Lazar Kaganovich
Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich (born 22nd November 1893) is a Soviet politician, administrator and associate of Joseph Stalin. He is currently the General Secretary of the All-Union Communist Party and leader of the West Siberian People's Republic, commonly known as Tyumen and is one of the potential unifiers for Russia.
History
Early-life
Lazar Kaganovich was born on November 22, 1893 in Kabany village during the times of the late Russian Empire. Not much is known during the period of his youth, but it was known when he was at the age of 13, he joined the workforce, which would then shape his political and economical viewpoints. In 1911, he joined the Bolsheviks, which would then mark the beginning of his career as as one of them.
Military and political career
While not much of a military leader, he participated as a leader of several Bolshevik revolts in the Russian Empire during the October Revolution, as well as being commissar for the Red Army propaganda department. From May 1918 to August 1919. he was chairman of the Ispolkom (Committee) of the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate. In 1919–1920, he served as governor of the Voronezh Governorate. The years 1920 to 1922 he spent in Turkmenistan as one of the leaders of the Bolshevik struggle against the local Muslim rebels (Basmachi), and also commanded the successful punitive expeditions against local opposition.
Power struggle and World War II
Onward from the 1920s, when Bolshevik power was consolidated over the entirety of Russia, he stood by the side of his mentor, Joseph Stalin in a power struggle against Nikolai Bukharin. Little did his side know what would happen next, and what damaging effect would it have on Russia.
During the final stages of the power struggle, Stalin and his faction lost to Nikolai Bukharin. When the German war machine of the Wehrmacht managed to shatter the USSR during the Second World War and Bukharin went into exile, Kaganovich followed Stalin to West Siberia, where they established the West Siberian People's Republic, opposed to Bukharin's old Politburo in the Far East, now with Genrikh Yagoda at its helm.
West Siberian People's Republic creation and West Russian War
During the West Russian War, the West Siberian People's Republic was allied with the West Russian Revolutionary Front. After Stalin died in 1955, Konstantin Rokossovsky and Dmitry Karbyshev refused to follow Kaganovich's authority and broke away due to the inability to solve the constant Luftwaffe terror bombing, as well as their own personal reasons. All of this culminated into the West Siberian People's Republic eventually getting down to a territory of Tyumen Oblast.
Present-day
The situation is not looking bright as of 1962. The bombings are still there, threats of the Black League and the Third Army are approaching upon the horizon, and it's only the matter of time when they will attack. Fortunately, Kaganovich sees no danger, but a chance to finally avenge his mentor that if he were ever to rule the USSR instead of Bukharin, they would not be in situation as they are now. And there is no thing that can stop him from realizing such deed, to bring the true anti-revisionist socialism to the oppressed people of Russia.
Involvement
Kaganovich will start the game off in control of Tyumen. He is notable for being the only warlord in the western half of Russia that can remove the "Luftwaffe Terror Bombings" spirit before the outbreak of the German Civil War, doing so by studying the patterns of the bombings and preparing anti-aircraft weaponry. As such, they can pretty much early on start conquering back the old territories of Omsk and Sverdlovsk. While the player can take any route on who to deal with first, it is recommended to finish off Konstantin Rokossovsky's Third Army first before dealing with Dmitry Yazov's Black League. After that, they can bring back peacefully the Free Aviators, though they will have to beat up the rest of the remaining warlords in the region.
During the warlord period, player can enact a Five-Year Plan, which allows the economy of Tyumen to skyrocket and be massively efficient, though at any given moment, if they go too hard on peasantry, the country will suffer a famine. Other economic focuses include rebuilding either communes or factories, which on their own give unique bonuses that can help the player in long run. Lastly, as a matter of quickly rebuilding the army, they can focus on rebuilding the infantry of the Red Army, or they can spend time focusing on implementing tank technologies. Both options can give an advantage depending on how the player wants to compose his army.
When the regional stage is reached, the player will be able to consolidate the revolution in conquered parts, as well as to decide the route of the party, reformist or status quo. Sticking with status quo focuses will enable Kaganovich to remain in power, however, if the player does too many reforms, he will get ousted by Nikita Khrushchev, so it's recommended for the player if he wants to implement reformist focuses to choose a bare minimum or not do them at all.
In the economic side of the focus tree, the player can take focuses that favor either Kaganovich or Khrushchev, though these focuses have no actual effects as the first focuses, and as such, Khrushchev plan focus can be taken by Kaganovich the same way how focus regarding elimination of kulaks can be taken by Khrushchev. Overall, the economy resembles the one from our timeline Stalin's USSR, with the complete nationalization of industries and worker's control of the economy, accompanied by five year plans. The player can continue to reform the Red Army, and while the reforms are not great compared to the likes of Mikhail Tukhachevsky's Red Army, it provides enough buffs in order to compete with other warlords.
Regarding diplomacy, regardless of who is chosen, the player can take the side of peaceful coexistence with the United States of America and the Organization of Free Nations, or they can maintain the ideological principles first and be hostile towards them too alongside with the Greater Germanic Reich and the Empire of Japan. Not only that, Kaganovich condemns what he calls "Social Fascism", seeing how the current government of Germany would not be ever able to take power if the Social Democrats were actual friends of the proletariat, thus proclaiming them to be on same side as fascism. Alongside with being hostile to the Japanese Empire and condemning their imperialism, Kaganovich has an opportunity to reestablish contacts with former Soviet Socialist Republics such as the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic and to form the SocIntern organization.
At the super-regional stage, Kaganovich enacts a "Great Purge" of the army and party officials, that as a result has negative effects on army strength that fortunately does not last forever. He also decides to build a special project of secret bunkers, that like Omsk's Project Hydra, is used as a measure in case of possible nuclear fallout. At the last focus, Kaganovich receives a leader trait of "Man of Steel," which grants a minor bonus to his rule.
He is capable of peaceful unification with the West Russian Revolutionary Front under Georgy Zhukov and Komi under Mikhail Suslov at the regional stage, and the People's Revolutionary Council and Krasnoyarsk (once they have content) at the super-regional stage.
Quote upon unification
"If the opposition disarms, all is well and good. If it refuses to disarm, we shall disarm it ourselves."
—Joseph Stalin
Trivia
- Lazar Kaganovich is regarded in real life as the last Old Bolshevik, dying five months before the USSR's official dissolution.
- Lazar Kaganovich is one of the few warlords to have a leader trait, and gets it through the focus "Man of Steel", located at the end of the focus tree he obtains upon unifying West Russia and Western Siberia. It grants him +20%
Political Power.
