Kaiserreich: Legacy of the Weltkreig: A Novel

Chapter 1: Alexander Kerensky

January 1st, 1936, Petrograd, Russian Republic

It was winter in Petrograd, but, on this particular morning, the snow had not yet begun to fall. Yet, still lingering from the night before, a thick layer of snow covered the city. The sky was a dull grey, as winter clouds blocked the morning sun, and the colours in the city barely proved any better. The people of Petrograd still had to go to work, though many had a hard time walking. The cities colours this day were a mix of the pristine white of the newly laid snow, and the drab grey of the concrete buildings which comprised the capital of the Russian Republic. Despite this, the streets were as bustling as they could be. A lot of people lived in the city, and all needed to be at their jobs as fast as possible, and not doing so risked serious repercussions from their boss. The wind was bitter and cold, people were wrapped up tightly in their coats, for a single breeze sent a chill right to the bone. The air didn't smell good either. The large amount of industry in the city caused a large amount of pollution, and the air smelt of it. No cars were on the streets, for most were unable to leave their owners houses.

Despite the freezing cold, president of Russia, Alexander Kerensky, an older man with short brown hair, a large bulbous nose, sunken eyes, large eyebrows, two large lines from his nose to his mouth, making it look indented, and with a few lines on his forehead, stood out on the balcony of his house, and looked out at the city as a whole. The balcony had been recently cleared of snow, but the banister still had a layer which was about 1cm thick. Kerensky's house was not the house of a poor man. He lived in quite the large house, in the rich area of Petrograd, and the streets he looked out soon didn't bare concrete bricks as houses, but modern houses of ministers, officials, and other wealthy people. Officially, Kerensky had ruled Russia since July of 1917, but everyone knew that was not how long he had ruled. He still remembers the day Lenin marched into Petrograd, he remembers being deposed, and those memories enshrined themselves into Kerensky as a whole. When Kerensky came back to power after the civil war, taking it from Aleksandr Kolchak, he swore to never again be deposed, that he would never again lose power in Russia.

Russia was a Republic in name alone, officially, it was a democracy, but many knew the of authoritarianism of Kerensky's reign, and knew that Kerensky was not one to give up power. Kerensky himself knew this, it was hard for him not to. Despite being the leader of Russia, he had little eye for making sure the citizens had a good, safe, and happy life, his only goals were maintaining his power, and this meant ensuring his enemies were kept at bay. Of the three people that opposed him most with influence in Russia, Lavr Kornilov, Aleksandr Kolchak, and Nikolai Bukharin, Kerensky saw the most threat from Bukharin. Bukharin was the leader of what remained of the Soviets after the fall of Moscow, and the surrender of the Reds, then lead by Lev Kamenev, following the assassination of Vladimir Lenin. Bukharin was an agitator, and was able to gain large support in Russia's west, however, the government and the army had little acceptance of leftists, and the army were indoctrinated against the left, as per the request of Kerensky.

Kerensky made few reforms, and the ones he attempted, for example, some land reforms, didn't end well for the Russian people, he instead focused heavily on trying to destroy Bukharin and his support, instead of improving Russia. He was able to keep Russia stable and somewhat united, despite a large amount of discontent against him amongst the Russian populous. Kerensky didn't have as much work this day, the meeting of the senate was going to happen Monday, and until then he needn't do much. He spent much of the day thinking, contemplating, something he did on a regular basis.

January 6th, 1936, Petrograd, Russian Republic.

Monday had come, and so Kerensky has to make his way to the Senate. Not much snow had fallen recently, and so the small amount that was left was no problem for the car and driver, which took Kerensky to work. He was riding in the back of a black, open top car. The driver was a younger man, but it was clear he had been trying to grow a beard for a while, and whilst his face was not just stubble, there was still a lot more work to be done on the beard. Kerensky looked out at the streets of Petrograd. The roads were clear and there were many people walking along the side walk, however, none stopped, none clapped, none cheered, few even looked at the car carrying the president. This was not like if Sébastien Faure went on a drive through Paris, little care was given about Kerensky. Many people just wanted to get to work, to earn their wage, they had no interest in politics, as long as they had a job, because what could a single person do?

There was, however, one man who paid attention, though it wasn't the type of attention Kerensky wanted. A man in a long, black coat, with a thick bushy beard, and a ushanka on his head emerged from the crowd of people, holding a gun. He saw the car coming, as he was walking the opposite direction, and whilst there was still a little bit of distance, he emerged. One bullet was fired from the gun, the sound ringing out across the street, but one bullet was all that was needed.

The police following the car quickly took down the assassin, but, by that point, it was already too late. The bullet lodged itself into Kerensky's left lung, also damaging his heart, the man didn't survive the gun shot.

Later that same day, a letter arrived at The Senate, before the procession began. It said that the Alash Autonomy, a Russian puppet state in Central Asia, and with a predominantly Kazakh population, had used the crisis to declare its independence from the Russian Republic. Under the leadership of Ali Kahn Bukaiklianov, the country changed its name to the Alash Orda, and hope to create a future on its own, with help of the industrialisation. The country does recognise the threat of the Turkestan Khanate in the south, but, Ali believes that Russia would have a very hard time rearming and would not prove a threat to the Orda for a long time.

On the morning of January 7th, this article appeared in newspapers across the world, always on the front page, "Assassination of President Kerensky." The following was taken from a newspaper published in the Union of Britain.

President Kerensky, first President of the Russian Republic, was shot and killed early yesterday morning while on his way to The Senate. The assailant was taken down by the police, but the goals and intentions of the attacker are unknown. Despite his massive unpopularity among the Russian people due to a botched land reform and ineffective rule, Kerensky was nevertheless able to hold the country together for years, and his death had thrown Russia into chaos. The Senators are already discussing a possible replacement to Kerensky, new coalitions are being formed, both between the left and the right, while military men like Anton Denikin, Pyotr Wrangel, and Lavr Kornilov are just one step away from intervening to dissolve democracy and "Save Mother Russia." Chairman Philip Snowden, as well as Sébastien Faure in Paris, have officially announced that if a second Soviet uprising were to happen, under Nikolai Bukharin, that the 3rd International would give its support in a war against the capitalist and authoritarian Russian government, for the sake of workers worldwide.

The gunshot would be heard across the globe.