The Loinchair War
| The Loinchair War | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Hanseatic Labor Movement | |||||||
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| Hanseatic Empire | |||||||
| Hanseatic Empire | Hanseatic Arbeiter Party | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| John Regnochtfolger IX | Peter Loinchair | ||||||
The Loinchair War took place from 1895-1897. The conflict, which erupted after a series of labor related "incidents" was the culmination of the Hanseatic sturmist movement. Led by Peter Loinchair, the war saw the Communist Party of Hansa pitted against the ruling Regnochtfolger government. The war had its roots in the mistreatment of hanseatic workers from the industrial revolution and is regarded as "the culmination of classism in Imperial Hansa". At first the war was not really a war and moreso a series of gureilla campaigns until 1895 when the Sturmist State of Hansa was declared and one of the worlds first Sturmist States led by Peter Loinchair declared independence from Hansa and open warfare quickly started.
Backround
Origins
During the immiediate reconstruction period (1850-1860) the Hanseatic Empire had a period of unprecedented class mobility. However by the 1870s the upper class of Hansa had mostly "locked in" and class mobility halted. Ruling the country from Konlichburg was the Regnochtfolger Dynasty though the senate now had some power. However, behind the scenes was a group of industry leaders (who some theorize are the 15 Big Ones) that controlled a lot of policy and wanted to keep the classes seperated and maximize their own power and wealth.
In 1877 inspired by Sturmist Philosiphy Daniel Horst hlped found the first labor union in Hansa- the Arbeitnow Union named after the founder of Hanseatic Socialism Hans Arbeit. In 1881 the first strike in Hansan history took place at the Worzing Steel Factory in Deodornt. THis marked the start of the awakining of the Hanseatic working class though a lot were skeptical of the growing movement. Several more small scale strikes took place in the early 1880s but the aquisition of Lubeck Tulo and the relaxation of immigration saw a lot of new laborers from the colonies sent in the replace the striking workers. This would eventually form one of the tenants of the Hanseatic Communist Party.
The Hanseatic Arbeiter Party
In 1885 in Wiltmere the Arbeitner Party of Hansa was established and held its first meeting in the city. Defined in the Hanseatic Manifesto were the tenants of the party and Daniel Horst was elected leader. Over the 1880s a series of strikes and boycotts were held spreading throughout the southern Littenfluss valley and into the rest of Hansa. THe advent of mass media around the same time contributed to the spread and development of the movement and the party grew. Especially in Wiltmere the headquarters of the Arbeiter party. In 1888 Daniel Horst was elected mayor of Wiltmere despite being despised by the imperial government and was seen as a threat, however they could not outright assassinate him due to the outcry that would cause. On June 21st 1889, in a barn in Wiltmere a fire was started that took out 75% of Wiltmere and killed 400 people. However the plot failed and Daniel Horst had taken a weekend trip to Badegard where he was arrested by Hanseatic authorities for tax evasion (in reality he was innocent). Quickly, news of Horst's arrest and the suspicious cause of the fire spread around the nation.
The Trial of Daniel Horst
Despite trying to keep Horsts arrest a secret, the Hanseatic press alerted the general public. In one of the first widely publicised trials in Hanseatic history the masses awaited results. Not wanting to light the fire of either side King Roger VI calmed the public by saying that the public needs to stand patient and reunite, however this sparked more mass protests. On January 4th 1890 a protest in Gallagher turned into a riot and many shops and stores were looted. As a response, the government started to find the protests and various Arbeiter party members and organisers were arrested for various reasons. Fearing disunity, the remaining Arbeiter party members met in Kronar to plan their next move, however discord had taken over the party and two factions arose. One side led by Stephan Curvitz wanted a more diplomatic approach while a man named Peter Loinchair wanted a more militaristic drastic approach. Loinchair had been born in Wiltmere in 1858 to a poor working class family. After having nearly his entire family killed in the fire he was radicalised and joined the Arbeiter party where he became influential and rose in the ranks. However the party was locked in a stalemate.
Meanwhile in Konlichburg, Horst's trial came to an end in spring 1892 with Horst being proclaimed innocent, however in reality the government wanted to quell the growing labor movement and rebellion. Horst was then quickly elected senator for Tollerland but his views had suspiciously changed to be more pro industrialist and he had seemingly abandoned his Sturmist roots. This sent the Arbeiter party into a rage with calls to free Horst around the nation. In 1892 and 1893 the movement ramped up with even more strikes though on the local level secret political machines were strategically placed to bust unions and decrease the power of the Arbeiter party as well as make some reforms to benefit the working class. However these reforms were not too radical enough to anger the industrialists in power such as 9 hour working days, some better safety regulations and restricting the freedom of immigrants to get jobs. However, the careful balance was broken when Roger VI died in April 1894.