History Literature / TheDeathOfRussia

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Albert Makashov, who's presidential aspirations went up in smoke after 1993 in our world, becomes the face of the NSF after they assume power, enacting a new era of tyranny in Russia.

** After the NSF get elected to power in a sham of an election, many Jews that remained in Russia (a fair number of them having survived the Holocaust) see the writing on the wall and get the hell out of there while they can, mainly to Israel that is struggling to take them all in.

* BlackShirt: In the immediate chaotic aftermath of the 1993 coup, NSF aligned militias (with the right-wing Russian National Unity being the most prominent) assist police in putting down Pro-Yeltsin demonstrators. They later become the backbone of the armed forces of both the far-left and far-right factions when the civil war kicks off.

* CommieNazis: What the general Western public thinks of the new NSF government, although this doesn't last once their alliance breaks down, with both sides only sharing a disdain for Russia's ethnic minorities and Jews.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Albert Makashov, who never emerged in politics after 1993 in our world, becomes the face of the NSF after they assume power, enacting a new era of tyranny in Russia.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When the Russian Army finally turns on Yeltsin during the 1993 Coup, Anatoly Chubais, considered the ‘mastermind’ behind the privatization of the economy, fled for the hills before General Grachev even finished his speech of support for Parliament.

* FictionalizedDeathAccount: Boris Yeltsin dies within the smoldering Russian White House during the 1993 Coup, after the building being set alight after pro-Parliament forces under General Pavel Grachev shelled the building in order to merely force him out.

* NostalgiaFilter: A section of the chapter "Screaming" is from the in-universe memoir of one Arkady Babchenko, who recalls the commissar assigned his sorry band of scared conscripts how tragic Russia's fall has been for the unnamed commissar, a lifelong KGB man that once worked in Dresden and saw nothing but the best of the USSR thanks to him owning a dacha on the Black Sea and the Americans, British and French having to combine their strength to equal them. Babchenko however, sees it differently.
--> "What makes someone say this? Even as teenagers we knew that life in the Soviet Union was garbage compared to the West. How could the adults think it was a good idea? Because he was in Germany? Because he was in the KGB and never had to stand eight hours in a line for bread? Because he never had to wait ten years for a car? Because he never saw Afghanistan veterans shooting up heroin in the alleys? Because he was allowed to go abroad when we couldn’t? I could look in his eyes. This wasn’t a man at war with himself. This wasn’t a man broken by nostalgia."
* PleaseSelectNewCityName: When the civil war begins proper and the NSF truly breaks down in November 1994, the Fascists based in St. Petersburg rename the city Petrograd, while the communists rename Volgograd back to Stalingrad.
** Kaliningrad is stated to have been renamed Pushkingrad in the update discussing how Gaidar fled to the city after the NSF takes over the rest of the country.

* ShoutOut: A map made by a contributor to show the situation in Russia by New Years Day 1995 quips that [[Manga/KomiCantCommunicate Komi "can't form alliances"]] while recaping the Komi Republic seceding and declaring neutrality in the civil war.

* BlackAndGreyMorality: The Second Russian Civil War features brutal, child-killing, genocidal fascists and communists and [[spoiler: a megalomaniacal Kim Jong Il]] vs. ethnic separatists who aren't afraid of [[PayEvilUntoEvil giving as good as they get]], [[spoiler: the autocratic but still honorable Alexander Lebed]], and even Gaidar's relatively benign regime in Kaliningrad isn't above authoritarianism.

* VestigialEmpire: Even before the civil war is said and done, Gaidar's rump government is a shadow of the Russian Federation that emerged from the ashes of the USSR. Gaidar and his government only controls the Kaliningrad Oblast (with said control being maintained at the barrel of a gun), has no support in mainland Russia thanks to Yeltsin's popularity being in the toilet after the 1993 coup, and the Baltic Fleet only aligned with him because he met their price tag. The Russians only have their United Nations seat only due to inertia and the author quips that Gaidar will "fight for it till his last breath".

* BackFromTheBrink: As Russian control over the North Caucasus collapses following their catastrophic loss in Chechnya,[[spoiler: Circassian partisans inspired by Dudayev seize control of Kabardino-Balkaria and declare the reconstitution of a Circassian nation, the first of its kind in centuries since the [[FinalSolution 19th century Circassian genocide]]]], the proclamation being met with jubilation and TearsOfJoy from the native peoples. An unnamed Israeli reporter present at the scene of their freedom relates this emergence with the birth of his own nation.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Not that ''Footprint of Mussolini'' was a barrel of laughs, but ''Death of Russia'' ups the brutality as the collapse of Russia sees widespread famine, death and genocides with atrocities that outdo even the worse Yugoslavia or Rwanda had to offer. In fact, it would not be hyperbole to say that the very worse of humanity is on display in Russia. To give an idea of how dark the Second Russian Civil War is, the chapter "Screaming" outright states that the horror and brutality of the conflict gave Creator/KentaroMiura inspiration for some of the most violent and sickening scenes of ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''.

* WouldHurtAChild: Children are ''not'' spared the horrors and violence of the Russian Civil War. If they're not among the casualties, imprisoned in horrid camps to be bartered off for aid, recruited into the army to die [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil or worse]], they're in refugee camps that are only marginally better than what Russia has become.

* VestigialEmpire: Even before the civil war is said and done, Gaidar's rump government in Kaliningrad is a shadow of the Russian Federation that emerged from the ashes of the USSR. Gaidar and his government only controls that region (with said control being maintained at the barrel of a gun), has no support in mainland Russia thanks to Yeltsin's popularity being in the toilet after the 1993 coup, and the Baltic Fleet only aligned with him because he met their price tag. The Russians only have their United Nations seat only due to inertia and the author quips that Gaidar will "fight for it till his last breath".

* BalkanizeMe: With a name like "''The Death of Russia''", this was pretty much a ForegoneConclusion. Various ethnic minorities break off thanks to the hardline rule of the NSF and hints within the text imply that the dissolution remains well into the 2020s. [[spoiler: By late 1994, Primorsky Krai, Yakutia, Komi, Chechyna, a revitalized Circassia, the rest of the former Russian Caucasus, and a Gaidar-ruled Kaliningrad have all broken away]].

* DarkerAndEdgier: Not that ''Footprint of Mussolini'' was a barrel of laughs, but ''Death of Russia'' ups the brutality as the collapse of Russia sees widespread famine, death and genocides with atrocities that outdo even the worse Yugoslavia or Rwanda had to offer, with the very worse of humanity on display. To give an idea of how dark the Second Russian Civil War is, the chapter "Screaming" outright states that the horror and brutality of the conflict gave Creator/KentaroMiura gave inspiration for some of the most violent and sickening scenes for ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''.

** And it doesn't get better after the NSF collapses, the Fascists [[spoiler:barters ethnic minorities in their territory as hostages for food and medicine from the West or just puts women into rape camps. Both the Communists and Fascists also use such minorities as cannon fodder for certain death missions such as landmine removal]].

* RapePillageAndBurn: [[spoiler: Kim Jong Il's army brings death and destruction in its march to Vladivostok]].

* WouldHurtAChild: Children are ''not'' spared the horrors and violence of the Russian civil war.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Not that ''Footprint of Mussolini'' was a barrel of laughs, but ''Death of Russia'' ups the brutality as the collapse of Russia sees widespread famine, death and genocides with atrocities that outdo even the worse Yugoslavia or Rwanda had to offer, with the very worse of humanity on display. To give an idea of how dark this the Second Russian Civil War is, the chapter "Screaming" outright states that Creator/KentaroMiura got inspiration for some of ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' most violent scenes from the horror and brutality of the conflict.

* RageBreakingPoint: After [[spoiler:the North Koreans openly defy their Chinese masters and invade the Far Eastern Republic in order to snag nukes and fail at Vladivostok, the Chinese have finally had enough of the Kim family and overthrow him themselves, their antics having cost China a zone of influence along their border region]].

* BalkanizeMe: With a name like "''The Death of Russia''", this was pretty much a ForegoneConclusion. Various ethnic minorities break off thanks to the hardline rule of the NSF and hints within the text imply that the dissolution remains well into the 2020s. [[spoiler: By late 1994, Primorsky Krai, Yakutia, Chechyna, a revitalized Circassia, and a Gaidar-ruled Kaliningrad have all broken away]].

* WretchedHive: While Russia isn't that much safer, Tuva is noted to be among the worst places in the nation in 1994 at least east of the Urals with ethnic tensions between Russians and Tuvans being beyond saving, unemployment being the highest in the country, and the crime rate being so sky high that it would have the highest murder rate of any state in the world if it went independent (which Tuva eventually did).[[note]]To put this in perspective, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate_by_decade#1990s in our world in 1994]], both Colombia and South Africa nearly tied at 71.0 and a solid 70 respectively. Evidentially, neither {{The Cartel}}s or UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra went quietly.[[/note]]

* ChildSoldiers: To meet the strict quotas imposed by the Stalingrad government, the Red Army in particular have taken to recruiting entire villages of all able bodied males, young boys included. For many, this forced service at least nominally ensures a meal, even if the rest of their families would parish in the famine.

* ReassignmentBackfire: Viktor Aksyuchits, a member of the NSF who wasn't a fascist or a communist (instead a fairly standard Christian Democrat), was made [[ReassignedToAntarctica the regional governor of Primorsky]] in order to get him away from any meaningful position in Moscow. As Siberia and the Far East descends into anarchy, [[spoiler:he declares Primorsky's independence as the Far Eastern Republic and becomes a beloved leader after leading the young nation through a North Korean invasion]].

* BalkanizeMe: With a name like "''The Death of Russia''", this was pretty much a ForegoneConclusion. Various ethnic minorities break off thanks to the hardline rule of the NSF and hints within the text imply that the dissolution remains well into the 2020s.

* AllForNothing: The reforms put into place by Gorbachev and thought to be solidified by Yeltsin died with the latter, as Russia goes through their own [[UsefulNotes/TheYugoslavWars Yugoslav Wars]] that shatters the nation. Even worse is Gorbachev surviving his time in NSF (later just Fascist) captivity, living to see what failure had brought.

* CivilWar: The main draw of this timeline is the Russian Federation collapsing into a second civil war that [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober that outdoes the first one]] in terms of death toll and atrocities.

* MirroringFactions: In the end, neither the Communists nor the Fascists are above violence and brutality to achieve their goals.

* ApocalypseHow: By late 1994, Russia is at a Class 0. Famine runs rampant across the nation, the NSF has turned on each other, ethnic conflicts have spiraled out of control, the Fascists and Communists are tearing apart European Russia in a violent ground war, and the loss of the Trans-Siberian railroad to Uralic partisans sees anarchy spread in Siberia and the Far East thanks to a lack of supplies come in. The world economy has taken a hit as well thanks to the sudden loss of Siberian resources that are just sitting there.
* BalkanizeMe: With a name like "''Death of Russia''", this was pretty much a ForegoneConclusion. Various ethnic minorities break off thanks to the hardline rule of the NSF and hints within the text imply that the dissolution remains well into the 2020s.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Subverted. Sergei Shoigu, who was a member of Yeltsin's cabinet, was also notorious corrupt, even by Russian standards. While his corruption was least partially the reason he was fired by the NSF, his half-Tuvan ancestry was also a factor.

* WeAreStrugglingTogether: The National Salvation Front is a predictably very unstable alliance of convenience between the far-left and far-right. [[spoiler:Once the leadership that united them under Rutskoy was killed in a suspicious air crash, they began to turn on each other like a pack of wolves]].

''[[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/the-death-of-russia-tl.533392/ The Death of Russia]]'' is an ongoing AlternateHistory story by Sorairo from Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom, the author of ''Literature/TheFootprintOfMussolini''.

In 1993, Russian Vice President Alexander Rutskoy and his supporters in the Russian Parliament, led by the National Salvation Front, launched a coup against UsefulNotes/BorisYeltsin. In our timeline, this was stopped due to the military remaining loyal to Yeltsin. In this timeline, the National Salvation Front's supporters managed to storm the main television station where they denounced Yeltsin, resulting in the military defecting to their side. Emboldened, they overthrew the government and Yeltsin was killed in the aftermath.

Unsurprising for an alliance between the far-left and the far-right that were only united in reversing the decline of Russia they blame on both UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev and Yeltsin, the National Salvation Front eventually comes to an explosive end, and unleashes the unraveling of Russia onto a horrified world.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Alexander Lebed has a low opinion of democracy, but he's merely TheGeneralissimo of the Russian Army [[spoiler:and a much better contender in the Second Russian Civil War compared to the Communists and Fascists, nor is he a PoliticallyIncorrectHero. Combined with intending to restore access to resource deposits in Siberia, this serves as incentive for him to get under the table support from corporate sponsors]].
* AllForNothing: The reforms put into place by Gorbachev and thought to be solidified by Yeltsin died with the latter, as Russia goes through their own [[UsefulNotes/TheYugoslavWars Yugoslav Wars]] that sees Russia shattered. Even worse is Gorbachev surviving his time in NSF (later just Fascist) captivity, living to see what failure had brought.
* BalkanizeMe: With a name like "''Death of Russia''", this was pretty much a ForegoneConclusion. Various ethnic minorities break off thanks to the hardline rule of the NSF and hints within the text that the dissolution remains well into the 2020s.
* CommieNazis: What the general Western public thinks of the new NSF government, although this doesn't last once their alliance, with both sides only sharing a disdain for Russia's ethnic minorities and Jews.
* CivilWar: The main draw of this timeline being a collapse of the Russian Federation that sees a second civil war that [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober that outdoes the first one]] in terms of death toll and atrocities.

* PlotTriggeringDeath: Yelstin dying in the 1993 Coup is what kicks off the chain of events that tears Russia apart.

** About the only thing the NSF share is their prejudiced against Russia's ethnic minorities and the Jews. In fact, it's the Russian Army's war crimes in Chechnya that convinces Bashkortostan and Tatarstan to break off from Russia, their secession being the first dominoes to fall in the Second Russian Civil War.

* WeAreStrugglingTogether: The National Salvation Front is an alliance of convenience between the far-left and far-right, and is predictably very unstable. [[spoiler:Once the leadership that united them under Rutskoy was killed in a suspicious air crash, they began to turn on each other like a pack of wolves]].

* GovernmentInExile: Yuri Gaidar, Prime Minister of Russia under Yeltsin, ends up making a government in exile in Kaliningrad after Yeltsin's demise and the NSF assuming power.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Alexander Lebed has a low opinion of democracy, but he's merely TheGeneralissimo of the Russian Army [[spoiler:and a much better contender in the Second Russian Civil War compared to the Communists and Fascists. Combined with intending to restore access to resource deposits in Siberia, this serves as incentive for him to get under the table support from corporate sponsors]].
* BalkanizeMe: With a name like "Death of Russia", this was pretty much a ForegoneConclusion. Various ethnic minorities break off thanks to the hardline rule of the NSF and hints within the text that the dissolution remains well into the 2020s.
* CommieNazis: What the general Western public thinks of the new NSF government. Once their alliance collapses, they go back to being communists and fascists, but both sides share their disdain for Russia's ethnic minorities and the Jews.
* CivilWar: The main draw of this timeline being a collapse of the Russian Federation that sees a second civil war that [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober that outdoes the first one in terms of death toll and atrocities]].

* GovernmentInExile: Yuri Gaidar, Prime Minister of Russia under Yeltsin, ends up making a government in exile in Kaliningrad after Yeltsin's demise and the NSF taking power.

** And it doesn't get better after the NSF collapses, the Fascists barters ethnic minorities in their territory as hostages for food and medicine from the West or just puts women into rape camps. Both the Communists and Fascists also use such minorities as cannon fodder for certain death missions such as landmine removal.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: The National Salvation Front is an alliance of convenience between the far-left and far-right, and is predictably very unstable. [[spoiler: Once the leadership that united them under Rutskoy was killed in a suspicious air crash, they began to turn on each other like a pack of wolves]].

* BalkanizeMe: With a name like "Death of Russia", this was a given for the fate of UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia. Various ethnic minorities break off thanks to the hardline rule of the NSF and hints within the text that the dissolution remains well into the 2020s.
* CommieNazis: What the general public in the Western world thinks of the new NSF government. Once their alliance collapses, they go back to being communists and fascists, but both sides share their disdain for Russia's ethnic minorities and the Jews.
* CivilWar: The main draw of this timeline being a collapse of the Russian Federation that sees a second civil war that [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober that outdoes the first one in terms of death tolls and atrocities]].

Unsurprising for an alliance between the far-left and the far-right that were only united in reversing the decline of Russia they blame on both UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev and Yeltsin, the National Salvation Front eventually comes to an explosive end, and unleashes the unraveling of Russia onto the world.

* MakeTheBearAngryAgain: What little the NSF is able to accomplish involves seizing territory from Lativa, Estonia, and Ukraine which prevents them from joining NATO due to standing policy regarding disputed territory. The world is alarmed at this resurgent Russia up until the moment [[CurbStompBattle the Russian Army shits the bed]] [[UsefulNotes/TheChechnyaWars in Chechnya]].

* WeAreStrugglingTogether: The National Salvation Front is a coalition of Stalinists and ultranationalists and they are very unstable. Once the leadership that united them under Rutskoy was killed in a suspicious air crash, they began to turn on each other.

In 1993, Russian Vice President Alexander Rutskoy and his supporters in the Russian Parliament, led by the National Savlation Front, launched a coup against [[UsefulNotes Boris Yeltsin]]. In the real world, this was stopped due to the military being loyal to Yeltsin. In this timeline, the National Salvation Front's supporters managed to storm the main television station where they denounced Yeltsin, and the military ignored and defected to their side. Emboldened, they overthrew the government and Yeltsin was killed in the aftermath.

It turns out that the National Salvation Front itself is a shaky alliance of hard-line Stalinists and Ultranationalists, only united in dominating the Russian people. When an air crash ended their alliance, so is the start of the unraveling of Russia.

''The Death of Russia'' is an AlternateHistory story by Sorairo from Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom, fresh from penning his previous masterpiece, ''Literature/TheFootprintOfMussolini''. The story can be found and read [[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/the-death-of-russia-tl.533392/ here]].

* BalkanizeMe: The direct result of the Second Russian Civil War. Besides the ultranationalists in Saint Petersburg and hardline communists centered in Stalingrad, and the Chechens, Circassians, Ossetians, Tuvans, and Yakuts are jumping ship to gain independence. None of the main Russian factions want them to be independent.
* TheRemnant: Many of the main factions claim to be this: Gaidar for example is based on Kaliningrad and is the remnant of the Russian Federation, Anpilov's Communists are in Stalingrad, while Alexander Barkashov leads the ultranationalist fascists in St. Petersburg.

* The Remnant: Many of the main factions claim to be this: Gaidar for example is based on Kaliningrad and is the remnant of the Russian Federation, Anpilov's Communists are in Stalingrad, while Alexander Barkashov leads the ultranationalist fascists in St. Petersburg.

''The Death of Russia'' is an AlternateHistory story by Sorairo from Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom, fresh from penning his previous masterpiece, ''Literature/TheFootprintOfMussolini''. The story can be found and read [[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/the-death-of-russia-tl.533392/ here]].