Tengarian Civil War

Tengarian Civil War
Loyalist Militia in the streets of Lenovo.
Date 28 November 1955 - 1 November 1957 (1 year, 11 months, 4 days) Location Tengaria Result Decisive Loyalist Victory Simeon Kovachev takes power Second Tengarian Constitution Tengarian Diaspora
Belligerents
Loyalists National Army Restoration EDP National Rally (1956-) Supported by: West Miersa Foreign Volunteers	Republicans Republican Army Popular Front TSMR Supported by: Equalist Amathia Foreign Volunteers
Commanders and leaders
Simeon Radez † Simeon Kovachev	Rumen Santov Todor Stoychev †
Strength
Tengarian National Army: 320,500 Other Loyalist forces: 75,000	Tengarian Republican Army: 200,000 Other Republican forces: 95,000 (estimated)
Casualties and losses
26,000 killed in action (estimated) 6,000-7,000 civilians killed inside the Loyalist zone	45,000 killed in action (estimated) 12,000–14,000 civilians killed inside the Republican zone

The Tengarian Civil War (Tengarian: Гражданска Война Тенгария) was a civil war in Republic of Tengaria from November 1955 to November 1957. The Right-wing Tengarian government, comprised of a coaltion of monarchists, nationalists and religious conservatives, fought against a revolt of the left-wing Republicans, an broad-reaching alliance of socialists, Communists, Progressives, Equalists, and liberals. After years of civil unrest and a disputed election, civil conflict broke out when left-leaning officers attempted a coup to overthrow the government, leading to the establishment of the People's Republic. Lasting just under two years, the Civil War saw the defeat and downfall of the Tengarian political left, and the rise of Simeon Kovachev as Tengaria's primary statesman and the growth of the National Rally.

Tengaria was an Empire before the events of the Great War, after which Soravia imposed a republic on it. The early Republic was marked with financial disasters, partisan political conflict, and government incompetence; a President never managed to secure more than 41% of the popular vote, and Voter turnout was very low. Only for the first election cycle did a party over control over the whole government; for each term after, Tengaria faced three or four other party coalition divided government. The communist TSMR was elected on a platform of reform, however, when Vladimir Vasilov and his administration failed to get legislative support and the left failed to work together, support for the republic rapidly began to decline. As such, the 1955 elections saw the formerly fringe Restoration Party, a pro-monarchist party, swept the elections on a platform of restoring the Empire and solving the problems the republic had faced, winning the largest majority in two decades, having the support of the religious Episemialist Democrats.

Infuriated with the results of the election, the left-leaning members of the government quickly tried to prevent the new government from coming to power, calling themselves the "Republicans" as a show of support against the "Imperialist" government. The intervening months saw political violence and agitation against the new elected government, promoted by President Vasilov; however, Simeon Kovachev, the head of the Tengarian armed forces went against the president and used the military to oversee the transition of the new government into power. A few days after the new government had come to power, a coup attempt was made by officers sympathetic to the republican movement. Although the coup was stifled in Lenovo, the President was assassinated; military forces who rebelled against the government in conjunction with leftist militias were able to seize important positions in the eastern and southern Portions of the Country. Many political opponents to the new government proclaimed support for the attempted coup, and together with the rebelling officers declared themselves as the legitimate government of Tengaria, beginning the war in earnest.

From the beginning, the loyalists had the military advantage, retaining control of most of the country, the majority of the military. The republicans relied heavily upon popular militias, and the overwhelming popular support which the republicans had expected to materialize never did with enough strength to turn the tide. The republicans, unable to defeat the loyalists on the battlefield, utilized Guerilla warfare and other means to damage the government. The wartime president, Simeon Radez, was assassinated in 1957, leading Kovachev to take over as head of state until the end of the war. Both sides committed atrocities against opposing forces and political opponents, although oftentimes against the express command of higher authorities, although the republicans had the greater share in these. Many civilians, especially clergy, were killed in attacks by militia or by armed forces. In the end, military defeats, lack of support, and political divisions tore the revolt apart, and the republican forces were beaten. Many prominent republicans were executed or exiled, and many fled the country out of fear of reprisal or to move to a better climate, creating the Tengarian Diaspora. In the wake of the war, Kovachev outlawed political parties and created the National Rally to reunite the country, re-writing Tengaria's constitution and becoming the nation's President in 1958.

The Civil War, due to its tense political or religious nature, is viewed differently by ethnic Tengarians and by foreign historians. The official Tengarian position and the mainstream belief in Western Euclea is that the Civil War was a necessary struggle against an attempted coup and usurpation of power which resulted in the end to the problem ridden partisanship of the early republic and led to the restoration of Tengaria. Many political exiles or sympathisers with the republicans view it as a just attempt to topple an illegitimate government and save the republic.