User:Pixy/Third Insurrection
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The Third Insurrection, also known as the April Insurrection, was a major civil war in Brumen that lasted from 10 April 1919 until 22 March 1922 and was fought between the Absolutists, Constitutionalists and Socialists. The Absolutists fought to preserve Brumen's absolute monarchial system of government, the Constitutionalists wished to replace it with a constitutional monarchy whereas the Socialists intended to overthrow the monarchy completely and replace it with a left-wing socialist state. Historians generally agree that the conflict was by two major factors: the economic and social changes caused by the industrial revolution as well as political dissatisfaction between the monarchy and the noble houses of the Kingdom. The Third Insurrection began on 10 April 1919 initially as a series of loosely coordinated protests by members of various labor unions from armament factories in the city of Ankerplatz near the Drevstranese border where workers both walked out and occupied public areas, demanding better working conditions and higher wages. Local officials were confused by conflicting rumors and reports about the protests, with news describing the event as everything from a simple peaceful protest to a Drevstranese attack on Brumen's soil, led to a violent suppression of the protests by both law enforcement officials and a mobilization of the Grand Army of the Realm's (GAR) local garrisson which further enflamed the situation. As news of the protest and its violent suppression spread the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the largest association of labor, worker and trade unions in Brumen, organized a general strike at the city of Hafenstadt to protest the government response in Ankerplatz and demanded the same concessions. These striking workers however were shot upon by police officers and soldiers which resulted in non-members of the TUC alongside the general population attacked local army barracks and police stations to protect the striking workers. Hannes II the reigning monarch at the time issued a series of proclamations which included: making it illegal to become a member a trade union, the banning the use of public spaces to stage protests. These were swiftly followed by the signing of a Royal Decree that legalized Hannes II's proclamation, all of which were done without consulting the Oberhaus. The proclamation however was largely ignored by the nation's labor unions, and both members and non-members of labor unions walked out in solidarity and protest towards the monarch's decision.
Socialist movements affiliated with the TUC initiated an insurgency campaign in almost all realms across the nation. TUC strongholds include the realm of Bewahren where it had successfully taken over and controlled key government and military institutions. House Hoffman alongside Houses XX, XX and XX protested Hannes II unilateral decision to issue royal decrees without consulting the Oberhaus (House of Lords) and instead issued their own decree towards the monarch which labeled Hannes II proclamation to be null and avoid as it conflicts with the interests of the nation. In response Hannes II dissolved the Oberhaus and arrested Ulrich Hoffman, the head of House Hoffman, alongside his supporters. This led to the realm of Sudentor, the ancestral homeland of House Hoffman, to declare war upon the monarchy and demanded the abdication and exile of Hannes II, establishment of legislative and judicial bodies and the release of all prisoners. The faction led by House Hoffman becoming known as the Constitutionalists, those led by Hannes II were the Absolutists and the Socialists used as an umbrella term to describe the various left-wing and worker movements throughout the country. Officers and enlisted personnel of the Grand Army of the Realm (GAR) could be found in all three factions though a significant number of them sided with the Consitutionalists. Right from the start Absolutist forces found themselves fighting a war on two fronts, from the east Socialist insurrectionists were able to initially expand their area of control quickly with the cities of Endeheim, Gelddorf and Schonfurt falling under their control over the next three months. Constitutionalist forces were able to expel government and military officials loyal to the monarchy and began their slow conquest towards the east. Socialist uprisings in the west were also rampant but were quashed with considerable loss off life, though it prevented Socialist elements from establishing a firm foot-hold in Constitutionalist-held territories. By March 1921 all three factions had largely reached a stalemate, with no major gains by any faction for the next three months. Through various back channels the Constitutionalists and Socialists sought to establish an alliance to break the stalemate and decisively end the civil war. Intense behind the scene negotiations between the Constitutionalist and Socialists took place between July and September 1921 until a tentative agreement was reached as to how the country would be governed after Hannes II had been deposed. An informal ceasefire agreement was reached as the Constitutianlist and Socialist factions worked together to defeat the Absolutists. The capture of Dinsmark and arrest of Hannes II on December 1921 marked the defacto end of the war with both the Consitutionalist and Socialist factions engaging in high level talks to establish a new government. This would lead to a series of changes known as the Second Reformation, a constitution was ratified on 22 March 1922 which marks the dejure end of the Third Insurrection.
Causes
Internal factors
The industrial revolution in Brumen that began in the early 19th century led to rapid economic and societal changes and consequences in the Kingdom. A process of urbanization swept the country with people migrating from the nation's rural regions to its major cities and industrial centers. This influx of residents who were previoulsy unfamaliar with urban culture were quickly introduced to new lifestyles and urban culture and with better wages these influx of people disrupted the existing social order. Since the abolishment of feudalism in the 16th century Brumenese society was divided into three distinct orders. This social order had kept Brumenese society stable for nearly half a millenium but found itself incompatible with the changes brought upon by the nation's industrialization. Brumen's pre-existing social class is as follows:
- The first order: highest social class and consisted of Brumen's royal family.
- The second order: second highest social class and is comprised of members of Brumen's nobility, lesser monarchs who governed the realms of Brumen.
- The third order: often considered as the middle-class and consisted of wealthy merchants and business owners.
- The fourth order: lowest social class and consisted the working class such as laborers, tradesmans, artisans, craftmans, servants and peasants.
Discontent quickly grew amongst working class when their hopes for a better life through the nation's industrialization were quashed as they experienced severe overcrowded housing, poor sanitary conditions, long working hours, little to no working rights and/or protections and inadequate wages from their employers. These newly urbanized workers were also exposed to new ideas about political, economic and social orders which sparked conversations amongst them and was quickly disseminated through the fledgling press industry. Long standing grievences amongst workers and commoners include the disproportionate distribution of wealth and property rampant in the nation. By the mid 20th century the first, second and third orders of society controlled 85% and 95% of the nation's wealth and land respectively even though they only comprise 25% of Brumen's total population. This led to a slow but growing call for change in the country's economic and social order. Workers established associations with similarly minded workers to voice their opinions together which eventually led to the creation of the first unions in Brumen. By 1901 unions could be found in almost every city in the country. These unions generally had common goals: improve working conditions, obtain better benefits and wages, establish proper complaint procedures, develop rules governing the status of employees and increase the bargaining power of the union's members through collective bargaining.
Meanwhile politically members of the nobility had grown increasingly alienated by the monarch's disregard of the role of the House of Lords. For centuries the ruling monarchs of Brumen had ruled relatively unchallented, with no meaningful opposition ever able to successfully challenge the decisions of the monarch. The Oberhaus is often considered by historians as a proto-legislative body that was formed in the aftermath of the First Insurrection in the 16th century, whose puprose was to provide a forum of discussion between the monarchy and the great noble houses of Brumen. The Oberhaus however was not vested with formal powers to veto or stop Brumen's monarchs from taking action, even if members of the Oberhaus objected to it. While the monarch was undern o obligation to discuss every decision he or she intended to take with the Oberhaus, every monarch since Arndt I established the Oberhaus had done so since 1588, effectively establishing an informal convention for all monarchs to do so. This convention began to be ignored by Hannes I in 1860, which his successor Hannes II, ignored entirely by the time he was coronated in 1885. To appease members of the nobility, Hannes II offered them certain privilleges but some members of the nobility rejected Hannes II's offers and sought to ensure that the convention remained. Opponents of Hannes II's actions included Ulrich Hoffman, the head of House Hoffman, who found allies in Houses XX, XX and XX and began to quietly gather support to propose and enact reforms to limit the powers of the monarch. Combined with the nation's economic and social changes brought upon by industrialization, Brumen's political landscape was rife and ready for a revolution.
External factors
Hannes II decision to involve Brumen in the Drevstranese Civil War is also considered as a supporting factor in the cause of the Third Insurrection. Brumen's government s trongly condemned the 12th of February coup initiated by Hortankh Bolsar and refused to recognized the Transitory Emergency State which served as Drevstran's interim government. Brumen instead recognized the Golden Columns led by Prince Farza of Kaposlovar as the legitimate successor state of the Tripple Crown. However due to geographical constraints most of Brumen's support was centered around the Marquisate of Yugstran led by Srav Kann, a supporter of Prince Farza. Initially Brumen refrained for direclty intervening in the war, offering instead financial, diplomatic support as well as the shipment of arms and equipment for the Royalist faction. Hannes II originally wanted to involve the GAR in the civil war but its commanders lobbied against it due to the Royalists precarious situation. However a large number of Havari, Lushyods who had settled around lake Bluhen from Drevstran, wished to support the Royalists though they lacked the means to do so effectively. Hannes II took advantage of this opportunity and established the Havari Regiment, a volunteer militia organization that would serve as an auxiliary unit to maintain internal security within Royalist controlled territories and assist local police officers. Members of the militia were trained by officers of the GAR and in total up to XXXX militia perosnnel was sent to territories controlled by the Marquisate by 1914. Hannes II had hoped that the use of the Havari would provide him with some degree of plausible deniability while at the same time allowing him to more directly assist the Marquisate. For Srav himself the presence of the Havari would help free up his more experienced professional solders to be deployed in combat. Brumen also provided material aid such as small arms, ammunition, helmets and so forth, alongside medical support and military training where soldiers loyal to Kann were sent to Brumen and trained by the GAR.
However by 1916 with Royalist forces unable to force a decisive end to the war Hannes II, against the advice of his military commanders, proclaimed the direct involvement of Brumen in the DCW on the side of the Royalists and and ordered the deployment of the GAR to support Srav Kann. Hannes II motivation to assist Kann was most likely driven out of his own desire to preserve Brumen's absolute monarchy and the need to what he perceived as the necessary containment of a domino effect of revolutions from Ostrozava and Drevstran from reaching Brumen's borders. Hannes II had also hoped that Brumen's participation in the war would help deflect public discontent from his own failings in managing the consequences of Brumen's industrialization and a victory in the war would help him regain legitimacy amongst both the nobility and commoners alike. While GAR involvement was able to temporarily tip the balance in Kann's favor, Vilvo Obraggar's renewed offensives in 1918 proved to be decisive enough to force Srav to consider surrendering. Once his intention to surrender was made public the GAR and Havari militia volunteers began to withdrew to Brumen's borders. The Royalists subsequent defeat in 1918 and significant loss of GAR personnel was seen as a major foreign policy failure with members of the nobility holding Hannes II personally responsible for it. Hannes II also effectively alienated GAR commanders as he had ignored their warnings to not directly involve the GAR. Civilians that had been conscripted returned home disillusioned with their purpose to unquestioningly serve a monarchy that they saw to be incapable whereas workers who had produced materiel for the war effort grew discontent as they endured grueling working conditions but the country was unable to emerge victorious.
Factions
Absolutists
The Absolutists are a faction of the Brumenese government and GAR led by Hannes II that fought to preserve the nation's absolute monarchy. Hannes II
Constitutionalists
Socialists
The Socialists is an umbrella term used by historians to refer to left-wing factions that sought to overthrow the monarchy and establish a Socialist state in its place and were largely comprised of workers and commoners, people from Brumen's third order of society. These groups range from political parties, labor unions and defectors from the GAR itself who fought for the socialist cause. Socialist movement first began to appear in the mid 18th century as a result of nation's industrialization and initially began as labor unions that demanded better working conditions and wages from their employers through protests and strikes. Though large in scale they were relatively peaceful in nature and never turned violent. These efforts had mixed success and popularized the process of collective bargaining throughout the nation. The largest of these organizations and political movements includes confederations of various trade unions namely the Trade Union Congress (TUC/GSK), Transport Union (TU/VU), Association of Coal Miners (ACM/VdB) and the United Front of Miners & Farmers (UFMF/VFdBL). The TUC and TU are generally seen as the leading members of the Socialist faction throughout the insurrection, and were led by Leni Ziegler and Johna Hopfer. Members of the socialist movement were comprised mostly of people from the fourth order of Brumenese society, namely those who performed manual labor or skilled trades. By the early 20th century this had expanded to include lawyers, artisans and doctors who embraced the advantages of establishing unions. The success of the Crimson Revolution in Ostrozava raised hopes amongst the Socialists that a transition into a left-wing nation was possible and concurrently raised concerns among the upper class and nobility who were worried that the revolution in Ostrozava might result in cascading domino effect. Further fueling this fear was the start of the Drevstranese Civil War (DCW), bringing the threat ever closer to home. Hannes II's decision to support the Royalist faction and later direct participation into the war was highly unpopular amongst workers and merchants alike. When it became apparent that the Royalists lacked the means to decisively end the DCW, Hannes II ordered the GAR to directly intervene in the civil war. A general mobilization was announced and a conscription enacted to fulfill additional manpower requirements of the GAR. Workers were not consripted were required to work longer to support the larger war effort which only further antagonized the population.
Foreign involvement
Course of the war
General Strike of 1919
On 10 April 1919 factory workers who worked in armament factories at the city of Ankerplatz walked out and occupied public areas, demanding better working conditions and higher wages from their employers. Ankerplatz is located just XX kilometers from the Drevstranese borders and city officials as well as the local GAR garrison had been on edge of a potential Drevstranese retaliation against Brumen for its involvement in the Drevstranese Civil War. the lack of a formal peace treaty to end Brumen's involvement in the Drevstranese Civil War cast a cloud of uncertainty as to whether Drevstran would retaliate against Brumen. The strikes were organized by various labor unions that were affiliated with the larger Trade Union Congress. Strikes and walkouts had been a common scene throughout Brumen since its industrialization but this was the first coordinated mass walk out in a major city. Local officials were confused by conflicting rumors and reports about the protests, with news describing the event as everything from a simple peaceful protest to a Drevstranese attack on Brumen's soil, led to a violent suppression of the protests by both law enforcement officials and a mobilization of the GAR's local garrison by the realm's Duke which further inflamed the situation. Hundreds of people were arrested and detained with many more hospitalized, though none were killed and no shots were fired by law enforcement officials. News of the protest and violent suppression reached the TUC which prompted the organization to organize a larger strike in the city of Hafenstadt to protest the government response in Ankerplatz, demanding the same concessions and an apology for its violent suppression. Hannes II was informed of the situation in Ankerplatz and issued a royal decree that made it illegal for large groups of people to assemble and voice their opinions in public places. The strikes in Hafenstadt began on 15 April 1919 and in an attempt to circumvent the royal decree, protesters instead staged rallies and protests inside their factories. Factory owners barricaded themselves in offices or warehouses to avoid the workers and called for help from law enforcement officials who were prevented from entering the premises by the striking workers. The strikes went on for two days with police unable to disperse the workers unless their demands were fulfilled. A fire eventually broke out in a factory that produced ammunition and small arms which led to an explosion. Police officers in the factory then immediately fired upon the striking workers, thinking they were under attack which led to the deaths of dozens of workers. This quickly spiraled out of control when information about the explosion and gunshots was spread, resulting in both police officers and protestors attacking each other which led to an escalating spiral of violence.
By 18 April the local GAR barracks and police stations were overrun by protestors and members of the general public who had grown disillusioned with the government. In response Hannes II issued a new royal decree that made it illegal to establish trade union and branded all existing trade unions to disband themselves within the next three days which was signed into law on 19 April which only further galvanized efforts by trade unions to resist the government efforts. The royal decrees were published and circulated without consultation with the Oberhaus which only brewed more animosity from the nobility towards Hannes II. Ulrich Hoffman, the leader of a coalition of disgruntled noble houses, sought for an audience with Hannes II and informed the monarch of his concerns which only fell to deaf ears. As word of Hannes II's royal decree was circulated and announced throughout the nation mass demonstrations broke out in major cities such as Anfang, Dinsmark and Althaven. By 26 April almost every city in the nation was engulfed in demonstrations by workers, students and members of the general public who had grown disillusioned with Hannes II's reign. In response to the mass demonstrations on 28 April Hannes II issued another royal decree which imposed a 30-day ban on street protests. Law enforcement official were also given the authority to imprison anyone found in violation of the ban. On the morning of 29 April local police officers in Anfang arrested group of students whom the police suspected of heading towards a plaza where demonstrations were held. Two of the students managed to escape police custody and reported to their parents that they were tortured and assaulted by police. Parents of the victims came to the police station and demanded the release of the remaining students, but the parents in turn were attacked and detained the police. Word of their arrest and assault was quick spread by eye witness reports and a crowd quickly descended upon the police station, destroyed it and released the detainees. As the outnumbered police fled protesters began attacking other police stations throughout the city. Police reinforcements arrived but they proved unable disperse demonstrators through non-lethal means. In Gartenstrasse (Garden Street) a large crowd of demonstrators had congregated and began to march towards Anfang city hall. Police had created a barricade and demanded for the protestors to disperse. When the protestors refused to do so they were fired upon which resulted in the deaths of at least 150 people. Hannes II royal decrees and the police's heavy handed tactics to suppress the demonstrations only strengthened the protestor's resolve with the massacre in Gartenstrasse becoming a rallying call for the general public to riot.
Escalation into a civil war
With the civil unrest quickly spiraling into a full blown rebellion Hannes II ordered the deployment the GAR to quell the uprisings with orders to shoot on sight. General Hellfried Kraus, chairperson of GAR High Command, was against this order and refused to issue the order to GAR personnel. On 1 May Hannes II ordered that General Kraus come to the royal palace in Dinsmark where monarch again ordered General Kraus to deploy the GAR against the protestors. When Kraus refused to do so Hannes II relieved him of his command and replaced him with Wendell Klein a well known loyalist to the monarchy. General Klein ordered the deployment of the GAR but this only deepened an already existing rift between Hannes II and elements of the GAR who were unhappy with Hannes II's decision to involve the GAR in the Drevstranese Civil War. Orders were issued fo GAR garrison commanders to deploy troops to major cities but not all complied. There are reports of enlisted personnel who refused to fire upon protestors and was placed in military detention as well as officers who refused to comply with the order entirely and instead ordered their troops to remain within their barracks. Entire squads, platoons, companies, brigades and divisions of the GAR who, of their own volition, have been reported to defect and join the rising insurrectionist movement. With Hannes II's showing no signs of deescalating the ongoing civil turmoil leaders from the nation's largest trade unions, the Trade Union Congress, Transport Union, Association of Coal Miners and United Front of Miners & Farmers, agreed in an emergency convention where they agreed that the only way to end Hannes II's reign was through an armed struggle. Assisted by defectors from the GAR, Socialist insurrectionists were able to take over and control key government and military institutions in Brumen's eastern realms with Bewahren and parts of eastern Waldreich becoming Socialist strongholds.
With almost half the nation in open rebellion against the crown and elements of the GAR either turning mutinous or refusing to implement the monarch's order on 5 May the Oberhaus, under Ulrich Hoffman's leadership, issued drafted and ratified a competing royal decree. As the Oberhaus was only a consultative body and not granted any authority to issue royal decrees, many saw this act as a symbolic gesture to show that not all within the ruling monarch's government agreed with Hannes II's actions. The Oberhaus's royal decree not only rescinded all royal decrees issued by Hannes II since the beginning of the strikes, but it also condemned monarch and demanded that Hannes II's immediate abdication and the ascendancy of a new monarch elected by the Oberhaus. Hannes II saw this as an act of disloyalty and betrayal, resulting in the execution of Ulrich Hoffman and the arrest of all members of the Oberhaus who supported his royal decree. As a result the remaining members of the nobility in the Oberhaus were those loyal to Hannes II. Raban Hoffman, son of Ulrich Hoffman, led a coalition of noble houses who were alienated by Hannes II demanded for his immediate abdication and an end to the monarch's unchecked powers. General Kraus, who still had the loyalty of the commanders of the GAR's 2nd, 3rd and 4th armies, met with Raban Hoffman, and pledged his support to rebel noble houses who historian would refer to as the Constitutionalist faction.