Zardugal

[Con Man]

The Demokrata Partio Gains Majority in the FNC



In recent news, the KNL has lost its majority in the FNC to the Demokrata Partio, the more free-market oriented party of the two. "This is a sign of the Zardic people yearning for free-markets and free-minds," says Ĝideone Jaredo, leader of the newly formed FKP. "The people have seen what socialism does to their nation. It leads to a nation of bureaucrats that are corrupt and inefficient. The KNL isn't the party of the people; it's the party of the bureaucrats. But the DP isn't any better. They're the ones who've enabled this to happen. Yes, they've voted against the KNL's bills in many situations, but they've been weak in the manner that they don't propose and legislate much. That's why they barely get attention in the media! Their last bill was made 5 years ago! This type of "opposition" is what has made the KNL strong."

[Polites]

Hosian monarchist party gains seats


Maŭrikio Asano, chairman of the newly founded Hosian party

May 4037 - The elections in January brought a new party to the Zardic political scene, the Hosian People's Party (HPP), a Hosian Democratic and Monarchist party founded in October last year, just months before the recent elections. Founded and chaired by Maŭrikio Asano, a professor of theology at the Saint Volos Theological Seminar at Belgae, the HPP aims to addressing the pressing issues that affect post-bellum Zardugal, namely economic reconstruction, social inequality, the role of religion, and a reassessment of Zardugal's place in the volatile Majatran world. Most controversially, the new party calls for the re-establishment of the Augustan Imperial throne, a proposition that is bound to at least raise a few eyebrows. Monarchy, and especially foreign intervention in its support, was one of main causes behind the Civil War, so that suggesting a return to that political system would be strongly resented both by the surrounding nations, with bitter memories of Zardic imperialism, and many in Zardugal, a nation that fought a bitter war precisely against the reestablishment of the monarchy. Controversy aside, the HPP has found its own niche in the Zardic party system which may very well propel Asano to a more respectable executive office, especially after the last elections returned a decent 71 HPP seats, an unexpectedly good result for a party in its infancy.

[Polites]

Asano calls for Tokundian independence



October 4043 - The elections in June granted controversial politician Maŭrikio Asano, chairman of the newly formed Hosian Democratic and monarchist party in Zardugal, the position of President of the Federation.
The Hosian People's Party proceeded to form a coalition with theHosian leftist Democratic Party, establishing a religious and monarchist cabinet for the first time in decades. The election of Asano stems partly from a reaction to the government's inability to react to the unfolding Tokundian crisis in Cobura, where growing popular discontent against the Archean monarchy has led to turmoil and calls for independence. And Zardugal's new head of state has officially backed those calls, announcing that his administration would do everything in its power to protect the rights of Cobura's ethnic and religious minorities. More controversially he has called on all Terran Patriarchal faithful in Majatra to join his call and express solidarity with Cobura's Tokundians. This marks a clear break from Zardugal's traditional foreign policy, focused more on protecting Augustan interests rather than those of the Church. Analysts fear that the President's stance on the Tokundian issue may in fact further fuel ethnic tensions in Zardugal's southern neighbor by allowing the Coburan government to paint its native Tokundian population as a Zardic fifth column in its midst.

[Polites]

Zardugal Condemns "anti-TPC prejudice"


Zardic Foreign Minister Leo Theokrito

November 4053 - Throughout the decade since the monarchist Hosian People's Party has been in power in the Zardic Federation the nation's foreign policy has received a strongly pro-Hosian impetus, particularly manifested in Zardugal's reaction to the unfolding Tokundian crisis in Cobura. The Foreign Minister of the Federation, Leo Theokrito, in a televised press conference on the new Majatran conflicts stemming from the controversial Deltarian slave trade, announced Zardugal's continued commitment to the defense of all Terran Patriarchal communities on the continent, and strongly condemned Kazulia and Jakania for their "interference in Deltarian internal affairs". In his words, a coalition of nations bound together by anti-TPC prejudice is preparing to act upon its anti-Augustan and anti-Deltarian racism and ultimately destroy the Church, for no reason than irrational hostility towards Augustan-Tokundian values and culture. In the eyes of Minister Theokrito, the growing anti-TPC coalition is most likely sponsored by the Arch-Patriarch of the Aurorian Patriarchal Church, "an extremist organization known for its anti-Deltarian sentiment and in whose eyes the Holy Pápež is the Anti-Hosios". Theokrito also called for the unity of the entire Terran Patriarchal communion, and especially the Hosian nations of Trigunia, Deltaria, and Vanuku, to rally around the sacred Augustan imperial throne, "the only safeguard against the persecution and genocide the enemies of Deltaria and Zardugal have planned against the faithful of the Holy Mother Church". The Foreign Minister also expressed his support for the young Deltarian Czarina Alena, "a most worthy descendant of the holy Emperors Saint Alexius Equal to the Apostles and Saint Štefan the Apostle of the Deltarians".

The Foreign Minister's speech marks a departure from traditional Zardic foreign policy, generally concerned more with maintaining Zardugal's supremacy on the continent and the avoidance of religious goals. The newfound love for the Deltarian monarchy is also a rarity for Zardic policy makers, where the humiliation at the hands of the Deltarian Empire in the Lake Majatra War is still remembered by Zardic nationalists. The foreign policy shift is however not surprising considering the resurgence of Hosian piety in a traditionally secular nation, where it is a clear response to the apparent irrelevance of the Federation on the Majatran stage. Zardugal's voice has been continuously ignored in Terran and Majatran affairs for decades, fueling the frustration many Zardics feel about the perceived decline of their nation's power and influence. The Terran Patriarchal Church, as the second largest and perhaps richest Hosian communion on Terra, has the opportunity of returning Zardugal to prominence and provide a pretext for the Federation to take upon itself the mantle of defending its interests on the continent and all of Terra. From this perspective the newfound religious focus of Zardugal's foreign policy is not much different than the realpolitik practiced by past generations, only that now it is clothed in a religious rather than a human rights-based ideological justification. Nonetheless the Foreign Minister's speech and his party's platform are far from commanding unanimous support, as the HPP government is supported by a narrow majority of only one legislator. Perhaps the Minister's attempt at blaming the rival Aurorian Patriarchal Church for Zardugal's current misfortunes may bring his party wider popular support.

[Captain-Socialist]

National Syndicalist Organisation Founded to Promote Traditionalism Amongst the Workers
May 4054, Federation of Zardugal, Kalvario State, Leŭkopolo

Flag of the Falango de la Konsilio Nacia Sindikatista Ofensivo, whose manifesto was issued by its founding congress in the city of Leŭkopolo.

As of the latest election, Zardugal has been divided almost exactly 50/50 between two diametrically opposed forces. The monarchist Hosian People's Party and the Syndicalist National Confederation of Labour are almost totally at odds, yet now a new political group seeks to bridge the gap between the the unionised working class and the traditional hierarchies of church and state. The Falango de la Konsilio Nacia Sindikatista Ofensivo seeks to combine Syndicalism and Augustan revivalism, a mixture many on both sides of the political divide have claimed is reminiscent of Fascism.

NATION - UNITY - EMPIRE

1. We believe in the supreme reality of Zardugal. The strengthening, elevating, and magnifying of this reality is the urgent collective goal of all Zards. Individual, group, and class interests must inexorably give way in order to achieve this goal.

2. Zardugal has a single destiny in the world. Every conspiracy against this common unity is repulsive. Any kind of separatism is a crime that we shall not pardon. The existing Constitution, to the degree that it encourages disintegration, weakens this common destiny of Zardugal. Therefore we demand its annulment in a thundering voice.

3. We have the determination to build an Empire. We affirm that Zardugal's historic fulfilment lies
in Empire. We claim for Zardugal a pre-eminent position in Majatra. We can tolerate neither international isolation nor foreign interference. As regards the countries of Augustan Majatra, we favour unification of their culture, economic interests and power. Zardugal will continue to act as the spiritual axis of the Augustan world as a sign of her pre-eminence in worldwide enterprises.

4. Our armed forces- on land, sea, and in the air- must be kept trained and sufficiently large to assure to Zardugal at all times its complete independence and a status in the world that befits it. We shall bestow upon our Armed Forces of land, sea, and air all the dignity they merit, and we shall cause their military conception of life to infuse every aspect of Augustan life.

5. Zardugal shall once more seek her glory and her wealth on the sea lanes. Zardugal must aspire to
become a great maritime power, for reasons of both defence and commerce. We demand for the
fatherland equal status with others in maritime power and aerial routes.

STATE - INDIVIDUAL - LIBERTY

6. Our State will be a totalitarian instrument to defend the integrity of the fatherland. All
Zards will participate in this through their various family, municipal, and syndical roles.
There shall be no participation in it by political parties. We shall implacably abolish the system of political parties and all of their consequences- inorganic suffrage, representation of clashing groups, and a Parliament of the type that is all too well known.

7. Human dignity, integrity, and freedom are eternal, intangible values. But one is not really free unless he is a part of a strong and free nation. No one will be permitted to use his freedom against the nation, which is the bulwark of the fatherland's freedom. Rigorous discipline will prevent any attempt to envenom and disunite the Augustan people or to incite them against the destiny of the fatherland.

8. The National-Syndicalist State will permit all kinds of private initiative that are compatible with the collective interest, and it will also protect and encourage the profitable ones.



ECONOMY - LABOUR - CLASS STRUGGLE



9. Our conception of Zardugal in the economic realm is that of a gigantic syndicate of producers.
We shall organise Augustan society corporatively through a system of vertical syndicates for the various field of production, all working toward national economic unity.

10. We repudiate the capitalistic system which shows no understanding of the needs of the people, dehumanises private property, and causes workers to be lumped together in a shapeless, miserable mass of people who are filled with desperation. Our spiritual and national conception of life also repudiates Metzism. We shall redirect the impetuousness of those working classes who today are led astray by Metzism, and we shall seek to bring them into direct participation in fulfilling the great task of the national state.

11. The National-Syndicalist State will not cruelly stand apart from man's economic struggles, nor watch impassively while the strongest class dominates the weakest. Our regime will eliminate the very roots of class struggle, because all who work together in production shall comprise one single organic entity. We reject and we shall prevent at all costs selfish interests from abusing others, and we shall halt anarchy in the field of labour relations.

12. The first duty of wealth- and our State shall so affirm- is to better the conditions of the people. It is intolerable that enormous masses of people should live wretchedly while a small number enjoy all kinds of luxuries.

13. The State will recognise private property as a legitimate means for achieving individual, family, and social goals, and will protect it against the abuses of large-scale finance capital, speculators, and moneylenders.

14. We shall support the trend toward nationalisation of banking services and, through a system of Corporations, the great public utilities.

15. All Zards have the right to work. Public agencies must of necessity provide support for those who find themselves in desperate straits. As we proceed toward a totally new structure, we shall maintain and strengthen all the advantages that existing social legislation gives to workers.

16. Unless they are disabled, all Zards have the duty to work. The National-Syndicalist State will not give the slightest consideration to those who fail to perform some useful function and who try to live as drones at the expense of the labour of the majority of people.

LAND

17. We must, at all costs, raise the standard of living in the countryside, which is Zardugal's permanent source of food. To this end, we demand agreement that will bring to culmination without further delay the economic and social reforms of the agricultural sector.

18. Our program of economic reforms will enrich agricultural production by means of the following:



By assuring a minimum remuneration to all agricultural producers.

By demanding that there be restored to the countryside, in order to provide it with an adequate endowment, a portion of that which the rural population is paying to the cities for intellectual and commercial services.

By organising a truly national system of agricultural credit which will lend money to farmers at low interest against the guarantee of their property and crops, and redeem them from usury and local tyrants.

By spreading education with respect to better methods of farming and sheep raising.

By ordering the rational utilisation of lands in accordance with their suitability and with marketing possibilities.

By adjusting tariff policy in such a way as to protect agriculture and the livestock industry.

By accelerating reclamation projects. By rationalising the units of cultivation, so as to eliminate wasted latifundia and uneconomic, miniscule plots.

19. Our program of social reforms in the field of agriculture will be achieved:

By redistributing arable land in such a way as to revive family farms and give energetic encouragement to the syndicalisation of farm labourers.

By redeeming from misery those masses of people who presently are barely eking out a living on sterile land, and by transferring such people to new and arable lands.

20. We shall undertake a relentless campaign of reforestation and livestock breeding, and we shall punish severely those who resist it. We shall support the compulsory, temporary mobilisation of all Augustan youth for this historic goal of rebuilding the national commonwealth.

21. The State may expropriate without indemnity lands of those owners who either acquired them or exploited them illegally.

22. It will be the primary goal of the National-Syndicalist State to rebuild the communal patrimonies of the towns.

NATIONAL EDUCATION - RELIGION

23. It shall be the essential mission of the State to attain by means of rigorous disciplining of education a strong, united national spirit, and to instil in the souls of future generations a sense of rejoicing and pride in the fatherland.



All men shall receive pre-military training to prepare them for the honour of being enlisted in the National and Popular Army of Zardugal.

24. Cultural life shall be organised so that no talent will be undeveloped because of insufficient economic means. All who merit it shall be assured ready access to a higher education.

25. Our Movement incorporates the Terran Patriarchal meaning- of glorious tradition, and especially in Zardugal- of national reconstruction. The Church and the State will co-ordinate their respective powers so as to permit no interference or activity that may impair the dignity of the State or national integrity.

NATIONAL REVOLUTION

26. The Falango de la Konsilio Nacia Sindikatista Ofensivo demands a new order, as set forth in the foregoing principles. In the face of the resistance from the present order, it calls for a revolution to implant this new order. Its method of procedure will be direct, bold, and combative. Life signifies the art and science of warfare and must be lived with a spirit that is purified by service and sacrifice.

[Polites]

Unions Banned
Organized labor eliminated after contested election


Anarcho-Syndicalists clashing with National Syndicalists in Belgae

November 4055 - The election held this June was perhaps one of the most contested and violent in years, marked by street clashes between supporters and members the opposition political party cum trade union National Confederation of Labor (KNL) and those of the newly formed National Syndicalist KNSO. 24 people were killed in the clashes that lasted between January and August, and they were only ended with the intervention of the police forces, which many critically note only happened after the violence had been going on for months. The violent clashes occurred as the background of a highly irregular election process as a result of which the governing Hosian People's Party won by a landslide and proceeded to form a new government. Although there are allegations of fraud and voter intimidation, the violent clashes between the two Syndicalists forces do seem to have convinced many voters that the HPP would guarantee civil peace and stability. Immediately after the contested election, the new government initiated a thorough crackdown on "violent unionism"; blaming all trade unions of inciting the violent clashes and of being monopolized by extremist forces, the Federal Congress formally banned and disbanded all trade unions, strikes, and collective bargaining, essentially abolishing organized labor in he Federation. The potential social revolution that many feared would follow from this radical move did not occur, as the federal police was quick to arrest the leadership of the KNL and the KNSO, while the populace at large, in spite of a number of failed strikes and protests that led to the arrest of several more hundreds of union members, seems generally supportive of the government's measures. The Hosian People's Party carefully cultivated its image as the party of order, and as the last civil war has left bitter memories of internal struggle and violence which few Zards are willing to see repeated, the HPP's propaganda proved to be a success. With the ban and arrest of the only opposition party as justified by the anti-unionist piece of legislation, Zardugal is now essentially a single-party state.

And now that a tenuous peace has been restored to the Federation, Zardugal can focus on its foreign interests. Logothete of Foreign Affairs Leo Theokrito issued his support for the Barmenian initiative of calling for a new election for the Protector of the Jelbic People, an election that is likely to grant the title to Czarina Alena of Deltaria, with whom Zardugal appears to be forging closer ties. The logothete also hinted that the Deltarian and Barmenian monarch is being considered for the Zardic throne, which may very well re-create the Augustan Empire. Additionally, the Archbishop of Belgae Basilo Kaloteto, considered a close ally of the HNP government, announced that the Terran Patriarchal Church in Zardugal is prepared accept the offer presented by the Trigunian Foreign Minister to have the relevant Churches involved in the Tokundian conflict serve to bring about its resolution; such a solution would benefit the Church and Zardugal above everyone else and greatly enhance Zardic power.

[Polites]

Ultimatum to Cobura
Zardugal threatens military intervention


Zardic High Command issuing its warning to Cobura

April 4057 - As had been expected for many years, the Tokundian crisis in the South escalated to the point that the devolved regional assembly of the autonomous province proclaimed the independence of Tokundi, following a disputed privately-founded independence referendum. Unsurprisingly, the Federation of Zardugal expressed its support for the newly independent nation and also condemned the Coburan intervention in Eastern Tokundi following fatal clashes at a protest. The Federation also issued a strongly-worded ultimatum to the Kingdom of Cobura, calling on the latter to withdraw their troops from the region and recognize the "democratically-expressed wishes of the Tokundian people" by officially acknowledging the independence of Tokundi, or face war with Zardugal. Additionally the Federation called for an international coalition comprised of Zardugal, Vanuku, and Deltaria to restore and maintain order in the breakaway province, and which in the eyes of the Logothete for Foreign Affairs would have a better democratic mandate to do so than the forces of the Coburan Kingdom, whose authority the Tokundian people unequivocally rejected.

The Tokundian conflict may now, after years of tensions and after a peaceful settlement seemed within reach, escalate to the point of full-blown war. However critics have noted that, in spite of Zardic posturing, its military is no longer what it used to be. The disastrous civil war fought several decades ago had massive consequences for the Zardic economy, nor are Zards eager to embark on another military adventure. The ruling party gained political monopoly precisely because it presented itself as the only option that would guarantee order and peace. Launching a full-scale war may turn the lukewarm support the HPP government has among the populace into outright hostility, and bring calls for political and economic reform back to the forefront of Zardic politics.

[Polites]

Zardugal Invades Cobura
Assassination of Lord pretext for invasion


Zardic attack helicopters on their way to the southern kingdom

November 4057 - Citing the assassination of Lord Anwar Pteroumes in May this year, the Federal Senate in an emergency session authorized the intervention of the Zardic Armed Forces in Cobura with the stated purpose of ending the illegitimate coup of Field Marshal Etshosh Banemes and restoring the legitimate royal government and respecting the independence of Tokundi. The bill authorizing intervention and subsequent public statements from the President of the Federation and the Logothete of Foreign Affairs soon after its passing rejected the statement from the Coburan post-coup government that the Lord had been assassinated by the so-called "Fist of Boh" Tokundian paramilitary organization. Noting that the organization, if it does in fact exist, would have nowhere near the capabilities ascribed to them by the military government, and the fact that its Tokundian name merely transliterates as "Fist of God" in Luthorian, the Federation accused the Coburan military itself of being behind the attack.

In an especially fiery speech to the Senate, the Logothete of Foreign Affairs alleged that the Aurorian Patriarchal Church may be the ultimate culprit, both for the assassination of the Coburan Lord and the subsequent coup, as well as the assassination of the H'án of Jelbania. In the eyes of Logothete Theokrito, as the continent sees a resurgence of Terran Patriarchal monarchism and the possible restoration of the Imperial Throne of the Augustans, the most likely opponent of this "historic project" can be none other than the "extremist anti-Deltarian organization", noted for its historical opposition to the International Monarhist League, the Terran Patriarchal Church, and the Jelbic peoples, and possessing the resources and capabilities of carrying out acts of this magnitude. As unfounded as this accusation may sound, it appears to be a calculated move designed to distract attention from a potential ethnic and religious conflict by fanning the traditional suspicion both Unitarian and Terran Hosians have towards the far larger and more powerful Aurorian Church. Whether this will manage to maintain public peace in the nation or not is far from clear, but what is certain is that Zardugal is now on the path of war.

[Polites]

War Carries On
Stalemate after years of fighting



May 4061 - The Zardic invasion of Cobura initiated in November 4057 and the concurrent Tokundian war have been going on for years, with no end in sight. Although the small but well equipped Zardic invasion force, backed by its superior airpower, managed to take control of the city of Aŭgusta, of tremendous symbolic importance for the imperial designs of the Zardic government, the much larger Coburan army, fiercely loyal to the nationalist coup government of Field Marshal Etshosh Banemes and with wide popular support, has repulsed all Zardic attempts at expansion beyond the Augustan heartlands in Egato. The Zardic Federation itself, whose government enjoys limited popular support, is unwilling and unable to further commit to the war effort; mass strikes and anti-war protests have been violently suppressed, and the bulk of the armed forces, themselves largely unpleased with the ambitions of the HPP government, remain critical of dedicating more resources to a practically unwinnable conflict. Consequently, as an alternative to the unpopular option of direct military intervention, the government has initiated the funding and training of Tokundian paramilitaries, while also pledging support to the Hawu Mumenhes plan of establishing a royalist Coburan government in exile, the Hawu intervention against the Tokundian Republic notwithstanding.

Meanwhile the so-called Tokundian War of Independence rages in Tokundi, and there too the war has reached a stalemate. While the Coburan forces outnumber Tokundian and Zardic troops combined, the coup government is now forced to fight a two-front war under conditions of inadequate war-time preparations. While the Coburan armed forces have gained a number of advantages in Tokundi, Cobura has so far been unable to dislodge what has become a de facto and de iure independent nation. Ethnic tensions between Tokundians and other Coburans have also risen to unprecedented levels, manifested in reports of ethnic cleansing, massacres, and war rapes motivated by the ethnic background of the victims. While most of these reports have not been confirmed, few doubt their veracity. Many fear that if the war is to continue, the situation may escalate to the point of outright genocide. And an end to the war is not in sight.

[Mikhail_Bakunin]

KNL Reforms Parliamentary Wing; Comes Out of Hiding
The Black Star

Workers push their way through a police blockade to reach the old KNL Union Headquarters in Belgae
The National Confederation's Parliamentary wing collapsed ten years ago leading to total control of the State Apparatus by the HPP. Today however the Union, which has been slowly rebuilding and organizing away from the eyes of the state, has officially come out in the open and declared it's opposition to the War against Cobura, the HPP and calls for the overthrow of the Oligarchic-Theocratic State.