Indigo Revolution

The **Indigo Revolution** was a worldwide revolution that broke out during the 1980s in the Collectionverse.

## Background

### Bharat Ascendant

The predecessor of the Indigo Revolution was the Dharmic administration in India, a victorious party that nearly prevented a civil war between three other parties. The other three parties were a Muslim militarist faction, a Hindu theocratic faction, and a secularist faction; each which wanted to forcibly remake India into a warmongering empire, a rigid aristocratic society twisted into racialism, or an autocratic puppet of the Soviet Union.

The United Dharma Party was very popular with the poor, turning away many from the other three groups and reuniting India. Its leader was a devout, conservative Hindu, but was unhappy with the other two native Indian parties either twisting Hinduism into a militaristic form, or even attempting to eliminate it in favour of Soviet-style atheism. He was largely inspired by Ataturk of Turkey to create "a modern society built on Hindu Dharma", and he wanted to prove everyone that "Hinduism is not a backwards religion" by modernising the country.

Under the UDP, Indian society became more efficient: the Hindu religion was the basis of many modernist programmes, allowing India to rise up to the levels of Taiwan and Yugoslavia. Only Pakistan refused to accept being a part of India, being the remnant of many members of the Muslim militarists. Bangladesh remained autonomous, alongside Sikkim, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. India even achieved its first autonomous Moon landing in 1971, using Soviet technology.

The success of the Dharmic Revolution, which created a new society influenced somewhat by a mixture of Hindu teachings and modernism, led to attempts across the world to replicate its successes as a measure against extremism. One attempt in Mexico became the Indigo Revolution, named after its supporters' colours.

### Birth in Mexico

The Indigo Revolution ultimately began in Mexico, where fears of corporate dominance and more poverty led to vigilante groups and the election of more capable leaders. Impressed by the example shown by some capable governors and shrewd businesspeople (who are more connected to said protest groups), this led to the creation of a progressive bloc, all done in the name of the poorer peoples in the republic.

It also spread to the United States as more novels depicting corporate dystopias emerged, out of growing fears of poverty. This led to clashes between the growing activist groups and the greater portions of American society, especially because it was those groups who contributed to lower poverty and neglect rates in parts of America.

The "New American" movement set up cooperatives and charity groups to support local businesses and families in poorer parts of the States, allowing them to have better access to healthcare, education, and employment. The growing popularity of those groups, and the possible loss of voters and customers, led to opposition from the two major parties and the corporations.

The revolution did not lead to a Second Civil War, but merely many protests that eventually overwhelmed the police and the nascent corporate militias. It was also opposed by many militant groups, ranging from frustrated conservatives who denounced greater public spending (instead of forcing the poor to do everything alone), to racist terrorists who were defeated by the protestors, and far-left groups who were unable to achieve their proposed communist state. It was because of them that the New Americans learned to be more vigilant against extremism, preferring moderatism and rationality to avoid destructive behaviour.

Eventually, this led to the end of the bipartisan system in America in 1978 as several new parties emerged.

## The New America

The New America was less focused on the military, diverting away from police actions and military bases abroad in favour of diplomacy and prevention of poverty. It no longer intervened often in other countries, but only supported them financially, expecting them to actually be competent or to be at the mercy of their neighbours.

Knowing that the government would not always be there and everywhere at once, people in that America relied on local cooperatives and businesses, turning away from corporations. The government of America may had taken more action for public programmes, but ultimately the people took more effort to build their own to prevent poverty, illiteracy, and marginalisation from taking root in the country, Without the extra funding for the cooperations, economic and artistic power has shifted towards smaller businesses and customers, forcing them to favour them and the workers. Some local businesses became international franchises.

In the New America, education is given greater importance, as the dystopian works that fuelled the revolution warned that without right thinking, people descend into madness out of desperation. "Ethics" even became a school subject in all US schools, where even first-graders learn about good behaviour to avoid radicalisation, corruption, and crime. This was considered controversial to *both* Christian conservatives and hardcore atheists, who denounced the programme for not turning children into either devoted warriors of Christ or fighters against religion. It was also hated by Islamist militants and traditionalists, who demanded absolute conformity rather than seeing young and poorer people follow the IR's morality.

The resulting norms in the New America are known as "the Great Consensus", and the times before the Indigo Revolution are known as "pre-Consensus", or humorously, "the Dark Times".

## Eastern Revolution

Inspired by the success of the Indigo Revolution in changing American society, other nations attempted to use their own Indigo Revolutions, even deep within the Soviet Union and China. Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia revolted in 1982, followed by Ukraine and Romania, as they wanted to forcibly accelerate a modernisation of the USSR. These armed struggles became known as the Eastern Revolutions, but in Russia, they were condemned as the Velvet Purges.

Ukraine became the heart of the Indigo Revolution in Eastern Europe, and local activists there also supported their Baltic counterparts in their own localist revolution. It was also the founding member of the Free European Alliance, an attempt to create a separate European Union-like alliance as a defence against any future attacks by Russia. The Russians, in turn, hated Ukraine for expelling supporters of "union with Russia". Over time, later presidents of Ukraine followed growing support of greater integration into Europe, resulting in one of its cities, Kharkiv, becoming a tech hub known as the "Seoul of the West" and "Europe's Silicon Valley"!

The Free European Alliance's purpose to impede American *and* Russian attempts to dominate it only made Russia more embittered and hateful. While Eastern Europe was fortified as its own self-ruling alliance of buffer states, Russia was unable to launch a full-scale invasion due to the "Second Iron Curtain": so all that was left of such things were several militants and "contrarian" terrorists, who were quietly defeated.

## Indigo Revolution in the rest of the world

In China, protests broke out all over its eastern cities. As the punitive suppression of the protests in Beijing led to riots, the government had to agree with some of the demands to avoid total collapse. It was also due to an internal purge within the Communist Party by the newest presidential candidate, leading to the arrest of hundreds of rich politicians.

It also led to more revolts in Africa and some of the countries there becoming richer and more stable, as they began to diversify their economies and improve education and healthcare. Only Cuba, Iraq, Libya, Canada, Iceland, North Korea, Bhutan, Pakistan, India, and several other nations in Africa and Asia remain unaffected by the Indigo Revolution, although they do concede reforms. North Korea and Bhutan later enacted reforms in the late 1990s.

"Localism", not "nationalism", became the world order of the Collectionverse, as more nations formed their own alliances to support and defend each other. Instead of NATO or the European Union expanding eastward, Ukraine (the centre of the Indigo Revolution in eastern Europe) became the capital of a separate organisation with a similar function, the Free European Alliance (FEA).

The two Vietnams (socialist North Vietnam and Buddhist New Vietnam) remained separate, but they eventually became more friendly as China adopted a capitalist system. The border wall was torn down and its sides demined, and the situation became more similar to Thailand and Laos.

## Aftermath

A subsequent law prohibited monopolies within American territory, encouraging locals to create rushed businesses or networks as an alternative to any potential monopolies.

In April 1994, two extremist groups held rallies in Meridian, demanding a return to pre-Consensus norms. The first was an extremist Christian group who wanted to enforce Biblical law, while the second was a hardcore atheist group who demanded a total ban on religion. For three days, the groups fought and unleashed chaos into the city, forcing many to flee from their attempted takeover.

Several factions of extremists emerged in the early 2020s, seeking to revert American society to pre-Consensus norms. At one attempt, they infiltrated the police forces, targeting minorities to impose "the Old America", and in the other they attempted a brief, failed coup. Clashes intensified for several years, ending in their defeat.

## Trivia

* There was an actual "Indigo Revolt" that occurred in Nadia, eastern India, in 1859.