The Long War

The Montrabequean Communist Uprising, more commonly referred to as the “Long War”, was a communist conflict in Montrabeque that lasted for 68 years from 1922 to 1991. The conflict began on the 28th of December 1922 and was declared to have ended on the 25th of December 1991. Although the majority of the conflict took place mostly in Montrabeque, there were attacks and other incidents in other countries throughout the conflict.

The conflict was primarily political and nationalistic, fuelled by foreign political events of the time.Though not a major issue of the conflict, It also contained an ethnic factor in its later years especially in the 60’s and 70’s. The key issue was the wish of the Montrabequean Communist Front (MCF) to take control of the government so they may establish a communist republic and become a part of the Soviet Union.

Although there had been a series of protests by the MCF for many months prior, the conflict was officially declared on the 28th of December 1922 in a letter posted in newspaper the People’s Daily addressed to then Head Councillor, Gerald McMason, and King William VI written by MCF leader, Lewis Markow, in which he declared war upon the government of Montrabeque and discussed the MCF’s intentions to begin a series of attacks within the following days.

This came as no surprise to the government as Markow had made a statement on the 23rd of December, a day after the formation of the Soviet Union, in which he gave the government 5 days to begin the process of becoming a republic and joining the Soviet Union or the MCF would be forced to take action. In response to this first statement, then Councillor for the Home Committee, Elizabeth Bristow, ordered for Markow to be surveillanced by undercover police officers at his home in the town of Marlen on the island of Cookpay. Upon being notified of Markow’s second statement, McMason ordered that he be arrested and brought to the capital of Terren to be charged with treason and threatening national security. Later that day Markow was collected from his home by 20 armed soldiers of the National Guard.

The main participants in the war were the army of the MCF, and subsequent splinter groups, and Montrabeque state security forces such as the Army and National Guard; as well as a number of minor paramilitary groups established by Montrabeque citizens. Throughout the conflict assistance was given by foreign national security forces. MCF forces carried out a guerilla campaign against both Montrabeque forces and citizens aswell as a heavy bombing campaign against infrastructural, commercial and political targets. The Montrabeque security forces undertook policing and counter-insurgency, primarily against communists.

More than 89,700 people were killed in the conflict, of whom 58% were civilians, 31% were members of the Montrabeque security forces, and 11% were members of groups apart of or associated with the MCF. Communist paramilitaries were responsible for some 80% of the deaths, and security forces 20%. On Christmas Day 1991, MCF Leader Kellen Baddery released a statement on behalf of the MCF declaring the conflict over and ordered a ceasefire. Baddery further explained that with the fall of the Soviet Union that day, the MCF had lost all cause and that he would be surrendering himself to the police; an action he encouraged the remaining members to follow. Following the surrender of the MCF, the Montrabeque government began “project Birch” in which they intended to arrest and prosecute all MCF members and non governmental or civilian participants of the war. Of the suspected 11,850 expected to be arrested as part of the operation, 11,364 were arrested and charged with many receiving the death penalty. Then Head Councillor, Michael Howard, proposed the execution of Kellen Baddery also, however, her majesty Queen Alexandra II chose instead to issue Baddery with a royal pardon for his role in securing peace for the conflict. Worried for his safety, Baddery was exiled to Japan where he remains today.

## History

### Creation of the Soviet Union

#### Revolution and foundation (1917–1927)

Modern revolutionary activity in the Russian Empire began with the 1825 Decembrist revolt. Although serfdom was abolished in 1861, it was done on terms unfavourable to the peasants and served to encourage revolutionaries. A parliament—the State Duma—was established in 1906 after the Russian Revolution of 1905, but Emperor Nicholas II resisted attempts to move from absolute to a constitutional monarchy. Social unrest continued and was aggravated during World War I by military defeat and food shortages in major cities.

A spontaneous popular demonstration in Petrograd on 8 March 1917, demanding peace and bread, culminated in the February Revolution and the abdication of Nicholas II and the imperial government. The tsarist autocracy was replaced by the social-democratic Russian Provisional Government, which intended to conduct elections to the Russian Constituent Assembly and to continue fighting on the side of the Entente in World War I. At the same time, workers' councils, known in Russian as 'Soviets', sprang up across the country, and the most influential of them, the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, shared power with the Provisional Government.

The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, pushed for communist revolution in the Soviets and on the streets, adopting the slogan of "All Power to the Soviets" and urging the overthrow of the Provisional Government. On 7 November 1917, Bolshevik Red Guards stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd, arresting the Provisional Government leaders and Lenin declared that all power was now transferred to the Soviets. This event would later be officially known in Soviet bibliographies as the "Great October Socialist Revolution". The bloody Red Terror was initiated to shut down all opposition, both perceived and real. In December, the Bolsheviks signed an armistice with the Central Powers, though by February 1918, fighting had resumed. In March, the Soviets ended involvement in the war and signed the separate peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

A long and bloody Civil War ensued between the Reds and the Whites, starting in 1917 and ending in 1923 with the Reds' victory. It included foreign intervention, the murder of the former Emperor and his family, and the famine of 1921–1922, which killed about five million people. In March 1921, during a related war against Poland, the Peace of Riga was signed, splitting disputed territories in Belarus and Ukraine between the Republic of Poland and Soviet Russia. Soviet Russia sought to re-conquer all newly independent nations of the former Empire, although their success was limited. Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania all repelled Soviet invasions, while Ukraine, Belarus (as a result of the Polish–Soviet War), Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia were occupied by the Red Army. Additionally, forced requisition of food by the Soviet government led to substantial resistance, of which the most notable was the Tambov Rebellion, ultimately put down by the Red Army.

The Civil War had a devastating impact on the economy. A black market emerged in Russia, despite the threat of martial law against profiteering. The ruble collapsed, with barter increasingly replacing money as a medium of exchange and, by 1921, heavy industry output had fallen to 20% of 1913 levels. 90% of wages were paid with goods rather than money. 70% of locomotives were in need of repair[citation needed], and food requisitioning, combined with the effects of seven years of war and a severe drought, contributed to a famine that caused between 3 and 10 million deaths. Coal production decreased from 27.5 million tons (1913) to 7 million tons (1920), while overall factory production also declined from 10,000 million roubles to 1,000 million roubles. According to the noted historian David Christian, the grain harvest was also slashed from 80.1 million tons (1913) to 46.5 million tons (1920).

#### Treaty on the Creation of the USSR

On 28 December 1922, a conference of plenipotentiary delegations from the Russian SFSR, the Transcaucasian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR approved the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, forming the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. These two documents were confirmed by the first Congress of Soviets of the USSR and signed by the heads of the delegations, Mikhail Kalinin, Mikhail Tskhakaya, Mikhail Frunze, Grigory Petrovsky and Alexander Chervyakov, on 30 December 1922. The formal proclamation was made from the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

An intensive restructuring of the economy, industry and politics of the country began in the early days of Soviet power in 1917. A large part of this was done according to the Bolshevik Initial Decrees, government documents signed by Vladimir Lenin. One of the most prominent breakthroughs was the GOELRO plan, which envisioned a major restructuring of the Soviet economy based on total electrification of Russia. The plan became the prototype for subsequent Five-Year Plans and was fulfilled by 1931. After the economic policy of 'War communism' during the Russian Civil War, as a prelude to fully developing socialism in the country, the Soviet government permitted some private enterprise to coexist alongside nationalised industry in the 1920s, and total food requisition in the countryside was replaced by a food tax.

From its creation, the government in the Soviet Union was based on the one-party rule of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks). The stated purpose was to prevent the return of capitalist exploitation, and that the principles of democratic centralism would be the most effective in representing the people's will in a practical manner. The debate over the future of the economy provided the background for a power struggle in the years after Lenin's death in 1924. Initially, Lenin was to be replaced by a 'troika' consisting of Grigory Zinoviev of the Ukrainian SSR, Lev Kamenev of the Russian SFSR, and Joseph Stalin of the Transcaucasian SFSR.

On 1 February 1924, the USSR was recognized by the United Kingdom.[citation needed] The same year, a Soviet Constitution was approved, legitimising the December 1922 union.

According to Archie Brown the constitution was never an accurate guide to political reality in the USSR. For example the fact that the Party played the leading role in making and enforcing policy was not mentioned in it until 1977. The USSR was a federative entity of many constituent republics, each with its own political and administrative entities. However, the term 'Soviet Russia' – formally applicable only to the Russian Federative Socialist Republic – was often applied to the entire country by non-Soviet writers due to its domination by the Russian SFSR.