War Against Communism

The War Against Communism is an ongoing economic, political and security operation conducted by the municipal government of Louiton, in coordination with the foreign powers. Its focus is on maintaining a capitalist economic system and continued international governance of Louiton by curtailing the power of Unions and other labour organisations, prohibiting the publishing of Communist pamphlets, and several anti-terrorist campaigns, particularly directed against the ZJL.

## History

### The Beginning

Following the victory of the Chinese Communist Party in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, and the ensuing Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), the pro-business and anti-communist government of the Union Party aimed to stop the spread of Communism, especially amongst the large Chinese population, and prevent a Communist revolution.

In order to do so, the government adopted several strategies, the first of which, under the Labour Relations Ordinance of 1951, was to place all Unions under overall government authority, as well as proscribing several Unions, most notably the highly radical, and highly popular, Dockworkers' Union.

This led to mass civil disturbance as supporters of the Dockworkers' Union protested and striked, initiating the General Strike of 1951. This resulted in the passage of the Public Order Ordinance of 1951, which forbade general and solidarity strikes, and prohibited 'essential workers', including Dockworkers, from striking. The government brought in naval personnel to oversee the docks, and deported the striking workers to the mainland.

The next prong was to control and limit the spread of Communist ideas, the University Quality Ordinance of 1953, made all University staff swear an oath disavowing Communism, Maoism and Anarchism, and the Education Ordinance of 1954 extended this requirement to all teachers. Both ordinances also forbade the explicit or implicit praising of Communism or communist leaders.

These were followed by the Seditious Publications Ordinance of 1954 which censored all Communist pamphlets, newspapers and books, and made it an offence to possess or distribute such publications without authorisation.

The government also undertook direct military action against communist insurgents organised by the ZJL. The National Security Ordinance of 1950 proscribed the ZJL, along with other Communist and radical groups, as prohibited organisations, making membership of them illegal. Operation Odin's Vengeance, a dedicated military campaign, rooted out many of these groups and inflicted heavy casualties on communist partisans, but without achieving the government's aim of total eradication, as communist partisans still use the cover of the jungle which surrounds Louiton to conceal themselves, often crossing the border to elude destruction.

These policies continued for the duration of the Blue Era, with very little change, except for the Unions Ordinance of 1964 which allowed a greater degree of autonomy for some professional Unions, including the United Educators' Union (UEU) and the Nurses' and Doctors' Union (NDU).

### Repeal and Softening

The election of the Labour Workers' Party in the 1971 election saw many of the hardline anti-communist measures of the former government revoked or softened. The Seditious Publications Ordinance was completely repealed, itself having been largely unsuccessful at controlling the spread of Communist pamphlets, and the oaths required by the University Quality and Education Ordinances were amended just to require a pledge of loyalty to the municipal government.

In particular, the new pro-union government repealed much of the strike provisions of the Public Order Ordinance, other than keeping the ban on general strikes, and amended the Labour Relations Ordinance and the Unions Ordinance to release the vast majority of the Unions from government oversight.

For many, however, these new measures did not go far enough, and more radical members of the Labour Workers' Party, particularly those associated with the newly-formed, and more radical United Industrial Workers' Union (UIWU), became disillusioned with the Labour government, calling for the Labour Relations Ordinance to be repealed completely, and for additional taxes to be levied on big business.

Also of particular concern was the blocking of any further action by the foreign powers, and the intensification of their own military campaigns, such as in Operation Golden Bow.