All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
The All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) is a Marxist communist political party that has presence in several warlord states throughout Russia. Previously the ruling party of the now-defunct Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, descended from the radical Bolshevik faction within the early 20th century Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, the Communist Party has been, like the Soviet Union itself, split into multiple groups, each active within their own warlord state.
As of 1962, when the game begins, three Russian warlord states are ruled by the Communist Party: Irkutsk, Tyumen and Buryatia. Irkutsk's faction, led by Genrikh Yagoda, follows the more economically liberal Bukharinism, the political mainstream in the Soviet Union; as the game develops, it then has the potential of evolving either into a more economically liberal but also highly authoritarian securocracy under Yagoda, or remaining mostly the same under Sergey Bessonov.
Tyumen's faction, led by Lazar Kaganovich, follows Stalinism, a highly authoritarian form of Marxism that favours industrialisation and large-scale economic planning with little to no private enterprise. It may stay the same if Kaganovich remains in power, or undergo some liberalisation (while still remaining Stalinist) under Nikita Khrushchev.
Finally, Buryatia's faction (named Sablintsy in-game, Russian for Sablinites), led by Valery Sablin, follows a highly democratic, libertarian form of Marxism that the Sablinites themselves call "Leninism" but which is in many ways different from Vladimir Lenin's actual policies. Compared to the Bukharinists and the Stalinists, Sablinites favour decentralised planning with greater independence of local producers, autonomous elected soviets with participation allowed for all left-wing parties, as well as greater rights for women and ethnic minorities. However, the Sablinites also have the option of turning towards more authoritarian policies, with heavier repressions and more government control. Depending on which path they choose, the Sablinites will be identified either as basic communists (if they follow a libertarian path), or Bukharinists (if they follow an authoritarian path).
Outside of these three warlord states, it can be assumed that the other communist parties that can take power in the former Soviet Union, like the Communist Party of Komi, the Uzbek Communist Party, the Communist Party of Turkmenistan and the Communist Party of Tajikistan, have split off from the original All-Union Communist Party. The same can be said of some parties that are no longer communist, like the People's Democratic Socialist Party in Komi.
It can also be assumed that those communist warlord states that are run by the military, such as the West Russian Revolutionary Front and the People's Revolutionary Council, still maintain some remnants of the Communist Party in their territories, though they no longer play a key role in governance. Georgy Zhukov in particular reinstates the All-Union Communist Party after regional reunification, although it is only shown in focuses and events and not in the actual in-game change of the ruling party.
Trivia
- In OTL, the All-Union Communist Party has, of course, survived alongside the Soviet Union up until 1991, with its mainstream ideology being Stalinism until the 1950s and the more moderate forms of Marxism-Leninism after that, rather than Bukharinism. It would also eventually be renamed to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1952, a change that has not happened in TNO's timeline due to the Union collapsing before that. That said, the Communist Party of Komi will be renamed the Communist Party of the Soviet Union upon reunification.