Sordish Civil War

The **Sordish Civil War** (June 2, 1928 - March 14, 1929)was a devastating internal conflict between fascist General Eduard Luderin and communist General Iannick Rikard for control of the fractured Republic. Ultimately, however, neither would ever call the Maroon Palace home; for a then unknown quantity, general Tarquin Soll, would become the victor in this great conflict. It was a critical moment in Sordish history, and has had ripple effects for decades, most notably leaving the confrontation between the nationalists and communists inconclusive...

## Overview

It is unknown who fired the shots that set the nation of Sordland ablaze with war. But in any case, the kindling necessary for such a conflagration to break out had piled up long before the words "Civil War" were ever in the headlines.

Indeed, the seeds of the conflict had been sown in 1923, when the Kingdom of Sordland was dissolved, and the Republic of Sordland formed. Key to the success of this radical change was Artor S. Wisci, the First Sordish President, and, ultimately, the man responsible for the early Republic's downfall. Unfortunately, his extremely liberal views (at the time) brought him into near-constant conflict with General Eduard Luderin, the leader of the Sordish Armed Forces. Wisci's radiant idealism clashed with Luderin's cruel, fascist views, until Luderin could take it no more and began scheming to place himself within the Maroon Palace.

By 1927, public sentiment had swayed far enough from Wisci for Luderin to enact his most extreme contingency plan. Organizing a coup via the myriad resources available to him as commander of the SAF, he seized control over Holsord, forcing the unprepared and unpopular Wisci to flee for his life. While Wisci's legacy would certainly endure, this tragic ending to a term with such promise was but the first of many losses the young nation would have to endure over the course of the next two years. For another general had been biding his time, waiting for his own chance to gain power over the nascent, impressionable Republic, and mold it the way he saw fit. That man was General Iannick Rikard.

Though he may have been a Malenyevist, Rikard was really no different from Luderin; he was a violent extremist all the same. Immediately after Luderin's coup had struck down Wisci, and before it had regained control over the nation, Rikard launched a counter-coup of his own. Tanks rolled up to schools, soldiers pointed their weapons at non-Communist or non-Fascist civilians depending on their loyalties, and, as college students were mowed down in their hundreds alongside countless other innocent people, the nation of Sordland descended into Civil War.

For two long years, the war raged on, culminating in a massive assault by Rikard on the Fascist position. Thousands died, many of whom were mere civilians who had been slaughtered by apathetic and uncaring soldiers. Cities were thrown into chaos, the economy plunged head-first into a recession, and the entire Republic of Sordland burst apart at the seams.

Even sitting President Rayne could not escape the desolation of the War. To this day, he remembers the sobbing face of an innocent young girl as she was crushed by a tank. When recounting such stories to his son, Franc, he may very well be overcome with emotion, to the disbelief of his son. It is truly a testament to the horrors of war that even the iron-willed, indomitable, and unflinching Anton Rayne himself has trouble recalling such events.

Eventually, as 1929 rolled around, both sides had worn each other down to the breaking point, with a single, final offensive being enough to finish off either faction. That final blow came from the Sordish 6th Army, under the command of Colonel Tarquin Soll. Striding into battle untouched by the previous two years of suffering (they had remained neutral up to this point), Soll annihilated both of his exhausted foes, forcing them to retreat with their tails between their legs.

Within a few short months, he had liberated the Capital of Holsord, and brought an end to the devastating Civil War. The casualties were in the hundreds of thousands; the economic damage unfathomable. It would take decades for Soll to rebuild the government, repair the economy, and restore democracy; and even there, he would fail miserably. But, above all, the war serves as an example to all of a single fact.

Few nations survive Civil Wars. Even less do so with their original ideals intact, or with the guiding light that had brought them life still burning. But Sordland did. And it came out swinging. And so, forever onwards, instead of the communist creed or fascist hail, only one motto shall stand as that of Sordland. It has been spoken ever since the days when the Sordish were just a constituent tribe of the Markian Empire, and endured throughout the days of the Kingdom, the War, and the Recession. And on the day the war ended, that same, infallible maxim was chanted across Sordland, alongside the name of Tarquin Soll.

*A morgna wes core...Vectern sis da!*

Morning has come...Victory is ours!

## Timeline

Late 1927: The fascist General Luderin staged a coup against Artor Wisci's Republican government and succeeds. Takes full control of the Sordish government and forms a fascist dictatorship with him as head of government.

Early 1928: General Luderin orders mass executions against anti-Luderin protestors, democratic supporters, and left-wing opposition. Thousands are killed under his orders.

Late 1928: The communist General Rikard launched a counter-coup against Luderin's regime. The coup failed and Sordland is plunged into civil war. Official start of the Sordish Civil War.

Early 1929: With both communist and fascist armies worn down by months of fighting, Colonel Tarquin Soll led the neutral 5th Army to enter the civil war.

Late 1929: Soll decisively defeated both Rikard and Luderin. The 5th Army marches into Holsord. Soll formally restores the Republic under the Constitution of '29. Official end of the Sordish Civil War.

## Decisions

See also: Prologue

During the prologue, you get to choose what Rayne did during the war. You can choose to either stay out of the civil war completely, joining the Red Youth, representing the communists, or the Young Sords, which represents the nationalists.

## Impact

Even now, decades after the conflict concluded and the fires of war were quenched, there remained a great deal of lingering uncertainty. The battle between the specter of communism and the monstrosity of fascism had not been finished; merely postponed. Despite the utter devastation, incalculable suffering, and the ubiquitous demon of death hanging around every corner, they were still discontent with the result, and, while burnt to a crisp by the conflagration they had worked to create, continued to undermine and openly attack each other at every last chance.

Luckily, the victor was not an insane despot, nor ineffective weakling. He was toughs as nails, and harder than steel. His name: Tarquin Soll.

While his measures would later be considered authoritarian in nature, and his constitution a subversion of the Sordish Republican ideal, it would nevertheless bring Sordland back from the brink of collapse, and reinvigorate the resigned people of the nation. Resuscitating the stagnant Sordish economy, rebuilding the institutions of government, and restoring the spirit of the nation within its people was no easy feat. Soll accomplished every one of them, all the same.

But, as he drifted from idealistic war hero to despotic military dictator, the cracks in his reorganized nation began to show. Widened under the outspoken and overwhelmed Ewald Alphonso, the Sordish dream once again lost its luster.

Anton Rayne, coming into power two decades after the end of the war, bears the scars of the conflict himself. Amidst cries for revolution and rebellion among communist and fascist elements of the populace, it remains to be seen if he shall restore order to Sordland, or, like the weak-willed Wisci, bring about yet another devastating conflict. And this time, the nation, rife with disunity and languishing under a recession, may not find a hero like Soll so easily...

## References

See also: Sordification

* Generally, the conflict bears enormous similarities to the Spanish Civil War, which lasted from 1936 and concluded in 1939. However, one key difference sets them apart: the war in Spain resulted in a fascist victory under Franco, while the Sordish Civil War was won by an external faction under Soll, who pursued a more balanced and outwardly democratic system of government, albeit with a major inclination towards more nationalist and authoritarian measures.