Ch.354Serbian Chetniks

# The Serbian Resistance

“Don’t you think they face significant discrimination in the Danubian Federation? I suppose even those bastards have their pride.”

Those bastards deserve discrimination, don’t they?

Belgrade was completely destroyed, yet there might still be some who could resist. I suppose that’s possible.

“In the Danubian Federation? Well, I think they’re discriminated against because they deserve it.”

Didn’t they start with the assassination of the Austrian Archduke and then commit all sorts of atrocities?

England might be strong enough to get away with such things, but the Serbians are weak yet still act arrogantly.

Is that still smoldering beneath the surface?

Could there be assassination attempts from the Serbian side soon?

“Don’t worry about that. They’ll be the only ones catching polio anyway.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Later on, they might think, “Damn it, I should have gotten vaccinated back then!”

The Serbians are apparently creating their own polio strain, so there’s no reason to stop them.

***

Serbian Autonomous Region of the Danubian Territory

While called an autonomous region in name, in reality, the Serbian people had been scattered from their original Serbian lands across Europe—to Bulgaria, the Danubian Federation, and elsewhere.

The Serbian territory itself now had less than one-tenth of its former population and was divided between Bulgaria and the Danubian Federation. While the situation in Bulgaria was tolerable, conditions in the Serbian Autonomous Region of the Danubian Territory were far from good.

Above all, oppression was the norm.

“Damn those Serbian bastards.”

“They brought this on themselves, yet they still hold their heads high.”

The Danubian Federation, which had been forced to declare war because of Serbia and had nearly fragmented as a result, found the Serbians particularly detestable.

Naturally, discriminatory policies against Serbians continued daily, which only fueled Serbian resentment.

“Austria, get out!”

“Give me back my son!”

“Do you think we’ll take the vaccines you’re offering?”

“That’s right, you’re trying to kill us!”

Austrian National Defense Forces in particular felt disgusted whenever they saw protesters in the Serbian Autonomous Region and wanted nothing more than to crush them with tanks.

The Serbians were a people utterly incapable of remorse.

“Can’t we just crush those bastards?”

“No. Instead, we’ve scattered them.”

“They’re refusing the polio vaccine too? We’re doing this for their own good.”

“Let them die on their own.”

Across Europe, Serbians seemed to have collectively agreed to refuse vaccination.

They were incredibly foolish.

The polio vaccine had been distributed for quite some time, but regrettably, less than one-tenth of the Serbian population had received it.

Naturally, the results became clear not long after the vaccine distribution.

Those who received the polio vaccine did not contract polio.

Unfortunately, the situation was different for Serbians.

In fact, despite the Danubian Federation’s forceful vaccination campaign that reached at least 40% of Serbians, the incidence of polio remained very high among the unvaccinated Serbian population.

“Polio. I should have gotten vaccinated.”

“This is what happens when you let pride get in the way.”

“This isn’t entirely our fault, is it? It’s the fault of those who oppressed us!”

Yes, this is the fault of the Danubian Federation and other Rome Treaty nations.

How can they expect trust after creating such distrust?

“That’s right! They made it impossible for us to trust them!”

“What about those who got vaccinated?”

“Yes, those traitors!”

“Aaagh! What are you doing?!”

“Getting vaccinated among yourselves! Can you even call yourselves Serbians anymore?!”

“I’d rather live as another nationality than be part of a globally hated people! What benefit have we ever gained from being Serbian?!”

“What did you say?!”

With the polio vaccine as the catalyst, Serbia split in half again.

Serbians under Rome Treaty governance became French in France, British in Britain, and Danubian in the Danubian Federation—or they remained Serbians until death.

Belgrade now housed the Autonomous Region Governor’s Office, but the Serbians under its governance despised each other.

“Let’s sow discord between those two factions.”

Upon receiving the governor’s report, Göring decided to completely divide the two groups.

He needed to incorporate the Serbians into the Danubian Federation one way or another.

After letting them destroy each other through this purge, they could be fully incorporated.

Thus began a civil war within the Serbian Autonomous Region between former Serbians and the still-nationalist Serbian Chetniks.

They truly were an evil people.

***

The spacecraft was indeed a spacecraft. And a major reform of the social security system had been implemented.

Russian workers had been receiving many benefits since welfare systems began, but these were primarily wage-related.

With those wages, Gastev’s worker mechanization project, and the nationwide Anastasia fan club, workers labored like mad.

Work like a machine and receive more wages through the grace of Mother Tsarina.

The benefits extend to families as well.

Become today’s worker and receive necessary items for free.

Be a machine only when working!

With this mindset, many people worked like machines without sparing their bodies.

Sergei, who had worked at the Fyodorov Arsenal and was able to transfer to Romanov Electronics after completing an education program for his dedication to the homeland during the war, often worked overtime.

“Let’s work until death for Mother Tsar!”

The sight of people working frantically under slogans that would have been unimaginable during the previous Tsar’s reign was truly fanatical.

Sergei, now the head of a household, worked frantically for his children and to receive free radios and televisions. As a result, he became Worker of the Month several times and received the latest television sets.

One day, while spending the day as a factory manager, someone from the Labor Department came to explain the four major insurance programs.

“Four major insurances? What are those?”

“Well, as you’ll see from these documents, these four insurances were directly proposed by the Tsar to the Duma for those who work too hard without taking care of their health.”

“Truly the grace of Tsar.”

National pension, health insurance, employment insurance, and industrial accident insurance.

While these applied to all citizens, workers received more efficient benefits, making them essentially worker-focused insurance programs.

“The Tsar cares about our health too?”

“I heard regular people have to pay insurance premiums for these four insurances?”

“Now I can die working with peace of mind.”

“Hey, wouldn’t that make health insurance pointless?”

The problem was that even with the four insurance programs, the situation didn’t change much.

Instead, praises for Mother Tsar—Mother Tsarina—only grew louder, and Sergei was no exception.

“Mother Tsarina is always with us!”

She pressured the powerful Duma to establish such a system!

How could one not worship Mother Tsar after this?

That wasn’t all. The introduction of these four insurance programs affected housewives as well.

Women born after the Civil War who grew up hearing they should become wonderful women like the Tsar were now mothers or in the military.

While military personnel received benefits within the army, housewives were eager to find even light jobs to receive worker benefits.

Although families received benefits when just one person worked, they wanted to directly experience the benefits bestowed by Mother Tsarina.

To become as wonderful as the Tsar.

Ironically, the four insurance programs introduced by Anastasia were enough to further brainwash workers, and this influenced other Rome Treaty nations as well.

***

The proposal to formally introduce the four insurance social security system throughout Europe was passed at the Rome Treaty headquarters.

It was predicted that various problems would now be somewhat resolved.

“So the four insurance system is definitely settled?”

Can I feel somewhat relieved now?

“Yes, though there’s still the issue of overtime work.”

“Overtime? Can’t that be resolved somehow?”

I didn’t say anything because banning it by law seemed like an infringement on freedom, but shouldn’t we resolve that?

At this rate, it could be a major failure for Anachang.

“Isn’t it unavoidable?”

“What would happen if we banned it by law? If people die from overwork, protests will inevitably break out. We’ve filled half the Kremlin Palace guards with Cossacks due to the benefits they receive, but we might face a Season 2 of Bloody Sunday.”

That would be terrible.

I wonder if there are already cases of death from overwork, even if no one’s talking about it? That would make me quite sad.

“Honestly, there are indeed cases of death from overwork.”

“No, that’s dangerous.”

It’s too dangerous.

Of course, I appreciate people working hard.

The more people work, the more this world will develop, and productivity will improve.

“But there’s nothing we can do. And it’s completely different from the previous Tsar’s era. Now people work voluntarily, and judging by public sentiment, even if someone dies from overwork, their families would still praise you. The fact that the bereaved families aren’t complaining is evidence of that.”

“Is that how it works? But that means fewer people working.”

If they die, there are fewer workers.

Even if they don’t blame me, it’s disappointing because Anachang needs to be perfect.

“Regrettably, many women have entered the workforce.”

I didn’t force them to, but is this really okay?

Well, I’ve done what I can propose, so the Duma will handle it. After all, Alisa Rosenbaum is the Prime Minister.

That clever girl will manage well.

I just provided the initial push, and that should be enough.

Come to think of it, citizens probably won’t come to protest to me anyway. Perhaps banning overtime at the workplace level is a solution.

“I feel awkward bringing this up in the Duma every time. Just give them advice.”

Too many people are working overtime at Romanov Electronics.

So you need to resolve this yourselves. Of course, since Romanov Electronics is managed by the imperial family, I could stop overtime work myself.

I should just mention it to the Duma, and they’ll handle it.

“Who’s my representative at Romanov Electronics—is it Duke Yusupov?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

That gentleman is getting quite old now, isn’t he?

How long did he live in the original history? I don’t remember clearly. If he’s still my representative, he can handle the overtime issue.

“Tell him to try to prevent overtime work there as well.”

“I will do so, Your Majesty.”

Right. There’s no need to exert myself unnecessarily.

“Moreover, Romanov Electronics’ stock price has skyrocketed recently.”

“Why? Even though Romanov Electronics was involved, they didn’t develop it directly.”

Romanov Electronics invested in spacecraft development, but they didn’t develop the actual vehicle.

Is there any reason for the stock to rise because of that?

“Well, the spacecraft that Your Majesty pushed for was successful, so naturally people have become more interested, haven’t they?”

I see, so that’s what happened.

Then the stock price could indeed skyrocket.

“That’s not bad.”

This means Romanov Electronics could potentially dominate the electronics sector within the Rome Treaty.

If something like Samsung Electronics, which would have dominated in Korea, doesn’t emerge, that would be somewhat unfortunate.

“Alright, what’s this?”

This time it’s something from the Danubian Federation.

More precisely, it’s a proposal from the Danubian Federation to the Rome Treaty headquarters that has been forwarded here.

Looking at the content, it’s about the Serbian Chetniks.

“The Serbian Chetniks have risen again, they say.”

“The Serbian Chetniks?”

I never expected Serbian issues to come up. Yugoslavia has long been gone, but the Serbian Chetniks have erupted?

Serbian Chetniks.

A nationalist, royalist organization formed by Serbians.

The Chetniks’ predecessors existed long before Serbian independence. During World War I, the Chetniks conducted guerrilla warfare against Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian forces.

In World War II, they actively fought against the Axis powers but then collaborated with them against the Partisans when the latter gained the upper hand.

And now they’ve risen again.

What strange people.

If they lost, they should accept defeat. They’re weak yet too arrogant—though this time it’s because of the polio vaccine.

I wonder what this Chetnik commander is doing.

“Who’s the Chetnik commander?”

“Draža Mihailović is the Chetnik commander, they say.”

He commanded the Chetniks in the original history, and he’s doing the same here.

He reportedly contacted the exiled King Peter II—I wonder if it’s similar here.

Currently, the Serbian royal family has been entrusted to Britain.

It was decided they would be better off across the sea, making it difficult for them to return.

Even if royalist rebels cause trouble in Serbia, Hitler or Göring would probably welcome it.

It would give them a legitimate reason to crush them again.

Serbia has been trampled a lot, but they deserve it. They’re vermin no better than the Communists.

The Chetniks erupted just because of a vaccine.

I wonder what happened to the pro-Danubian militia.