The Clash of Black and White (1)
The Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia, and naturally, the Russian Black Army followed suit by declaring war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The spark of the war was identical to original history. In fact, because the usual diplomatic euphemisms—the ultimatums and mobilization orders—were completely bypassed, it could be considered far more radical than the original timeline. However, the nature of the conflict would be entirely different. Unlike the original history, which was a war between nations from the start, this world war was closer to a domestic civil war that had instantly escalated into an international conflict.
"Vice Chairman Stahl! The entity that declared war on our Crusaders is the Russian Black Army. What is our relationship with the Russian White Army?"
"Our enemies are the Russian Black Army and the Serbian Black Hand, who commit horrific atrocities under the guise of a pseudo-ideology called National Revolutionism. To destroy them, we can join hands with anyone. The Russian White Army, at least, does not fight on the pretext of ethnicity."
This war must never become Slav versus German. It must be thoroughly framed as Justice versus Evil.
Just as the United States and the Soviet Union shook hands and agreed to split the world in half in the original history, so too would it be in this Great War. With this framing, it was impossible to lose. Even if the forces of evil—like Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in the original timeline—won militarily, how long would their empires last? Thirty years? At most.
The next to eagerly jump into the fray was Germany.
"Finally, we shall have a triumphal march into Moscow, just like Napoleon!"
"Poland is wide open! Hell yeah, let's take it all!"
"Are you insane? Do not bring such base motives into the holy crusade of the Crusaders."
"Ahem... well, anyway, for the sake of justice, it is time to show the skills we have honed all this time."
The German military, uttering the ominous name of Napoleon! As soon as chaos erupted in Russia, they gleefully declared war on the Russian Black Army.
Did Bismarck not say that Germany's diplomacy was "first, second, and third, to be on good terms with Russia"? Due to its geopolitical conditions, Germany inevitably had to guard against a two-front war. How wonderful would it be if they could brutally carve up Poland in this war? Even just crushing the Russian Black Army and installing a moderate regime like the White Army would be a massive win, as it would eliminate the threat of a two-front war.
"Nicky... Nicky is dead...? At the hands of traitors?"
Moreover, Wilhelm II was a distant relative and close friend of the assassinated Tsar Nicholas II. There was absolutely no reason not to declare war.
With Germany blindly declaring war, Western Europe was thrown into chaos.
"We must stop German expansion!"
"They are madmen who shot and killed the royals of two nations, Russia and Austria-Hungary! You want us to help those people?"
"Then are you saying we should just sit back and watch? Are you a pro-German traitor?"
"And what are you, a stray dog of the National Revolution?!"
In any case, if Germany ascended through this war, France would ultimately suffer. They had to stop it somehow. But the opponent they would have to fight alongside was the Russian Black Army. Naturally, domestic public opinion was ablaze.
Raymond Poincaré, the President of France and a hardliner against Germany, naturally began inciting war with deliberate intent. The "January Crisis," triggered by the assassination and the Russian Civil War, had already escalated into an ideological war, so Poincaré actively began his ideological propaganda. To sponsor a regime with absolutely no legitimacy or justification, like the National Revolutionary government, a pretext was essential.
"We, France, as descendants of the revolutionary Napoleon, have a duty to spread an advanced republic to Europe. We must liberate the people suffering under the absolute monarchy of Prussia!"
"What does that have to do with the insane coup of the Russian Black Army? And if we're talking about 'advanced,' Avant-garde Stahlism is no less so."
"National Revolution is also a type of republican revolution."
"?"
If one squinted, the bomb terror dubbed the "Black Hand Incident" did bear some resemblance to the French Revolution of 1792.
"What on earth... Are you a slaughterer too?! If that's the case, we should support the White Army!"
"What kind of revolution sheds no blood? Are you a traitor of the fart-Stahl faction? Let's take back Alsace-Lorraine, everyone!"
Raymond Poincaré seized control of the political situation, swinging republicanism in one hand and fear of Germany in the other like nunchucks. For a president who had united domestic conservatives and Marxists, this level of political showmanship was basic.
"Lenin and Freud will start a rebellion. What will you do then?"
"Our civilian control is absolute. We don't need to worry about mere local popular uprisings. Once the war starts, all other issues will vanish."
In truth, France's declaration of war was inevitable. How did such completely different factions form a coalition and rise to power as the leading party? The only common ground they shared was anti-German sentiment and anti-Stahl sentiment. Thus, even if it meant taking the reckless step of joining hands with the National Revolutionaries, they had to stop the spread of Germany and Stahlism. The capitalists and revolutionaries, who normally knew no compromise, had already joined hands. Besides, what Frenchman would want to see Germany grow larger?
Naturally, Freud, who was active in the Paris Avant-garde Party, was also in danger.
"Professor Freud, we must leave Paris immediately!"
"You expect me to just watch this insane war? Young Stahl was right. Perhaps society itself can suffer from neurosis."
"Professor, hurry!"
"No, that is enough. I will remain here. There is something I wish to see."
"Professor!"
His young disciple, barely in his mid-twenties, urged Freud with tears in his eyes. Although Freud had become a star of the Avant-garde Party, he did not possess a hardened heart like Stahl or Hitler. In the end, he remained a professor and continued his political activities. Most of Freud's public activities were limited to research. Consequently, most of Freud's passionate followers were students and artists in their early thirties at most.
"You should leave. I have research to conduct here. I must see with my own eyes exactly where the root of this madness lies."
"...We will stay too."
"What does a twenty-six-year-old like you think he can do? Don't make me laugh."
"B-but...!"
Duchamp, who would later be called the pioneer of Dadaism, was already shedding a flood of tears. Picasso, who bickered to death with Duchamp every day, tugged at Duchamp's sleeve.
"Duchamp, stop blubbering and listen to the professor."
"Picasso, you bastard! The professor might die..."
"And how do you think the professor would feel if you died? Come on, right now!"
"I can fight too!"
"Then go fight with Comrade Lenin, don't do this in Paris."
Freud, prepared for death, looked at the two disciples he had painstakingly introduced to politics. Duchamp and Picasso. Picasso was already making waves in the French art scene, becoming its center. Duchamp was also rising as a supernova in Paris as a pioneer of conceptual art. Both were avant-garde artists who advocated deconstruction, anti-authoritarianism, and unconventionality. Naturally, they could not help but be interested in Avant-garde Stahlism.
"You two are the future of France. Go, quickly."
While Freud, Picasso, and Duchamp were busy filming a tearjerker, a fat old man smashed open the laboratory door with a thunderous roar.
"W-what is it?"
"Professor! The French military must have broken in already!"
"We'll hold them off, Professor, you must..."
They put on quite a dramatic show, but the figure who appeared beyond the laboratory door was completely unexpected. Freud asked with a dazed face.
"Aren't you former Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau?"
"What on earth are you doing, hugging these young men? You study this 'Avant-garde Stahlism' nonsense, and now you're showing off a marvelous brotherly love like the Sacred Band of ancient Thebes."
True to his nickname, "The Tiger," Georges Clemenceau mocked the three men who were weeping and practically dripping with estrogen.
"Why on earth are you here? Didn't you write a whole piece in the newspaper recently calling Stahlism 'the outdated rebellion of an immature child-adult whose brain hasn't fully developed'?"
"Why is a grown man so petty? Stop crying and leave for Montpellier immediately, where Lenin is. Come on."
"What wind has blown you here, you who are so obsessed with the Republic?"
"Over my dead body will I watch a National Revolutionary republic rise in France. Let's go."
Freud threw a massive tantrum, refusing to go even after Clemenceau barged into his lab. In the end, Clemenceau had to physically overpower and carry Freud to get him into the carriage. Freud could not understand Clemenceau's motives at all.
"Former Prime Minister Clemenceau, aren't you affiliated with the National-Socialist Alliance? Moreover, you absolutely loathe Germany, so why...?"
"There are three things I hate as much as Germany: first is Stahlism, second is National Revolution, and third is the military."
"...I am classified by the public as a 'Stahlist,' you know."
"So what? This time, Raymond Poincaré has gone too far. Because he went too far, the students you incited will run wild. And what do you think the ruling party will do then?"
"Naturally, they will round them up and slaughter them."
"Exactly! I cannot bear to watch our great Republic join hands with National Revolutionaries and deploy the military to slaughter students."
Indeed. Georges Clemenceau was an extreme republican. He would do anything for the Republic. In the original history, Clemenceau, with his iron-like resolve, beat down Germany and led France to victory. The reason was simple. Everything was for the Republic. The Republic had already been scarred by its coalition with the leftists who denied democracy. But this time, they were going to join hands with the National Revolution? No matter how much he hated Germany, he could not stand by and watch the Republic ally itself with a military dictatorship like the Russian Black Army.
Clemenceau laughed coldly, seemingly resigned to the state of France.
"I'd rather watch people stripping naked and doing all sorts of vulgar things behind barricades without a shred of shame. At least I'm still full of vigor."
"...Stahlism is not like that. It is merely a movement to liquidate the cultural and psychological legacy that oppresses the masses."
"How elegantly you phrase the desire to set fire to Notre-Dame."
"That was our..."
"Saying 'that wasn't our students~' won't work as an excuse. Ah, we've arrived. Get out."
Freud was a master of words, but he was no match for Georges Clemenceau, who was notorious for his foul mouth. Sometimes, a single sharp insult is far more effective than a messy academic debate!
Georges Clemenceau. Vladimir Lenin. Sigmund Freud. Duchamp and Picasso. An utterly unimaginable combination gathered in Montpellier, France. Montpellier had already become a stronghold of Lenin-Stahlism, to the point of being called a "liberated zone." On the other hand, Marseille, a major city influenced by Lenin, and Toulouse, which had a slightly different culture from the rest of France, were also strongholds of Avant-garde Stahlism.
"Comrade Lenin. Are there any directives from young Stahl?"
"An urgent telegram arrived. It said..."
"Preserve your strength as much as possible, and do not shed unnecessary blood."
"Hmm..."
"Professor Freud, as long as we tickle the ruling party, we've done our part. The military will always feel a chill down their spines because of us."
In truth, launching an outright rebellion was too much of a burden for Lenin, Freud, and Clemenceau. This was not the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, or Russia. How could they gather troops to start a rebellion? Still, there were plenty of ways to pressure the government. Once people gathered and shouted the same message, that in itself carried immense power in a democratic nation. Thus, the Stahlists began to flee Paris and gather in Toulouse, Montpellier, and Marseille.
Meanwhile, in Great Britain, the last bastion of Europe...
"I can't do this Prime Minister gig anymore. Give it to someone else, or just hand it over to the Tories. Do whatever you want."
"If we don't have a Prime Minister, what is our party supposed to do!"
"You said I ruined the Balkan policy. Why didn't you sack me back then?"
When the catastrophe actually erupted on the continent, Prime Minister Herbert of the Liberal Party suffered a complete mental breakdown.
"You Tory trash! You said you could solve it? Go ahead and solve it!"
"N-now, please, Prime Minister, calm down... In a crisis like this, regardless of ruling or opposition parties, we must unite the national opinion."
"No, I hate this! I'm not doing it!"
To begin with, Prime Minister Herbert was not agile, making him ill-suited as a wartime prime minister. He was well aware of his own limitations. Yet, in this situation, no one wanted to make a decision. No matter what they did, they would be criticized. They needed a relief pitcher to clean up the mess.