It is the year 1975 and the Cold War continues with no end in sight as old powers lick their wounds and new ones rise to usurp them in the game of geopolitics.

The Second West Russian War, rather than the climax and death kneel for Hitler’s empire would end up a half-victory for the reborn Russian Empire as the White Army managed to push the Nazi menace out of Western Russia and reclaim the prize that is Moscow but failed to push beyond that into Ukraine or Ostland before the Wehrmacht regained its footing and held its ground, the stalemate lasting enough for both sides to be forced into a de facto armistice as the specter of nuclear annihilation reared its ugly head

The Empire seethes at its unfinished victory and the Shepunov Junta has made it a national goal to one day reclaim all the territories lost in WW2 and even in the First World War even as their chances of success dim with each year while the flaws and foes of the old Tsardom return with a vengeance once more and the Co-Prosperity Sphere sinks its claws ever deeper into the imperial economy. All while the Russian people can only weep as their entire struggles for a brighter future are rendered naught as all the horrors of the old empire return with a vengeance.

Meanwhile, in Germania, Albert Speer makes an unexpected return to prominence thanks to the failures of the Gang of Four, Erhart’s shock therapy privatization schemes combined with the dual punches of the Oil Crisis and the 2WRW proving too much for a German economy that has only just begun recovering from years of malaise and the subsequent economic crisis followed by the loss of Moskwiesen proved to be the downfall of the Germany’s tentative steps towards democracy as the rushed alliance between the Fuhrer’s fascist reformists and the hardliner Nazis under Oberlander successfully secure power in the Reichstag even as both sides already fight against one another even before the liberal purge is complete.

For the Quadramivate that once seemed poised to end Hitler’s legacy of oppression, they now only can only watch helplessly and in horror as National Socialism secures its grip on Europe; the very reforms they championed breathing decades of new life into the rotten edifice. For the so-called untermenschen, they despair as the hopes dangled before them turn into ashes before their eyes as their revolts are put down and reform now becomes just another instrument of their oppression. For the German people, they anxiously await what comes next with equal parts hope and fear as Speer’s promises of prosperity and Oberlander’s promises of a new NSDAP more in touch with the Volk, clash with the tenuous economic reality in the wake of the Oil Crisis.

Indeed it may very well be that the Reich’s empire would have crumbled entirely and Germany itself would have found itself at the mercy of its rivals; had those rivals not been suffering disasters of their own.

Across the Atlantic in the last bastion of liberty, the American dream is little more than a sick parody as it clashes with the ugly reality of the United States and its long legacy of hatred and imperialism. The marginalized peoples of America would no more tolerate being silenced, ignored, and treated as inferiors by their so-called betters. In droves they went out on the streets and shouted their demands for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, to be treated as equals in an America that would finally truly right the wrongs of the past.

In response, their fellow citizens would twice elect the man known as George Wallace as president to protect them from the rising tide of the civil rights movement and entrench the injustices that so defined the US for all its history. And against all the odds the former Alabama governor would deliver on his promises and more as Segregation is now (constitutionally and without dispute) the law of the land across the entire US much to the joy of white supremacists across the globe. The civil rights movement would be annihilated by an onslaught of FBI and police crackdown on one end, and roving hordes of Klansmen and Yockeyites allowed complete freedom to inflict whatever they wished on the "uppity" minorities, its leaders either dead, exiled, imprisoned or institutionalized while thousands of activists would die in the streets whether by guns, knives or nooses. The survivors of this bloody purge would now turn to violence as their only recourse as the streets of America would become a battleground all too reminiscent of the long-gone Weimar Republic.

But for all that he had done, Wallace would still be outshone on the world stage by his successor; Phylis Schlafly. Elected on an eclectic platform of deregulation, isolation, and conservative religious values, the first female president of the US would change the course of the entire Cold War as she proclaimed the unilateral withdrawal of the US from the OFN, effectively erasing one side of the Cold War much to the horror of the other OFN members and utter shock of Tokyo, Germania, and Rome. This move would spark outrage from the entire US political spectrum but there was nothing that could be done to salvage the situation as the US withdrew almost entirely from World affairs and left the disparate remnants of the British Empire to fend for themselves and leashed to the colossal occupation of the unstable African Mandates whose collapse is now only a matter of when not if.

Meanwhile, in Asia, the dragon, at last, awakens from its slumber. Despite impossible odds and an uphill battle, the rebellion of Long Yun would succeed beyond perhaps even he had imagined, liberating the entirety of China from under the yoke of the Japanese and restoring the KMT republic under Sun Fo. But the cost of the war was immense and China finds itself almost entirely surrounded by hostile Japanese puppets and with the OFN now out of the game, it is bereft of any possible major backers to aid in its long road to recovery. Even so, the Chinese people are at last masters of their own destiny and are no strangers to beating impossible odds.

The Co-Prosperity Sphere has avoided collapse but the loss of its most prized colonies and economic pillars has left it reeling, with the Philippines soon following China’s example and breaking free from Tokyo’s yolk under a revolutionary front even as Japan managed to retain control of the rest of its empire even as Takagi’s government came under attack for its failure to maintain the crown jewels; the liberals remain in power but for how long?

But even the blow Japan had received was nothing compared to the utter humiliation of the once proud Italian empire. Under the rule of Duce Giani, the birthplace of fascism would see its dreams of a New Roman empire thwarted time and time again; first in the inconclusive second Italo-Turkish war, followed not long after by the Oil Crisis and the Yugoslav revolts which would see Italy’s colonial empire torn away from the metropole and its army humbled before the people they had considered ignorant savages. The mystic fascists would hold on to power through naked brutality despite many an attempted coup, communist uprising or liberal resistance before closing the borders and silencing any communication from the outside world outside some diplomatic channels, leaving the entire world to wonder what goes on in Europe’s new hermit kingdom.

But amidst all this chaos a new power joins the Cold War, no longer the domain of fascists and liberals as the red flag once again flies proudly across the globe, from Cairo to Helsinki and from Delhi to Havana, a new Internationale is born from across the peripheries of the world to stand against the forces of reaction, fascism, and imperialism. This new Comintern is a diverse motley bunch, from juggernauts like the UAR and the Republic of India to small bastions like Chile and Kyrgyzstan but all are united in firm opposition to exploitation and in upholding the principles of socialism…at least in theory as all hold differing ideas of what that is, but for now spirits are high as for the first time since the fall of the USSR, socialism is no longer on the fringe, an ideology of scattered guerrillas to be used as chess pieces in the Cold War but a formidable dynamic force with several states to back it up.

However despite the optimism that is pervasive after this revolutionary wave, everyone knows it is only a matter of time before the forces of Capital and Imperialism regain their footing and strike back without mercy as they did when they unleashed the Nazi Menace on the Soviets and the French, and much like the Soviets none of the Comintern powers possess nuclear weapons at the moment (only the PRB having inherited a nearly finalized nuclear program from its predecessor). To make matters worse, with the exception of Suomi all of the Comintern members are either former colonies or peripheries that are severely underdeveloped and lacking in industry thanks to decades and sometimes centuries of imperial misrule and deliberate sabotage. And there is also the matter of internal consolidation of member states, many of whom remain ad hoc efforts set up in the chaos and frenzy of revolution with many internal matters like ethnic rights and economic policy being open questions for now.

Thus in the spirit of international solidarity and cooperation for mutual survival, the new international would not be a mere forum for party meetings or an appendage of a single socialist state. No, this international would be so much more: an avenue for multinational economic collaboration, an arbitrator for inter-socialist disputes, and perhaps one day be the basis of a true world government. A utopian and idealistic dream doomed to a painful death some might say but in a world of monsters and madmen it helps to have something to believe in, to believe that a new order might rise, one built on proletarian solidarity, on equality and on the hopes for a better tomorrow rather one built on the furnaces of millions of undesirables and myths of a glorious past that never was.

And so this will be your task, comrades: to guide the internationale in navigating the complex geopolitics of the Cold War and build it into a formidable force that can ensure that never again shall the world fall into total darkness. The road is long and unforgiving but you are used to that by now.

Author’s note​

Hello everyone! I am StarMaker674, QM of the road not taken 40k quest in my signature. This is my second quest on SV and hope you all enjoy the ride. This quest takes place in the world of HOI4 mod The New Order: Last Days of Europe, an alternate history mod that explores the full ramifications of an unlikely Axis victory in WW2 and pulls no punches in showing how nightmarish a world in which the Nazis and fascists have free reign to enact their mad visions. In this reality, the USSR, France, and Britain would fall before the might of Germany, Italy, and Japan while America was taken out by an atomic bombing of Hawaii and forced into a humiliating peace with Imperial Japan.

Afterward, the Axis powers would go on their separate ways as enemies once there was no threat to unify them with Japan rising to a new Golden Age while Italy and the Reich would fall victim to stagnation, corruption, and the inherent faults of their ideologies, faults that almost led to the latter’s collapse during a war with soviet remnants that ended in a bitter pyrrhic victory in the 50s.

The mod begins in the year 1962 and usually ends at the start of the 70s for most of the major nations that you play as. This quest however will go beyond that and explore what happens in the aftermath of the major events of the mod through my interpretations.

This is a tale of struggle, struggling against the sins and mistakes of the past, of struggle against global systems that want nothing more to crush any hope for a better alternative or struggle to survive in the complex cutthroat world of geopolitics, and of struggle to make a better world against all odds even in the darkest of worlds.

Your task will be to transform the Comintern from an ad hoc effort to present a united front to a respectable global organization that can actually act as an international government; a task easier said than done as you try to keep the big three communist powers from gaining too much influence while trying to secure resources to expand your operations and earn more legitimacy. With determination and a little luck, you might see the beginning of human history.

I understand that quests like these tend to generate heated discussion but I would ask you all to keep it civil so that mod action is not necessary and please keep in mind that while I won’t pull any punches in showcasing the evils of fascism and Nazism, I also won’t shy away from showcasing just how terrible so-called "democratic" colonialist states whose acts are often no less horrendous than of fascist states. Before there was Imperial Japan there was Britain and before the Nazis there was America.

**Chairman of the Comintern **​

The year 1975 sees the formal establishment of the Fourth Communist International (the Third having been dissolved in the wake of Soviet collapse) during the Delhi conference with most of the foundations being laid through clandestine talks weeks before the public declaration.

The Comintern will be hosted in Alexandria and will be provided with a modest budget funded by contributions from all members proportional to their economic capabilities so as to not burden smaller members. It will also be provided with a small military force of its own so that the Comintern will be able to act in situations where individual nation-states cannot and have the power to back up its arbitrations when necessary.

One issue that remains is the election of the Chairman of the Comintern to act as its executive head. The Chairman or woman will face great challenges ahead of them both internally, as they will have to balance the interests of the big three and the smaller members while trying to build up the underdeveloped economies of the Comintern, and externally as the looming African conflict and the belligerence of the other power blocs. All this adds to the urgency of electing a competent chairman and several candidates have already been proposed for the position as debates continue between the delegates on foreign and domestic matters.

Comintern Chairman Vote​

**OOC: **This vote will determine the personality of your Comintern chairman and affect the policies it can take until another candidate is voted in as well as potentially affecting the opinions and positions of foreign powers and background events that happen during the quest, so make your choice carefully and feel free to ask any questions. You have 48 hours to vote.

[ ] Thomas Sankara: At age 26, a hero of the Burkina Faso revolution turned Comintern delegate Sankara is the youngest candidate in this election but that makes him no less competent than his peers. A firm believer in the liberation of Africa from all forms of imperial domination after his experiences in the WAW, he is a firm believer in the necessity of violence to achieve freedom from colonial empires and will support anti-colonial movements wherever they appear to cut the legs of the world’s empires and already has designs to hasten the end of the OFN’s presence in the black continent.

Economically, he favors a modified Bukharnist plan aimed at promoting industrialization while taking into account the agrarian nature of most of the Comintern. Socially he is a supporter of women’s rights and mass education while neutral on questions of religion.

[ ] Ali Sabri: A close ally of UAR president Gamal Abdel Nasser who shocked everyone by announcing his plans to run for the position when many saw him as the man most likely to succeed the Arab hero. However, it seems the man has ambitions that go beyond even the vast Arab republic. Sabri has firmly aligned himself with the emerging Cyber-Marxist faction in the Comintern, inspired by the Cybersyn model in Chile seeing it as a method to circumvent the pitfalls of state-centered planning and allow for fast and efficient development of the economy especially with recent developments in computer technology. On diplomacy he is relatively dovish believing that the immense natural resources and oil reserves of the Comintern can be used to twist the arm of the capitalist world to force them into favorable investment deals and technical aid, however this is not to say he wouldn’t take an opportunity to expand when presented nor does it mean that he trusts any capitalist further than he can throw them, be they liberal or fascist.

Socially he is a hardliner on religious matters thanks to the Muslim Brotherhood’s and Azhar’s collaboration with the Italians and socially is an advocate of women’s liberation and mass literacy campaigns.

[ ] Stana Tomašević: A longtime Yugoslav partisan, Stana is a seasoned veteran of the anti-fascist struggle and it shows in her policies, espousing total hostility to all foreign powers and believing that regardless of whatever benefits cooperation with non-fascist powers brings it is not worth the risk of chaining oneself to their whims and being forced to abandon comrades abroad in the name of an alliance. She is an advocate of a focus on military build-up and supporting communist groups even in the core of fascist empires, believing that once the peripheries are liberated it is only a matter of time before the empires’ cores follow suit.

Socially she is ambivalent on most issues and economically favors a mixed economic plan where critical resources and industries are under state direction while non-essential industries are left in the hands of unions and worker cooperatives.

[ ] Svetlana Bukharina: Perhaps the most peculiar candidate, most would have given up after going through the trials that Svetlana had gone through, watching the fall of the USSR, surviving the Russian anarchy in Komi before having to flee before the Samaran fascists and somehow making it out of Europe to the safety of the UAR. Svetlana is not most people however and she remains determined to make her mark on the world and prove she is not a mere shadow of her infamous father, having managed to rally surprisingly significant support from the smaller Comintern nations who see her as unbeholden to any of the big three or Cameroon.

Svetlana is a stalwart left-communist and internationalist and will place an emphasis on Comintern supremacy over member states and extensive economic and political integration between members. Her economic plan will favor worker council input and socially she is radically progressive on women’s rights and minority rights be they sexual or ethnic while a hardliner on religion.

[ ] Mohammad Danesh: An exile from Azad Hind due to strongly opposing continued its membership in the Co-Prosperity sphere, at first glance Danesh is the last person one would expect to be the Bahrati nominee but the fact remains that he had proven himself a dedicated supporter to the cause of Indian reunification and a talented party organizer. He is speculated to represent a signal to the socialist but not Comintern-aligned Azad Hind that the Comintern (and Bahrat by extension) is open to negotiations of cooperation and even membership which would be a massive boon given the Bengali state’s extensive industry.

Danesh is ambivalent on social issues and his foreign policy is one of relative isolation, arguing that the Comintern is extensive and disparate enough as is and will take years to build up sufficiently. His economic op lab is concerned with industrializing and mechanizing agriculture as extensively as possible as quickly as possible though with extensive welfare provided to ease the transition.