Workers Spring

The Revolution of 1861, also called the Worker's Spring, or the third name I couldn't come up with, was a period of instability and political upheaval in early 1861 in Edury. From early February to early May, tensions increased between the government and conservative movement, lead by then Lord-Magistrate Johan Vorhees, and the leftist workers movements. By the end of this brief period, most members of Vorhees' circle were forced to resign, many institutions created and preserved by the conservative movement were abolished, and new democratic reforms were instituted by the ascendant workers movement.

Background
The Eduran revolution abolished many of the institutional divisions between the classes of Edury, and abolished the nobility altogether. The petit-merchants and some elements of the former craftsmen were merged into the new liberal bourgeoisie class, who began to transfer the engines of production in Edury away from agriculture and to factories. The peasant caste was now institutionally free, but were still underprivileged, and in some cases, did not have protections or rights they enjoyed under the old feudal system. Whats more, the liberal bourgeoisie were soon joined (by the 1820's) by the industrial laborers, a class which had no rights or privileges.

The political system in Edury was soon bisected into two factions: the liberals and the conservatives. What sympathizers of the old nobility survived the Revolution formed into the conservatives, of whom were not politically gifted until the mid 1800's. The workers movement would not gain momentum until a similar time. Due to the large conflation between politics and daily life in Edury, these two camps were soon modeled into two philosophies for how to conduct ones being: the Old Guard (Oude Garde) and the New Guard (Bewaker).

After the revolution, institutions were created by the Bewaker in order to protect the bourgeoisie's positions; most oudious to the workers and peasants was the Electoral Commission, which limited enfranchisement to those who owned property in cities, or who profited off land in the countryside. By the time to Oude Garde became ascendant, they would adopt the Electoral Commission and fight to preserve it.

Causes
Imagine if Regan was an old-school conservative instead the harbinger of neoconservatism, and the american people were ready to get loud and violent

1861
The tension between Vorhees and the various leftists and workers movements came to a boiling point after the former's 4th electoral victory. It was the first time since the Revolution that someone who did not win more than 50% of the vote gained the Magisterial chair, and the first time that the party of the Lord-Magistrate did not win a majority in the Assembly. It was also the first Assembly in which various leftist groups had significant membership- 16 out of 150 seats. Soon after, the Brotherhood of Iron Miners- a secret and illegal union of mine workers in the east of the country- went on strike. At midday on February 1st in the town of Attelborden, the workers threw their picks down and left. Accusations of sabotage were made, as well as attempts to force the miners back to work, or to hire scabs. A picket line was formed at the entrance to the mine to shame and prevent scabs from entering. By the second day of the strike, the mine owners hired the Pickett's Protectors, a private police force. This ended with the Protectors firing on the striking workers, killing several.

Prelude to Rebellion
This would prove disastrous for the mine owners, and Vorhees, who had called to force the miners back to work. Three journalists had arrived at the scene, and one was killed when the private police fired upon the workers. Claims by Pickett that the workers had been the aggressors were refuted by the two remaining journalists, and their news stories were displayed in newspapers up and down the country- it was not the first strike story to become national, but it was the first that united the Bewaker and the workers movement against Vorhee's faction of conservatism. Most liberal Bewaker had been loosely allied with Vorhees up until this point, as their backers were the new money that most of the workers were striking against. However, with the Massacre of Atelborden plastering the newspapers, most non-means of productions owning liberals turned to the worker's favor.

Vorhees handled the strike at Atelborden uncharacteristically poorly, as three days after the Massacre, the military was called into the town. Rumors began to circulate that Vorhees would attempt to suspend the town's elected government. These rumors, while not true, drove what liberal Bewakers were still allied to Vorhees away from the Lord-Magistrate. After a month of debate in the Assembly, and in the homes of practically every Eduran, the first call for a general strike was published in the Vorhoede, the newspaper of the General Laborers Brotherhood, on February the 28th. This call was widely circulated, and by March 23rd, no newspaper in Edury had not published an article either echoing or condemning the call for general strike. The GLB in 'S-Rivibocht was the first to go on strike; no worker was allowed by the illegal union to work within the city or its periphery. The call for general strike was answered firstly in the eastern industrial mining towns, and then the central factory towns; but by mid-April, almost no mine, factory, or processing center was operating. During this time, Vorhees had tried several times to introduce legislation to allow him to use military strength to force the workers back into their assembly lines, but these were all blocked by the Assembly.

Violence & Rebellion Start
On April 22nd, the GLB of 'S-Rivibocht acquired arms from an unknown source. That same day, they stormed the city hall of the town, and successfully seized it. This event immedietly took the entire nation by surprise, and is widely recognized as the start of the revolution. The GLB announced their demands for the resignation of Vorhees and his cabinet, the abolition of the Electoral Commission, and the establishment of an electoral system with official partisan division that would favor their movement. The next day, the military was called in, and Vorhees ordered the 2nd Infantry Regiment to storm the town and capture or kill the rebelling workers. This move equally shocked the political leadership of Edury; Vorhees had requested several times to be allowed to use military might, but this time he did so with no permission from the Assembly or the Daar. The latter threatened to revoke Vorhees's executive power, and the conservative factions largely abandoned Vorhees, save for his own band of Oude Garde.

The 2nd Infantry was made mostly of conscripts, of whom were largely poor peasants or former workers, and so refused to fire upon the rebelling workers. It is rumored, but not confirmed, that a band of the soldiers threatened to bayonet and hang officers who called for reinforcements from non-conscript regiments. It is unknown whether nearby regiments refused to march, or whether orders for reinforcements were never given.

Attelborden, where this all started, and Goatinburgen both underwent similar events and were under worker occupation by May 4th. However, the mood in the rest of the country was not as sure- some workers assemblies would not commit to violent uprising, and other would not act until the central government agreed to meet with the rebelling workers. However, on the 5th of May, the 44th Infantry Regiment- a non-conscript unit- arrived in Goatingburgen and fired upon the town hall, successfully taking it and killing several workers.

Widespread Revolution
This event caused an explosion in the workers halls; by this point, print news was able to move quickly in Edury, so from the 6th to the 10th of May, the moderate workers were all silenced and the revolutionary corps took up arms. The army leadership, in the absence of orders from Godenhaven, refused to commit any more professional regiments outside of their forts, and the conscript regiments threw down their arms or joined the revolutionaries.

On the 10th of May, the Workers Clubs of Godenhaven had seized the town hall, and controlled many of the streets; they then started moving to the Palace of the Assembly.

saving for now: will finisj later: see Johan Vorhees for more details