Orange Revolution

Orange Revolution also known as Crisis of the 58', the 1058 Crisis, the Constitutional Crisis of 1058, the Aurean Crisis and more, was a political crisis that took place in the United Commonwealth in 1058 ACA. The Revolution was a reaction to the increasing authoritarianism displayed by Alexei Vargas' government and those loyal to him in prior years. The opposition criticised the democratic backsliding, repression of the opposition, disregard for public opinion, nepotism, economic downturn, election-rigging, archaic constitutionality, and percieved attempts at the destruction of Korolian culture.

Commonwealth Vassalisation
Following a history of diplomatic mishaps, the United Commonwealth had an incredibly large amount of powerful enemies. Following the recent election of the politically syncretic and generally anti-democratic National Labour Party (until 1055 National Democratic Party) under Alexei Vargas. The new Vargas administration decided that entering the Aurean sphere of influence would be able to protect their nation.

Following the Vassalisation of the Commonwealth under the Kingdom of Aurea, the public grew concerned with how the vassalisation agreement was passed in the government, with very little attention given to public opinion. The agreement itself wasn't ever reviewed for its constitutionality, and the Csar was forced to accept it despite his own reservations as is his duty.

Many pro-independence individuals felt that the major, generally authoritarian National Labour Party, and democratically complacent Progressive National Union couldn't actively protect democratic rights in their country, and saw the massive decision of vassalisation as a clear representation of such ignorance. The NLP and PNU themselves won around 90% of the total vote and 80% of seats in the most recent election, having a massive supermajority in the parliament.

Mass Opposition
Seeing the massive shift in the political outlook of the United Commonwealth, many grassroots politicians and activists met in Lipanovo-Ostrokochod for a pro-democracy political conference. Major players in this conference were future Pjervod Mikolaj Olsevski, Grižegorižev Bžeñcyšcykiyvič, and future Pjervod Halprin Deitsch, all representing parties across the political spectrum. Parties of all ideologies signed onto the agreement that a united front needed to be made to resist continued democratic backsliding and save the nation from an uncertain future.

Leftist organizations and parties such as the National Agrarian Party, and the Confederation of Korolian Farmers and Workers joined up with the agreement in opposition to the government. Centrist organizations and parties such as the National Democratic Union, Korolian Democracy Watch, and a variety of independent liberals would also agree to the charter. Rightist parties uch a the Conservative Party of National Rebirth, newly created League of Commonwealth Patriots, and the Asociation for Korolian Freedom would lastly also rally around the charter. The pro-democracy and pro-independence coalition would initially be known as the Anti-Integration League, but would later call it the "Free Commonwealth Alliance" or FCA.

Crackdown on FCA
With the governments being alerted of the creation of a mass opposition front against the current opinions of the government, panic ensued, resulting in growing concern that the Vargas administration wouldn't be able to win their third re-election as they had hoped. Alexei Vargas himself was concerned with the opposition to his policy, to which he had enjoyed apathy from the opposition to his consistent democratic backsliding.

The National Freedom Front, which was a small paramilitary organization loosely connected to the FCA affiliated National Democratic Union began minor terror bombings of key infrastructural points across the Commonwealth. Radical pro-independence sentiments were also endorsed by this organization, leading to the Vargas government claiming the NFF to be representative of the FCA itself. The Vargas administration would claim to the Aurean government that the FCA was bent on the destruction of Aurea, removal of monarchal titles, and a series of other issues to trick and alarm the Aurean government and recieve backing from them.

The FCA would respond to the crackdown and attempt at alienation of the opposition by rallying mass protests across the country, finding a stronger audience in the northern regions, urban areas, and among the lower and middle classes. The FCA would continue to focus on their election campaign and criticise the government for the issues they had made clear. Non-partisan polling data among the public would reveal that around 65-75% of the total public was supportive of the FCA and their pro-democracy/pro-independence agenda. Only around 35%-25% of the total public would be still in favor of the ruling government. The Vargas government would go into red alert.

New Banners Conspiracy
Alexei Vargas and his closest allies would secretly meet about the possibilities of an FCA government. Following Vargas' tricking of the Aurean government, Queen Beatrice Gennisi would be present for these meetings, believing the FCA to be anti-Aurean radicals. Vargas and his allies would request for Aurean support in the destruction of a democratically elected FCA government through force. Specifically the usage of Aurean troops to put down any popular resistance to the measure. Following the quelling of any dissent, the establishment of an authoritarian state would follow, and the suspension of democratic elections would be in order.

Those present for this meeting would include Alexei Vargas, Nevermore, Matos Slavski-Epitchian, Snake Oganesan, and Queen Beatrice Gennisi of Aurea. Snake Oresegan, in his faithfulness to democratic values, would alert the FCA at the conspiracy by the government to take down any democratically elected opposition to their rule. The FCA would keep the knowledge hidden to themselves, and would only reveal the information following the election which they were expected to win in a landslide, not expecting Alexei Vargas government to influence the election with foreign voters and intimidate the opposition.

The "New Banners Conspiracy" would be called such as it specifically went into the details of the "new state", which included creating a new flag for this authoritarian Korolia, hence the name "New Banners".

Election of 1058
With three major camps running, the FCA representing the broad anti-establishment, pro-independence, pro-democracy front polling at around 60% of the vote. The Third Way camp would run on an anti-polarization, middle way on independence, and pro-democracy front polling at around 10%. The pro-government coalition running with anti-extremism, anti-independence, and secretly anti-democratic sentiment would poll around 30%. Alexei Vargas would unleash a swarm of inactive and foreign voters, some from Aurea, to shift the tide in his favor and essentially rig the election. While a handful of the votes would be stopped, more votes would slip through, and the results would be one of the most divided in Korolian history. Violence at polling stations would be reported as Pro-Independence and Pro-Establishment radicals would class at the Battle of Slout Street near the Sejm in Zlatoport.

With no clear winner being found, the entire government would go into complete chaos. The NLP's pro-government coalition, despite seeing partial success in vote rigging, would only recieve 43% of the vote to the FCA's 44%, with the PNU winning 13%. Against the odds, with repression, crackdowns, smear campaigns, foreign influence, and a ballot rigged against them, the FCA would narrowly win the popular vote over the established government. The parliament would appear divided, with 40% going to the NLP, 40% to the FCA, and 20% to the PNU. Due to the archaic nature of the constitution, which the FCA wanted changed, Alexei Vargas would return to the Pjervodship for his third term. Opposition politicians saw this as a final straw, and revealed the New Banners Conspiracy to the public. This resulted in both NLP legislators switching over to the FCA, and the PNU rejecting any cooperation with the pro-government coalition. Alexei Vargas would refuse to step down, and would attempt to prepare the military for the possible crisis about to unfold.

Popular Uprisings
With the contested government contiuing to rage on, pro-independence resistance groups would take control of regional administration in the cities of Rodinno, Lipanovo-Ostrokochod, and the majority of the capital city of Zlatoport. The United Front for Democracy would organize a variety of opposition partisan groups as around 80% of the total public was opposed to Alexei Vargas and his deemed illigitmate government. The Commonwealth Legionnaires under the command of the LCP/CPNR would join the NAP/ASD backed Workers-Peasants Liberation Army and the NDU would connect themselves to the National Freedom Front. This coalition of partisans would seek to arrest the leadership of the New Banners Conspiracy, and would occasionally clash with the police and armed forces.

Martial Law
That state of matters didn't last long though, as soon the National Security Service, Royal Police Force, and the United Commonwealth Armed Forces, under the orders of Minister of Defence Dug II Korol-Zerkalo, and Governor of New Nebskoslavia Pavel Koronny (who previously sailed back to the mainland anticipating the elections) would attempt to coup the government and establish martial law or a military junta to prevent the country from falling apart. And for brief few hours they did, but later through talks with the FCA government - mainly Halprin Deitsch, they decided to cooperate and give power back to the people, maintaining themselves at standby though, in case their intervention is needed.

After that the armed forces and law enforcements were split, with some outright supporting the FCA, and others standing by, ready to keep the country together as the situation unfolded.

The Trials of the Three
Matos Slavski-Epitchian, Nevermore, and Alexei Vargas would all be called up for trial in the blaze of the revolution. Nevermore would be aquitted via a pardon by the leadership of the newly formed Interim Government on the grounds that he was less aware of the plot than others, and that he was more willing to return to political society. Despite this, Nevermore would continue to hold a grudge against the government that wronged him and considered him an other. Nevermore would work alongside the relatives of Vargas to establish the authoritarian Svalmarc Imperium.

Matos Slavski-Epitchian would be ultimately declared innocent by the Jury after a long trial in the Supreme Court. He would later return to politics with the Progressive-National Union, however later on as the party declined he retired from politics and instead focused on business affairs overseas and his personal life. He would never be invited to a position of leadership in Korolian government ever again. Although his relatives would have stronger careers in future political fields, such as Dalerac Slavski-Zerkalo.

Alexei Vargas would have charges of treason pressed against him. When an RPF unit approached his house to arrest him, they found him dead in an alleyway next to his house before he could be apprehended by the police for the trial. National Security Service investigators were unable to conclude whether he was assassinated or whether he committed suicide afraid of the trial. It was expected that Vargas would have been either permanently exiled or sentenced to death for his involvement in the New Banners Conspiracy. The general consensus among historians was regarding him as one of the worst Pjervods in history in relation to democratic rights, but historians have accredited his work towards economic development in Korolia.

Establishment of the Interim Government
A shaky coalition of social democrats, liberal democrats, right-wing populists and conservatives, far-left communists, former NLP officials, and limbo'ed parliamentarians would be established, focusing on maintaining national stability and achieving the goals of the revolution. Halprin Deitsch, Tim Lucid, and other officials would organize massive constitutional amendments, erasing the authoritarian history of the constitution and preparing the country for a new democratic society. This new progressive constitution would implement numerous demanded reforms which could bring the country out of the archaic state it had been in previously. Referendums on these constitutional amendments would pass almost unanimously as the history of the NLP would be buried with each amendment.

Halprin Deitsch, a mixup of diplomats, and other officials would meet the Aurean leadership for the Zalea Accords. These meetings would confirm the unconditional independence of the United Commonwealth and would recognize hope for a more friendly future with Aurea. Following this agreement, celebrations among the public for the freedom of United Commonwealth occurred, however issues in the government would soon become prevalent. As the Interim Government's leadership would be longer and drawn out, infighting and internal issues would plague the broad coalition government. Pjervod Mikolaj Olsevski knew that a fresh government needed to be established for the renewal of economic growth and the restabilization of the country. Calls for elections would be renewed, and preperation would begin.

Veridian Crisis
While the government was preparing for fresh elections to bring about a hoped for bright future to the nation, former NLP officials, a bergrudged Nevermore, and some ambitious family members of Alexei Vargas decided they had enough of the democratic society being created in Korolia. They would move south to the city of Rudina and the rural region around it. The southern regions were generally less influenced by the politics of the urban north and of the northern capital of Zlatoport, meaning they were less in-tune with the revolutionary ferver sweeping the cities. The long neglected southern regions really didn't care much for the politics and polarization of the north, and were still scarred by the NZA Inc. Project Chemistry's scandal.

The mixup of Vargasite loyalists would move down south and begin to rally anti-government groups and demand for untennable changes to the region in a short period of time. The infighting Interim Government would be forced to let the twenty-four hour deadline slip, resulting in the authoritarian state of Veridia being formed in the Commonwealth's own backyard. Citizens went to sleep in the United Commonwealth and woke up under the purple and black banner of Veridia. Loyalist forces under the Unionist Army of South Korolia with the backing of LCP paramilitaries of the Commonwealth Legionnaires would attempt to fight off the Veridian Armed Forces squads and their influence, but would fail without proper governmental backing. An agreement would be forced to allow the independence of Veridia, an authoritarian state led by the King Lukas Dvorak, brother-in-law of Alexei Vargas who was offered the crown and happily took it up.

Election of 1064
Following the independence of Veridia, enmergency elections would be called, and an explosion of democratic participation and radical democratic sentiment would occur. This election would be referred to as the "revolutionary ballot", considering the public still had fresh memories of the revolution and of the authoritarian state right beneath them. The election results would prove a victory for the radical democratic coalition of the left-wing Alliance of Social Democrats and the right-wing League of Commonwealth Patriots, which would subsequently form a coalition government dedicated to protecting Korolian democracy and combatting the influence of Veridia. The election would be noticable as older parties such as the NDU and PNU recieved incredibly low amounts of support, only totaling at 15% of the total vote combined. New parties like the ASD, LCP, NCP, and TCP would recieve the other 85% of the vote.