Ivan VII
Ivan VII was the son of Tsar Constantine II and the Tsar of the Russian Empire during The Great War. Ivan had the task of coordinating war efforts on three fronts: in Europe against Ukraine, in the Middle East against Great Britain, and in China against Japan. He appointed commanders based on merit, while his cousin Nicholas I of Ukraine attempted to command the war effort himself.
Ivan supported an uprising against Nicholas that saw the Tsar of Ukraine abdicate in favor of Michael, his younger brother. Ivan successfully negotitated the end of hostilities and the reabsorption of Ukraine into the Russian Empire. While he forgave Nicholas and Michael for their actions in Ukraine and the war, he also did not trust them and was sometimes harsh to them. He ordered Nicholas into exile deep into Siberia where he was unloved and would not be able to rise against Ivan as Alexander had. As for Michael, he kept him on as an advisor to ease the Ukrainian people back into Russia, but also kept Michael's son, George, as a political prisoner to ensure compliance.
Following the Great War, Ivan faced the challenges of reintegrating Ukraine, which had grown complicit in its independence, as well as competition from the growing German Empire. After the collapse of the Hapsburg Confederation, Russia had initially been granted East Galicia. However, the high Ukrainian population of East Galicia had disputed this, wishing to be independent similar to Poland.
Ivan began to use the military to supress Ukrainian nationalism and culture. This was coupled by the Duma's mismanagement of the sweeping depression that engulfed Europe following the Great War, and the Ukrainian regions difficulty to recover its prominence as the "breadbasket of Europe". Military crackdown and widespread hunger led to uprisings in Ukraine and East Galicia. Ivan initially attempted to keep the regions seperate in order to minimize independence sentiment, but nationalist extremists won the elections to the Duma, forming a powerful voting block.
Iva was unable to keep the peace in these regions, and the issue became an international one as the conflict threatened another war. East Galicia was then recognized as the Kingdom of Galicia, with the youngest son of Charles I of Poland elected as king.
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