The early frontlines of the Russian Civil war solidified around the capitals seized by the various forces loyal to the opposing governments. The Russian Republic secured all of Ukraine, and large parts of the Northern Caucasus and southern Belorussia their territories in Russia proper stretched as far as Tsaritsyn in the east and Tula in the north. The Parliamentary forces loyal to Michael II controlled the majority of northern Russia their southern front stretched from the German border in Poland across Belorussia where they skirmished with the Russian Republic. Then it swung north for most of their front with their southernmost holding being the city of Tver. Saint Petersburg was a hive of activity as an entirely new Russia was built from the ground up the Duma was granted massive powers permanently eclipsing the Tsar allowing many of the reforms that the people had been clamouring for years to flow in. As the reforms continued the western powers began to treat the Saint Petersburg government with the most respect and legitimacy. Norway was the first nation to recognize it as the legitimate government in return for Michael II dropping the title Heir of Norway from his many titles. Following the decision of Norway to support the Saint Petersburg government the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Luxembourg, and all of the nations in the Balkan League including Rumania.
As Russia collapsed into civil war the many nations that bordered or had interests in her looked in shock at the brutality that defined the early months of that conflict. At first most nations agreed not to interfere unless the war dragged on or threatened their citizens in the nation but as the war dragged on the Great Powers and the United Kingdom realized that they would have to intervene but who to support. The British, Germans, Austro-Hungarians, Japanese and the many of the monarchies of Europe supported Michael II and the constitutionalist forces that he led, while the French and Americans supported the Russian Republic based out of Kiev. As the war raged on and it became clear the absolutists that had gathered around Alexander IV would lose the war who to support became even more pressing to the Great Powers.
-Extract from Richard Pipe's book Blood in the fields: the Russian civil war
As the Russian Empire collapsed the many ethnicities within the empire saw a chance to seize their freedom from the oppressive Russians the first of these revolts took place on the Åland Islands. The islands were populated mainly by Swedes and had long felt a greater connection with the Kingdom of Sweden rather than the Grand Duchy that they had been located in the people saw a chance to be free and seized it. The island's garrison had been unable to decide who to declare for in the war ravaging their homeland and so had decided to merely sit and watch as their Empire burnt. The people under them were not so willing to follow that desire of their garrison on the 12th of July 1920 the people of the islands rose up against their surprised garrison. The Garrison was defeated across the islands as word of their defeats came pouring into their high command the order was given to withdraw to the ruins of Bomarsund fortress and to prepare for a last stand. The last broken hundred men of the Åland garrison fled to the fortress and prepared to die. They held off the people of Åland for three hours before their commander ordered their surrender and Åland fell to her people. The revolutionaries sent word to Sweden requesting their annexation and Gustaf V of Sweden alongside Prime Minister Gerhard Louis De Geer agreed to their request.
Just across the strait from Åland the people of Finland had a more pragmatic view of secession from the Russian Empire a few kilometres to the south lay Saint Petersburg and the government under Michael II. The independence leaders transmitted a request in return for recognizing the secession of the new Kingdom of Finland the Finn's would not crush their government with the forces they had available. The Duma and Michael II agreed to the request in return for one division under General Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim to fight in the name of Michael II the fins agreed to this request and set about to deciding who their new king would be. The debate over the Finnish monarchy ended up divide into five main groups the Republican group that supported Finland becoming a republic or a permeant elected regency. The German group who supported one of the many German princes to become King of Finland. The Danish group supported securing a monarch from the Danish house of Glücksburg much like Norway had following their own declaration of independence fifteen years before the Russian Civil war had begun. The largest group was the Finnish group that supported making one of Finland's native nobility the monarch. The final group the British Group advocated for securing one of the many members of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha that ruled in the United Kingdom. That is where we will leave the new kingdom for now as they debate over their new king as some called the tile the King in the North.
-Extract from a Swedish Documentary on Åland and Finland
As Russia burnt New Windsor continued to grow many of the new settlers fled from the reactionary regime of Alexander IV or had from the frontlines of the war. It did not matter where they came from, they all focused on a single region the heart of New Windsor's Russian community to this day the continent of Romanov. The first settlement of the continent was New Novgorod in the heart of Kutuzov bay. The city grew rapidly with even the first Royal Navy warship built on New Windsor HMS James Cook being used to transport immigrants to the city. Yet as tens of thousands of Russians fled to New Windsor many of British settlers on New Windsor and those who had remained on Great Britain began to protest against the amount of non-British immigration to what they saw as rightful British land. While there had been protests from the decision to allow non-British nationals to move to New Windsor as tens of thousands of Russians fled to New Windsor nationalists and racists began to complain about as they called it the Russian flood. Though the protesters were slightly mollified by the fact that the Russians were all settling on another continent they still disliked it and even today those few racists left in British society will refer to Romanov as King George's land.
-Extract from A history of Russian settlement among the Stars an anonymous work.
The early months of the Russian republic were dominated by two major focuses the leadership of the new republic argued over the form that the new state would take while the military leadership planned operation Robespierre. The political leadership of the Republic were divided into two major groups radical leftists the Mensheviks led by Julius Martov and the new Free Russia party led by Gregory Lvov. The Mensheviks supported the Russian Republic transforming into a communalized society while the Free Russia party were exceedingly conservative and supported Russia becoming effectively the same save for removing the Tsar and some of her major nobility. Though the two parties were in a loose coalition tension was growing between the two.
Operation Robespierre was one of the most ambitious plans of the Russian civil war it was made up of three major strikes one to the west to take out provisional Polish government despite warnings from both the United Kingdom and Germany. A strike to the north aiming to take Minsk and then tear through the Duma's forces and capture Saint Petersburg eliminating one of the largest competitors to the Republic's goals the irony was particularly strong later in the war. The final strike was to the south aimed at taking the remainder of the Russian Caucasus and securing their southern flank of the republic as many have stated it was the only one with any military sense.
The Moscow government as some called it was while officially led by Alexander IV's regency council in reality the Military and the reactionaries in the Duma that had escaped Saint Petersburg controlled the state. While they had the largest amount of men they faced the problem that this was only because they didn't know how the other governments treated their people especially with the Saint Petersburg government passing several laws granting rights to the people that were unimaginable to the people of the Moscow government. The republic was even more radical whenever the Mensheviks managed to secure control over the legislative council the people secured even more rights then in some cases then in the west.
-Extract from Richard Pipe's book Blood in the fields: the Russian civil war