Pachoy Rebellion

Pachoy Rebellion
Barricades in Pachaug's inner city circle, June 2032
Date 18 April 2032 - present Location Pachaug Result Ongoing
Belligerents
Pachoy rebels	Charter government Chenango Confederacy Supported by Urcea New Harren

The Pachoy Rebellion is an ongoing armed uprising in Pachaug, an international charter city in Crona.

Background

Pachaug was a member of the Northern Confederation for centuries prior to the events of the War of the Northern Confederation and Algosh Coup, after which time it fell under the political dominion of Algoquona. It, along with sister-city Housatonic chafed under ethnic Algosh domination, and sought ways to regain political autonomy. The end of the Treaty of Narasseta between Algoquona and Urcea provided this opportunity. Urcea's Levantine allies launched Operation Western Blizzard, which allowed Pachaug to declare de facto independence and sign an international charter city agreement with Urcea in 2017, giving Urcea some economic control over the city in exchange for a high degree of political autonomy and military protection. The agreement greatly benefitted nearby Housatonic, but Pachaug's economic position declined relative to it and generally throughout the 2020s. Additionally, the Final War of the Deluge brought about Algoquona's destruction, meaning the threat to Pachaug had largely receded by the late 2020s. Many Pachoy also began to feel that the Urceans exhibited favoritism towards Housatonic. In 2029, Housatonic was given full permission by Urcea to abrogate its charter and convene a constitutional convention, and Housatonic became a republic in February of 2030, even receiving the Unnuaq Chain territories from Urcea following their full independence. Perceptions of anti-Pachoy bias, the negative results of 13 years of the charter agreement coupled with the decreasing need for military protection led to a major political change in the 2030 elections, as 14 members who were partly or completely anti-charter were elected to the Pachaug Communal Council, an increase of 6, which gave them the majority. Taking office in 2031, the new anti-charter majority worked slowly and deliberately at first, especially considering that the charter agreement itself required a unanimous vote of the Communal Council to abrogate. Negotiations with Urcea were slow, and many Pachoy perceived that Urcea was intentionally blocking efforts to reform. As a largely symbolic gesture, the Communal Council voted on 15 February 2032 to unilaterally abrogate the treaty. The vote failed, with 14 voting for and 6 against, failing to meet the unanimous threshold.

Among the Pachoy people, the vote on 15 February was taken in a different light than was originally intended. The Communal Council intended this vote to be a symbolic show of displeasure rather than an actual effort to unilaterally become independence; the fact that it was a "political play" of sorts was not well understood by the Pachoy public. The public felt that the vote should be binding and that the unanimous requirement was a new hurdle imposed on the Pachoy people. Accordingly, large street demonstrations began to develop in Pachaug over the course of late February and early March 2032. The intricacies of the Communal Council vote soon gave way to a general wave of displeasure with the existing charter regime. A general strike was organized and executed on 25 March 2032, and by the end of March a large number of Pachoy were demonstrating against the charter. Resistance was fiercest in the inner ring, Pachaug's city core, where once-prosperous merchants and their workers were most disadvantaged by Housatonic's perceived ascendancy at their expense. Though most of the protests were against Urcea generally and the charter specifically, they also gradually took on a more virulent anti-Housatonic character, and on 28 March the government of Housatonic issued a directive for all of its citizens to leave Pachaug for their own safety.

Uprising

Unity government attempt fails

As Pachoy rebels seized control of the inner city and mutineers controlled the naval base, the Mayor-Intendent and Communal Council abandoned the inner circle of the city and held an emergency meeting in a nearby church at 11 PM on 18 April. All 20 members and the Mayor were in attendance, beginning an all-night debate as to how to respond to the uprising, and representatives of the Urcean-appointed Charter Administration were barred from entering. Though the Council had voted 14 to 6 in favor of abrogating the treaty earlier in the year, a number of pro-abrogation councilors were not necessarily in favor of resistance to Urcea but rather a renegotiation of the treaty. Accordingly, a key group of moderates from this faction - about 5 in number - became key in deciding a course of action that night. They were joined by the 6 members who voted against abrogation as well as the 9 other pro-abrogating members who were perceived to be more radical.