New Russian Imperium (NRI)

Government Form	Absolute Monarchy
Head of State	Tsarina Yekaterina Kiselev
Capital	Novaya Moskova
Demographics	Slavic Human Majority
Official Language	Inter-Slavic
Official Religion	Orthodox Christianity

"In the Name of Peace." - Russian National Motto

Description

The New Russian Imperium is something of an enigmatic state to some, a nemesis to others, and above all, a presence to be reckoned with. Formed by the neglected peoples of Sol, and expanded well beyond its original purpose, intent, and even ideology, the NRI stands as a resolute bastion of the Pan-Slavic Identity in a galaxy that very much would like to wash it away. More than the other states of the Known Galaxy, the NRI’s main objective has been to take care of its own needs, on its own terms, and to shelter the ambitions of those who think similarly to them.

History

The Exodus

The NRI traces its roots back to the glory days of Sol’s pioneering, back when the Solarian State was the independent Solarian Federation. In those times, the Solarian government had come to largely neglect the Slavic cultures, a result of the Western and East Asian thinking that dominated SolFed. The Slavic peoples, bound together in a common cause, took as many colony ships as they could produce, buy, or otherwise get their hands on, and took to the stars. It was agreed upon by the Slavic settlers heading out that the government of Sol had no further stake in running their lives, and as such they decided to head out as far as their ships could take them at the time. The combined group of voyages which departed would coalesce primarily around the system that would become Novaya Moskva, which would become the capital of the  state formed from the associations of colonies in the region. Far from Sol, and any aliens that might otherwise sully their dream, the Slavic peoples made new lives for themselves.

The lack of foreign pressure, however, caused the disparate colonies to turn on themselves for a time. The resulting tumult left the survival-oriented colonists little time or desire to maintain records, and as such there is little to go on for quite some time.

Third Soviet Union

Eventually, as the turmoil faded, the Slavic people had truly come together, by force where necessary, into a singular political regime. The victor of those early colonial conflicts was a Communist regime, third of its name, and highly repressive as a result of the wars. The Third Soviet Union became the first true outward Pan-Slavic state, and its influence would spread in the form of new colonies, both further afield and, perhaps paradoxically, closer to Sol. Carefully planned expansionism became the policy of the day, perhaps in the hopes of one day exporting the Revolution back to Sol, but certainly to fuel the new industrial furnaces that were popping up. The establishment of these territories further from Novaya Moskva would bring the Third Soviet Union back into contact with the galaxy at large.

Over the course of about seventy years, under the surface, not everything was panning well with the regime. The arrival of the Union on the galactic stage was a mess, as the ideologically estranged state found more reasons to pursue raiding and covert action against its neighbors than straightforward diplomacy. This policy of underhanded dealing did little to actually enrich the Union, and set negative precedents both internally and externally. Although the leadership of the Union held an absolute degree of power, the raiding subculture being built led to divisive factionalism.

Soon enough, the administrative regions of the Union fell under control of local strongmen and power brokers. The slipping of central power also led to the rise of the so-called “space gopnik” movement, as people began to turn to criminality driven by poverty and a lack of faith in either God, or the regime. Surely enough, the progress made by the Third Soviet Union was broken down by its gradual over-reliance on the raiding subculture. The Union would soon once again essentially only exist in name as factionalism reached its peak, and many of the Slavic people began to turn away from hardline Communism as their solution to life’s problems. They turned toward more liberal strands of government in some cases, and straight-up banditry in others.

Rise of the Monarchy

Not all in the Pan-Slavic territories were content to let the dream of a united realm crumble, however. Going underground on Novaya Moskva, a group of disaffected officers and staff decided to look further back in history to find the glue that would finally hold the Pan-Slavic dream together. They found that the longest-lasting form of government, distasteful as it might have been, was feudalistic, then absolutist, monarchy. However, with the dynasties of the past being long-dead, they would have to elevate one of their own leadership to take control of this New Russian Monarchist Union (Novaya Rossiyskaya Monarkhicheskly Soyuz), and ultimately forge a new crown. The council ultimately decided to offer its prospective crown to who they believed to be the most charismatic of their ranks, Alexei Kiselev. The man’s military experience likely also contributed to his candidacy, as the NRMU would have to face off against numerous other contemporaries to secure its place, first as the rulers of Novaya Moskva, and later the further oblasts (regions) of the realm-to-be.

With the sectors of the Pan-Slavic dominion in tatters, anarchy, or worse, under contention of foreign powers, the NRMU sprung into action when the people were desperate enough for change, and the last remnants of the Third Soviet Union had breathed their last gasps of power. Forces loyal to the new Monarchy launched an aggressive campaign, both of propaganda and steel, and the combination of the promise of the new Tsar’s true pan-slavic unity, alongside vicious reprisals against resistors, saw the capitulation of holdouts against the new regime within a matter of weeks. With the capital secured, and the Tsar crowned, the New Russian Imperium (Novaya Rossiyskaya Imperiya) was born.

The initial rise of the NRI played out much in a similar pattern to the Pan-Slavic people’s early colonization of the oblasts, except it was warships coming forth from Novaya Moskva rather than colony ships from Sol. The monarchy’s control of the area’s dominant industries ensured it the edge when it came to the finer points of negotiating unification treaties and suppressing Space Gopnik pirates – at least within the NRI’s own borders.

Dual Suns

Having risen like a phoenix to assert control of the Pan-Slavic diaspora, the NRI soon found itself at odds with the other powers of the Known Galaxy. The chaos of past decades, and the history the NRI’s people had with the other major powers did not lend it much trust. Given such circumstances, the NRI chose to stick with what its people had best learned to do, engaging in border skirmishes, raiding the Federation, and directly contesting the expansionist claims of Tizirian Empire with their own. In doing so, the NRI was able to use its outdated forces to maintain territorial integrity, enrich their coffers, and yet avoid full-on reprisal through the ages-old tactic of plausible deniability.

Culture

As one of the founding principles of the NRI has been the preservation and proliferation of the Slavic culture, it should come as no surprise that the NRI places substantial priority into ensuring that their way of life prevails. The NRI’s strongest internal meme is compliance – there is no other inherent bias towards menial trivialities such as species so long as all within the realm find their place, and keep to it.

Day-to-day life in NRI society is mostly built around the idea of being insignificant and just a cog in the machine of the greater state. The Tsar’s battlefleets control the skies, governing and enlightening the populace, and most are content to live and serve under the state. With the monarchy as a focal point, most of the produce of the NRI’s colonies flows steadily in the direction of the capital.

Religiously, outside of autonomies granted to the alien minorities of the NRI, a revitalized form of Orthodox Christianity serves as the state religion. If the Tsar is the ruler of the physical world, then Christ is the champion of the spiritual realm for the NRI’s people. The passage of time and the regime of the Third Soviet Union eroded many of the lavish traditions held by the church, but the core tenets of the faith remain, and have endured.

Beyond the demands that the NRI’s society places upon its populace, there remains an amount of diversity, though nowhere near the level of diversity that can be claimed by the Federation. Among the Human majority, the many Slavic cultures and subcultures thrive under the watchful gaze of Pan Slavism, be they Russian, Serbian, Belarussian, or otherwise closely related. The alien minorities that have adopted Panslavic traditions among their own ethos offer their own, unique flavors to this cultural pie.

Diplomacy

Coalition of Independent Nations (CIN)

Not content to leave the independent buffers between itself, and especially the Federation, unchecked, the NRI’s most recent political move has been the establishment of its own localized power bloc. CIN is, on paper, a co-equal military alliance between the NRI and its clients, but in practice the Tsarina’s influence is a bit more hegemonic than they would like to admit. Ultimately, however, the CIN is a justification for a “defensive war” that will likely never materialize, so long as the galactic balance of power holds out. It is therefore unsurprising to many logisticians that the CIN lends its label to a lot of the NRI’s military surplus, and therefore, at least in name, and at first glance, the organization resembles a trade commission more than a military alliance. But perhaps this in and of itself is part of the political maneuvering, and the CIN is a guise to hide a portion of the NRI’s true military strength. Only the Tsarina could say for certain.

Galactic Federation

The grudge between the Pan-Slavic people and SolFed goes back generations, and it continues to define the general climate even now that the Pan-Slavic people have found a new state in the NRI, and Solarians joined with the greater Galactic Federation. Despite the introduction of aliens to both sides, Terran historians would note that the relationship the Federation and the NRI have come to share is not unlike that of the Cold War, and similar periods. There is some trade, even an interchange of curious people, but a lot of political posturing, and cautious military action to go with it.

A tactic employed by the Imperium has been a constant stream of small naval strikes at supply, stations, and under-armored ships, very akin to piracy, against Federation vessels in Federation space. The main theory behind this if you are constantly putting the enemy on the back-heel, then they can never take a step forwards. And when it comes to the NRI, keeping the Galactic Federation on its back-heel may be the difference between Novaya Moskova and New Moscow.

Tizirian Empire

Skirmish aggression has long defined the situation between Tizirian Empire and the NRI. The Lizard shares a very long practical border with the NRI – possibly longer than the border between Tizirian Empire and the Federation. Not helping is the natural tendency towards expanding wide that both realms have adopted – without diplomacy as a buffer. Were it not for the balance of power in play, it is likely that tensions may yet escalate, but for now, the NRI and Tizirian Empire seem largely content to pirate each other instead of press claims.

NRI fleets have seen an unfound success against the Tizirians unlike the Federation, which is a coin-toss at times. This is largely attributed to 2 factors, the first being the location, along the majority of the NRI - Tizirian border is the Sloskovia Nebula (Slax'lheeli Nebula in Tizirian), which has provided greater stealth opportunities for Russian Marauders. The NRI cannot engage directly with the Tizirian fleets, but they can sure run circles around them and take whatever they can while they do it.

Soato Holy Dominions

In recent time, a new player has entered into the Known Galaxy, one who doesn't wanna play nice. Unluckily for the NRI, they have been made a prime target for incursions, and is currently the closest the NRI has gotten to a real war in its modern history. Small Soatii fleets are constantly making movies against Russian colonies and causing a lot of havoc for the nation, which has actually brought the NRI and many of her rivals closer together, as all major powers view the Soatii as a threat to all of their existences, and rightfully so.

Currently on the front, the NRI has been very able to hold their line, and in recent years there has been a significant decrease in Soatii attacks on all fronts, which has lead to a more concrete establishing of borders and boundaries between the rest of the Known Galaxy and the Soatii, which has lead to some minor negotiations and trade between some nations and the new Superpower, however the NRI has resorted to their usual ways of interacting with her rivals.

Contemporary Government

The current structure of governance within the NRI hearkens back to a time when people and monarchs alike were uncertain of how to structure the levers of power, and this sensibility has been heightened by generations of colonial necessity leading to reform. The nature of the NRI’s system is also influenced by the Communist regime that immediately preceded it, and has led to a unique blending of pseudo-collectivist ideals with Pan-Slavic traditionalism.

The Head of State and Government is the Tsar or Tsarina themselves. The court of the Tsar is considered the highest organ of government, and any other councils or directorates are ultimately subservient to the crown, acting on the Tsar’s orders, within the limits of the Tsar’s laws. The Monarchy is absolutist, but self-limiting, as it delegates to such councils on the administration of affairs.

There is only one formal check on the Tsar’s power enshrined in the legal codes, that they must be a member of the NRMU (though not necessarily also be the organization’s leader) and faithful to the Pan-Slavic people (ideally, but not strictly defined as, being a member of the Orthodox Church.)

A defining trend of patrimonialism forms the foundation of property rights within the NRI. That which does not belong to other private individuals, belongs to the Tsar, who as the head of state, may dispense with such loose property as they see fit. In practice, pseudo-collectivist tendencies give the organs of government much freedom in administering public land and property. Likewise, private property is guarded fiercely and private landowners in the NRI have rights akin to old feudal nobles in their private lands. Such land rights are only violable by the Tsar or through due government process.

Economically, the NRI differs from its rivals by adopting a strict stance of abolishing the free market wherever possible.  Large scale industries within the NRI are state-owned enterprises, currency and resources are highly regulated, and everyone is given a fair chance within reason to contribute to the betterment of the state. Public services are comprehensive, the state offers public healthcare, housing, education, basic needs and mostly anything of necessity to citizens, so long as they can stomach the bureaucracy.

Government Collegia

Operating by the Tsar’s order is an extensive state bureaucracy, organized into a number of “ collegia '', legal entities akin to ministries found in the structures of other governments. The Collegia are organized hierarchically, and all actions committed by a collegium are subject to internal vote. Collegia are not wide-reaching bodies like foreign ministries tend to be – they focus on specific issues, and for a given scope there may be multiple collegia dealing with a particular aspect of that scope.

Politics

Due to the nature of modern politics and the legacy of its establishment, as well as the rather curious state it finds itself in, despite being an Absolute Monarchy, the NRI seems to allow at the very least a limited degree of… maneuverability in the world of politics. The NRMU and other groups are split into various factions, and any groupings not officially part of the NRMU require their approval to have even a shred of hope of being considered by the state in its political affairs. The NRMU commits to slowly starving out troubling factions by shutting down any means of communication and engaging in punitive action using forces like the Colonial Police to grind down the will of dissenters.

Despite that, one might be quite shocked at how diverse the political atmosphere can be within the NRI. A state which carries the same legacy of repression that the old Russian Empire used to would not seem to a Solarian observer as very free, yet in the end, with the nature of its’ rise to power, the NRMU has chosen to enact very real political reforms. They have constructed a degree of personal freedom which the Third Soviet simply did not provide, and in some ways can be seen as an ultimate success of certain ancient reformers of old Russia, who sought to balance autocracy and the people. The synthesis of communistic economic policy with traditional social policy has created a very unique state indeed.

Lawful Political Factions

New Russian Monarchists’ Union

“Бо́же, Царя́ храни́!”

The only de jure permitted political party within the NRI throughout its existence has been the NRMU, and indeed all critical governmental positions, including the Tsardom itself, are filled by members of this party. The NRMU has forged the rebirth of the disparate Pan-Slavic colonies, focusing on preserving their cultural and religious ideals, in spite of the controversy this has caused domestically and abroad. Due to its instrumentality in the formation of the NRI, and in spite of the supremacy of the Tsar, the fact of the matter is that the Tsar was nothing more than the selected leader of the NRMU, and indeed much of the NRI’s infrastructure is built in some way to maintain the power of the organization. One need only look at the political makeup of the Imperial Court or the Collegia to witness the NRMU’s dominance in the NRI.

In the end, the NRMU itself stands as a hegemonic entity within the NRI. But given its ever-increasing age, it is an entity that “suffers” from a growing amount of factionalism. The stability of its foundation has come into question, especially by groups that aren’t of obvious descent from colonists of Russian origin, or alien minority groups in the NRI. The natural progression of corruption and nepotism has turned the NRMU into somewhat of an elitist club that didn’t really exclude people from being part of other organizations. In the end, it ends up filling the same role that the CPSU did in days of old.

The Legitimist Faction of the NRMU

The original faction of the NRMU, originally consisting of the veterans of the NRI’s struggle for power and now consisting of confidants of the Tsarina. The Legitimist faction wishes to preserve the current political status quo of the NRI and the power of the Kiselev family, wishing to ensure that the NRMU maintains its complete and total grasp on all things related to power within the Imperium. As long as they descend from Alexei Kiselev, the Legitimist faction can be counted upon to support the Tsar. They are also characterized by a rather traditional-leaning view towards Religion within the NRI, heavily interlacing the Pan-Slavic identity with the Russian flavor of Orthodox Christianity,much to the dismay of underrepresented Orthodox groups of other cultural circles, original minorities of non-Christian origin, and non-humans that might have endured through the times of the Third Soviet.

Due to the fanatical loyalty of the Legitimists, they frequently find themselves led by the current leadership closest to the Tsar. At times, the Legitimists have been actively supported by the Kiselev family themselves to impose policy favored by the Tsars.

Boyarist Faction of the NRMU

The return of monarchical rule to the Pan-Slavic people has not been without its burdens, such as the growth and entrenchment of a new aristocracy to assume the place of the upper class, given the NRI’s lack of capitalists and surplus of landowners with title from the Tsar. The Boyarist faction takes its name from the original landed aristocracy of the Slavic peoples, and seeks to entrench the landowners and title-holders of the NRI, even if it means pain for the underclasses and minorities. They are overall quite a traditionalist faction in terms of social and economic terms, opposed somewhat to the state collectivism promoted by other factions in the government, but favoring status-quo religious policies. What truly defines the Boyarists apart from other factions of the NRMU is their commitment to the stratification of the populace, for the upper class cannot be served without a lower class to perform such service.

Neo-Trudovik Faction of the NRMU

Seeking inspiration in the original Labour Group of the Russian Empire from over half a millenia ago, and using its position within the current governing structure to sideline non-NRMU efforts at constitutional democracy (such as the attempted revival of the Kadets), the Neo-Trudovik faction of the NRMU seeks to create a new State Duma legislature under the rule of the Tsar, in order to give a bigger voice to the people of the NRI and to further distance the NRI away from the Third Soviet Union. The Neo-Trudovik faction was originally founded by younger members of the NRMU, led by a radical constitutionalist veteran, and the ranks of which were bolstered by a lot of moderate ex-Bolsheviks that wished to avoid persecution within the new order. This faction is perhaps the closest thing to social democracy that the NRMU will tolerate – and only because it is a faction of the NRMU itself, unopposed to the Tsar. The Neo-Trudoviks seek to guarantee political and personal safety. They put much less pressure upon the Religious aspects of the NRI, and are generally known for being the architects for the NRI’s evolution of state capitalist systems. They are also dedicated to stamping out remnants of the classic raider culture and economy that plagued the Pan-Slavic people, preferring the rule of law above that of muscle and guns.

Neo-Octobrist Faction of the NRMU

The Neo-Octobrist Faction stems from a group of NRMU politicians, who, after having seen the effects of pure autocracy on the nature of the state, decided to review the history books one more time to ensure the perfection of their statecraft. Riding off of the failure of the neo-Kadets to legitimize, like the Neo-Trudoviks, this faction, taking its name from the historical Union of October 17, seeks to embody the right wing of constitutionalist factions within the NRMU, and undo the damage the Communists had done to the Octobrist name. Similarly to the Neo-Trudoviks, the Neo-Octobrists advocate for a State Duma, albeit one limited by strong monarchical power and oversight by the Tsar. Their socio-political stances are perhaps the most moderate and similar to the Federation’s, in regards to governing the people, seeking a more open (albeit still heavily regulated and subsidized) economy and being more loose with regards to Orthodoxy as the sole religion.

Society for Recognition of Unity

“Za wolność naszą i waszą.”

A loose grouping of multiple non-NRMU factions, representing the interests and ideals of many of the non-Russian groups from within the NRI, the Society for Recognition of Unity, simply known as the Society for Unity at times, or, also, the Peoples’ Union, named after the primary group of the organization, is the largest quasi-legal, non-NRMU political entity within the NRI.  

The organization works loosely within the legal bounds of the NRI, though has been known as not shying away from crossing the legal bounds for reasons of furthering its goals. With the NRMU finding itself at difficulty of trying to fight the organization, due to its quasi-legal status and the fact that attempts at striking down moderates might result in uprisings upon multiple planets on the already frontier-fighting Empire, many within the Neo-Trudovik Faction seek to strike a compromise with the People’s Union. In turn, the People’s Union seems to have found themselves aligning with the Neo-Trudoviks as the establishment of a State Duma with multiple parties would allow them an official voice in the state, and would serve as a stepping ground for their greater goal.

Restructuring of the NRI, under any system, even under the current ruling family, as a state that truly represents all people within its’ borders, and to drift away from idolizing the Russian Empire, is the primary objective of the Society for Recognition of Unity. The point regarding the idolization of Russia is a negative sentiment shared especially by descendants of West Slavic peoples, especially the Poles.

The Society for Recognition of Unity remains the biggest thorn in the NRMU’s side, and by far is the biggest movement that could have any “real” chance of opposing it. Especially considering the fact that, as it stands, it is no longer the 19th century. The Society sees that the space-faring era is no longer a time for wannabe ethnic states, and this is a strand of progressivism that many agree upon.

Unlawful Political Organizations within the NRI

People’s Liberation Front

“Bij i śpiewaj o wolności, a przy nas wygrana!”

A heavily radicalized section that has broken off from the Society for Recognition of Unity and has already been widely declared a terrorist organization, the PLF is more than a simple ghost of the Third Soviet Union. Besides being firmly composed of egalitarian socialists, the organization seems to be a more militant manner of achieving equal rights within Pan-Slavic territory. PLF has rightfully become the boogeyman within the NRI, and considerable resources have been aimed toward the PLF’s utter destruction.

Formed out of the January Agreement, signed by Communist renegades, Social Democrats not willing to cooperate with the reigning government, and in some cases, less left-leaning groups and militias formed by descendants of non-Russian colonists, PLF has become a very uneasy alliance of various opposition groups towards the NRI’s current rule, having a singular priority, shattering the power of the NRMU, and what happens next shall be answered when their always foretold Revolution finally occurs.

It is rather interesting to note that many former Soviets that haven’t resorted to piracy have ended up joining this group, however their power ends up marginalized by many of the other groups that form the Revolutionary Command Council of the organization. The RCC of the PLF is led by a figure known only as Spartacus, who has branded the people as having practically replaced the shackles of the Third Soviet with shackles of the NRI. It is said that a slave should join the revolt, no matter the odds, but looks can be deceiving. Given the inherently socialist nature of the PLF, its idea of an economy after the Revolution might be as collectivist as the very systems it seeks to supplant.

Space Gopniks and Pirate Factions

Space Gopniks, or as they are more locally known in the NRI, Cosmo Gopniks, are often-disjointed and rowdy gangs of individuals who take the worst excesses of Pan-Slavic culture to the extreme. While some are politically motivated, most Cosmo Gopniks are simply vodka-consuming, joy-seeking madmen who live life on a day-to-day basis rather than trying to make sense of the universe. They subsist on their will and grit like many independent spacers, but with an emphasis on the raiding subculture of the Pan-Slavic world. Cosmo Gopniks are not afraid to take what they need, when they need it, and rarely consider the needs of the other side when they move in.

The NRI is also home to a smattering of other, miscellaneous pirate factions, given that almost any sufficiently developed, individually-minded society will have detractors who look to crime as a source of entertainment, profit or survival, or are the thin remnants of dissent the Colonial Police has yet to stamp out. Like in other societies, the NRI’s pirates are runaways from the mainstream, people who see themselves as challengers to the rule of law, or the Tsar, or whoever they are hating on a given day, and are people powered by an insatiable addiction to the desirable concepts of freedom and glory.

Credits

Credits to the NRI lore goes to:

• Halas (Description, History, Governing Structure, Fleshing out Political Factions)
• Louskil (Original Writeup)
• Elly (Political Factions
• Mef (Minor Additions and fixes)