Alaska is a very strange state, both politically and culturally. Although many states often recognize more than one language as an "official language" in their state, Alaska has the honor of housing over twenty. The state was originally colonized by Russia, and was held onto until the 1890s, when it was lost during the Russo-Japanese War. Although there had been attempts to purchase the state by the United States for decades, it was largely drawn out, and instead purchased in 1907, largely due to the large American population that subsisted there during the Gold Rush and due to a Russian need to pay off war debts. However, while a large American presence existed in the newly-purchased territory, so did a massive Russian and Alaskan Native population, both of which had substantial roots in the territory. New American explorers were greeted by not just harsh winter and hard to access territory, but also collections of unfriendly Russian Orthodox citizens, too stubborn to return home. It was also during this time that a large Japanese population began flowing into the area. The Japanese, expecting a "chunk" of the territory after war, sent travelers to the area, many of whom brought substantial family along with them. Fears of a conflict between the United States and Japan led American president Grover Cleveland to sell a chunk of the new land to Japan, angering the Russians. From the 1900s to the 1930s, this is what Alaska remained, a territory divided by the 160 degrees west meridian. Sparsely populated by an increasingly conservative and angry Russian and Alaskan Native population pushed out by the Japanese, and a few English settlers. However, when the Russian Revolution hit, members of the Green and White Army, both of whom were backed by president Woodrow Wilson, were allowed to settle in the territory, just so long as they didn't disturb the Japanese while crossing the border. The movement grew the Russian population even more in the state, and lasting until the 1930s it had a supermajority of speakers in the territory.
Of course, when the Second Great War occurred during the Long Decade, the Americans and Japanese were once again at each others throats. While far-away Alaska had long been seen as a "foreign" land by many mainland Americans, the stories of ex-White and ex-Green army soldiers defending the American border from the Japanese was a major propaganda coup, and after American victory, the slice of Alaska once given to Japan was given back to the United States. Huey Long's successor, Robert E. Quinn, was now forced to make a decision. Many questioned whether or not the territory, which many now saw as incredibly valuable against the Soviet Union, should be "sewn together" or "kept apart". While Quinn, who was much more anti-Communist than his predecessor, feared ethnic conflict, he saw the Japanese-Alaskans and Russian-Alaskans as united by a similar anti-Communist sentiment, and decided to "sow together" the territory. An increase in American military bases saw Alaska's English-speaking population rise, and the state became seen as less and less foreign by the American people. When a more conservative government entered power in the 1950s, Alaskan statehood became a key priority, as the Alaskan people were largely seen as anti-Communist and conservative. However, it was Commonwealth Coalition ally Anthony "Tony" Diamond who proposed what would become known as the "Unity Pledge" in Alaska. Diamond, an English speaking mainlander who had gained support from many ethnic groups in the state, proposed the so-called "Language Board" style of governance. Under the D'Hondt method, each "linguistic group" (split into Russian, English, Japanese, and 'Alaskan Native') would get their own portion of the seats, and a government would be formed through this. This proposal mostly soothed the Japanese population in the state (who would likely be outnumbered by Russian interests) and the English national government (who feared a Russian dominated state). Among Russian-Alaskans the proposal was met with some skepticism, but largely supported by the political class, who themselves feared the results of mainland American and Japanese immigration on their interests. Among Alaskan Natives, the "umbrella term" for all of their various languages was incredibly controversial, but as with much of American history their interests were ignored. Smaller controversies over less popular languages (particularly German and Tagalog) were handwaved away.
In Alaska’s first ever state election, Tony Diamond led a strange unity coalition that was substantially to the left of the state, and was as such defeated soon afterwards. Instead what occurred was a variation of conservative governments led by the Russian Orthodox братство (Brotherhood) Party, the Japanese Riberaru (Liberal) Party, the mainland Democratic Party, and a variety of minor Native Alaskan parties. This coalition was led by two men who “alternated” power as premier for two decades. The first was Russian far right leader Constantine Kromiadi. Kromiadi was an ex-White Army member who was known for his extreme anti Communist views and being quietly aligned with the Nazis in the Second Great War. Kromiadi was originally hesitant to join with the Japanese Liberals, who he had resentment towards as a longtime Russian and Orthodox nationalist. However, shared anti-Communist and far-right political sentiments allowed the groups to ally with one another. Meanwhile, the Liberals were led by Allen Ohata, a Japanese soldier in Japanese America who ended up being appointed as a high ranking leader during the “transitional period” of Western Alaska’s existence. Ohata’s ties to both the Japanese-Alaskan soldiers who fought the United States and the US Government made him a premier politician in the new state. While Kromiadi was a fascist in the White Russian breed, Ohata was ironically a much more American style fascist, valuing unity above all else and approaching the politic of the new state as a battle against “radicals”. The two’s leadership of the state saw little challenge from opposition factors, although there were attempts to outflank the Brotherhood and Liberal parries from the right, due to ethnic differences, most opposition was crushed under a brutal machine.
That was, of course, until the late 1970s. The Brotherhood-Liberal-Democratic-Various alliance had softened and its leaders were aging. However, the state had failed to produce any true opposition to the machine, so dominance was expected to last for several more decades under newer leadership. Instead, two new men, the English-speaking Joe Vogler and Alaskan Native Don Wright would rise to the forefront of state politic. Both men became leaders of the Alaskan Independence Party, and in 1977, along with lesser-known Russian and Japanese allies Vladimir Yaroslavovich and Gomi Morie (1), the group traveled the state promoting an “All-Board” ticket that saw a massive amount of popularity. Economic and political anxiety, along with massive support from Alaskan Natives, led to the Alaskan Independence Party nearly being able to form a government. As such, the politics of the state changed. No longer was the state divided by a left or right spectrum, it was now divided by the issue of independence. With this came the era of “Fusion Politics” as two new broad alliances were formed between independence activists and unity activists. The Alaskan Independence movement was largely just the Independence party itself, but it was soon joined by the far right национальный фронт (National Front), which wanted to make Alaska its own Orthodox Fascist nation, and the Alaskan Native Federation, which was in the “New Left” tradition of the 1980s. Meanwhile, the unionists have a far-reaching coalition, ranging from the near-anarchist remnants of the Green Army in the зеленый (directly translated as Green but denoted as Green-Agrarian by English speaking observers in order to separate them from the Young Greens) to the extremely far right Brotherhood Party. While many moderate observers predicted that such a coalition would cause the governing forces to moderate, it largely hasn’t. Alaska remains a state dominated by various far right sects, and despite the heavy military culture in the state, there is a “ban” on Catholic mainlanders serving in the state due to the heavy influence of far right Russian Orthodox figures. However, the state has not just been governed by the unity coalition. In 1984, the Alaskan Independence alliance scraped together a bare majority (largely thanks to dictatorial margins in the Native Alaskan Language Board) , allowing them to hold an Alaskan Independence Referendum in 1985, the first of its kind in the United States. However, the referendum failed, and the party would not return to power until 2007, where they tried again and yet again failed. The Alaskan Independence alliance hasn’t returned to power since, but maintains a substantial presence in the state even as both of its major leaders have passed away.
Today, Alaska is much more divided than it ever was in the pre-Independence movement era. Divisions based on geographic location and ethnicity dominate the state as it continues to question its own existence. Oil and military influence keeps the state as a crown jewel of the United States. While independence or the lack thereof is the main political question, others have dominated the state in recent years. Under the much more Native-friendly Alaskan Independence rule in 2007, the state allowed the creation of Indian casinos, which has brought in millions for the states Native population. Not only this, but oil revenues and what to do with them, particularly in the era of the Alaskan Oil Fund has led to conflict as well. Still, the state is mainly focused on one issue, and it seems like it will until the end of time.
Parties:
Unity Coalition/Government:
Organized by language board, party name provided in home language along with Romanized home language and then English in smaller text. All parties referred to by English translation.
Russian:
братство Bratstvo, Brotherhood - The dominant party of the Russian Language Board since its inception, the Brotherhood Party is one of the most far right parties in the country, housing an extreme right wing form of Russian Orthodoxy that pushes it to the right on almost all major issues. Although the days of escaping from the Soviet Union appear to be largely over, don't tell these voters that! Large drives in support of Russian emigres (despite their dislike of "certain" Russian emigres (read: Jews)) from the Soviet Union still occur all over the state. Meanwhile, their continued leadership of the Unity Coalition has led the state to maintain its xenophobic stance, as, outside of "pure" Russian and Japanese immigrants, little immigration to the state occurs. While they are pretty much hard right on everything, the Brotherhood Party's want to be "left alone" by the federal government as it were, led them to the creation of the Alaskan Oil Fund, a rare left wing economic policy in a state with little others.
Зелено-Аграрный Zeleno-Agraranyy, Green-Agrarian - The opposition within the Russian-Alaskan community, the Green-Agrarian Party was once the remnants of the Green Army, and once had considerable strength in the state before its statehood, leading to conflicts between former members of the Green and White Armies. However, the Second Great War and the united effort against the Japanese and then against the Communists broke down much of the left wing spirit in the Russian community. The communes the Green-Agrarians thrived in were burned, their communities flooded with soldiers, and their policies ignored. Today they are little more than Alaska's wing of the People's Party, and are about as inefficient as the other statewide branches (outside of Knight and Sioux). They are generally very unhappy allies of the Unity Coalition, but see it as the "only possible outcome".
English:
Democratic - Alaska's English-speaking population ended up being populated at first by mostly conservative Democrats, as a large amount of southern military recruits in the 1950s and 1960s spread to the state. When those recruits retired and moved into Fairbanks and Anchorage, they brought their conservative values with them, and as such, the Democratic Party dominated the English language board for decades. While they dominated the cities and the western portion of the state, they also dominated the interior due to conflicts between the mainlanders and Native Alaskans, which allowed similar racial views to the ones permeated in the south being permeated in the state. However, growing political opposition has broke the monopoly the Democrats once had, but they still hold extreme amounts of power in the cities.
Veterans - A mainstay in any non-mainlander state with a high military population, the Veterans Party of Alaska, founded in the 1980s, is no exception. As a new, more liberal military flooded Alaska, its members became less and less associated with the Democrats, and as such the Veteran Party grew in massive numbers. Today they dominate the western portion of the state, where most military men are stationed due to continuing conflicts with the Soviets, along with the suburbs, where a more moderate military class has retired to. However, Democrats have largely locked them out of the cities and more agrarian areas, leading to a heavy split in the English language board. The Veterans Party has come up on top in the Board several times, leading to a more "moderate" English policy, but as of 2020 they are in second place.
Independent Progressive-Labor - The party of perseverance. Despite a high public sector population, Alaska has failed to build a "union culture", and as such, its original Labor Party was banned for being taken over by Communists. Despite several attempts to revive the now-PLP in Alaska, the lack of left wing support in the English-speaking population led to no real Labor Party being formed. That was of course until 1995, when the new Independent Progressive-Labor Party, a pretty centrist wing of the national party, took over the state's left wing itch, and hasn't looked back. They hold power within oil workers in the state, and have surprisingly been a major cause for the Unity Coalition's slow move to the center.
Republicans - Once the main opposition to the Democrats, the Veterans Party has wiped them out in what many have described as "Republicanization", in which the centrist Republicans are largely replaced en masse by a more appealing Republican opponent. Due to the battles in suburbs between Veterans and Independence, the Republicans are now seen as "wasted votes", and have little appeal, with zero seats in the state legislature.
Japanese:
リベラル Riberaru, Liberal - The Liberal Party of Alaska is often joked about on the mainland, as they are anything BUT liberal. Instead, they are a far-right party comprised of Japanese-Alaskans who are often less than ashamed about their Japanese imperial roots. Despite similar xenophobia to the Brotherhood Party, they are largely willing collationers, but want total control over the state. They hold immense strength all over the map within the Japanese language board, particularly on the western edges of the island.
フリーダム Furīdamu, Freedom - The main opposition to the Liberals within the Japanese Language Board, the Freedom Party is really more of a hodge-podge collection of center-left political goals. As the Japanese Language Board becomes even more right wing, with the Restoration Party gaining uncomfortable amounts of power, they continue to be squished out, and mostly win amongst centrist suburbanites who are uncomfortable with all other options.
Alaskan Native
i am not translating all of these languages. i am sorry.
Conservative - The Alaskan Native Language Board is dominated by independence members, and as such, the Conservative Party, the only true Alaskan Native Party advocating for Unity, the Conservative Party, is mostly regarded as a joke. They barely reached the threshold in 2020, and are generally hated.
Alaskan Independence Coalition/Most of the Opposition
Alaskan Independence - The party itself. Although it aligns with several smaller parties, the Alaskan Independence Party dominates its coalition, as its "four leaders" strategy has generally worked for them. They win the most in the Native Language Board, where they face only minor opposition (and sucked in the Alaskan Native Federation), while they win the least in the Japanese Language Board, largely due to the strength of the Restoration Party. They are a big tent, with various different interests working with them together in order to build a coalition hopefully strong enough to provide independence. Time will tell if they are successful, but they continue to push the issue, allowing them to stay in the headlines.
Tlingit Ḵwáans Alliance - Although many parties have tried to represent their own specific Native culture, the TKA has largely been the most successful, largely due to their high population in the southern "panhandle region". They are largely allowed large victories in said regions by the Alaskan Independence Party, and are considered strong allies to the party.
национальный фронт Natsional'nyy front, National Front - The National Front is an attempt from the Alaskan Independence Party to be even more far right than the Brotherhood Party, as they are backed by a group hoping to turn Alaska into an Orthodox ethostate. How they plan to do this is anyone's guess, and many have described them as "controlled opposition" in order to win voters.
Remaining Opposition:
復元 Fukugen, Restoration - The Restoration Party sits alone in the Alaska State Legislature, as it exists largely in between two paths. It doesn't want to become independent, and it doesn't want to remain a state. Instead the Restoration Party wants to "restore" not just Alaska west of the 160th west meridian, but the entire state to Japanese rule. Interestingly it doesn't receive support from Western Alaska, but instead more Eastern areas, which are described as "xenophobic" towards even
Russian rule. Still, it is mostly kept out of power, and its demands are ignored.