Social Democracy: Petrograd 1917
It is March 1917, and the Russian Empire is entering a whirlwind of change. The unpopular Tsar has just been overthrown. Power now belongs to the Provisional Government on one hand, and the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies on the other. How will the new political order confront the devastation of war and the economic crisis? What is the future for democracy in Russia?
Play as the Mensheviks, Socialist-Revolutionaries, Kadets, or Bolsheviks, and steer the revolution to victory or collapse.
Developed for Spring Thing 2025. Sequel/Prequel to Social Democracy: An Alternate History.
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Development log
- v0.3 - Easy Mode, Difficulty Settings, All-Socialist Government33 days ago
- v0.2 - Stopping the Bolsheviks?35 days ago
- v0.1.1 - Bugfixes41 days ago
- V0.1 - Welcome to Petrograd 1917!41 days ago
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I am not very knowledgeable with Russian history,so forgive me if this question look silly,but what was the actual difference in practice(since their respective ideological “starting points” was clearly different)as with “revolutionary defensism”,”social patriotism” and “expansionism”(both in the game and in history)
Here's a (GREATLY oversimplified) table of the four parties:
Terms:
The main issue was the war - when there's a difference between factions of a party, it's usually over this:
The parties had different ideas as to how to interact with the Provisional Government.
As a Russian, I can confirm that you have conveyed the essence correctly.
I would also add that an important specificity of expansionism, which Russian liberals actually had, was quite spontaneous and not very structured. That is, yes, they had the logic of 19th century imperialism: Russia must get the Bosphorus Strait in order to sell grain to the foreign market more effectively (No kidding - Milyukov said this at one of the Duma sessions). But it was during the First World War that the liberals went to the right on this issue. Before that, for example, in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, they promoted "defeatism", only in a liberal legend.
What is the idea: After the victory over Napoleon, reaction and strict conservatism set in in Russia, after the defeat in the Crimean War of 1853-1856, Tsar Alexander II began the Great (liberal) reforms. As a result, for the sake of reforms, liberals must desire defeat in the war. However, suddenly, this turned out to be extremely unpopular among the army and many patriotically minded strata of the population. And already during the years of the First World War, the tactics of "expansion and war" were extremely important in order to secure the support of conservative officers and generals. In fact, the generals agreed to hand over power to the provisional government because the liberals convinced them that in this way they would be able to continue the imperial war more effectively and better! Milyukov spoke about this in his famous 1916 speech "Stupidity or Treason" (Глупость или измена). In it, he referred to the statement of one loyal tsarist general: "I may be a fool, but I am not a traitor." And Milyukov spoke of "traitors or idiots" in the tsar's inner circle, who were hindering the country and victory in the war. Thanks to this, by the beginning of the February Revolution, literally only one general in all of Russia supported the Tsar. All the rest were ready to hand over power to the liberals.
In general, In that way Kadets attracted the right-wing electorate (the Black Hundreds became somehow irrelevant after the disappearance of the tsar) and people from the Military Command. As one Russian proverb says: "If you can't beat them, lead them".
Social patriots were more prone to nationalism. A rather sad example of this is the Marxist-Menshevik Georgy Plekhanov. After the war began, he stood up for Tsarist Russia even before any revolution. And about that he didn’t really use much of “Marxist arguments,” and even sometimes said horrifying things. I remember reading how he quarreled with German internationalists after the outbreak of the World War, because he told them at a meeting that “as a Russian, I can’t wait to see your German flesh on a Russian army bayonet!”
I guess in 1914 almost everyone in Europe went nuts
Revolutionary defencism, I think, is the most obvious. In Russia, the democratic revolution has won, Russia's allies are democratic England and France, in Germany and Austria-Hungary - the authoritarian imperial regime of the Kaiser and Emperor, so we need to defend our young revolution in a single democratic alliance from foreign reactionary occupiers.
In Germany, for example, the SPD took this position immediately after the war began.
1. Kaiser's Germany is more democratic than Tsarist Russia (true), so Germany should be supported as a more progressive force.
2. In Germany, everyone thought that Germany was defending itself. I know that this sounds strange today. I mean, World War I literally began with Germany declaring war on Russia. But in Germany, this was successfully presented as "defense against Russia, which was preparing to attack us first." Why did this sound convincing to the Germans: Russia was mobilizing at the time of the declaration of war. Why? Of all the countries participating in the war, Russia had the longest time to mobilize (a large country, bad railways). And the German Blitzkrieg Plan (Schlieffen Plan) implied a quick capitulation of France even before Russia had time to finish mobilizing. By that time, Austria-Hungary had already declared war on Serbia and begun its occupation - in response to this, Russia began mobilization and said that Austria-Hungary should immediately withdraw its troops from Serbia. The German General Staff began to panic - if they did not start first now, then after Russia's mobilization was over, it would be too late. So they conducted a media campaign about "military provocation on the part of Russia". Incidentally, it was precisely because the Germans sincerely thought that the war was defensive that the post-war conditions were such a shock and humiliation for them. Official recognition of the start of the First World War as Germany's fault? But we were the ones who defended ourselves! We were taken in by Wilson's fourteen points and promises of a fair peace! A bit off-topic, but I hope it was interesting and informative
My guess is that there are going to be two arguably "good ending" timelines:
1.Getting all socialist government and negotiate a ceasefire with the central power as the Menshevik
2.Conducting a successful Kerensky offensive at Caucasus front and knocking the Ottoman empire out of the War as the SR
but I have a strong feeling that the second timeline will also be actually bad somehow, leading to something like Kerensky dictatorship while the country still irreversibly breaking down
Wait, knocking the Ottomans out is an option?
You can win a total victory against Caucasus if you play as SR and let Kerensky tour the several times. My guess is that there could be a path to knock Ottoman out of the war if more contents are added
Huh! Most of the time, I'm either too scared to do an offensive, or when they DO succeed, I don't follow it up.
well I mean the good ending is the bolsheviks winning of course :)))
Leninism and Stalinism (Marxism-Leninism) completely failed, so not really
I can understand how the first one is an arguable yet fairly good ending, but the second one? I don't see nothing good in Russia continuing it's imperialist policies but in a nicer form. To me the good ending is to go with the revolution yet do it in a smoother and swifter way
Realistically speaking yes, that is the good ending. If the empire somehow manages to survive WW1, Hitler will topple it down twenty years later. Empire was simply too stagnant, too fractured, mindblowingly poor and horribly corrupt to be able to push itself to another century.
The Bolsheviks winning is the good ending
it just like last game it is too hard to win even the easy mode, is there possible to give us a new mode allow to cheating?
The war
The more I play this, the more I start to think that it's better to simply try to stop the war than it is to continue it.
Doing an armistice boosts the government's legitimacy, and demobilizing soldiers can help your budget. Plus, refocusing industry on other things like food is REALLY useful.
When android version ?
One issue I've had is that I've never figured out how to actually START the October Revolution.
I see there's a "Preparing for a Revolution", and I've managed to take over the Soviet, the Garrison, and workers' militias, but I've never figured out how to actually get that ball rolling.
Wait for October or late September at the earliest then if you click Worker's Militias there would be a button to start revolution. Don't remember the name but you should know what it is if you see it.
I can't find it...
It happens around September/October - do the "Preparing for a Revolution" enough times, and it should show up
ok
How to reduce the famine？ I've tried to start a agrarian reform but it does not work. The hungry population still increases.
In industry, You need to reduce military production in favor of agricultural production, and in transport, redirect it towards civil needs.
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I've noticed that despite recruiting battalions of death 2 or 3 times, morale always stays at "neutral", same thing happens when I try to restore discipline.
The effects of both type of actions should be bigger.
The death battalions are kind of BS irl. It was just ~5,000 women soldiers used for propaganda.
Id check out how much doing 'The War and the Soldiers - preventing abuse from officers' card does to help moral.
You are talking specifically about women's death battalions, but in general there were more of them. Often this was the name given to "Ударные части" that were distinguished by the highest discipline and morale and, in addition to conducting combat operations, could "help" with discipline and morale in other units and armies.
Moreover, they were initially introduced in the imperial army in 1916. Part of the powers of these "death battalions" then included the capture and execution of deserters, panic-mongers and anti-war agitators. Naturally, after the February Revolution, the number, effectiveness and powers of such battalions decreased, but in essence they were anti-retreat forces.
This is important in the context of the beginning of the civil war, since many highly disciplined soldiers were Kornilovites (or sympathizers), "patriots" of imperial Russia, and later joined the White Army. Although they were few in number relative to the bulk of the soldiers, they were extremely combat-ready compared to the still-forming Red Guard and Red Army.
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Gameplay doesnt always has to equal reality (specially if it messes up with gameplay)
Same thing applies with the death battalion, they're costly to recruit and it sucks that the morale gain is as minimal as trying to restore discipline.
Although the author said what future changes there will be, I would still like to suggest some things.
1. Add more role and autonomy to Alexander Kerensky. Firstly, his ability allows him to convene a constituent assembly already in July and makes the game in its current form too easy for the SRs. Secondly, Kerensky was originally a Trudovik and became a SR only when it became "hype", his contemporaries described him as a bright populist, who, among other things, strove for dictatorship/power. And, naturally, given his position in the provisional government, he did not exactly obey the Central Committee of the SR Party. However, he was the only representative of the first cabinet of the provisional government who was not only a socialist, but also a member of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. That is, he was an extremely important and autonomous figure in all cabinets of the government.
Thirdly, today we know that he actually tried to secretly negotiate with Kornilov so that he would "help" him establish "order" in Petrograd, just as the movement of General Krymov's regiment to Petrograd to defeat the Soviets was agreed upon with Kerensky. However, in the end they could not come to a consensus on how power would be distributed after the liquidation of the Soviets and the Bolsheviks. Therefore, in the end, Kerensky publicly announced Kornilov's plans and declared him a counter-revolutionary and a traitor. It seems to me that this is a rather important episode that can be used in the game - for example, add the possibility that they will come to an agreement, due to which Kornilov's forces will be significantly stronger, for example. Or make it possible to organize their agreements for the Kadets.
2. For the Kadets, inviting socialists to the government gives practically nothing. This does not significantly increase the legitimacy of the provisional government and de facto only harms the player. So it is necessary to either improve the benefits for inviting socialists to the government, or increase the risks.
3. Make it possible to somehow negotiate or interact with moderate Bolsheviks. Kamenev and Zinoviev, members of the Bolshevik Central Committee, literally openly spread plans for an armed uprising of the Bolsheviks as a sign of disagreement with this plan. If we are not talking about a split in the Bolsheviks, then at least about postponing their plans due to possible sabotage by moderate Bolsheviks. For example, a decrease in the loyalty of part of the garrison to the Bolsheviks because of this or something like that.
4. Add events with the Provisional Council of the Russian Republic. Firstly, it was here that moderate Bolsheviks like Kamenev thought to find a peaceful development of the revolution, and the Bolshevik Central Committee was de facto divided in two on this issue. Secondly, an important reason for its failure was the reduction of its originally intended rights due to lobbying by the right in the government, which ultimately led the moderate Bolsheviks to defeat in the party on this issue. In general, at least, I think this is an interesting mechanic for Kadets, where we can decide how much power to give this, how to form it, etc. And this can delay the Bolsheviks' rise to power in the Soviets and their attempts at rebellion.
5. Add events about the Factory committee "fabkom".
6. Add an event for questions about the return of the death penalty in civilian life and at the front, and the abolition of military courts. The death penalty was abolished after the February Revolution. And the idea of its return was actively promoted by Kornilov, who in July 1917 was actually appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army by the Provisional Government. After his appointment, the death penalty returned, deserters began to be shot, and discipline in the army increased. However, his attempted putsch in August and removal from office led to the "return" of low discipline in the army and its further decomposition and fall.
7. Add an event for the purge of the generals by the Octobrist Guchkov. Guchkov carried out a purge of the generals. Formally, to increase the efficiency of the army, but de facto, he replaced a solid part of the really competent generals with loyal newcomers - who would be faithful to the provisional government and the revolution. Unlike the German revolution, in Russia even such rightists as the Octobrists saw the top generals of the army as a "citadel of reaction".
8. Add an event for the "Declaration of the Rights of the Soldier", which was introduced by the Minister of War Alexander Kerensky in May 1917.
9. An important reason for the seizure of land by peasants were armed deserters from the February Revolution, who literally initiated land seizures with weapons. So the growth of discipline/morale in the army should, in theory, reduce the frequency of the event for the peasants seizing land.
10. Add an event on the lynching of officers by soldiers and sailors in the army after the February Revolution. The Provisional Government called this "excesses", but it continued like an avalanche throughout the entire period before the October Revolution and partly after. The point is that, on the one hand, non-Soviet authorities had no influence on the soldiers who organized lynchings, but the Soviets did and sometimes really tried to at least stop it (punishing lynchers in such a situation, of course, was out of the question), which sometimes succeeded. Because revolutionary sailors and some revolutionary soldiers killed not only their officers, but also deliberately went to other units to kill officers in principle. And where the officers seemed "revolutionary" or at least decent, they were protected by their own soldiers-subordinates from such "organizers of excesses". The idea is that if we are for the Socialist Revolutionaries or Mensheviks and try to stop the murders of officers, then the discipline/morale of the army does not fall (or even grows), but the loyalty/support of the soldiers to the parties that are now in the executive committee of the Soviets falls. For the Kadets, add the possibility of perhaps "convincing" the loyal Soviet to do something about it, if we have good relations with the parties that are there in the executive committee.
11. Add relations with the conservatives for the Kadets, otherwise it is unclear when relations improved enough to come to an agreement with them.
12. Make an event for the First All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies
13. Make an event-addition to the July days, where the executive committee of the Petrograd Soviet announced the recognition of the unlimited powers of the second coalition Provisional Government, whose Minister-Chairman was the socialist Alexander Kerensky. This is what happened in history.
There is no way to manually select a position on the provisional government "armed overthrow" on the panels. For SR, this can only be done through Maria Spiridonova's ability.
In addition, the Mensheviks do not have such an adviser, which makes the abilities of their advisers to be friends with the Bolsheviks meaningless, since it is impossible to act as their junior partner
It should be a little bit easier to join the bolsheviks; I just did an SR easy mode game where all I did was adopt Left-SR positions, organize among the soldiers(after adopting anti-war positions), and once I had fully adopted left SR positions in like May, try to improve relations with the bolsheviks, and I still couldn't join the revolution. Also, the war maybe should be slightly easier to manage as well, but these are minor problems, overall, amazing game, I absolutely love it!
I think you need to get an “armed overthrow” position,sometimes for unknown reasons it seems to simply become “all-soc government”,perhaps it is tied to whether you join the provisional government but I am not sure
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Letting the socialists join should allow you to choose which parts of the government you should be able to join, similarly like in the Germany game in which you're able to choose which ministers you can be in during a coalition.
To be fair, when playing for the Kadets, these are the socialists in a position of strength and WE call them to increase the legitimacy of the government. And it is logical that they take the corresponding ministries (for example, agriculture)
Android?
How do I win the kornolov coup as the kadets
Increase the army's strength as often as possible: redirect transport and industry towards the military. Fund the death battalions as often as possible. Never reduce government spending, even with a budget deficit: reducing soldiers' salaries reduces their morale. Kornilov is successful when the army has high morale and discipline. Use Sofia Panina to knock out the necessary cards. I did not improve relations with the conservatives, the Kornilov event just came by itself.
A really nice Alternate History game! Thank you to create this!
Two small suggestions for Chen:
1) The volume of music in the game needs to be consistent
2) The abilities of party leaders in the game should be allowed to be used more frequently
Also, does the author have any intention of adding Chinese as an optional language for the game? Or is there any consideration of authorizing a Chinese translation group to localize the game?
wouldn't it make more sense to add Russian because it is about Russia?
today's China also be affected by the 1917 revolution in Russia a lot,so the revolution may also have a special meaning to the Chinese
wait, so you are not Chinese? Just curious
I'm Chinese lol
I can help btw. I am native Russian speaker
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How do I defeat the bolshevik coup?
You can do it when you support the provisional goverment with the media , strenghten the city militias , prosecuting the bolsheviks and build up your party support when you help workers with food shortages , and then you must be on the site of the goverment when the coup comes , i did it with the Sr but when you manage that the bolsheviks don't get a majority in the petrograd sowjet they can't start a coup
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Aren't you supposed to increase militia loyalty instead of strengthening them?
It worked for me, i dont know
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Ok I guess?
There's two militias, the worker militia for the soviet and the city militias that you can influence if you join the Provisional government and take the Interior Cabinet. At least that's what I think they are talking about.
How do i win the war?
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With how short the current game is I think the best you can do is to maintain some sort of "upper hand" by avoiding defeat.
Why is it necessary to play a game as any other party before being able to play as the Bolsheviks?
Because our lord and savior, Autumn Chen, has decreed so, and we shall follow without question.
Our lady and savior*.
Cause Bolsheviks are easy as fuck compared to the other parties.
Will it be possible to win the war as Russian provisional government?
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How do I get my party to negotiate a ceasefire with the central powers? Not even the SR with a internationalist stance and dominant left is willing to do a ceasefire!
Did you join the government, get the foreign ministry, and adopt the internationalist position for your party in the party policy using the card or using advisors? Then, you can negotiate using the foreign ministry card twice to get the ceasefire.
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I joined the government and got the foreign ministry but its possible that I somehow didnt got my party to adopt internationalism.
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Turns out that I need to get enough support for internationalism and I've managed to do it!
Btw I managed to get the SR into becoming the majoritarian party!
So, are plans for a mobile version in the works, because its good so far (also will there be a way to see the stats of your party, like polling)
How to do A Failed Revolution achievement
I remember, I didn't increase loyalty of workers' militias?
It’s definitely a much more detailed and interesting game than the last- but it seems that the “load” function has disappeared.
Is this just a problem regarding my own phone? Or is this a bug in general?
Would be great to receive a reply soon- thanks!
Great game as someone who's studied this period it really captures what it was like and the position the terrible provisional government were in.
Supporting the party you are playing as for media and propaganda card does not cost 1 resource.
Tbh I Hope you could extend it up to Lenin's Death on 1924. this game is kinda too short but its hype
I hope that some day you can play after the coup further
I am interested on how multiplayer will work, I think you can choose a faction and then your friend can choose the other ones
Awesome.
HOLY SHIT IT'S ASTRO FROM CAMPAIGN TRAIL
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How do I stop the bolsheviks from attempting their coup?
I think it's inevitable idk
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But there's got to be a way, otherwise there'd be no point in playing as the kadets if the same outcome always happens.
I think addressing the hunger prevents it. Make sure you actually have enough civilian rail allocation to transport the food.
Seeking foreign loans as the Kadets during budget deficits does not work.
Huh????
"Internationalist bloc - Bolsheviks + Anarchists : 95.4%
Defensist bloc - Mensheviks + SRs : 0%
The internationalists have a plurality, and can thus choose leadership."
Technically it's correct.
Who did the 4.6% vote for?
The void.
Ah, yes. Our great leader ÆJKPŒËGÀH. Long live the [REDACTED]!
I thought they decided to not to vote because both of the government sucks or they somehow died and the government didn't know so they thought there was a 4.6% population not voting