The Russian Empire [wip]

[vanechka]

Ivan Braginsky

And this man, with eyes of a colour I have never seen, he murmured! Murmured, with the knowledge of someone beyond our time, something ancient and yet, so new; "Chemu byt'... Tomu ne minovat'."

We knew the words, for it is one of our proverbs.

"What is to be, cannot be avoided."

my palms are twice the size
of yours,

my eyes are not quite black and white

Country: Russia. Too many other names to elaborate on.

Human name: Ivan Braginsky

Apparent age: 19, formerly...?

Gender: Male.

Appearance: Ivan has a deceptively gentle face, with soft features, pale skin and a prominent nose, thin lips and violent violet eyes. His hair is light, beige-blond, falling into his eyes and framing his face 'round his ears. He is heavily built, which may cause some unkind comments about his weight - however, combined with his great height and intimidating demeanour, they are rarely uttered in his presence. No matter the time or place, he will always be with his beloved scarf, wrapped around his neck almost as if for security.

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with halting words and stones unturned
we are not what we realise

and the histories we've made are gone

Strengths: What are they good at? Also give a little explanation, if you will.

• Ruthlessness. It doesn't mean that he is inherently malicious and wishes harm upon others; it's the kind of cruelty seen in children when they don't know any better. It drives him to achieve his aims at whatever the cost. Perhaps the tendency to focus single-mindedly on a goal can also be seen as a weakness, as it drives other people away from him. However, now that he is prepared with the knowledge of the future, Ivan realizes the shortcomings of being this way and tries to be more accommodating, while refraining from being immediately reactionary. Still, he isn't averse at the thought - and the action - of resorting to violence if it allows him to protect his own interests.
  
  
• Resilience. He's been known to have broken down with the dissolution of the USSR and achieve relatively impressive levels of development in the span of a few decades, rising back into the status of a powerful country and refusing to bow down to cruel economic turns. This also includes pain tolerance as well. Considering the cruel regimes he's gone through in his lifetime it's not at all surprising that Ivan has a high tolerance to physical pain. He might be profusely bleeding from a cut or suffering from bruised ribs and still carry on with his tasks; however, it does exhaust him mentally, causing his rational side to loosen its grip.
  
  
• Alcohol. He considers vodka as his drinking water.
  
  
• Intimidation. It's quite self-explanatory, yes?
  
  
• The cold. Incredibly resilient in low temperatures, Ivan has learned to live with it, breathe in it, and use it to his advantage.
  
  

Weaknesses: Everybody must have weaknesses, what are your character's?

• Reserved. Because he is so misunderstood, and feels no urge to explain his actions, he is often regarded as a threat when he genuinely isn't trying to be. Just because he is smiling when he should not be! The things people think of, honestly...
  
  
• Warm places, sunflowers, and compliments. These are the things he doesn't notice are exploitable about him, being as affection-starved as he is. It doesn't mean he'll be completely feeble once exposed to high temperatures; Ivan simply tends to be a bit more lax when brought to a comfortably warm area. Giving him his favourite flowers will make him suspicious, but he will be more patient. As for compliments, he will be pleasantly surprised - wary, but pleased - and will be more receptive. If he gets any faint idea of insincerity in such actions however, to put it simply and crudely, you're screwed.
  
  
• Low empathy. At most times he lacks the capacity to share feelings. Ivan is not a sociopath, he simply finds it difficult. This might even lead him to disregard consequences of his actions upon other people, and will find himself surprised when they react badly. Case in point: Russia assuming Britain would be perfectly fine with him expanding his frontiers down towards India for security reasons. Um...
  
  
• Accepting change. Ivan likes routine. It's very hard for him to accept change in his system or the situation around him, really; though once he gets it through his head that it's absolutely necessary, he'll work very hard to catch up. As mentioned earlier, he's trying to be more… Adaptable. And less likely to react violently. Whether he is succeeding is up for debate.
  
  
• Pessimism. It comes up most often in his personal relationships, but might even bleed onto the way he thinks about things in general. To Ivan, most situations are often worse than what they actually are, if only because his life never gave him any reason to think otherwise. He hides this sort of worry behind a smiling facade and prepares himself for the worst. Because of this he's never comfortable enough to put his trust into anyone - not even his sisters. This pessimism also explains the amount of alcohol he drinks as well: "Life is miserable, so you might as well enjoy it." Yes?
  
  

Fears: What do they fear?

• Ultimately destroying everything he touches. For once he'd like to be the one nurturing things into being, instead of them withering in his hands. The only things which flourish (thrive) under his care are sunflowers, and to be perfectly honest it brings him small comfort these days.
  
  
• Losing his scarf would be something equivalent to losing a very close and dear friend, with the feeling intensified, since it has been with him for as long as he can remember, throughout his lifetime spread across millennia. He'd just rather not think about it.
  
  
• Diminished power. He greatly dislikes foreign interference upon affairs he considers to be of his problem, because of the implied idea that he isn't able to handle it by himself. Russia has an underlying fear of being unable to keep up with the rest of the nations and proving that he is just as good as them. Losing his power would also mean everyone would overlook him and not take him seriously, casting him off to the side as irrelevant. Ivan won't stand for that and he would make sure of it.
  
  

Personality:

Ivan is quite strange, reserved character. The man always has an enigmatic smile (lips-only) on his face, never reflecting his inner thoughts, never giving away even a smoke of his opinions. To most, they file it away as one of his childish quirks, keeping away from his friendly, open face. To very few, it is an amused smile, as if privy to a joke only he understands.

Nevertheless, they all stay away. Seemingly without effort, Ivan instills the kind of apprehension in others when they are facing a dangerous, unpredictable beast. He radiates the frigid aura associated with being in the cold. He is just… Strangely intimidating.

They give him too much credit.

Ivan Braginsky himself thinks he is not nearly as dangerous, truly. Yes, he is complex. Yes, his methods might be unorthodox; unnatural, even - but they are merely methods, and misunderstood ones at that. Ivan has long given up on tryink to make these people understand how it is that I am carrying out my work. So he minds his own business, not very mindful of external dissenting opinions, simply disregarding them unless if they are practical and suit his needs.

He is not the ultra-villain they make him out to be. Quite honestly, the Russian would rather read a good book, sipping tea and vodka together in the armchair of his living room, than to terrorize his neighbors and aggressively expand his borders in the name of conquest. For security reasons? Maybe. But other nations have quite a difficult time understanding his needs. On the other hand, Russia does, from time to time, fail to gauge correctly another nation's reaction to his foreign policy, and as such might come off to the others as a threat.

Being possessive - or in a sympathetic light, being protective - is a part of his nature as there are very few things he truly holds dear. He cannot stand the thought of any damage or harm befalling his scarf - or his sisters, even if they are growing apart. Another thing about him is that he absolutely abhors the thought of others meddling in his internal affairs, preferring to solve his problems by himself. When angered, his ruthlessness is more pronounced, and his temper begins to show. He'll not bother with pretty words, resorting to cutting insults and a good swing of his pipe. (Now that he's in the past though, perhaps he'll make do with a staff instead.)

Let it be known that Ivan has the kind of honesty which is brutal and crippling. He is perfectly fine with revealing a truth kept in the clutches of denial, affirming any and all weaknesses his adversary wishes to hide. Furthermore, he possesses subtlety, preferring to convey messages through body language and subtext; the odd smile or a carefully placed word or even where he looks, here and there. He is almost an advocate of it, in fact - that he does get quite irritated with boisterously opinionated people. The bluntness, he admires; the noise, not so much.

Culture is very important for Russia. He uses it as a basis to evaluate people; with nations he considers as being rich in culture, he is a bit more affable. Towards those who have no inkling of knowledge about Russia's own customs, he is not very warm. Chilly, even. A reflection of this is writing. Ivan has a very elegant script paired with a way of words, echoed through names such as Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Nabokov, and many others. His pride is not very pronounced, but it is very much there. It causes him to take offense when he is compared with a nation he doesn't see as an equal. Conversely, Russia is a gracious host when he needs to be, even when he doesn't have too many guests over.

He finds children quite refreshing to be around with. They lack the jaded views and firm stances of adults - and -

Well -

He likes to spend a few moments of his time playing with them, teaching them new games and new rhymes; making sure they aren't too rough with each other. At least, there are still those who are not afraid of him.

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in a time which is yet to exist.
my eyes are neither black nor white!

and neither should be yours!

Family:

Ukraine and Belarus are his sisters. To a certain extent he does consider the Slavic nations in the Balkans as his siblings, though not that much of a close tie a compared with the first two. Maybe cousins instead? He knows he is somewhat related to Poland as well. Very distantly. Kind of.

His relationship with his sisters is complicated. Ivan is protective over them but is completely aware of Ukraine's policies of siding - and depending - more with the West. He is not happy with this, and does often differ in opinion with his sister's bosses, in where they accuse him of bullying her into depending only on him - which he vehemently denies. This can be illustrated in their hostile relations under Yushchenko's presidency (2005-2010). It doesn't help that she does try to get away from him, which depresses Ivan behind closed doors.

Belarus, on the other hand, shares a closer bond with Russia, politically and economically, compared to him and Ukraine. Ivan knows she adores him, maybe to a point which is unsettling for the Russian, and does care for her as a brother should to his younger sister. However, her bosses are trying to pull away from such dependency on the larger nation, and focusing on efforts to open to others instead.

With the way things are, obviously Russia is not very pleased, although it is better than he could hope for: considering their previous experiences together under as an Empire, and as a Republic. At least they haven't shunned him (though, of course, that would be highly detrimental to their survival. In a way, he takes comfort that he still has a grip in their economies, and that they wouldn't abandon him outright anytime soon).

Friends:

There aren't many who can stand Ivan's demeanour; even more disagree with his methods to deal with problems. However, there are still some he could somewhat refer to as a friend, even in the looser sense of the word: France, Canada and China, to name a few. Ever since the dissolution of Soviet Union, his diplomatic ties with various countries have improved, though there are still some who consider him as an enemy.

Sino-Russian relations in the modern day are close, and cordial. Russia sees China as an ally especially to counteract Western influence, and does cooperate with him in various sectors such as trade, geopolitical and regional issues, and also the military. Ivan considers Yao has an old friend, and respects him for his age and wisdom, which may or may not correlate with his own knowledge. He approves of China's appreciation of his own culture, as he does the same, and finds quite a number of things which are similar between the both of them. Thus he enjoys China's company during visits now and then, and is comfortable enough to consider him as a confidant.

When talking about relations with France in technical terms, their spaces of influences rarely overlapped due to their geographical locations. Modern-day diplomatic ties are strong and Russia has always held a warm spot for France, even as Ivan and Francis, finding the nation to be understandable and amiable - if not a bit excessively amorous in his pursuits. His liking of French culture is enough testament to this.

He does have the occasional friendly face to count on in which he has relatively good ties to such as Canada, Italy - even North Korea.

Enemies:

Maybe it shouldn't come off as a surprise that Russia doesn't get along with many nations on a personal level. There are some who keep obligatory relations with him simply to fulfill diplomatic missions, and there are noteworthy nations which are outright mistrustful of his motives. Being thrown back in time is also a cause for concern as it was during these centuries in which the nations were involved in wars. There are territorial disputes to be had against Sweden, Poland, and even his sisters when taking into account of the knowledge of the future. To establish himself as a great power, no doubt there will be blood spilled on the way at the expense of unfortunate nations.

The Caucasus is a topic which is best to avoid with the Russian. He sees the region impeding progression of warm ties between him and the West, and he adopts an inflexible stance when it comes to repression upon the insurgency in the North Caucasus. Just don't talk down to him about it: a surefire way to rile up his temper.

It is acknowledged that the Baltic nations are moving farther away from his sphere of influence. Oftentimes he will attempt to smile at the brothers (are they related? Till today Ivan has still no clue), but they would skitter away, especially Latvia; though Lithuania is still polite enough to incline his head. Former Soviet states as a whole are wary of his motives, since Russia was the center of all activity related to the former state. Thus there still exists trepidation within what Russia calls the 'post-Soviet space' - as well as the kind of sensitivity where one treads carefully around.

Predictably, Russia disregards this to increase his economic influence (as a precursor to political, really), using his natural resources as leverage in the modern day of markets. Even so, there is no aggression meant; Ivan simply wishes to regain his footing to be able to stand par against rivaling developed nations, most notably the United States. In who he has a complicated relationship with.

Very complicated.

To be completely honest the United States and the Russian Federation share a sort of uneasy, unspoken truce between the two of them; indeed, having been adversaries for half a century with the brink of the world's destruction hanging by their decisions, the relationship between the two can't be defined so easily.

The both of them acknowledge that good relations are for each other's benefit, and the USA has been encouraging Russia to develop, expressing an interest to see the nation strong with a stable economy. Of course, the move of USA pushing for more political reform inside Russia has caused friction between the both of them, especially when considering Russia hates foreign interference upon his internal affairs. (He's actually quite sensitive about this, till this day. USA is one of the countries in which he is completely comfortable to criticise openly as opposed to his reserved stance when dealing with the others.) Though sometimes the American can be overbearing and overreactive (assuming silly things about his policies, for one thing; the recent Georgia conflict, NATO expansion, and seeking an anti-missile system in Europe which Russia is highly suspicious about), Russia does consider him as a proper rival, worthy of respect - which is a thought he implies rather than shows.

Obama's administration has had USA pursing a policy of rapprochement with Russia in which his own administration has accepted steadfastly, marking a steady improvement in their relationship. What does annoy him about the younger nation is that America assumes his lack of cooperation in certain areas are due to 'Kremlin wounded pride' and 'paranoia', rather than the simple reality that their priorities simply do not match. He is a bit baffled that USA approaches China with a perceived notion of a conflict of interests, and does not feel compelled to patronize and psychoanalyze their Chinese counterparts. Then why not do the same for Russia? Indeed, America seems to want to cure him instead of dealing with him, which Russia finds immensely amusing, strangely reminding him of a puppy, on one end of the spectrum - while simply exasperated on the other.

In a way, deep within the confines of his mind, he does feel a bit flustered from the attention, and in his Strange Russian Logic is grateful he is still considered to be threatening enough for the American to prioritise cooperation with him as one of his main goals. If America did not take him seriously, the other nations would not as well. Yes? Yes?

(Or maybe he simply likes having someone to spar with. Verbally during snarky G20 conferences; physically during joint military exercises.)

History:

What happened when they were throttled back in time? What was their history after 2010? Try include their thoughts, how they coped and what they intended to do now that they have a chance to start afresh.

Of course the tale of this Eurasian nation starts with an area not known to be Russia - but a name almost forgotten to the times; he was known as the "realm of towns", or Garðaríki, centered in Novgorod in the year 862. A more familiar name under which Russia is known for is Kievan Rus in 882, the first united East Slavic state which included the areas known as Ukraine and Belarus today. The assimilation of Byzantine culture into the Russian society began in 988, including the adoption of Christianity which was to play an important role in Russia's future decisions.

Kievan Rus' disintegrated as a state between the years of 1227 and 1230, in which the Mongol Invasion happened, and as a result, the principalities of the Kievan State became vassals of the Mongol Golden Horde. However, the dissolution was mainly due to quarrels between ruling princes - invasion by the Golden Horde was merely the final blow. Only the Novgorod Republic were to remain free from occupation and subsequently flourish. This was to be a huge blow to the development of the Eastern Europeans, as advanced city centers were destroyed, such as Kiev and Vladmir which could never recover from the devastation of the initial attack. This allowed other cities to assert their authority over Mongol-dominated Russia, for example the cities of Moscow, Tver, and Nizhny Novgorod - which competed for hegemony. Continued Mongol dominance over the region will continue until about the year 1480.

In general, especially that of Southern and Eastern Russia, the princes had to pay tribute to the Mongols of the Golden Horde - nevertheless, they were actually given considerable freedom to rule as they wished. The Russian Orthodox Church experienced a spiritual revival during this time period as well. Because of their influence, most of the princes saw the Northern Crusaders as a bigger threat upon Russian way of life than the Mongols themselves. Novgorod achieved heroic status through their elected ruler Alexander, who defeated the Teutonic Knights and the Swedes in major victories. He fended off invasions from the West as well by securing Mongol protection in order to prevent Roman Catholicism profitting from Russian collapse since the Mongol invasions, by acquiring believers and territory.

The foundation of Grand Duchy of Moscow centered around the powerful city which gained its ascendency through cooperation with the Mongols, increasing their prestige amongst the Russian principalities. Moscow eventually absorbed its parent-state Vladimir, which was to mark a steady expansion pattern which would increase in tempo as the years passed. This is also the period of time where Moscow - as a principality - became the center of the Russian Orthodox Church, greatly elevating its status.

Retaliation against the Mongols began in the middle of the 14th century, in where they were finally able to be defeated. Moscow's leadership in Russia was now firmly established, and its territory has increased greatly through the use of purchase, war, and marriage. Eventually this expansion will lead to the absolute defeat of the Golden Horde, opening a path to the creation of the Tsardom of Russia in 1547 - where Ivan finds himself to be.

Moving forward he will be aware of the times to come: Ivan the Terrible's aggressive and ruthless policies, the subsequent emergence of the oprichnina, the following fall of the first Tsar, loss of territory to the Polish-Lithuanians, Crimean Tatars (in which they burnt down Moscow in 1571), and even Sweden. There would be the Time of Troubles, resulting in the expelling of Poles from Moscow after an attempt to conquer it, as well as the accession of the Romanovs which were to become Russia's reigning monarchs until the 1917 Revolution.

Imperial Russia came into being in the reign of Peter the Great, known as the one who introduced the European state system to the newly born empire. This was also the time when Peter realised the need for a warm water port. Sankt Peterburga also replaces Moscow as the new capital of Russia, under Peter's new amendments. After Peter's death, it would be half a century before another ambitious monarch took the stage; Catherine the Great, or Catherine II. It was under Catherine where Russia was acknowledged as a major European power, especially with her expansionist policies to expand into Western Europe, as well as gain access to the Black Sea.

Alexander II was known as the saviour of Europe following the catastrophic defeat of Napoleon at the end of the 1812 invasion of France upon Russia. He would continue to play an important part in European politics in the years to come, juxtaposed with the economic stagnation Russia will undoubtedly experience during the Industrial Revolution because he is quite far behind. Therefore the following regimes, especially in the 19th century, responded to such pressures to modernise through half-hearted reform and repression of political dissents. One of them was Nicholas I, who turned away from the modernising policy and began championing "Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Nationality", concurrent with the Age of Nationalism.

The Crimean War exposed the weaknesses of Tsar Nicholas's regime of a power previously thought as invincible, since Russia played an important part in Napoleon's defeat. Therefore it was of no surprise when Alexander II ascended, there was widespread demand for reform in order to address these issues. The emancipation of the serfs in 1861 is one of the most important events in Russian history, where Alexander II abolished the system from above. In the middle of the 19th century and later, the Balkans would come to be a major source of friction between himself and the Austria-Hungarian Empire; an ominous foreshadow of the horrific war to come.

With careful reforms introduced by the Tsar to inch their way ever closer to a liberal government, things seem to be going well for Russia until the appearance of nihilists; politic radicals who questioned the old ways of the system. They threw themselves into the cause of reform, attempting to bring aristocrats into their influence. The Populist movement which gained momentum among the peasants spoke of the radical's failure to earn the support of the higher classes. The Narodniks, as they were called, were deemed as a threat to the Tsarist Regime, and decisions to eliminate it were taken - leading to the Narodnik practicing terrorism. Government officials were assassinated one by one, including Tsar Alexander II himself. He was murdered the same day he called upon

Things started to go downhill from there. The accession of his son, Alexander III, brought upon counter-reforms one after the one in response to the killing of his father. The hope for a constitutional assembly with a proper parliament eventually disappeared as Alexander III believed in shutting out subversive influences of Western Europe to save Russia from chaos. His son, Nicholas II, would be trained as a soldier, and also to hate the democratic system, where the parliament is thought of evil and as a threat to his political position. Even so, under Alex's reign, Russia was able to forge an alliance with Republican France.

The Industrial Revolution brought on many changes and also heightened tensions between the educated, middle class and the industrial workers; and the Tsarist regime, as with the influx of people coming to work in the cities exposed more people to new ideas of political and social order. Political parties emerged, becoming radicalised with the oppression from the state as they were illegal under the law. In 1898, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was the most radical of them all, the primary exponent of Marxism in Russia - 1903 brought about the split of the party to the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks.

Poor conditions in the factories and the peasant's fear of their land being taken away brought about the culmination of the 1905 Revolution, which ended with Nicholas II giving concessions to the revolutionaries and bringing about the State Duma in the Tsarist system. Within the next decade it would cease to be a proper forum representing the actual needs of the nation, with the proclamation of the Fundamental Laws which greatly restricted the Duma's legislative powers, the dissolution of the 1st and the 2nd, disfranchising of the majority of the population, and the Tsar's own refusal of listening to their criticism and advice. People were disillusioned by the 'progress' made since 1905, and were rising in discontent again by 1914, before a defining moment in history began: The First World War.

It brought about detrimental effects to the Tsarist Regime. Hyperinflation and mass famine affected the population. Incompetence of the regime was brought forward in a series of administration blunders and ineffective war maneuvers. Deserters and mutinies were increasing in number throughout the army ranks: this was highly critical for a regime that depended so much on the army to repress the revolutionary movement within the country. When the February Revolution came about, there was virtually no one supporting the Tsar, having his supporters desert him. This was the end of the old system of the Russian Empire - and the beginning of a new one.

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The Provisional Government was made up of the remaining members of the duma, leading the socialists to refer to them as bourgeoisie. The struggle for power between the two factions began, ending with the October Revolution where Kerensky and his government were driven out by the soviets. Lenin came into power, dissolving the Constituent Assembly and subsequently ending the bourgeois democracy, enabling him to cancel the Treaty of Brest. The Russian Civil War began, and by 1921, the internal enemies were defeated. In December 1922, a new era began for Russia and the nations under his grasp.

The history of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics, known as USSR, spans from its creation in 1922 and its dissolution in 1991. Following Lenin's death, Joseph Stalin began his campaign of wrestling power from other factions of the party, eventually winning control over the republic and expanding from the years of 1929-1939. Massive industrialisation began as well as massive internal struggles as Stalin established his near total control over Russian society, in which he succeeded. His methods were undoubtedly ruthless, but Russia's rate of industrialisation exceeded Germany's, and even Japan's, in the 19th and 20th centuries respectively.

The accession of the anti-communist Hitler party in Germany during 1933 was of great concern for the Soviet Union, especially in regard to its Eastern expansion. The lack of Western powers to oppose it became a sore point for Russia, where he decided to take matters into his own hands.

In 1939, World War II began. It was known as the Great Patriotic War. 27 million Soviet deaths were accounted for, which merely heightened its security needs and an almost crippling paranoia of German invasion which led the government to keep a tight hold over Berlin and East Germany, as well as establishing buffer zones. The end of the war was supposed to serve as the basis for postwar reconstruction and security; however, the national interests of the Soviet Union and the United States began to dominate the international stage.

The Cold War was a conflict in a form previously unrealised where international affairs were conducted according to the Mutually Assured Destruction doctrine. ///

From its ruins, a country acknowledged to be as the Russian Federation emerged. It shared many continuities of its Tsarist and Soviet past, being the legal successor of USSR and superseding the roles played by the former superpower.







/// wip~

historyhistoryshistory hereee D: D: D::::::



Note: Try make this generic, and if you are going to be making up another country/s history, please keep in mind that this is subject to change. Please also take a look at other country's history before writing yours, if applicable.

Also, the countries actual history, before 2010 is very important. Make sure you know more about the country than what you learn from Hetalia.

RP Sample:

Sample has to be as the character you are applying for. 4 paragraphs minimum.

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neither should the others'. for
there are no thirds

that is to come undone.

[ OOC ]

Name: Max/Whatever you want

Age: Eighteeeen.

Experience: I've only just restarted after (how many years?) hiatus, and I've tried out Alfie before. *u* Hetalia RPing has only gone down to about, a month's experience. Please be kind.

Contact: AIM/MSN/SKYPE etc etc

Anything else?: Jens Bjorneboe ;n;

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to realise such a fault was ours?
calamities lie down this path we will trod
this is a plea, from an enemy, your brother, and a friend.

we are merely extraordinary, not made of gods.

This template was created by Ophelia for Hetalia: Distorted Destiny. Lyrics from the template are from the medieval Swedish ballad, "Herr Mannelig."