AKYRR Chapter 2

Imperial

25th May 1942

Berun, Germania

Just because the war ended, did not mean that there was nothing to do. If anything, winning the war had made me even more busy. That's why I was sitting at the head of the meeting table with the rest of the OZEV leaders, accompanied by their ambassadors or translators.

The first topic was the division of Yugoslavia and the annexation of several Yugoslavian and Russy territories. Pullska had annexed the territory of Kaliningrad. Hungary had claimed a chunk of northern Serbia, all the way to include the city of Novi Sad. Croatia had obtained itself the regions of Bosnia, Herzegovina and Montenegro, making it the biggest winner of this war by more than doubling its territory. I just hoped they weren't biting off more than they could chew, or a fifth column might form from dissenting non-Croatians. Even Dacia had managed to carve out northern Bulgaria, all the way to the Balkan Mountains.

Finally, the carcass of Yugoslavia had then been split into the two republics of Serbia and Bulgaria.

In my opinion, Yugoslavia had been the biggest loser of this war by far. Not only did they lose over half of their territory, but they had then been divided further into two squabbling republics with their own issues. Last I heard, the region of Kosovo had been seeking to further secede from Serbia in its political chaos.

I had almost advocated for a more light-handed punishment for Yugoslavia, as the Empire had been chipped away in a similar manner, only to then bounce back to become a powerhouse. However, I decided not to, simply because even a united Yugoslavia could never be a threat to OZEV, let alone Serbia and Bulgaria. Furthermore, rewarding my allies with extra territory despite Germania doing the heavy lifting during the war would help ingratiate Germania with the rest of OZEV.

OZEV's biggest post-war achievement was the establishment of and subsequent formation of diplomatic relationships towards several capitalist republics formed from the corpse of the Russy Federation. We'd established local governments for the regions we occupied, then provided them with OZEV and Legadonian troops to temporarily secure their borders until they could form their own local military.

The infighting Rus factions could do nothing but watch, as they were more busy dealing with each other. Last I heard, there were something around one hundred different factions vying for dominance in European Rus alone, let alone the Asian part. So far, OZEV had been successful in establishing the independence of many different republics, all with temporary Heads of State, with full elections being held by the end of the month, all without even consulting a single Rus representative.

Suomiland occupied roughly the same territory as Finland in my world. The people there seemed quite relieved by no longer living under communist thumbs and had quickly picked up capitalism. There were some reports of the Legadonia Entente Alliance trying to woo them into joining their alliance through promising investments and building a railway connecting the countries.

The Baltic-Belarussia Grand Commonwealth was a combination of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Belarussia, which to me was a surprise. In my world, all four of these countries spoke different languages and were distinct nationalities. The thought of all four of them forming a coalition like this would be unheard of in my world.

After some research, there turned out to be historical reasons for that in this world. During the days of the Pullish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the federal union had been very successful in expanding its territory in the Baltics and Belarussia, then integrating the people of its captured territory into its commonwealth by teaching them Lithuanian culture.

So even now, 150 years after the Pullish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's dissolution, there were still strong cultural and language ties to Lithuania in the region. Apparently, most people in the Baltic-Belarussia Grand Commonwealth could speak fluent Lithuanian despite Belarussians being the largest ethnic population.

As a result, these four countries had been very amiable towards the prospect of uniting, especially since they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. To the west, OZEV, whose armies had rolled through their territory to fight the Rus. To the east, the Rus themselves.

The BBGC seemed hesitant to join OZEV, especially since it was OZEV's army that had marched through its soil mere weeks earlier. That was fine by me, my main reason for establishing these republics west of the Rus Federation was to prop up speed bumps so that OZEV could have time to muster its military should another invasion from the Rus come in the future.

Despite our liberation of the Caucasus region, Jeorgia had remained steadfastly loyal to the crumbling Rus Federation and had held onto communist ideals. According to reports, Jugashvili had paid special attention to fostering strong communist loyalty there due to it being his birthplace.

However, OZEV had managed to prise away the true gem of the Caucasus region – Azerbaijan. Most of the oil in the Caucasus region was located there, and OZEV had successfully converted it into a capitalist republic.

However, we ran into significant problems regarding Azerbaijan. Firstly, there was no easy way for Azerbaijan to transport the oil to OZEV. To the south was Eran, and Azerbaijan couldn't reach the Black Sea without going through both Armenia and the Turkmen Empire. Fortunately, Dacia had volunteered to broker a deal with Armenia and the Turkmen Empire to allow Azerbaijan to transport their oil on Armenian and Turkmen trains to the Black Sea, where they will then be shipped to Dacia.

The second problem was that Azerbaijan's oil fields infrastructure had been destroyed by the retreating Rus, who had employed scorched earth tactics to deny OZEV of their oil. Once again, Dacia had volunteered their professionals to repair and restore these oil fields to former operational capacity, as they were the only country in OZEV with extensive experience maintaining oil extracting operations.

I suspected that Dacia's eagerness had been borne of both a desire to make up for their floundering performance in the Second Great War and to elevate Dacia's strategic importance in OZEV as its oil merchant.

The last republic was Kieva, which was also my current headache. Kieva held the largest territory among these republics, as well as the largest population. It was also the republic that OZEV had the most confidence in the loyalty of. Due to the Russy Federation's mistreatment and starvation of their population, Kievans held no love for the Rus, with the country having held active uprisings during the Second Great War, to OZEV's great benefits.

Whether the great famine of Kieva, or 'Holodomor' as it was called, was natural, man-made or a combination of both, the result was that the Rus were blamed for it. Millions of Kievans had starved, with many having been driven to cannibalism, only to then be arrested for it by Russy police.

Now without Rus oppression and with promises from OZEV to restore and improve Kieva's farming infrastructure, Kieva was on a fast recovery track to become the breadbasket of Europe, one that had close ties to OZEV.

Kieva held great strategic importance too, as they shared a large border with the Rus Federation, and their access to the Black Sea could help deter the Rus navy from crossing into the Mediterranean.

Apparently, their acting head of state - Aleksander Adamovich - was the former leader of the largest rebel cell in Kieva and had great popularity amongst the people. He was expected to win the election in a landslide.

Proving his experience as a militant leader, Mr. Adamovich had made great strides to improve Kieva's defence. Firstly, by starting the conversion of his rebels into professional soldiers. To do that, he had requested for OZEV trainers and advisors. The second thing he did was almost immediately applying for OZEV membership. And thus, this was the main point of contention for today's meeting.

Under normal circumstances, there would be an ambassador of the applying country at the meeting to present their case and persuade the members of OZEV. However, given that the Republic of Kieva has been in existence for less than two weeks, they have not yet gotten to appoint an ambassador, having been more focused on their defence issues. Thus, there was no Kievan representative at the meeting, as Aleksander Adamovich had sent us a missive stating that he trusted our judgement, which simply meant he was hoping for the best.

Maciej Moscicki, the Prime Minister of Pullska shook his head. "Kieva shares too much of a border with the Rus, that presents a security risk with trying to man the entire border. I don't agree with letting Kieva join OZEV. The entire point of setting up these republics was to protect OZEV, not expose it." Inwardly, I nodded, I was slightly against Kieva joining OZEV at its current vulnerable stage. It would have been more appropriate for Kieva to make their proposition after a year or so to show their stability and economic recovery. Adamovich must be either impatient or desperate.

Constatin Groza, the Prime Minister of Dacia, countered with his own arguments. "During the war, a large chunk of Kieva's young male population was conscripted to fight in the Red Army. Most of them defected to us when OZEV crossed into Kieva, they can easily be retrained and integrated into a professional army. That would solve the issue of manning the Kieva-Rus border."

"Kieva has an enormous potential for crop production. When their agrarian industrial capacity has fully recovered, they could easily feed their own people while exporting large amounts of food to OZEV. Allowing them to join OZEV and removing tariffs could help reduce food prices while reducing our reliance on wheat import from the Unified States." Luigi Falasca, the Prime Minister of Ildoa, now a republic instead of a monarchy, weighed in with his opinion.

It made sense why he would have that opinion. After the civil war in Ildoa and the naval blockade by the Albish to remove Muzzioli from power, much of Ildoa was hungry, though not to the extent of starving. Having cheap food available to it would be a boon for Ildoa. Furthermore, Ildoa was not in immediate danger from a Rus invasion, as the Red Army would have to march through half of Europa to get to Ildoan borders.

I sat there, letting them present their own cases for Kieva, not saying a word myself. I was aware of Germania being the most dominant power in OZEV, and as such my words could cause certain countries to change their opinion. If I had taken a more aggressive stance in stating my opposition to Kieva's application, then strong-armed the other OZEV members into agreeing with me, then that would just prove other nations correct in that OZEV was just an extension of the Empire.

Carinthia, which had voted to stay independent, was interested in Kieva's mineral deposits. Croatia was interested in renting out Kieva's drydocks to build its own navy, Czechoslovakia wanted to invest in budding Kievan businesses, now that Kieva has turned to a capitalist economic model.

Hungary was cautious of an influx of immigrants into the rest of OZEV, who would then be willing to work more for less and drive its own citizens out of jobs. Their Prime Minister wanted to put temporary immigration restrictions on Kieva until its situation stabilised. Daneland was concerned about Kievan borders being vulnerable to NKVD infiltration and espionage.

After every country's leader has presented their piece, I finally spoke. "Shall we put it up to a vote then? There are currently 9 members in OZEV. If support for Kieva's entrance into OZEV surpassed 5 votes, then their application will be approved." I looked around to see affirmative expressions.

In the end, the vote ended 6-3 in favour of Kieva joining OZEV. Germania, Daneland and Hungary had voted against, with Pullska changing their stance after Dacia's persuasion. The results were recorded, and I made the order to relevant departments to start preparing for Kieva's military and economic inclusion into OZEV.

As such, that concluded the OZEV-related business of the day. We would be scheduled to meet the same day next month, likely with Kieva's new President attending.

As I was leaving the OZEV meeting building, Prime Minister Istvan Ronai of Hungary, President Jan Benes of Czechoslovakia and Prime Minister Maciej Moscicki of Pullska, along with their security details, caught up to me to ask for a private discussion. Nodding to a nearby BND secretary, I led the gentlemen to a small meeting room and locked the door, then casted a privacy spell. They all left their security teams outside.

I nodded to the three leaders, and Moscicki immediately cut to the chase.

"Chancellor Degurechaff, Pullska is ready for a plebiscite to rejoin Germania." His words hit me like a cannonball. This wasn't what I expected. I thought he would be asking me for a reason for voting against Kieva.

"What? Surely you cannot be serious." I spoke. But the eager expression on his face said everything. I've never met a man more enthusiastic to throw away his country's independence.

"It's true. After winning the war, Imperial sentiments and patriotism are at an all-time high. I've conducted polls in Pullska, reunification would be a guarantee if the plebiscite were to be done." His face was akin to a boy the day before his birthday. Crap, I need to say something to disabuse him of this stupid notion of Imperial reunification.

"Won't you face pushback? There are surely people that prefer Pullska to remain independent."

"Pushback? Over eighty five percent of my parliament support reunification! If I don't propose a plebiscite, then my party will just kick me out and replace me with someone who will."

He continued. "Chancellor, the people of the Empire are sick of being separated by borders. My family and I might live in Pullska, yes. But my in-laws live in Germania, my cousins in Czechoslovakia, and my son studies in Hungary. OZEV was a step in the right direction, but nothing is better than reunification in the end."

I internally groaned. Goddamn it. Just when I thought that my workload would lessen soon. While the increased tax revenue would be nice, the opposition from other countries to anything reminiscent of Imperial reunification would be anything but pleasant. If I annexed Pullska, that would cause a massive upheaval and maybe even intervention from… hold on a minute.

There was no opposition to an annexation of Pullska that could do anything about it. The Albish were busy with pacifying the communist uprising in their crown jewel colony, at most they'd send in a sternly worded letter. The Franks barely had any military capacity after we took all their strategic resources. The Americans were close trade allies and would likely even encourage the annexation as it would expand the market for them. The Rus were too busy fighting themselves to care. There would be even less opposition than when Osterry got absorbed. Moscicki was probably aware of this too, which was why he'd sprung this on me at the earliest opportunity, when nobody could oppose Imperial reunification.

As for the other OZEV members, they would likely even support Germanian reunification via annexation of OZEV members. Germania had proven itself a stalwart and reliable partner during the war and had not demanded favours or money from its allies after defeating the Rus, despite having the justification of spending the most money and lives for the war. If Germania was further strengthened, then that was a positive thing for OZEV.

Furthermore, if I was unable to neutralise Being X's Blessed before my term ended, I would need the extra popularity to politically secure my position as Chancellor, lest his Blessed attempt to usurp my position. From my experience with annexing Osterry, the expansion of the Reichstag by adding more seats likely wouldn't dilute the GWP's prominence, as many politicians from Osterry had joined up with the GWP.

One of my running points since the start of my political career was revanchism, so I literally couldn't refuse reunification unless I want to be called a hypocrite and face opposition from within my party. I also couldn't interfere with the plebiscite either, as that would clash with my own belief in the democratic system.

Damn, I literally had no argument left to prevent this plebiscite. Fine, time to bite the bullet.

"Alright, I'll accept reunification if you can get three out of four people to vote for it." I said, trying to not let my face look as though I bit a lemon. A larger and more populous Germania simply meant more work for me.

Wait, if Moscicki was here to talk about Pullish reunification, then why were Ronai and Benes here?

As if to confirm my worst fears, Ronai and Benes stepped up next to Moscicki, a similar smile to Moscicki's plastered onto their faces like movie posters. They then harped on about how fighting alongside Germanians against the Rus had reignited Imperial patriotism in their population, and showed their people that Germania was willing to defend Hungary and Czechoslovakia not because they were allies, but because they were fellow Imperials. My mood dropped like a brick.

At this point, I knew that there was no fighting it anymore. I didn't even bother presenting an argument. "Fine, same condition as Pullska. If the plebiscite succeeds, then the annexation will start with Pullska first, then Czechoslovakia and Hungary last."

We went over the more specific details of reunification a few more times. I had wanted it to be staggered out with gaps of several months between each country rejoining with Germania. However, the other three argued that we'd likely have to hold an election for Germania again after each reunification. In the end, we decided to have the countries reunify with Germania at the same time if their respective plebiscite succeeded.

The three of them apparently already had the foundation and preparation for a plebiscite ready for some time and told me it could go ahead as early as next month. I asked them to give my administration two months to prepare itself. Even though my administration had experience with annexing Osterry which might help streamline the bureaucratic process, the other three successor Imperial states combined were much larger in area and population than Osterry.

With our private discussion concluded, the three men left the room with extra swagger in their steps. I swore Moscicki was even skipping. As for me, I barely had enough energy to stand after imagining the workload managing three simultaneous reunifications. There would likely be a thousand and one things to do. This couldn't get any worse.

Next afternoon, Elya knocked on the door of my office and came in with her reports concerning new emerging political parties in Germania.

"The majority of political parties that have surfaced during the last two years have been insignificant, only being known in their neighbourhood or town of origin. None of them have managed to secure a single seat in the Reichstag." Elya handed me a document listing out twenty or so political parties. Although, to call them political parties would be like calling a water gun a dangerous firearm. None of them had over forty registered members and were all privately funded by their own founder. Furthermore, none of these founders had an inkling of magical power, Being X's Blessed couldn't be any of them.

"However, if we start looking at parties that have surfaced since your re-election, then that's a different story." With that, Elya gave me a binder, with dozens of pages. I scanned the first page and raised my eyebrow at the word 'Imperial Party'.

As I read further, I became more and more concerned. Founded since the news of the Osterry plebiscite broke out, the Imperial Party's policy centred around two topics.

First, reunification of all Imperial successor states back into Germania. This wasn't alarming on its own, as many Germanian political parties, including my own, have had policies that echoed revanchism. The true alarming point about this party was their second centre policy.

The abolition of Germania as a Republic, and re-establishment of the Empire by crowning an absolute monarch of the people's choosing. To think that there were still people who preferred the outdated system of autocracy in this day and age. And it's not like the Kaiser was really that popular amongst the people during his reign either. I would have laughed at such a Party, if it wasn't for the fact that they held 13 seats in the Reichstag.

Sure, it was tiny compared to the GWP, but I still remembered that the GWP only held 4 seats when I first joined. Looking through the other details about the party, it only furthered my worry.

The Imperial Party was based in Berun, with over twenty thousand registered members. Additionally, they had a large headquarter not far from the GWP's own, funded by the old money aristocrats that made up a high proportion of the party's members. Flipping through their registered member's page, around half of them had the 'von' middle name. The other half were non-inheriting descendants of nobles or rich merchants. Elya even helpfully pointed out that the Imperial Party had the highest average wealth for registered members in Germania.

"Tell me more about their founder." I spoke. "This Walther von Schiel." The photograph provided of their founder gave me the impression of a refined bookish man yet blessed with a sturdy physique.

"Born in 1909 to a moderately wealthy Junker family. His family is one that is fiercely loyal to the Crown. Every son in his family has served in the army in some capacity. He himself joined the army in 1927, becoming a captain by the end of the war. After the war, he decided to start a clothing company and then began a foray into politics in 1939 by founding the Imperial Party. It seems most of the initial funding of the party was done through his own pocket, at least until his aristocratic friends started joining and chipping in. He's not known for being particularly well-versed in politics, so I suspect that there might be someone working through him."

I sat for a moment in contemplation. What a devious person Being X's Blessed was. So, this was how they will try to destabilise Germania. Through the erosion of democracy. This Imperial Party, which was staunchly monarchist, was the best tool for that. An absolute monarchy system like that of the former Empire was clearly unstable as it did not rely on choosing a leader through meritocracy or democracy, but rather inheritance and divine right to rule. Not to toot my own horn but if a conversion to monarchy succeeded, no matter who ascended to the throne, I doubt that they would be as competent as me when it comes to handling the matters of state.

If Being X's Blessed was as shrewd as I thought, then this party was no doubt their best apparatus for throwing me out of power or even ascending to the throne themself. I bet that they had already infiltrated the Imperial Party and have been devising a plan to turn it into their tool for usurping democracy and inserting their own system of governance. I shuddered at that thought. A religion-obsessed pawn of Being X would likely turn Germania into some kind of theocracy within a lifetime.

This Imperial Party would need careful supervision. In fact, I needed more information on it, more specifically the personality of its chairman, Walther von Schiel. As he was not a mage, I was pretty sure that he was not the Blessed. However, this did not rule out the Blessed being his puppeteer behind the shadow or someone close to him.

I sent a notice to clear my schedule for the day after tomorrow. I needed to pay a personal visit to the Imperial Party.