The situation in 2000
Belarus took more of Chernobyl's fallout than anywhere on earth and rose with Ukraine in 1986. Since his coup of 1994 Alexander Lukashenko has ruled the last communist state in Europe: the red flag, the planned economy, the KGB. Moscow wants a Union State, Brussels wants a democracy, and the people want to be left alone - Belarus can stay Batka's, sell itself to Russia, thaw towards Europe or go its own way.
5
1
0
10m
-
-
2
9
Army
11 divisions
- Armoured2
- Mechanised4
- Infantry2
- Airborne1
- Garrison2
Air force
190 aircraft
- Fighters120
- Close air support30
- Strike aircraft40
The Republic Lukashenko Took
Belarus took more of Chernobyl's fallout than anywhere on earth. Moscow's blackout hid it even from our own leaders, and when the mass graves were found Belarus rose with Ukraine. Independence came with the Soviet collapse in 1988 - but the young republic was poor, poisoned and afraid. In July 1994 Alexander Lukashenko seized power in a coup and brought back the old order: the red flag, the planned economy, the secret police. Belarus is the last communist state in Europe.
Ideologies and leaders
In power on 1 January 2000: Alexander Lukashenko (Communist Party of Belarus). Every leader below can come to power in TND, through the elections, coups and roads of its focus tree.
Democratic
Stanislav Shushkevich
Social Democracy
Belarusian Social Democratic Hramada
Uladzimir Hancharyk
Social Democracy
Vintsuk Viachorka
Conservatism
Communist
In power, 2000 Alexander Lukashenko
Stalinism
Communist Party of Belarus
Viktor Lukashenko
Stalinism
Fascist
Sergei Gaidukevich
Fascism
Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus
Non-Aligned
Mikhail Chigir
Moderatism
Independent
Kanstancin Radzivił
Absolute Monarchy
The focus tree
Belarus's own tree has 289 focuses. It opens with The Belarusian Model, The Crash Reaches Minsk, The Armed Forces of Belarus, Between East and West, The Belarusian People, The Last Dictatorship in Europe and more. By kind: political (144), industry (91), army xp (54), historical (54). Taking every focus, one after another, would take about 39 years - the roads are exclusive, so a playthrough sees only part of it.
Drag to pan, Ctrl + scroll to zoom, click a focus for its description and rewards. Focus names in the guides below jump to it.
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Path guides
How to reach each of Belarus's roads. The same guides are in game, as free decisions in the Belarus Path Guide category.
The 2001 Election
How Belarus's politics begin:
- Play the Batka's state from , then take and . No focus is tied to a date.
- Election night is an event: Alexander Lukashenko wins, or Uladzimir Hancharyk wins and the count holds. There are no primaries.
- Take the winner's first focus (, or ). The loser's road disappears.
With historical focuses on, the AI keeps Lukashenko and builds the Sovereign Dictator.
The Union State
Belarus and Russia, one state:
- Keep Lukashenko and play to ; pick .
- The union rouble, the joint army, the Union Parliament and the Kremlin's road maps.
- brings Moscow's terms: sign, and Russia decides whether to annex Belarus with its cores; refuse, and Moscow takes its revenge before .
The Sovereign Dictator
Lukashenko's own Belarus (historical):
- Keep Lukashenko and pick at .
- The multi-vector policy, no Russian bases, the potash war, the Mozyr refinery, the Great Stone with China.
- Choices: or ; after the 2020 election or ; at the end (Viktor Lukashenko) or .
The Thaw
The opposition in power:
- Elect Hancharyk and take .
- Win over the security services, open the KGB files, free the prisoners, restore the 1994 constitution and decide the flag (the white-red-white flag can return).
- Russia pushes back in Mahilioŭ. decides the next road by event: the European Road or the Neutral Republic.
The European Road
:
- Reach and take (Vintsuk Viachorka).
- The language, the privatisation of the factories, the floated rouble and the IMF; the Copenhagen Criteria, the Acquis and the Accession Referendum, which must be won to join the European Union.
- (its leader decides). Russia reacts: protests, a gas cut, perhaps worse.
The Neutral Republic
Neither Moscow nor Brussels:
- Reach and take (Mikhail Chigir).
- Total defence on the Finnish model, a treaty with Moscow and one with Brussels (if Russia refuses, decisions let us court it and ask again).
- The Swiss model, the banks of Minsk; the Neutrality Referendum must pass before .
Something Hidden
Two roads are hidden:
One grows in the President's own garden, somewhere in his second term.
One rides out of the European road's history lessons, if Belarus remembers what it was before Russia.
Neither is taken by the AI when historical focuses are on.
Choices in the Shared Branches
The choices that exclude each other outside politics:
The economy: keep the state economy, or open it.
The armed forces: a joint air defence with Russia, or our own sky.
Society: Belarusian schools, or two state languages.
Belarus is outside the European Union: it has its own way out of the 2008 crash.
Mechanics
How Belarus's own systems work. In game: the Belarus: Mechanic Guide decisions.
Russia's Gathering of the Lands
Russia wants back what it lost in 1988, one land at a time: Ukraine's east and Crimea, Belarus, Kaliningrad, Transnistria, Georgia's Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Narva, Latgale, a corridor through Lithuania and northern Kazakhstan.
The steps, at least a year apart: Compatriots (our stability falls), the Gas Weapon (give in, or hold out and risk an Energy Crisis), Little Green Men (Russia gains claims and our state is destabilised) and finally a Referendum or Union Treaty. A referendum or union is only accepted by a land that is weak, at war with Russia or gave in to the gas weapon: keep your stability up and do not give in.
Demands: once Russia's track has reached the gas weapon it can demand one state at a time. Cede it, refuse (Russia gains a war goal) or appeal to the West, which backs you with a guarantee or makes you give way.
Russian Provocation is your shield: every Russian step raises it. At 25 the West sanctions Russia; at 50 every land Russia wants is guaranteed by the West; at 75 a Russian war lets the Defence Union or NATO intervene.
Gas: if Russia cuts you off you suffer an Energy Crisis (consumer goods up, stability and factory output down). The Energy Security decisions - Emergency Rationing, Fill the Storage, Reverse Flow From the West, An LNG Terminal, Nuclear and Coal - lift it over months. Prepare before the cut, not after.