War of Tongues
| War of Tongues | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Secessionist States: |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Valter Rancini Jens Vealund Håvard Uzhtank Elliot Chambers |
Stroom Theosen Torgeir Hovda Gjermund Skogen | ||||||||
The War of Tongues, alternatively known as the 1959 Conflict or the Tevitheimer Civil War was a brief civil conflict over perceived democratic backsliding and authoritarianism by the administration of oberjarl Stroom Theosen in wake of the 1959 election for oberjarl, the head of state and government of the Republic of Tevitheim. Taking advantage of vague constitutional clauses, Theosen and his Worker's Rights Party essentially overturned the results of the election and reinstalled Theosen as oberjarl, removing Valter Rancini of the Federalist Party from office. This removal sparked an upcry, and anti-Theosen forces in several jarldoms declared independence.
The War of Tongues was won by Reformist and Secessionist forces, who captured Alna by mid April, then went on the offensive against pro-Theosen forces. Theosen and his cabinet would flee to Koross but, where several members were captured by forces of the Second Republic of New Trondheim. Theosen boarded a submarine captained by a Loyalist officer and fled to Kherni. Theosen would live the rest of his life as an exile in Kherni, dying in 1971. With the fall of the Theosen government, Secessionist forces agreed to rejoin the country if a new and signficantly more federalized constitution was adopted. The Constitution of 1960 was considered sufficient.
The conflict left Tevitheim divided for a generation. Despite the overturning of secession, secession groups and sympathies were common in parts of Tevitheim. Håvard Uzhtank, who served as President of the Northwestern Republic from 1959 to 1961 and Grand Chancellor of Tevitheim from 1971 until his death in 1975 lamented that he saw the tricolor of the Northwestern Republic as much, if not more, than the flag of Tevitheim whenever he visited his home in Ditka. National politicians from Loyalist regions struggled for decades, only the election of James Clinton in 1989 broke the streak of politicians from Reformist or Secessionist regions winning national elections.
Background
Origins
Tensions between Tevitheim's Tronder, Natalian, and Vestak speakers had existed for decades with some spats of violence at various times throughout Tevitheimer history, though these tensions had often cooled due to conflicts with Kherni or other regional rivals. However, after the Second Great War, tensions began to rise, reaching a peak during the 1950s.
On 24 September 1955, a series of bombings along central Tevitheim destroyed key water and electricity installations. These bombings, later revealed to be the work of Kherni agents in 1961, were blamed on Vestak nationalists. The attacks, which killed several dozen workers and cut off power and water to several major cities in the region, led to oberjarl Theosen declaring a state of emergency, deploying troops to act as police in several areas of the country. In response to the attacks, several prominent Tronder politicians called for military action and the enacting of martial law in Natalian and Vestak-majority areas. These attacks led to the Federalist and Worker's Rights parties picking sides in the conflict, with the Federalists aligning themselves with ethnic minorities compared to the mostly-Tronder base of the Worker's Rights caucus.
In 1957, in the lead up for new elections, an impending reformist landslide led to the abolition of proportional representation. This new election scheme allowed for the drawing of district boundaries under a first-past-the-post system. This resulted in the Federalists and their local coalitions losing
As a result of ongoing ethnic violence,
1959 Election
Federalist candidate Valter Rancini won the 1959 oberjarl election. While the opposition had struggled to form a coalition in the 1953 election, a unified campaign by all major anti-Theosen factions managed to unseat Theosen. Oberjarl elections were conducted as a "one jarl, one vote" election where each jarldom held one vote. With 15 total votes, 8 were required for victory and Rancini won 9 votes. The election was considered a surprising result that showed the broad divisions of the country. Northerners, Westerners, and New Trondheimers formed the primary basis of Rancini's support. Theosen maintained that the election had been stolen and that Worker's Rights party members should not recognize the Rancini government. Several prominent Worker's Party politicians refused to acknowledge the Rancini government and leaders in Devold threatened secession if the "proper government" of Tevitheim were not restored. Despite this rhetoric, leadership of the Jarlaråd appeared poised to work with Rancini when he took office in March of 1959.
Removal of Rancini
The removal of Valter Rancini came after the nomination of three members of the Jarlaråd to his cabinet.
At the time, each jarldom was given two votes in the Jarlaråd, appointed by the jarl of the jarldom. In 1959, fifteen jarldoms yielded a Jarlaråd of thirty members. Due to the indirect and staggered method of election, the Worker's Rights Party maintained a majority of 17 to 13. If a position was left vacant, it was written in the constitution that the respective jarls be allowed to recommend new candidates to the president of the Jarlaråd who would then nominate a new candidate. In order for a candidate to be admitted to the Jarlaråd, a majority vote would be required. If no vote was held or the vote failed, the jarl would directly appoint a new member of the Jarlaråd without confirmation by the Jarlaråd. So, when Oberjarl Rancini nominated three members of the Jarlaråd (Edvard Huttens of Ilbahar, Paal Selnaes of Jomfra, and Erik Andersen of Nellsheim) to the cabinet on 28 March 1959, which required resignation, he had expected their replacements to be nominated by their jarls, who were aligned with Rancini's Federalists or other partners of their coalition. They would either be accepted by the Jarlaråd or the Jarlaråd would fail to confirm them, allowing the jarls of Ilbahar, Jomfra, and Nellsheim to directly appoint new candidates to maintain the 17 to 13 balance of power.
However, the Worker's Rights contingent of the Jarlaråd emphasized that the relevant constitutional clause said a nomination, rather than the nomination. In addition, they argued that the direct appointment clause only took effect if there were no suitable nominees in existence, i.e. that just because a candidate was rejected did not mean that the direct appointment clause was triggered as the jarl's nominee was still present and able to take office if the Jarlaråd chose to accept them. Finally, there existed no constitutional prohibition on other candidates being nominated and confirmed by the Jarlaråd, the only requirement being that the jarl had the right to nominate a candidate.
On 1 April the Jarlaråd quickly rejected and then confirmed several nominees, swinging the balance to 20 votes to 10. This gave the Worker's Rights Party a two thirds supermajority, sufficient to remove cabinet officers, other members of the Jarlaråd, and even the oberjarl himself from power. The Worker's Rights Party proceeded to purge opposition lawmakers from the Jarlaråd to make it 30 votes to 0, using the new four fifths majority to overturn election results in the Alnating, giving the Worker's Rights Party a majority in the lower chamber as well. Federal judges were stripped of their positions as well. Finally, Theosen was appointed to a leadership role in the Jarlaråd and thus a party of the line of succession. This purge culminated with Rancini being impeached and removed from office on 2 April. The Worker's Rights Party had effectively overturned the entire 1959 election cycle.