Yonkastic War of Liberation

The **Yonkastic War of Liberation**, also known as the **War of Yonkastic Independence** or the **Yonkastic Revolution**, was a major conflict fought in the Western Reaches from 1934 to 1941 between the British Empire and the fledgling Yonkastic state. The war resulted in the deaths of over thirty thousand civilians and soldiers over eight years and to this day retains an important place in the ethnic memory of the Yonkastic people.

## Origins

At the end of the First World War, Britain was able to consolidate control over all three valleys of the Yonkage through a deal with the Netherlands. Consequentially, Britain began to treat the Yonkage more and more harshly, seeking to dominate every part of Yonkastic life. Without another European power to intervene on behalf of the Yonkers, Britain could get away with brutal oppression.

This oppression was manifested in the form of excessive taxation by British authorities, harsh and restrictive laws and economic regulations, and lengthy workdays with no worker protections in place. The people of the Yonkage suffered under a uniquely harsh form of British rule. This included a campaign dedicated to the extinction of the Yonkastic language that almost resulted in the annihilation of a large part of the Yonkage's cultural heritage.

The financial crisis of 1929 that precipitated the Great Depression led Britain to become increasingly draconian in how it governed the Yonkage. Anti-British sentiment reached an all-time high as protests erupted throughout the territory.

## Prelude to Revolution (1932 - 1934)

Grassroots self-determination movements of all political leanings sprung up in all major cities. Most favored greater autonomy within the British Empire, but a few advocated for outright independence. At a conference in Kelänsen held from September 15 to October 3 of 1932, the capital of the erstwhile Kingdom of the Reaches, delegates from all the cities and all self-determination movements agreed to pool their resources and subscribe to a common ideology. The Kelänsen Declaration announced the creation of the Yonkastic Independence Front, which would peacefully advocate for Yonkastic independence.

The fledgling movement was headed by Dr. Nemek Ütollech, a widely-respected writer and political theorist who had been educated in Britain. A moderate, Ütollech urged nonviolent resistance in emulation of the role that Mohandas Gandhi was playing in India's independence movement at the time.

The peaceful state of affairs was abruptly terminated on July 18, 1933, when an assassin fired five shots into Ütollech's chest as he was walking to a meeting with British authorities in Toäk. The assassin, an Englishman in his forties, was killed in moments by the furious crowd. The Yonkastic Independence Front organized a string of nonviolent protests in every city within the month, but affairs by that point had largely fallen out of control. More independence movements sprung up beyond those that constituted the front, and they were not as peaceful as the others.

Violent protests and riots occurred in every major city beginning in December of 1933, when a British provincial court posthumously acquitted the assassin of Dr. Ütollech and ruled that he was acting in self-defense. These riots were suppressed by the British with relative ease at first, as they were disorganized and easily quelled.

The Second Kelänsen Conference, held from March 3 to March 17, 1934, changed that. On the first day of the conference, which was attended by representatives of more than a hundred different organizations, the Yonkastic Independence Front formally changed its name to *Yonkachit Ükenth än Sinyäd* (YUS), winning the support of the various groups that were fighting the British attempt to exterminate the Yonkastic tongue. Over the next several days it incorporated all attending organizations into its fold, no matter how violent their protests had been. The Second Kelänsen Declaration announced that the people of the Yonkage were desperate for independence and would make it increasingly difficult for Britain to maintain control.

Britain responded by dispatching 6,000 troops to seize control of cities throughout the Yonkage. The UK also dispatched a battleship and destroyer escort to occupy Toäk harbor and based two RAF squadrons at Kelänsen airbase.

On June 26, 1934, tensions came to a head. An organ of the YUS placed explosives aboard the battleship in Kelänsen harbor during the night and detonated them on the morning of the 26th, killing a thousand Royal Navy sailors and blocking off Toäk Harbor. In retaliation, British troops burned the city's harbor district, killing at least two thousand civilians.

Toäk and the other cities sent delegates to Kelänsen at the behest of the Yonkastic Independence Front. The Third Kelänsen Conference was attended by more than a hundred luminaries from all over the Yonkage. Held from July 1 to August 2, its primary mandate was to discuss formal independence. The Conference fulfilled this mandate by unanimously adopting the Yonkastic Declaration of Independence, which they wrote in Yonkastic specifically for the purpose of irritating the British. The War of Liberation had begun.