though, many remained deeply suspicious of the Alliance. Despite the flowering Liberalism in much of the Alliance and weaker positions of the still fascist collection of Alliance nations known as the Commonwealth and Japan's departure, the Alliance as a whole remained unified in its hostility towards the Comintern, and the so called Solar Empire of Japan kept its intentions and desires a mystery to the world at large.

Comintern Intelligence agencies found a great deal of evidence that suggested that the Alliance was not acting in good faith. The Arsenals of the Alliance started to be built up once again in the late sixties and throughout the seventies under the leadership of the Chairman of the Alliance; Arthur Stewart, an aristocrat and a former member of the Fascist Party. Though he had renounced the autocratic ways of his interwar and wartime era predecessors, Arthur Stewart still had built up a substantial cult of personality with his populist systems and burned with a desire to avenge the humiliation of the second world war, which saw the Comintern dominionizing the empires of Europe and all manner of treaties trying to limit the arsenals of both power blocs. Well aware that the issue of nuclear weapons would make his war of vengeance one of folly, Stewart tasked the Alliance's best and brightest with finding a solution following his election in 1966. Knowing full well that if Stewart had a solution to MAD that they would be able to use nukes with impunity, the Comintern similarly worked on a way to obsolete its very own strategic nuclear arsenal.

To the horror of many, all major nations began placing satellite based anti-missile defense systems as part of the space race in huge numbers, with intercontinental ballistic missiles declared obsolete by 1972 following tests that showed the functional impossibility of these missiles finding their target. Cruise missile and bomber interception abilities had also increased, which contributed to greatly shortened deployment ranges for most such weapons as for the first time in a very long time; the average range of combat actually began to shrink. With war now seemingly inevitable, plowshares once again became swords as huge armies and navies began to stare down one another. Even the victory in Indochina did little to alleviate a sense of dread as tensions also rapidly began to rise with Yan Xishan's new China and reports from the reclusive Solar Empire showed an army of tremendous size bolstered by robots that were freeing up millions of men for military service. The Cold War would very soon grow very hot.

### Third Time's the Charm

Despite hopes that the first and second world wars had conclusively demonstrated the folly of massive wars between the major powers, the third world war began with what was reported to be a bombing at Konigsberg by Polish Commandoes and the shootdown of an Alliance spyplane by pursuing American jets over Canada, with the last straw being claims of Communist spies inciting riots in Rio following a contentious football match in 1978, some twenty two years after the second world war ended. The war came quickly and furiously with shock and awe attacks hitting both sides after war was declared in an attempt to seize initiative. But the Comintern once again began to pull back in the face of enormous weight of attack and to defend population centers now threatened by amphibious and airborne invasion. The Comintern plan was to draw the Alliance's forces into a massive trap, letting them spread themselves thin and then crush them in a series of rapid blows. However, the war would quickly take a different turn. The Heart Washing Dynasty of China and the Solar Empire of Japan launched into war with both the Alliance and the Comintern and each other.

Areas once thought safe like Siberia and India or the southwest of America suddenly came under massive threat. This was further amplified by the sudden betrayal of the Upsilon Advanced Military Research Division, the division unveiling a vast army built in secret with the darkest sciences and plans to dominate the minds of the entire planet and having renamed itself the Dominion of Noxsylvania. A four way world war erupted as the major powers of the world all jockeyed to be the one ruling it. The war was truly a global one, and was also perhaps the most chaotic in the world's history as truces were made and broken throughout the war, with no one side trusting any other side enough to make permanent alliances against the other three. Battles that saw age old cities leveled raged across the world as its lands shook with the march of armies, its seas were weighed down by the press of fleets, its skies choking with aircraft, and even the space above and the moon itself raging with conflict as war left Mankind's home for the first time.

Few in the Comintern seriously considered surrender even in the darkest period of the war; surrender would mean everything they had fought for for all these years would be worthless in the end. The Alliance would have them opened to the exploitation of their capitalist classes and subservient to western Europe, the Empire would have them bowing to their God-Emperor, the Chinese would see them become part of their faith whether they liked it or not, and Noxsylvania would end the very freedom of thought. Surrender was not an option, and with grim determination they resolved to fight for as long as they had to to ensure victory and free those occupied by enemy forces. They would not allow the night to swallow them; not now, not ever. They had progressed too far to go back now, so they decided to dig in and push back to defend their future.

However with the division and distraction among its enemies, the Comintern once again began to recover. Studying its enemies, the Comintern began to hit back. With the Chinese and Japanese, and the Alliance And Noxsylvani so heavily invested in fighting one another, the International was now able to push back with a vengeance. As an example of their "knock on effect" strategy, securing Alaska from Alliance allowed for a trans-bering invasion of Siberia; bypassing the Japanese held Aleutians to drive the Heart Washers south and push back against the Japanese in Korea. With the Soviet far east opened, Soviet Commandos could help Mexican forces take out a Psionic Dominion device built by the Noxsylvanians in the Yucatan peninsula. With campaigns being directed to relieve as much pressure at a time as possible, massed reorganization became possible and hard hitting counterattacks could begin.

As the Alliance similarly began to rediscover its bearings against the new factions in the third world war, the war entered its final phase. As the Comintern began to drive the Alliance out of its territories, efforts could begin to be focused more on China, Noxsylvania, and the Empire and their allies such as the Reactionary Guard or the Pan-Africans. With assaults on the Japanese home islands, presses into China, and furious strikes into Antarctica to tear apart Noxsylvania's plans for world domination, the final act of the war would come as Alex Stewart demanded the war continue now that it was just the Alliance and Comintern again in what would be the war's last day. Following the brief but furious battle of Nice where Stewart found himself beset by a coup among those in the military and civilian government who felt that his obstruction of negotiations would be ruinous that saw Stewart ousted from power, such a demand became as nothing. All sides to come to the peace table in the fall of 1986 at the peace of Debs D.C; ending the war on September 19th 1986, thirty years after the end of world war two. With the final strokes of the pen and the last shakes of hands, the largest and most destructive war in human history was over and eight years of bloodshed was put behind mankind.

### It's All Over Now, But the Crying

In the three years since the end of world war three, the world once again recovers as it mourns those lost. Decried as a senseless conflict, the war has perhaps brought much of the world closer together. Despite continued bitter tensions between the Alliance and the International as the cold war resumed with continuing war in the middle east and insurgent struggles being major bones of contention, the two power blocs regularly hold talks and bilateral relations even if the commonwealth abhors the idea of any detente with the communists. Tense difficulties over Korea and insurgent conflicts throughout Japan's empire and its allies continue to sour relations between the Empire and its bloc and the Communist International, but trade has managed to enrich both blocs again. Conflict with religiously inspired insurgents in the developing world with a particularly harsh contest in Afghanistan remain a stumbling bloc between the Comintern and the Heart Washers and Noxsylvania

While military spending continues to remain high in the Comintern, people have once again looked to peace in their lives. Mass Media entertainment has flourished and trade with Japan has greatly enhanced computer technology; already sophisticated with the resources needed to develop the Cybersyn network, the IAVA command and control systems refined since the interwar era, and drone combatants; throughout the Comintern. A new era of television, movies, games, and literature has swept not just the Communist bloc, but the entire world. A fascination with the culture of the now friendlier nation of Japan has influenced art and culture even if its autocratic monarchy remains despised. With the internet that emerged in the 50s to bring the technology of the second world war's IAVA networks to the masses now thoroughly widespread, people are more interconnected than ever before.

With the information age in full swing the future is perhaps uncertain for the world. Most expect that peace will reign for at least a few decades. Pessimists expect the world to be back at war by the early two thousands, optimists hope that World War IV will wait many more decades. With space travel now quite routine, many looked to taking the spacetime warping Dimentio-devices of the International to bring about interstellar faster than light travel, having already used it to help chart the solar system and put a man on Mars, Europa, and Titan in competition with their capitalist rivals. Other powers looked to other means of breaching the light speed barrier; with the Alliance launching their first heisenberg drive spacecraft at nearly the same time as the International sent its Dimentio-drive vessel to Alpha centauri in 1986, returning next year in 1987 after a year of exploration and expectations that others will follow shortly.

Others are wondering if the technology of the comintern could even be used to explore other realities and timelines, with some tentative efforts beginning in the year 1985 with the goal of examining the multiverse and discover potential allies as well as threats. Technology has never been advancing as quickly as it is now ever before; new developments are constantly arising and the Communist International hopes to keep society on top of these technological changes. So that the people and society are not left behind by the breakneck pace of technological development, though there are of course stumbling blocks as always as the law tries to race to catch up to technology. This has lead some to wonder if a third cultural revolution will soon affect the Comintern in response to the changes in society produced by the advent of so much intercommunication and mass media. With the new millenium the world has continued to shift further and further, with the cold war starting to shift from the Alliance to the rising threat of Noxsylvania as reconciliation efforts continue with the Alliance.

Whatever the future may hold, the citizens of the nations of the Communist International have confidence that they will meet it with the can do optimism, solidarity, and adaptability that they always have faced challenges with. Even if future can look bleak and scary at times, the brotherhood of nations and people that is the communist international has endured for decades, and people have faith that it will only grow stronger as time rolls on. Its military will continue to remain at the ready, to battle with enemies both apparent and conventional and hidden and esoteric. And just as the civilian sphere of life sees constant advances, so too do the red armies of the world, with new weapons continually being proposed for their armouries, from relatively mundane ideas to some truly exotic proposals that weaponize the very quirks of the universe.

## Generals

### Marshal Grigor Stoyanovich, the Armoured Hammer (USSR)

*"Are you ready for a real red menace then?"*

- *Grigor to the commander of the third Dynasty banner guard army in the battle for Astana.*
Grigor Stoyanovich has often been called a Drone or Tank specialist, though in truth he is an armour specialist, bringing highly durable units to the fray. He receives a number of upgrades to make his units more durable, and all of his units receive some increased armour ratings to better absorb damage. His association with drones comes from a belief that machines are simply more durable combatants than humans, while his preferences also lead him to adopt a number of very durable specialized vehicles in his arsenal. A veteran commander of the third world war and a number of smaller conflicts such as border skirmishes with the heart washing dynasty and counter-terrorism operations against the World Liberation Army and Confederacy of Patriots; Stoyanovich is one of the Comintern's most decorated commanders, and his famous hungarian mustache has even inspired some fashion trends. A native of the Soviet Union, Stoyanovich has refined his craft in the battlefields of Eurasia and beyond to a fine point.

## Worker's & Farmer's Revolutionary International Military

### Buildings

*"We have seized the means of construction, eh, eh, get it? No? Aw come on, that was funny."*

- *Anonymous MCV driver.*

### Defences

*"TURN BACK OR GET ZAPPED"*

- *Poster on a Tesla Coil.*

### Infantry

*"The Communist Infantry corps may seem soft in their concern for human life and the welfare of all; even their enemies, but they are soft the way water is soft. They can easily drown someone when one is not careful, and when whipped into a storm, they can smash even the strongest of walls and sweep away all before them. We had underestimated them in the prior war, and they brought war to our very doorstep. I would advise that you not make the mistake we made. Be cautious and respectful of them."*

- *Noxsylvanian Proselyte Ingrid Braun to her apprentice.*

### Vehicles

*"Why should we fear them? These are not the fists of chobham of the Alliance."*

- *Imperial Tank Driver*
*"You would be much less sure of yourself if you saw a hundred furnace tanks charging your position at high speeds."*

- *Imperial Tank Commander.*

### Aircraft

*"Scratch three bogeys and call me an ace guys, I'm heading home!"*

- *Airwoman Maria Cavez upon a successful ambush of several Chinese fighters.*

### Navy

*"I have not yet begun to fight you limey bastards."*

- *Admiral Thomas B Hayward at the battle of Iceland.*

### Commando and Epic Unit

*"God in his heaven, what is that?"*

- *Anonymous Children of Abraham soldier*