Vladim Vasyliovich Timoshenko

Photograph of Vladim Vasyliovich Timoshenko, circa 1685

Vladim Vasyliovich Timoshenko (Ruthenian Cyrillic: Владим Васильевич Тимошенко), nicknamed Vadim (without the "L") was the founder and leader of All-Union Revolutionary Front, the organization of which brought about The September Revolution in 1688. In 1691, he was replaced on all positions by Rashid Hasanzadeh.

The city Vadimbaatar (in Lontinien, Hurmu) is named in his honour.

Early Life

Vladim Vasyliovich Timoshenko was born in 1620 on the southern Euran coast. His father, Vasily Borisovich Timoshenko, had migrated to southern Eura with his parents in turn after the Babkhan holocaust. Vasily's parents thought that the end of the Babkhan empire was a near-literal goldmine for the family business. The family undertook looting materials and objects that they found in former Babkhan cities and towns, and sold them to traders in the Storish jarldom of the Longships Isles. Babkhan paraphernalia became highly profitable following the emergence of the Emira of Sathrati, Esther Ayreon-Kalirion, from a mental hospital in Stormark, and later, the marriage of the Elwynnese–Babkhi noblewoman Noor bint Daniyal to High King Harald's grandchild Noah. The Timoshenkos could thereby live a comfortable existence as one of the richer families in the Green of southern Eura.

As a child, Vladim was slow to learn to speak due to a speech impediment. As such, he came to call himself Vadim, a nickname that others began calling him too. As an adult, he had a peculiar accent, probably due to his childhood impediment that was never diagnosed or treated.

Vadim, as he was known, received a private schooling in his sheltered home from Storish educators. Unknown to Vadim's parents, it was during this time that he first encountered the dark sides of Storish education practices, which came to scar Vadim for the rest of his life. He developed a pathological hatred for all things and people Storish. Since then, Vadim struggled with concepts such as empathy and theory of mind. He was known to the people in his vicinity, such as friends, family and servants, as charming, impulsive, highly intelligent, but ruthless and unempathetic.

In the 1640s, Vladim had enrolled into the Constancian navy as an officer, however, Constancian authorities have failed to find any documents saying so. That said, Vladim did sail around the world in the 1650s in a yacht that he purchased from Bassarid traders with money from the family funds. He visited Normark, Shireroth, and Elwynn, and became more acquainted with these countries. He also visited Natopia, but returned from it disgusted with the homoeroticism he encountered there. As it happened, Vladim struggled with issues of sexuality and masculinity, probably as a result of his Storish education as a child. It was important for Vadim to portray himself as a traditional man with traditional values (based on what he read from looted Babkhan books on what a man should be). He made sure he would be seen with beautiful women, and any activities that would cause people to deem as effeminate was to be avoided. As such, he always ate meat at each meal (a man eats meat), and drank spirits and beers rather than wine. He avoided any show of affection to either men or women, though he was known to bring beautiful women home to his house and yacht.

Upon hearing of the Auspicious Occasion, Vadim was elated and happy. He celebrated by shooting Storish traders with his hunting gun. Vadim was however not a good shooter, and, while he intended for them to die, the poor traders survived severely disfigured. This was actually a comfort for Vadim, as he enjoyed the pain and suffering the traders would feel for years now.

Rehabilitation

In 1693 AN the great patriotic war against the Suren saw Vladim Vasyliovich rehabilitated and recalled to service by his successor, 1^st Secretary Rashid Hasanzadeh, as Marshal of the Army Maritime Corps of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Zeed.

Upon returning to duty Marshal Timoshenko found the most immediate problem facing him was the deplorable condition of the "fleet" assembled for the marines by the Secretary of the Central Committee for Security and Defence, Rustam Bukhori Yazghulam, for defending the coast, which consisted of one missile cruiser of Babkhan provenance, a seeming relic of the Babkhan Holocaust of 1598, six motor torpedo boats, five fast missile craft, eleven patrol boats, and a collection of confiscated fishing boats and merchant vessels.

Timoshenkoism

Timoshenkoism (Ruthenian:Тимошенкоьизм) has been what both his proponents and detractors have called his encompassing philosophies in regards to Zeedic society, government, the greater Euran question and even life. Many of these ideals carried over into those of the All-Union Revolutionary Front, others simply remain the practices of his First Secretary-ship. In general, however, they were a driving force for the Revolution and, to this day, remain a topic of great discussion.

Ethnic Determination

Timoshenko grew up in the cosmopolitan province of the Voivodship of Ruthenia in the former Empire of Zeed, now the Ruthenian Republic. After the fall of the Kingdom of Babkha many decades before, the resulting power vacuum in the region created what would eventually become a very decedent and devolved monarchy with ethnic Ruthenians as the dominant group. Throughout his childhood he witnessed the total subjugation of many of the formerly proud peoples of the Euran region - instilling in him at a young age that, while the ethnic origins may differ between the peoples of Eura, the right of each one to lead lives of self-determination for the good of the whole of Eura, was far more important. He is quoted as saying

As a young child I watched the many peoples of the great of Eura create a microcosm of this entire continent in a single province of the monarchy. However, they were often treated with disdain unless, of course, they were already wealthy and enjoyed the auspices of said monarchy. No ethnicity, no mother-tongue should prevent a man from realizing his dreams. Not only among his own group of people, but in society as a whole. All ethnic groups of Eura have this innate right to determine their collective path on equal ground with all other groups, all working towards an even larger national well-being.

—Vladim Timoshenko at a proto-All-Union Revolutionary Front gathering, 1679

It was this idea that the national well-being and collective good of the people starts from the people themselves working towards their own, unique collective good. His detractors called him a "staunch segregationist", however, his many proponents among the varied cultures of the region saw him as a champion of elevating them to equal standing with all others. Many tribal leaders, local, regional officials and even some nobles championed him as someone who will bring equality and democracy to all people of Eura through their right to exist in autonomous regions that were best defined by their ethnic, cultural or linguistic origins. He believed that the national government had no right to interfere in a people's cultural path - so long as the actions of any one people contribute to the greater good of all people.

Commonwealth of Zeed

In his old age, he found himself elected, several times, to represent the Ruthenian Republic in its Advisory Council under Zeed Directive 11. He unsurprisingly also found himself elected to the 1st National Assembly, under the All-Union Humanist Party.