Tengarian Republican Army

Tengarian Republican Army
Републиканската армия на Тенгария
Flag of the Tengarian Republican Army
Founders	Boris Vladimerev Gregori Hristoforev
Leaders	Gregori Hristoforev (1868) Todor Stoychev (1955-1956) Radomir Dimitrov (1957-1984) Dragan Netev (1984-2016)
Dates of operation	May–September 1868 (1868-09) (First Phase) 1955 (1955)–1956 (1956) (Second Phase) 1957 (1957)–2016 (2016) (Third Phase) 2016 (2016) – Present (Present) (Fourth Phase)
Split from	Tengarian Army
Allegiance	Tengarian Republic
Motives	Overthrow of the Empire of Tengaria Victory in Tengarian Civil War Overthrow of Kovachev Regime Liberation of Tengaria
Headquarters	Unknown
Active regions	Tengaria, Amathia
Ideology	Republicanism Tengarian Nationalism Anti-Monarchism Anti-Clericalism Socialism Political violence
Political position	Far-Left
Allies	Equalist Amathia (1955-1979)
Opponents	Tengaria Tengarian Army (Imperial Army 1868) Tengarian Home Guard Loyalist Militias (1955-1957)
Colours	Green, White, Red

The Tengarian Republican Army (Tengarian: Републиканската армия на Тенгария, also called the RAT for short) is an underground far-left paramilitary organisation and militant group with the stated goal to liberate Tengaria from unjust oppression and tyrannical authority and to make Tengaria a democratic and socialist state. It sees itself as the successor of several other historical organisations of the same name. The group says that it is the legitimate military force of the Republic of Tengaria and as the sole legitimate defenders of the defunct Tengarian Republic from the Civil War, and is one of the most vocal advocates for Tengarian democratisation.

Taking the continuity between the groups, the Army divides itself into four distinct historical eras or "phases". The "first phase" of the Republican Army was founded by the Republicans during the brief and failed Green Revolution in 1868, mostly by disgruntled units of the Imperial Army, with the goal to overthrow the monarchy and establish a republic like the Soravians. They once again became active during the Tengarian Civil War (the "second phase", as members of the Tengarian Army who supported Vasilov and the Republicans against the claims of the Patriots as the legitimate government. Those who escaped Tengaria in the aftermath of the war formed the "third phase" in exile as a resistance group which carried out attacks against politicians and citizens of Tengaria. After the scandal of several massacres, the "fourth phase" saw a regoranisation where its remaining leadership attempted to moderate some stances of the group in order to distance themselves from the controversy.

It was seen as the official organization of opposition against the Kovachev regime. It is officially condemned as a terrorist group by Tengaria and membership or support in the group is punishable as high treason. It is also condemned by several international authorities for its acts of violence against civilians, most infamously the 1983 St. Vasil's Cathedral Massacre and the 2015 Radev Lower School Shooting in Avren.

History

Green Revolution ("First Phase")

See also: Green Revolution

The Partisan uprising in Lenovo gave the chance for some disillusioned units of the Imperial Army who had been without pay for some months to rise up in rebellion. Gregori Hristoforev and a division of the Imperial Army mutinied and declared support for the Republicans. However, when attempting to attack Lenovo to support the Partisans, Imperial forces defeated the army and were able to prevent it from entering the city, causing the Republican Army to go into retreat. For the next few months the Imperial Army chased and ultimately cornered Hristoforev's Army and defeated it in battle.

May 4, 1868 (1868-05-04)–September 18, 1868 (1868-09-18)

Tengarian Civil War ("Second Phase")

See also: Tengarian Civil War

November 28, 1955 (1955-11-28)–November 13, 1956 (1956-11-13)

The Tengarian Republican Army was reformed at the beginning of the Civil War at the order of Vladimir Vasilov, comprising the officers and soldiers of the Tengarian Army who chose to support the President at the end of November of 1955 against the the elected All-Solarian Union and the new President Denov. Most of the men who revolted had joined the Army after the Great War and had ties to the establishment of the political parties, or were men purposely placed in the military in order to undermine the powerful hold Simeon Kovachev had over the military. After several defeats at the hand of the loyalist forces under Kovachev, the forces fled and consolidated in the Eastern regions of the country, where they had support from the Amathian Equalist Republic. They worked with the rebel government to enforce control over the region, killing political opponents and supporters of the Tengaria. Consistently outnumbered and outgunned, they never could win field engagements against the loyalist forces, and so early on began resorting to guerilla tactics and insurgency. Operatives of the RAT were responsible for the Assasination of Minister-President Radez in 1956. However, they were consistently defeated towards the end of the war, and after the collapse of the government of the People's Republic the forces were disbanded. Many fled into exile, underground, or were captured. It was responsible for the deaths of over 4,000 loyalist soliders and nearly 3,000 civilians during the course of the Civil War.

Resistance Group ("Third Phase")

Most of the forces never regrouped, but some remnants, lead by Radomir Dimitrov fled to Amathia. They reconstituted themselves and established an underground network in order to continuing wage war against the government of Tengaria and the Kovachev family, saying that the war was not actually over. The group carried out several attacks against the early Kovachev regime, carrying out attacks on Kovachev and other Patriotic Union politicians, but never successfully managing to kill Kovachev. In the 1970s, the experimented with several bombings, but their activity decreased on the whole as the Tengarian government cracked down on their efforts and the group become smaller.

St. Vasil's Cathedral Massacre

In 1983, after the election of Dimitri Kovachev, they launched an attack on St. Vasil's Cathedral, shooting up a full Cathedral during a Divine Liturgy and causing many casualties. After this the government crackdown on the group was severe, and the group became very small and fully underground. Tengaria's increased security measures under Dimitri caused them to have less activity during the rest of his presidency.

Radev Lower School Shooting

When his daughter Teodora Kovachev was elected as President in 2014, the group planned and executed an attack on a Lower School in early 2015, killing many young children in the process, meeting with huge international backlash. Teodora made association with the group in any capacity high treason, and the leadership were captured and executed by 2016. Since then, the group has been considered inactive, as it has not done anything since then, but there are still said to be hidden members, especially online, who continue it. During its Second Phase, the group has caused the deaths of over 1,000 people, mostly civilians.