August Revolution (Liothidia)
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| August Revolution August-Revolution | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Senior members of the Socialist Worker's Party proclaiming the new Liothidian Democratic People's Republic from the balcony of Rahden City Hall on August 12 1918. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
.svg){kind=small} Liothidian monarchy Military loyalists |
 Worker's Socialist Party Popular Revolutionary Committees Liothidian Socialist-Left Party Military defectors | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Kaiser Heinrich III † August-Wilhelm † Ernst von Meyer Wilhelm von Stanheim † Georg von Staffenhayn Horst Ferdinand von Arnim |
Heinrich Schrader Gustav Hohenstein Wilhelm Jakob Vetter Tomasz Beksiński Tadeusz Jagielka (WIA) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~32,596 loyalist soldiers, police and armed militia |
~1.8 million protesters 180,000 soldiers, militia and police | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 2,559 killed or injured | 4,889 killed or missing | ||||||
| 22,000-55,000 people killed or executed by revolutionary groups throughout the revolution. | |||||||
The August Revolution, officially known in Liothidian literature as the Great People's Socialist Revolution (Liothidian: Die sozialistische Revolution der Großen Leute) was a civil conflict in the Liothidian Empire between June 1917 and August 1918 that resulted in the replacement of the federal semi-constitutional monarchy with a unitary Socialist Republic. The revolutionary period lasted from June 1917, until the full adoption of the People's Constitution in August 1918, however, the actual overthrow of the imperial government occurred in August.
It was sparked by the Kaiser's refusal to appoint the leader of the parliamentary left-wing coalition that won a majority in the 1917 federal elections. From June 1917 until August 1918, urban workers began to organize into committees (Liothidic: Ausschuss) wherein revolutionaries criticized the Imperial government and its actions. Tensions over the political deadlock soon evolved in popular resentment over long-running and deep seated flaws in Liothidian society and the stagnant economy. In 1918, the Kaiser again refused to appoint a left-wing prime minister, instead turning to a conservative and reactionary general, who proved ineffective in contending with the mass protests. In response, the Committees organised a general strike which crippled the economy. Following a failed government violent effort to break the strikes, the Socialist Worker's Party emerged as the leading force and its leader Heinrich Schrader openly began calling for revolution.
On August 1, the Imperial Navy mutinied and declared itself "Für das Volk" (For the People), which rallied the SWP and its allies. Over the next three days over 350,000 people would march on Rahden, forcing the Imperial Family to flee to Passau, while the government under Prime Minister Wilhelm von Stanheim was caught attempting to escape and killed. Using radio, Heinrich Schrader declared the end of the monarchy and the Hechenreyt dynasty and proclaimed the “Liothidian Democratic People’s Republic.” On August 10, revolutionary militia entered Passau and murdered the Imperial Family.
On August 12, the SWP and the subordinate Worker's League formally voted to adopt the People's Charter, an interim constitution, though it formally founded the Liothidian Democratic People's Republic. In the following weeks and months, thousands of aristocrats, business and land owners would be killed in revolutionary violence, known as the Überholung, while the new regime rapidly reformed the state into the world's first socialist republic.
Origins
Historians have pointed to many events and factors within the Kaiser-Ära that led to the Revolution. Rising social and economic inequality, new political ideas emerging from the political stagnation, economic mismanagement, environmental factors leading to agricultural failure, unmanageable national debt, and political mismanagement on the part of Kaiser Heinrich III and his various Prime Ministers have all been cited as laying the groundwork for the Revolution.
The economy of the Kaiser-Ära during the years preceding the Revolution suffered from instability; poor harvests lasting several years and an inadequate transportation system both contributed to making food more expensive. The sequence of events leading to the Revolution included the national government's fiscal troubles caused by an inefficient tax system and expenditure on numerous wasteful projects. Economic recession in 1908 was met by vast bailouts by the Imperial government, which overly focused on saving companies and businesses owned by aristocrats or closely aligned middle class families, while allowing numerous other industries, with large labour forces to fold. Not only did this lead to mass unemployment, it also exacerbated the government's indebtedness.
Liothidia was experiencing such a severe economic depression that there wasn't enough food to go around. As with most monarchies of the time, the upper class was always insured a stable living so while the rich remained very wealthy, the majority of the Liothidian population was on the verge of starving. According to several historians between 46% and 55% of the population went without a single meal for four days on average per week, between 1908 and 1916. Many were so destitute that they couldn't even feed their families and resorted to theft or prostitution to stay alive. Meanwhile, the royal court at Schwarzestein Palast was isolated from and indifferent to the escalating crisis. While in theory Liothidia was a constitutional monarch, Kaiser Heinrich III was able to exert extensive power over his various Prime Ministers, regularly blocking their attempts at reform, through fear of "allowing in socialists." This further aggravated the general populace who sought reform to end the economic crisis, while it played into the hands of non-socialist republican groups. This was no more apparent, than his refusal to appoint Erich Gernhardt as Prime Minister, following his bloc’s victory in the 1917 general election, which sparked the initial mass protests that led to the revolution.
The role of left-wing politics was also a key cause for the revolution. From 1910 until the revolution, the left-wing, though represented by an array of parties, was steadily gaining power and influence. The two largest left-wing parties were the Liothidian Socialist Party and the Socialist Worker’s Party. The former, was more moderate and approachable, though the latter was militant and had known ties to left-wing activists and terrorists. In the 1915 general election, the two parties collectively won 100 seats in the Generalstag. While their political influence was blunted by limited suffrage, the left-wing’s power was profound on the street and in the factories.
Hechenreyt Dynasty
Since 1787, Liothidia had been ruled by the House of Hechenreyt, a prominent landed bloodline from the city of Dornstetten (renamed as Schraderstädt after the revolution). They assumed the Liothidian Throne following the destruction of the Von Sandmayr dynasty during the War of the Steben, in which Kaiser Reinhardt III was killed without an heir and Liothidian Unification.
The Hechenreyt reign from 1787 until 1888 was without incident and was widely regarded as a "model relationship between Emperor and Subject." However, Kaiser Wilhelm V, who assumed the throne in 1888 proved disastrous in the long-term. Highly arrogant, aloof and obsessed with pomp, he was widely considered to be entirely "detached from his people." Wilhelm V, would vast sums of state money to construct lavish homes for himself, his children and extended family. One such palace, cost an estimated $4.4 billion (in today's value), which was built for his immediate cousin, Count Erich von Winden.
Wilhelm passed away on April 10 1892 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Heinrich. Despite Heinrich’s personal popularity, Wilhelm's reign had seriously undermined popular support in the monarchy and the Hechenreyt family. Furthermore, the opulence, corruption and repressive domination of the Erster Famillien class; noble families that inherited vast lands, wealth and political control through relationships with the Imperial Family further undermined the monarchy.
Wilhelm's strategic marrying of his children to eligible foreign royals also further alienated traditionally pro-monarchy right wing figures. Crown Prince Friedrich’s marriage to the Ghantish Imperial Princess Emma of Ghant, was met with wide condemnation by traditionalist Catholics, while Kaiser Heinrich’s marriage to the Latin Imperial Princess Diana of Latium, was also met with derision. Many leading socialists during the Revolution claimed that the Hechenreyts were "allowing for foreign domination through seduction."
Heinrich throughout his reign operated on the same principles as his father, obstinate refusal to reform the government, utter rejection of suggestions of monarchist over-step and denunciation of all critics. Although this proved successfully in pushing down moderates, it only deepened the radicalisation of others, especially those in the Generalstag and factories.
According to some historians, their very personal nature made them easy targets for vilification and scapegoating. Right-wing nationalists would claim that the family had become “infatuated with foreigners”, while the left claimed that their “opulence was the fuel of their tyranny” and vilified them for their extravagance while the country was on the verge of mass starvation. Their nature would prove vital in to the coalition of various groups that would overthrow them in the revolution. However, the people around the family were also causes for concern. The Kaiser and his sons were generally known to enjoy the presence of sycophants and yes-men, who would regularly question or criticse the Kaiser’s decisions, this would be highly damaging in the months that followed the 1917 election.
Political stagnation
The Kaiser’s refusal to allow any sense of reform was aided in the same obstinance found in the Erste Familien that dominated Liothidian politics. Since the introduction of an elected parliament in 1835, Liothidia had for the most part been governed by conservative parties continuously. This refusal to reform, permeated into virtually all sectors of government, education, science, industry and the economy. There was a long-running genuine fear that any sense of reform would weaken the state and hand over power to socialism.
With the onset of the 1908 recession and economic stagnation, the political theatre became tenser. Despite pleas by the middle-class elected liberals and moderate socialists, that economic reform was vital for Liothidia, the dominant right refused. Prime Minister Gustav Bergmann, regularly denounced calls for reform as “falsehoods for revolution.” However, in 1910, the Kaiser permitted the expansion of suffrage to all literate males, while this expanded the electorate from 2.1 million to 8.8 million, it still denied a vast majority of the urban and rural workers the right to vote. One result of the suffrage expansion, was that the middle-class, fearing economic stagnation would provoke the working classes elected pro-reformist parties to the Generalstag in the 1912 and 1915 elections.
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Despite the growth of reformist parties, the Kaiser and his allies in the Reichversammlung (upper-house) regularly blocked any attempts at economic reform and efforts to modernise aspects of the industrial economy. When agriculture began to decline in 1911 from declining administration and working standards, the Imperial government blocked attempts at introducing mechanisation and land reform. Prime Minister Bergmann described land reform as the “slow dishonourable death of honourable society.”
The political system of Liothidia itself was fundamentally flawed. The Erste Familien dominated not just the national government, but the state governments also. Prominent Vannoisian historian, Henri Capet described the system as, “nationally the landed collectively governed for their collective interests, at the state level, they governed for their personal interests, nowhere was there effort to govern for all.” As such, the national and state governments failed to make any effort to improve the quality of life for the urban or rural classes.
Urban workers especially languished under the national status-qup: overcrowded housing with often deplorable sanitary conditions, long hours at work (on the eve of the revolution a 10-hour workday six days a week was the average and many were working 11–12 hours a day by 1918), constant risk of injury and death from poor safety and sanitary conditions, harsh discipline (not only rules and fines, but foremen's fists), and inadequate wages (made worse after 1912 by steep increases in the cost of living). At the same time, urban industrial life was full of benefits, though these could be just as dangerous, from the point of view of social and political stability, as the hardships. There were many encouragements to expect more from life. Acquiring new skills gave many workers a sense of self-respect and confidence, heightening expectations and desires. Living in cities, workers encountered material goods such as they had never seen in villages. Most important, living in cities, they were exposed to innovative ideas about the social and political order, much of which were focused on change.
The refusal to reform swiftly became misconstrued as repression by a reactionary elite, unwilling to cede power to elected officials, nor give way to any improves of life for the ordinary people, through fear more reform would be demanded, culminating in their overthrow.
Leftist agitation
In 1901, the Liothidian Communist Party was formed. While it grew steadily out of the nascent trade union movement, it soon became target for government repression and crackdowns. The party soon began to fracture over disagreements on how to respond to government repression. In 1908, the party split into three distinct parties; the Liothidian Socialist Party, which opted for a moderate and parliamentary focused route to a socialist society, the Socialist Worker’s Party which sought revolution and the Revolutionary Worker’s Party which opted for violent agitation.
Between 1909 and 1911, there over 300 attacks by the RWP against the Imperial Government. 11 people were killed in a bombing of a government tax office in the city of Dornstetten, while several prominent members of the Reichversammlung during the Summer of 1910. In 1911, Hermann Richter, the Interior Minister was shot dead outside his home by Lukas Gruber. Then in 1912, Heinrich Maas, the Finance Minister was killed when a grenade was thrown through his office window. In 1913, the RWP bombed Kaiser Wilhelm IV Straße killing 38 people, including 16 sitting members of the pro-monarchy National People’s Party.
The Kaiser Wilhelm Straße bombing provoked a major government response, over the space of a week over 600 members of the RWP were arrested, killed or missing as the Imperial Army scoured leftist strongholds for suspected leftist terrorist groups. While this represented a fraction of the RWP’s membership, many of those caught up in the crackdown constituted the party’s keenest and most talented leaders and by 1914 the party ceased to exist.
The destruction of the RWP enabled the Socialist Worker’s Party under Heinrich Schrader to emerge as the only other viable left-wing party to the moderate Socialist Party. While the SWP was revolutionary, Schrader and his allies regularly warned that “pre-empting revolution guarantees failure, timing is the key to revolutionary success.” The SWP focused on gaining the support of the unionist movement, while working to establishing footholds in all major cities. The SWP ran numerous “class awareness functions”, in which party officials would visit factories or beer halls and give lectures on socialism and class conflict, while doing so in a way not to alarm or alert the government.
The SWP also sought influence in the Imperial Armed Forces, seeking out disaffected soldiers and officers alike who found that military service did not save their families from the chronic sub-standards of living in the cities. However, the SWP would not see much success until the revolution itself.
Historians note that the SWP’s focus on gaining influence at the grass-roots level over symbolistic acts was key to its swift rise from fringe group to the leading force of the revolution.
1917 General election
The widely accepted spark of the revolution is the 1917 General Election, in which the left-wing coalition, the Worker’s League, won a respectable majority in the Generalstag on July 25. After years of steady growth, the left utilised the Kaiser’s decision to grant universal male suffrage to focus on the socio-economic crises gripping Liothidia. The League was led by Erich Gernhardt, a widely respected politician, but of limited charisma and a mediocre orator.
The League won 286 seats out of the 430, enough to guarantee Gernhardt’s appointment as Prime Minister. However, the Kaiser and his landed allies, refused to accept the result of the election. The Kaiser rejected Gernhardt’s request to form a government. In a letter written to the President of the Generalstag, he wrote, “I cannot have this weasel of man in my office, let alone in my government.”
The Kaiser, refusing to accept a left-wing prime minister, looked to the imperial parties in the lower and upper-houses. The second largest party was the conservative National People’s Party under Wilhelm von Stanheim, however the NPP leader was reluctant to accept, fearing the backlash. The Kaiser’s second choice was a member of the uppere-house and the chief of the Imperial Armed Forces, Field Marshal Ernst von Meyer.
On July 26, the Kaiser appointed Field Marshal Ernst von Meyer as his Prime Minister. Not only did this contravene the convention that the monarch appoints the leader of the party or bloc with the confidence of the lower-house, it also violated a 1910 convention that barred the Kaiser from appointing a member of the Reichsversammlung (Imperial Assembly); the landed-packed unelected upper house. Von Meyer, being an independent, appointed member from the conservative National People’s Party and liberal Progressive Party to his cabinet.
The League immediately condemned the move and refused to recognise Von Meyer as Prime Minister. On July 27, mass protests broke out across the major cities in opposition to the Kaiser’s move. The League began using the protests to infuse with it, contempt for the socio-economic status of the working class, ensuring monument in the protests. However, the end-goal was disputed among the League’s parties and it slowly began to fracture.
The Kaiser’s decision to reject the leader of the largest bloc in the Generalstag, unleashed popular fury, which owing to other key socio-economic reasons was widespread and energetic. Many saw the Kaiser’s refusal to accept the popular will as another assault upon it Liothidian citizenry.
Revolution
Initial protests
Throughout late July and August, the protests were limited in size and location. On average, only 10,000 people at a time protested within Rahden, while smaller numbers took the streets in other major cities such as Vechta, Eschau, Lachenbach and Frauenwald. The limited number of protesters led to a sense of security within the government, who reckoned that limited opposition indicated tacit support of the silent majority.
With the majority of the seats in the lower-house being held by the League, the government under Prime Minister Von Meyer was ever dependent on the Seal of Decree held by the Kaiser. Unable to break the deadlock, the minority government effectively side-lined the Generalstag through the Kaiser’s decree. In late October, the Von Meyer governed used the decree to pass an emergency budget that decimated spending on the already limited welfare state as a means overcoming the chronic debt problem.
The budget, alongside the excessive use of decrees to govern, inflamed the protests, with numbers rocketing into the hundreds of thousands as the League mobilised the working class and rural populations. Home Minister Richter Hofstadter wrote at the time, “the budget and the addiction to decree of our Emperor was the result of foolish and naïve beliefs that the initial outrages being limited in number, were indicative of popular support. This foolishness has unleashed a hurricane.”
The protests expanded throughout October, culminating in November with the Great March. 500,000 workers and middle-class professionals marched in unison on the Government Quarter in Central Rahden on November 10. On November 15, as the crowds advanced toward the Imperial Palace and parliament, soldiers of the Imperial Life Guards protecting the bridges opened fire, killing 96 protesters and injuring over 400 others.
The Massacre of the Bridges further escalated and fueled popular anger toward the Imperial government, with protests now being recorded in over 100 towns and cities and sporadic strikes and walk-outs in factories. Unable to reduce tension owing to entrenched opposition to reform, Prime Minister Ernst von Meyer offered his resignation on November 17. The Kaiser rejected it, citing his difficulty in finding a suitable replacement. As a result, Von Meyer’s authority collapsed and protests began to focus on his removal.
On November 22, Von Meyer was forced out by a vote of no-confidence, which found support in all parties present. The pro-government right sought to replace Von Meyer with Wilhelm von Stanheim, the leader of the NPP. The vote passed on November 24, though Kaiser Heinrich rejected the result, he was pressured by his landed allies to accept the resignation and appoint Von Stanheim as his successor.
Von Stanheim immediately sought to begin talks with the Worker’s League, who mistakenly took it as unified and organised force, leading the protests. In reality, the League was regularly on the verge of collapse, as the gulf between the moderate and reform-minded Socialist Party and the hardline pro-republic minded Socialist Worker’s Party became more apparent in wake of growing violence. Von Stanheim hoped that through negotiation he would be able to persuade the League to end the protests in exchange for reforms to the economy and a promise to improve living conditions - though in reality, this would be done piecemeal, with only symbolic reforms planned by the Imperial Government. As the violence spread, the League's divisions were becoming exacerbated by continued efforts of the SWP to radicalise the league. Its leaders lodged votes calling on violent revolution daily throughout November, which were defeated by the SDP, Industrial Worker's Party and the United People's Front, by December the SWP began efforts to by-pass the League's General Committee, establishing Revolutionary Committees in numerous factories, plants and even barracks. Heinrich Schrader, First Secretary of the SWP, opted to give speeches at mass rallies across northern Liothidia, where he regularly decried the League's "enforced impotence."
By January 1918, the the SWP had established over 800 Revolutionary Committees across Liothidia, these committees resulted in the SWP's membership to swell to over 800,000, while it gained direct influence over the striking and protesting urban worker population. This sidestepping was aided in the fact that the Imperial Government, still refused to negotiate with no other movement except the League, many alarmist reports of the SWP's moves were dismissed by Von Stanheim, who rejected the SWP as a "fringe-movement, too radical even for the radicals of the League."
Street violence
While the protests subsided over the Christmas period of 1917, the Imperial Government succeeded into drawing the Kaiser to make a firm decision on how to proceed. The months of protests and strikes had brought the national economy to a standstill and prices were skyrocketing as supply faded, this was deepening the crippling government debt, denying it any significant reform to social welfare as demanded by the League. Having spent the previous months secluded in his private office and seemingly delusional over the crisis facing his government and family, the Kaiser emerged to demand the immediate arrest of the League leadership. His order was reportedly opposed by several key figures of the Imperial Advisory Council, while he received backing from Prime Minister Von Stanheim, Interior Minister Friedrich Mueller-Hoffman and War Minister Georg von Staffenhayn.
In his diary, the Kaiser's Principal Secretary, Reinhardt wrote:
We have finally awoken the Kaiser from his conscious slumber, only to find that he has rushed to a decision that may well inflame our current predicament. For years, we have been knowing of his rash-decision making, his aloofness, refusal to absorb the detail demanded of the situation and his inherent belief that whatever decision is made, is entirely correct and in good fashion. Now we face our possible extinction as a civilised and powerful empire, he rushes once more and believes he is right. May God help us.
On January 4 1918, the 3rd Emperor's Life Guards Regiment surrounded the Rahden Sportspalast during the first meeting of Worker's League of the year. Notably, the senior leadership of the Socialist Worker's Party was absent, having disavowed the agenda in December as "further consolidation of the collaborative impotence of the moderates." At 09.33am, as Erich Gernhardt began to speak, the soldiers stormed the hall and began arresting all they could seize. Scuffles and fights broke out between delegates and the soldiers, resulting in gunfire. 11 League delegates were killed or serious injured, while over 200 were detained, including Gerhardt. News of the incident was quickly spread through the hundreds of newspapers and pamphlets being produced daily by protesters, by the evening of January 5, the SWP emerged as the sole organised and intact left-wing group within the League. The SWP the same evening, through its Revolutionary Committees called on "workers and peasants to rise up in furious rage, at the beastly assault upon our movement."
On January 6, hundreds of thousands began to riot in Rahden, Kaiserstad, Vechta and Altersbach. The outburst of violence was so swift and extensive that it caught law enforcement and Imperial Army units deployed completely unprepared and ill-equipped. On January 8, protesters stormed the townhouse of Interior Minister Freidrich Mueller-Hoffmann, killing his domestic staff and setting it ablaze. This was replicated across Liothidia, with the homes, businesses and offices of government officials and lawmakers attacked and vandalised. Throughout January, protesters attacked all government institutions, including courthouses, police stations, town and city halls. Police, Imperial Army and monarchist militias struggled to confront the rising tide of popular anger. On January 22, 11 upper-class civilians were killed when a tanner lobbed a grenade into the lobby of the Kaiser Heinrich II Theatre in Rahden. On January 26 1918, 185 people were killed when a train carrying people to the annual Vechta Regata was derailed after explosives destroyed the track.
From February through to July, Liothidia fell into all-out chaos as street battles turned into gun battles and sporadic acts of arson and bombing. During this period an estimated 1,150 people were killed and over 3,000 more were injured. The Imperial Government had become impotent as the Kaiser swiftly withdrew yet again from a front-line position to his personal office, repeatedly refusing to sign the release order for the detained League delegates and leaders. Von Stanheim was ultimately sidelined by War Minister Von Staffenhayn who slowly attempted to form a military government with the tacit support of the Kaiser. However, the continued violence and confrontations between soldiers and the protesters was driving a wedge between the soldiery and officer class, this was further exacerbated by the emergence of SWP-aligned Revolutionary Committees among the soldiery in early 1918.
Rise of the Socialist Worker's Party
Following the collapse of the League's more moderate parties, the Socialist Worker's Party emerged as the sole organised revolutionary group. By February, it unified all of the Revolutionary Committees across Liothidia into the Popular Revolutionary Committees, subordinate directly to the Central Committee of the SWP. In April, the SWP separated the military-based PRCs into the Armed Revolutionary Committees and actively began pressuring soldiers to defect. The Imperial Government was further setback by its refusal to recognise the SWP as a legitimate representative of the protesters, owing to its overt and public calls for a socialist republic. War Minister Von Staffenhayn issued repeated orders, with the Kaiser's signature, ordering the arrest or killing of the SWP leadership, however, the Central Committee and Schrader were moving daily to various safe-houses.
On June 5, the Revolutionary Worker's Party agreed to merge with the SWP, further enhancing its standing among the revolutionaries, while at the same time, making use of the RWP's extensive links to trade unions and smaller revolutionary committees in the mining and rural towns. The same month, Crown Prince August-Wilhelm attempted to persuade his father to become active in governance once more, however, he was repeatedly stonewalled by the Kaiser, who refused to accept that his people were in open revolt. Instead, the Crown-Prince sought to remove Von Staffenahayn, who's militant response was deepening the crisis and driving defections of soldiers. On June 10, the Crown-Prince chaired a meeting of the Imperial Advisory Council and demanded that Von Staffenahayn cease the use of monarchist militias to attack protesters. Von Staffenhayn refused and was promptly sacked by the Crown-Prince, who held the power owing to his father's self-imposed exile from government, he was replaced by Markus Fröhlich, who followed through. The same day, the Crown-Prince indicated in a radio-address that the Imperial Government would be willing to negotiate with the SWP if it ceased violent attacks on state institutions and personnel.
On June 15, Matthias Riessen, a prominent unionist and go-between for the Imperial Government and SWP, reported to the IAC that the revolutionaries would only negotiate with the government, if Kaiser Heinrich III abdicated the throne. The demand of the SWP was circulated by pamphlet and through illicit broadcasts on the wireless, placing the Imperial Government in a difficult position. The Crown-Prince is believed to have broached the proposal to his father, who outright rejected abdication as an option, in any given situation. The IAC's refusal was then used by the SWP to rally further support, who claimed that the government would rather see "the Fatherland burn in division and violent bloodletting than remove the man who brought this upon us." The SWP's entrapment of the government resulted in a dramatic boost to its popularity and legitimacy, who swiftly used the remainder of June and much of July, to rally further masses of the general public onto the streets.
On July 4, Riessen was shot-dead by an SWP gunman outside his home. While over the course of the week, 22 other prominent "moderates" were gunned down by SWP paramilitaries as it sought to consolidate control over the revolution that now saw millions mobilised in protest marches. On July 5, the SWP through an illicit broadcast called on the workers of Liothidia to stage a general strike. By July, the SWP reported that it had over 10 million supporters and members, this led to the Central Committee declaring the parliament, central government and local governments illegitimate and fraudulent, on July 16, the Central Committee began announcing that its members were assuming the duties of the state.
The same period saw a dramatic uptick in the number of defecting soldiers, by July 1918, it was estimated that over 85,000 soldiers and 1,590 officers had defected to the revolutionaries, while the number of officers loyal to the monarchy being attacked or killed by their own soldiers had reached 88. One senior Imperial Army staff officer reported in his diary: "We are witnessing the disintegration of our splendid army, the one without equal on the face of this earth. Our men abandon our Kaiser and Fatherland in numbers I cannot comprehend." The rapidly growing number of defections was causing such concern within the Imperial Household, that Crown Prince August-Wilhelm had begun making preparations for the evacuation of his extended family from Liothidia to various neighbouring monarchies.
Final collapse
Kaiserstraße Massacre and Vechta Mutiny
On July 25 the SWP demanded general strike began. The strike was most recognisable with its mass rallies and protests, with over 900,000 marching in Rahden alone. The failure of the Imperial Government to unify nor consolidate around itself in absence of the Kaiser, brought into stark relief the top-heavy nature of the system and personal flaws of the Kaiser himself. In the final weeks of the Revolution, the Kaiser spent much of his time in his office planning a summer yachting holiday for his family across northern Liothidia, during this time the Crown Prince was busy securing safe-passage for his wife, children, siblings and their children out of the country. From mid-July to early August, thousands of wealthy Liothidians were fleeing the country for Arthurista, Vannois and Latium, yet a growing number were be intercepted by SWP-aligned groups, robbed, killed or kidnapped for ransom money.
On July 30, the Horst-Eugen Preuß and his family were murdered only 500 meters from the border with Vannois after being chased through the Roterbach Forest by a gang of Red Guards. Their bodies were then dragged back to the village of Oßmannstedt and strung up at the public square. The Preuß family was one of the wealthiest in Belisaria at the time of the Revolution, earning their vast fortune through the Preuß Metalworks. Their killing was widely reported and sparked a series of copycat actions by other Red Guards throughout Liothidia, who took to torching palatial homes, castles and manors. Much debate remains as to whether these violent acts (which would dramatically increase in August 1918) were sanctioned by the Central Committee of the SWP.
On July 31, a mass march in Rahden was attacked by pro-government soldiers and militia, who used machine guns, grenades and rifles. Between 08.00am and 08.11am, over 800 people were killed as the mass of people was attacked as it progressed along the Kaiserstraße, toward the national parliament. The massacre caused a significant upsurge in violence across the Rahdenburg District and beyond, with thousands of soldiers defecting to the revolutionaries. On August 1, the entire Imperial Navy Staff present at Admiralty House in Vechta was either killed or captured by mutinying sailors and lower-ranking officers. These mutineers proclaimed the Imperial Fleet Für das Volk, pledging their support to the revolution, the SWP in Vechta joined up with Imperial Navy ratings and seized control of the city's central district, while smaller naval ports followed suit over the next 24 hours.
The mutiny inspired the masses to march in all major cities and towns. In vast swathes of Liothidia, central government authority collapsed and SWP cadres proclaimed communes in their place. On August 3, over 900,000 people marched on the Parliament and Imperial Palace in Rahden, forcing the evacuation of the Royal Family and collapse of the national government.
March on Rahden
On August 3, 900,000 revolutionaries, including defected soldiers marched on central Rahden toward the parliament and Imperial Palace. The march was led by senior members of the Socialist Worker's Party who sought to use the momentum from the Kaiserstraße Massacre to overthrow the government entirely. In a meeting of the Central Committee the previous night, the body voted 35-1 to "overthrow the monarchist-despot regime in totality, whatever the cost." The previous night also saw the successful evacuation of the Royal Family to their private summer retreat in the spa town of Passau, 50 miles north of Rahden. At 11.22am, Horst Ferdinand von Arnim, President of the Imperial Diet telegraphed Prime Minister Wilhelm von Stanheim, urging him to evacuate the capital.
The situation is serious. The capital is in a state of anarchy. The Government is all but collapsed. Transport service and the supply of food and fuel have become completely disrupted. General discontent is growing. The Imperial Family have fled to Passau. There must be no delay. Any choice in remaining in Rahden is tantamount to death.
— Von Arnim's first and last telegram to the Prime Minister.
At 13.05pm, the protesters reached the Parliament and ransacked it. Armed revolutionaries then stormed the government quarter, ransacking and torching government ministries and offices, offices of all political parties suffered the same, while civil servants, lawmakers and at least two cabinet ministers were attacked and killed. At 14.49pm, Prime Minister Von Stanheim and his remaining cabinet ministers were caught attempting to flee the Imperial Treasury, they were identified by an SWP lawmaker and promptly lynched. Around the same time the SWP captured the national radio station, and seized total control of the airwaves. The Imperial Life Guard's barracks was stormed by protesters and soldiers, resulting in a violent gunfight, although the barracks would later fall and be torched, the 40,000 rifles held inside were distributed to protesters. By the early evening, Liothidia had effectively become a failed-state, no authority either at the local level had emerged in absence of the Royal Family and the Rahden-government, as a result, across Liothidia, it was individual SWP cadres assuming control of cities and towns.
At 16.39pm, in a radio-broadcast speech, SWP leader, Heinrich Schrader proclaimed the overthrow of the monarchy, from the balcony of the Rahden City Hall.
The Hechenreyt tyranny has fallen, driven from their gilded palace in Rahden by the mighty fury of the proletariat. Across our Fatherland, the people rejoice in their victory over oppression and predatory villainy, the worker and peasant are truly free. Now we must consolidate and root out all those who would undo our progress and undo our victory and cast us back into the dark grips of the fallen Kaiser.
— First Secretary of the Socialist Worker's Party, Heinrich Schrader
His speech fell-short of proclaiming a socialist republic, as many within the Central Committee feared that the Royal Family at-large would be able to rally resistance against the revolution. In wake of his speech, roving squads of revolutionaries prowled the streets in search of any who posed a threat to the revolution. This rapidly unleashed violence, looting and score-settling, while more ardent revolutionaries attacked all symbols of the imperial era, religion and anything considered "bourgeois." Cinemas, dance halls, schools (state and private), boarding houses and even libraries were torched or ransacked, while further attacks on middle and upper class civilians increased.
Between 3 August and 12 August, the SWP dismantled much of the Imperial state and on August 9 established a Special Revolutionary Commission, to pave the way for the creation of a socialist republic. According to official Liothidian historiography of the revolution, this was done to "ensure the popular power of the new system", while many historians (outside Liothidian academia) believe that this was done as a stop-gap while the royal family was pursued, owing to the legitimate and widely held fear that surviving, the monarchy could rally its supporters and stage and counter-revolution. This would cease to be an issue on August 12, when a large contingent of "Red Guard" attacked the spa town of Passau, culminating in the murder of much of the royal family.
Demise of the Hechenreyt family
By early July 1918, Crown Prince August-Wilhelm had begun making preparations for the evacuation of his family. Unbeknownst to many within the Imperial Household, much of these preparations were being made without the knowledge of Kaiser Heinrich III. However, events would cause significant upset to the Crown Princes’ plans, which sought to make use of the still open and working rail network to carry relatives to the coast.
On July 30, the killing of the Preuß family in Oßmannstedt caused great dismay among the Hechenreyt family and drove Crown Prince August-Wilhelm to begin immediate preparations. In the early hours of August 2, the family was evacuated from the Imperial Palace in Rahden to their summer retreat in the spa town of Passau, 50 miles north of the capital, alongside a number of close advisors, domestic staff and court officials. They took up residence in the Palast der Heiligen Margarete, while the Crown-Prince ordered their 200 Life Guards to set up positions within the town of Passau.
During their brief stay in Passau, those with the family noted a dramatic decline in the Kaiser’s mental-state, who was operating under the belief that their trip to Passau was part of their usual summer vacation, adding further to the high level of delusion toward the Revolution. Between August 3 and August 5, the Crown Prince, Kaiserin Diana and Princess Augusta made repeated telegraphs and telephone calls to their foreign relatives, urging them to secure safe passage.
On August 3, following the March on Rahden and the proclamation that the monarchy had been overthrown by the Socialist Worker’s Party, the family was forced to re-evaluate its positions.
In a telegram sent to Latin Emperor John XII, Crown Prince August-Wilhelm wrote:
We are held up in Passau. The government has fallen. Rahden has fallen. We cannot get out in any good order. My father is lost to madness. I will get my mother out, I beg of you to protect her. I will ensure she is accompanied by my younger brothers. I do not know if I can leave. I must ensure the escape of my siblings and their children first. Pray for me Uncle. Pray for Liothidia.
— Crown Prince August-Wilhelm’s last telegram from Passau.
Word soon spread to Passau of violent attacks against anyone of the middle and upper-classes, as well as the torching of manors, palaces and castles. Fearing a revolutionary attack, Crown Prince August-Wilhelm with the assistance of the Kaiser’s Principal Secretary, Johan Reinfeldt, disguised the family as poor plot-tenants. Fearing such a large group emerging from Passau may raise suspicion, the Crown Prince agreed to evacuate them out in groups.
At midnight on August 4, Princess Emma (wife of the Crown Prince), along with her three sons, Alexander, August-Georg and Konrad left the Palast on a horse-drawn carriage. By dawn they reached the town of Gesla, where they boarded a train westward to Vardenstedt. On August 5, they crossed the border into Lyncanestria.
On August 6, Princess Augusta, her eldest son Viktor and two daughters, Louisa and Alexandrine were evacuated in the same manner, however, owing to her second son, August-Heinrich’s recent recovery from tuberculosis, he was unfit for travel and remained behind with his father, Prince Friedrich-Johannes. They were intending to take the same route as Princess Emma, however, reports from Passau’s garrison that the railroad had been destroyed near Krumbach Makt. Once word reached Passau, the second group was forced to travel south, aided by the local Catholic Church, they were transported south aboard a coach carrying orphans from Passau’s Church-Orphanage. After two day’s driving the coach was stopped north of the town of Hanheim, boarded and stolen by Red Guards. Though the group were not identified, it caused Princess Augusta great emotional distress, which would afflict her with deep depression for the rest of her life. The Princess and her children, along with three domestic servants close to the Royal Family, reached the border with Vannois on August 11.
Further reports of revolutionary activity around Passau once again delayed the evacuation of family members, notwithstanding the Crown Princes’ apparent difficulty in getting his mother to leave with her three youngest sons. The Kaiserin spent days demurring and refusing to leave behind her husband, who by then, was still exhibiting signs of delusion and delirium. However, after forceful discussion between herself, Princess Teresa-Maria and Crown Prince August-Wilhelm she relented. She was joined by her two youngest sons, Oskar and Michael and her youngest daughter Katerina, with the support of Life Guards redeployed from the town, they were transported in the early hours to the then abandoned Farbachen Army Training Facility, which was a key hub on the Imperial Army Railroad. Using a single locomotive, the group was transported south toward Dannenburg when it was intercepted by Red Guards, gunfire was exchanged, and the train continued southward. According to her memoirs released in 1926, Kaiserin Diana reported that, “we travelled several more miles before stopping before a large crater, the revolutionaries had destroyed the rail, forcing us to travel by foot until our guards could commandeer a motor vehicle.” They reached within 2km of the Vannoisian border, where their group was intercepted again by armed Red Guards, who proceeded to engage the group, killing several of the guards and chasing them on foot through light forest.
The Kaiserin, aged XX at the time, was then carried by her son Oskar across the border, as the remaining guards held back to hold off the revolutionary squad. It is not known whether the guards survived the incident. The group headed south, reaching the village of Aboncourt, once met by Vannoisian officials they were transported to Latium, where the Kaiserin was reunited with her elder brother, Emperor John XIII.
Murder
Following the evacuation of the Kaiserin and Princes Oskar and Michael, and Princes Katerina, those who remained at the Palast Heiligen Margarete was Kaiser Heinrich III, Crown Prince August-Wilhelm, Princess Teresa-Maria, her husband, Count Gereon, their children, Joachim and Viktoria-Margaret, Prince Friedrich-Johannes and his ill-son, August-Heinrich. Alongside them were a number of close friends and extended family members.
On August 10 1918, the spa town of Passau was attacked by over 600 armed revolutionaries. The town, which was near-exclusively populated by middle-class families, had swelled in size during throughout 1918, as thousands of affluent Rahdeners fled to the town in belief that the Imperial Government would restore order. According to documents leaked in the 1960s, the SWP had become aware of the town’s situation on August 3, while others claim the SWP had been made aware of the Royal Family’s presence in the town on August 4.
Led by 143 defected soldiers, the force entered the two at 8.33pm, ransacking homes, businesses and the local church, before detaining much of the population at the school and sportsfield. The Life Guards who escorted the Royal Family to the town in late July, surrendered relatively quickly after becoming surrounded in their lodgings and a brief firefight. A smaller group of revolutionaries then pressed northward to the Palast Heiligen Margarete. They entered the grounds at 8.55pm, after a group of stable hands opened the large steel gate.
At 9.03pm, the roughly 40 strong-group, led by the defected Corporal Jurgen Maas, entered the palace itself, killing several staff members and the Kaiser’s principal secretary, Johan Reinfeldt and several extended family members, including, Count Ludwig von Hohenstein and his wife, Magda. According to the memoirs of Viktoria Hofstadter, who survived the massacre, the revolutionaries proceeded through the palace, capturing Crown Prince August-Wilhelm who was in the master-bedroom, while the rest of the Royal Family fled into the basement.
Further to her memoirs, the Crown Prince was apprehended by at least six revolutionaries, who identified him, dragged him out onto the hallway and threw him through the large bay-window on the third floor. His landing on the cobbled courtyard was followed by three gunshots. Which she believed to be, others shooting his body following his fall.
After the palace was emptied of people, the group under Corporal Maas proceeded downstairs into the basement, shooting the lock with their rifles. As they entered the basement, they discovered the remaining members of the Royal Family. The diary of Private Paul Ganswein, one of the defected soldiers present with the group, described immense shock at the number of royals in the basement.
According to Ganswein’s diary, which remains the most reliable source from the revolutionaries’ perspective stated that the group surrounded the family. Corporal Maas pulling out a piece of paper and read:
Members of the Hechenreyt family, as you and your confederates continue their assault upon our Fatherland and revolution, the Special Revolutionary Commission has condemn you to death
— Corporal Jürgen Maas reading Order No.885 of the Special Revolutionary Commission.
At which point Corporal Maas raised his Stein pistol, followed by his soldiers. He opened fire first, striking the Crown Prince in the chest, while the Kaiser who was also standing was struck by all other present shooters, falling to the ground after being pierced by many bullets. Private Ganswein admitted in his diary of striking Prince Johannes-Friedrich in the head with a shot from his rifle. Another shooter, believed to be a stableboy struck the 10 year-old August-Heinrich in the neck, while the executors continued firing chaotically over each other’s shoulders until the basement filled with smoke and dust.
Reportedly keen to complete his mission, Corporal Maas ordered his men to attach bayonets and ensure the family to be dead. Over the course of the next five minutes, the group would stab and shoot the bodies of the royal family over 200 times in total. Afterward, the bodies were taken out onto the gardens and burnt. The remains were then smashed up and dropped in the Palace’s boating lake.
Maas telegraphed the Special Revolutionary Commission in Rahden, to confirm that the Royal Family had been executed. The executions marked an end to the Hechenreyt dynasty which had ruled over Liothidia since 1846, while having ruled over parts of Liothidia since 1450. Their deaths also succeeded in securing the Special Revolutionary Commission’s position as the sole sources of political authority in Liothidia.
Proclamation of the Socialist state
In wake of the execution of the Hechenreyt family, the Special Revolutionary Commission met in Rahden to discuss formally declaring a socialist republic on August 11. Some on the SRC wished to wait a few more days as the Socialist Worker’s Party solidified its control over the cities, while others sought a plebiscite to “empower the reality of it.” However, both were opposed by Heinrich Schrader, Gustav Hohenstein and Tadeusz Jagielka. A general vote by the Commission following a tense debate, resulted in a unanimous backing of “immediate declaration.”
On August 12 1918, speaking from the gutted chamber of the former Imperial Diet and broadcast over radio, Heinrich Schrader proclaimed the founding of the Liothidian Democratic People’s Republic.
My comrades, my fellow proletariat, my fellow revolutionaries. I speak to you to confirm the demise of the most foul Hechenreyt, he is gone to dust, he has fled, he has retreated to the cold and dark corners of the world. And now, I proclaim to you, the birth of our new Fatherland, our Socialist Fatherland, our Liothidian Democratic People’s Republic, our Worker’s State. From their demise, we are born
— Heinrich Schrader's speech formally proclaiming the creation of a Socialist Republic.
Following his speech, the Special Revolutionary Commission announced immediate elections to the newly announced People’s and Workers’ Assembly (Völker und Arbeiterversammlung), however, the SRC was swift to follow up by announcing that candidates would only be drawn from the thousands of Popular Revolutionary Committees, formed by the Socialist Worker’s Party, which would also be the only viable source of votes. The elections were held on August 15, with PRCs lodging informal polling stations on the streets and in church halls. As a result, all 600 delegates were drawn from the Socialist Worker’s Party.
The following day, August 16, the Assembly elected a new cabinet under Heinrich Schrader, pending the convocation of a Constitutional Convention. This basis for the new socialist government was known as the Council of National Commissars (RANKOM), with Schrader as leader. Scharader allegedly approved of the name, reporting that it "oozes revolution". The cabinet quickly passed the Decree on Freedom and the Decree on Liberation. This new government was also officially called "provisional" until the Convention was dissolved. On August 20, RANKOM passed the Decree on Socialist Governance, formally abolishing the previous constitution and all Liothidian law enshrined and in practice since 1846.
On August 18 1918, RANKOM ordered the mass-purge of the Imperial Armed Forces of all officers, soldiers and senior commanders who rejected its authority, those that held noble titles, owned large properties or belonged to the Erste Familien class. Over 14,483 men were arrested and ultimately killed by 1919, the vast majority of whom, were non-commission and commissioned officers, depleting the Liothidian officer corps and admiralty.
On August 19 1918, RANKOM banned all pro-monarchist groups, societies and clubs, many of their remaining members were detained by revolutionary forces. The same day all newspapers and publications of the centre-left, centre and right-wings were proscribed and closed, leaving behind only the far-left socialist aligned newspapers, pamphlets and publishers who emerged during the Revolution.
On August 20 1918, sporadic violence erupted across Hvornum, driven by Hvornish nationalism and separatism (which had been simmering throughout the Revolution). Over 32,000 Red Guards were deployed to put down the nascent rebellion.
On August 25 1918, disbanded all major law enforcement bodies including the Imperial Constabulary, reforming them by decree into the People's Security Commissariat. The former bodies were purged of pro-monarchist personnel, leading up to 10,000 being detained.
On August 29 1918, the Constitutional Convention was elected. In these elections, 26 mandatory delegates were proposed by the Socialist Worker's Party Central Committee (through RANKOM) and 58 were proposed by the Liothidian Socialist-Left Front, the Front was formed at the recommendation of the SWP in the final days of the Revolution as a means of uniting the various smaller left-wing parties operating outside of the SWP's orbit. The outcome of the election gave the majority to the LSLF, which no longer existed as a full party by that time, as the Front was in coalition with the SWP. The LSLF would be absorbed by SWP on September 3 by popular convention of parties, securing the SWP total control over the Constitutional Convention.
On August 31 1918, RANKOM voted to retain Liothidian military traditions, saluting, hierarchies, uniforms and cultures, but to infuse "socialism and popular power" within. The Imperial Armed Forces were formally renamed to the People's Revolutionary Army.
On September 1 1918, RANKOM released all protesters and political-prisoners from prison who were detained by the Imperial Government. Notably, all leaders of the former Worker's League detained following the raid on the Rahden Sportspalast in January 1918 were instead transported to single facility near Demsten.
On September 3 1918, all members of the WL held in Demsten were executed by the government under charges of "representing a fundamental threat to the revolution's commitment to radical rectification." Among the 115 executed was Erich Gerhardt, the leader of the Worker's League.
On September 5 1918, the Commissariat for National Security was established by decree of RANKOM. These were the beginnings of the SWP's consolidation of power over their political opponents. The Überholung began swiftly after in mid-September.
On September 15, the Decree on Land and Soil ratified the actions of the peasants who throughout Liothidia gained private land and redistributed it among themselves. Other decrees issued in September 1918:
- All private property was nationalized by the government.
- All Liothidian banks were nationalized.
- Private bank accounts were expropriated.
- The properties of the Church (including bank accounts) were expropriated. This was to be replicated against Alban Churches, Judaism and smaller Protestant Unions by 1919.
- All foreign debts were repudiated.
- Control of the factories was given to the Popular Revolutionary Committees.
- Wages were fixed at higher rates than during the revolution and numerous professions were opened to women.
Aftermath
Establishment of the Socialist Republic
When the Constitutional Convention was elected on August 29 1918, it spent the first month debating on the design of a new national flag and coat of arms. From August 12 until September 20, Liothidia lacked any officially recognised insignia or emblem, the "provisional government" used the full-red banner popular with revolutionaries, while many in the Convention believed that something "more distinct to our Fatherland" would be needed. Many historians note that the debate on national insignia was pressured as the first-item by RANKOM, and they regularly intervened to stall a decision throughout early September, until the beginning of the Überholung. The same historians have regularly argued that this done in order to ensure popular opposition to the desired constitutional arrangement would be crushed in time for its development and adoption.
On September 11 1918, the Convention voted in favour of the black-red-white tricolor with the hammer and sword centred in the white-band. This decision was backed by RANKOM, who sought to preserve popular aspects of Liothidian nationalism for their own use. The Hammer and Sword were then promptly used to devise the motto "Schweiß der Arbeit, Blut der Revolution" (Sweat of Labour, Blood of Revolution) – with the hammer representing labour and the sword representing the revolution.
With the beginning of the Überholung in mid-September, RANKOM ordered the Convention to begin work on the new “socialist and republican constitution”, by which time the Convention was entirely controlled by the Socialist Worker’s Party, following its merger with the Liothidian Socialist-Left Front. On November 17 1918, the constitution was formally adopted, legalistically producing the world’s first socialist state. The new constitution reordered RANKOM into the Central Committee of State, with Heinrich Schrader as First Secretary. Just as importantly, the Convention maintained and enshrined the previous decrees issued under the RANKOM, with swift passing of the decree against “counter-revolutionary publications” and the unparalleled power granted to the Commissariat for National Security. The constitution also stated the nationalisation of land across all Liothidia, while the day after its implementation, peasant held land was returned as "social soil", which was essentially rent-free plots for all.
Überholung
On the 5 September 1918, the RANKOM through the Decree of Revolutionary Security (Dekret der Revolutionären Sicherheit) created the Commissariat for National Security (Kommissariat für Nationale Sicherheit), commonly known as the KOMINSI. The task of KOMINSI was to pursue and eliminate any individual who advocated or represented counter-revolutionary activites. The new secret-police made extensive use of already existing militias and death-squads that emerged during the revolution.
On 18 September 1918, RANKOM announced the “Reconditioning” (Überholung) of Liothidian society, to “ease the passage of the Fatherland toward Socialism.” This essentially constituted a Red Terror, with the pursuit, detention and murder of political opponents. Between 18 September 1918 and April 1919, an estimated 185,000 people were killed, though some estimates reach 250,000.
The Überholung began with the mass-execution of thousands of purged civil servants, army and naval officers, lawyers, judges, local and national level politicians, members of the Erster Familien class, members of the clergy, who had been detained since the March on Rahden. It then moved onto peasants who opposed the new regime, leftist moderates, middle and upper-class civilians in hiding and even members of the SWP.
Historians have noted that the speed of which those targeted were arrested or killed indicated a prior planning and listing of individuals. It was also during the Überholung, that the new regime seized the assets and properties of the wealthy for its own use. Hundreds of palaces, manors and townhouses owned by the upper-class were seized and then occupied by senior SWP members, to be used collectively among the party leadership, while factories, steel works and banks were nationalised following their owners’ execution.
The Überholung period also includes the Rebellion in Hvornum, in which 35,000 people were killed, the Black Uprising and the Alban Uprising, which left 15,000 people dead. The Hvornish uprising would continue until late 1919, in which mass killings of civilians by the KOMINSI and People’s Revolutionary Army was common.
By 1919, the entire pre-revolutionary system had been demolished and the Erste Familien-class of landed elites had been wiped out, with thousands killed or exiled abroad. Virtually all centers of opposition, on the right and moderate left were also destroyed through violence and mass purges and detentions. While separatist and nationalist uprisings were defeated. The Socialist Worker’s Party had essentially secured complete and unopposed control over Liothidia.
Red Scare
Exporting the Revolution
Impact
Legacy
The August Revolution's legacy is one of intense debate, to many outside Liothidia was the one of the most pivotal moments of the 20th century, with the creation of the first-large scale socialist state in human history. The Revolution would have a significant influence over the entire course of the first-half of the century, culminating in the Second Lio-Vannoisian War, which left over 35 million dead and the development and first uses of atomic weapons. Within the country, it has resulted in a socialist single-party government remaining in power even today, becoming the only socialist regime as of yet, to remain in power for over a century.
The Revolution’s violent overthrow of one of the most powerful monarchies in the world, brought into stark reality the vulnerabilities of monarchies in Belisaria and beyond. The violent murder of the ruling family (with the exception of the few mainly women and children who escaped), brought great shock to many Belisarian societies. While the very same empowered and strengthened anti-monarchist movements and leftist groups across the continent.
Richard Dorkins, a prominent Arthurista-based professor noted in his extensive volume on the revolution in 2016, “the August Revolution remains one of the most bloody, violent and vengeful to have occurred, yet through the blood and death, came a regime and state that has proven an immense success. Withstanding a cataclysmic war against much of Belisaria alone, withstanding an atomic bombing; while launching one itself, to becoming the second largest economy in Belisaria and the third in the world. And through all of this, is one political party, one movement that remains as strong today, as it did in 1919.”
The revolution is celebrated twice annually in Liothidia, the first holiday, on 12 August, marks the proclamation of the Socialist State, and 17 November marks the adoption of the Socialist Constitution, which formally established the Democratic People’s Republic. Both days are celebrated through military parades, flyovers, mass festivals, music, film and theatrical productions. 12 August is also celebrated in neighbouring Ommenlanden, which is the only other surviving socialist state in Belisaria.
Conversely, the 12 August is an official day of mourning for the Liothidian diaspora, which remains predominately comprised of the descendants of exiles who fled the revolution.