Futurist Front
| Futurist Front | |
|---|---|
 Emblem of the Futurist Front | |
| Leaders | Emilia Malandrino |
| Dates of operation | 1942–1958 |
| Headquarters | Keraþ (1946–1947) |
| Active regions | Modern Gylias |
| Ideology | Political Futurism |
| Political position | Far-right |
| Allies | Temporary agreements with: |
| Opponents | |
| Battles and wars | the Liberation War |
The Futurist Front (Italian: Fronte Futurista) was a faction in the Liberation War. Founded and led by Emilia Malandrino, it served as a successor to the Futurist Party of Alscia. It is best-known for its brief seizure of Keraþ in 1946–1947, when it proclaimed the Impresa di Chieti ("Endeavour of Chieti"), before being overthrown by an authoritarian communist force.
During the second phase of the war, it joined forces with the Free Territories to fight the Tymzar–Nalo regime. It was disbanded in 1958; the National Reconstruction Alliance is unofficially considered its political successor.
Background
The Futurist Front was established by Emilia Malandrino, who had achieved some distinction as a writer and soldier in the Border Guard during the Alscian Border War before turning to Political Futurism.
Relatively little about the Front's early years is known with certainty, due to poor wartime record-keeping and Emilia's penchant for self-mythologising. It is generally agreed that it was established sometime in 1942, with a membership largely drawn from the former PFA, as well as other assorted nationalists and extremists. Its membership is estimated at around 2.500 people, and it mainly operated in the Kackar mountains near Alscia's former borders.
While it was supported by Political Futurist regimes in Megelan during the Warlord Era and Æsthurlavaj, Emilia forged a distinctive path. She was irritated with the old PFA's slavish imitation of Megelanese models and rampant misogyny. She developed a patchwork of far-right and far-left elements, which included national mysticism, national syndicalism, and a nihilistic form of feminism, influenced by close ally Anna Glans-Vercell.
Impresa di Chieti
The Futurist Front successfully seized control of Keraþ in 1946. Emilia proclaimed the Impresa di Chieti ("Endeavour of Chieti", after the Italian name for the city), and herself as its leader, with the title Ducesa ("Duchess").
The constitution of the territory was the Charter of Chieti (Carta del Chieti), which was notable for its incoherent mixture of Political Futurism, totalitarianism, anarchism, and republicanism. Its distinctive traits included:
- Proclaiming music to be a "social institution"
- Establishing a corporatist state with mandatory membership of 10 corporations representing the different sectors — the 10th being reserved for artists.
- Basing the economy on syndicalism
- Creating a bicameral legislature, formed of the Council of the Best (Consiglio degli Ottimi), elected by universal suffrage, and the Council of Corporations (Consiglio dei Provvisori), chosen by corporations as a functional constituency.
The self-proclaimed state, only recognised by Futurist Megelan and Æsthurlavaj, used an emblem depicting an ouroboros and the Big Dipper on a red background. Its Latin mottos were Quis contra nos? ("Who is against us?") and Hic manebimus optime ("This place is the best").
The Impresa di Chieti regime was largely chaotic, with negative effects for the city's economy. Emilia cared little for day-to-day administration and busied herself with theatrics and rituals. She would deliver balcony addresses in the city centre, give the Roman salute, carry out dramatic and rhetorical dialogues with assembled crowds, and stage large-scale nationalistic public rituals.
Despite the Futurist glorification of modernity, she sought to build support by associating herself with the Gylian revolutionary tradition. She undertook restoration work on the site of the Keraþ assembly, allowing the revolutionary blue–yellow–red tricolour to fly over the building, and planned to build statues to commemorate leaders of the Gylian revolution of 1848, although these would be done after the regime was overthrown.
The Impresa di Chieti rested on shaky foundations due to the Futurist Front's limited numbers. Emilia earned infamy for preferring public humiliation of her enemies instead of killing them. A principal method was to parade restrained enemies in public, using old techniques such as stocks, pillories, or neck violins, and force-feeding them castor oil, an effective laxative, forcing them to defecate in public.
Later activity
The Futurist Front was forced out of Keraþ in 1947, being overthrown by an authoritarian communist force. They attempted to retreat southwards, with vague plans to make an attempt at either Deðras or Riáona. These were foiled by the destruction of the Nerveiík Kingdom and emergence of the Tymzar–Nalo regime, which brought Xevden fully into the war.
When the Xevdenite advance devastated all Gylian factions but the Free Territories, Emilia led the Futurist Front to join forces with the People's Army. However, the Front had itself been badly damaged by its chaotic retreat from Keraþ and skirmishes. It was by now roughly the size of a battalion, and played more of a propaganda role, with little notable contributions to battles.
It was disbanded in 1958, at the end of the Liberation War.
Aftermath
The science fiction writer Virginia Gerstenfeld, a veteran of both the Alscian Border War and the Liberation War, described the Futurist Front as "a ludicrous gang whose minimal importance to the war was out of proportion to their inflated self-regard." The role of the Front in the war was certainly closer to a flash in the pan: it rose suddenly from obscurity with the Impresa di Chieti, was overthrown after a year, and spent the second phase of the war as little more than a tamed showpiece for the Free Territories.
However, it unexpectedly benefited from the war. Although claiming allegiance to Political Futurism, its chaotic, theatrical, and brief regime in Keraþ caused ridicule from their opponents, and the public came to see them as adversaries rather than enemies. This was largely motivated by the incoherence of the Charter, Emilia's "ludicrous posturing", and its association with public humiliation instead of death, a marked contrast to the chemical warfare of the Megelanese Futurists, the eugenics and war crimes of the Æsthurlav ones, and the brutality of the Tymzar–Nalo regime.
Emilia proved remarkably lucky post-war: she escaped serious sanction in the Arnak Trials, won election to the Popular Assembly as an independent in 1958, and subsequently formed the National Reconstruction Alliance. She earned a "wicked" reputation that she carefully burnished, and by the end of her life had become an "unexpected icon" of the Liberation War, seen as more of an eccentric adversary like Lidia Leone than a genuine threat. She jokingly claimed vindication in the creation of social quarantine areas, boasting that she taught others "how to give their opponents a good thrashing".
The Futurist Front's brief rule in Keraþ contributed to its "fateful city" reputation — having experienced the Gylian revolution of 1848 and a chaotic series of regimes that included far-right and far-left authoritarianism before joining the Free Territories. It has contributed significantly to the city's historical tourism, with a small subset of war tourism and dark tourism focused on the Impresa di Chieti. Columnist Esua Nadel described Keraþ's identity and politics as torn between its traditional liberal–democratic heritage and enduring fascination with the "wicked" figure of Emilia, harnessed by ARENA.