User:Latium/Sandbox5
| New Year's Revolt | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 27 December 2015 – 29 March 2016 (3 months and 2 days) | ||
| Location | Sydalon (primarily northwestern Royal Domain) | ||
| Caused by | Opposition to unresponsive government, overreach and interference in the criminal justice system, royal spending, and broken promise on the re-creation of an elected, lower house of Parliament. | ||
| Goals | Various goals, including electoral reform, more responsive and transparent government that was responsible to a national electorate, release of Adeodatus du Caeseti, and abolition of the Monarchy in some cases. | ||
| Resulted in | Dissent quashed by the Royal Army, and Order of the Holy Lance; trials for revolutionary leadership and activists; re-introduction of the National Assembly within 5 years. | ||
| Parties to the civil conflict | |||
| Lead figures | |||
| Casualties | |||
| Death(s) | Unknown | ||
| Injuries |
| ||
| Charged | at least 7,000 | ||
The New Year's Revolt, also known as the Insurrection of 2016, was nearly 3 months of strikes, protests and demonstrations, and general unrest in Sydalon, lasting from 26 December 2015 to 29 March 2016. The insurrection began innocuously as a minor protest in Ostracine against the extravagant royal spending brought on by Queen Melisende III's marriage to Prince Michael of Dakmoor. By New Year's Day, the demonstrations grew to encompass groups calling for political reforms that ranged from the re-creation of an elected lower house of Parliament to the abolition of the Monarchy.
A faction of the protestors also called for Queen Melisende to cease interfering in the trial of Adeodatus du Caeseti, and later became violent when protestors attacked a police convoy transporting Caeseti from the Ostracine Royal District Court and [jail/prison for political prisoners here]. The insurrection was the largest and most widespread of its kind in Sydalon since the signing of the Yarden Accords in 1973.
Background
Origins of the New Year's Revolt have been traced to the October 2012 royal proclamation by then King Desiderius I on his plans to create an elected lower house of Parliament. A month later, the King announced during a public address his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer, and ultimately his death on 22 May 2013 stalled any plans to establish an elected lower house of Parliament when his daughter and successor, the 19-year old Queen Melisende III, later announced that Desiderius' death and subsequent transition would delay the creation of an elected legislature.
Queen Melisende suffered from a lack of popular support in the early years of her reign, and her delay of an elected legislature were eventually met with protests by October. These small protests dissipated by November, but local and domain politicians continued to press for national elections and greater popular involvement in the Royal Domain.
By 2015, the Queen's rising favorability began to dip with the announcement of her engagement to Prince Michael of Dakmoor. The engagement was seen as unfavorable to the nobility and, most of all, the Church, especially as rumors of a pregnancy began to circulate at court. Queen Melisende's wedding to Michael of Dakmoor once again pushed back any plans of an elected lower chamber of Parliament, and saw record state and royal spending on security and planning the wedding. The Queen was noticeably pregnant at her June 2015 wedding, which saw some sharp rebukes from more conservative, prominent nobles. However, the extravagant spending drew the ire of the Sydalene populace and various demonstrations throughout the royal domain and even some of the non-royal domains.
Overall a contentious issue in Sydalon, and even among the various early demonstrators, the deposition, arrest, and trial of Adeodatus de Caeseti saw repeated royal interference in the justice system. While this sort of interference is not constitutionally prohibited, many grew outraged at the constant involvement during Caeseti's trial. However, a sect of protestors gathered in support of Caeseti and joined demonstrations, often referring to the allegations and convictions as "fake" and a "witch-hunt".
A number of foreign and local social media websites attacked the Queen for her broken promises, lack of attention to government, judicial interference, and extravagant spending on personal affairs. Following an investigation, which some have called biased, accused the IDR or other foreign agents of influencing the demonstrations via social media. Taken together, these events are widely seen to be the leading causes of the gatherings that took place on 26 December 2015 and the events that followed.
Goals
Early events
Storming parliament
Prior to 25 December 2015, legal demonstrations were held in Ostracine outside of Palis Autrecôté. Because Parliament was on winter recess, security was lighter than normal. The demonstrations violated the municipal curfew imposed on legal demonstrations, leading to an unruly situation with the demonstrators and early clashes with police. Local police fired tear gas at protestors, and the demonstration was labeled a riot by the municipal government. The following day, on 23 December 2015, Royal Marshals responded to a bomb threat at – located within a mile of Palis de Aultavilla.
Due to the limited police presence at Parliament and other authorities responding to the bomb threat, demonstrators began to force their way towards the entrance of Parliament. Authorities remaining at Palis Autrecôté began firing tear gas at the protestors who, by 12:01 PM, had managed to reach the building's front steps. However, at 12:26, when demonstrators breached the front doors, they were met with little resistance from authorities who had all but abandoned the building. Demonstrators remained inside of Palis Autrecôté for nearly 5 hours, while outside riot police were joined by a knight detachment of the Order of the Holy Lance. At 5:17 PM, authorities began to clear the building, using smoke grenades and, what observers referred to as, "brutal" tactics. The first death was reported at 7:37 PM, where a demonstrator was killed by an Ostracine police officer. A total of 10 deaths resulted from the storming of Parliament, all demonstrators. These deaths were used as a rallying cry throughout the New Year's Revolt.