Simeon Kovachev

His Excellency Simeon Kovachev
Formal Portrait taken in 1958
President of Tengaria
In office November 14, 1958 – January 2, 1983
Deputy	Boris Goga (1958-1966) Rumeon Slanev (1966-1977) Vasil Radev (1977-1983)
Preceded by	Simeon Radez Rumen Santov (Disputed)
Succeeded by	Dimitri Kovachev Vasil Radev (acting President)
Head of the National Rally
In office April 13, 1957 – January 2, 1983
Deputy	Ivan Ivanev
Preceded by	Position Established
Succeeded by	Dimitri Kovachev
Head of the Tengarian Provisional Government
In office May 14, 1956 – November 13, 1958
Regent of Empire of Tengaria
In office September 3, 1930 – November 14, 1935
Monarch	Dragomir III
Count of Strelsti
In office May 13, 1930 – January 2, 1983
Preceded by	Position Established
Succeeded by	Bogomil Kovachev
Personal details
Born	Simeon Vasil Kovachev (1901-04-17)April 17, 1901 Stelsti, Istros Tengaria
Died	January 2, 1983(1983-01-02) (aged 81) Lenovo, Lenovo Tengaria
Nationality	Tengaria
Political party	National Rally
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Spouse(s)	Teodora Denov (m. 1924)
Children	Gregori Kovachev Milena Kovacheva Olga Kovacheva Petar Kovachev Dimitri Kovachev
Parents	Boris Kovachev (father) Sofia Kovacheva (mother)
Education	Sila Military School
Alma mater	Tengarian Military Academy
Military service
Allegiance	Tengaria
Branch/service	Tengarian Imperial Army Tengarian National Army
Years of service	1920-1930 1930-1958
Rank	Field Marshal

Saint Simeon Vasil Kovachev (Tengarian: Симеон Васил Ковачев; April 17 1901-January 2 1983; aged 81), also known as Saint Simeon of Tengaria, was an important Tengarian statesman who was the founder and commander of the Tengarian National Army, the leader of the Tengarian Resistance during the Great War, the head of two Tengarian provisional governments, founder of the National Rally political movement, the writer of Tengaria's second and current Constitution and sixth President of the Republic of Tengaria from 1958 until his death in 1983. One of Tengaria's national heroes, he is considered the most important Tengarian statesman of the Republican era.

Born in Stelsti as the only son of middle-class military family, Simeon followed in his father's footsteps from a young age. He was sent to a military boarding school as a boy in Istros, and later was accepted and educated in the Imperial Military Academy in the same city. During this stage of his life he became acquainted with the Znaniya School and adopted their Teleological philosophy, which would play an important role throughout the rest of his life and political career. He excelled at his studies, graduating at the top of his class and earning himself a prime commission as an infantry officer in the Imperial Army in 1920. Already a Podpolkovnik by the time of the outbreak of the Great War in 1927, he orchestrated several brilliant victories on the Ravnian Front, and was ennobled, awarded and promoted, quickly gaining a reputation for his strategic mind. He rose through the ranks quickly and by 1929 was promoted as Tengaria's youngest general at the age of 28. The war turned against Tengaria on the Amathian Front, and upon the immiment defeat of the Tengaria in 1930, Emperor Dragomir III named Kovachev as Regent. Kovachev gathered as much of the forces as he could from the Ravnian Front and strategically retreated to the hills of Visoclesia, and there he proclaimed the remnants as the Tengarian National Army and spearheaded the Tengarian Resistance against the Amathian occupation. With Soravian support later in the war, he was able to finally reclaim Tengaria from Amathian Control and worked to rebuild Tengaria. However, Soravia mandated that liberated Tengaria become a Republic, and so after he brought stability to the country, he resigned from his position as Regent, but continued to serve as the Field Marshal of the Army.

During the Early Tengarian Republic, Kovachev remained aloof from the political scene, as partisan factionalism became rampant and out of control. As the primary hero from the war, he was massively popular with most of the country. His monarchist and conservative views were at odds with the the republican statesmen of the time, who saw his ideals and his popularity as a potential threat. However, despite having enemies, he kept the army loyal to him and was able to retain his position. When factionalism eventually descended into the Tengarian Civil War, Kovachev led the National Army in assisting the loyalists. After the assassination of President Radev, Kovachev assumed power as the provisional head of government. He defeated the rebels to end the civil war and then stabilized the country in the aftermath of the war. He founded the National Rally in order to end partisan conflict and to strengthen national unity. In addition, Kovachev wrote Tengaria's second constitution based upon a model reflective of the political ideals of the ancient authors Xenagoras and Theocritus. he was elected as Tengaria's President in 1958, with National Rally taking control of the government. As President, he began to implement his philosophic ideals into the way Tengaria was run upon the ideals of the Znaniya School. He made firm connections between Episemialism to the state as the state religion and made policy to support it. In addition, repaired and nationalized many aspects of Tengaria's broken economy and brought the country out of debt to a working surplus. He served as President until his peaceful death in 1983, when his son Dimitri succeeded him as President.

Kovachev left a powerful legacy in his wake. His popularity as a war hero compounded with a successful presidency firmly implanted a postitive image in the minds of the Tengarian people. Since his death, Tengaria has continued to be dominated by his descendants and his political movement. His successors have promoted and fostered Simeon's image in order to solidify their own power base. In Tengaria, Kovachev is widely revered and respected both as a political figure and as a holy man. Many in Tengaria widely revere him as a Saint, and the Tengarian Church declared him to be a Saint after a seven year long examination process in December 2020. However, outside Tengaria, receptions of him are mixed. Most Eastern countries think of him as a benevolent dictator, who while concerned for the good of his country, implemented repressive policies and stifled democracy. Many social conservatives, and those who support a Classical Liberal arts education, have cited his educational programs with favor. He has been called a modern example of Theocritus's Philosopher king both positively and pejoratively.

Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Ivan Istina, Kovachev's tutor and founder of the Znaniya School.

Simeon was born the fifth child and only surviving son of Boris Kovachev, a middle-class military officer in the Tengarian Imperial Army, in 1901. His family hailed from the town of Stelsti in the southern region of the Empire of Tengaria, near the city of Istros. He would often read alone rather than play with his older sisters and other children, and is said to have been a quiet and serious child. He had a keen and sharp intellect, learning to read by age 4. As their only son, his parents were ready to invest money in him to get him a good education. When he was five, his parents hired a tutor to teach him. The teacher happened to be a young and brilliant philosopher and polymath Ivan Istina, a native of Istros who taught Simeon but was also taking a sabbatical in order to do research and contemplate in leisure. Through this, Simeon was already exposed at a very young age to the basics of a liberal education, mastering Euclid's elements, among other things. Simeon took to his studies quite well, already showing a deep love for the intellectual life. After three years Istina left to go back to Istros and teach his philosophy to the the Agora. Simeon, already ahead of his peers and a precocious student, was accepted into the Sila military school in the city of Lenovo at the age of eight.

At the school, he consistently and diligently applied himself to his studies and duties, and was consistently at the top of his class. However, he did not make any friends, and modern historians now associate that he might have been bullied by the other boys at the school, especially by the more popular children. The fact that he was lower class than many of the students and his quiet disposition also probably hindered him from making friends and precipitated the abuse he received from them. Despite this social disadvantage, this did not affect his studies. His classmates later reported that he was quiet, serious, and distant from everyone else, preferring to study and to read in his room over doing social events. He did engage in athletic activities with the other students, although his interaction with them caused him to not fit well into team sports. However, he preformed well in individual sports he was a strong wrestler and runner. He graduated the Sila School at the top of his class at age 16, and was accepted into the Tengarian Military Academy in the city of Istros.

Tengarian Military Academy

The Tengarian Military Academy in Istros.

Life at the Military Academy was different than the life at the Sila School. Although the Sila school was also run by the military, the Military Academy was a school which focused on developing good military officers in addition to just educating. As such, although Simeon excelled at the athletics and his duties, he ran into trouble with his leadership qualities and communal life. His teachers, recognizing his intellectual brilliance, told him he would make a poor officer if he could not get along with his men. His first year at the Academy was plagued by these issues, and the discouragement which he felt soon began to affect his life. Eventually his studies suffered slightly as well, and his poorer grades dropped him several places. While his life had not completely fallen apart and he was still in the top group of students, by the end of the year he no longer was the top student of the class.

After the completion of the first year, he remained over the break in the city of Istros, and became re-acquainted with the Ivan Istina and the other philosophers of the Znaniya School, who offered free lectures and discourse in the Agora. His old tutor agreed to help teach him both the study of ethics and of rhetoric, so that he could better cultivate the abilities a good soldier should have. Soon he was a regular frequenter of the School, and not only took his tutor's teaching, but also firmly embraced their Teleological philosophy. He decided especially to become Xenagoras's ideal of the virtuous man laid out in the Ethics. Not only did he become a disciple of the school, but he also was able to use the school to begin to make friendships with other students interested in their philosophy, and was able to better learn how to engage with others and refine his speech.

The next term, both his classmates and teachers were astonished by his change. Although still in his working stages, he became more active with the communal life of the school, and began to make friends and to establish relationships with his fellow cadets. He once again climbed to top of his class, and also continued going to lectures at the Agora in his free time. After continuing his studies for another two years, he graduated the Academy at in 1920 at the top of his class, and was granted a commission as an officer in the Tengarian Imperial Army as a Starshi Leytenant. His connections from the school and his prodigious talent seemed ready to grant him a promising career. He was placed in command of a unit of light infantry in Tengaria's First Division, which were the most well trained and best equipped of the Tengarian Military, mostly comprised of fast-moving light infantry skilled in fighting in rough terrain.

Military Career

Early Service

First recorded picture of Kovachev as a young officer.

The first 7 years of his service saw Tengaria at peace. As such he saw no active service, but instead spent his first years as an officer learning how to command and how to lead the men under his command. He was a popular commander, and tried to get to know each and every one of his men, often eating and drinking with them. However, he also at the same time had a reputation for being strict, setting a high bar for his men and punishing those who were not diligent about their duties. He also worked diligently along with his men, in order to be an example. His units had the reputation of being severe but well run and ordered. This combined with his high promise seen by the general staff saw him get promoted several times during his early career- to Kapitan by age 22, Mayor by age 24, Podpolkovnik by age 26, the youngest in the army. His success was unprecedented in the army, but his career was watched with great interest by the command staff and with envy by many of the other officers. Word of his rise even reached the ears of Dragomir III, the Emperor, who invited him to the Imperial Palace to come visit him on several occasions, and during one of these visits he was made a Knight in the Order of Saint Vasil by the Emperor.

During one of these assignments in the city of Lenovo at the age of 22, he met and became acquainted with Teodora Denov at a soldier's ball. Teodora came from a middle-class family and whose father was a part of Imperial administration. The two began a friendship and exchanged letters, meeting with each other when an assignment brought him to the capital. The relationship between them grew stronger, and the couple were married in 1924. Their relationship was a happy one, and although Simeon's duties kept him occupied most of the time, but he began to take more leave in order to spend time with his wife. The two owned a house in Lenovo, although Teodora would often make the journey to visit her husband's posts while he was on duty as well. Eventually Teodora became pregnant and their first child was born in 1926, a son, who was named Gregori. Less than a year after his son was born, the Great War broke out across Euclea and the rest of the world. He would not see his family again until the war's conclusion.

The Great War

Kovachev with his men during the early stages of the war.

With the outbreak of the Great War in February of 1927, Tengaria entered into the war on the side of the Grand Alliance. Kovachev was immediately called into action. After bidding his family farewell, he was deployed on the Ravnian Front as one of the chief officers in the First Division, on the far northern edge of the front along the shores of Lake Min. In the first months of the war, Kovachev's forces made several important gains into Ravnian territory around the shore of Lake Min. Most notable of these was his unit's spearhead assault on Fort Min, a Ravnian fort on the shores of Lake Min, with minimal casualties. For this victory he was promoted to Polkovnik, and moved up to commanding his regiment since his commander was killed during the assault. His forces were able to seize the fort and hold it against a Ravnian counterattack. He was awarded the St. George Medal by the Emperor for his courage in battle, the second highest award for Tengarian bravery.

The Tengarian line made significant advances during the first part of the war, and Kovachev's unit was no exception. However, the Ravnians eventually began to deploy reinforcements, halting the Tengarian advance and turning the front into a stalemate. Only in the very north on the shores of Lake Min was any real progress made, as Tengarian's elite infantry continued to beat the Ravnian forces. However, they could not advance too far, elsewise they would overextend and become cut off from the line and destroyed. Thus for streches of months, Kovachev's units were forced to remain in the same general vicinity as the rest of the line crept at a snail's pace. Since his troops were specialized in rapid warfare, they constantly moved around to keep effectiveness. His troops moved from position to position, constantly harrying Ravnian forces and inflicting minor hit and run defeats on them. Even as they continued to do well, news reached them that the rest of the front was only slowly gaining on the Ravnians, and that the Ravnians were holding back the advancing Tengarian forces quite well. And so the stalemate continued on, without major change on either side. To make matters worse, news that the Eastern Front against the Amathians was faring poorly did not encourage the soldiers.

In the waning days of 1927, Kovachev's forces were engaging in a skirmish with Ravnian forces. A Ravnian pillbox was pinning down most of his men, preventing them from moving on, and inflicting heavy casualties. Several attempts to take the pillbox failed, until Kovachev personally led an assault on a Ravnian pillbox, taking it out of commission, and was wounded in the right shoulder while bringing back wounded men from the previous assaults back to the line. Simeon was hospitalized for a few months off of the front as he healed from his wound, not arriving back on the front until April of 1928. For this act of heroism, Kovachev was granted the Tengarian Golden Cross, the highest decoration for valour in Tengaria, and was also elevated to a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Vasil. Because of this, Kovachev also secured a promotion to Brigaden general, taking command of an entire brigade.

Kovachev when awarded his Tengarian Golden Cross.

In the Summer of 1928, as a last ditch effort to break the Ravnian front to commit more troops to the Eastern Front, Tengarian forces launched an offensive to break the stalemate on the Ravnian Front. Operation Nakovalnya initially was successful, pushing back the line somewhat, but stagnated along most of the line. However, in the northern portion of the front, Kovachev's brigade and other forces broke through the Ravnian line, causing the northern portion of the Ravnian line to collapse. Continuing to hit hard, the First Division continued to inflict losses and secure important objectives from Ravnia before coming to a halt when they could go no further without overextension. For his actions during the campaign, Kovachev was promoted to General-mayor, finally coming to command the entire First Division. While the Operation had been a success, men vital to the integrity of the Ravnian front were moved to counter the further advances of the Amathians. The Ravnian front, especially around the south, was now weakened, and began to be pushed back slowly towards the south. The forces on the northern flank, however, were able to hold against the Ravnian forces.

As the war continued, the situation became worse for Tengaria. The Amathians continued to advance, taking the city of Drangovo the winter of 1929. At the beginning of spring in 1930, the Ravnian forces smashed through the southern flank of the Ravnian front, causing the Tengarian forces to collapse and retreat northwards. Their path exposed, Ravnian forces were able to march into Krasiv and attack Tengaria from the west. Now with the South exposed, most of the Tengarian forces began to be beaten back on two fronts, as the enemy approached closer and closer to the capital of Lenovo. However, the forces to the north held against Ravnian assaults. The Emperor, seeing the crisis, promoted Kovachev to full rank general, placed him in charge of the remnants of the Ravnian Front, and ennobled him, naming him the Count of Stelsti. Despite his new commands, all Kovachev could do was check Ravnian assaults, keeping them from reaching Vasilgrad and keeping Lenovo from being attacked in the west. However, in order to do this, he had to withdraw all his troops from the progress points they had made in the Ravnian front. The Amathian forces still continued to press on, laying siege to the capital in late August.

By the beginning of September, the city was almost certain to fall. The Amathians were heavily pressing the cities, and most of the other Tengarian armies had been captured or had surrended. As a proven loyalist to the Empire and in command of the largest remaining portion of Tengarian soldiers, the Emperor named Kovachev as the Regent of the Tengarian Empire while he went on his infamous expedition to Soravia. Finally, on September 6, the city of Lenovo fell. Most of the government which remained loyal to the Emperor was taken prisoner or fled, although not a few supported the new occupation. Kovachev learned that he had been named as the Regent in Dragomir's absence. Knowing about the fall of the capital city, he took his remaining forces and withdrew to the rugged hills of Visoclesia. He determined that he would fight until the bitter end, and decided to rename the remnants of forces which he led as the Tengarian National Army. By the end of October, his forces had established themselves in the North, and prepared to fight a guerilla war.

Resistance Leader

Soldiers under Kovachev march across the River Len during the Len River Valley campaign.

Although Tengaria had collapsed, the provinces of Visoclesia and Silenya had yet to be conquered. Their rugged hills and rural terrain made it ideal to serve as a base of operations to stage a war of attrition against the Amathian occupation. As the Amathians solidified their control over the southern regions of Tengaria, Kovachev took the opportunity to regroup his forces and gather remnants of other forces which had fled to the north. He made contacts with loyalists and supporters within occupied territories to the south, establishing underground networks to promote resistance and to gain intelligence on the Amathian forces he was fighting against. However, he refrained from any open attack against the Amathians, lest he arouse their wrath upon him before his plans were full wrought. He established defensive postions and fortifications in the rural hills, in case the Amathians would attempt an assault on the remaining regions. In addition his resistance forces were able to be supplied by the Soravians, as the territory controlled by the Tengarians bordered Soravia by land as well as through Lake Min. On the shores of that lake, Tengaria's third largest city, Visnagrad, was still under control of the National Army, and was the effective capital of the Empire at the time. There was a semblance of government run by the old imperial administration which had not defected and had fled Lenovo, but for the most part, Kovachev ruled the unoccupied north himself through means of the National Army, which was given emergency power until the territory could be properly restored. In addition, Soravian military officers supervised Kovachev's actions as well. The Amathians did not press on their attack for some time, giving Kovachev the oppurtunity to fortify his position and to establish supply lines and fortifications in the hills.

Once the groundwork was all in place, under Simeon's loose command within the occupied territory the Tengarian Resistance began to attack Amathian occupiers from within enemy lines, disrupting supply lines, cutting communications, and raiding military instillations in the summer of 1931. At the same time some forces in Resistance occupied territory launched assaults on weak points in the Amathian defense before withdrawing back into the hills. This provoked the ire of the Amathian occupiers, who carried out bitter reprisals against the resistance. Several unsuccessful attacks were pushed into the hills, but drew back with heavy loss. Several attempts were made to probe Kovachev's line, but eventually the Amathians decided that assaulting the hills would be futile. The Amathians then focused on the consolidation of control of the occupied territory, rounding up and executing resistance members and major political rivals. Simeon's family was taken prisoner during this time; however, they did not execute any of them, although they did not execute them, as Teodora had been careful not to aide the resistance, a thing which Simeon had requested through correspondence in order to keep her safe. Amathia's military focus, having mostly dealt with the Tengarian forces, now focused primarily on Soravia. Kovachev was firm but cautious, believing that to compromise the stable position he had now would ultimately result in total defeat.

In December of 1932, the Amathian forces in Tengaria decided that the city of Visnagrad was a strategic point, which must be occupied to give the Amathians total control over the River Len and access to Lake Min to open another front against the Soravians. Although the hills were too well defended, the fertile and low Len River valley which cut the hills in two led directly to the city and was more sparsely defended. Most of Tengaria's artillery had been lost or captured by the enemy during the first years of the war, and the resources the National Army had were already spread out. The Tengarians assumed that there would be no assaults during the winter months, and so the guard was not as strong as it could have been. The Amathian intelligence had also managed to keep it out of the knowledge of Kovachev, and so the offensive which began on December 10th decisively beat back the Tengarian forces guarding the valley and quickly pushed northward. Having not been prepared for the attack, the secondary lines of defense were ill-manned, and so the the Amathians were able to get a foothold in the hills and were able to strike at the Tengarian frontal defenses from behind. At the same time, Ravnian forces attacked the coastal region of Visoclesia from the west, providing pressure on two fronts and threatening to encircle the entire Western region of the resistance forces. The Amathians advanced quickly up the Len River valley, while keeping their eastern flank heavily guarded; for they knew that Kovachev was on the Eastern side of the river.

National Army soldiers parading through the streets of Lenovo.

Knowing the perilous position his forces were in, Kovachev acted quickly, taking a portion of his best men northward towards while sending most of his forces to feign attacks against the enemy from the eastern flank. He also had the enemy intelligence fooled into thinking he was with the main body, and that the men he had sent northwards were to help defend the city of Visnagrad under the command of a subordinate. However, instead of heading to Visnagrad, he turned south and crossed the Len in the far north after constructing a pontoon bridge; he led his men at breakneck speed into the forests of the Visoclesian Hills. Eventually they came around and swung against the Amathian line from the Western hills, cutting the line in two on the west side of river. The western advance, cut off, was quickly and decisively defeated, leaving only the forces on the east side of the river. With their flanks now grievously exposed and the entire advance compromise, the eastern forces began to retreat carefully, still protected from their positions in the eastern hills. There were skirmishes and Kovachev sent small groups of men to cross the river several times in raids; however, he could not cross the river in force without compromising his men in a deadly crossing. Kovachev's forces raced southwards to use several bridges south of the main body, but these were carefully defended by Amathian forces. Several Amathian attempts to retake the Western bank from the south or from bridges resulted in bloody defeats, and so eventually the Amathian forces were driven back to positions not far from when they had began. Kovachev's forces retook the hill positions on the Western side, but the Amathians continued to have a foothold in the Eastern Hills for yet a while more. This victory allowed for forces of the National Army to be free to fight back the Ravnian advance in the West.

Eventually, the war began to turn against the Amathians as the Soravians and rebels began to make significant gains and drive back the Amathians. After having been on the defense for several years, the National Army now directed themselves to liberating the country. The Amathian occupation had weakened over time, and soon Simeon had enough volunteers and forces, many of whom were Soravian soldiers, to begin a counter assault, with close coordination with the Soravian leadership. Although in nominal command of the Tengarian forces, often he had to defer to the Soravian commanders during this time. By October 24 1933, Lenovo was liberated, and Simeon let his victorious army through the streets, and almost refused to attend himself for fear of pride. However, his commanders persuaded him otherwise, rather that he should appear as a return of legitimate governance as regent of the Emperor, as well as to drive home and promote Tengarian freedom. He was widely acclaimed by the people, much to his personal discomfort, but in his diary he noted that despite his reluctance, he knew that "someone needed to assume this role if the wounds of my nation. I give myself on account the common good, not on account pride." This was one episode of Simeon's struggle to match Sotirian humilty with accepting praise from others. He was reunited with his wife and son, who had spent nearly 3 years in house arrest. After this the remaining Amathian forces began to crumble, and by early 1934 most of Tengaria had been liberated by members of the Tengarian National Army, except for the far Western and Eastern marches still controlled by Ravnia or Amathia. After the liberation of Drangovo Simeon assigned his subordinates to carry out the final stages of the war, while he assumed his office as regent and began the resuming of governance of the newly liberated country.

Last Days of the Empire

Tengarian collaborators doing punitive community labour.

Simeon was both head of government and de facto head of state of the Empire of Tengaria during its final days, executing the office of regent for the imprisoned Emperor Dragomir. Although he had been regent for almost four years, most of his time had been spent working for the survival of the Tengarian Resistance. Now he was faced with a country still in war, albeit a war that looked like it was nearing its end; almost all of the old institutions had been changed in some way, with many of the civil servants gone or removed from office; many Tengarians who had collaborated to various degrees with the Amathian occupiers to various extents; groups advocating for political reform or revolution; thousands of displaced families, destroyed businesses and homes, uncompensated widows and families; issues of debt concerning military funding which Soravia had provided during the war; an imprisoned Emperor, and many other pressing issues which had to be dealt with immediately. Simeon now was fully occupied with these pressing matters of governance above his military duties, which he now primarily handed off to his second in command, Dimitri Denov.

With Denov handling the remainder of the war, Simeon made his first priority the restoration of order and stability within the country. Simeon attempted to bring back what he could of the Imperial era but realized that many things would have to change if the Empire were to survive. He called for all able and loyal civil servants and members of the Grand Assembly who had fled to return to their posts and worked diligently to restore local governments as best he could. Then he began making a program for those whose lives had been ruined by the war, providing financial assistance, especially to those who had lost someone in the fighting. He also worked to clear away the effects of the war as best as could be done. Under these policies, lives began to return to something normal, causing Kovachev's popularity to increase. However, during this time he was unable to deal with a major problem facing Tengaria, the issue of debt; many of his policies plunged the country deeper into it. He believed that in order for Tengaria to be able to repay its debts, it must needs heal its wounds and rebuild its economy.

Dragomir III, last Emperor of Tengaria

Kovachev also set up a special judicial organization to investigate claims of Amathian collaboration among Tengarian citizens and to determine the accuracy of them. In Kovachev's plan, collaborators were to be punished according to the severity of their crimes. Those who had committed high treason or had committed crimes against Tengarian citizens would be executed. Those who had merely assisted or went along with the occupation in other ways were to be not as severely punished. Most of the most prominent names of those who were involved in the collaborationist government or who had committed major crimes were executed publicly. Many received lighter punishment, such as to do manual labour to repair the damage caused by the war, in which case they assisted in Kovachev's other initiatives. However, outside of this organization, many extrajudicial killings of collaborators occured throughout Tengaria by vigilantes, resistance members or even army members, even during the course of the war; many also were publicly shamed or shunned for their participation for years to come.

Simeon negotiated with Ravnia unsuccessfully for the return of Emperor Dragomir. However, when the Soravian government made peace with Ravnia, the Emperor was turned over into their custody. They refused to permit Dragomir to return to Tengaria; instead they declared that Tengaria must become a republic. Simeon attempted to change this outcome, but the Soravians threatened economic pressure and the status of the massive loans Soravia had provided prevented Simeon from having any real leverage. Simeon's generals and supporters encouraged him to go along with Soravia's plan, as he had the popularity to rule the government however he wished. However, Simeon refused to comply with this counsel, claiming that he was a faithful servant of the Emperor, and would never betray the charge he was given by the Emperor. However, he saw the futility of resisting Soravia's demands, and so, agreed to let a constitution be written. He continued to rule as regent during this time, continuing his programs and now preparing for transitioning out of his political role. The consitution was written and ratified in June 1935 by the Constitutional Assembly, a body which was formed by many liberal scholars and political figures, and then elections were held in August of the same year. Gregori Ervo was elected to the Presidency, as well as a full Grand Assembly, the first one in 8 years. On the 14 of November, the same day that Ervo took office, Simeon abdicated from the regency in a carefully worded document, which still assumed that the Empire was not formally abrogated, and that power was restored to the monarch. However, that same day, the National Assembly officially proclaimed the Republic of Tengaria, and so the Empire was brought to its effective end.

The Early Republic

Kovachev inspecting his troops in 1936.

By this time, Kovachev was revered all throughout Tengaria as a war hero and a man of great ability and courage. Many were confused or did not understand why he had stepped down from office, or why there had been an administrative change. Many were unenthusiastic about the new political order at first, but the vocal minority quickly made their voices heard, proclaiming the new ideals of the republic and spreading them throughout the nation. Soon liberal ideas began to be picked up by more people, and soon the memory of the Empire began to fade away. In the first elections, President Ervo's government had a majority of the TNVP politicians, a conservative and pro-Soravian party which kept the policies which Simeon had in place for the most part, in addition to increasing ties with Soravia. Ervo was friendly towards Kovachev, and respected him greatly for his abilities and heroic actions, but also was wary of his monarchism and his influence he had over the people. Still, he knew that Simeon would keep the military in good order and would not rebel against the government on account of his strong principles, and so he was content to let him do as he would. Thus Simeon retained his post as the chief commander of the armed forces of Tengaria, holding the rank of Field Marshal, and at only 34 years of age, he looked as if he still had a full career ahead of him.

Kovachev oversaw the demobilization of many wartime members of the armed forces, and the army decreased in size to adapt to peacetime. Many of the veterans who had fought by his side and career soldiers continued to remain under him, and he reorganized the National Army into a proper fighting force, although this was hindered by lack of money. The navy was almost completely destroyed during the war, and the country lacked the funding to replace it. The Tengarian Air Force was also sorely underdeveloped, but again a tight budget prevented it from growing much. Despite the fact that he almost had no budget to work with, he did work to keep the army in as best a shape he could. He began to introduce recently developed armored tactics and mechanized war into the infantry based army through means of armored cars and repurposed tractors. He had them drill to meet all kinds of adversities if necessary. He trained every officer to be able to serve several ranks above their position. He also took time to occasionally meet with random groups of soldiers or officers to both increase morale and to understand how his forces were doing. However, the administrative burden of being the chief commander made this time relatively limited as when had been a lower ranked officer.

With Tengaria not at war, he was also able to spend more time with his now growing family. His oldest son Gregori, who had been born on the eve of the Great War, was over nine years older than his next sibling, Milena. During the first five years of the Republic, he welcomed two daughters, Milena and Olga, and one son, Petar, into the world. Although his work would constantly take him away, he enjoyed spending time with his family when he could, especially with his young son Gregori, who wished to follow his father's career in the Army, and who was later enrolled in the Sila School, the same that Simeon himself had attended as a boy. Simeon was careful about his children's education, ensuring that they were educated by skilled tutors, mostly of the Znaniya School. He also took time to promote and sponsor the growing influence of the Znaniya school in the educational scene, and in addition to military training sought to incorporate their philosophical ideas into the officer corps of the military.

By the late 1930s, the political situation in the government began to deteriorate between several factions in the ZNVP, which eventually lead to the party suffering several splits in 1939. This in turn led to the victory of the Liberal Progressive Party in the next elections in 1940; however, they only won on a three party coalition and without control of the Senate. This marked the beginning of the partisan troubles which began to plague Tengaria. Simeon purposely did not involve the army in the partisan struggles, and sought as much as possible to keep the military from the political influence, creating a State within a state. This was largely effective, as the Army was much more ready to be loyal to him, a hero and a commander that respected him, than to a divided government. However, this arrangement did not please President Stoychev, who was considerably less friendly to Kovachev than Ervo had been. He saw Kovachev as a rival and a threat to his power, and that his attempts to insulate the military were in facts attempts for him to consolidate power for himself. However, Stoychev realized that to dismiss Kovachev from his post would be a folly and only undermine his position. As such, he did everything he could to undercut Kovachev that would not be easily noticed to most. Simeon was not happy with the situation, but also did not wish to openly disobey the government.

Kabu Civil War and Solarian War

Kovachev in Kabu with fellow officers.

When the Kabu Civil War broke out in 1941, Tengaria's ally Soravia was a major supporter of the Nationalist North Kabu against the socialist South Kabu. Tengaria did not really have the resources to support the war through full military action. However, President Stoychev realized his chance to get Kovachev and his influence out of Tengaria for some time. While keeping his position as Field Marshal, Simeon was sent to North Kabu along with many of his most loyal officers and men to act as military advisors and to supervise the warfare. Despite knowing that this was an underhanded move by Stoychev and that it was meant to be an insult, Simeon accepted his charge and departed for Kabu. Once there, he began to work as best he could to help train and advise the North Kabuese forces, especially the command staff, and was instrumental in the planning and directing of several successful campaigns. While there, he earned himself a good reputation among the North Kabuese army officials, who respected his dedication, work ethic, and honesty. In order to better communicate with the men he was working with, Kovachev also learned the Kabu language during this time as well.

Part of the reason why Simeon was sent to Kabu laid in the political struggle between Kovachev and Stoychev over control of the army. Although Kovachev was still nominally in charge of the armed forces, and worked as best he could to maintain what he had already done even despite the long distance, the control which he could have over his forces was lessened by his distance. Stoychev was able to use this time get many of his own men, ones with political ties to the leftist parties of the National Assembly, into the armed forces. By doing this he attempted to undermine the absolute control which Kovachev wielded in the military. It worked, as many of tehese men would later become the backbone of the Republican forces during the Civil War. Stoychev also was able to act upon many lesser things which Simeon only learned about too late; and so Simeon became frustrated with the deliberate attempts to sabotage his army. However, he rarely ever showed his frustration to anyone, and it is recorded mostly in his diary.

Simeon spent nearly four years in Kabu, until in late 1944 he was summoned back to Tengaria by Stoychev due to the country's participation in the Community of Nations intervention in the Solarian War. Rather than acting in an advisory role as he had in Kabu, Kovachev would take command of the Tengarian forces to fight back against the Etrurians which had occupied portions of Amathia. The Tengarian forces acted in tandem with the Soravian forces and largely under their larger command, although Kovachev was fairly respected by the Soravian generals and was an important part of the strategic planning of the Western campaign. However, the lack of proper equipment and supplies meant that despite being well-disciplined and flexible, the Tengarian soldiers could not be as effective on the field as their better equipped Soravian counterparts. As such, the bulk of Tengarian forces acted as support units and in logistical assistance, especially because the Soravian supply lines went through Tengaria. Thus for most of the war, Kovachev played the role of quartermaster to the advancing Soravian forces. Still, Tengarian soldiers did participate in several notable engagements, such as the Battle of Columbia Aquila.

As the war progressed, the war went in favor of the CN intervention forces, with the Soravians and Tengarians reclaiming the Etrurian poritons of occupied Amathia, and eventually saw the Etrurian regime collapse. With the War over, Kovachev and his men assisted in the immediate aftermath, helping citizens under former occupation, building refugee camps, as well as generally keeping order in the days immediately following the war. Soon the Tengarian forces were called back to the country. Tengaria had a new President, Vladimir Vasilov, a member of the Tengarian Section of the Worker's Internationale, who was openly hostile to Kovachev. Simeon records in his diary that after he had reported on the successful campaigns in both wars to the the President, Vasilov spit in his face and dismissed him from his presence, calling him a "reactionary traitor".

Tensions with the Government

Vladimir Vasilov, President of Tengaria and Kovachev's political rival.

Under the new President, the country's political divisions had grown even worse, with a very unstable four party majority in the Assembly. From the beginning, Vasilov and Kovahcev were political enemies. Whereas Stoychev had been unfriendly and worked clandestinely against Kovachev, the relationship between Vasilov and Kovachev was openly hostile on Vasilov's end. Vasilov viewed Kovachev as a backwards reactionary and a constant thorn in the side of Tengarian progress and in political development, as he mistrusted Kovachev and the isolation from the political agenda of the new government. Vasilov openly spoke against Kovachev as being the cause of the political stagnation. Kovachev attempted multiple times to work with the President, but was rebuffed every time.

Tensions first reached a head between the President and Field Marshal over the status of the former Imperial Estate. During one of the last stages of his regency, Kovachev had assigned all lands and properties owned by the former Imperial family and monarchs to the National Army as military instillations, forseeing that a government would attempt to sieze the properties for their own uses. Several attempts had ocurred before, but had ultimately failed. Vasilov brought the issue to the head when he demanded that the lands be siezed as public property and Kovachev refused, saying that it was lawfully property of the military. Attempts to pass laws through the Grand Assembly failed when the Senate sided with Kovachev and refused to change the law. The former Tengarian Imperial Palace, which functioned as the headquarters for the armed forces, was set fire to but quickly put out, with the arsonist soon being discovered as a crony of Vasilov. Despite being convicted as guilty, Vasilov pardoned the arsonist anyways, causing widespread anger.

The estate incident continued on for the next few years, with the Senate always blocking any of the National Assembly's motions. The controversy came to a head in 1948, when Vasilov ordered a contingent of military forces to seize the palace and place Kovachev under arrest for government interference, to be relieved of his post upon arrest. After Kovachev came out to speak to the soldiers, they turned around and did not enter the palace. No full account remains of what he said to the soldiers, but most accounts tell how he stressed that carrying out unjust orders is really an act against the state itself by being against its good. After this, there were no more attempts to either sieze the land or to remove Kovachev from Vasilov. Relations, however, continued to be sour between the two, although Kovachev made several attempts to reconcile and work together with Vasilov. Vasilov angrily dismissed him from his office on multiple occasions, and then commanded him to send a liason instead of speaking in person.

With Vasilov's government openly hostile to Kovachev and Tengaria in an even worse economic state under it, Kovachev continued to develop the military as well as he could with a tight budget. Due to the small numbers of soldiers the government could afford, Kovachev continued his process of developing the army as professionally as he could, developing a strong corps of Non-commissioned officers with increasingly specialized skills. In order to compensate the soldier's poor wages, he gave most of his own salary to soldiers when he could, under the stated intention of doing so in order to help them meet their needs. Regardless of his motivations, practically this also helped to both increase their loyalty to him as well as provide many with a reason to stay in the armed forces. In addition, Kovachev was known to regularly give his money to churches, charities, poor houses or to individual persons in need, while still keeping enough to satisfy his family's needs, and kept his personal living expenses to a minimum. As the economic situation continued to deteriorate, Vasilov continued to lose popularity while Simeon's humble lifestyle continued to maintain his reputation.

In the Presidential elections of 1950, Vasilov again won the Presidency, but only scraped by with 26.8% of the popular vote, just barely beating the TNVP candidate. Charges of electoral fraud were thrown around, but never fully proven in court, or dismissed in controversial court cases. With the government still divided and the economy in shambles, public order began to take a turn for the worse. Kovachev and his men were routinely called to maintain order in the early days of the Presidency, with Kovachev and the National Army being relied upon to keep civil order at most events. Despite his personal distrust and sadness over Vasilov's policies, Simeon was heavily concerned about retaining civil order and worked diligently to ensure peace; however, he was also very strict with his soldiers to prevent retaliation or from excessively harming civilians. Over time he found that it was increasingly hard to maintain as tight control over the army, as more officers with left-leaning ideas made their way through the ranks. Even after the civil unrest had died down for a time, however, the political and economic situation in Tengaria continued to deteriorate.

1955 Elections and Presidential Scandal

Dimitri Denov, friend of Kovachev and leader of the Restoration Party.

In the leadup to the 1955 elections, Kovachev's retired second-in-command, Dimitri Denov, joined the Monarchist Restoration Party, which claimed that the Republican project had failed and that it was time to bring back the monarchy to ensure political stability, fix the economy, and to bring back order to the country. With the low popular trust in the Republic due to the great civil unrest and the period of great economic collapse, the movement proved very popular, much to the concern of Vasilov and the left-leaning parties. Kovachev was personally in favor of the movement and was sympathetic to it, but never made any public statements in support of it. Nevertheless, Vasilov and the government were highly suspicious of Kovachev, and considered him a supporter of the movement and an open enemy to the government. Tensions rose when Kovachev refused to obey orders from the President to use the National Army to forcibly surpress Restoration Party rallies and to arrest key memebers, notably out of concern for national security, as the Restoration movement was claimed to be a "reactionary and counter-revolutionary" movement with "hostile intent to destroy the republic". For refusing to obey orders, Simeon was called by the President in for a court martial before a joint military and civil tribunal, in a highly publicized trial. The tribunal unanimously found Kovachev not guilty of treason or insubordination, and cited the orders issued as being illegal in nature and not binding by the laws of the republic. This trial also had an effect of ending the government's attempt to suppress the Restoration movement.

Despite efforts by the government to mitigate the influence of the growing movement, the movement grew only more popular after the events of the trial. Eventually the elections took place, and despite evidence later found indicating election tampering by several left-wing parties, saw the Restoration Party win a landslide for the Presidency, National Assembly, and Senate. The Restorationists were able to secure a complete government by allying with the conservative parties in the Assembly, resulting in the first non-divided Tengarian government in fifteen years. President Vasilov immediately attempted to cancel the results of the election, a move which was supported by the incumbent National Assembly, but the conservative Senate refused to consent, rendering the cancelation attempts fruitless. In addition, the victory of the Restorationists saw many people to see the newly elected government as a threat to the republic, resulting in the creation of the "Republican" movement as a reaction. This movement began the lynchings of prominent right-wing figures and leaders in response, and also began riots and political violence. Despite the President's orders to the contrary, Kovachev and the National Army quickly worked to restore order as best as was able to the situation.

Out of legal options, President Vasilov sought to use his executive power to annul the elections, even without the constitutional authority to do so. Kovachev visited the President and met with him in private. According to Kovachev's account, Kovachev informed Vasilov that if he were to go through with this action, that it would be his duty as Field Marshal to arrest him and have him tried for treason and for flagrant violations of his legal responsibilities. Vasilov claims that Kovachev intimidated him with threats to his life and family if he refused to listen. Regardless of the outcome, the President did not use his executive power to attempt to nullify the results. He did, however, publicly claim that he was "threatened" by Kovachev, calling him an "enemy of the republic", and continued to denounce the results as illegitimate. Despite Vasilov's claims that Simeon was an enemy, Kovachev continued to remain widely popular, and the fiasco only further ended up hurting the incument government's popularity even more.

Crowd outside of the Kovachev trial of 1955 in Lenovo.

As this situation continued, Kovachev continued to diligently attempt to end the increasing violence and chaos breaking out over the country, repeatedly in violation of the President's orders. He was largely successful, restoring a tentative measure of peace; however, it was clear that even within the ranks of the National Army that not all were willing to follow Kovachev's commands, and tensions began to form in the ranks. The dispute between the President and Kovachev were widely known, and many of the newer officers were sympathetic to the Republican movement. Eventually, Vasilov, seeking an emergency solution, attempted to force Kovachev to resign his position as Field Marshal of the National Army. Kovachev, seeing this act as something that would clearly harm any chance of peace or lasting good Tengaria would have, refused. Vasilov changed his request to a command, citing his position as acting commander in chief. Again, Kovachev refused to step down, this time more forcefully. Kovachev claimed that the President, who was promoting and fostering civil unrest, had almost illegally annuled the elections, had attempted to use the National Army to commit violations against the laws of the nation, and would use the army to illegally suppress the opposition, was a threat to the common good of Tengaria, and thus had forfeited his authority as President to relieve him of command of the National Army.

This act sent shockwaves through Tengaria, as many of the Republicans were quick to denounce Kovachev as a traitor to the nation and having committed a crime for having disobeyed the orders of the President. Many of these were officers sympathetic to the Republican movement, for some of whom this act was the catalyst of a plans of a coup. Todor Stoychev was the chief of these, and the officer whom Vasilov had consider to replace Kovachev as field marshal. Many others saw him as a hero for standing up against an unjust act which would render the entire country in peril. Most of the military was loyal to Kovachev, and happy that he had remained in command. Without the support of the National Army, President Vasilov could do nothing more, except watch as the final month slipped away before the installation of the new government. During this time, Kovachev learned that some of his officers were planning a coup, and began to take measures to avoid and to mitigate it, reshuffling officers and units in an attempt to stop, and when he realized it would be impossible to fully stop, to mitigate the effects. Most of his forces were concentrated around the city of Lenovo, and Kovachev also had to begin preparations to oversee a peaceful transition of power, which was looking more and more unlikely to happen.

Transition of Power

The new government was scheduled to be sworn in on the 14th of November. Tensions did not cease before the date, and so, Kovachev took steps to ensure a peaceful transition of power for the new government. Kovachev had already recieved word that the incumbent Republican officials would be refusing to give up their seats, including President Vasilov and planned to make some kind of show of defiance. Kovachev ordered forces into the city to be ready to put an end to it, although they were ordered to remain on standby until the Republicans made the first illegitimate move. In addition, members of the National Army were assigned to protect the new politicians who were arriving in Lenovo, as two of the elected Restoration assemblymen had been killed by Republican lynch mobs in the previous month and had needed to be replaced. Despite the increase in tensions, the days before the transition itself were somewhat calm in comparison to the previous days, something which Kovachev later described in his diary as like the calm before the storm.

On the morning of the 14th, the Republican government officials made their moves of resistance against, congregating in the National Assembly room in the early hours of the morning, setting up a barricade to block others out. The newly elected members were prevented from entering into the Assembly chamber, and instead met in the Senate chamber. After the Republican members refused multiple offers to come out without facing arrest by army officers, the soldiers stationed nearby the Grand Assembly building were rallied, as per Kovachev's orders. They quickly entered and secured the premises, before breaking down the barricade and arresting the members, with force if they resisted. Despite being attacked by several members with improvised weapons, the soldiers were under strict orders not to file a single shot while arresting them, unless they were shot at themselves. Kovachev had ordered his troops to take every precaution, knowing that a single slip up could jeopardize the perceived legitimacy of the transfer of power. The rogue assembly members were detained, and the elected Grand Assembly was able to convene.

However, whereas the Republican members of the Assembly had been not armed, President Vasilov's stand for resistance included a group of armed guards, hired to defend the President from any attempts of arrest. After Vasilov learned of the arrest of the Republican Assembly members, he began to declare a state of emergency, attempting to claim broad executive powers for himself, against the "coup" which Kovachev was undertaking. Army officers had been approaching the building several times during the day, requesting for the President to cease his attempts to obstruct the lawful transition of power and to turn himself in. Vasilov refused to budge, and eventually, had his men shot and wounded one of the officers sent to negotiate. Army forces then quickly surrounded the entire perimeter of the Mansion. Kovachev arrived on the scene himself to attempt to communicate via telephone to the President. The two conversed for a time, with army phone logs recording the whole conversation. Despite Kovachev's attempts to reason, even promising him immunity for the actions he was committing if he would surrender, Vasilov rebuffed the attempts. Further conversation with President-elect Denov failed likewise.

With diplomacy having failed, Simeon finally ordered his men to storm the building, but not to fire unless fired upon. However, this resulted in a firefight, most likely started by one of the guards inside. Despite the fact that they had the cover of the mansion, Kovachev had placed men in the surrounding buildings with strategic views into the house itself, and were able to neutralize many of the guards within the first few minutes. Kovachev's men were able to enter the building, by which point, although a few of the guards still resisted, many surrendered. Any of the guardsmen who surrendered were given quarter upon Kovachev's orders, and many of the wounded were taken to the military hospital to be healed alongside the Army wounded. Vasilov himself was captured by Kovachev's forces in the Presidential office, and was led in chains to meet with Kovachev privately in the command tent. The conversation which occured between them was never recorded, and Kovachev himself did not share. However, when Vasilov was taken into custody, many reported that something had gone on in the command tent which had changed him.

With this, the elected government was able to assume their positions, although now the military had an open presence in Lenovo, obstensibly to keep the peace and protect the new government. President Denov declared martial law for a time. Word of the resistance and the forced transition of power soon spread, having mixed results on how it was reported but also how people leaned poltically. Accusations that Kovachev was the mastermind behind a coup which had overthrown the legitimate government began to be thrown around, and that Kovachev had imposed marshal law to sieze power for himself. When Kovachev learned that such rumors were being spread, he claimed that he had expected as much, reportedly saying to a fellow general that "it is better that I take the false blame than allow our nation to fall into injustice and anarchy. My personal reputation does not matter."

The Republican Coup

With the government secure, Kovachev was ordered by Denov to do his best to restore public order to Tengaria. With the high concentration of soldiers in Lenovo, Kovachev was able to keep the capital under control for the most part. However, although there were no mass demonstrations, Republican militias formed street gangs which harrassed and disrupted the activity of the soldiers and civilians in the city, employing hit and run tatics to ensure they were not caught. With the National Army forces concentrated in Lenovo, Kovachev was unable to prevent the rising of disorder in Tengaria's other cities, particularly in the Southwest of the country. Army forces began to get into conflict with Republican militias across the country. Rather than peace returning to the countries, both pro and anti-government forces began preparations for an upcoming war, beginning to arm and prep themselves. Localized violence erupted across Tengaria, but did not quite result to open conflict.

In worse news, Kovachev also soon learned that there was going to be a coup attempt by officers in the army, and that it would be soon. Kovachev realized that it was likely inevitable and began to take whatever steps he could to mitigate the potential impact of the coup. Primary to his plans was the security of Lenovo itself, on account of its importance, the fact that it was the centre of military and political administration, a transportation hub, but also most of the important supply depots lay outside the city. Several officers who were discovered with open ties to the coup were detained, but yielded too little information in time to reveal enough to completely expose it. Kovachev shuffled many of what he deemed the more likely disloyal officers to the southeast of the country, where the most young and inexperienced troops were stationed, or to units with many loyal officers. Kovachev knew that war was coming, but not exactly when the hammer would fall.

In the early morning hours of the morning of the 24th of November, Kovachev received word that the officers in Drangovo had staged an insurrection, and had begun to purge loyalist officers from their ranks. Kovachev had expected that the Drangovo command would be the central coordinating authority of the coup attempt, and had troops set aside to be able to respond to the emergency. Knowing that this was the first strike of the coup and wanting to nip it in the bud, Kovachev left the city of Lenovo to begin preparations for a swift counterstrike against the insubordination. However, him leaving Lenovo was what the organizers of the coup had wanted, as after he had left the Republican officers and units in Lenovo began their attempts to sieze key points in Lenovo in order to topple the government and to throw the loyalists into disarray. Republican forces attacked the Presidential Mansion, the Grand Assembly Building, and the Imperial Palace, and republican mobs and militias finally made their moves to fight in the streets. Republican soldiers were able to storm the Mansion and kill President Denov and members of his family.

However, Simeon was confident that Lenovo would be able to hold in the case of an emergency, and for the most part, the Republican attacks failed to meet their objectives. The Assembly evacuated before the Republican forces could capture them, giving them only an empty building, and the attack on the palace failed before the forces could even reach the building. When he heard about the President's death, Kovachev himself paused his advance and returned as swiftly as he could to the city by nightfall. When he arrived in the city, the Assembly building and mansion had been retaken; however, republican forces and militias continued to fight and cause chaos in scattered groups across the city. With Kovachev in full command, the disorganized Republicans were hit hard and decisively defeated by morning. Most of the Republicans were killed, wounded or captured, or had fled the city.

Across the nation, various military insurrections, popular rebellions, and militia uprisings would take place; these were most successful in the southeast of the country, as Kovachev had expected, but Kovachev's preparations had ensured that the coup failed most other places, not having enough support to get enough accomplished. Outside of the southeast, only the cities of Elena and Garna had successful rebellions. Especially important victories of Kovachev's officers included protecting the cities of Visnagrad and Istros from the coup attempts, as well as almost every major supply depot and military installations were held by forces loyal to Kovachev. By the time the dust had settled, Kovachev had scored a major victory against the Republicans in the earliest stages of the war; the pieces were now firmly stacked in the government's favor. Although the rebels declared the People's Republic of Tengaria and formed their own government and war began, the coup attempt had largely failed as a result of Kovachev's actions, as the rebels were outnumbered, outsupplied, and unpopular.

However, despite his victory, Kovachev was far from at ease. The country was now at war, a war in which he realized many more would die, and the responsibility for overseeing the war was thrust on his shoulders. He immediately threw himself into his work, spending many hours in planning and management of the army. In addition to the stress he had in his duties as Field Marshal, he also struggled with his own personal feelings of guilt over the death of his friend and former comrade, President Denov. He recorded in his diary that he struggled with the irrational thought that if he had not left Lenovo, that Denov would not have died, despite knowing full well that if he was in Lenovo, events probably would not have played out much differently. However, he was forced to focus on the war at hand, and claimed to push these concerns aside.

The Civil War

Main Article: Tengarian Civil War

With Tengaria now at war, the management of the war from the very beginning largely fell on Kovachev's shoulders. Despite the advantageous position the loyalists were in at the beginning of the war, the Republicans had militias spread throughout the country, and besides for the main area of occupation to the southeast, Republican forces also held on to two large cities in the western region of the country. Kovachev determined that the best strategy was to capture these western strongholds while containing any advances from the southeast, before concentrating all forces on the southeastern regions to finally secure victory. This plan initially went well, with the city of Elena being captured in January of 1936. Republican advances towards the city of Istros in late December of 1955 and to Vihren in Febuary of 1966 were decisively beaten back by National Army forces.

Kovachev regretted not being able to be on the front commanding his men himself, but was largely restricted by necessity to remain in Lenovo, overseeing the administration of the war. In his Nativity letter to his National Army troops in 1955, he expressed his sorrow that "I hope none of you think that I would rather be here than beside you, fighting on the front for our country. Alas, circumstances are not kind to me, and it falls upon me to be consistently tied to the headquarters." It was during this time in Lenovo that the first assassination attempt against him would occur. When he was walking home at night from the Palace, he was attacked by a Republican partisan with a knife. Kovachev evaded the attack and incapacitated the man, who was arrested. It is said that Kovachev personally forgave his attacker, but also encouraged him to amend his ways. The would-be assassin later joined the National Army and served with distinction.

Decisively beaten on the battlefield, the Republicans changed tactics to focus more on guerilla warfare, with Republican militias working to infiltrate loyalist lines to disrupt supply convoys, weapons depots, to kill important officers, and to harass them however they could. This was first seen during the Siege of Garna beginning in 1936, where Republican forces prolonged the siege through constant hit and run harassment of loyalist forces, turning a projected week long siege into a five-month siege. Eventually, by late July, the city fell to loyalist forces, Kovachev, realizing the shift in strategy, began to have his men proceed with more caution and planning, even if it sacrificed speed. Supply trains were closely guarded, counter-intelligence measures were increased greatly, and the effectiveness of the guerilla warfare began to decrease.

On May 16th of 1956, President Simeon Radez, who took power after the death of President Denov, was assassinated by a Republican agent. Radez had not appointed a Vice President to succeed him, and had the National Assembly make provision to have Kovachev take command as head of state in the case of an untimely death. With Radez's death, Kovachev was quickly named as Head of State by the National Assembly, suddenly thrusting civil as well as military authority upon him. He now had de facto almost complete control of the government's affairs. Now concerned with more than just the war effort, Kovachev's attention was even more spread out. This slowed down his plans to end the war even more, as he had new responsibilities to deal with that took up much of his time. Simeon consulted with the members of the government, including the three major parties who had remained and supported the loyalists. Seeing the partisan conflict which had caused the civil war in the first place, Kovachev came up with the idea to unite the government under one political movement which moved beyond parties and worked for the common good. In August of 1956, Kovachev announced this new movement, called the National Rally, which, in Tengaria's divided state, quickly saw rapid appeal. Many members of the government left their own parties to join the movement.

Taking advantage of this transition of power, the Republican forces, together with Amathian support, managed to break the containment to the North along the Eastern border, and quickly advanced in Silenya towards the city of Silen. Kovachev had to commit forces to the Northern front, at the same time local militias and Republican forces also made pushes along the southern coast towards Istros. Since the Siege of Garna was still ongoing at the time, further drawing forces which could have been committed to stopping it. National Army forces were hard pressed on every front, but managed to hold their ground for the most part. The northward advanced was stopped by the city of Silen, to which Republican forces soon laid siege to. However, by this point, the siege of Garna was over, meaning that reinforcements were able to support the northern forces, and managed to drive the Republican forces into retreat by September of 1936. The National Army forces were able to push back the gains which the Republicans had made, and the war began to clearly be in favor of the Loyalists.

However, tragedy struck the Kovachev family when Simeon's son Gregori, a Polkovnik in the National Army, was killed in action against Republican forces on November 26th. Kovachev was stunned to hear the news, and personally very saddened. However, like his other concerns, he had to push them aside to focus on the larger picture at hand. He wrote in his diary that "Grief is natural at such loss, but what I cannot bear most is to leave my wife all alone throughout this; if only it did not get in way of my duty. My duty to my country, given to me by God, comes first before my own feelings." He resented the fact that he could not do more to be with his family during this time. Because he did not show emotion publicly, some who knew him leveled accusations against Kovachev that he did not care about his own son, or that he was an unfeeling brute. Despite his personal loss, he continued to oversee the final stages of the war effort, which dragged on because of Amathian support of the Republicans and use of guerilla warfare to resist the National Army forces. By May of 1957, Drangovo was retaken, and finally, on the 1st November 1957, the last Republican stronghold, the city of Avren, had fallen. As the war had continued to its final months, more and more of the Republican militias began to disband and to flee the country. The Republican government and forces who had not fled into exile were captured. With the fall of Avren, the Tengarian Civil War was practically over. A few minor militia holdouts remained, but now the country was once again mostly at peace.

Tengarian Statesman

Provisional Government

Since only a fraction of the country was occupied at a given time, Kovachev had already been overseeing the political aspects of most of the country since he had taken power in 1956. The National Rally movement which he had started during the war had grown rapidly, and while Kovachev had largely been reviewing military affairs, the civil government under the first Rally leadership was managing affairs of state. With the war mostly over, Kovachev now had the monumental task of rebuilding Tengaria's broken economy and internal affairs, a process that would take lengthy time and effort. The Provisional Government under his leadership immediately took steps to give restitution to war veterans and families, to punish major offenders and rebels, and to rebuild infrastructure and homes damaged by the war. To this end, the government took extensive financial aid from Soravia to rebuild everything, placing it more into Soravia's debt and thus more into its sphere of control for the time. Nevertheless, Tengaria continued to rebuild slowly but surely, and Kovachev began to put the first aspects of his future policy together. The growing National Rally which led the provisional government oversaw the rebuilding process.

Another important duty of the provisional government was to bring justice to the republicans after the end of the civil war. Many associated with the republicans were tried and executed for treason, or were exiled from the country, or had other harsh punishments placed upon them. This led to a mass emigration of political exiles, which also had the effect of greatly stifling any remaining republicanist sympathy in the nation. Kovachev personally as much as possible attempted to punish those loyalists who killed without trial or who committed major atrocities during the war, claiming that justice must be kept regardless of faction. This was unpopular with many of the loyalist militias and soldiers of the army, but a move internationally recognized as attempting at a kind of justice. Still, many of those who committed atrocities were able to get away with it by keeping it hidden or by finding more sympathetic members of the army or civil administration to cover it up. Later evidence discovered that this happened not infrequently, and so Kovachev's personal wishes were circumvented. In addition, the number of killings, especially considered when many of the particular trials themselves were most likely less than fair, and are considered a major blemish Kovachev's reputation.

During this time, upon suggestions from the Restorationist members of the government, Kovachev began to negotiate with the Soravian authorities again for the possibility for a restoration of the monarchy. Again, the Soravians refused to allow it, and even rejected his offer that it be put up to a national referendum. However, the Soravians would allow for the exiled Dragomir to return to his home country once a Soravian-aligned republican government had been put in place. In addition to this, Emperor Dragomir wrote a letter to Kovachev urging him to follow the Soravian government's wishes, and that the time for restoration had not come yet, and that he did indeed wish to return home. Dragomir also added that Kovachev's leadership was necessary to heal the hurts of the broken nation before any such restoration could be possible. Kovachev informed the Restorationist members of these developments, adding that despite his personal wishes, this was the prudent thing to do for the time. Besides which, Kovachev knew that the move would be viewed poorly abroad, and in part justify many of the concerns which the Republicans had during the war. Still, Kovachev deeply felt that he had personally failed in his responsibility by failing to restore the Empire. Kovachev remained in charge of the provisional government until he took office as President in 1958.

New Constitution

An ornate copy of the 1958 Constitution written by Kovachev.

Kovachev believed that in giving up power after the Great War, he had been responsible in part for the rise to the conditions which had brought about the Civil War. He determined that he would not make the same mistake, and took upon himself the task of writing a new constitution for the nation. He believed that the first constitution of Tengaria was insufficient to having a government which could carry out the task of rebuilding Tengaria. The goal of this new constitution would be to solve the issues of the early republic and fix the issues of political instability and factionalism which had plagued Tengaria in the previous decades. This task was done on top of the complex wave of affairs he had to deal with in the wake of the war. Kovachev, while writing it, consulted frequently with his friends who happened to the philosophers and scholars of the Znaniya School, who helped him to shape the document based on their political principles. Much of it also came from his own thought and beliefs about the nature of government.

The Constitution which he wrote is well known for deviating greatly from most established constitutions, and notably does not mention the authority of the people in any way, does not include a section on rights, instead stressing such things national unity and stability. The constitution enshrined Episemialism as the Faith of the Nation, based both on Kovachev's personal devoutness and belief that the Church would be a thing which could bring the country together. It banned all political parties, instead insisting that the government must be a nonpartisan consensus government, in order to ensure national unity by barring factions from the political system. In addition, the constitution had no term or time limits for the Presidency, because Kovachev thought that good leadership should last as long as necessary and change for the sake of change should not be forced. The constitution also featured very strong presidential perrogatives. Kovachev believed that only a firm hand could guide Tengaria back from economic collapse and poltical chaos to order and stability, and that the President needed to have the power to execute the vision laid out in the constitution. Besides for the functionality of the government, the government also gives signifcant space to Kovachev's understanding of government and his own philosophical principles.

By late january of 1958, the Constitution had been written, and in early febuary was put to a popular referendum across Tengaria. The constitution was ratified, winning an overwhelming majority of the vote, however, few knew little about it other than Kovachev had wrote it and that it was widely said to be a constitution to bring back peace, prosperity and order, which most people at the time wanted after the chaotic events of the past decades. The constitution took effect on March 15th of the same year, although Kovachev continued to function as the provisional head of government while the preperations for the first election under the new constitution began. In later years, March 15th would be celebrated as "Unification Day" because the new constitution was held be the new beginning after a time of disunity and division. The few political parties which still remained, mostly right-wing parties, were officially disbanded; many chose to join the growing National Rally movement or to remain as formal independents.

Inernationally, Kovachev's constitution was immediately lambasted as authoritarian and undemocratic by Eastern Euclean sources, with some scholars claiming that it was promoting effective functionalism. Kovachev's international image quickly soured, as international news agencies were quick to depict him as a tyrant. Before this, his image had been mixed internationally. The blatant disregard for democratic principles in the constitution caused the International Council for Democracy to suspend Tengaria, only for it to withdraw a few years later. Not all international responses were negative. Soravia, an heavily authoritarian regime itself under the control of Gabriel Tozulyak, approved of it because it would place power firmly in Kovachev's hands. Although he had disagreed with Soravian authorities about the restoration of the monarchy, in most other regards he been willing to work with them and was trusted by the Soravian authorities to be a man of his word and a Soravian ally. In addition, they also understood that his popularity and hero status would be key in establishing the legitimacy of an authoritarian regime. In addition, the constitution was praised by several political philosophers and scholars, usually religious conservatives.

Personal Life

Personality and Virtues

Through

Family

Main Article: Kovachev family

Kovachev is regarded as the head and founder of the Kovachev political family, which has continued to dominate Tengarian politics since his death in 1983, due to Simeon's influence. Simeon outlived his two expected successors, his oldest son, Gregori, who died in the Tengarian Civil War, and his grandson, Ivan. He was succeeded in the Presidency by his youngest son, Dimitri, and his other son Petar became a Priest and later a Prominent Metropolitan Bishop. His granddaughter, Teodora, is the current President of Tengaria. Other members of the Kovachev family occupy important government posts. However, besides the public offices which his family achieved, Simeon also played a vital role in the private aspects as well.

Although Simeon grew up in a stable family, he was always quiet and shy, and never formed a close relationship with any of his sisters. After his early youth he did not see much of his family at all on account of his military education. However, he still spent the breaks with his parents and siblings, but began to see them less and less frequently. Once he became and officer and started his own family, he only saw them a few times. Despite these circumstances, he kept a prolific correspondence with his parents for the next while, and many affectionate letters have been saved. He cared deeply for his parents, and was grateful for all of the gifts they had given him in his early life. He is once said to have remarked that "I would be nothing without the gifts my father and mother gave to me. I do have a debt to them I can never fully repay." He was deeply grieved by news of the death of his parents during the war.

Teodora Denova, Kovachev's wife and lifelong confidante.

In his own family, Simeon was deeply devoted to his wife Teodora, and also to all of his children. Despite the separation with his wife for nearly eight years, he remained faithful to her and enjoyed her company, or if absence, her correspondence through letters. The letters exchanged between them form some of bulk of Simeon's writing. When he could, he also liked to take personal involvement with his children in their endeavors, and also corresponded with them frequently. However, his duty often called him away from his family, which in part grieved him. The Kovachev family remained closely together, however, as the generations increased, the family began to drift further apart. By the time of his death, Simeon was the patriarch of a large family of three generations. He had five children with Teodora, three sons and two daughters:

• Gregori, oldest son, born in 1926 soon before the outbreak of the Great War. Married, had two sons. Killed in action in 1956 during the Tengarian Civil War at the age of 30.
• Milena, born in 1935 at the end of the Great War. Married to Theodosii Istina, grandson of Ivan Istina, had three sons and three daughters. Died in 2019 due to natural causes at the age of 84.
• Olga, born 1937. Married to Vasil Radev, had one son and two daughters. Died of natural causes in 2008 at the age of 71.
• Petar, born 1939. Entered into the priesthood. Metropolitan Archbishop of Istros since 2002.
• Dimitri, born 1945. Married Anastasia Ivaneva and had one daughter, Teodora. Succeeded his father and became President of Tengaria in 1983. Died of cancer in 2014 at the age of 69.

Private Life

Simeon spent most of his life in the line of some duty, either in school, the military, or as President.

Glorification

Saint Simeon of Tengaria
Right Believing
Venerated in	Episemialist Church
Canonized	20 December 2020, Lenovo, Tengaria by Holy Synod of Tengaria
Feast	17 April
Patronage	Politicians, Military officers, Educators, Tengaria

Simeon Kovachev was well known for his personal sanctity, his promotion of Sotrianity, and his friendship with the Church throughout his lifetime. Almost immediately, movements for his glorification began across Tengaria in 1983. His cult began to grow among the pious quickly, and continued to grow through the next few decades. Devotions were made to him, and during the period of thirty years several miracles were reported to his intercession, including the healing of a young girl from a deadly cancer in 1992. Despite a rapidly growing public movement, the Holy Synod of Tengaria decided to put off any formal considerations for a few decades until the cult had time to properly develop and a rigorous investigation could be made. However, private devotion was not only permitted but encouraged. In addition, the Presidency supported the glorification movement.

Thirty years after his death, in 2013, the Holy Synod authorized the Canonization Commission of the Holy Synod to begin a thorough and comprehensive review of his life. The plentitude of sources and various writings by him and on him by friends, family, subordinates, and enemies caused a careful examination to take place over the course of seven years. Among the sources were the extensive Kovachev family records, the records of the Presidential office, official documents and press releases, old military papers, Simeon's extensive private letters and works, as well as reports from people who knew him. After examination of both written records and eyewitnesses and other sources, the Commission finally released its report to the Holy Synod on December 17, 2020.

The Commission's report was highly favorable towards Simeon, citing various examples of his life and stating that his life had been the model of holiness. The bulk of it consisted in the examination of his writings and of the reports of his closest friends and observers, painting a picture of a serious and dutiful man who had a strong sense of piety. The report also took note of opposing viewpoints, but concluded that most of those were made by political opponents, attacking for political reasons. Taking all of the research into consideration, the Commission stated in the concluding section of the report:

"Kovachev was a man of deep piety and faith, a loving father and husband, and a devout Sotirian who placed Sotirias at the centre of his life. He was a faithful son of the Holy Church and a temporal defender of Her against Her enemies, and an obedient servant of God and Emperor and yet still a leader when he saw it as his duty to his Nation. In conclusion, there can indeed be no doubt that Kovachev lived his life in accord with the Sotirian faith and as an example of holiness, sacrificing his very life for the sake of the people of Tengaria."

After the report was submitted, the Holy Synod deliberated over whether or not to proceed with the glorification. Reports from the Synod claimed that the bishops were not divided over whether or not Simeon's life was sufficiently holy, but rather on account of the public scandal it might cause due to his political connexions. Despite supposed reservations, the Synod announced the decision to recognize Simeon as a Saint and allow his public veneration on December 20th, completing the process and solidifying his status. He was declared Saint Simeon of Tengaria, and is seen as the patron of politicians, military officers and educators. He also is seen as a patron of Tengaria as a whole, although he has not been proclaimed as such officially.

His formal and final glorification ceremony is scheduled to take place on April 17th of 2021. The church Simeon attended during his political time in Lenovo, the Church Saint Helena, has been declared as his shrine, until a new one can be built.

Opposition

Due to Simeon's status as a controversial President, his glorification has been opposed, more often from international sources. Many view him, although perhaps well intentioned, a dictator, and one who promoted a system of governance which saw the. Furthermore, those who were political exiles from Tengaria or descended from them can have a deep hatred for him, despising his important role in the Tengarian Civil War or the means he took of stablizing the country afterwards, or for his reactionary policies.

Simeon was criticized by several of his contemporaries, mostly political opponents. President Vladimir Vasilov is claimed once to have exclaimed in 1952 that "No matter how much he claims to not desire power, the army is loyal to him rather than me! Kovachev's 'virtues' are nothing more than mere pride and arrogance. He will take the power from us one day, and we will rue it." In addition, Rumen Santov, a poltical rival who later became the President of the People's Republic of Tengaria, claimed that Simeon was "a charlatan and a idealistic fool who deceives others into thinking that he is virtuous in order to increase his own vanity". Some contemporaries also claim that his morals and ideals were a facade for an inward lust for power and ego.

Within Tengaria itself, there were some who were adamantly opposed to the glorification, seeing it as a political move with no other purpose than to further the current government. One source claimed that "this unfair act of glorification will only serve as legitimacy for the perpetuation of the Kovachev regime". Once the glorificaiton had taken place, another also claimed that "This was the inevitable outcome, as the Kovachevs have the Church firmly in their control."

Internationally, many expressed displeasure over what they deemed a violation of the role of Church and state. Several sources claimed that this move was an "unjust weaponization of religion", on account of the fact that they saw it as a means of using faith to prop up a dictatorial and undemocratic regime. Even Tengaria's main geopolitical ally, Soravia, had its foreign minister, Oleksandr Semenenko, speak out against it in an official statement: “Whilst the Soravian government recognises what is an admirable display of religious integrity and piety, and a notable devotion to the progression of the Tengarian state and its people, we must condemn his canonisation as a gross misuse of religious and political power within the state, and implore the relevant authorities to reconsider the intersection between church and state.”

In spite of this opposition, the Holy Synod still proceeded with the glorification.

Quotes

"If I die, know that I die for for God and for the good of my fatherland. This war is horrible- I could never love war for its own sake. I have seen my men die in front of my eyes, torn apart by artillery and gunfire. It is ugly and disgusting. But at the same time, it is glorious, based on account of the good which it aims. I will lay down my life for this greater good, for the sake of the preservation of the nobility which our fatherland stands for. This is my honor and my sacred duty, and greatest gift I can make of my life."

-Letter to his wife Teodora from the Ravnian frontline, March 29, 1928

"I write here to inform you that no one is fooled by this mockery of justice, which is an insult to our nation and its people. Your 'clemency' is farcical because it only absolves those who are only loyal to you and has no real Sotirian mercy behind it. For the sake of our country, I beg you to put aside your personal ambitions and hatred and actively pursue the good of the nation and punish these men. Despite your claims on the contrary, perhaps it is not I who is the source of your problems in governmental managment, but your commitment to a false set of ideals."

-Letter to President Vasilov concerning the arson scandal of 1946.

Titles and Honours

His Excellency Simeon Kovachev, President of Tengaria

Tengaria: Knight of the Collar of Order of St. Vasil
Tengaria: Knight Commander of the Order of St. Boris
Tengaria: Tengarian Golden Cross
Tengaria: St. George Medal