1991 Arkavan revolution
| Arkavan Revolution | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Fall of Communism in Teremara | |||
 Tanks from the 15th Mechanized Brigade make their way to central Velirinsk | |||
| Date | 15 June 1987 - 15 May 1991 | ||
| Location | |||
| Caused by |
| ||
| Goals | Overthrow of the Communist Party of Arkava | ||
| Methods | |||
| Resulted in | Revolutionaries victory
| ||
| Parties to the civil conflict | |||
| Lead figures | |||
| Casualties | |||
| See Casualties of the Arkavan Revolution | |||
The Arkavan Revolution (Russian: Революция из Аркава), also known as the 1991 Arkavan Revolution, was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Communist Party of Arkava in 1992. The revolution also led to the replacement of the People's Republic of Arkava by the present-day Federal Republic of Arkava, as the communist government led by the General Secretary of the Arkavan Communist Party, Mishin Ivanovich, was superseded by the semi-theocratic government of Alexander Minskov, leader of the Arkavan People's Collective, and Mikhail Smirnov, Patriarch of the Arkavan Orthodoxy. The ousting of the communist government formally marked the end of Communism in Arkava.
[Some events around 1960s-1970s where Communist Party did dumb stuff]
Minksov became a highly popular public speaker in 1978, after ending his connection with the ruling Communist Party. A military officer and former mid-level Party official in the Internal Security Bureau, Minskov was privy to some level of intelligence relating to party officials and their habits. Minskov used this information to discredit multiple public figures, deriding them in newspaper Op Eds as well as secretive recorded messages that were distributed via his underground network of supporters. Minskov's fame grew dramatically after the 1981 Bread Riots, where he publicly placed blame on the General Secretary Mishin Ivanovich for the failure in crop yields that year. Minskov famously remarked that the Secretary General's actions, in failing to provide food for the Arkavan people, placed the nation at the heel of the West. For this, Ivanovich exiled Minskov from Arkava in late 1981.
On the 18th of September 1987, Rollan Matveyev called for a vote of no confidence in General Secretary Mishin Ivanovich. The action was unprecedented in Arkavan domestic politics, and Ivanovich immediately called for Matveyev's arrest and detention for high treason. Protests erupted around the country at the arrest of Matveyev, putting further pressure on the party to elect new leadership. Ivanovich refused to step down, furthering his arguments that Matveyev was a traitor, going so far as to strip him of his party membership and put him on trial. After over two years in prison, Matveyev's trial began and after three weeks of testimony from most of the party membership, he was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. On December 1st, 1990, Matveyev's sentence was carried out, and he was hanged at 12:01pm. His death was televised throughout Arkava, which resulted in a secondary round of national protests against the government.
Facing increased pressure from party membership, Ivanovich agreed to relinquish control of the party to his hand-picked successor, Petrov Kusma, on 20 December 1990. Kusma was largely seen as Ivanovich's puppet, but his ousting quelled national dissent for the short-term. On 15 January 1991, Minskov returned to Arkava, following an invitation by Patriarch Smirnov. Several thousand Arkavans gathered to greet him as he landed in the capital city of Velirinsk. By 1 March 1991, the Communist government was officially brought down and Minskov assumed leadership over Arkava while guerrillas and rebel troops overwhelmed Communist loyalists in armed combat. Following the April 1991 Arkavan referendum, in which 97% of Arkavan voters approved the country's shift away from communism, the new government began efforts to draft the present-day Constitution of the Federal Republic of Arkava; Alexander Minskov emerged as the President of Arkava in May 1991.
Background (1935-1975)
Approaching revolution (1978-1987)
1981 bread riots
An unusually dry season caused major crop yield shortages across Arkava's farming industry during the summer of 1980 and 1981. The The Commissariat of Agriculture, the department in charge for ensuring food production in Arkava during the communist period, believed the 1981 yield would make up for the shortages from 1980, thus no major efforts were made to secure additional grain or other goods needed during the growing season. For a second year in a row, however, drought struck northern Tavlyria and affected major crop yields, reducing harvests by more than half. By the early autumn of 1981, the Commissariat realized they had made a grave error.
This issue was compounded due to the Commissariat's sequential action of reducing agricultural imports in general for that year due to the belief they would make up the difference domestically. These issues compounded to the point where the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs had to begin issuing food rations to all citizens to prevent stock depletion at markets across the country, and Arkava saw bread lines beginning to form by November 1981. By the end of December, large riots in major cities like Velirinsk and Severgorod forced the government's hands to fix the crisis.
Arkava reached out to one of its major agricultural partners within the communist sphere, Chibalba, and asked for assistance. Additional imports were requested at exorbitant rates to ensure the grain, which was mostly already sold, could be re-directed to Arkavan ports and Chibalba reimbursed for the inconveniences. Arkava also agreed to increase their raw materials exports to Chibalba, which put strains on the supply chain to Kiminan manufacturies.