The Anti-Communist Spirit
The imperial physician hesitated, clearly struggling to speak. I could see him chewing his words, holding back. I already knew roughly what he was about to say.
“But Your Majesty is highly likely to be a carrier of hemophilia. Therefore, if you were to bear a child…”
“That child could inherit the condition as well.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. There are not many complications, but to be safe, we would ask that you refrain from domestic tours as much as possible.”
Yes, yes. I already knew all of that, so it didn’t matter. This examination was little more than a formality anyway. Looking at it now, this body truly was still frail. It was simply coated in some miraculous substance, like a tanghulu skewer dipped in sugar.
“I already have plans regarding that matter, so there is no need for concern. You have done well. Continue striving for the advancement of Russian medicine.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I shall certainly live up to your expectations.”
Vera Gedroits withdrew from the office. I leaned back in my chair, clenching and unclenching my fist repeatedly. This body really did operate in strange ways.
Yeah. I never planned on having children anyway.
I had already chosen an heir, and although I was dragging Russia forward by the collar, I knew the hemophilia records all too well. There would be endless talk about succession otherwise. It would be best to bring Vladimir Kirillovich back quickly from the Kingdom of Finland.
In any case, the current imperial family—whether collateral or otherwise—could not dare challenge my authority. The Salic law had been tossed to the bottom of the Black Sea the moment I ascended as Tsar of Russia and Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire in Constantinople. In this situation, no collateral relative could make a move.
A constitutional monarch with no real power but immense authority. I had stood proudly beside my comrades in a sea of blood where men were torn to pieces, and the White Army’s support for me now pierced the heavens. If a collateral imperial relative tried to interfere in a situation like this? Impossible. It made no sense.
Rather, if they returned to Russia and tried to settle down, they would only receive cold stares. The Russia of today followed “Anastasia.” It was uncertain whether the people would welcome any other members of the imperial family.
So the health issue was manageable. In the end, there was something inside Anastasia. Because I was not truly Anastasia.
The world I came from had been destroyed by nuclear war, sparked by Russia, China, and North Korea. It wasn’t merely “communist” in name. The Russian Federation—the Soviet successor—the CCP, North Korea… all of them had brought the world to ruin.
My primary goal was to eradicate the reds from their very roots, born from the simple wish that such a future would never come. The German Empire, with its enormous industrial power, had turned red. This could not be ignored.
Once again, that Germany would prepare for a final battle against the White Russian United States, a nation born from crushing the Soviets and harboring nothing but hatred for communism. Every policy of the Russian United States would be a fatal blow to communist Germany. The Kaiser remained in East Prussia as well. In that case, they would at least need to defend against an Anschluss. Was that even possible?
Austria was different from actual history, so perhaps it could hold. Germany itself still suffered from the aftereffects of its civil war. There was also the unique fanaticism of communism to consider. Hmm. I would need to observe a little longer.
“Your Majesty. The Communist Party in Georgia has been eradicated,” reported Boris Savinkov, Minister of Internal Affairs. “From what we understand, they attempted to lead a revolution within Georgia even after the Soviet Union’s collapse.”
So that was how it was.
“That Beria fellow performs his duties well.”
“Indeed.”
“Are there any other reds besides him who might be worth turning?”
I had to acknowledge that talent existed among the reds. We had killed as many as necessary in the last purge. Perhaps some among the survivors were worth salvaging. There were probably quite a few capable ones rotting in the camps.
“Vyacheslav Molotov. A bureaucrat.”
“A red doing things reds would despise.”
So that was the sort of man he was. Trotsky must have hounded him relentlessly.
“Yes. It is unusual, but he surrendered when Moscow fell.”
He had not been on the execution list. He had lived under Lenin. Seeing the Russia I was reshaping now, his thinking might change. Still, was it right to bring him into the United States? Even Beria spoke of Lenin as a mere dreamer and behaved as though he had no connection to Stalin whatsoever.
“Let us speak with him.”
If he refused, we could simply keep him laboring in Siberia. In any case, reds had to be suppressed without exception.
“What is the situation in Turkey?”
“Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is stabilizing the political situation and focusing on internal consolidation.”
If Mustafa Kemal had risen as the father of Turkey just as in actual history, we would need to lend him some support. It would be unacceptable for him to die young. Call it sympathy born from knowing real history. Personally, I wanted to keep Turkey as a member of the international organization Russia would eventually lead—an alliance of states that occupied Roman soil or could claim to be its successors. Something like the Constantinople Treaty Organization.
I did not know how long communist Germany would last, but the red plague was an extremely dangerous thing.
“We should extend a hand there as well. Relations must be improved. Now that I think of it, what is the official name of the new Ottoman state?”
“The Turkish National United States.”
A name influenced by me. Just as I had incorporated ethnic minorities into the United States, Atatürk appeared to have taken the idea and intended to expand toward the Middle East. Through the principle of national self-determination, he would organize the peoples seeking independence under the framework of a United States. It meant he had accepted a Russian-style United States, different in meaning from the American version. I could see his will to rebuild the Ottoman Empire in another form.
“Not bad. Extend them some assistance.”
“Will they welcome us, who took their land?”
Well. Our justification was solid. We had only claimed Constantinople and the Anatolian territories of Eastern Rome by invoking the legacy of the Eastern Roman Empire. But Britain and France? Those completely unrelated parties had behaved abominably. Atatürk was surely grinding his teeth at Churchill in particular.
“We hold strong justification for Constantinople and the Pontic Greeks, so it cannot be helped. Moreover, Atatürk will bear far greater resentment toward Britain and France, who tormented the region long before we arrived, than toward us who obtained our share cleanly. From the beginning, Atatürk negotiated because he trusted me. It means he is hoping for our help.”
Those absent from the negotiating table would not understand. In the end, Atatürk had trusted me and chosen the Russian United States as his ally.
“Your Majesty. Did you not say you would assist Turkey? Does that mean you intend to fight Britain and France?”
“Hardly.”
I was not insane enough to pick a fight with the British pirates, impossible to invade by sea, or with France, which would have to take the full brunt of the German plague. We would simply push from behind. While England and France desperately spilled blood to suppress the German revolutionaries, Syria, Iraq, and the rest would slip from their grasp. At that moment, we would give Turkey the tiniest, most delicate nudge.
“Besides, I am merely a Tsar who approves agendas brought before me by the Duma. The military should handle such matters on its own.”
“If Her Majesty the Tsarina puts it that way… ahem.”
“Yes?”
“It is nothing.”
Why did everyone react like that? I genuinely wanted only these comfortable duties. I could never understand people obsessed with power. Was it not far better to maintain moderate prestige and live a life of luxury and indulgence? I had no intention of ending up like Nicholas.
The fact that reforms were proceeding smoothly and the Duma had settled stably was only possible because the nobles were being culled and the imperial family could not ignore my absolute symbolic authority. And I had dragged the White Army to victory by the collar. At this point, I had done more than enough.
“Your Majesty. The Ministry of Education has something they wish to show you.”
“Is the Minister of Education not already carrying out the reforms on his own?”
The ministry was led by Pavel Nikolaevich Ignatiev, who had gone into exile with British assistance during the civil war and later returned. In actual history he had reformed Russian education. Now, with my push for reform, it seemed he intended to overhaul the very foundations of Russian schooling from the roots.
“As Minister of Education, I visited Moscow State University. Given the damage from the war, I felt it necessary to see it for myself.”
I had heard of Moscow State University as well. In the Soviet era, it had been the elite course that children of high-ranking communist officials were required to pass. Even now that it had become White Russia, I doubted much had changed. Perhaps I should have gone myself.
“I should have visited as well.”
“If Your Majesty were to grace it with your presence, it would have been an unparalleled honor.”
What had happened?
“Was there something good?”
“If I must say, it is good news for Your Majesty.”
Good for me? The only good things for me were a life of luxury and pleasure.
“Tell me.”
“Moscow State University is currently accepting students who demonstrate sufficient academic ability. One newly admitted student wrote an essay. It was quite impressive, so the school praised it highly. This is the piece.”
The essay was not filled with mindless, reflexive hatred of communism. Instead, it was a serious work that dug relentlessly into communist ideology, exposing its true nature. It described a system in which everything was oppressed and nothing was free. By contrast, the Modified Capitalism advocated by Her Majesty was portrayed as an ideology of freedom oriented toward the future. The writing was precise, demonstrating exceptional insight. It explained in detail how miserable and hopeless the communist revolution had been, and how many advantages Modified Capitalism offered in comparison.
I accepted the paper the minister offered. It really was remarkable. It was as if Lenin himself had stolen something from her. The female student’s writing was not the usual crude anti-communist rant. It was a sincere excavation of communism’s inner truth.
“Hmm. Rather than simple praise for me, it accurately explains how bankrupt the communist revolution was and how many advantages Modified Capitalism holds by comparison.”
“Yes. Her insight is outstanding.”
It was quite good. A university student had written this? At this point in time, most people did not truly understand communism. Whatever. It did not matter.
“What is her name?”
“Alisa Rosenbaum. She is originally the daughter of a wealthy Jewish family from Petrograd.”
Alisa Rosenbaum. I knew that name. Wasn’t she the one who later became an American writer? A Russian who crossed over to the United States.
“She would certainly have a grudge against the Bolsheviks.”
“Yes. The Bolsheviks seized everything under the pretext of nationalization. After Moscow was recaptured by the White Army, she fled Petrograd with her family and settled in Moscow.”
She had every reason to despise them. Who would be happy to have everything taken and “redistributed”? Only the destitute who had nothing left and became enchanted by communism, happily waving red flags. Yet to write an essay like this at this time… Not bad at all.
Communism still lingered. Had not the German Empire itself turned red? This kind of anti-communist spirit was precisely what Russians needed now.
“This is good. Such anti-communist conviction is exactly what Russians must possess today. How about implementing anti-communist education in the school curriculum?”
“An excellent suggestion. It would be wise to conduct such education to prepare for the future threat of Germany.”
The more anti-communist education we provided, the more immune Russia would become to the red plague. A unified White Russia reinforced with anti-communism. If the Soviet Union of actual history could see it, they would be utterly astonished.
“Then please prepare it on your end.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Yet a thought suddenly struck me. Everyone kept bringing reports to me as if I were grading their test papers. In that case… did constitutional monarchy even have any meaning anymore?