Hevatian Crisis
| Hevatian Crisis | |||
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| Part of the Pre-War Era | |||
| Date | 21 March – 10 September 1938 | ||
| Location | |||
| Parties to the civil conflict | |||
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The Hevatian Crisis (Borish: Hevatische Crisis), known in modern Hevatia as the People's Revolution (Borish: Volksrevolutie) or the Second Revolution (Borish: Tweede Revolutie), was a period of mass civil unrest in the United Republic of Hevatia in 1938.
The Hevatian Revolution of 1884 resulted in the country's independence from Borland. Hevatia's economy and politics became dominated by wealthy, White businessmen who imposed racial segregation and pro-business policies on the mostly-mixed and black national population. While the economy grew rapidly, abject inequality and poverty were commonplace and the country was ruled by the New Republican Party as a dominant-party oligarchy from the 1890s onward.
The 1920s saw massive economic downturn in Hevatia, but political dissent was suppressed and the NRP held onto power. On 21 March 1938, president Bert-Jan Claes was fraudulently re-elected. Protests broke out in Zonnehof, and were violently suppressed by Claes' forces, but the uprising intensified and cities nationwide saw widespread rioting, street violence, and looting by 24 March. The rebellion was led by socialist and communist parties and their respective paramilitaries, who engaged in urban warfare with government security forces. The military, largely composed of poor, non-White recruits, gradually defected to the anti-government side.
On 15 April, amid violent unrest, Claes briefly fled to Larancia to negotiate a possible military intervention on his behalf. This was seen as treasonous by Claes' remaining loyalists, who defected to the revolutionary cause. Claes abdicated his post on 17 April and fled to Borland to evade capture. Clement Declerq, chairman of the communist Workers' Party, was sworn-in as acting president.
The ensuing anti-reactionary and anti-capitalist purge saw the imprisonment, show trials, and executions of hundreds of people, including Claes' last prime minister Rogier Tiessens. A new constitution, ratified on 10 September, turned Hevatia into a one-party state under the control of the Workers' Party.
The revolution saw the transformation of Hevatia into a socialist republic; the first one outside of Patyria. It had far-reaching geopolitical consequences; Vonzumier president Adelar Matussek referred to it as the "most important event in Artalia of the 20th century".