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Before the Great Depression, Russia was in the midst of an automobile craze.

In particular, the news of the Tsar driving his own car took the headlines, causing sales to skyrocket.

“The car personally driven by His Majesty the Tsar! A perfect domestic car! Shouldn’t every Russian have one?”

“WA! A car!”

Cars were flying off the shelves.

Although it wasn’t yet at the export stage, the automotive business was thriving as per Anastasia’s wishes.

Especially with Alexei Gastev’s new promotional materials.

A huge image of the goddess Anastasia bestowing cars upon the Russians.

That alone was enough.

Meanwhile, countries observing Tsarist Russia, foreseeing the Great Depression, all shared similar sentiments.

“While predicting a Great Depression, Russia is out here selling cars like it’s nothing?”

“Isn’t this just a lie? Would the Tsar truly be selling cars so leisurely during an economic crisis?”

“Surely not. Our America?”

Excluding economists, prominent tycoons and high-ranking officials tended to turn a blind eye.

If a true economic crisis rocked the world, their own situations wouldn’t be too rosy either.

Hoping against hope, they watched Russia’s situation, yet here was Russia herself, indulging in the automobile business rather than preparing for the impending Great Depression.

The United States dismissed the Tsar’s anti-communism rant as nonsense, but soon came to regret that attitude.

Finally, what was bound to happen came to pass.

The Great Depression originating from America had finally struck.

“Ugh! My stocks!”

“The stock market is crashing!”

The economic crisis began in September 1929, leading to the stock market crash on October 24, known as Black Thursday.

Factories and businesses crumbled, the stock market collapsed, and many stunned Americans found themselves in despair.

“Son, my hometown is really a river. I have to go back to the river.”

“Father!”

Investors, like those expressing their hometowns were rivers, started jumping headfirst into rivers, while those still wanting to live in this downturn struggled to survive.

National GDP took a nosedive.

The impact was significant for both great powers and impoverished nations alike.

International trade plummeted by over 50%, and even America, having inherited the role of a hegemony from the British Empire after the Great War, saw unemployment rates soar to 23%, not to mention other countries.

Many cities dependent on heavy industry were hit hard.

Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon emphasized restructuring and balanced budgets while insisting that the responsibility for investments rested on individuals, leaving the government unconcerned.

This momentarily stifled inflationary bubbles and discouraged debt-funded investments, but as deflation dragged on, everyday citizens found themselves unable to afford food.

“Haha. We’re doomed.”

President Herbert Hoover removed Mellon from office, but it was too late.

Even France, returning to the gold standard post-World War I, suffered damage.

Though it seemed less affected due to the casualties from the war, they had not escaped unscathed.

Unlike their historical course, Britain opted not to return to the gold standard.

“Aren’t we supposed to prepare for the Great Depression?”

“Do we have the luxury to prepare for something that hasn’t even happened yet?”

“Didn’t things go south when we listened to the Treasury Secretary? Don’t change your tune now; stick to the gold standard.”

Churchill gambled his political career, shouting that they should abandon the gold standard and prepare for the Great Depression, yet the Baldwin cabinet looked skeptically at him.

After all, hadn’t he just called for the gold standard?

Considering Churchill’s past (Mr. Gallipoli, saving Germany), it was hard to take him seriously.

“Wasn’t it just a fleeting economic crisis?”

Only after Britain was hit did they realize the gravity as Churchill alone criticized the inept cabinet.

“What could I expect from you lot who have heads stuck in the Communist Party? Now that it’s here, let’s try a different approach.”

“Ahem. What the Treasury Secretary suggests is to maintain colonies while resolving the Great Depression, but ultimately, there’s no method for that.”

Maintaining their colonies was already a daunting task in the wake of the Great Depression.

The Prime Minister had his thoughts on fortifying the internal structure, but Churchill’s mindset differed.

“Our British Empire has many colonies.”

“In a challenging time like this, managing those colonies is the issue.”

“Why is it a problem to exploit our colonies? We can solve the Great Depression by squeezing them dry. That way, the already planted communists in those colonies won’t be able to rise.”

The imperialist Churchill suggested resolving the Great Depression by further exploiting and tightening control over the colonies.

While it wasn’t much of a solution, the British Empire had no other choice, especially with colonial management suffering disruptions caused by Communist Germany.

After all, they had to maintain the Empire’s dignity.

If they focused on internal control to prepare for the Great Depression, it was certain that Communist Germany would scoff, and the colonies would rise against Britain’s shaky stance.

Thus, colonies had to be squeezed like a wet rag until not a drop remained.

Naturally, Churchill’s proposal was far too absurd to be accepted by the cabinet.

However, the cabinet couldn’t offer any effective solutions either.

For now, they planned to resolve the immediate aftermath of the Great Depression affecting the colonies and assess neighboring nations that could suffer losses before setting up contingency plans.

Meanwhile, Germany and Italy, thanks to their characteristics of communism, were comparatively unscathed.

“Look! The imperialists struggling through the Great Depression!”

“Communism is surely the path to everyone’s happiness!”

“Indeed, communism was right!”

With the onset of the Great Depression, the nearby Germany appeared unaffected, causing the French Commune to stir even more.

France had a complicated love-hate relationship with Germany due to past conflicts: the Napoleonic Wars, the Franco-Prussian War, and other wars.

Now seeing Germany, having engaged in a communist revolution, standing strong despite the Great Depression, citizens—who had little fondness for Germany outside of the Commune—began to pay attention to it.

In other words, they began to harbor some sympathy for communism.

“This is unbelievable! Could what the Empress of Russia prophesied actually be true?”

The French government tried desperately to ensure French citizens weren’t swayed by Communist Germany by reporting on other nations’ circumstances in the newspapers, claiming France was comparatively better off.

“So what! The war caused significant damage; it’s only natural that the effects of the Great Depression seem lighter!”

The response of the French people, teetering on the brink of communism, was cold.

Of course, recognizing that the damage from the war originated from the German Empire created some cognitive dissonance.

At this point, everyone began recalling the prophecy of the Tsarina.

Foreseeing that the Great Depression originating from America would plunge the world into crisis.

Anastasia had broadcast her predictions over the radio, limited to domestic audiences in Russia, but as the Great Depression began, those who had previously dismissed her now reconsidered.

Even nations that had laughed, believing it would only be a brief economic crisis, turned their attention to Anastasia once the disaster unfolded.

“Is the Tsar truly a saint sent by God?”

Her prophecy had hit the mark.

Especially in Japan, where Emperor Taisho (Yoshihito) passed away in 1926 as predicted by Anastasia, yet they had not foreseen the impending economic disaster and had merely dismissed the Tsarina’s warnings as overblown for Russia alone before facing the consequences.

And all eyes turned to Russia.

“Uh, why is everyone committing suicide and becoming unemployed?”

Surprisingly, Russia managed to hold up.

The government had taken direct control over consumption and production for national reconstruction and capacity enhancement.

They even took significant steps based on Anastasia’s principles, launching various projects.

“Oh, Tsar!”

“The Tsar is watching over us! Unlike other countries, we remain unharmed!”

“Only our Russia is safe from the claws of communism!”

Unlike Tsar Nicholas II, who had brutally repressed citizens begging for relief with gunfire, Anastasia was cherished by the people for her achievements and foresight, enjoying a level of public love unmatched by any former Tsar’s popularity.

Through reforms and various initiatives that began during the Civil War, they had accumulated wealth, squeezing nobles instead of the common people. They modernized outdated road and rail networks, facilitating smooth logistics.

All of the populace united under the Tsarina.

Those familiar with governmental malpractices during Nicholas II’s reign could withstand the hardships of the Great Depression—they weren’t shaken much as things turned out to be less severe than expected.

Additionally, what would later be known as the second Five-Year Plan was essentially a policy initiated for Russia’s growth during the Great Depression, which had begun well before the economic crisis, constructing railway and road networks, investing in infrastructure, and mandating employment for the unemployed.

In other words, by creating jobs through massive public works, they replaced the collective farms that had once beaten down Makhno’s peasants, adjusting agricultural production.

As the state took complete control over consumption and production, what began as “Oh! The Great Depression! We’re doomed!” quickly turned into sustained growth due to pre-established policies and projects throughout the Great Depression.

It was akin to a Russian New Deal.

Unlike France, teetering on the edge of communism, many nations became curious about why Russia appeared to be so unaffected by the Great Depression, and they were astounded to learn that it was due to reforms enacted by the National Duma, effectively the Tsarina’s policies.

“Russia was right!”

“Is the Tsarina truly a divine entity sent for Russia? Did she prepare for this in advance?”

“However, now those reds are copying Russia.”

The issue arose that Communist Germany and Communist Italy had similar structures.

Russia, superficially a form of modified capitalism, was, in reality, a blend of various ideologies, guided by Anastasia, leaving no room for the Tsar or the National Duma to be branded as reds.

The Soviet Union had never even been established, and the emergence of Communist Germany arrived much later in the timeline.

Diverging from historical accounts, the Communist German regime attempted to model itself after Russia, earning scorn from the global community, unlike the Paris Commune and foreign communists.

“Is the Tsarina perhaps the Messiah descended from David and King Solomon?”

Jews settled in Northern Manchuria could not help but secretly worship the Tsarina while living in the only country growing amid a global crisis.

Nations influenced by Russia began to mirror her efforts.

Notably, Poland, which had been forcibly equipped with Russian weapons and had become a subsidiary of Russia, and Turkey, led by passionate Anastasia supporter Atatürk, along with Finland, a Dual Monarchy, which had also begun reforms around the same time as Russia.

The world struck by the Great Depression needed a target for their grievances.

Naturally, they couldn’t help but consider the Tsarina when contemplating the causes behind the Great Depression mentioned during the broadcast.

Economists, however, pointed out that it wouldn’t do any good to solely blame the reds, as the root cause lay elsewhere.

“No, I’m saying the Great Depression was bound to happen?”

“Are you a red?”

“What?”

In this alternate history, while the Soviet Union had served as a model for communism during the Great Depression, here, the anti-communist Russian Republic had taken that role, blundering through the crisis while its Tsarina identified the communists as the culprits behind the Great Depression.

During tough and trying times, countries craving to blame someone began to despise the communists even more.

Even Communist Germany and Communist Italy followed suit with their rhetoric.

“That’s just a communist way of doing things!”

Though they insisted it was all communistic, nothing the already detested states said would matter.

The only ones in support of them were the French Commune.

Unable to partially emulate Russia to escape the Great Depression, Britain observed Russia’s modified capitalism, finding it embarrassing to take inspiration from Russia while refusing to reenact any form of communism,_nevertheless, they openly referred to Russia’s policies.

Around this time, one individual exploited the Great Depression.

That name was Adolf Hitler.

The National Liberal Austrian Workers’ Party was striving to become the leading party in this era of economic calamity.

“People! The Great Depression is a hard and challenging time! And just like before, the ones pulling the strings behind it are the ever-evil communists! Just look at our neighbors—Communist Germany! But if we unite, there is nothing to fear from any communists! Fellow Danubians! Let us come together!”

“““Hitler! Hitler! Hitler!”””

Hitler’s National Liberal Austrian Workers’ Party drew upon Russia’s strategies for confronting the Great Depression to attract supporters, as the territories of the former Austria-Hungary, including the Slovaks and Czechs, began to perceive the economic downturn as a communist invasion and rallied together.

Meanwhile, a new breeze was stirring in Kentucky, America.

 

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