Community Discussions

Red Flood Progress Report 24 - Japan and Korea

Main Post:

This is a two-part diary, Part 1 will be looking at Japan, Part 2 covers Korea.

Japan

Konichiwa!

Since Japan’s sphere is the second major area of focus for the 0.3 update, lets cover the new and improved Japan. Japan was one of the lucky few nations to feature in the very first version of Red Flood, but it was rushed and didn't quite measure up to its intended role. So here we are with the new version. First, a history lesson:

Background

Following Japan’s unsuccessful attempts to force Russia out of Manchuria in 1905, Japan faced multiple internal problems that would become bell-weathers of worse to come. The 1905 war was extremely costly to Japan’s prestige and economy, riots occurred in several major cities and the first serious leftist elements grew dramatically in this period post-war. Rather than address the issues directly, the Imperial Military leadership pushed the Emperor to continue the policy of colonial expansion to rival the Russians and ultimately get revenge. This neglect led to a less modernised and more unstable Japan in 1936 than we recognise for our time-line.Nonetheless the Empire grew mighty, a modernising regional power that could challenge the control the West still held over East Asia and China in particular. Japan seized and colonised Taiwan and Korea much as they did OTL. Things took a turn however in 1916 with the French Republic on the verge of collapse from the war in Europe, Japan “volunteered” to protect their interests in Indochina and seized the colony by the end of 1917. They promptly chose not to return the colony to France, but Japan’s alliance with Britain prevented a counter-intervention.

The new acquisition was a boon for Japanese power, new resources and labour helped the fledgling Empire to recoup its losses from 1905. However, when the Chinese civil war escalated in the mid 1920’s Japan’s position pivoted, having supported the counter-revolutionary forces (including one Roman von Ungern-Sternberg) in their fight against the Republicans in Russia, Japan did likewise in China, propping up the Beiyang Government against the Northern Expedition. Japan took this opportunity to seize southern Manchuria for itself, setting up the Company-Colony of Mantetsu, where the Zaibatsus run amok and individual investors and Generals command Japanese armies beyond the control of Tokyo.

As Japan’s interest in China grew and it’s relations with the Russian Republicans in Zheltorossiya warmed, the chance to backstab Yan Xishan and the northern warlords became an active goal for some in the Military (Araki Sadao); with relative moderates such as General Tojo purged in 1932. However at home things were beginning to sour, delaying action in China. Lefist elements were becoming more of an issue for the Kenpeitai than ever before, culminating in the assassination of Emperor Hirohito in 1934 by suspected Technocrats. The incident saw Prince Chichibu Crowned Emperor Yasuhito and as many technocrats as could be found executed or exiled to Mantetsu for hard labour. In 1936 Japan has finally begun its invasion of Northern China in the hopes that a swift victory will save their ailing economy from destruction.Okay. With History out of the way, what happens with Japan in game?

1936
The invasion is the first and most pressing issue:The Empire seeks to take over the Beiyang Government and set up a colonial regime in Beijing, but the looming economic crisis means that time is short.Should the Three Month Campaign succeed, Japan will still go through the motions of its economic collapse, but with the added assets of its conquests, it will be well positioned to make itself into a regional hegemon.

Should the campaign not be completed before the economic collapse, it will precipitate revolution, starting with a strike among sailors in Yokosuka. The situation quickly spirals out of control and before long, troops are being recalled to Honshu to fight the reds.

The Future

So if you choose the Empire and continue the path, what options are available?

Yasuhito leads the economic reforms (with new revised effects and events for the reforms themselves), deals with the military’s “excessive control”, and builds the Empire up to a major world power, ready to strike at the revolutionaries and radicals.

Hiromichi, the reactionary pretender, with the support of the military, takes over the Empire. The country effectively reverts to a military Shogunate, with much of the work by Emperor Meiji undone. This path has seen the main revisions from previous versions of the mod. That previous content has inspired things to come in South Manchuria.

Both Emperors will have their work cut out for them trying to restore the Empire to its former heights. But with options to move North and South, Japan may yet become the masters of Asia.

If the Revolution springs forth and succeeds in setting the sun on the Empire, what options do the Reds have?
- Ōkawa Shūmei’s Pan-Asianist Vanguard keeps leadership of the country - if Shūmei can keep control following the civil war he will attempt to make Japan the leader of a continent-spanning socialist super-power.
- Yamakawa Hitoshi’s Libertarian-Marxists wrestle control from Shūmei - if the councilists take over then the socialist's goals will be much more modest and decentralised. Supporting the regimes friendly to socialist revolution in China and Southern Asia becomes top priority. The councilists are also much more cooperative with their comrades in the West.

Elected Leadership. If the Vanguard do not keep control, there will be the optional focus to open up elections to choose a new ruling party/faction, including the Socialist Labour Party and the Anarcho-Syndicalist Trade Unions.

Naturally Revolutionary Japan will need to commit to rebuilding its military along new lines, and there is plenty of opportunity to do so:

But if the Revolution is victorious, what happens to the Imperials? If during the Japanese civil war the Imperials begin to lose, they will be presented with options. Assuming they didn’t outright lose Mantetsu they will have the option to go into exile there or in Korea (if the governorate has survived the turmoil there). They can also choose not to exile and fight to the death. The choice of exile has big implications for both Korea and Mantetsu so which you choose will affect their paths too. Continue reading for Korea.

Korea

Introduction

Welcome to Part 2 of the Progress Report, still with me? Good. Here we will cover Korea and its many paths.

Background

Korea’s history in Red Flood remains mostly unchanged until after the March 1st Movement began in 1919. From that point Japan’s grip on Korea is noticeably softer than OTL, with the rate of industrialisation and Japanese colonisation being somewhat slower. Colonial policies were still pursued, but overall the Korean Governorate was not quite as unpleasant or repressive as it was OTL. This policy changed under Hirohito to be more harsh, before being thrown out the window completely with new Eigen Emperor Yasuhito and his Restorationist Faction. They have no love for Korea and their hardline stance means that Japanese colonisation, industrialisation and exploitation has ramped up intensely over the past 18 months. The end result is that Korean resistance is inflamed and Japan’s grip has tightened in response, the Governorate is however totally dependent on the home government for support.

A Dire Situation

Despite the efforts of the colonial government, led by Ugaki Kazushige, things continue to deteriorate, especially once the Japanese civil war begins. Without outside help, the colony quickly free falls into revolution, resulting in a civil war of sorts.

In the North, leftist and revolutionary partisans have seized the port of Shirotsu (Seongjin) and are preparing a takeover of the North as a whole, with unofficial help from the Left-KMT and possibly Zheltorossiya as well.

Split between Keijo/Seoul and the southern provinces is the new Korean Republic, led by Ahn Changho’s conservative nationalists. They enjoy friendly relations with the Right-KMT and are arguably more powerful than either the leftist faction or the remains of the Governorate.

Speaking of whom; the “Kingdom of Korea” has lost control (read cores) over much of the country and while it has an advantage in territory, it is easily outmanoeuvred.

The Imperials

If however, they manage to hold onto Korea the Imperials do have a path to redemption, but the road is bloody.

If the Imperial Japanese player chooses, they can take over Imperial Korea for the exile path and seek to reclaim their home. If playing as Korea, Ugaki Kazushige will attempt to hold on to Korea as best he can, suppressing Korean nationalism and building a base for Japanese exiles to potentially reclaim their home.

The “Reds”

The Revolutionary Korean Republic starts out as a partisan occupation in the north, but with a little outside help it can quickly spread into the whole of northern Korea. They must be careful however, if the Republicans in the south take Pyongyang, they will have no choice but to fight to the bitter end against their brothers.

If the Reds win in the North they can bide their time and prepare for the unification struggle. If they unite Korea completely, they will make sure to crush their opposition.The revolution begins - as most do - in a coalition. The coalition is helmed by the Leninist-Vanguard of the Worker’s party in collaboration with agrarian socialist factions, with the National Revolution and Anarchist Factions being important secondary partners.

The coalition is doomed however, and the Revolutionary Republic must either keep the leading Vanguardist-Agrarian alliance in charge, or choose between the Accelerationist National Revolutionaries or the Anarcho-communists.

Now some on you may be wondering why Juche Korea and Vanguard Socialist Korea are two separate paths. Well Juche in Red Flood is not the Juche we know. This Juche ideology is that of Sin Chaeho, a Korean independence activist who was killed by the Japanese OTL. Here he has survived to form his own National-Anarchist movement with a great focus on the ethnic Korean destiny, which he believes lies with unifying Koreans with Manchurians. Kim Il-sung however, is merely a potential general for Revolutionary Korea, since all his political influence from our history comes from the Soviet Union's presence.

The Vanguardists are led by Pak Hon-yong, a notable socialist politican. He will seek to organise Korea along Leninist lines, having read plenty of leftist literature out of Germany and rejected Luxemburgism. His faction is closely associated with both the Left-KMT and Communist Party in China, but does not have the influence in Korea to act alone. Thus they are in permanent partnership with Cho Man-sik's agrarian socialists, who may become quite upset at the industrialisation programs planned.

The Anarchists are "led" - if such a word is even appopriate - by Kim Chwa-chin. His faction hail from the KPAM which in Red Flood has survived to 1936 on account of loose Japanese control over the Zheltorossiya border region. This relative success in anarcho-communism is ready to be writ large on Korea itself, with many of the partisans aiding the revolution having worked with the KPAM, they have a real shot at making their ambitions reality.

The Republic

If the Republic survives both the Governorate and the Reds...

...they can become a shining beacon of democracy in the East and resist Japanese attempts to reacquire them, with a Liberal path for greater economic opportunities, a Conservative path reinforcing nationalist sentiment, or the Social Democrats who have a shot at peacefully uniting the country if it is still divided.

If the revolutionaries in the North do not immediately turn on the republic the elections can be cancelled. A red scare gives rise to a more authoritarian rule, with moderate options off the table Korea can begin the tried and true passtime of repressing dissidents.The republic will also be able to delve into Korea’s religious character and build up Korea’s christian community. The illiberal path will be able to combine this with promoting Korea’s indegenous shamanism like Cheondoism and Jeungsanism.

An Uncertain Fate

The common thread with each of the possible fates for Korea is that it will have to act quickly to defeat its competition and prevent its reintegration into the Japanese sphere, whether that be under the Emperor or the Revolutionary Vanguard. But they each have plenty of tools to defend themselves.

Fortunately Korea does not necessarily stand alone, nor are its options totally closed off, with many paths to choose from, Korea’s fate hangs in the balance.

Thank you for reading

Join us next time where we will take a trip back West to the Baltic Sea.

For those interested, here is a link to our Discord

Top Comment: Replayability just went through the roof

Forum: r/RedFloodMod

Report: Red Dead Redemption 2 PS5 / Xbox Series X Port Also Dropped

Main Post: Report: Red Dead Redemption 2 PS5 / Xbox Series X Port Also Dropped

Forum: r/XboxSeriesX

Red Flood Progress Report 23 - Zheltorossiya

Main Post:

Introduction

Today we will be looking at the updated content for Zheltorossiya. Zheltorossiya's tree was originally released in Spring of 2020, but this wasn't the full version of the tree we planned, it was condensed for time as it was in high demand. Since then it has become a talisman of this mod and one of the most talked about nations. So we are very happy to finally do a retroactive dive into it’s content with the addition of all that was originally intended for it. But first for those not in the loop, some history:

Background

After the Japanese Empire and Russian Empire signed peace in 1905, Russia’s influence in the far-east grew greatly. Economic troubles struck Japan after the war and 6 years later the Chinese civil war left Manchuria with a power vacuum, the Russian Empire stepped in and many Russians and other people from the Empire settled in the region. In 1919, inspired by the German Revolution and seizing the opportunity of post-war food shortages, the Russian Republic was declared. This Republic was a broad-tent coalition of Kadet-Liberals, Social-Democrats, Socialist Revolutionaries and smaller socialist parties. After years of civil war against Kolchak’s Regency, the Republic was defeated in Western Russia and retreated East, eventually being confined to Zheltorossiya (“Yellow Russia” otherwise known as Russian Manchuria). A formal ceasefire was signed in 1924 and the Republic has since sat and licked its wounds, with a turbulent first few years until finally things stabilised under Viktor Chernov in 1928. The socialist factionalism proved too much for him to bear however, and Alexander Kerensky’s Trudoviks came to power in 1933 with the hopes of a moderate position uniting the nation. But trouble lurks on the immediate horizon for the Republic.

1936

Zheltorossiya is about to face a famine, it has a disenfranchised Manchurian-Chinese population in the south, a dysfunctional government in Harbin, the loss of Vladivostok to the Japanese in return for neutrality has also hit the country hard. All these issues have plagued Zheltorossiya and now their agriculture is failing. A severe winter and chronic mismanagement from Alexander Kerensky’s Government has left the factions of the Republic ready to rip each other apart. There are radical ideas being posed to the Soviets, there is fear of an army takeover and agitators are rearing their heads.

Once the crisis comes to a head Zheltorossiya’s leaders have a choice:

Keep the president in power and stabilise the Republic around his influence and keep things moderate, organised and state-directed.

This will give Kerensky unprecedented power in the Republic, allowing him a chance to correct his mistakes and end the famine, but the cost to the Republic’s democracy is grave.

Force Kerensky’s resignation and look to establish a new government.

If Kerensky goes, Venedikt Myakotin becomes acting President, from there things quickly move out of the control of the congress. The troops may step in to secure the government - This could lead to:

The Red Brigades under Comrade Trotsky taking power.

He will seek to build his Red State, stamp out the drunken misery of his comrades, build his army and prepare for the world revolution at last.

The Military Governor of Vladivostok - Vasily Boldyrev creating a dictatorship.

He will seek to subvert and undo all the work the republic has made. Ultimately, his goal is to sell the Republic out to Russia, uniting the Far-East with the Central-Government once more.

The People’s Commissar Vasily Chapayev’s armed mob.

His ambitions revolve around making Zheltorossiya a republic of confederated syndicalist communes. Highly autonomous and without a strong state authority to tyrannise them. His agricultural reforms will see the people never starve again.

Updated Content

Those who have already played (RF 0.2) Zheltorossiya will be familiar with the Rosenbaum and Gastev paths already, but this part of the Zheltorossiya tree is the one receiving the focus of changes. Don’t worry, those two are staying right where they are. The resignation now has some different results and the way the paths open up has been modified and expanded.

If Kerensky resigns a united front of leftists in the congress may support a popular state, dispelling the need for elections or a military intervention in Harbin.

The RSDRP led by Lev Kamenev and OLN led by Maria Spiridonova form a large part of this group.

Both parties had enjoyed strong influence in the early days of the Republic until 1933 when Kerensky was elected. Their platform is far more strongly left-libertarian, drawing on the ideological works of noted German socialists since 1919. But only one of the two will win the confidence of the Soviets.

Their chief opposition is the Triumvirate of Socialist Revolutionary Parties, a coalition of moderate leftists led by Fyodor Dan.

Their program is explicitly revisionist, drawing the ire of many “orthodox” socialists in the Republic, but their platform is perhaps just the right middle ground that Zheltorossiya needs to find its way out of both the famine and the political crisis.

There is also a third, more radical and disruptive option, the IPK is a technocratic-socialist party led by Alexei Gastev and many do not grasp the full extent of his plans, he claims he wants order and to establish the Proletkult in the true spirit of the revolution and class warfare. Truth be told, his plans are much more sinister; to him the state should become an integral part of every waking minute of the people’s lives. He seeks to erase individuality and make every person an operating number in the machine of collective progress. To him there is no “you” or “I”, only “We”.

And finally is the Freedom Bloc, the remains of the Kadet wing has coalesced around Pavel Milyukov and Alisa Rosenbaum. The two are unwilling partners in the right-wing of the Republic’s politics. Milyukov is Rosenbaum’s superior within the party, but her Objectivist Anarcho-Capitalist movement is gaining traction in the midst of the Trudovik’s failing rule. Should the Congress allow snap elections per-Kerensky’s wishes, the Kadets have a strong path to victory.

Milyukov will attempt to establish his program of moderate social reform and implementing liberal economics. But once in power, they will butt heads over reforms, eventually leading to the abdication of one and the leadership of the other. If Milyukov sees off this young upstart, he will begin liberalising the country and building a robust, unitary republic, with forms of social welfare and strong education focus. His is perhaps the platform most likely to form strong ties to the west.

If Rosenbaum is successful, she will begin dismantling the apparatus of government and allowing new private enterprise to take over the country. The Chinese and Russians alike will be brought around to extreme markets and materialism, formal religions will be outlawed, lay-abouts will be “re-educated” in private industrial facilities, emotions and imagination will be laid aside to the altar of the market.

Aside from the wild political choices to be made, Zheltorossiya must also reform all branches of the military into a modern force that can challenge the Empire and its Governorates. The direction the Army takes is of particular importance and there are competing ideas in the General Staff about what the Republic’s Army should look like.

Zheltorossiya must also step out into the world and find allies, the leftists will seek Germany, the Kadets the UK and America, meanwhile Boldyrev will seek to unite the Republic with the rest of Russia. There will be options for Zheltorossiya to challenge the Empire and its subordinates with the help of some other aggrieved former Imperial territories.

Disaster Democracy

The famine is no meagre blip on the radar, it is a major upheaval, it sees the rule of the Republic threatened, should the leadership - whomever that may be - fail to take appropriate steps to deal with the famine, there will be dire consequences. The Republic may fall apart entirely, leaving the choice of which of the remains to join. Each of these poor bedevilled states has a small tree to deal with the disaster of the Far-East and - depending on their circumstances - reunite the region as they see fit.

Thank you for reading

Join us next week where we will have a combined report for the Japan re-work and the new content coming to Korea.

For those interested, here are links for our Discord and TvTropes.

Top Comment: that green ukraine flag tho

Forum: r/RedFloodMod

Red Cat Holdings to Report Fiscal Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results and Provide Corporate Update on Monday, December 16, 2024

Main Post: Red Cat Holdings to Report Fiscal Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results and Provide Corporate Update on Monday, December 16, 2024

Top Comment: It's gonna drop down to $5, and then double after earnings. And I'll still be stuck bag holding this thing

Forum: r/RedCatHoldings

Actual Juan Soto News: Alex Speier reports that the Red Sox have requested a meeting with Juan Soto and Scott Boras “in which [they] would identify a price that would get a deal done.”

Main Post: Actual Juan Soto News: Alex Speier reports that the Red Sox have requested a meeting with Juan Soto and Scott Boras “in which [they] would identify a price that would get a deal done.”

Top Comment:

We Got Em 🏆🤝🏾

Forum: r/redsox