Champanois Thaw

The Champanois Thaw (Liguersien: Deglaç champanès, Gaullican: Degel champanois), also known as the Champanian Cultural Revolution (Liguersien: Revoluçon cultural champanès, Gaullican: Révolution culturel champanois) and Diorism (Diorisme), refers to the various reforms undertaken in Champania between 1981 and 1990 under the Premiership of Jeremies Dior. The reforms saw the liberalization of the socioeconomic standings within the country through the relaxation of political repression and censorship, general amnesty to political prisoners, and the introduction of limited market mechanisms. The end goal of these reforms was to improve the standard of living within Champania and to make the nation more palatable to the extant socialist states within Euclea. The reforms mark the de facto end of Totalist Champania which had existed since 1959.

Background

Several factors led to the Thaw: the collapse of the Amathian Equalist Republic in 1979, Champania's support of East Miersa in the Miersan War and Lemovicia in the Lemovician War of Independence, the ostensible collapse of the broader global socialist movement during the late 1970s and early 1980s through the Irvadistan War and the dissolution of the Association of Emerging Socialist Economies, and the ongoing Cultural Revolution in Dezevau. While all factors contributed to the Thaw in varying capacities, the principal factors of Equalism's fall in Amathia, broader support with the "Kirenian-sphere" via the Miersan War, and the Dezevauni cultural revolution were major contributors to the Thaw.

The collapse of Equalist Amathia necessitated a dramatic shift in Champanian foreign affairs as it had suddenly became the sole authoritarian socialist state within Euclean and one of the few remaining in the world. Its collapse prompted debates within the Champanois Section of the Workers' International (SCIO) over the fundamental issues affecting Totalism within Champania. At the crux of these debates was the status of the SCIO as the sole governing organization of the state, the poor living conditions within Champania as a result of totalist economic isolation, and the overall cool relations between Champania and Kirenia-East Miersa as a result of the Amatho-Kirenian Split.

Jeremeis Dior was the Premier of Champania from 1981 to 1990.

While these debates were ongoing, the beginnings of the 1980 economic crisis started to be felt within Champania. Decades of economic isolation and attempts at autarky had made Champania one of the poorest in Euclea, which the 1980 economic crisis only exacerbated as the nation found itself unable to undertake the means to combat the crisis's effects, chiefly drastically rising inflation and high unemployment. Inspired by the ongoing Dezevauni Cultural Revolution, unions and student groups not affiliated with the SCIO organized general strikes and demonstrations against the government. The refusal of military commanders to act against the demonstrators forced Premier Carles Presseguer and the rest of the Generalitat to resign, prompting an emergency election. The ensuing consulate elections saw the Reformist clique (Reformistas) secure five of the nine seats in the Consulate.

Political change

The first meeting of the 11th Generalitat saw Reformista Jeremeis Dior elected as premier. Dior was seen as a compromise candidate between the Reformist and Hardliner cliques, as the former realized they did not possess the political power to enact sweeping liberalizations solely on their own, and the latter realizing the need to compromise on issues in order to maintain political relevancy. Even still, rivalries between these factions, and many of the other factions that had emerged in the aftermath of the 1980 Uprising, caused greater destabilization of Champania and threatened socialist control over the control as a whole.

One of the first acts of Dior's premiership was meeting with the leaders of independent and non-affiliated workers' unions and student groups that had spearheaded the general strikes and civil unrest over the course of 1980. Over a week period, the two sides met and discussed several issues, such as bad housing, severe shortages of consumer goods and food, and the decline in real income. The meetings concluded on 20 March and saw an immediate raise in wages by 50% and promises for more political and economic reforms. The topics discussed during the meetings were disseminated across the nation and was the first high-profile government function to be covered uncensored by national media services. Following the meeting, Dior oversaw the first of several waves of rehabilitations of political prisoners imprisoned during the premiership of Totalists Bastitou Courderç and Lluc Becarès. Similarly, Dior officially pardoned many innocent victims killed during Courderç's purge between 1959 and 1963 that saw the establishment of Totalist Champania.

In June, Dior officially condemned Courderç, the Champanois Section of the Workers' International's role in Courderç's rule, and Totalism itself as an ideology. The speech was given in the opening meeting of the National Congress's summer session, which was also the first National Congress session to be televised publicly. Dior closed the speech by announcing the dissolution the Champanois Section of the Workers' International although made no mention on whether this meant the end of socialism in Champania. Shortly after, it was announced that the Reformistas had formed the Champanois Socialist Workers' Party and by December, practically every other clique had formed their own political parties. In February, 1982, elections were held under the new multi-party system that saw an overwhelming Socialist Workers' Party victory. Its victory was used to further legitimize socialist rule in Champania.

Emboldened by the electoral victory, Dior disregarded previous closed-door agreements made with the Hardliner clique that had limited the extent of the reforms Dior and the then-Reformists could enact. Through the Socialist Workers' Party's sweep of the 1982 elections, the central committee interpreted it as the public consenting to the reforms they initially set out to do in 1980.

Policy

Internal affairs

Soon after the Champanois Socialist Workers' Party (PSOC) electoral victory, the PSO-majority National Congress passed the "New Course" economic policy in order to principally increase the standard of living. The goal of the New Course was to reform the Champanois economy. Under the New Course, businesses were able to undergo horizontal integration, source their own raw materials, and export excess production. The act also lessened central planning of the economy and allowed businesses more say in their economic decisions. State ownership of businesses was largely diminished and was replaced by an influx of syndicalist, collective, and communally owned enterprises. Restrictions on foreign trade was completely abolished in order to obtain Western capital. Champanois economic resources were mobilized to better satisfy consumer demands and businesses were allowed to enter the service sector.

While the New Course was being implemented, the PSOC enacted reforms aimed at social and cultural liberalization. Censorship was eased and foreign movies, books, art, and music, especially from East Euclea, began to be imported. Music in particular was readily imported as many Champanians were exposed to the popular Eastern genres at the time, and in turn, led to a musical renaissance within Champania itself. As censorship rules and regulations continued to be relaxed, artists and musicians were provided access to resources that had, just years earlier, been extensively censored or entirely inaccessible. Throughout the rest of the 1980s, Champanians enjoyed more cultural freedoms and a greater reduction in ideological pressure from the state.

Foreign affairs

• Openness with (primarily) Eastern Euclea
• Rapprochement with Kirenia
• Abandonment of isolationism
• Three Tenets