Shangean Civil War

Shangean Civil War
Part of aftermath of the Great War
Date 14th April 1935 - 10th January 1941 (5 years, 8 months and 27 days) Location Shangea, Duran, western Kuthina, southern Zorasan Result Rongzhuo government victory Overthrow of the Wulin government Destruction of the imperial remnants Partition of Chanwa between Shangea and Kuthina Independence of Duran Continued Senrian occupation of the Kaoming peninsula Creation of the Auspicious Republic of Shangea
Belligerents
Rongzhuo government National Salvation Army Red Army PRRC Kuthina Other revolutionary armies Black Army	Wulin government Peacebuilding National Army Kaoming Republic Senria Supported by Etruria Werania	Daodao government Ever Victorious Army Church of Emperor Worship Entente remnants Separatists Chanwa Duran Ba Republic Supported by Senria Ansan
Commanders and leaders
Lu Keqian Zhou Hongkui Wu Jinmo Chen Xuechang Rao Junzhao Mao Jufeng	Meng Jianing Zhang Mingshu Qin Xinyi Miyake Sintarou Ousima Nobutaka	Yan Xuegang Prince Zaicheng Thakin Aung U Myint Jia Kiuchiau Dorji Namgyal
Strength
3,286,100 (peak) 1,672,300 (peak) 105,000 (peak)	1,567,190 (peak) 250,000 (peak)	1,145,200 (peak) 550,000 (peak)
Casualties and losses
A lot	A lot	A lot

The Shangean Civil War (Shangean: 晓东内战; Xiǎodōng Nèizhàn) also known as the War for National Salvation (救国战争; Jiùguó Zhànzhēng) was a multi-party civil war in the former Heavenly Shangean Empire that lasted from the end of the Great War to the parititon of Chanwa in January 1941. It was the largest conflicts in the aftermath of the Great War and its course shaped the future of South Coius resulting in the collapse of the regional order envisioned by the Treaty of Keisi and the rise of the modern Auspicious Republic of Shangea. It additionally led to the total destruction of imperial restorationists in Shangea ending over 2,000 years of imperial rule and definitively consolidating republicanism.

In October 1934 the city of Baiqiao had fallen to Senrian forces leading much of the imperial government to relocate to Wulin to continue the war effort. The assassination of the Shanrong Emperor by republican officers led to the declaration of a republic, the Wulin government, and the beginning of peace negotiations with the Grand Alliance. By the beginning of 1935 Shangea was politically unstable continuing to be at war with the Grand Alliance with Senria occupying the west of the country having liberated Duran from Shangean rule and supporting the Republic of West Shangea on the Kaoming peninsula. Imperial remnants based around the now-disgraced Nanqing Clique and the Church of Emperor Worship had retreated to their strongholds in Luoyuan and Nanqing whilst the east and north of the country saw widespread socialist agitation from the Shangean Section of the Workers' International and the influence of national socialists in the army under the control of Lu Keqians Xiaodong Regeneration Society begin to grow. In the far north the Union of Chanwa had declared independence whilst in the far-east Grand Alliance forces under Werania had given the Hameung region to Kuthina.

In March 1935 the Wulin government signed the Treaty of Keisi recognising Senrian occupation and demilitarisation of the Kaoming peninsula, the independence of Duran and Chanwa, the cessation of border territory to Ansan and Kuthina, reparations and the trial of collaborators in the Senrian Genocide. The Treaty outraged nationalist opinion leading to Lu Keqian to launch the Corrective Revolution in Rongzhuo, declaring an alternative government and a political alliance with the far-left. Lu's takeover was opposed by the republican government in Baiqiao which had been recognised internationally since the end of the Great War. The collapse of central authority led to other groups such as anarchists to form to also overthrow the Wulin government.

The initial stages of the war saw gains for the Rongzhuo governments forces thanks to large defections from the army, mass civil unrest and general hostility to the Wulin government. Although being recognised internationally the Wulin government due to conditions imposed in the Treaty of Keisi struggled to obtain military support from the Grand Alliance. This weakeness led to the monarchist Ever Victorious Army under Yan Xuegang to advance on Baiqiao, taking the city and declaring the Great Way (Daodao) government in early 1937. Yan's actions prompted Senria fearful of the return to power of Great War-era génocidaires to intervene, allowing the reunification of the West Shangean Republic into the Wulin government and assisting in the invasion of the Daodao territory, eventually defeating the imperial remnants by summer 1938.

The campaign against the imperial army had sapped resources away from the northern front, with Lu's forces having eliminated the bulk of anarchist forces and begun an offensive into the east of the country taking Shenkong. Although successfully taking Baiqiao Lu's forces were unable to advance further westwards after being defeated by the Senrian army, but by summer 1940 had taken over the southern region consolidating power over all but the Kaoming peninsula. The Rongzhuo government would sign an agreement with the Senrian government to annex the Kaoming peninsula in return for allowing Senria to continue its occupation of the region and to maintain its demilitarised status thus ending the Wulin government. The civil war ended in 1941 after Shangea, Kuthina and the Pardarian Revolutionary Resistance Command launched a joint-invasion of Chanwa and partitioned it between them/

The civil war saw massive economic destruction, displacement and atrocities from all sides. The civil war brought to power the Shangean Regeneration Society which created a national-socialist "guided democracy" under the doctrine of National Principlism.

Background

The civil war was the culmination of long term processes stemming from the growing social and political polarisation in Shangean society and short term processes of the defeat of the Great War and subsequent collapse of the millennia-old imperial system.

Long term causes

Political radicalism in Shangea had begun to surface in the early 1900s as the contradiction between the millennia-old imperial order and the rise of modern liberal, nationalist, republican and socialist thought began to break through. The creation of the Heavenly Shangean Empire had been predicated on a marriage between traditional Shangean civilisational exceptionalism and a form of nationalism that emphasised modernity and ethnic chauvinism. Shangean conservatives grouped around the Xiyong Emperor hoped to revive the supposed "golden age" of the Tao dynasty through the creation of an unified nation-state that would utilise the modern progress of Euclean nations whilst retaining as much as the old social and political order as possible. This Neo-Taoism was accommodating of a move towards capitalism as controlled by the ruling oligarchy being uninterested in broader social reform. Under the "Zhengfeng" (Rectification) programme which aimed to rapidly modernise and industrialise Shangea military, economic and administrative modernisation was undertaken alongside Shangeocisation but reforms fundamentally sought to bolster the imperial system that had been created under the Xiang dynasty.

The increasing spread of literacy and greater engagement with foreign philosophies had a profound effect on the Shangean ideological landscape as Shangeans begun questioning old certainties. The general rise of Coian republicanism in the 1910s saw Shangean writers and activists alongside their Senrian and Kuthine counterparts begin propagating new ideologies and modes of political, social and economic organisation. The Senrian Revolution in particular had a profound effect on Shangean proto-revolutionaries who begun to advocate a similar overthrow of the old order.

The continued rule by oligarchs and centrality of the imperial system had led to intermittent revolts. The largest of these, the so-called "Red Summer" in 1920, had directly led to a successful palace coup known as the Jiayun Uprising which entrenched a new government under the Nanqing Clique who sought to revitalise the imperial system through rural reform and national expansion. The monarchy thus tied its fate to the success of the clique who following the Senrian Revolution begun to frame republicanism, liberalism and socialism as its greatest threats.

Shangeocisation and the rise of nationalism in general also meant for regionalists and minority groups such as Durani's and Chanwans that continued imperial rule of their territory was undesirable and that new forms of political organisation were needed.

Short term causes

Great War

Shangea was the primary instigator of the Great War in 1927 after it invaded Senria following the Second Sakata Incident which saw the Shangean concession of Sakata annexed by Senria. During the war Shangea fought in Senria itself, Satria (primarily Eturiran and Estmerish colonies) and Southeast Coius (primarily through its own puppet state Kuthina against Weranian forces). In 1932 Shangean forces surrendered in Senria, leading to the de facto end of the Senrian Genocide and the beginning of Shangean defensive preparations. At the time, the Shangean imperial government was dominated by the Nanqing Clique, a group of ultranationalist royalists close to the Church of Emperor Worship that had influence over the Shanrong Emperor. Shangean imperial propaganda extolled the civilisational, moral and racial superiority of the Shangean people over Senrians in particular with the Shangean military believing the defeat in Senria being due to a lack of sufficient élan then strategic or military deficiencies.

The Grand Alliance (blue) occupation of Shangea in February 1935 prior to the Shangean surrender.

The Shangean state had begun during the war to show increasing weakness and unrest. The mobilisation of troops was done according to a strict national plan that accounted for agricultural output - mobilisation was designed to prevent mass recruitment of farmers' and peasants needed to maintain food stocks. Taxes on rural goods were in theory kept low to prevent social disruption and retain a passive homefront. However the length of the war and the simultaneous deployment of troops on three fronts had not be accounted for in the mobilisation plan meaning more and more peasants had to be forcibly conscripted whilst taxes were successively hiked. Rural law and order became increasingly archaic as the baojia system begun to broke down with desertion and rural rebellion becoming common.

Senrian forces invaded Shangea in May 1933 through Kintao before occupying much of the Kaoming peninsula. Shangea's defence was chaotic, poorly organised and suffered from a collapse of the logistics system.

Treaty of Keisi

The Senrian-Xiaodongese War of 1927-1933 had resulted in the total military defeat of the Heavenly Xiaodongese Empire at the hands of Senria and Tuthina and in March 1933 saw the collapse of the Heavenly Empire following the overthrow of the Shanrong Emperor and declaration of the State of Xiaodong, a provisional government under the control of the Taiyi Emperor. In April 1933 the Prime Minister of Xiaodong Shao Yuzhang signed the Treaty of Keishi which committed Xiaodong to paying ¥1,450,000,000,000 in reparations to Senria, taking full responsibility for the war and dropping territorial claims to Sakata.

The signing of the treaty resulted in riots within Xiaodong due to what was perceived as kowtowing to Senria, with opposition coming from both the nationalist right and anti-imperialist left. In May 1933 the Taiyi Emperor announced parliamentary elections to be held in June. The election saw anti-treaty forces (the left-wing nationalist Xiaodong Regeneration Society, far-left Workers' Party of Xiaodong and far-right Great Harmony Party) get a majority of votes and seats. The Prime Minister Shao Yuzhang resigned as a result of the election, but advised the Taiyi Emperor to delay the opening of the National Assembly and ruled by decree supporting a cabinet made up of liberal and conservative reformists. The Emperor agreed to this suggestion appointing a liberal Zhang Mingshu as Prime Minister. Local elections held a week later saw the Workers' Party attain majorities in the municipalities of Kuoqing, Minqin and Zhinning.

The Workers' Party (which had come third in number of seats after the Xiaodong Regeneration Society and Liberal Party) decried the move made by the Taiyi Emperor to dissolve the National Assembly, and during the summer of 1933 started to arm its political supporters into organised militia groups in its strongholds in the Gaoming and Chenghu prefectures. The war had resulted in a collapse of the Xiaodongese economy with continued fighting in Tinza and Min further exacerbating economic problems.

During the summer of 1933 political polarisation increased as the radical left and nationalist right agitated for the fall of the State of Xiaodong, either attempting a restoration of the Heavenly Empire or the creation of a socialist state. Attempts to dispel such violence was hampered by the fact that the army was still deployed fighting Min and Tinza and that there was often a hostility to the central government by local functionaries. In July 1933, Chairman of the Regeneration Society and war hero Lu Keqian met with Rao Junzhao, the leader of the Workers' Party, to discuss the possibility of a joint left-nationalist alliance to create a national socialist-republic that would abrogate the Treaty of Keishi. Rao rejected Lu's offer on the grounds of Lu's nationalism.

Corrective Revolution

Chairman Rao Junzhao declaring the Socialist Republic

On the 2^nd August the Workers' Party dominated municipality of Kuoqing held the "March on Kuoqing" where in members of the Workers' Liberation Corps (the armed wing of the Workers' Party) took up arms and stormed the city hall, imprisoning the provincial governor of the Gaoming prefecture and declaring the establishment of the Socialist Republic of Xiaodong with Rao Junzhao as Chairman. A similar uprising by the Workers' Party in Yinbaolei and across Gaoming led to the Workers' Party to control vast sections of the Chenghu and Gaoming prefectures at the time of the August Revolution

The declaration of the Socialist Republic led the government to issue decreeing the banning of the Workers' Party and called for the arrest of their members. In response, the Central Bureau of the party in Kuoqing called for its members to "resist and rebel", unleashing armed militia's to cement control over the city overthrowing the local government, bribing police officials and arresting those deemed to be pro-government supporters. The Xiaodongese Army was deployed to fight revolutionary forces in Kuoqing. However, the Army was beaten back after two months of shelling the city, resulting in revolutionary forces to advance southwards taking the entirety of the Gaoming prefecture in November 1933. The failure of Army to retake Gaoming resulted in the fall of the Zhang cabinet and the installation of a more conservative cabinet led by Prime Minister Jiang Guoding.

Early War

Following the successful August Revolution the Socialist Republic held control over the Gaoming and Chenghu prefectures, cutting off the capital Baiqiao from the rest of the country. Significant socialist activity was also recorded in East Thianchin and the prefectures of Meifucun, Qihongtang and Xibuguo.

Between November 1933 to March 1934 the Socialist forces mainly conducted guerrilla operations, extending control over the southern Xiaodongese countryside as the government maintained control of cities. Socialist forces endeavoured to destroy government supply lines and infrastructure to isolate cities whilst pursuing a scorched earth strategy when government forces took villages and towns. The socialists secret police chief, Xi Qinghong, made sure that the socialists secret police network ruthlessly suppressed internal dissent making it all but impossible for government forces to infiltrate revolutionary ranks. Within villages socialists used effective propaganda to mobilise support, further weakening the influence of the government.

The government had in turn reacted poorly to the crisis. Between June 1933 to August 1934 there were three Prime Ministers as governments remained unstable relying on Yao's ability to pass legalisation based on decrees. In August 1934 field marshal Qian Shaozheng was appointed Prime Minister. Qian created the State Security Agency (国家安全机构; GAJ) designed to repress socialist elements. The GAJ increasingly took control of the government, successfully countering communist propaganda and reeling back government priorities from taking back the countryside to defending key supply lines.

In January 1935 Qian ordered the Southern Offensive, a campaign designed to retake the south-eastern cities of Yinbaolei and Zhinning...

Southern Offensive failed