Velorenkan Revolution

The Velorenkan Revolution was a period of and  change and instability in the former Holy Veloren Empire following the end of the First World War. It is generally agreed upon as beginning with the Saint Yazdoikakh Massacre in 1915 and concluding with the ratification of the Constitution of the Reborn Velorenkan Arekh in 1923. The initial phase of the revolution saw Velorenkya abolish it's monarchy and form a weak republican government wrought with political violence, economic turbulence, and ethnic conflict. The second half saw the institution of a deep-blue coalition government spearheaded by Revivalists after the March on Saint Yazdoikakh and the subsequent bloody civil war.

=Background= By the turn of the 20th century the Holy Veloren Empire was in a deep crisis. Instability was at an all-time high due to an economic depression, social unrest, and flaring regional tensions. Despite rapid industrialization in recent decades the Empire was plagued by high unemployment, inflation, and a housing crisis due to migration from the countryside to overpopulated cities. Though wages and standards of living had improved in the Empire, there remained a drastic income inequality with a very small elite hoarding most of the wealth. Republican, Syndicalist, and Gekezikist movements saw increased traction as they sought to solve the Empire’s economic and political issues. And lastly Pande and Meryakh nationalist organizations were agitating for further autonomy in the face of Imperial Velorenization policies.

1903 Regicide
In May of 1903 Emperor Souzhavash III, the Empress, and the heir apparent Souzhavash IV were taking a train from the capital Saint Yazdoikakh to visit Zwaelchik in the South. The past decade had seen the Imperial Army’s funding largely ignored in favor of buttressing the faltering economy and expanding the Imperial Guards Corps, who were seen as more loyal and politically reliable. Emperor Souzhavash III intended to visit regular army garrisons across the Empire to signal his renewed interest in the Imperial Army. The Generals Staff had greatly resisted the shrinking of the army’s budget which prevented much needed modernization reforms. Therefore, the Emperor’s trip to the Zwaelchik Imperial Army garrison was an important opportunity for the Imperial government to reestablish their popularity with the Imperial Army.

Unfortunately, Emperor Souzhavash III and his eldest son would never reach Zwaelchik. Two days into the train ride on May 7th assailants who had infiltrated the locomotive’s porter staff attacked the Imperial family. After killing the guards posted outside the emperor’s cabin assailants hurled crude bombs into his train car. They further attempted to storm the car with knives and pistols but were repulsed by Imperial Guards, resulting in the deaths of three of the assassins. Two are believed to have escaped after jumping out of the rail car. Investigations into the attack never found what organization was culpable. The Imperial Guards Corps investigated and determined that radical Gekezikists were responsible, though the dead assassins had no such affiliation. Olron Kridetrel, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party claimed he had evidence pointing to the passionart Society of Free Patriots yet never divulged it. Historians generally conclude that the Society of Free Patriots were most likely responsible, yet this remains only the most likely theory. Given the mystery of the assassination it has been a very popular topic for Velorenkan and international conspiracy theorists. Emperor Souzhavash III was killed in the initial volley of bombs and the heir apparent Souzhavash IV suffered grievous shrapnel wounds resulting in his death on May 10th. Empress Mazilin VI survived the attack but was both physically scarred by shrapnel and according to reports would suffer from PTSD for the rest of her life. The May 7th Regicide would lead to the coronation of Prince Bomal II at the young age of 16. A regency council was declared until Emperor Bomal II was old enough to step into his duties, with the Liberal Democrat Prime Minister Thirchath assuming the bulk of his duties.

Veloren Republican Movement
The Veloren Republican Movement was split between the Veloren Republican Party (VRP) and pan-veloren passionarts within the Social Passionate Labor Party (SPLP). Both parties agreed that an end to the monarchy and establishment of a republic would both unify and fix the issues of the nation, yet disagreed and what shape the republic should take. The Veloren Republican Party ideology, though federalist, was most definitely a Veloren-centric party and favored increased Velorenization policies. They were also anti-clerical and heavily opposed to the special relationship the Jarader faith enjoyed under the Empire. These two key points along with the fact the party had openly called for a republic since it’s founding in 1871 resulted in the Veloren Republican Party being the largest and more popular out of the pair.

The SPLP had only recently adopted pro-republic rhetoric and passionart philosophy calling for increased autonomy for the Pande and Meryakh peoples meant Veloren nationalists turned towards the VRP. Moreover the SPLP enjoyed close relations with the nascent syndicalist movement and the trade unions which meant the VRP attracted the small and medium bourgeois as one of their firmest supporters. Though the 1903 Regicide had resulted in an uptick in popular support and sympathy for the Imperial government the 1904 Imperial Diet elections saw the VRP and SPLP win a substantial minority of seats, thus preventing the pro-monarchy Liberal Democrats from being able to rule with an effective mandate.

Proxy Conflict
In 1905, Prime Minister Thirchath pushed the Empire into an open proxy war with Haksarad and Ventora. The Imperial General Staff had heavily protested the move as the military exempting the Imperial Guards Corps was still in dire need of reform and modernization. Moreover, the VRP and SPLP had enough votes in the Diet to prevent a conscription act or declaration of war. Thirchath therefore bypassed both the General Staff and Imperial Diet, using his power as Regent to declare a “Special Military Policing Action”. Prime Minister Thirchath had hoped that the proxy war would be a quick and relatively bloodless affair. He’s quoted as saying the Empire needed “A short victorious war” to renew its popularity with the populace and boast its image and confidence after the 1903 Regicide.

=September Sub-Passionary Republican Revolution= The proxy war would be quick but not bloodless. The Imperial Army, just as the General Staff predicted, was not prepared for a conflict and suffered lopsided casualties on the border with Haksarad and Ventora. The high casualties infuriated both the General Staff and the VRP, who began to discuss in secret the possibility of a coup against the Regency Council to end the proxy war and the Empire. Meanwhile highly unpopular rationing began to take effect in several cities to support the war effort. Syndicalist workers belonging to the Veloren Industrial Workers Union declared a strike at the Zwaelchik Armaments Plant on the 1st of September, citing their inability to work without enough calories. The SPLP quickly declared its support for the striking workers. The Zwaelchik Plant was critical infrastructure for the Imperial War Effort, supplying a quarter of all heavy artillery shells. Fearing a violent confrontation with the workers and without available scabs, the Regency Council ordered the Duke of Fyodithesir to mobilize the ducal militia and have them reopen and work inside the factory. When mobilization orders came, the ducal militia promptly mutinied. Having not been told they were to act as temporary factory workers they feared imminent deployment to the frontlines.

When news of the ducal militia mutiny broke on the 3rd of September it caused widespread panic throughout the Empire. Both the Regency Council and Social Passionate Labor Party viewed the strike and mutiny as the opening shots of a revolution. The VRP and the Imperial General Staff feared the Empire could collapse before their coup could be initiated, ensuring a calm and organized transfer of governance to a republic. And the general public, long dissatisfied with the ruling regime and outraged with the progress of the proxy war began to take to the streets in demonstrations. On the 4th of September Prime Minister Thirchath ordered the clandestine transfer of Emperor Bomal II and much of the Imperial Treasury’s gold supply onto navy ships headed for the Northern Islands. Though doubting the collapse of the Empire, he feared for the safety of the young Emperor and wanted to ensure the Imperial Treasury was safe from revolutionaries.

On the 7th most trade unions with the Empire had declared a general strike in opposition to the proxy war and in solidarity with the Zwaelchik Plant workers. In the countryside several peasant revolts broke out with clergy and aristocrats slain, temples razed, and grand estates looted. The RVP and General Staff accelerated their coup plans and Imperial Army units recently rotated from the frontlines were ordered to embark on trains and head for Saint Yazdoikakh. Prime Minister Thrichath was alerted to these troop movements and ordered the Imperial Guards Corps to marshal to defensive positions outside the capital. By the 10th large crowds of republicans, dissatisfied citizens, and striking workers had gathered inside Saint Yazdoikakh to protest and agitate. Imperial Guard units were rerouted to reinforce Capital Police and create safe passage not only for the transfer of Imperial wealth but also members of the aristocracy and monarchist supporters who feared for their lives. Likewise, they took with them caravans of their own wealth and goods.

On the 13th the SPLP in tandem with several syndicalist trade unions and the Veloren Gekezikist Party declared that a national revolution was at hand. That same day the first Imperial Army units arrived on the outskirts of Saint Yazdoikakh and skirmished with Imperial Guards. On the morning of the 14th protesters within the capital, hearing the ongoing sounds of battle outside the city began to erect barricades to retard the movement of Imperial loyalist forces. Militias were formed haphazardly among VRP, SPLP, Syndicalist, Gekezikist, and apolitical strikers with the intention of arresting control of the capital from the Imperial Guards. On the 15th Imperial Army troops loyal to the General Staff broke through the Imperial Guard outer city perimeter, accelerating the flight of monarchists and imperial loyalists who began to commandeer private vessels or bribe their way onto ships out of the capital. What had been skirmishes in forests and villages outside the city had now transformed into a tense and violent urban battle between the well-equipped Imperial Guards and veteran Imperial Army.

On the night of the 15th Republican militias attempted to storm the Imperial Palace but were repulsed by Imperial Guards Corps cavalry, resulting in heavy militia casualties. Finally on the 18th the Army managed to breach the inner city and marched on the palace and ports, ending the Imperial exodus out of the city. Prime Minister Thirchath was arrested and on the steps of the palace Veloren Republican Party members accompanied by officers of the Imperial Generals Staff and representatives from the SPLP declared a provisional republican government.

=Federative Veloren Republic= Despite commitments from nearly all anti-monarchist political factions in the September Revolution, the provisional government of Velorenas would be formed out of a clique of Army officers and the VRP headed by Kinzun Dietorvan as interim president. The inclusion of former Imperial Army officers within the provisional government greatly upset the SPLP and other blue groups, with the VRP countering that the new republic needed a strong defense to stave off counter-revolution. An Imperial Remnant had been formed in the Northern Islands protected by the Imperial Guards and though extremely low in population they had evacuated an extensive amount of wealth with them and enjoyed international recognition.

Though enjoying popular support in the Northwestern cities of Velorenas, the steppe interior and ethnic minority populations in the Northeast were hesitant members of the provisional republic. In December several anti-clerical decrees were passed to the great consternation of the conservative steppe and Haksarad minorities. Religious teaching was barred, high taxes were levied on Jarader temples, religious orders were banned, and the newly formed National Republican Guards carried looted and burned convents in and around Saint Yazdoikakh.

1907 Constitution
The 1907 Constitution would create fractures in support for the nascent Federative Veloren Republic. A weak parliament was created with a strong executive, anti-clericalism was entrenched in law, and some minor worker’s rights were won yet the trade unions believed they didn’t go far enough. The 1907 Constitution transformed the messy system of dukedoms and provinces within the Empire to a system of states all nominally equally under the law, though in reality power was centralized to Saint Yazdoikakh and the Velorens. The 1907 Constitution restricted suffrage (women still did not yet have the vote) and would inaugurate the educated lawyers and intelligentsia from the Veloren Republican Party as a new political elite who were ever fearful of counter-revolution from the Remnant.

Political Instability
The Federative Veloren Republic from the onset was racked by instability made worse by the assassination of President Kinzun Dietorvan in 1912. The longest serving president of the republic, Dietorvan had coalesced power around himself and began a policy of state economic intervention to spur industrial growth. As a moderate he had been in negotiations with Pande and Meryakh leaders about increased autonomy and had been popular with non-blue trade unions. His death left a power vacuum filled by President Ordas who immediately halted the autonomy negotiations and arrested several prominent SPLP and Industrial Union members for their passionart sympathies, citing they were fermenting counter-revolution. The SPLP and Industrial Union responded with protests and strikes around Saint Yazdoikakh, which led to their bloody suppression by the Republican National Guards and banning of the SPLP. Open rebellion in several Pande and Meryakh cities was costly put down by the Federal Army and the National Guards. The Meryakh continued to rebel and several villages formed anarchist partisan bands, resulting in the Southeast being a simmering insurrection that costed the republican government valuable resources.

In 1914 a pro-monarchist peasant revolt broke out in the interior due to a new wave of anti-clericalism. President Dietorvan was forced to resign by a cabal of military officers who formed a National Revolutionary Committee to put down the revolt and “safeguard the revolution” until new elections. In 1916 elections saw the election of President Fialu from the Veloren Republican Party’s radical wing. President Fialu nationalized several industries and promised greater state cooperation with the trade unions. Fialu was also a firm proponent of democratic centralism. He sought to unify parliament into a single house and abolish traditional political parties into a single-party system. The announcement of party abolishment saw widespread protest and rioting by all major parties. Paramilitaries of the Veloren Gekezikist movement stormed parliament and occupied the building for three days. They sought to begin a new revolution, but they along with the majority of Gekezikist leadership were massacred by National Republican Guards who retook parliament through violence of action. President Fialu and the radical wing of the Veloren Republican Party were bloodily purged by the military in a coup that placed a conservative Veloren nationalist government headed by Pazhiniash Relvas who was proclaimed president of the republic in June of 1917.

The general instability of the republican government, continued economic woes, centralizing of political power around the VRP, and several military coups contributed to general dissatisfaction with the regime. The VRP had become an elitist clique more concerned with inner-party squabbles then improving the ailing condition of the republican experiment. Any sense of legitimacy for the republic had evaporated by the second military coup in 1917.

National Redemption Front
The Veloren Blue Movement was primarily split between the All-Veloren Revolutionary Passionate Party (A-VRPP) and the Veloren Gekezikist Party. The A-VRPP was the successor to the SPLP which had been banned in 1912 following President Kinzun Dietorvan’s assassination. The A-VRPP had a close relationship with the trade unions, which had united into two primary organizations: the passionart Pan-Veloren Industrial Workers’ Union (P-VIWU) and the anarcho-syndicalist Confederated Brotherhood of Labor (CBL). The A-VRPP, though starting out as passionart republican party had been increasingly radicalized by the failure of the republican regime and pushed into the blue camp. The ascension of Raes Khosravi to the position of Deputy Party Chairwoman in 1914 resulted in the synthesizing of passionart philosophy with syndicalism. Khosravi’s leadership would also a growing relationship between the A-VRPP and underground avant-garde movements such as the futurists. The futurist glorification of speed, youth, and violence and revulsion for conservative traditions would be highly influential on A-VRPP party leadership.

In 1918 the new party platform of the A-VRPP was codified with the release of What Should be Done by Khosravi which amounted to the philosophy of a new ideology: Revivalism. Raes Khosravi framed Revivalism as “the culmination of liberty, passionartism, and syndicalism into a single native platform” that would address the ongoing social issues, ineffectual government, and economic crisis. The Veloren Gekezikist Party had enjoyed widespread popularity, especially among more rural localities. However, their strength was sapped, and the party was banned following their abortive revolution in 1917. The death or imprisonment of the party’s leadership resulted in the Gekezikist Party fracturing into several minor factions and rural members defecting to anarchist movements.

In 1920 the A-VRPP announced their intention to form a popular coalition to challenge the upcoming 1922 elections and finally wrestle control away from the Veloren Republican Party. After much negation and wrangling a National Redemption Front (NRF) was announced in 1921. Spearheaded by the All-Veloren Revolutionary Passionate Party, the NRF included the Noyonist Radical Federalist Party (RFP) and moderate rural Peasant Labor Party (PLP). The NRF enjoyed widespread support from regional Pande and Meryakh parties who continued to agitate for autonomy and were subject to sporadic suppression or pogroms by the republic. In the spirit of blue solidarity, the anarcho-syndicalist CBL trade unions joined ranks with the P-VIWU in supporting the Redemption Front for the 1922 election, despite being ideologically opposed to the parliamentary process. The National Redemption Front’s platform called for a secular but not anti-clerical constitution, the breaking of the VRP’s elite political clique, a syndicalist economy, and the fulfillment of the promises of the September Revolution.

The A-VRPP, whose members were increasingly referred to as “Revivalists” called for a total revolutionary rebirth of the Veloren nation. They claimed the Veloren people had become stagnant and robbed of progress by the sub-passionate republican regime. The A-VRPP believed Velorenas as a nation was killed by the failed republican experiment and no longer represented the needs of the Velorens, Pande, Meryakhs, and other minorities. To further cement their point the A-VRPP revived an old Elyrian term that predated both the Holy Empire and the Republic and began to call Velorenas, “Velorenkya”.

=Blue November Passionate Revolution=

1922 Election
The 1920 general election saw a broad coalition of republicans narrowly obtain a majority in parliament. The republican coalition lacked a coherent platform and it's alliance was the result of anti-revivalist inertia against the NSF. To appease soft blue republicans and moderates in the NSF, XXX of the Social Democratic Party was appointed as prime minister by President XXX. This move outraged conservative elements among the republicans, many seeing his appointment as revivalist infiltration of the parliament.

The election was marred by violence committed by both sides, often in the form of street battles between anti-revivalist paramilitaries and the Free Patriots. Voter intimidation, while not widespread was present, especially in republican or revivalist stronghold cities. Allegations of voter fraud and ballot stuffing were claimed and proven by both sides but not nearly as extensive. Several villages that had elected passionary worker councils that paid lip service to the central government yet were de-facto independent refused to participate in the elections, decrying them as illegitimate. This in turn hampered the amount of seats the NSF could count, yet bolstered the blue cause as the inability of the republican government to organize elections everywhere in the country only added to the apparent weakness of the republicans.

Despite violence and maleficence, the 1920 general elections were generally considered free and fair by international observers. Regardless, the chaos of the 1920 elections, shaky alliance of the republicans, and apparent strength of the NSF would be seen as a signal by Revivalists that Velorenas was ready for a National Revival.

Khonestazh Mutiny
As part of the austerity measures implemented by the XXX administration, the Republican Navy saw it's budget decreased in 1919. Despite peace on the Velorenas mainland since 1916 a low level war on the seas remained as both Republican and Imperial ships often tried to interdict and seize each other's merchants. This budget decrease led to the slowing of ship production and the induction of new sailors. This in turn meant crews would find themselves at sea much longer for little increase of pay in order to combat Imperial commerce raiding.

The September Revolution had hit the Velorenas Navy hard, with nearly half the service defecting to the Imperial Remnant. While this greatly diminished the fighting capability of the service it meant those ships and crews that remained loyal to the revolutionary cause were especially radical and committed. On the the 27th of September 1920 the crew of the VRS Novinkha mutinied at the Khonestazh Port, 50 miles from Saint Yazdoikakh. The Novinkha had twice seen continuous operations on the high seas for nearly 200 days with only two weeks of liberty, and was slatted for another 200 days. The mutiny of the Novinkha outraged President XXX, who demanded a speedy resolution lest the federal government be further weakened following the violence of the general elections. While the Navy and prime minister XXX preferred to negotiate and work with the mutinied sailors, President XXX demanded their arrest. On September 30th Federal Police were ordered onto the VRS Novinkha to arrest the sailors. Dockworkers of the Khonestazh Longshoremen Syndicate erected barricades and sought to prevent movement of the police in solidarity with the mutinied workers. The police attempted to force the dispersion of the Longshoremen by force and the ensuing bloodshed resulted in the deaths of three dock workers and two police officers.

On the 31st Khonestazh dockworkers enacted a strike and joined with the sailors while the national leadership of the Veloren Federation of Syndicates began to debate a general strike in response to the death of three of it's affiliate workers at the hands of federal police. At the same time the attempted arrest of their fellow sailors had spurned other crews to mutiny and arrest their higher officers. On the 1st of October a Passionate Labor Council of Sailors and Citizens was formed by the Khonestazh mutineers and strikers who called for a "Final Resolution to the September Revolution". President XXX was outraged by the spiraling situation and began to cable General XXX to organize a force to "impose law and order and disperse of radical elements" at Khonestazh. General XXX was a highly conservative general and among one of the few of the original imperial generals staff to remain loyal to the provisional republic. Soldiers under his command were particularly notorious for their pacification of separatist and anarchist strongholds with revivalist and moderate newspapers alike criticizing him. Telegrams from the president to General XXX were leaked to radical blue and revivalist presses who enflamed tensions with their publication. Hysteria began to spread among the republic as publications began to publish wildly speculative claims that the President and General XXX were working in tandem to quash the sailors and workers at Khonestazh to prepare the way for an Imperial counter-revolutionary invasion from the Northern Islands.

Velorenkan Revivalists were quick to capitalize on the crisis created by the Khonestazh mutiny. While other members of the National Passionist Steering Committee sought to persuade the National Salvation Front to agree on a course of action the Federation of Syndicates ordered a national strike on October 3rd. That same day Raes Khosravi arrived to speak to the assembled Khonestazh Passionate Labor council to much acclaim. There she praised the action of the mutinous sailors and the striking longshoremen and declared to an assembeld crowd that "the principle on display at Khonestazh is simple: it is a revival of heroism and virtue. The birth of a new historical wave that shall soon carry us to Saint Yazdoikakh".

March on Saint Yazdoikakh
Raes Khosravi's inflammatory words at Khonestazh would mobilize the National Passionist Party to action. At the head of a column of mutinied sailors and armed workers Khosravi would begin a march on the capital on the 4th. Her band of revolutionaries would soon swell with the addition of Free Patriot paramilitaries and other citizens who had joined in the march. Torch, the official newspaper of the National Passionist Party now openly declared that President XXX was attempting a restoration of Imperial authority and that Khosravi and the "Revolutionary Blue Sailors and Patriots of Khonestazh will arrest the sub-passionate dictatorship, restore power to the peoples councils, and champion the syndicates". This message was soon endorsed by Noyonists among the Radical Federalist Party while the more light blue parties in coalition with the NFS either cautiously supported this march or remained indecisive. The Federation of Syndicates asked their workers who had been on strike across the republic since the 3rd to erect barricades, arm themselves and to "secure industrial democracy from sub-passionate dictatorship" by occupying their places of work.

President XXX ordered the arrest of Khosravi for inciting a rebellion and now ordered General XXX to send troops to Saint Yazdoikakh and intercept the march. By now Khosravi's column numbered over 30,000 militants of Revivalist and Blue allegiance. General XXX was forced to delay his own march on the capital as he had to sort out politically reliable units. Nearly a quarter of his soldiers were former people's militia or had Revivalist sympathies and either started their own mutiny or refused to leave their barracks. Open disobedience and rebellion to the republican government had now erupted all across the Federative Republic. Localities who had elected NSF officials began to echo the sentiment of Khosravi and the Khonestazh mutineers, declaring their own passionary labor councils and calling for the resignation or arrest of the president. In Saint Yazdoikakh itself the Free Patriots would once again spearhead radicalized members of the syndicates in storming armories and forming militias. Government buildings were seized with the exception of the Presidential Palace, where a brief gun fight left over 50 dead and resulted in Revivalist militants surrounding the palace. Republican Army units based around Saint Yazdoikakh largely confined themselves to their barracks, the moderate blue commander refusing orders by the President to restore order.

As Khosravi neared the capital Prime Minister XXX began to persuade President XXX to resign in order to stave off civil war as republican authority began to erode in a repeat of the 1915 Revolution. With the stalling of General XXX in marshalling his forces towards a capital in open revolt and the apparent siege of the presidential palace XXX would ultimately hand over the position of head of state to his prime minister, who would become acting president.

On the morning of the 7th Raes Khosravi would arrive at Saint Yazdoikakh and be asked by XXX to become prime minister and form a government while the sailors of Khonestazh joined with Free Patriots in parading through the streets. By the republican constitution Raes Khosravi legally obtained power as the prime minister, however the March on Saint Yazdoikakh was precepted by intimidation, violence, and open revolt by NSF elements. Upon becoming prime minister Khosravi would immediately side-step the president by issuing a dubious decree that in short declared "all power in Velorenkya (she refused to use Velorenas) shall be granted to the syndicates and laboring councils".

Revolution and the world
Future Lazh Raes Khosravi would join the organization in 1911 and quickly rise to a leadership position, becoming under-secretary in 1914. Khosravi was radicalized after being ejected from the Imperial Air Service for accusing a superior officer of sexual assault against herself and another woman. She became chairwoman of the movement in 1915 and