Farsa su Etra

The Farsa su Etra (Italian for "Farce of Etra") was an organised mass demonstration and failed coup d'état staged by the Futurist Party of Alscia in September 1922. Intended to spark an insurrection or seize power, the planned march turned into a riot, with attendees beaten and forced to flee by counter-demonstrators from the Communist Party of Alscia.

Background

The Futurist Party of Alscia was founded in 1919, inspired by the rise to power of Political Futurism in Megelan and Æþurheim. However, the conditions that had given those parties a path to power were simply not present in Alscia, and the PFA's ultranationalism, thuggery, and totalitarianism disgusted the electorate of the "hurried province". In 1920, it only won 5 councillors in local elections.

In search of a breakthrough for the party, its leaders settled on a show of force – a march on Etra that was hoped to either spark an insurrection or allow them to seize power directly.

March

The march began on 24 October 1922. Some 10.000 PFA members congregated in two villages on the outskirts of Etra, preparing to march into the capital and link up in the square facing the Casa del Consiglio. The party leadership was initially worried by the turnout, and tried to plan ways to compensate by making the marchers look more imposing and numerous. Mocking rumours emerged later that the PFA had paid people from outside the party to take part in the march, simply to boost the numbers.

The route of the march initially took them through Etra's outlying residential areas, where some residents heckled them from balconies or threw rocks and other objects. The Mayor of Etra declared a state of emergency, and waited for the Futurists to gather en masse so they could all be arrested.

When the Futurists arrived at their destination, they were confronted by a larger crowd of counter-demonstrators from the Communist Party of Alscia. The two sides clashed, and the communists beat the Futurists, forcing them to disperse. The police then made arrests, ending the march.

Aftermath

The failure of the march is evident in the way it was commemorated as the "Farce of Etra". The PFA was publicly humiliated by the event, and failed to achieve the hoped-for breakthrough. They were forced to abandon plans to organise a paramilitary wing, and were almost banned by the Donatella Rossetti government as a front organisation for the Megelanese Futurists. They only escaped because the court found insufficient evidence to prove the accusation, although it uncovered plenty of evidence of their close ties with the Megelanese party.

On the other hand, the PCA earned respect among the public for its strong anti-Futurist stance. Despite the two parties' mutual dislike, PdL leader Beatrice Albini made a speech in the Legislative Council praising the communists for their victory, and called for the immediate amnesty and release of any communists arrested during the march. Reflecting the public sympathy engendered, the courts handed down harsh sentences to the arrested Futurists but lighter ones or exonerations to arrested communists.