Valery Sablin

Valery Sablin
Valery Sablin in 1962 Valery Sablin in the 1970s Valery Sablin in the 1970s
Chairman of the Buryat ASSR Incumbent
Assumed Office: c. 1961
Personal details
Native name	Valery Mikhailovich Sablin
Date of birth	January 1, 1939
Place of birth	Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Age at start	23 years old
Nationality	Russian (in Buryatia)
Role	Leader of the Buryat mutiny Potential Russian reunifier
Political party	All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) - Sablinite
Ideology	Communism

Valery Mikhailovich Sablin (Rus: Валерий Михайлович Саблин; born 1 January 1939) is a communist politician and leader of Buryatia. Whilst serving in Yagoda's Irkutsk he noticed that Yagoda's Regime was using the NKVD to silence resistance, and thus he launched his rebellion in the late 50s.

In-Game Description

Born in Leningrad amidst the New Years' celebrations of 1939, Valery Sablin was only a child when his family was evacuated eastwards with the shattered remnants of the Presidium, even as his father, a naval officer, sailed forth to meet his doom against the Kriegsmarine. This sacrifice was never lost on Sablin, who had grown up dreaming of the Union he had barely known, and of the Revolution his father's father had fought in. Despite having reservations with Yagoda's leadership, Sablin willingly enlisted into the army as a commissar still, not out of a sense of loyalty to Yagoda's totalitarian empire, but out of perhaps foolish hope that deep within the halls of the few ramshackle military academies that still stood, he would find answers to his questions. Was this really what those who came before him wanted? All he found was disappointment. What few books he could find were censored beyond measure, and he knew the NKVD watched his every step.

When the Central Siberian War set the east ablaze, Sablin did his duty, inspiring his men to fight for socialism and equality - the more those under his command looked to him for guidance, the more he wondered if he was truly on the right side. Eventually, the dam broke. Sablin, accompanied by a few loyal soldiers, stormed a radio tower and broadcast a message for all the east to hear. In it, Sablin spoke earnestly of the hardships the people of Russia faced, and spoke of his dream for a truly equal socialist state, free of the terror Yagoda imposed upon the people. He expected no one to listen - but they did. Men and women flocked to join him, the dreamers, the dissidents, and the youths. Now, Sablin and his revolutionaries fight for the future, ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for their dream.

Biography

Early Life

Valery Sablin was the son of a Naval Officer, and he was educated on the ideas of Leninism and Leninist values as a schoolboy. After the war with Germany, Sablin and his family fled to the Far East, ending up in Yagoda's Irkutsk. Sablin wanted to be a naval officer, having a fascination with the navy, and considered it a possible career path, following in his father's footsteps.

However, due to the Siberian War, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet lost their coastline and had no standing navy. Seeing no other option, he instead opted to become a political commisar, serving in the remnants of the Soviet Army in the Far East.

After the Siberian war

In his role as political commisar, he participated in the Central Siberian War. Sablin was noted as having a commendable record and being an inspiration for those under his command. But the war was a mutual disaster for both the Far East Soviet remnant and the Central Siberian Republic.

In the Far East, Yagoda's authority had diminished to Irkutsk and the Buryat ASSR, with the rest of his territory falling to ethnic partisan rebels in Aldan and later Yakutia, along with an invasion by the Anti-Bolshevik Front from their base in Japanese-controlled Manchuria. The invasion managed to occupy the states of Magadan, Amur, and Chita, before collapsing into inner conflict and factionalism.

Throughout his service in the Central Siberian War, the totalitarian rule of Yagoda prompted Sablin to doubt if the Yagoda's state was truly the vision of the Soviet Union that Vladimir Lenin had believed in or intended.

Sablin tried to explore what Lenin's ideas truly were, however he was left unsatisfied by his efforts to determine this, as the few books on the subject he did find were heavily censored.

Sablin grew increasingly concerned that he was fighting on the wrong side of history. Having gained a following during the war, he knew, he had to do something.

The Rebellion

Sablin's dissatisfaction with his service continued to torment him, and eventually decided he could no longer serve under Yagoda's regime. In late 1961, leading a group of loyal soldiers, he took control of a radio tower in the Buryat ASSR, and broadcasted a call to arms in rebellion against Yagoda's tyrannical rule in Irkutsk. In his radio address, Sablin described a possible future of a Soviet Union where all could truly be equal and free. Despite thinking that his annoucement was for naught, and there would be no great reaction from the populace, Sablin was shocked to learn that his message was especially resonant in the Buryat ASSR.

Sablin had particularly gained the support of ethnic Buryats, who were being subjected to Russification policies under the guise of 'rooting out reactionary thinking,' as well as women, who felt that their rights in the Soviet remnant was not equal to men, falling far short of the egalitarian rhetoric. Along with other supporters, Sablin organised a new cabinet and government, aided with his supporters, to form a new, more hopeful vision for Russia.

Yagoda was quick to act, upon hearing the news, declaring that Sablin had committed treason against the Presidium, and ordered the Red Army to crush Sablin's Rebellion.

Post Rebellion

Should the player succeed in not only winning against Yagoda, but also reuniting the Far-East under his banner, there will be a balance of power, between the ideology of Bukharinism and Sablinism.

Trivia

• In OTL, Sablin rebelled against Leonid Brezhnev for his corruption, whilst serving on the Storozhevoy, an anti-submarine frigate in 1975. This incident probably served as an inspiration for the devs to make Sablin a rebel. Ironically, Sablin can have Brezhnev as his General if he reunited with the People's Revolutionary Council peacefully.