Lilybaeum Massacre

Lilybaeum Massacre
Part of Second Beringian Civil War
Château de Lilybaeum, former seat of power and home of the members of House Lilybeau. The building and grounds have been maintained by House D'Elise since the end of the war.
Location	Linnaeum Autonomous District, United Provinces of Beringia, present day Old Beringia
Date	May 19 - 22, 1984
Target	House Lilybeau, vassals and supporters of House Lilybeau, residents of Linnaeum
Attack type	Mass murder, looting
Deaths	62,583
Non-fatal injuries	17,611
Victims	House Lilybeau, vassals and supporters of House Lilybeau, residents of Linnaeum
Perpetrators	Alerian and Tastifanian Provincial Armed Forces
Assailants	Alerian
Defenders	Vidame de Linnaeum
Motive	Reprisal for the D'Elise Affair, House Lilybeau's support of House D'Elise and the Eastern Bloc

The Lilybaeum Massacre occurred in May 1984, as part of the policy of reprisal actions of the Alerian and Tastifanian Provinces during the opening stages of the Second Beringian Civil War. It was perpetrated by the Alerian Provincial Army and Tastifanian Provincial Army against the residents of the city-state of Lilybaeum in the Linnaeum Autonomous District, United Provinces of Beringia. The massacre was the first of its kind during the civil war and marked the start of a wider campaign of persecution, forced deportations, and genocides carried out by the CIWP (Coalition of Independent Western Provinces). The dead included all 41 members of House Lilybeau. It was one of the worst attacks on civilians during the first years of the war, up until the Oscian Death Marches in 1989.

Background

In early December 1979, the United Provinces Legislature passed laws severely limiting the freedom of movement of citizens between provinces, similar to laws governing movement between sovereign countries. Around the same time polices made their way through the Alerian provincial legislature where the Linnaeum Autonomous District was singled out by name for the Lilybeau's continued support of House D'Elise. The following year, during the 1980 Constitutional Convention, Aleria first made good on their threat to withhold ground freight transport to enclaves in exchange for several concessions regarding their independent military. Although the Linnaeum Autonomous District is not a full enclave it relied heavily on road transported goods for most of its basic needs following the passage of policies that cut off Alerian support of enclaves.

In mid 1982, rising tensions prompted Cassius Threatt, the Vidame de Linnaeum and sworn defender of the Linnaeum Autonomous District, to reach out to House D'Elise. Vidame Threatt secured an agreement with House D'Elise and House Rose for further support that didn't violate any of the United Provinces' laws. In a project that would last several months the Vidame de Linnaeum commissioned the construction of docks, funded by House Rose, to accommodate House D'Elise sponsored shipping from Sai Tan. In response, the province of Aleria began staging military exercises simulating raids on the three châteaux spread throughout the Linnaeum Autonomous District with full sized recreations of the castles made from shipping containers and other prefabricated structures.

Active harassment of shipping bound for the Linnaeum Autonomous District when House Rose began advising the construction of demolition points, tank traps rigged with explosives to create defensive rubble, along with fougasse mines buried along possible coastal landing points. Perennial Bridge, the sole entrance to the main island of the district, was rigged to explode should guards stationed in the towers trigger the bombs. Alerian officials claimed that further militarization of Lilybaeum would break agreements that allowed the existence of the enclave and would prompt a termination of the agreement in addition to an Alerian military response. The Linnaeum Autonomous District's proximity to an Alerian military base had become an issue with the armaments flowing into Lilybaeum. The Tastifanian Provincial Navy started a blockade with the permission of the Alerian authorities after weeks of harassment of supply shipments. Within a week of the opening engagements of the civil war House Rose was declared enemy of the Tastifanian people and Lilybaeum was declared an open insurrection by Aleria.