Ferroses

The ferroses (French: "iron roses") refers to an informal group of Gylian women with a significant organisational and political role in the Golden Revolution. It was composed of women from diverse backgrounds who shared common traits, such as refined public images, a commitment to social revolution, and a preference for subtler methods of social engineering and political tactics.

The group's combination of left-wing politics with luxurious lifestyles gave rise to other terms that played on their champagne socialist image, including gauche couture (a pun on haute couture) and "velvet brigade".

Notable group members included Marguerite Tailler, Eva Gardiner, Joan Holloway, Iulia Edver, Cherry Cook, Jenny Taylor, and the Freeman sisters. Sisters Gianna Calderara and Giovanna Calderara — the spouse and sister-in-law, respectively, of Prime Minister Darnan Cyras — are also sometimes considered part of the group.

Background

The group emerged from the circle of collaborators that Darnan Cyras gathered during his career in the Free Territories, which also included many future members of his cabinets.

Darnan both prioritised bringing previously excluded groups such as women, LGBT people, and ethnic minorities into public life, and also preferred the company of women socially. Many of his allies shared his goals and a broader rejection of Caesarism and the strongly masculine-coded models of leadership typical of Xevdenite rule.

The founding of the Democratic Communist Party in 1946 established a significant political vehicle for the Free Territories' anarchists. The Freeman sisters, selected as the DCP's first central committee, used platformist tactics, attempting to reconcile the ideals of internal diversity and tightly-organised action.

During the last phase of the Liberation War, Darnan and his allies moved towards a more pragmatic stance. Creating a popular front and acquiring cultural hegemony became the preferred means of effecting a permanent revolution in Gylian society. Many of the ferroses remarked themselves during this periods, as youthful and glamorous allies with a talent for organisation and strategy. They would go on to be significant supporting figures for the Darnan Cyras government.

Members

The ferroses came from diverse backgrounds. Many of them were native French or English speakers, a significant asset as those became Gylias' official languages. Some were not instinctively anarchist or even politicised, but they were were loyal to the cause of the Golden Revolution regardless of personal opinions.

They were known for their elegant images and lifestyles. Within the group, Marguerite Tailler explicitly advocated the combination of political radicalism with sophisticated presentation, humorously echoing Ðaina Levysti's argument for maintaining conservative appearance amidst radical change.

Marguerite Tailler

Marguerite Tailler served as the editor of the DCP's newspaper The New World and founder of the Revolutionary Communications Office (RevCom).

She was mainly responsible for coordination, communications, and social engineering efforts. She built alliances between the government and the myriad social movements of the Golden Revolution, coordinated public relations campaigns promoting social revolution, and used the RevCom to encourage the growth of a new "red–black intelligentsia".

Eva Gardiner

Eva Gardiner was the official spokesperson and press secretary to Darnan Cyras.

She worked with Marguerite to plan how to present policies and legislative projects to the public, and communicated directly with the media as Darnan's spokesperson. In the latter role, her gregariousness compensated for his laconic personality and rejection of conventional leadership.

Joan Holloway

Joan Holloway served as the Chief of Staff of the Cabinet Office.

She was a colourful and effective manager who was crucial in providing research, advice, and support to the government. She worked closely with public sector minister Julie Legrand, and the two were a driving force behind the expansion of administrative agencies and the public sector.

Iulia Edver

Iulia Edver served as federal Deputy and Senator for Sváen between 1962 and 1976.

Nicknamed the "Big Beast" of Gylian politics, she was known for her aggressive parliamentary tactics and encouragement of social movements to push for radical changes to society.

Cherry Cook and Jenny Taylor

Cherry Cook and Jenny Taylor served as the Darnan Cyras government's "parliamentary lieutenants", in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate respectively. They handled the introduction and passage of important legislative proposals, negotiating for support from Non-inscrits or the opposition, and working to build a large consensus behind bills.

Freeman sisters

The Freeman sisters served as the central committee of the DCP during the Golden Revolution. They were highly influential on the anarchist and colourful character of the DCP, and kept ties with a variety of social and community organisations.

Calderara sisters

Gianna Calderara was Darnan's spouse, and Giovanna Calderara his sister-in-law.

Although Gylias has no official title or position for an officeholder's spouse, Gianna and Giovanna became high-profile activists during the Golden Revolution, and are sometimes considered part of the ferrose group as well.

Activities

The ferroses had a significant behind-the-scenes role in the Golden Revolution.

Cabinet

Their main influence was on the environment around the Darnan Cyras government. They were close advisers to the cabinet, reviewed and approved meetings with cabinet members, and helped coordinate the cabinet's work.

Their influence went two ways: they both gathered a variety of experts and academics around the cabinet to advise them, and cultivated a new "red" intelligentsia that could influence Gylian politics and society, mainly through the RevCom.

Joan has been described as the cabinet's "salonnière-in-chief" as she used her post to bring together cabinet ministers with artists, hétaïres, and other community notables.

Since the group had control over the atmosphere around the cabinet, their recommendations carried great weight. Marguerite, Eva, and Joan proved especially suited for the task of evaluating and approving meetings with cabinet members, which played to their abilities as hostesses.

The Calderara and Freeman sisters made a notable contribution by encouraging a tendency to take into account potential allies' romantic lives in evaluating their suitability for collaboration. They used this influence to advantage collaborators with equally talented partners, such as Lucrezio Parisi and Herta Schwamen, or Sytepan Andriaḑe and Violeta Andriaḑe.

Politics

Through their activities, the government and ferroses sought to both encourage the Golden Revolution and nudge it towards certain preferred stances or outcomes. Marguerite and Eva were particularly influential in communication strategies for revolutionaries.

The group as a whole followed a strategy of cultural hegemony, allying public institutions with the activists driving the social revolution. Most of them preferred a strategy of constructing a popular front, including liberals and moderates, to cement the Gylian consensus. Iulia was the notable exception: her "street brawler" style of politics instead made her an ideal campaigner, relied on to maintain the enthusiasm of the revolutionaries and to strong-arm the wavering into support.

As part of the effort to bolster the Gylian consensus, several ferroses tacitly supported moderate opposition groups as adversaries against reactionary groups as enemies. These efforts notably bore fruit in supporting Hannaist progressive conservatives in their struggle to crush the reactionaries of the Conservative Coalition.

Public figures

The ferroses' youthful energy and glamour reflected the utopian socialism of the Golden Revolution, while Iulia's strong-willed self-confidence represented the gleeful destruction of the ancien régime. They became famous figures of the time, and were in fact more recognised than Darnan, who avoided the "cult of leadership".

Within the group, Marguerite and Joan were particularly well-attuned to the value of harnessing attractiveness and youth in the service of social revolution. Marguerite focused the RevCom's recruitment efforts on young women, and was described as favouring "raising an army of young women with books and brilliant smiles" to advance the revolutionary cause. Joan helped personify public service as exciting, glamorous, and prestigious. She enthusiastically supported the expansion of a "limber and urbane" bureaucracy, helping draw many Gylians to public service professions.

Legacy

The group's combination of solid policy-making and attention to how to best present and popularise those policies was highly influential in Gylian public life.

Their activities helped ensure solid public support and favourable media coverage of the Golden Revolution, and shape the political culture of Gylias. Their success made other political groups aware of the effectiveness of glamour as a tool, contributing to the colourful character of public life.

The popularity and public fascination with the ferroses has been reflected in Gylian popular culture, making the character of a glamorous and refined advisor with crucial behind-the-scenes importance a standard device. The Fearsome Foursome of the Mathilde Vieira government were considered the successors of the ferroses in the 1990s, and various other public figures outside politics have been compared to the ferroses as they fulfilled similar roles.