| 1807 Heavenly Kingdom of Entropan coup d'état | |||||||
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.jpg) Egy pillantás a csendesebb Maldoniára ("A look at the quieter Maledonia"), by Christer Lindset, depicting Maledonia a few days after the coup took place (1807) | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| File:Flag of the Liberal Restoration Council.png Liberal Restoration Council | File:Heavenly Kingdom of Entropan flag.png Heavenly Kingdom of Entropan | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Liberal Restoration Council (Entropan) Dominik Vass | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 48 killed, 7 wounded | 43 killed, 17 wounded | ||||||
The 1807 Heavenly Kingdom of Entropan coup d'état, also known as the Liberal Revolution of 1807, was a coup d'état which established the Liberal Republic of Entropan on 7 July 1807. It was led by the Liberal Restoration Council, a major civil society organisation which advocated for a more radical form of the democratic system of government seen in the Republic of Entropan. The quick success of the coup is largely known to be a result of the financial difficulties that the Heavenly Kingdom was facing causing animosity against the regime and defections to the Liberal Restoration Council, and the weak guarding of the National Assembly building despite it holding absolute, centralised control over the country itself.
Background
In the aftermath of the Second Entropanian Civil War, the Republic of Entropan collapsed as a central unit, splitting into 53 different states. The two largest of these were the Heavenly Kingdom of Entropan and the Commoner's Republic of Entropan, but both were beset by financial difficulties due to the administrative cost of running a separate state, and trade difficulties due to loss of land (including the Principality of Reykanes, which was administered primarily by the Mogyoróskan Association). In the face of shortages in food, the Council of Ministers of the Heavenly Kingdom established a system of slavery, enslaving a significant proportion of the lower-class population in fields, to increase food production back to a surplus for the country as a whole. However, doing so caused a shortage in what was produced by the professions those enslaved previously worked for -- primarily, in the burgeoning industry of coal production -- causing a sharp drop in trade, and shortages in imported goods.
The Liberal Restoration Council (LRT), a group made up primarily of radical politicians from the former Republic of Entropan, began to increase membership numbers around 1806. The positivist and republican ideals of the group began to spread throughout the Imperial Army of Entropan, many of whom had returned from the civil war to no real improvement in their living conditions as a result of having an independent state. Ultimately, this weakened army discipline, and, despite repeated initiatives by the Council of Ministers to improve living conditions of soldiers and strengthen disciplinary procedure, no real substantive progress was made comparative to before the civil war. The LRT thereby made an attempt to target soldiers, weakening the already unsteady grip of the Council of Ministers and the monarchy on the military as a whole.
Entropanian historian Arild Rue cites growing antipathy towards the new regime as the primary reason for the coup's quick success. The success of the Heavenly Kingdom in mobilising vast amounts of civilians in support of their cause, he says, was not due to ideological agreement with the group itself, but rather because the group seemed best poised to stop the then-ongoing economic crisis in the country. In the aftermath of their creation of an independent state, living standards deteriorated, and therefore, despite the attempts of the authorities to reassure citizens that shortages would be short-lived, popular discontent grew against the new government. The LRT took advantage of this, distributing leaflets to lower-class citizens in urban areas, which further deteriorated the government's already poor perception.
Coup
On the morning of 6 July, the Liberal Restoration Council received information from a sympathetic member of the Ceremonial Guard (the guard of the Council of Ministers' building) that on the following day, the majority of the guard were to leave, to guard Adrián I during a royal procession in Gyurus, due to the significant amount of rebel activity within the town. Staffing shortages thereby left the Council of Ministers' building vulnerable, with only 47 out of the 132 guards remaining at their posts, leaving the building vulnerable to attack.
Seeing this as a vital opportunity, the LRT organised a group of 192 people to siege the building during the procession. The group, consistent of a small force of trained swordsmen and dozens of untrained civilians given small weapons, killed and dismembered the guards at two side entrances to the building, broke down the doors at those entrances, and ran inside. The guard inside, many of whom were reported to have been lethargic and unready to deal with an attack, were slow to react, resulting in the group killing most before they could meaningfully respond to the attacks, with only one first-floor guard managing to kill any of the attackers. With the first floor of the building secure, around ten of the group stayed to guard it, while the rest went upstairs, where they were met with considerable opposition by a now organised Ceremonial Guard who had blocked off the Cabinet Office.
Eventually, the LRT managed to break through into the Cabinet Office, facing dozens of fatalities in their attempt to do so. Once inside, they killed the remaining guards, with Dominik Vass, the then-leader of the organisation, declaring them to be in control in a statement issued to the nobility around Maledonia, with "rebellious factions expected, but soon to be disposed of". The coup itself was justified through the creation of a "violent fight" in the Council of Ministers, a narrative accepted by most, and propagated through several of the infiltrators smearing blood along the walls of the debating chamber. As a dozen of the infiltrators stayed inside the National Assembly building to secure it, the rest secured the perimeter outside Maledonia.
Aftermath
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Adrián I, upon hearing of the coup, fled to the town of Csáfordjánosfa with several loyal members of his Cabinet, forming the New Council to organise resistance against the Liberal government. The New Council, ultimately, was unsuccessful, and its attempts at spreading anti-liberal literature to residents of Csáfordjánosfa ended in rebellion fermenting against the New Council. In September 1811, the Liberal Restoration Council was noted of the existence of the New Council, and its members were executed publicly in Maledonia on the 18th of that same month, on a day which is now a bank holiday.
Rebellions fermented in several provinces, with loyalist nobility in provinces such as Csajág and Szakáld, who had supported the Káhttari forces in the Civil War, being unhappy with the instatement of a Liberal government. The result was the beginning of the Crimson Revolutionary War, a broad term used in modern Entropan to describe the suppression of Káhttari rebellions and the wars with neighbouring states which led to reunification in 1853.
Legacy
8 July is now celebrated as Restoration Day, the national day of Entropan, marked by public and private celebrations, with fireworks shows, parades, and fairs usually associated with the event, celebrating the history, government, and traditions of Entropan. In major cities, Restoration Day is also accompanied with mock re-enactments of events that took place following the coup, including The Reprisals, a series of executions of major royalists, royalist sympathisers, and nobility that took place following the coup.