Tsar Mark I

Tsar Mark I (18th November 1851 - 29th January 1906) was the Tsar of Flopsha from 1897 until his death in 1906. He is most well known for his extreme authoritarian regime in which over three million Flopshans died due to famine, disease (specifically the 1899 Cholera outbreak in the nation where he failed to take any decisive action to prevent spreading) and his other extreme practices. After his death in 1906 the "Charter of the People" was signed by his son which reversed almost all of his policies and began to transform Flopsha.
== Early Life ==
Mark Sergei Alexander Dominik Flopnars was born on the 18th November 1851 in the Governor's Palace in Frozny in the Flopshan district of Flopchyna. His family were the governing family of Flopchyna at this time and due to the area being a frontline if any wars were to break out with countries south of Flopsha, they maintained good relations with the royal family.
All of Mark's early years were spent in the grounds of the Governor's Palace as anything outside of it was considered too dangerous due to the string of assassinations that had occurred in the country. He received all of his education from a large amount of tutors who worked on the school room within the palace. Mark was even able to attend university from this palace and graduated from it with a degree in engineering and politics.
== Governor of Flopchyna ==
On the 4th March 1873 Mark's father died and he assumed the role of Governor of Flopchyna, also taking the title of Prince. Fifteen days later on the 19th March 1873 he was sworn in at a ceremony in Flozny. He gave a speech at that very ceremony stating he would:
"Bring liberty and peace to Flopsha."
His first action as Governor of Flopychyna was to ramp up funding for the Flopshan secret police in the area and he began personally funding mass recruitment campaigns out of his own pocket. It was after he passed laws favouring the secret police that he was faced with his first assassination attempt. An unknown assassin tossed a grenade up into the gutter of the Governor's Palace which exploded and very nearly killed Mark as he was in his study at the time where the bomb landed next to. 
== Coup d'état and Reign ==
=== Coup d'état of 1897 ===
On the 2nd January 1897 Tsar Peter VI died and his son, Peter VII, succeeded him. Peter VII was extremely unpopular in the country due to his actions during the 1895 famine so Mark was gifted with an opportunity to overthrow him and become Tsar himself. 
Mark spent about a month rallying thousands of protestors and forming an army. On the 10th February he began the march on Floppskow, burning villages and killing Peter's supporters along the way. When they reached the gates of Floppskow they were met by Peter VII who agreed to abdicate, on the conditions that he and a select group of his guards would be allowed to leave the city safely. Mark agreed to this, but the second the city gates were opened him and his supporters flooded in and attacked Peter's guards. When they had been successfully dealt with, Peter was ceased by the revolutionaries and taken to a nearby courthouse. There a very quick trial was held which resulted in Peter being sentenced to death via hanging. 
That marked the end of all real resistance to Mark, since nobody really supported Peter in the first place. 
=== Early Reign (1897 - 1901); Famine, Secret Policing and Massacres ===
One of Mark's first actions was to have his army acquisition thousands of tonnes of grain from farms across the country so it could be used for supplying the military. Despite the fact they were already in a famine, Mark kept ordering more and more shipments of grain which just intensified the effects of the famine. It is thought that up to 1.4 million people starved due to Mark's actions. 
His actions during the famine lead him to gain a significant amount of opponents, similar to Peter VII. Realising how vulnerable he was, he began to pour enormous amounts of money into the Flopshan secret police. They butchered anyone who spoke out against Mark in brutal ways that are still being investigated by Flopshan historians to this day. One of the people on his hit list was Prime-Minister Ivan Flopaniv who spoke out against Mark during the famine. The Prime-Minister had no real power in Flopsha, but him speaking out against the Tsar was considered good enough reason for him to be fired and the office of Prime-Minister be completely dissolved. Flopaniv was shot just two days after being fired but "sudden heart issues" was cited as the cause of death. 
Category:Flopsha
Category:Characters