United Soviet Federation (OUTDATED)

## History

Following the capitulation of Germany and the start of the flood, the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics quickly tried to fight the rising tides, using penal battalions and POWs such as the SS Cossack Corps to build levees and dykes in order to help fight the rising tides. With the flooding beginning to wreak havoc on the Soviet economy, the USSR launches “August Storm” in order to crush the Kwantung Army in Manchuria in a swift, decisive strike and allow the Soviet economy to demobilize from its wartime posture, without a Japanese threat opposing it in Siberia. However, as sea levels continued to rise, the banks of the Volga, Don and Ob burst, flooding the Trans-Siberian Railroad and other communicative links, the Soviet Government quickly declared martial law across the entire country on New Years Day, 1946. The next few years saw the Soviet Union unable to effectively assert its authority despite increasing efforts at preventing future flood damage. In April of 1946, the USSR established a rump East German state in Dresden, with plans to continue previous Polonization campaigns east of the Oder-Neisse line abandoned due to the chaotic refugee situation. By December of 1947, the Soviet Government had abandoned everything east of the Urals, with blocking detachments established in the Ural Mountains to prevent a flood of refugees flooding the already swamped Volga river basin.

On March 3st, 1948 as part of a reorganization process to better manage a devastated Europe, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics reorganized itself as the United Soviet Federation, signifying the collapse of the USSR in its current iteration with the remnants of the Red Army withdrawing from Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania and Hungary, setting up new governments in each region before their official withdraw. With the floodwaters showing no signs of rising, the remnants of the Russian industrial base quickly found itself working at reducing the floods in the upper sections of the Volga and Don rivers, both to increase the available arable land (to feed a substantial refugee population) but also allow for future expeditions to the east in force to reassert Soviet authority in Siberia. With the Fifth Year Plan unable to achieve Stalin’s intended goals at reducing the tide, Stalin went on a purge, beginning to oust suspected traitors to the party and replace them with ‘loyal’ subordinates. One major consequence of this change would be the replacement of Malenkov with Suslov as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers mere months before Stalin’s death in 1953.

Following Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953, a power struggle commenced between Kaganovich, Suslov, and Khrushchev over the future of the RSSR. Despite a fragmented party seemingly tearing itself apart, Suslov was able to command a large enough power bloc in the Central Committee in order to crush both Kaganovich and Khrushchev’s ambitious goals at ruling the RSSR. Despite his admitted heavy-handed tactics at consolidating power in the Central Committee, Suslov’s reign as leader of the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic would see a slow dismantlement of the Stalinist system without an abrupt turn away. Collective leadership was reintroduced, restrictions on research were relaxed, and while reforms to the Stalinist economic system was conducted, the reforms focused on maximizing efficiency rather than upending the system. With the rise of new party leaders such as Brezhnev and Kosygin, Suslov slowly began to step back from power, with Brezhnev taking power in 1966 following Suslov’s resignation as First Secretary.

Brezhnev along with Kosygin would continue to run the Soviet government before Brezhnev’s untimely assassination in 1969, resulting in the appointment of Nikolai Podgorny as Brezhnev’s direct successor. A bigger reform effort - endorsed by Kosygin as a way to jumpstart the Soviet economy - would be enacted. While its immediate and long-term effects are still fiercely debated, Kosygin’s reforms and the emphasis on cybernetics did allow for more robust and accurate planning as the Soviet economy continued to grow more and more complex. Following Podgorny’s reforms, Suslov emerged as the leader of the opposition as Podgorny continued to dismantle the Stalinist system. In 1980, Suslov was able to use his remaining influence to oust Podgorny with Andrei Gromyko taking control of the Soviet government until he retired in 1988 due to his failing health. On August 12th, 1988 Mikhail Gorbachev would succeed Gromyko, instituting radical reforms in order to help to liberalize both the Soviet political system and the economy. While hardliners quickly raised protests with this course of action, Gorbachev launched reclamation campaigns into Siberia, establishing the Siberian SSR on February 13rd, 1989 in the city of Sverdlovsk.

Despite being popular at reclaiming the RSSR’s lost glory, the swift advancement of Soviet forces and the needed expenditure to help stabilize and consolidate their gains quickly took their toll. With the economy beginning to massively collapse under the weight of Gorbachev’s swift reforms and the reclamation campaigns, the Gang of Eight led by Gennady Yanayev, Vladimir Kryuchkov and Dmitry Yazov quickly instituted martial law on August 19th, 1991, detaining Gorbachev and managing to seize the state apparatus. Managing to prevent a total collapse of the Soviet system through swift intervention, the Gang of Eight continued to use the State Committee on the State of Emergency for the next fourteen months, aiming to use the extraordinary powers given to safeguard the Soviet system from future sellouts and harmful reforms while preventing a relapse of the Soviet system back into Stalinism. In 1994, the Siberian SSR’s capital was moved to Irkutsk, in preparation for future reclamation movements that wouldn’t sink the Soviet budget. While opposition still remains to the government led by supporters of Gorbachev on one side and the “neo-Stalinists” led by Nina Andrjeeva on the left, the current situation in Moscow - and by extension Irkutsk - remains stable.