The Moscow Protest

A protest in front of the Dominika Train Station

## Quote

"Today is the day where we become masters of our own fate! Russians for too long have been ignored, scolded, and ridiculed. kicked to the dirt and left to rot! We will show the supposed Bastions of Democracy what true freedom is, the freedom to believe, speak, and to live a life that is not marred by their hypocrisies, insolence, and ignorance! Arise, Communists, Fascists, Anarchists, Libertarians, Conservatives, Monarchists, Republicans, Sectarians, Nationalists, Social Democrats, and Moderates! Today we march as one banner, a united front to fight for our right to express our own wills without fear of retribution!" - Henry Dong, during the Moscow Protest

## Overview

The Moscow Protest began as a result of growing tension in Russian society developed over the past thirty years, as continuous lines of successive oligarchs and authoritarian leaders stamped out any political freedoms for the Russian people. However, this tension more recently became rooted in an opposition of the West, who also condemned Russia thoroughly and had ceased all imports and investment since The Russian Ukrainian War in 2022. State propaganda, working to isolate Russia from the West, had manifested its effect over these past years, creating a hated enemy in the west at the same time as trying to control a populace that had gradually become disdainful of what is fundamentally Authoritarian rule. Consequently, the Moscow Protest consisted of primarily of individuals who not only opposed the Russian State and wished for their own sense of political expression, but also the manipulative actions of the West which have plummeted Russian Society into a poorer state than ever.

At the head of this movement was Henry Dong, who created a political movement called the United Front of Russia, incorporating every political ideology possible from the spectrum, in a orchestrated effort to bring representation for otherwise completely marginalized groups. This group, although consisting primarily of simply pro-Democracy individuals, was also strongly made up of notably Communists, Socialists, Fascists, and Monarchists. As part of Henry's promise, he would allow a certain desirable portion of Russia to be governed by each of those ideologies, a so called sanctuary where each ideology had the complete freedom to represent and make legislation on their own behalf, with only basic obligations to the government. The core individuals of the revolt, including Henry Dong, Svaski Kunetsov, Iosif Straffnov, Ivan Kopnitz, Kasper Zhukovy, all originated from the same work camps in Siberia, after all being political opponents to Russia. After building up a strong base of followers in Siberia, their movement flourished over the course of thirteen years and eventually was able to orchestrate this massive protest of three million individuals in the Heart of Moscow itself. The protest, which started in Siberia in the Summer of 2043, saw a gradually growing convoy of people join in and travel in the direction of Moscow, starting from thirteen thousand and growing to three million, accompanied by transportation, food, a baggage train, and a large contingent of armed soldiers.

The protest, which called for the overthrow of the government and opposition to the west, saw significant backlash by the state police naturally., and National guard units were mobilized to contain the movement as early as fall of 2043/ However with no small amount of arms distribution and funds provided by Jeremiah Jones of ALPINE, the protestors themselves had thirteen thousand armed and militarily trained riflemen, which made any significant action by the police and guard to be risky. The police and Guard simply followed the convoy along the sides and ends, keeping a close eye. By the time the massive convoy had reached Moscow, the convoy numbered two and a half million and many more rapidly joined in. With Henry himself posing in front of the Dominika Train Station, he gave an impassioned speech calling for the overthrow of the government, to create a new Republic where everyone will be treated as equals. During this speech, a government sniper attempted to assassinate him, but found his shot missing the mark by mere centimeters of Henry's face. This move sparked outrage, and the crowd immediately turned against the police units in a frenzied charge, forcing the police and guard to open fire. Hundreds of civilians were injured in just the course of a few minutes, and In response naturally Henry's own soldiers also then participated in the fighting, forming a distinct line that professionally drove back the police and guard.

The protestors, who showed no sign of fear and were in fact more so angered, continued to charge against the retreating police lines and slaughter them without remorse, using their own weapons to execute them en masse, and with many simply beating them into what is simply described as "pulp." it was said that one unit of one thousand National Guard only saw eighteen survivors after this specific encounter. After this the crowd of three million began thoroughly looting and burning the streets of Moscow, as well as raiding the State Armory for weapons. Henry's own soldiers participated in this, and with now swelled numbers by the local populace, at this point armed with tens of thousands more guns, they decided to spontaneously storm the Kremlin, under Svaski Kunetsov's orders. After a brief siege lasting 24 hours, the defenders of the Kremlin surrendered, and allowed Henry's soldiers to claim victory. Reinforcements of the Russian army began to arrive en masse however shortly after this siege, with now two hundred thousand soldiers mobilizing from the southwest. Some one million protestors dispersed and fled east, however another two million became trapped in Moscow, forced to fight a desperate fight. Henry, who throughout this time was simply amongst the mass, declared that the Revolution had started, and now they must fight to secure their freedoms. The 1st and 2nd Army of the Revolution were formed, each consisting of 20,000 defenders evenly divided between trained elite units and partisans. Henry ordered Iosif and Kasper to immediately escape Moscow and mobilize a relief army in the east, calling upon all members of the party to fight for the cause. At this point, the Moscow Protest had ended, and the Winter Revolution had begun.

## Consequences

The Moscow Protest directly led to the Winter Revolution, and despite this not being planned, it simply felt like a natural proceeding, as described by Henry. The protest in its initial stages was already condemned by the west due to their anti-west rhetoric, and even more so after learning about the horrid massacre in Moscow. The West sent relief and aid to the Russian government, in attempting to maintain a status quo, and foreign volunteers began to pour in. However despite this, the Winter Revolution triumphed in the next summer of the year 2044, as Henry's movement simply continued to swell in numbers, numbering thirty million by the end of the Revolution. The Moscow Protest is considered to be one of the most important events in the histories of those times, as not only did it create the spark to solidify the legitimacy of Henry's United Front party, but it would dictate Russia's diplomatic proceedings with the West from that point onwards, sparking a deep hatred from both Henry and the populace. This in itself, it can be argued, was responsible for the tension leading up to the Third Great War.