The Seeds of Anti-Communism
The news spread through the halls of Moscow State University like wildfire.
“Her Highness has come to the university!”
“Wow, is it true that such a delicate woman actually fought the Reds?”
“I heard she’s a saint who can heal the sick just by touching their hands!”
Yes. I had arrived at Moscow State University.
Still, I could hardly bring only the Ohrana with me. I had come accompanied by Georgy Lvov, a member of the Progressive Party in the Russian United States and an official working in the Ministry of Education.
I was told he had graduated from this very university.
I had known him as one of the citizen representatives who joined the provisional government in Yekaterinburg. He was also a liberal-minded figure.
Moreover, he had astonished the women’s suffrage activists with his stance on women’s voting rights.
Not that I had known any of that until now.
In the original history, he was probably someone who accomplished quite a bit. If he had joined any faction, I suspect it would have been the Kolchak government.
“You know of Alisa Rosenbaum?”
“Yes. After the civil war ended, the university invited her once. From the moment I saw her, I felt she had real potential.”
“Hmm. So it wasn’t through official Ministry of Education channels, but through your personal influence as a parliamentarian.”
That was exactly it.
In these difficult times, it was easy for people to fall under someone’s influence.
Right now, the Russian people were heavily swayed by me and the Duma members who shared my views.
Alisa Rosenbaum, who had somehow survived the elite course at Moscow State University instead of dying in obscurity, was probably no different.
Especially after writing a book titled Toward the Annihilation of Communism.
She would undoubtedly become a valuable talent who would devote herself to Russia’s anti-communist cause in the future.
“After all, when it comes to anti-communism, how could it be otherwise? However, in the end, it is all thanks to Your Majesty. In any case, the spirit of this United States system can be said to be Your Majesty herself.”
He was praising me too much.
I was nothing more than a monarch who merely graded the results.
“Very well. Let’s meet her.”
Anyway, in the original history she became a famous thinker and writer in America.
I was curious to see whether, in this altered history, she could achieve similar renown in Russia.
The female student named Alisa Rosenbaum whom I met was far too young to be the author of a book called Toward the Annihilation of Communism.
In other words, her talent was already blooming brilliantly.
“Alisa Rosenbaum.”
“Your Majesty herself has spoken my name! You have singled me out!”
Alisa Rosenbaum stared at me with an ecstatic expression, like a devout Muslim worshipper gazing upon Allah.
Was it really something to be so moved about?
“There is no need to be so surprised. I have come to seek out capable talents from every corner.”
Because nameless nobodies who would have died long ago in the Soviet Union must live with dignity in White Russia.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You wrote a book called Toward the Annihilation of Communism?”
“Yes. I wrote it myself.”
Not anyone else, but herself. She declared that the one who had penned this masterpiece was none other than she.
Alisa Rosenbaum thumped her chest as she spoke.
Then she actually handed me the book she had been carrying.
I had treasured the one written by our future Austrian Führer, Adolf, so much that I hadn’t read it properly. But after receiving this from Ayn Rand and reading it, I found it quite impressive.
It was a proper work capable of cultivating the spirit of anti-communism.
Why communism was doomed to fail. Why communism was inherently authoritarian. And even what the future of communism would look like.
She had written about all of it with passionate detail.
“Impressive. The hatred and rage toward communism, the way every flaw is laid bare—I liked it very much. I was deeply moved.”
“Communism is an ideology that must be eradicated.”
Yes. That was exactly it.
Alisa Rosenbaum was quite the unique character.
“Ah, that is secondary. In the first place, the Russian people have suffered greatly because of communism. Hatred and rage toward it are only natural. But you didn’t lose your reason and write this book out of mere fury, did you?”
“Of course not. Your Majesty’s Russian United States is a successful example that has defeated every flaw of communism and combined only its merits with existing liberalism. Communism, which consists solely of authoritarianism and violence, is nothing more than an ideology the Bolsheviks used to seize power.”
Yes. She had caught on perfectly.
To think that Alisa Rosenbaum, famous in the original history under the pen name Ayn Rand, would turn out like this.
At this point, it seemed fair to say that my desperate efforts to change the history of this era had borne their final fruit.
“Exactly. Exactly right.”
“I saw it with my own eyes. They claimed the medicine was to be distributed to the people, then looted my father’s entire pharmacy and kept the drugs only for themselves.”
That was the essence of it.
To be precise, the Red Army had been driven into a corner during the Russian Civil War and simply descended into the worst possible behavior.
Communism was an ideology that had thrown human rights to the dogs.
It was sweet fruit only at the beginning. Once circumstances grew difficult, nothing was more wretched than communism.
Our Miss Alisa Rosenbaum understood that.
“That is the true nature of communism. From the start, they agitate the people with promises, only to devour everything for themselves. That is communism.”
“And yet they merely imitate Your Majesty’s policies. How utterly incompetent they are!”
In truth, those were policies Lenin and his remnants would have implemented.
But I had done them first.
So from Alisa Rosenbaum’s perspective, she must despise communism even more than in the original history.
She had always hated communism and seen no hope in it.
If she had previously been negative toward the communist social system, now she would be even angrier at its incompetence.
Having witnessed that incompetence firsthand, well…
It was probably just my imagination that she seemed to regard me as some kind of follower?
“What do you think of Russia today?”
“It would not be an exaggeration to say it is accelerating.”
For a moment, I was dumbfounded.
I thought I had gotten fairly good at Russian by now, but had I misheard?
“Pardon?”
Accelerating?
Why was “acceleration” suddenly coming up?
It was true that the things I had advocated were cobbled together from whatever sounded good at the time. They weren’t bad for the sake of “anti-communism,” but to describe them as acceleration… It seemed Ayn Rand had sensed many things in this Russia in her own way.
“Modified Capitalism. From what I see, today’s Russia is pursuing changes even more radical than this Modified Capitalism.”
“Hmm.”
Alisa Rosenbaum seemed a bit strange after all.
Well. Let’s hear her out.
I nodded for her to continue.
“This is precisely acceleration. This country, Russia, is trying to change. It seeks to advance far beyond the colonial empires of Britain and France. It is accelerating. Russia is like a chrysalis before becoming a butterfly. The accelerationism that moves forward faster than anyone else. Is that not the Russia Your Majesty is creating?”
“Mm. You’re not wrong.”
Honestly, a faint touch of madness was visible.
She must have suffered terribly under the Reds.
I had implemented various policies before Lenin, and while pressuring the enemy, the snowball effect had brought enormous change to the regions under Red control.
Alisa Rosenbaum had simply been swept along by that current of change.
“When my father was executed on the spot by the Bolsheviks for hiding more medicine, I felt it to my bones. This system must never be allowed to continue.”
“He was executed?”
“It was practically a venting of frustration. As they were pushed back by the White Army, those cockroach-like creatures plundered everything. My father became one of their victims.”
Was this how it had been in the original history?
Or was it yet another snowball I had set rolling?
Even taking that into account, she remained remarkably rational. In that case, she should hate the White Army that had driven the Reds to such extremes just as much.
It didn’t seem like a topic worth bringing up.
I cleared my throat and pretended not to notice.
“A terrible thing for your father.”
“Has Your Majesty not experienced far worse? Ah, I apologize. It seems I have been rude to Your Majesty.”
Ah, right.
To others, I was the one who had watched the Bolsheviks shoot, rape, and burn my parents and siblings before my eyes, then gone mad and swept every last one of them away.
No wonder so many people pitied me.
Especially the nobles and imperial family members. The fact that they accepted Anastasia’s changes probably had a lot to do with the entire Nikolai family being wiped out.
Having already viewed communism negatively and then suffered such a tragedy, her anti-communist spirit was bound to be far stronger than most.
“Did you get the pharmacy back?”
“Yes. Thanks to Your Majesty crushing every last Bolshevik, it was returned to us. We were able to recover my father’s pharmacy safely.”
That made sense. To win back public sentiment, everything the Bolsheviks had seized was returned, and the property of the dead was distributed to those who had suffered greatly during the civil war.
Then what was this Alisa Rosenbaum’s dream?
“I’m glad. What is your dream?”
At this level, I could offer her some convenience.
For example, using her later as a model for anti-communist propaganda.
In any case, by implementing a policy to support writers, I could naturally help Alisa Rosenbaum as well.
After all, the reason she had been able to publish her book in the first place was because the department in charge of anti-communist propaganda had given her special consideration.
“I want to continue writing as an anti-communist author. Furthermore, I wish to enter the Duma, lead the anti-communist movement, and stand against the communist nations!”
Alisa Rosenbaum clenched both fists tightly.
So tightly that her veins stood out.
“Do you dislike Germany and Italy?”
“Germany and Italy will inevitably challenge Your Majesty’s Russia. I believe they must be thoroughly crushed to prove that Your Majesty is right!”
“I see.”
Her view of the world was accurate.
Yes. Germany and Italy would challenge us.
They would surely want to destroy the Russian United States that opposed communism. Even if we didn’t want it, the opponent would come.
“Ah, of course I mean only in the sense of systemic competition. War would cost too much blood.”
It was good that she at least said she wanted to avoid war.
I had hoped she would simply focus on her writing, but seeing a woman like Alisa Rosenbaum enter the Duma also sounded quite interesting.
So I decided to cheer her on.
“I will support you in entering the Duma one day.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”
She was remarkable in many ways.
It seemed people were heavily influenced by the environments they experienced.
I would probably see Alisa Rosenbaum in the Duma someday. I looked forward to that moment.
“Your Majesty. It is time to go.”
“Ah, very well.”
This was enough for today.
Come to think of it, it was about time for Beria to bring something back, wasn’t it?
Before crossing the Atlantic, I had agonized over it and given him a task. Since half of it was a gamble, I hoped it would prove helpful.
If not, I would have to find someone in Russia interested in rockets.
Hmm. Speaking of which.
It might be good to promote the Volga Germans more actively and recruit even more people from the German side.
Especially engineers.
Once communist Germany was established and they became mortal enemies through ideology, I couldn’t only accept those who fled. I would have to do it this way as well.
* * *
Around this time, Beria had crossed the Atlantic and arrived in America to enter the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
After asking the Ohrana agents who accompanied him to help locate Trotsky’s whereabouts, he approached the man named Goddard whom the Tsarina desired.
In truth, he already knew about rockets.
How on earth did the Tsarina know of such a person?
If she had learned of him through the Ohrana beforehand, she wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of ordering Beria himself to handle it.
She must have grown up like a flower in a greenhouse. He had briefly wondered about that, but it was already the path Beria had chosen.
If the Tsarina said to do it, he would do it. If she said to die, he would at least pretend to die.
Even if she told him to find a man named Goddard for no particular reason, all he had to do was find him.
“Hmm. You want me to go to Russia?”
“Her Highness holds your abilities in extremely high regard.”
Unlike Beria, who had approached Goddard in secret, Goddard himself could not understand the current situation.
His plan to research rocket technology had been halted midway.
Then one day, men in black suits suddenly appeared and approached him.
And their master not only knew about rocket technology but also knew that Goddard was researching it.
The Russian standing before him was blurting out all of it.
As if urging him to take interest.
