The Imperial Russian Army (Russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия) was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the early 1950s. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of more than 900,000 regular soldiers and nearly 250,000 irregulars (mostly Cossacks). The Russian army was annihilated by the Chimera during the Chimeran War in the early 1950s.
History[]
By the turn of the 20th century, the Russian Army was the largest standing in the world consisting of several million men. However, the army was overstretched and industrially lagged behind the other great European powers. Despite some modernization, the military was badly ill-equipped to fight a war of attrition in the Great War against Germany and the other members of the Central Powers due to corruption, mismanagement, and general incompetence. As a result Russia lose territories to Germany, and domestic riots began breaking out. Germany quietly sent the exiled Bolshevik Vladimir Lenin back to Russia to cause further internal turmoil. This gambit mostly succeeded as Lenin was able to organize the disjointed rebels, laying siege to Moscow by 1917.
Tsar Nicholas II abdicated and appointed Michael Alexandrovich as his successor, who took command of the Imperial Army. By 1918, Tsar Michael quickly sought a peace treaty with Germany, signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, effectively surrendering all Eastern European territories to Germany, and allowing to focus his attention in leading the military to crushing the Bolsheviks. Despite ending the Bolsheviks, Russia was left a hotbed of violence and rebellion throughout the 1920's, as the Imperial Army were dispatched to ruthlessly suppressed the rebels. Furthermore, Russia grew increasingly wary and paranoid of the intentions of foreign powers, and entered period of isolationist policies, refusing to join the European Trade Organization. Tensions exacerbated with the executions of 20 French citizens for allegedly encouraging insurrection, leading to the construction of the Red Curtain and military buildup between Russia and Western Europe.
By the mid-1920s, the Russian government became aware of the existence of the Chimera in Siberia. The military was mobilized to attack the Chimera and seized their advanced alien technology. However, the Russian Army severely underestimated their alien enemies, as human soldiers fell victim to the Chimeran Virus and joining the Chimera's ranks. In desperation, the military turned to Russian scientist Dr. Fyodor Malikov, who developed an experimental vaccine that could counteract the Chimeran Virus. Unwilling to await further testing, the Russian government hastily ordered all remaining soldiers to be inoculated. Initially, the soldiers were immune to the virus and fought the Chimera on even grounds. But over time, the vaccine was horrendously flawed. Instead of immunity, the soldiers mutated into insane cannibals, dubbed as the Cloven, who turned on their superiors and uninfected humans, and deserted their posts en masse.
What remains of Russia's military was practically gutted, and Russia quickly fell to the Chimera.
Military branches[]
- Imperial Russian Army
- Imperial Russian Navy
- Imperial Russian Air Service
Known military operations[]
- Great War (Russia withdraws, Allied victory)
- Russian Revolution (Victory for Russian monarchy, Bolsheviks defeated)
- Chimeran War (Chimeran victory, Imperial Army dissolved)
Trivia[]
- In a TV spot for Fall of Man, the Russian Army have Kamov Ka-27 helicopters in their arsenal.
External links[]
- Imperial Russian Army on Wikipedia.