1963 coup d'état attempt in Marasalia
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| 1963 Communist Uprisings | |||
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 Marasalian Troops in Parnatos keep demonstrators at bay | |||
| Date | 17 July 1963 - 21 July 1963 | ||
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| Caused by | Increasing economic instability, unequal wealth distribution, and dramatically uneven development in Marasalia | ||
| Goals | Overthrow the democratic government and replace it with a communist regime | ||
| Methods | Demonstration, rioting, looting, assault, shooting, arson, seizure of government buildings, armed confrontation | ||
| Resulted in | Uprising failure
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| Parties to the civil conflict | |||
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The 1963 Communist Uprising (also known as the 1963 coup attempt, the Failed Coup, the July Massacre, and the Great Crackdown) was a failed coup d'état attempt to overthrow President Gervásio Constantino and the legislature. The intent was to install the Marasalian Communist Party into power, first through peaceful demonstration, but then eventually to armed insurrection. The coup attempt saw several state capitols and the Federal capitol suddenly seized by armed demonstrators, after engaging in gun battles with Federal Police and Local and Federal guards. The insurrection prompted a harsh military response, with tanks and aircraft being used to recapture the capitols and crush other attempts to re-organize.
Though the crackdown received initial praise, the Marasalian government censored details such as active live-firing into crowds of otherwise peaceful demonstrators, details which were leaked later. The incident has garnered much controversy in modern times, prompting the Marasalian government to issue $450 checks to the families of those killed in such live-firing incidences in 1993.
Background
As Marasalia's economy grew in the periods after [World War 2 but Alitheia], development across the country was dramatically skewed to the state of Jiutão, where the Great Marasalian Canal is located. The canal, being a vital lifeline for the interior regions of Marasalia, Parcia, and Mirakai, saw large infrastructural developments funded by the Marasalian Federal Government, while infrastructure in other regions were prioritized around specifically connecting military installations to nearby ports. Infrastructural problems were compounded as Marasalia's Federal Government initiated a policy in 1958 which declared most highways to be "non-critical" infrastructure and left their maintenance up to individual states, many of whom did not have the financial capability to keep up with the added costs. Jiutão, however, continued to have most of its roadways funded by the Federal Government, due to its positioning to the canal.
Jiutão Boom
As Marasalian states saw stagnant economic growth through the 1950s, Jiutão became a hub of foreign investment in Marasalia, quickly modernizing from a small shipping passthrough to a major industrial center. Jiutão recorded 6%-8% annualized growth rates in Gross State Production (GSP), doubling its GSP from 1950 to 1960, as others reported .05-1.3% growth rates in the same time period.
Manufacturing quadrupled in the 1950s in Jiutão, accounting for the vast majority of new jobs across the country and also locally improving the living conditions. This also created the 20th Century Migration, as people fled other states to find work in Jiutão. This migration caused significant brain drains in several states, with Nazerio's literacy rate decreasing from 86% to 73% across the decade and skilled work nearly vanishing from the state entirely.
Compounded with the exponential growth of manufacturing in Jiutão, Federal policies were often very lax on the state, with Federal funds often being used to finance even minor repairs to water, electricity, and roadways. This allowed the state to have minimal tax rates - despite a rapid increase in population and larger share of wealth, Jiutão reported the third lowest revenue amongst all the states.
Nazerio Slums Fire of 1961
While Jiutão received Federal funding for projects, other state governments were left to maintain roadways and other critical infrastructure projects by themselves, crushing most state and local budgets and forcing them to cut back funding of other critical services, such as emergency services. By 1961, Nazerio had cut down to 4 fire engines for the entire state, 16 police officers, and ambulances were largely maintained by private citizens. With minimal existence from law enforcement and other emergency services, communities and towns often banded together to provide at least some basic form of emergency services, including flyers which asked residents to save a bucket of water for fires in their neighbors homes.
Gravatuba had an infamous poverty district, known as the Nazerio Slums, where those who were unable to afford proper housing set up temporary shelters amongst low quality housing. The area was well known for its criminal activity, to which the Orcus Vermelho gang often offered residents security in exchange for sex with female residents. As Gravatuba's poverty rate skyrocketed, they lost funding for police and fire departments, making the gang powerful enough to even dominate the city government. Lack of any safety standards, residents often kept buckets of water to which would be used and re-used every day for cleaning, bathing, and cooking, as well as fire emergencies.
On April 18th, 1961, a small fire erupted in a home in Gravatuba, with an unknown cause to date. Its residents were not present when the fire started, and the fire quickly spread through their home. Next to the home had been makeshift shelters set up using carpets, mats, and spare lumber. The fire quickly burned through the shelter, causing a fire too large to put out with water buckets. Because makeshift shelters were present everywhere, and homes were often not fireproofed in any way, the fire roared through the slums, causing Nazerio to declare a state of emergency two hours into the blaze.
All four fire engines in the state were activated to respond, but only one was near Gravatuba. By the time of the arrival of the second engine, the slums had erupted into a firestorm, lashing winds in excess of 30 kilometers per hour, igniting fuel centers, fertilizers, and other flammable objects. After 8 hours, the Federal Government issued a state of emergency for the region, activating fire engines from Jiutão and calling for Air Force aircraft to hit the city with flame retardants which had to be acquired from Parcia and Mirakai. Marasalian Army Helicopters were rebased in Anpoldo to acquire water from the Atlantic Ocean to drop into the fire. The fire continued for four days, trapping many in areas without shelter from the flames and displacing tens of thousands, with 11,419 reported dead or missing after the blaze.
The fire reached extreme temperatures, with evidence of melted aluminum and the possibility that some of the missing were cremated during the fire. Though the fire started in the slums, the inability of any emergency response for more than 10 hours allowed the fire to reach wealthier districts, where fireproofed buildings did successfully slow down the flames but did not stop them entirely. By the time the Marasalian Air Force started dropping retardants, residents from Downtown Gravatuba began evacuation to avoid the blaze.
Despite the catastrophic losses and severe damage to Gravatuba, the Marasalian Federal Government didn't change any policies or offer relief. In letters to the President, the legislature stated the reason being that the City Government of Gravatuba was "operated by a corrupt gang", and that instead of making arrests related to the corruption, it was easier to just forget the incident even happened. The legislature invoked the National Security Defence Act to censor news stories of the blaze, however, by the time the act was invoked, news had spread across the country of the fire, and its sudden disappearance from headlines was noted by the Nazerio governor.
Canal Contract
In 1962, a deal had been reached with Jiutão and the Federal Government, allowing the Federal Government to take control of all funding of the canal, including paying state and city personnel being used to operate the canal. Jiutão offered nothing in exchange, and used the deal to cut local taxes once again. This action hit national headlines and sparked outrage in the poorest portions of the country. People travelled to Parnatos to demonstrate against the deal, with some bringing pieces of the roads that were collapsing in their states with them. As national outrage erupted, the Marasalian Communist Party immediately denounced the deal, and called for a people's revolution against the government, as the members of the Marasalian Communist Party in the legislature repeatedly subverted the invokation of the National Security Defence Act by supplying information to media outlets in exchange for political protection. When the Parnatos Times violated the invokation, Marasalian Federal Police were sent to raid the facility, and found themselves stopped by armed Communist Party members.
When the government didn't budge, demonstrators descended upon Petrobá, destroying facilities at the end of the canal and even boarding a ship traversing the canal. Demonstrators assaulted officers and then seized fertilizers, and carrying them onto the boarded ship in the Canal, and used the fertilizer to bomb the ship.
Protests
On 17 July, an estimated 50,000 people from around the country marched on the Presidential Palace, demanding the total stepdown of the President and the Legislature, to instate the Marasalian Communist Party into power.
The march began at a coffee shop near the