Ardunan Civil War

Part of: The Ardunan Revolution
The Ardunan Civil War was a conflict in the Kingdom of Ardun fought from 1242 through 1245 of the Fourth Age. Syndicalists loyal to the leftist United Labour Front, in alliance with social-democrats, anarchists, and socialists, fought in defense of Labour Party leader Jack Lennon against a military coup by the Nationalists, a coalition of integralists, monarchists, conservatives and industrialists, who wished to see a restauration of autocracy under King Morryn IV. The conflict saw the ardunan military itself divided, with a third of all active divisions (mostly from the northern provinces) gradually defecting to the syndicalist side.
In addition to the two main sides of the war, several smaller groups attempted to secede from Ardun. These factions included rogue military officers, ethno-nationalist separatists, and non-aligned provincial governments who wished to keep the pre-war political system intact.
An extreme window into the political climate of the time, the war was seen as both the first great theater of the Class Struggle, as well as the largest proxy war of the time. The Nationalist side received direct support from Merony, while the other Heartland Powers saw it as an opportunity to weaken Ardun and Meron, with some going so far as funding the ULF in an effort to prolong the conflict.
Although most countries at the time held a policy of non-interventionism, tens of thousands of citizens from neutral countries directly participated in the conflict. These volunteers were mostly socialists who fought on the United Front's International Brigades.
The war ended with a syndicalist victory, and the multiple years of conflict left the Ardunan economy in shambles, a state under which it would remain for most of the Ardunan Revolution. Those associated with the losing Nationalists, as well as many industrialists and aristocrats, who remained in the country at the end of the war were severely persecuted, with hundreds being sent to work camps, or being put to death via firing squad.

History

Background

By the mid 1230's, the constitutional monarchy of Ardun was seen as an ultimately spent force. After several violent strikes, unpopular wars, and a severe economic depression, most of the population had become radicalized away from the two traditional parties in parliament, the Liberals and Conservatives. Those who abandoned the political establishment generally fell into two broad groups:

Syndicalists

An alliance of socialists, anarchists, social-democrats and trade unionists, the syndicalists viewed the current state of the country as the result of capitalism in decay, as well as Meron imperialism. They wished for the abolition of the monarchy and the dissolution of Parliament, with the government restructured along trade union lines. To this end, syndicalists led the effort to organize labour unions into one large alliance known as the United Worker's Front. Syndicalists drew their ranks mostly from the urban working poor, as well as rural miners and university students (known as the "Urban Intelligentsia").

Integralists

A loose, reactionary group of nationalists, social conservatives, monarchists and fascists, the integralists viewed the crisis not as born out of capitalism or imperialism, but out of moral decline. In their view, the breakdown of social cohesion mirrored the weakening of not only the authority of the crown, but of the kings themselves, as the last six kings of Ardun had been unpopular, debauched, and disinterested in state affairs. by the year 139, most integralists had united around King Brannen IX's second son, Morryn, who was viewed as a stronger, charismatic, and politically involved version of his older brother Faolan. Integralists found support among rural workers, the peasantry, and aristocrats in the Ardunan Hinterlands.
Both of these groups had become much more militant and organised in the past decade. While the Integralists conducted attacks on migrant communities and issued threats against elected officials, the United Front had an extensive alliance with the criminal underworld, which allowed them to gain money and weapons for their labour operations. Integralist groups would react to this by mass enlistment into law enforcement organizations, where they could direct the focus of the state towards the unions (which were illegal organizations at the time).
Though these two groups would remain on the fringes of mainstream politics until the Terminal Crisis had begun, they would sometimes find themselves in coalition with the political establishment. Such was the case with the Labour Party of Ardun joining the Liberal Party in the Finalist Coalition. Liberals in parliament saw the monarchy as having too much executive power, which was getting in the way of modernizing Ardun's economy and recovering from the stock market crash of 1233. They therefore joined the anti-monarchist left in calls to make King Brannen IX the final king of Ardun, proposing that his powers be passed on to parliament upon his death.

Succession Crisis

The beginning of the Ardunan Revolution is often considered to have begun in the late hours of the 29th of September, 1241, when King Brannen IX suddenly died from a stroke. In the hours following the king's death, conservative MPs escorted his older son, Prince Faolan, into parliament. The king's passing had been unexpected, and the vote regarding the Finalists' demands was still half than a month away, so the conservatives wished to immediately crown Faolan in a small ceremony, to avoid a legal battle with the Liberal Party.
However, one of the king's close servants was an informant for the United Front, and she managed to contact members of the Valken Red Guard in time for them to gather together a significant mob to stand between the conservatives' retinue and the gates of Parliament.
Historian Kelsey Landers was the first to defend the succession crisis as an appropriate starting point for the revolution, describing it as "not the first time members of the public defied direct orders from members of parliament, but the first where they did so with the express purpose of ending a line of state succession which had been in place for thousands of years. The hand this event played in expanding the popular imagination, and redefining the possible, cannot be understated".

Provisional Government and the Autumn Strike

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General Elections

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Assassination of King Faolan XIII

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The Cattanach Ultimatum

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The Morranist Coup

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The December Revolution

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Civil War Declared

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The Battle of Mulder

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Included Conflicts

• The Battle of Mulder

Conflict Type

War

Start Date

June 12, 1242-4a

Ending Date

March 20, 1245-4a

Conflict Result

Syndicalist victory, the exile of the royal family, and the abolition of the liberal-monarchist political system.

Belligerents

Syndicalists

• Revolutionary Armed Forces
• Union Red Army
• United Labour Front

Led by

• Cullen Radcliff
• Jack Lennon
• Lara Kusi

Nationalists

• Royal Armed Forces of Ardun
• Runik League

Led by

• Aaron Crowley
• Morryn IV

Strength

• 600,000 combatants (peak)
• 62,000 international volunteers
• 2,100 Torlish technicians

• 840,000 combatants (peak)
• 65,000 meron troops

Casualties

• 182,000 killed in action
• 138,000-143,000 civilians killed inside the nationalist zone.

• 200,000 killed in action
• 45,000-50,000 civilians killed inside syndicalist zone.

Objectives

• To overthrow General Crowley's military junta.
• The creation of a syndicalist republic in Ardun

• The dissolution of the Ardunan Parliament
• The return of autocracy under King Morryn IV