Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution (Pelaxian: Revolución de Terciopelo; Reform Tainean: Revaulousiaun des Velaus), also known as the Decade of Lead (Pelaxian: Década de Plomo; Reform Tainean: Dekeni des Plaum), was a series of armed civil conflicts that occurred throughout Castadilla for roughly a decade from 30 April 1984 until its generally-accepted conclusion on 7 September 1994. It is considered to be the definitive event in Castadilla's modern history which saw the collapse of the Estado Social, the dismantling of the Navidadian System, and the emergence of the current socialist post-revolutionary government. The socialist Borbonist faction would emerge victorious and would soon make way for an elected provisional government that saw the drafting of the present-day Constitution of Castadilla which not only saw Castadilla transform from the unitary authoritarian conservative regime that had ruled the nation for over six decades into a federal socialist-leaning government that has ruled for the past four decades, but also the emergence of a powerful executive monarch for the first time on Castadillaan soil since before the fall of the Pelaxian monarchy in 1852.
| Velvet Revolution | |||||||
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.jpg) A crowd celebrates the resignation and exile of Francisco de Costa and Alberto Bahamonde at Dominican Square in Santa Maria, 30 April 1984. | |||||||
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Government factions: 1984: |
Rebel factions: 1984: | ||||||
| 1984-1985: | 1984-1985: | ||||||
| 1985-1987: | 1985-1987: | ||||||
| 1987-1989: | 1987-1989: | ||||||
| 1989-1994: | 1989-1994: | ||||||
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| 5 deaths | |||||||
The Estado Social, while initially popular in the first few decades of its existence, had began to stagnate in popularity since the mid-1970s and most especially after Fernando Pascual, the founder of the Estado Social regime, suffered a stroke in 1980 and was replaced by reformist Nicolas Torres. The popularity of Torres' reforms had made his subsequent assassination in 1983 into a source of mass public outcry as the regime was seemingly trying to prevent these reforms from coming to fruition. However, despite the rampant unpopularity of the Estado Social and of commander-in-chief Franciso de Costa, whom many had accused of orchestrating the assassination of Torres, there was no visible sign that a revolution was going to break out. In 1984, liberal miltary officer and government minister Hector del Cruces would challenge de Costa in that year's chief executive election only to be issued a warrant for his arrest. Nonetheless, del Cruces was able to evade capture and fled to rural Auxana where he called for an active rebellion against the regime. This resulted in multiple armed rebellions throughout mainland Delepasia that the armed forces was unable to effectively suppress. Fearing possible societal collapse, de Costa, alongside his prime minister Alberto Bahamonde, resigned and subsequently went into exile in the Cape on 1 May 1984.
Del Cruces would be elected as commander-in-chief just one week later on 8 May that same year. Although widely popular throughout the country, many elements in the armed forces, although reformist, felt that del Cruces was going too far with his proposed reforms. In response to these fears, Raul Quintero, the forefather of conservative reformism within the former Estado Social, led a coup d'etat against del Cruces in mid-1985 which saw the latter being forced to resign and designating Quintero as his successor. This coup was met with outrage from all revolutionary factions, with del Cruces' protégé Ricardo Valentino and left-wing military officer Vito Borbon forming an anti-Quintero alliance. Quintero's attempted conservative democratic government would last until 1987 when the Valentino-Borbon alliance, better known as the "velvetines", defeated the Imperial Delepasian Armed Forces. The anti-Quintero alliance would fracture shortly afterward with the Borbonist faction eventually defeating Valentinist forces in the summer of 1989. Borbon consolidated his power, surviving multiple uprisings from both liberal and Pascualist forces up until the final cessation of hostilities in 1994. Borbon's final act was to appoint socialist general Antonio Hernandez as prime minister before resigning as commander-in-chief shortly afterward; the subsequent chief executive election would see Emperor Maximilian I unexpectedly winning the election and becoming the new commander-in-chief, and the Constituent Assembly election on 7 September 1994 would see the Velvet Revolution finally come to an end.
From 1994 until 1997, the newly-elected provisional government would draft a new constitution that was put into effect on 21 January 1997. The Castadillaan Constitution of 1996 established many princples that did not exist in the Estado Social's constitution. Chief among these principles were federalism, secularism, multiculturalism, executive monarchism, and the fundamental principles of Borbon's Velvetine Socialism. The 1996 Castadillaan legislative election would see the nascent People's Democratic Party, which was designated by the constitution as Castadilla's vanguard party for Velvetine Socialism, enter into a coalition with the Christian National Party as part of the nation's first post-revolutionary constitutional government. Subsequent elections, however, would see the People's Democratic Party ruling alone as a majority government, a position that it retains to this day. Other major changes that came as a result of the Velvet Revolution was the dismantling of the Navidadian System, which saw the states of Kalanatoa and Na'aturie being admitted in 1995, and the eventual admittance of Samalosi as the nation's twentieth state in 1997.
The Velvet Revolution got its name from the fact that the initial rebellion which saw the resignation of de Costa and Bahamonde was nearly bloodless, especially in comparison to the subsequent civil war phase, and from the oft-used nickname for the revolutionary factions throughout the civil war phase, that being the "velvetines". In Castadilla, 30 April is a national holiday (Latin: Dies Holoserica; Pelaxian: Día de Terciopelo; Reform Tainean: Gouei des Velaus) that commemorates the start of the revolution.
Background
The rise of Fernando Pascual and the precursor to his Estado Social began with the appointment of Pascual as the minister of finance for Bahia in 1920 within a month after the Bahian military overthrew the increasingly unstable republic. A noted university professor of economics, Pascual was seen as a natural choice for minister of finance, and such an appointment would pay off for within a year Pascual had managed to not only balance the Bahian budget but he also gave it its first budget surplus in nearly twenty years. In thanks for his invaluable work as finance minister, Bahian president Isidor de Santa Anna appointed Pascual as Prime Minister of Rosaria in 1921, and was subsequently elected as President of the Forals, head of government of the Delepasian Confederation, in 1922. This universal support from all across Delepasia had given Pascual a near-blank cheque to pass sweeping reforms through the drafting of a new "national constitution". This new constitution, the Delepasian constitution of 1924, was drafted by lawyers, businessmen, members of the clergy, and even some intellectuals; it greatly centralised Delepasia, thus forming the Delepasian Commonwealth, a Delepasian nation-state under a conservative, Catholic, authoritarian, Julian-based regime christened by Pascual as the Estado Social.
Under the Estado Social, the Loa Laws were put into effect throughout all of Delepasia, Catholicism would be made the state religion with a concordat being signed in 1948 which gave the Church a wide array of privileges while at the same time giving Pascual the ability to appoint clerical figures, and the economy would transition towards a form corporatism as Pascual saw it as both an anti-socialist economic theory as well as a very Church-friendly economic theory; corporatism was born from an interpretation of a 19th Century papal cyclical that formed the fundamental principles behind Catholic social teaching. Although the Estado Social was an authoritarian conservative regime, Pascual still insisted on certain values such as the equality of all citizens before the law, keeping the Church away from the political sphere, and instilled a sense of Delepasian exceptionalism. Despite the regime being largely nationalistic, however, Pascual still held a disdain towards Caphiric fascism which he saw as being a semi-pagan and youth-oriented exaltation of the state that held a revolutionary bent; the Estado Social, in Pascual's eyes, was a regime designed to preserve the traditional Delepasian order, not to bring forth immense change.
This aversion to change could be seen in the early decades of the regime with Pascual clinging to corporatism up until the 1970s, resulting in economic stagnation after a period of steady economic growth spanning from the 1920s up until that point. However, there were also certain aspects of the regime that Pascual opted to change. Most notably in the political sphere when during the late 1940s he permitted the establishment of opposition parties as well as allowing "approved" opposition parties, which were in fact simply a means to prop up a controlled opposition, to win seats in the National Assembly through legislative elections. These sham elections would quickly become a quick and easy way to legally air out one's grievances towards the government with many independent opposition candidates withdrawing just before election day in an effort to delegitimise the elections, and those that remain in the running were usually either jailed or given very few, it any, votes.
The 1970s would see the implementation of token economic reforms in the mainland. These reforms would see certain sectors of the economy open up to the international market, though to keep the nation's wealthiest families happy all business would have to be conducted through the family-owned conglomerates. Another major aspect of the 1970s was the establishment of the Loaland Protectorate. Seen as the final goal of the Loa Laws and the Navidadian System, the Loaland Protectorate was seen as an independent Loa republic wherein all Loa would be forced to immigrate to as the last vestiges of whatever citizenship the Loa had in Delepasia would be stripped. This final goal would also see the emergence of Loa liberation groups which subsequently began to instigate skirmishes against the Delepasian armed forces, thus beginning the Loaland campaign which were both immensely costly and required a lot of manpower through the use of conscripts. These campaigns would prove to be a great enough burden upon the regime that the earliest instances of public opposition against the regime would emerge, though due to Pascual's personal popularity many had still hoped for a peaceful transition to democracy.
In 1980, after serving almost sixty years as Delepasia's prime minister, Pascual suffered a stroke just two weeks before his ninety-ninth birthday. While incapacitated, he was replaced by his protégé Nicolas Torres. Torres, a reformist who aligned himself with the younger technocrats of the regime, began to implement a series of reforms that sought to liberalise the regime to ensure its continuation by the year 2000. These reforms, although popular, were met with intense opposition from the high echelons of the armed forces, the heads of the nation's largest family-owned conglomerates which have emerged as a consequence of Pascual's corporatism, and commander-in-chief Francisco de Costa who was not keen on giving Torres the near-blank cheque on power like he had with Pascual. Thus, in 1983, Torres was assassinated by an armed gunman under orders of de Costa, who subsequently appointed Alberto Bahamonde to serve as Torres' replacement. The assassination would lead to a massive public outcry against the regime.
The 1984 chief executive election would see the rise of independent opposition candidate Hector del Cruces. Del Cruces, although a military officer and a liberal member of the Estado Social, had grown disillusioned with the current Pascualist system and so announced his intention to run as an opposition candidate against de Costa. Despite multiple threats and requests to get del Cruces to withdraw his candidacy, he still campaigned vigorously and effectively to the point that there were questions that de Costa might actually get voted out of office. To prevent this scenario from happening, de Costa issued an order for del Cruces' arrest which prompted him to flee to rural Auxana while de Costa was announced the winner of the election through an "electoral upset".
Economic conditions
The Estado Social regime's economic policy encouraged the formation of large conglomerates. The regime maintained a policy of corporatism, which resulted in the placement of much of the economy in the hands of the gransindinales, large family-owned-and-operated conglomerates. The most notable of these included the Alonso family, the de la Puente family, the Zavala family, and the Serrano family.
The Zavalas held the largest of these conglomerates, the United Manufacturing Company, with a wide and varied range of interests including insurance, ship-building both naval and commercial, tourism, banking, paper-manufacturing, and even consumer electronics (mostly video game consoles and computers; there was an attempt in 1982 to buy Televideo from the state which fell through due to the high price tag).
Asides from the gransindinales, there was the agrupresas, medium-sized family companies with more specialised interests. These groupings were more common in rural inland areas of the country, as the gransindinales had a stranglehold in urban areas and along the coast, and mostly engaged in agriculture and forestry, though some engaged in tourism and engineered wood.
Independent labour unions were prohibited, and minimum wage laws were horrifically outdated, some having not been updated since the 1920s in more extreme cases. Widespread conscription in the 1980s would open up the labour market for the rapid incorporation of women to make up for the lack of male labourers.
Revolution
Del Cruces' revolution
Immediately after fleeing to rural Auxana, del Cruces would issue a declaration calling for an active rebellion against the increasingly authoritarian and stratocratic Estado Social, referring to de Costa and Bahamonde as unlawful leaders. Although this declaration did not initially call for the dismantling of the Estado Social, rather it called for the reversal of the creeping authoritarianism that emerged after the assassination of Nicolas Torres as well as the increase in military interference that had emerged thanks to the Loaland campaign, it still nonetheless provided a sense of hope for many Delepasians. Indeed, del Cruces had also offered citizens the opportunity for a formal rank as well as promotions for officers of the armed forces should they join his rebellion; new recruits were to swear an oath that they would fight to ensure that the new Delepasia would never again allow for the consolidation of power within the armed forces nor would the commander-in-chief be an active member of the armed forces.
By the time of del Cruces' flight to Auxana, there were multiple groups that had wished for either the demilitarisation or even the dismantling of the Estado Social. Chief among these opposition groups were groups of intellectuals who sought to instigate a series of sweeping reforms that would have made the Estado Social into a sort of democracy guided by civilian technocrats. These groups, popularly known as salones, held sizeable influence within the Estado Social, and were often credited for recommending the appointment of Nicolas Torres after Pascual's stroke. To del Cruces, gaining the support of the salones was key, even if he and the salones did not see eye-to-eye on how the Estado Social should be reformed; del Cruces wished for a semi-free democracy which went against the intellectual democracy that the salones had wanted. To garner their support, he offered the salones key positions in the post-revolutionary government, essentially giving them the means to reshape Estado Social towards their idea of government, in exchange for their support.
With the support of the salones secured, del Cruces now had the means to initiate his revolution and thus on 30 April 1984 armed uprisings would emerge throughout the country as a result of his declaration. This uprising came as a massive surprise to the armed forces as well as the Estado Social government, which had never anticipated a mass armed uprising of such a magnitude. Among the members of the armed forces who have resigned and joined the revolutionary army included left-wing officers such as Vito Borbon, Fidel de la Pena, Lazaro Elias, Augusto Ortega, and Hugo Castillo. Elias had formed a powerful military union in Homberia known as the Colorados, a faction that wished for a form of democracy guided by the military, something which went against del Cruces' insistence on there being no military interference in his post-revolutionary government. Nonetheless, the rebels were able to secure the surrender of the Estado Social government just one day after the armed uprisings began, with de Costa and Bahamonde handing in their resignations to the rebel leadership. Upon the resignation of de Costa and Bahamonde, thousands of citizens took to the streets, many of whom gathered at Dominican Square in Santa Maria where the end of the Viceroyalty of Los Rumas was declared 142 years prior.
First liberal government
Hector del Cruces was elected commander-in-chief in a landslide just a week after the resignations of Francisco de Costa and Alberto Bahamonde. Despite promises to dissolve the armed forces as well as to demilitarise Delepasian society, del Cruces was largely unable to do either of these for the most part due to his relative political inexperience as well as his pitiful overall influence. Nonetheless, he remained committed to transitioning the former Estado Social towards a more pluralistic yet tempered democracy and was still able to maintain the loyalty of the socialists. For the most part, however, the intellectuals that have heralded the election of del Cruces have felt that his seemingly anti-military views were in opposition to their idea of what the new Delepasian government should be with many of them rallying around the largely unchanged leadership of the armed forces.
The Colorados, seeing the removal of de Costa and Bahamonde as the only goal for the revolution, had opted to join up with the armed forces as an irregular force. To Lazaro Elias, leader of the Colorados, the ideals of del Cruces was seen as a pipe dream that simply did not take into account existing and prevailing influences within the new government. Indeed, Elias' ideas for a post-revolutionary government were much more closely aligned to the wishes of the conservative reformists than the wishes of liberal reformists and socialist revolutionaries with some key concessions to the technocrats.
In the armed forces, there still remained a sizeable faction that still wished for a democracy guided by the military. Chief among them being Raul Quintero, a conservative officer who was forcibly removed from the military command of the Loaland campaign after publishing the book Delepasia and the Year 2000 which described what he believed the Estado Social should be doing to ensure its survival into the new millennium. After the resignation of de Costa, many within the leadership of the armed forces had hoped that del Cruces would step aside and allow for Quintero to become the next commander-in-chief. By mid-1985, conservative opposition to the liberal government had resulted in yet another rebellion which would see the deposition and exile of del Cruces as well as the emergence of a period known as the "long winter" due to the relative colder temperatures that had been recorded throughout Quintero's rule over Delepasia.
Quintero's coup
Del Cruces' rule over Delepasia was rapidly deteriorating as the armed forces, the Colorados, and the intellectuals turned against him due to his association with socialists as well as his belief in a less tempered democracy than either of the three groups had wished. In July of 1985, members of the Colorados personally led by Lazaro Elias stormed the National Assembly building in Santa Maria, holding the entire Assembly hostage until they agreed to force del Cruces to resign and go into exile while also electing Quintero as commander-in-chief. The largely bloodless coup was met with support from most of the Occident, which had feared that the leadership of del Cruces was unsuitable to maintain peacetime control over Delepasia.
For modern Castadillaan historiographies of the Velvet Revolution, this point of the revolution was seen as its lowest point when the conservative reformists were able to hijack it in an attempt to shape it in their own image. Despite the efforts of the Borbonists, they were largely unable to repel the Quinterists thanks to del Cruces' inability to rally up a large enough faction to aid in the counterattacks. However, instead of surrendering the revolutionaries have opted to flee into the countryside where they began to instigate guerilla attacks against military outposts in hopes of one day inspiring a future uprising against the Quinterists which would finally come to fruition with the rise of the much more charismatic and politically experienced Ricardo Valentino.
Quintero's regime and first civil war period
With the deposition and exile of del Cruces, Raul Quintero became the next Delepasian commander-in-chief. Not wanting to have a repeat of the conditions that had led to the initial rebellion against the Estado Social, Quintero proceeded to consolidate his control throughout the country. These measures, although initially successful, did not completely prevent the emergence of armed rebellions nor did it put the Velvet Revolution to an end. A united front would emerge consisting of a new liberal faction led by Ricardo Valentino, the reemergence of Vito Borbon's socialist faction, and even the emergence of smaller factions that, although did not participate in the first revolution, aligned with either Valentino's or Borbon's factions that wanted to put a permanent end to the military's interference in the political sphere. As opposition against the seeming reversal of the revolution grew, so too did Quintero's efforts to suppress the rebellions which by late 1985 was looking to become a civil war.
Quintero's regime has often been described as a hybrid regime with elements of stratocracy and authoritarian democracy. In modern Castadillaan historiographies, Quintero is often depicted as a reactionary reformist who still saw merit in the Estado Social, even if he did not necessarily agree with most of its policies. Indeed, it is hard to find works written by Castadillaans that portray Quintero in anything other than a negative light. This is not the same for historiographies and works about the Velvet Revolution that were done by non-Castadillaan writers; these works often portray Quintero through a more nuanced light, seeing him as a man whose actions reflected a sense of a desire to ensure the stability and prosperity of his country. Although a sincere reformist, Quintero's suggested reforms were designed to soften the Estado Social, not to replace it entirely.
Internationally, Quintero's regime held the most recognition from the Occident during this time, with one of his most ardent supporters being the Catholic Church which had feared that a liberal or a socialist government might not be so keen on preserving much of the Church's privileges. This was thanks to his drive towards consolidating and legitimising his regime. Quintero's regime also had the support of the Colorados, thanks to Lazaro Elias' views being very similar to Quintero's own views, which would join the armed forces as an irregular force. For most international observers during the first half of Quintero's regime, the Velvet Revolution had ended and most countries began to reintroduce formal diplomatic relations with Delepasia with Samalosi, which had survived the revolution and coup unscathed while under political limbo due to its distance from Vallos, beginning to enter into negotiations to officially rejoin Delepasia. These negotiations would fall through as Quintero insisted that Samalosi be fully integrated into Delepasia instead of preserving its autonomy, and Samalosi would remain in political limbo for the next seven years.
Armed opposition against Quintero's regime would lead to the reintroduction of conscription as Quintero began to remilitarise Delepasia in desperation to preserve his rule. This was the last straw for most supporters who had ardently opposed the militarisation of Delepasia, especially once it was revealed that conscription would be forced. Not only did this provide for a boon in recruitments for the revolutionaries, who had relied on volunteers rather than conscription, it saw a rise in attempts to avoid getting drafted into the armed forces, and often with army mutinies being commonplace in areas outside of the Los Rumas region where Quintero's rule was at its strongest. By early 1986, the situation in Delepasia had deteriorated into a state of civil war.
At the start of the civil war, the revolutionary leadership would convene the Council of the National Revolution wherein all revolutionary factions agreed that Quintero's coup was unlawful and that his regime was not only illegitimate, but also an attempt by the armed forces to restore the Estado Social; the armed forces must be dissolved permanently if the revolution is to maintain its hold. Throughout the civil war period, the revolutionaries would quickly make huge gains in areas outside of the Los Rumas region thanks to army mutinies and deserters who had refused to be conscripted, but the push into the Los Rumas region was long and drawn-out due to Quintero remaining largely popular throughout most of the region save for some of the larger urban areas. Nonetheless, the revolutionaries were eventually able to push through in 1987 as Quintero's situation began to quickly deteriorate due to civilian weariness, with Quintero being forced to resign and forced into exile after revolutionary forces managed to enter the nation's capital of Santa Maria. With the resignation and exile of Quintero, the old armed forces were quickly dissolved by the new liberal government shortly afterward and replaced by a new armed forces that would be subordinate to the civilian government.
Second liberal government and second civil war period
With Quintero ousted and the old Delepasian armed forces dissolved in 1987, Ricardo Valentino was swiftly elected as commander-in-chief much to the chagrin of the left-wing revolutionaries who had hoped that there would be a provisional government set up in preparation for upcoming elections. Leftist opposition arose when concerns were raised that new appointees were exclusively from the Valentinist-aligned factions. This soon culminated in a second meeting of the Council of the National Revolution which was held in hopes of reconciling the revolutionary factions.
At the second Council, left-wing revolutionaries had demanded that Valentino push for more radical reforms in exchange for their support. However, factions that were aligned with Valentino had threatened to set up an opposition government in Las Joquis if the leftists' demands were met. As commander-in-chief and default leader of the revolutionaries, Valentino attempted to act as a moderating force in hopes that both factions could reach a compromise without much bloodshed. Instead, the second Council was the moment where the revolutionaries were no longer a united front, even in name. Anti-socialist factions would align themselves with Valentino while the socialist factions would unite around Vito Borbon to form the Velvetine faction.
The final compromise that would be proposed just before any and all chances at diplomatically concluding this ideological rift had laid out a plan that would see a provisional government emerge under one condition, that being all revolutionary leaders were to immediately resign in favour of purely civilian successors who would ensure Delepasia's transition towards constitutional government. This compromise came too late, however, as by the time it was introduced to the Council none of the factions were interested in settling matters in ways other than through a period of civil conflict, and thus Delepasia was plunged into a second civil war period.
Much like the first civil war period, the government factions were primarily consolidated in the Los Rumas region, meaning that they held the advantage of controlling the main economic and political centres in Vallos as well as the nation's capital of Santa Maria. The Velvetine revolutionary factions, on the other hand, held sway over the rest of the country and had the populistic advantage as well as having the strategic advantage and even the support of the nation's main non-Occidental culture groups such as the Taineans and the Loa, the former having fought against the classification of their culture as "semi-civilised" and the latter having fought against the racial segregation laws which have emerged over the past century.
Most battles throughout the second civil war period were done through guerilla warfare on both sides with very little happening in urban areas; all factions involved made a compact to minimise civilian casualties, mostly to keep collateral damage at a minimum. Bloodshed was noted to be very sparse, with many international observers wondering if the factions had taken the "civil" part of the term "civil war" a bit too literally at times. Nonetheless, it was pretty clear at around November of 1988 that the Velvetines were poised to win the second civil war period, with the Valentinists surrendering for the last time in early 1989 with Valentino appointing Borbon as his successor just before resigning as commander-in-chief. This was the last time Delepasia would undergo a major regime change during the Velvet Revolution, with the socialists coming out on top in the end.
Borbonists in power
With the victory of the Velvetines over the Valentinists in early 1989, socialist leader Vito Borbon began to consolidate his control over Delepasia. He had taken the title of commander-in-chief during this time much like his predecessor for the past five years. All major cities and strategic areas throughout the country were garrisoned by Velvetine forces to ensure that they would not easily fall under the control of an opposing faction. For the next five years, the Velvet Revolution was at a point where it was no longer about liberation from tyranny, but rather the preservation of the values that were sought after by the revolutionaries in the face of small-scale civil disturbances.
There still remained remnants of factions that opposed the revolution's turn towards socialism. Although Valentino was exiled almost immediately after he was defeated, his followers have largely remained active in their opposition to Borbon. It was also during this time that there emerged a brief Pascualist revival, mostly from Quinterists in radical opposition to the socialist government as well as forces led by Francisco de Costa's son. These opposition groups, although initially popular with the international community, were largely ineffective, especially as the populace of Delepasia had started to feel immense exhaustion from what looked to be endless skirmishes and conflicts.
However, because of the small size of these opposition forces, it still remained a very difficult task to crack down on each and every single one of these groups until 1994 when the last of the Pascualist groups had finally surrendered to the socialist government. With a final end to armed hostilities, it became clear that the violent phase of the Velvet Revolution was finally over and that it had ended with a socialist victory. The end to any hopes of an opposition government to emerge to depose of Borbon would come shortly afterward with the League of Nations finally awarding the victorious Velvetine government with international recognition as well as Delepasia's seat in the General Assembly.
After having secured his control, Vito Borbon soon announced that he would be stepping down as commander-in-chief, with his last act before his resignation enters into effect being to appoint Antonio Hernandez as Delepasia's first prime minister since before the beginning of the Velvet Revolution, the post of prime minister had largely been left unoccupied due to there being a focus on multiple governments attempting to consolidate their power and preventing coups and rebellions from fermenting. In the chief executive election that followed in September, Emperor Maximilian I, who had been Delepasia's head of state since 1976, was unexpectedly elected as commander-in-chief in a landslide through write-in ballots; for most voters, keeping the chief executive post in the hands of a politically-neutral individual such as a monarch was seen as a method to prevent ambitious politicians from consolidating power around themselves.
The subsequent election to determine the legislative makeup of the upcoming civilian-run provisional government which was held just three days after the chief executive election would finally put an end to the Velvet Revolution as Delepasia began to transition towards a civilian constitutional government.
Post-Borbon provisional government
After the final composition of the Constituent Assembly confirmed after the elections in September of 1994, the new provisional government began the first phase of the transition towards a civilian constitutional government, known as the "regeneration phase". During this post-revolutionary period, Delepasia began to undergo reconstruction measures as well as negotiations with Samalosi and the former Loaland Republic which were still under political limbo due to mass confusion and revolutionary chaos with the former having attempted to rejoin Delepasia earlier until it was revealed that they would not have retained their long-held autonomy.
Indeed, during the ten-year period the biggest question facing Samalosi was over what exactly was its status now that there was no longer a central government. Some have assumed that the area was an independent country, others have believed that it was the Estado Social's government-in-exile and others still referred to it as the Estado Social's rump state. This was a similar situation for the Loaland Republic as it was considered to be independent in the eyes of Delepasia and yet it was still seen as a part of the pre-revolutionary government by the rest of the world. Regardless, the provisional government was able to enter into a series of negotiations with both Loaland and Samalosi in hopes of having them rejoin Delepasia. These negotiations were much more successful, and both lands would return to Delepasia control shortly afterward with their own paths towards reintegration.
It was also during this period of regeneration that talks began to emerge over whether or not Delepasia should change its name. Many have argued that given the association that Delepasia has had with Delepasian exceptionalism that it would be prudent to come up with a new name to distance the new government from what was seen as a national embarrassment. Quite a few proposals were brought it, some were indigenous-based names such as Rumahoki, and others were Pelaxian-based names such as Pretoria, Prefectoria or even Castille. Most of these names were largely rejected due to their poorly thought-out etymologies. The only name that was accepted during the proposal stage was Castadilla which was an altered version of a Latin term meaning "Land of the castle of the aedile". This name was put through a referendum and won against Delepasia with the support of seventy percent of the voting population. To ensure consistency, however, the new name would not be in effect until the emergence of the nation's first post-revolutionary civilian constitutional government; it would be used to refer to the nation in the upcoming constitution.
Constitution of 1996
The Velvetines have stated in official documents ever since 1989 that they were the true heirs to the ideals that were fought for by the revolutionaries during the Velvet Revolution, hence why they had called themselves "velvetines"; it was to legitimise Borbon's overthrow of Valentino's liberal government. The provisional government, which was voted in on September of 1994, mostly consisted of Velvetine-aligned politicians alongside christian democrats, and classical liberals and was tasked with drafting a new constitution that would serve as a replacement for the Estado Social constitution. Indeed, the constitution of the Delepasian Confederation was discarded due to its lack of adaptability as well as the fact that it was drafted with the express purpose of bringing forth a quasi-medieval government which most Velvetines had ardently opposed.
Even former Valentinists were allowed to be represented in the constituent assembly, with only Quinterists, Colorados, and Pascualists being barred from holding a seat due to their beliefs not necessarily aligning with the beliefs of the revolutionaries, particularly in their views pertaining to the military's role in the political sphere. One of the first provisions to have received a unanimous vote was the one that called for the armed forces to remain under civilian control and that they were to protect the new constitution, and not act as a potentially rogue political clique. Federalism was another provision that was widely agreed upon, mostly as a compromise between revolutionaries who wished for a unitary state as well as revolutionaries who wished for a confederation. This provision had the most vocal support from the nation's Loa and Samalosian regions, the latter wanting guarantees that their economy would not be uprooted by a potentially upcoming socialist government.
Because the Velvetines held a supermajority in the constituent assembly, they were able to push through more radical reforms such as the implementation of a market socialist-based economy which was designed with the idea that in order for the nation to properly transition to socialism the vanguard party, a role given to the nascent People's Democratic Party, must have both the support of the people as well as bring up the standard of living to a comfortable level; if these two conditions are met then the transition towards socialism may begin. During the pre-socialist stage the government may utilise dirigism and tripartism to help achieve both prerequisites for socialism. It was also the Velvetines that had transitioned the monarchy away from a purely elective system into a semi-hereditary elective system, permanently tying the roles of head of state and chief executive to the House de Bruce.
With most of the basic principles written down, the constituent assembly could move on to other aspects such as the status of religion in relation to the state. The Estado Social had had the Catholic Church as the nation's state religion, something which many revolutionaries had opposed to. However, they could not ignore the fact that a vast majority of the populace were Catholic, thus they had to not only ensure that the separation of church and state would be secured they would need to secure the support of the Church. This culminated in a series of negotiations between the provisional government and the Pope which would see the issuing of the Concordat of 1996 which not only determined the nature of the separation of church and state it also implemented a system in which citizens must devolve 1.2% of their tax returns to a recognised organised religion of their choice, better known as the twelev permil system.
The final part of the constitution that was determined was the official name of the nation, which the Constituent Assembly had decided relatively quickly, settling for the name Most Serene Sovereignty of Castadilla. With the name decided, the draft was put through a constituional referendum which saw roughly eighty-five percent of voters approving the new constitution.
Transition to constitutional government
Transitioning towards constitutional government was relatively easy once the constitution was completed and approved. The final phase of the regeneration phase was to hold an election to determine who will get to lead the first post-revolutionary constitutional government. Throughout the rest of 1996, the nascent post-revolutionary political parties would begin to campaign in hopes of gaining seats in the newly-reestablished National Assembly. The two biggest frontrunners for the 1996 Castadillaan legislative election were the People's Democratic Party and the National Christian Party, both parties having consistently held the largest support in many polls. The final results for the 1996 election would see neither party holding a majority, thus resulting in both parties entering into a coalition government with Francisco Carvalho, leader of the PDP, being appointed as Castadilla's first prime minister under the new constitution.
In the two months leading up to the inauguration of the new government, the final preparations for admitting Samalosi as a state were well underway. This delay in admitting Samalosi was mostly due to the distance between Vallos and Peratra as well as priority being placed on handling matters on the mainland; this is why the Loa-majority states were admitted in 1995. Samalosi would be admitted as a state on 21 January 1997, the day when Castadilla's first constitutional government was inaugurated, making it Castadilla's 20th state.
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Aftermath
After the coup, power was held by the Junta for the Salvation of Civility (a military junta). Castadilla experienced a turbulent period, known as the Período de Salvación Democrática (Democratic Salvation Period).
The conservative forces surrounding Quintero and the DR Society initially confronted each other (whether openly or clandestinely), and Quintero was forced to appoint key DR Society figures to senior security positions. Quintaro, with the help of "liberal Pascualists" and members of the former regime's controlled opposition, attempted an unsuccessful right-wing coup on 2 June which was repelled by Borbon with the help of his far-left faction of the DR Society who subsequently removed Quintero from the premiership and replaced him with a radical leftist figure. This unilateral appointment was met with opposition from the more moderate factions of the DR Society, and the group soon splintered and dissolved by July. From this point onward, the two factions during the PSD were the Borbon-led far-left cabaceros (steelheads) and the moderate left-wing aterciopeladistas (velvetines) which was backed by the Emperor himself.
This stage of the PSD lasted until the Coup of 3 December 1995, led by a group of cabacero officers, specifically Vito Borbon, who at this point had become the face of the cabaceros. It was characterised by the Velveitines as a totalitarian plot to seize power in order to discredit the then-powerful cabacero faction. It was followed by a successful counter-coup by Velvetine officers led by the Emperor himself, and was marked by constant friction between the moderate reformist-socialist forces and the radical revolutionary-Communist factions before the former ultimately won out. Delepasia's first free election was held on 30 April 1995 to write a new constitution to replace the Constitution of 1976, which was deemed a relic from the Estado Social and unsuitable to govern a multicultural nation. Another election was held in 1996 and the first constitutional government, led by "velvetine socialist" Fancisco Carvalho, took office in 1997 and has remained in office ever since.
Economic issues
The Delepasian economy changed significantly between 1981 and 1993. Total output (GDP at factor cost) saw an impressive 120 percent growth in real terms. The pre-revolutionary period was characterised by a robust annual growth rate in GDP by 6.9 percent, in industrial production by nine percent, in consumption by 6.5 percent, and in gross fixed capital formation by 7.8 percent. The revolutionary period experienced a slowly-growing economy, with further growth upon its entry into the Vallosi Economic Association in the early 2000s. Although Castadilla would ultimately surpass its pre-revolutionary growth over a decade after the revolution, at the time of the revolution it was an underdeveloped country with poor infrastructure, inefficient agriculture and was among the lowest in health and education indicators in Sarpedon.
Pre-revolutionary Delepasia was able to make certain social and economic achievements. After a long period of economic decline after the dissolution of the Viceroyalty of Los Rumas in 1852, the Delepasian economies had collectively recovered slightly since the 1930s. It began a period of economic growth in common with the rest of Vallos, of which it was the poorest until the 2000s, with major growth starting in 1980, creating an opportunity for integration with the more developed economies of Vallos despite its increasingly outdated form of government. Through emigration, trade, tourism and foreign investment, individuals and companies changed their patterns of production and consumption. The increasing complexity of a growing economy sparked new technical and organisational challenges that had to be faced. This growth was briefly accelerated into a small boom during the liberal experimentation of the Torres premiership from 1988 until entering into a state of economic decline in 1993 when Pascualist hardliners reversed the reforms.
Military expenses, much of which were inherited from Navidadia, were especially high as the Delepasian government continued to repress and quell the Loa culture and revolts, and such burdens were only getting larger, thus forcing the government to find continuous sources and financing and try to reduce military expenses in creative ways, most notably by increasing the number of officers through incorporating militia and military-academy officers as equals. Another reason for these cost-cutting measures was to finance the construction of a major spaceport for Vallos located in northern Loaland (now Kalanatoa), taking advantage of the lack of labour laws in the protectorate to further lower costs. This spaceport (now the Vito Borbon Memorial Spaceport) was completed in early 1994.
According to government sources and estimates, about 12,000,000 hectares (approx. 29,652,646 acres) of agricultural land were seized between May 1994 and December 1995 as part of the cabacero-led land reform; about 23 percent of the appropriations were ruled illegal. In January 1996, the government pledged to restore the illegally-occupied land to its owners before the year 2000, and had enacted the Land Reform Review Council the following month. Restoration of illegally-occupied land to their previous owners began in 1997, with the last parcel being restored in December 1999.
In 1980, Delepasia's per-capita GDP was 42 percent of the Vallosi Economic Association average. By the end of the Pascual period in 1988 it had risen to 54 percent, and in 1993 it had reached 61.7 percent before declining to 58.7 percent in 1994; the percentages were affected by the percent of the budget which underwrote the anti-Loa campaigns, that being about 45 percent, and the dismantling of the Torres reforms prior to the revolution which put an end to the brief economic boom. In 1995 (the year of the greatest civil turmoil), Delepasia's per-capita GDP further declined to 56.3 percent of the VEA average. Due to revolutionary economic policies, multiple threats of coups and counter-coups from both the right and from the left, Delepasia began an economic crisis in 1994-1995.
Real gross domestic product growth resumed as a result of Castadilla's economic resurgence since 2005 and adhesion to the Vallosi Economic Association (VEA). The country's 2011 per-capita GDP reached 102.8 percent of the VEA average, nearly twice the level at the height of the revolutionary period.
Freedom of religion
The constitution of 1996 guarantees all religions the right to practice, and non-Catholic groups are recognised as legal entities under the law complete with the right to assemble. Non-Catholic conscientious objectors now have the right to apply for alternative military service. The Catholic Church, however, retains constitutional recognition as the nation's historical faith as a part of its cultural heritage.
Results
After an early period of turmoil that threatened to tear the country apart in a civil war, Castadilla emerged as a democratic country, having dropped the name "Delepasia" in favour of the name "Castadilla" as part of a reconciliation programme with the nation's racial minorities. Castadilla also transitioned from a unitary state to a federation, even recognising Classical Latin and Reform Tainean as official languages alongside Pelaxian as well as establishing the Loa-majority states of Kalanatoa and Na'aturie, states led by the dual heads of the syncretic faith Marian Kapuhenasa.
Legacy
Many Castadillaan streets and squares are named after either the day of the revolution (30 April), or the name of the revolution (velvet, or velvetine), most notably in the official ideology of the People's Democratic Party, Velvetine socialism. The Imperial Vallosi Mint mints a commemorative 5-peso coin every five years starting in 1999 in honour of the Velvet Revolution.
Velvet Day
Velvet Day (30 April) is a national holiday, with state-sponsored and spontaneous celebrations of the civil liberties and political freedoms that were achieved after the revolution. It celebrates the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution and Castadilla's first free and democratic constitution that went into effect on that date two years later.