Confederation of Soviet Republics (Berlin Crisis)

The Union of Sovereign Socialist Republics (Russian: Союз Суверенных Социалистических Республик, transliterated as Soyuz Suverennyh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik), also known as Socialist Siberia internationally, the USSR for short, the Socialist Union and as Соцсоюз in the USSR, is the largest and most powerful country of the Northern Hemisphere.

History
Despite making up around half of the area Soviet Union during the Cold War, north-eastern Kazakhstan, and most of Soviet Siberia and the Russian Far East handled Doomsday fairly well. Although all of the major cities and Russian bases stationed in the area were nuked, the isolated population lived mostly outside these areas, and the vast wilderness surrounding them allowed much of the population and government to escape the radioactive fallout. After the war the surviving population slowly began to come into contact with each other.

They soon learned about how a false alarm accidentally lead to the launch of all NATO and Warsaw pact nuclear missiles and destroyed most of known civilization in the northern hemisphere. When they tried to contact the Soviet Union west of the Ural Mountains they also discovered that most people here had been killed in the ensuing chaos. What little remained had fallen into anarchy along with most of the rest of Europe.

Understanding this and knowing how important it was to have a strong socialist government to rebuild, the surviving leaders of the Soviet Union came together to discuss how to best handle the situation. Six months after Doomsday, Geydar Aliyev, reaching the western borders of territory still controlled by the USSR, was unanimously elected by the remaining political leaders as the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and the General Secretary of the Communist Party, owing to his high ranking position in the Andropov government. A little after a year from doomsday on December, 23, 1984, Siberia, the provisional socialist government of Kazakhstan and Russia declared themselves the Union of Sovereign Socialist Republics, and the successor state to the Soviet Union.

Military
The USSR has kept all of the titles and structures of the Soviet Armed Forces, consisting of the Army, Air Force and Navy. The current Minister of Defence is Sergey Shoigu, who also serves as the Secretary General to the CSTO.

The Socialist Armed Forces (Russian:Социалистические вооруженные силы) has under its control all of the armies which remained intact during Doomsday which are under the control of the Siberian, Far East, Kazakh, Mongolian and Ural military district, and PRC forces willing to join the USSR. Border patrol units are under the control of the Ministry of Interior (MVD) in the Republics, while the control of the Ural Territory is solely in the hands of the Army. The GRU (Russian:Главное разведывательное управление, meaning Main Intelligence Directorate) currently has roughly 30,000 men in active Spetsnaz units and has adopted the name Vityaz (Russian: Витязь, "Knight") from the MVD for its principle elite Spetsnaz unit. The KGB employs spies but has continued to operate the Alpha (Alfa) Group (also known as Spetsgruppa Alpha, one of the most currently well known Siberian elite units.

Men and many women are subject to draft at the age of 18. The draft can be postponed due to continued education. Most universities have an obligatory Military Chair which is in charge of military training of all able-bodied male students to become officers of reserve of a particular military specialty depending on the university. The term of service is 18 months. Draft-dodging is a criminal offense and is punishable by prison time.

The Siberian military employs an advanced model of the AK-74 and the AK-74M as its principle assault rifles. The Makarov pistol is in use as well as the Tokarev-90, an advanced version of the original Tokarev-33, now being able to chamber 10 bullets. The Naganat revolver has been issued as a commemorative weapon for retiring generals.

New weapons, such as the Saiga-12 shotgun, have also found its way into the Siberian military.

Siberian Military District: District Troops (5th Guards Tank Division, 11th Air Assault Brigade), 5th Army (81st Krasnograd Order of the Red Banner Guards, 121st Order of Red Banner Motor Rifle Division, 127th Roslavl Machine-Gun Artillery Division, 129th Machine-Gun Arty Division, 130th Machine-Gun Arty Division), 36th Army (1st Motor Rifle Division, 1st Guards Tank Divison - both formed after Doomsday)

Far East Military District: 35th Army (21st Guards Motor Rifle Division, 128th Machinegun-Artillery Division, 270th Motor Rifle Division), 68th Corps (18th Machinegun-Artillery Division, 33rd Motor Rifle Division)

Kazakh Military District: 4th Army (131st Motor Rifle Division - formed post-Doomsday)

Uyghur Military District: 2nd Army(1st Motor Rifle Division, 34th Guards Artillery Division - formed post-Doomsday)

Mongol Military District: 1st Army (mainly former Mongolian forces-2nd, 3rd Motor Rifle Divison, 1st Guards Tank Unit)

Ural Military District: 201st Motor Rifle Division, 2nd Army (2nd Guards Tank Army, 27th Guards Motor Rifle Division), 41st Army (85th Motor Rifle Division, 74th Motor Rifle Brigade, Yurga (Constant readiness) )

Manchurian Military District: 7th Army (81st Guards Motor Rifle Division, 129th Guards Machinegun-Artillery Division), 9th Army (various elements of the former Shenyang Military District)

Primorskaya Territory Military District: 42nd Army (125th Guards Machinegun-Artillery Divison, 85th Guards Motor Rifle Division, 23rd conscript battalion)

The Air Force (Russian:Воздушные силы) consists mainly of units who managed to escape targeted airbases during Doomsday and as such, hosts a wide array of planes. The 11th Air Army managed to escape largely intact, as well as elements from the 8th Air Defence Corps, the 21st Air Defence Corps, 5th Air Army and other units such as bombers which were deployed during the nuclear holocaust. Planes such as the Su-24, Su-25, Tu-22M, MiG-25, as well as newly produced, such as the MiG-29, Su-27, Su-30 and Su-35 continually defend the USSR air space and are real assets to the military. Helicopters, such as the Kamov Ka-50, Mil Mi-24 and Mil Mi-28 are also in use.

The Air Force is divided into the same districts as the Armed Forces, providing much needed aerial reconaissance and ground support to troops on the front lines.

The Navy (Russian:Военно-морской флот) consists of the mostly intact Pacific Ocean Fleet and the remnants of the other former Soviet fleets that made their way to friendly safe ports after September 26th. The Siberians have inacted several projects to improve the current situation of the navy like building the Kreml class carrier, the Soyuz which is the flagship of the new USSR's navy. Slava class cruisers, such as the Chervona Ukrayina, Fleet Admiral Lobov as well as the newly built Komsomolets and Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya ("October Revolution") are also active.

The Strategic Rocket Forces (Strategic Missile Troops, Russian: Ракетные войска стратегического назначения) are an arm of service (Rod) of the Socialist Armed Forces that controls Siberian land-based ICBMs. It was first formed in the Soviet Armed Forces, and when the USSR collapsed in 1983, it effectively changed its name from the Soviet to the Socialist Strategic Rocket Forces. Surviving missile launchers were mostly theatre-based, such as the OTR-23 Oka, TR-1 Temp and short-range, such as the OTR-21 Tochka. Other surviving launch vehicles include the RSD-10 Pioneer. The RT-23 Molodets series of train-based missiles was revived in the mid-ninties, and the RT-2PM Topol designs were used and testing was finished in the early 2000s. All of the currently known nuclear missiles currently in possession of the USSR were salvaged from before the war. All in all, the USSR controls 125 mobile missile launchers, while the current number of silos in action is around 30. They have 60 operational ICBMs capable of launching 300 nuclear warheads. The number of theater-based nuclear missiles is classified. The SRF also seems to be responsible for the protection of SAF chemical and biological weapons as well.

Biopreparat is the USSR's major biological warfare agency, which was created in the Soviet Union in the 1970s. It has a network of laboratories around the country, as well as a laboratory in Aralia, on Vozrozhdeniya Island. Other locations include the Berdsk bioweapons production facility in Berdsk and the Stepnagorsk Scientific and Technical Institute for Microbiology in Stepnogorsk. It is headed by colonel Kanatzhan Alibekov.

The Socialist Armed Forces have around 950,000 men and women currently serving in the military, while a sizeable amount of volunteers exists as well, who form the military's reserves.

Politics & Society
Through reforms made by Chairman Tuleyev, Soviet politics have been made more democratic and akin to Lenin's designs; a democratic-socialist form of Communism is the dominant ideology. Citizens over the age of 18 freely engage in elections, choosing the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet every 5 years, although the one-party system is still in place.

Citizens have the right to freely gather, the freedom of speech and press, but the KGB still has the right to invade people's privacy so it could gain information on dissidents and the agency's influence on everyday life is quite strong. The propaganda machine is as active as ever, trying to legitimize this invasion of privacy by stating that the government has done wonders in keeping it's citizens safe, which is more than true in the post-nuclear age. The larger cities are crowded and officials give incentives for people to move to smaller cities and villages.

There is no law regulating the amount of children a family can have and abortion is legal. Same sex marriages, however, are not. Through reforms, faith has also been established as a personal choice and it is not frowned upon. The number of Orthodox Christians, led by the Patriarch of all Russians in Exile, has risen over the years and account for 58.7% of the population. The rest are mainly Buddhist (19.5%) Muslim (11.9%) or atheist/agnostic (10.9%). The Patriarch's main residence is the Odigitrievsky Cathedral in Ulan-Ude, from where he preaches peace and reconciliation with past enemies.

Music
Since contact with the rest of the world became more frequent in the ninties, Siberia has experienced a wave of Western cultural influence, which led to the development of many previously unknown phenomena in the USSR's culture. Siberia has been adopting a number of cultural techniques, while providing its own content. The most vivid example, perhaps, is the Siberian rock music, which takes its roots both in the Western rock and roll and heavy metal, and in traditions of the Russian bards of Soviet era, like Vladimir Vysotsky and Bulat Okudzhava. Krasnoyarsk, Sovetskaya Gavan and Ulan-ude have become the main centers of development of the rock music. At the same time Siberian pop music developed from what was known in the Soviet times as estrada into full-fledged industry, with some performers gaining international recognition.

Classical music, as well as ballet and opera, which had a a long tradition in the past has once again started to bring new and talented young composers to the forefront.

Visual Arts
Art is still predominated by socialist realism, although nonconformist works are not frowned upon any more and artists are permitted to open up galleries of their own, if they choose to do so.

Literature
Along with other forms of art, literature movements had to be rebuilt from scratch after Doomsday. These new Post-Doomsday works were based in tradition but were heavily influenced by the nuclear destruction. An era of Neoromanticism of sorts has been taking hold in Siberia, lamenting the destruction of the country, emulating the works of the countries golden age.

Science fiction has also become a most popular genre, and time travel, along with space travel have been the predominant themes in these works. Parallel dimensions have also been popular in a new movement of graphic novels which combine the bleak settings of a post-apocalyptic world and Chinese Manhua way of drawing. It has had limited success in Korea and Japan, as their existence has not been widely publicized.

Economy
Siberian industry produces metals and metal products, textiles, vehicles, agricultural equipment, and construction materials. Most of the industrial centres lie on an east-west axis along the Trans-Siberian Railway, which was rebuilt to the Pacific coast city of Sovetskaya Gavan in 1987. It remains, along with newer lines, such as the Baikal-Amur Railway (completed in 1990) and the Amur-Yakutsk-Magadan Mainline (completed 1993), the major regional transport link. Other links include the railway through Mongolia, linking up with Ulan Bator, as well as links to the former Lanxin railway, linking with Kazakhstan and the RSFSR, in Tselinograd and Barnaul, respectively. The lines were linked in 1994 and 1996. Because of the difficulty of building roads and railways on permafrost, shipping and air transport has assumed increasing importance in both travel and transport.

Agriculture in the Socialist Union is extremely limited by harsh climate and poor soils. Excellent soils are present, however, in the west and south-west, from the Ural Mountains to Lake Baikal and in the south-east along the Amur river. The region's principal crops include wheat, oats, rye, barley, and sunflowers; livestock-raising and dairy production are also important. Crops grown in eastern Siberia include potatoes, grain, sugar beet, and flax. In the far eastern part of the region, people herd reindeer for their milk, flesh, and hides.The cultivable area is continually being expanded, especially to the north. Siberia also has significant timber and fishing industries.

The Socialist Union is especially rich in mineral resources, most notably coal, gold, iron ore, natural gas, and oil. Siberian mines formerly supplied the majority of Russia's gold, making the country one of the world's largest producers. Vast reserves of natural gas and oil are located in the region. A pipeline connects refineries in Irkutsk in central Siberia to the Pacific coast cities of Magadan and Sovetskaya Gavan. There are also important deposits of uranium, nickel, copper, manganese, diamonds, tin, and cobalt. Large hydroelectric power plants are installed in Siberia near Bratsk, and Krasnoyarsk.

Mongolia has rich mineral resources, and copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold account for a large part of industrial production. The majority of the population outside urban areas participate in subsistence herding; livestock typically consists of sheep, goats, cattle, horses, and Bactrian camels. Agricultural crops include wheat, barley, potato, vegetables, tomato, watermelon, sea-buckthorn and fodder crops. Industries include construction materials, mining (coal, copper, molybdenum, fluorspar, tin, tungsten, and gold), oil, food and beverages, processing of animal products, and cashmere and natural fiber manufacturing.

Uyghurstan is known for its fruits and produce, including grapes, melons, pears, cotton, wheat, silk, walnuts and sheep. Uyghurstan also has large deposits of minerals and the oil and gas extraction industry in Aksu and Karamay is booming.

The rural population of Manchuria is heavily concentrated in the warmer southern part of the area, where very warm to hot summer weather permits crops such as maize and millet to be grown with high yields. Soybeans and flax are also very important, as are wheat and barley. The region possesses large flocks of sheep, and pigs are abundant in the more densely settled southern part. The northern half of Heilongjiang is so cold and poorly drained that agriculture is almost impossible; however, the Amur River provides very rich fishing prospects, and sheep are even more abundant than in southern Heilongjiang.

Manchuria is a traditional industrial base, focusing mainly on equipment manufacturing. Major industries include the steel, automobile, aircraft manufacturing, and petroleum refining industries. The government is initiating plans to rebuild the destroyed industries of Manchuria, which has yielded substantial revenue over the years.

The Socialist Union is one of the most important exporters of military equipment in the world and, alongside its mineral exports, accounts for a significant share of the countries GDP.

Transport
Currently, the USSR has the largest network of working railways in the world, as the majority of the lines were unharmed in Siberia, save for the struck cities. When Uyghuristan and Mongolia joined the USSR, Mongolia already had a link to the Trans-Siberian railroad via Ulan-Ude and Borzya, respectively.

Uyghuristan, although having a stable connection via the North Xinjiang Railway, later renamed the Uyghur Railway, the two gauges did not match. At first, this was not problematic, but as trade increased and as Manchuria entered the USSR as well, they decided to standardize the gauge. Work on the project started in 1993 and ended in 1995. Further work on the Uyghur Railway expanded to Altay in 1997 when it was connected to the Trans-Siberian Railway thorugh the town of Aktash. Work ended in 2002. The first railroad reestablished with another nation was created in December, 2011, as a railway connecting Korea with the Siberian Primorskaya Territory was completed.

Federal motorways were also left largely operable after the war, although maintenance dwindled after Doomsday, as more emphasis was given to maintaining railways. But by the late nineties, the situation improved and modern, new roads were built. Funding, however, is still significantly lower than for railways.

Air travel is not uncommon in the USSR, but is expensive, while the majority of airports cater mostly to international flights.

Administrative division
During the early years of turmoil, the new USSR was composed of solely of the Russian Far East and Siberia, while the remains of the Kazakh SSR were mostly partners in a crumbling country. Later, with the rise of Geydar Aliyev and the official proclamation of the Union of Sovereign Socialist Republics, the borders were solidified, forming the basis of expansion. In 1987, the Alaskan Autonomous Territory was created after an agreement with the ANZUS pact members on new borders in Alaska. This was the first territory the country had formed

Thus on May 25th 1989, the Union experienced its first expansion, with Mongolia and Uyghuristan being added as the newest republics of the USSR. A year later, northern Manchuria was invaded and a second territory, the Manchurain Territory, was formed. Manchuria was officially proclaimed a republic of the Union in November of 1995.

The next territory to be created was the Ural Territory in 1997, consisting of border territories in Russia and Kazakhstan, which were reintroduced into their respective republics in 2011. In March of 2010, the Siberians captured the rest of the Russian Far East and organized into the Primorskaya Territory.

After a referendum in the Provisional RSFSR, the USSR started operation Northern Hammer, which came to a close on July 27, 2011. The following day, the area captured, together with the territory of the former Provisional RSFSR, were incorporated into the Northwest Territory.

Socialist republics of the Union (full members of the Union) :

Current union territories:
 * Soviet Federative Socialist Republic of Russia
 * Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic
 * Manchurian Socialist Republic
 * People's Republic of Mongolia
 * Uyghur Socialist Republic


 * Alaskan Autonomous Territory
 * Northwest Territory
 * Primorskaya Territory

Former union territories:


 * Manchurian Territory


 * Ural Territory

Space Program
Ever since the destruction of Baikonur on Doomsday and the Salyut 7 Crisis, the USSR has struggled to make advances in space exploration. Only after the first years of restructuring did the Siberian government focus on getting back to space. A new cosmodrome, the Vostochny Cosmodrom, was built in the Amur Oblast in 1998 and contact with some remaining satellites was reestablished. Plans included building the planed Mir space station, launching the GLONASS (Russian: ГЛОНАСС, abbreviation of ГЛОбальная НАвигационная Спутниковая Система; tr.: GLObal'naya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema; "GLObal NAvigation Satellite System" in English) satellite network and other ambitious scientific projects.

So far, the agency has succeeded in successfully launching a GLONASS test satellite named "Tsiklon" (Russian: Циклон) and "Unity" (Russian: единство), while the Mir Space Station is still in early planning stages and serious development will begin sometime after 2020. The agency still employs older, reliable satellites, such as the Molniya military communication satellites, which is also used to broadcast the Siberian television network, the Meteor weather observation satellites and the occasional Foton scientific satellite.

Future plans are quite ambitious, however budget problems, the unwillingness of some LoN members and technical issues have slowed down space exploration till earthly issues are dealt with first. The LoNASO was however able to finish the first phase of the GLONASS network and it is hoped that this cooperation will bring the nations closer together on other issues both in space and in geopolitical matters.

Demographics
The current ethnic groups of the USSR vary from the census of 1974, the most notable difference being the vast groups of Chinese citizens fleeing the horror of Doomsday in China. Other minorities, such as the Uyghur and Mongolian minorities have come into being due to the incorporation of their respective countries into the USSR. The largest ethnic group are still the Russians, accounting for 48,27% of the population (2001).

The most widely spoken language has remained Russian and it was the only official language of Siberia until 1993, when the large Chinese population prompted the government to declare Mandarin Chinese as its second official language. These two languages are mandatory parts of the Union's school curriculum. However, each republic has the right to implement any other third mandatory language it desires which had been choosen by referendum. Territories do not have a de jure language, although Russian is the de facto main language of the territory along with the second most widely spoken language in the territory.

Sports
Sport is strictly controlled by the government, which seeks to develop world-class athletes in every Olympic sport, both individual and team. Domestic ice hockey and association football leagues are very popular, and some national players have found their way into European hockey and the domestic ANZC and Singapore football leagues.

In Siberia, government officials saw sports as something that could unify their country and give citizens something to occupy their attention amidst the still harsh realities of life in a post-war society. So, ice hockey was one of the first sports formally restarted. Its team is one of the strongest in the world, rivaled only by Canada's national team. Its national team is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. Talks are being held on hosting a hockey tournament.

Siberia has the potential to be competitive with Brazil, UAR and Mexico in 5-10 years in soccer and has continually improved over the years. The national team is a member of FIFA and will participate in the 2010 FIFA World Cup held in the Celtic Alliance. Its national team was runner-up to the ANZC's team in the preliminaries.

Basketball has also become extremely popular and its state-run league was one of the first leagues started post-Doomsday, in 1989. From then on, the USSR's national tema has become one of the strongest teams in the world.

Boxing has also become very popular, as basic boxing techniques are taught as early as in elementary schools and it is a popular indoor sport. The Socialist Siberian Boxing League is currently looking for countries to participate in a possible international boxing championship held in the USSR. Other popular forms of martial arts include the Soviet-created Sambo and, to a lesser extend, Systema styles of fighting.

The Siberian teames did well at the first Olympics after Doomsday, the 2010 Winter Olympics, winning two gold, silver and bronze medals. As expected, figure skating and hockey were the most succesful disciplines for the nation.

Current Conditions
The USSR, like Cuba, takes pride on being one of the few surviving post-Doomsday Communist states. According to its 2001 Census, Russians still predominate demographics (ethnically and culturally), although the USSR has an increasing number of Chinese, Uyghur and Mongolians due to the integration of the Mongolian People's Republic, while Uyghuristan and parts of Manchuria were taken from the PRC. It openly engages in economic trade with mostly neighboring as well as allied nations, such as with Japan, Cuba, and ANZC-controlled Alaska, though heavily monitored. The infamous KGB remains active to this day.

It has emerged as a "silent" power in the North; there are rumors of outposts stretching as far south as former North Korea. As recently as 2007, plans were presented to the Politburo on a possible expedition into European Russia. Initially aimed to survey the post-Doomsday wastes, its goals soon tended towards establishing influence, and recolonization of the destroyed western parts of the Old USSR. It still remains under government scrutiny, though insiders are suspicious.

It currently actively supports the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan which has put it at odds with Pakistan and tensions remain high and on the brink of severing all diplomatic ties. After the invasion of the Khanate of Aralia, Pakistan broke diplomatic relations with Soviet Siberia.

As new nations in former Soviet territory are discovered, the Siberian government has taken an increasingly cautious stand towards them, as its military has obligations elsewhere and would be unable to wage a war of conquest over large expanses of territory. With the discovery of a pro-Soviet regime in Karelia in 2003 the next round of expansion into former Soviet territory will take a northern approach, as it is believed the Karelian regime will welcome Siberian rule. Fears of tensions regarding the ascension of the Republic of Karelia and Republic of Estonia into the Nordic Union have proved to be unfounded for now. It is also pleased by the survival of communism in states like the Kuban People's Republic]] although it realizes that it will not willingly enter the Socialist Union, as well as the fact that other, anti-Siberian governments stand in the way.

International relations
Siberia is a member of the League of Nations, the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Socialist International. It is an internationally recognized country with a significant amount of pull in world affairs, considered the third power in world affairs, right behind the SAC and the ANZC.

Other than Cuba, the USSR is continuing to support socialist movements around the world, especially in the Caribbean and Central America, namely Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Guatemala. It also supports the People's Republic of Angola in Africa, as well formerly-oppressed Socialists in the Khanate of Aralia, which is its protectorate, as well as the Kuban People's Republic. It has also recently found strong allies in the form of three African countries: Ethiopia, Eritrea and South Sudan, who are all allied in the Confederation of African Marxist Countries, which is a regional partner of the CSTO.

Its single-minded view of world politics after Doomsday has put it at odds against other powers from time to time, as the country's foreign policy is generally perceived as having to much to do with the old world before 1983. Thus, the country is criticized for its blatant disregard for the LoN's ban on nuclear weapons. The leadership of the country argues that it is responsible enough not to use these weapons, while the rest of the LoN views it as history repeating itself. As of yet, no LoN or WCRB representatives have been allowed to inspect the Siberian arsenal independently.