Bureau for Southeast Coius

The Bureau for Southeast Coius (Gaullican: Bureau pour Coïe du sud-est) was the government body that largely administered the State of Désébau (located in Southeast Coius) on behalf of its protecting power, Gaullica. The Zeja was the formal head of the country, but the Bureau, which was appointed by the Gaullican central government, exercised real power. It was created in 1889, when Saint-Bermude's Company, which controlled the area of Dezevau, was nationalised, and Désébau established. The Bureau began to lose relevance during the Great War, as military rule was imposed, but was not formally disestablished until 1935, with the end of the war and the establishment of the modern Republic of Dezevau.

History

After serious concerns about its competence of administration and financial solubility, Saint-Bermude's Company was nationalised in 1889. A local magnate was installed as Zeja, and the State of Désébau created. However, the Bureau for Southeast Coius had effective power, and was given the task of maximising resource extraction from Dezevau. While at first there was hope that local rule would be more consistent, transparent and efficient than company rule, it became clear to the general population that the Zeja had little real power.

The Bureau pursued a policy of rapid industrial and extractive development. This significantly damaged relations with the local urban ruling class, who had previously been instrumental in securing company rule, especially in the countryside. The development of limited local industry created an urban working class, which tended to be politically active. The situation became one where the Bureau's main base of support was simply the managerial and upper classes who did business with it, urbanites begrudgingly accepting the reality of Gaullican military superiority while groups organised amongst the peasantry and proletariat. The Socialist Liberation Party was founded in 1901, later to become the Dezevauni Section of the Workers' International.

As resistance mounted to the harshness of both the Bureau's social and economic policy, in particular among the great majority the peasantry, while the global economy saw downturn in the Great Collapse in 1913, control was relaxed. Unemployment and deindustrialisation occurred, while the funds and political influence available to the Bureau declined. The loosening of control, however, only had the effect of strengthening the groups organising against Bureau rule over a few years.

With the establishment of National Functionalist rule in 1919, administration was tightened again. Many of the older, more comfortable administrators in the Bureau were replaced with more zealous ones from the homeland. Despite the passive resistance of the Zeja and even some Euclean locals, government became much tighter and harsher from this time on. Secret organisation and agitation continued.

During the Great War, much change came to Bureau-ruled Dezevau. The movement of troops and conscription into a military that was merged with the regular Gaullican army caused ideas to percolate, as did movements of workforces for wartime efforts. While Dezevau saw little fighting, it experienced economic effects. The military also began to usurp the Bureau for Southeast Coius, sidelining its diplomats under martial law. Towards the end of the war, native insurgencies were particularly significant.

Finally, with the Entente and therefore Gaullica's surrender, the Bureau ceased to be.

Composition

The Bureau was largely comprised of Gaullican bureaucrats, appointed by the central government, with particularly close oversight at its establishment, shortly after the National Functionalist takeover of government in metropolitan Gaullica, and during the Great War.