2019 Coup in Eurasia

The **2019 Coup in Eurasia** (Eurasian: *x*), also known as the **Spies Coup** and the **Calvinian Affair** was an attempted coup of the  Government of Eurasia in late 2019. The coup was the culmination of the Third World War and led to Emperor Augustus IV of Eurasia regaining control of the country and ending the war.

The coup was the result of a nearly two-decade period of blackmail and intimidation of Augustus IV and Privy Councilors by the Ministry of the Realm. After the threat of Arveyran secession, and the threat of Augustus IV to pull Eurasia from the immensely destructive conflict, Frumentarii agents attempted to force his abdication and install his brother, Septimus of Eurasia as Emperor. After two days of fighting all across the city between Praetorian Guards, police, and the Frumentarii, Augustus regained control of the bureaucratic apparatus. A large number of Frumentarii agents, approximately 65% of the total manpower, were subsequently arrested by the police and executed for treason or imprisoned.

## Background

Shortly after his ascension in 2001, the Ministry of the Realm became aware that, when he was a university student, he fathered a child with Queen Sofia X of Arveyres. While socially not entirely damaging, the public acknowledgement of their daughter would have disrupted the line of succession of Eurasia, putting the heir apparent to the Kingdom of Arveyres as the sovereign of the Empire itself, and also toppling the House of Eurasius from power.

It was thus that ultraconservative, far right elements of the Ministry began to exert control over Augustus and the Imperial bureaucracy, eventually forcing the Invasion of New Zealand as well as heightened repression of civil rights and democracy in Eurasia. The Frumentarii began carrying out the extrajudicial killings of various left wing elements in Eurasian society, and the rights to expression and speech were entirely curtailed. While some Privy Councilors were aware of the nature of the kompromat, others were not, and they were powerless to stop it.

In late 2018, the Frumentarii assassinated former President Naveen Garagen at the OMNI Enforcer summit in New Tarajan. They then leaked the information to the press and admitted responsibility for the assassination, forcing Augustus to lie and say he had advanced knowledge of the plot. Then, after a failed summit in Marquette to dress the issue, Eurasia declared war on New Zealand and invaded its western neighbor for the second time in twenty-years.

## Incident

As the war progressed, New Zealand, which had been prepared for the war, seized several small Eurasian provinces that were enveloped by New Zealander territory; Egnatia, Garulata, and Florentia were all occupied. Duresia, which had joined the war in support of Eurasia, began to desire an end to the increasingly expensive and bloody conflict. At the same time, New Tarajan and Antanares, who had sided with New Zealand, were slowly grinding down the Eurasian offensive, with casualties mounting.

Unrest in the provinces began to mount, with serious calls for secession in Audrea and Genevevia causing massive civil unrest, further straining the Military of Eurasia. Eventually, Arveyres itself, tired from the destruction the war was causing and the strain that was being out on the Arveyran economy, suddenly declared on November 5th they intended to secede from the Empire. Massive riots broke out across the Empire, the largest of which were in Julium. Crowds surrounded the Julian Palace, demanding an end to the war and even Augustus' abdication. The crisis was at a breaking point.

Finally, on November 6th, Augustus suddenly directed the Praetorian Guard to arrest the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers of the Realm and declared a state of Civil Justitium throughout the Empire, effectively declaring immediate martial law. Reportedly, he told an aide "I either destroy myself or destroy the Empire." Immediately, fighting broke out between the Praetorian Guard and the Frumentarii, who attacked the Julian Palace in an attempt to physically arrest Augustus and force his abdication. After several hours of tense fighting, the Frumentarii were forced from the Palace with the assistance from local police and agents of the Penitus Oculatus, who sided largely with the Empire. Their forces throughout the city were hunted down and either arrested or executed, and the Frumentarii headquarters was bombarded with artillery and tanks until it finally surrendered in the early morning hours of November 7th.

## Aftermath

Augustus appeared at noon on national television, addressing the Empire and the world. In the speech, which lasted thirty-minutes, Augustus admitted to the secret bastard with Queen Sofia X, as well as to the true causes of the war. He stated that order was being restored to the Empire, and that the provincial autonomy was not in question, and further declared that secession movements in the provinces would not be tolerated. He went on to declare a unilateral ceasefire in the fighting in New Zealand, and asked the other leaders of the belligerents to meet for a peace summit to end the war. He further apologized to the people of New Zealand, saying, "you have been wronged by our Empire, and for that we were wrong."

Following his speech, Augustus implemented a series of sweeping reforms, curtailing the authority of institutions like the Frumentarii and the Penitus Oculatus. Free speech and expression was restored, as was the state monopoly on control of the media. Augustus has recently been likened in this role as similar to Marinus of Eurasia in his restorative liberalizations. However, political scientists have pointed out that in the case of Marinus, he didn't cause the problem in the first place.