Castadillaan transition to democracy
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Castadilla's transition towards democratisation started with the Velvet Revolution of 1994 as well as the subsequent Período de Salvación Democrática civil war period. It would end with the enactment of the Constitution of Castadilla in 1996.
Background: the Pascual-Torres era
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The 14 July 1919 coup d'état in Rosario replaced the increasingly unstable democratic government with a military dictatorship which promised that order, authority, and discipline would be maintained, something which won over much of the increasingly anti-democratic populace. This military regime soon abolished political parties, took steps to persecute the small by highly vocal Socialist groups, and had swept away the republican institutions. This began the trend of Delepasian-dominated polities turning towards highly conservative and authoritarian regimes as democratic rule of law was rejected outright. In 1931, the Rosarian dictatorship invited University of Adouka professor Fernando Pascual to serve as the minister of finance. In 1935, he was subsequently made Prime Minister, and in 1938 his power had consolidated to the point that he would formally declare the formation of the Social State (Estado Social).
Under Pascual (1935-1988), Rosario, and, since 1976, Delepasia became, at least formally, a corporative state. The Rosarian Constitution of 1933 and the Delepasian Constitution of 1976 embodied the theory of corporatism, under which government was to be formed of economic entities organised according to their function, rather than by individual representation. One group would consist of the employers, another would consist of the employees, and these groups would have to deal with one another through their representative organisations.
In practice, however, Pascual was the head of an autocratic dictatorship with the help of an efficient secret police – the fuvicivides. He introduced the strictest of censorship laws, had the fuvicivides monitor anyone deemed to be politically suspect by the regime, often resorting to matters such as imprisonment, exiling, or even executions.
Rosario, and later Delepasia, drifted and floundered under this highly repressive and sectarian regime for many decades. Economic conditions improved only slightly in the 1970s, when Pascual began to implement the first of two five-year economic plans. These plans were deemed a success, thus stimulating some much-needed growth, which in turn allowed for the living standards to noticeably rise.
1980s and the anti-Loa campaigns
The 1980s, however, were crisis years for Delepasia. Guerrilla movements emerged in the internal Delepasian protectorate of Loaland that aimed at liberating the Loa from what was over a century of living under the sectarian Navidadian System. Fighting these numerous guerrilla movements for more than a decade proved to be enormously draining for the poor, increasingly backwater nation in terms of labour and financial resources.
In the early 1980s, the rise of new technocrats with a background in economics and technical-industrial expertise led to a new period of economic fostering for the fledgling nation, with Delepasia slowly becoming an attractive country for international investment. The development of industries and the growth of the economy would continue throughout the 1980s. During Pascual's tenure, Delepasia began in 1981 to compare its GDP to that of the Vallosian Economic Association's average and thus focused on certain sectors accordingly in order to catch up. In the early 1980s, Delepasia began to openly trade with its neighbours and beyond, with plans set in motion to open up select sectors to foreign firms. This period marked the initiation of Pascual's more outward-looking economic policy. Delepasian foreign trade increased by 64 per cent in exports, and 53 per cent in imports. In the years between 1980 and 1993, total output (GDP at factor cost) saw a 120 per cent growth in real terms, with an unparalleled robust annual growth rate in GDP by 6.9 per cent, in industrial production by nine per cent, in consumption by 6.5 per cent, and in gross fixed capital formation by 7.8 per cent.
In 1980, at the initiation of Pascual's more outward-looking economic policy, Delepasia's per capita GDP was only 42 per cent of the VEA's average, by the end of the Pascual period, in 1988, it had risen to 54 per cent; and in 1993, under the leadership of Nicolas Torres, Delepasia's per capita GDP had reached 61.7 per cent of the VEA's average. On a long-term analysis, after a long period of economic divergence since 1852, and a period of chaos in the latter half of the 19th Century, the Delepasian economies had collectively recovered slightly until 1970, entering thereafter on a path of strong economic convergence with the rest of Vallos, until the Velvet Revolution in April 1994. Delepasian economic growth in the period from 1980 to 1993 under the Estado Social regime (and even with the effects of the expensive anti-Loa campaigns in Loaland against guerrilla groups), created an opportunity for real integration with the developed economies of Vallos. Through emigration, trade, tourism and foreign investment, individuals and firms changed their patterns of production and consumption, bringing about a structural transformation. Simultaneously, the increasing complexity of a growing economy raised new technical and organizational challenges, stimulating the formation of modern professional and management teams in order to meet these challenges.
Pascual incapacitated
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When Pascual was incapacitated in an accident in 1988, the Privy Council, a high-level advisory body created by the Constitution of 1976, chose Nicolas Torres to succeed him. Torres (1988-1994), although initially a Pascual protégé, tried to modernise and liberalise the old Pascual system. He was opposed, however, by a group widely referred to as "the stronghold," the old Pascualists. These included the head of the United Delepasian Armed Forces, General Francisco de Costa, the other senior officers of the armed forces, and the heads of some of the country's most powerful gransindinales. The stronghold was powerful enough that any fundamental change would certainly have led to the immediate overthrow of Torres.
As Torres promised reform only to fall into indecision due to the stronghold's intervention, the sense began to grow among all groups—the armed forces, the opposition, and liberals within the regime—the sense that only a revolution could produce the changes that they felt Delepasia was desperately needing if it was to make it to the year 2000. Contributing to this revolutionary feeling was the number of growing tensions on the political and social scene.
Economic pressure
The continuing economic drain caused by the military campaigns in Loaland was exacerbated by the end of the Occidental Cold War. Politically, the desire for democracy, or at this point just a greater opening up of the political system, was increasing. Social tensions mounted, as well, because of the slow pace of change and the absence of opportunities for advancement.
The decisive ingredient in these tensions was the increasing dissension within the military itself, which was long a bulwark of the regime. Younger military academy graduates resented a program introduced by Torres whereby militia officers who completed a brief training programme and had served in Loaland's defensive campaigns, could be commissioned at the same rank as military graduates. Torres's government had begun the programme (which included several other reforms) in order to increase the number of officers employed against the Loa insurgencies, and at the same time cut down military costs so as to alleviate an already overburdened government budget.
Quintero and revolution
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A key catalytic event in the process toward revolution was the publication, in 1993, General Raul Quintero's book, Delepasia and the Year 2000, which criticised the conduct of the Loaland campaigns and offered a far-ranging and far-reaching programme for Delepasia's recovery. The general's work sent shock waves throughout the political establishment in Santa Maria. As the first major and public challenge to the regime by a high-ranking figure within the system, Quintero's experience in the Loaland campaigns gave his opinions added weight and influence. The book was widely seen as the opening salvo in Quintero's ambitious campaign to become prime minister.
1994 uprising
On 30 April 1994, a group of younger officers belonging to an underground anti-Pascualist organisation, the Democratic Rebirth Society (Sociedad del Renacimiento Democrático, SRD; Kasikasgau des Reneisensa Demaukrata, KRD), overthrew the Torres regime, and Quintero emerged as at least the titular chief executive of the new government. The uprising succeeded within hours with virtually no bloodshed. Torres and other high-ranking officials of the old regime were arrested and exiled, many to The Cape, while Emperor Maximilian I, who from 1976 until 1996 served as the ceremonial head-of-state, declared his support in favour of the revolutionaries. The military seized control of all important institutions.
Quintero regarded the military's action as simply a military uprising aimed at reorganising the political structure with himself as the head, a "revitalización" (revitalisation), in his words. Within days, however, it became clear that the uprising had released long pent-up frustrations when thousands, and then tens of thousands of Delepasians spontaneously poured into the streets celebrated the downfall of the regime and demanding further change than what Quintero had been hoping. The coercive apparatus of the Estado Social – secret police, National Men-at-Arms Regiment, official party, censorship – were all soon overwhelmed and abolished. Workers began taking over shops from owners, peasants seized private lands, low-level employees took over hospitals from doctors and administrators, and government offices were occupied by workers who sacked the old management and demanded a thorough housecleaning.
Very early on, the demonstrations began to be manipulated by organised political elements, principally the Marxists and other groups farther to the left. Radical labour and peasant leaders emerged from the underground where they had been operating for many years to escape Pascualist reprisal. Francisco Carvalho, the leader of the nascent People's Democratic Party, and Manuel Ruiz, former general and member of the Pascualist regime who converted to Marxism during his exile, returned from exile to Delepasia within days of the revolt and received heroes' welcomes.
Who exactly ruled Delepasia during this revolutionary period was not always clear, and various bodies had vied for dominance. Quintero became the first interim commander-in-chief of the new regime in May 1994, and he chose the first of six provisional governments that were to govern the country until two years later when the new constitution was enacted. This new government consisted of members of the moderate Christian National Party, the PDP, the Marxists, five independents, one military officer, and Emperor Maximilian I himself.
Beneath this formal structure, there existed several other groups that wielded considerable power. Within the first weeks of the revolution, a key group was the Junta for the Salvation of Civility (Junta para la Salvación de la Civilidad), composed entirely of high-ranking, politically moderate military officers headed by the Emperor. Working alongside it was a seven-member coordinating committee made up of politically radical junior officers who had managed the uprising. By the end of May 1994, these two bodies worked together with other members of the Privy Council, the nation's highest governing body.
Gradually, however, the DR Society emerged as the most powerful single group in Delepasia as it overruled Quintero in several major decisions. Members of the DR Society formed the National Liberation Command (Comando de Liberación Nacional - COLINA) composed of 15,000 elite troops with Major (later Brigadier General) Vito Borbon as its commander. Known universally by his first name Vito, Borbon had directed the 30 April uprising. Because the regular police withdrew from the public sector during the time of revolutionary turmoil and the military was somewhat divided, COLINA became the most important force for order in the country and was firmly under the control of radical left-wing officers.
Quintero formed a second provisional government in mid-June with army Colonel (later General) Augusto Ortega as his head of government, eight military officers, and members of the PNC, PDP, and the Marxists. Quintero chose Ortega because he was a moderate, but he was to move increasingly to the left as he served as prime minister in four more provisional governments and even held the commandership in one provisional government, between June 1994 and August 1995 before becoming commander-in-chief until December of 1995. Quintero's position further weakened when he was obliged to consent of the formation of the Loa-majority states of Kalanatoa and Na'aturie as well as a dismantling of the Navidadian System, rather than allowing for a limited amount of Loa to run for public office in Navidadia as outlined in his book. Kalanatoa and Na'aturie were both officially declared as states within Castadilla in 30 April 1996, months after the nation would finally stabilise. Quintero attempted to seize full power in mid-July of 1994, but was blocked by COLINA and forced out of the commandership. His replacement was the moderate General Fidel de la Pena, who with Ortega formed a third provisional government with heavy DR Society membership, nine military officers in all, and members of the PNC, PDP, and the Marxists.
The civil war period
In retaliation for being forced out of the commandership, Quintero allied himself with Pascualist counter-revolutionaries alongside more conservative elements of the DR Society and declared that the Velvet Revolution would need to be tempered by force, citing fears that a socialist revolution would lead to "another 1852 but with no hope for recovery" and thus declared a rival government, with their capital being the Homberian capital of San Joaquin, which was a longtime conservative stronghold in preceding months. It was also around this time that the more radical orthodox Marxists, led by Vito Borbon, felt that the Junta was not working fast enough to consolidate the revolution and soon declared the United Federative Councils of Vallos, seizing control over the majority-Tainean north. By the end of July of 1994, Delepasia had entered into a state of civil war.
In the early days of the conflict, the Loaland protectorate and Navidadia unilaterally declared full independence from Delepasia, fearing that the war would quickly spread to them if they picked a side and thus stayed neutral throughout the conflict. Loaland became the Loa Republic and Navidadia became the Navidadia Free State which attempted to retain the same racial laws that defined the segregation against the Loa. This move was widely seen by most Navidadians as unpopular, and the Free State was soon overthrown in a popular revolt in 1995, establishing Independent Junu'urinia Ba'andasi. The Loa Republic modelled itself after the government of Takatta Loa, albeit with certain provisions and changes to reflect the Marian Kapuhenasa faith.
Initially, the pro-Quintero and counter-revolutionary forces were effective at fighting back against the socialist factions, winning a few decisive battles throughout the rest of 1994 up to early 1995. Moderate democrats and Delepasian intellectuals had at first sided with Quintero under the promise that he would instill a mildly liberal democratic form of government. To them, they saw the counter-revolutionaries as key to a stable and prosperous nation, a democracy guaranteed by a politically-active military that would keep away the hardline Pascualists and the radical socialists. Indeed, by early 1995, the conservative faction had occupied the entirety of the coastal regions south of Portas Gemeas, including the capital of Santa Maria. To the rest of the world, it looked like the civil war was at an end, with many nations extending diplomatic relations to Quintero's government.
Vito Borbon, fearing that the revolution was in jeopardy, offered to cease hostilities and to join up with the Junta to put an end to the counter-revolutionary forces. Negotiations between the two factions resulted in many of the conditions that the Borbonists had wanted being fulfilled, most notably land reform, turning the new Delepasia (renamed Castadilla) into a federation, a constitutional commitment to the transition to socialism, and a constitutionally-designated vanguard party. Satisfied, hostilities between the two socialist factions ended with the formation of the Council of the National Revolution in August of 1995, and attention soon turned towards the Quintero government. The tide of war turned quick, popular partisan militias became more numerous, and successful attacks against pro-Quintero and counter-revolutionary forces increased tenfold. By December of 1995, Quintero was forced to flee the country ahead of the advancing revolutionary forces, and by January of 1996 the last of the counter-revolutionary forces surrendered, thus ending the civil war. Fearing a potential purge or reprisals, most moderate democratic politicians and Delepasian intellectuals quickly swore loyalty to the victors. Others opted to flee the country.
The Council became the nation's most powerful governing body. The council was made responsible to a 240-member radical military legislature, the Congress of the Armed Forces. A fourth provisional government was formed, more radical than its predecessor, and was under the influence and leadership of Augusto Ortega, with eight military officers, and members of the PNC, PDP, the Marxists, and the Social Democratic Commission (Comisión Socialdemócrata - CSD), a party that was getting increasingly close to the Marxists. Socialists and Marxists were highly successful in placing its members in many national and local political and administrative offices, and they were consolidating their hold on the country's labour unions. The Council came ever more under the control of its left-wing and far-left factions. Furthermore, smaller groups aligned with the radical left joined up with the larger left-wing factions in staging demonstrations that brought about the increasing adoption of leftist policies, including nationalisations of private companies.
The new government began a wave of nationalisations of banks and large businesses. As these banks were often holding companies, the government came after a time to own almost all the country's newspapers, insurance companies, hotels, construction companies and many other kinds of businesses, so that its share of the country's gross national product amounted to 85%.
Transition to civilian rule
Shortly after the conclusion of the civil war, negotiations between the new socialist government and the breakaways began in earnest as did the dismantling of the Navidadian System and the Loa Laws in preparation for a new multicultural policy in stark contrast to the long-standing policies of Delepasian exceptionalism. The Loa Republic became the states of Kalanatoa and Na'aturie while Independent Junu'urinia Ba'andasi became the state of Junu'urinia Ba'andasi-Navidadia, all within the new federal structure.
Elections were soon held on 30 April 1996, for the Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution. The PDP won nearly 42% of the vote, while the PNC took 32.5%. The Marxists won less than 17% of the vote. A right-wing party, the Democratic Reform Party, came in forth with less than 10%. Despite the fact that the elections took place in a period of revolutionary ferment, most Delepasians voted for moderate parties committed to pluralistic democracy.
Many Delepasians regarded the elections as a sign that democracy was being effectively established after over 75 years of dictatorial rule in some places. In addition, most members of the military welcomed the beginning of a transition to civilian democracy. Some elements of the Borbonists, however, had opposed the elections, agreeing to them only after working out and agreement with political parties that the Borbonists' policies as designated in the negotiations between them and the previous Junta would be carried out regardless of election results.
Following the elections came the Red Solstice of 1996 when the revolution made itself felt in the countryside. Landless agricultural labourers in the north seized the large farms on which they worked. Many estates in Kauabimini were confiscated—over 50,000 square kilometres in all—and transformed into collective farms. In the south, where most farms were small and owned by the people who worked them, such actions have never occurred. The north's small farmers, highly conservative property-owners in Auxana, violently repulsed the attempts of radical elements and the Marxists to collectivise their land. Some farmers formed right-wing organisations in defence of private landownership, a reversal to the region's early welcoming of the revolution.
Other revolutionary actions were met with hostility, as well. In mid-July, the PDP and the PNC withdrew from the fifth provisional government to protest the antidemocratic actions committed by radical military and far-left political forces, now known as "steelheads" (cabaceros). The PDP newspaper Socialist Action had been closed by radical workers, causing a storm of protests both domestically and abroad. The PDP and other democratic parties were also faced with a potentially lethal threat to the new freedoms posed by the steelheads' open contempt for parliamentary democracy and its dominance in Delepasia's main trade union, the United Federation of Delepasian Workers (Federación Unida de Trabajadores Delepasianos – FUTD).
Almadaria and Takatta Loa, as well as much of mainland Sarpedon, expressed considerable alarm at the prospect of a violent Marxist takeover in Vallos. Almadaria in particular even threatened to invade Delepasia to restore order if the country fell to civil war or a hostile Marxist takeover. One contemporary noted the similarities between this revolution and Pelaxia's Revolution of 1852. The result of these concerns was an influx of foreign financial aid into Delepasia to shore up groups committed to pluralist parliamentary democracy and the rule of law.
However, a moderate group of socialists, known as the Group of Nine, better-known as the "velvetines" (aterciopeladistas), issued a manifesto in August that advocated moderate socialism along the lines of what they believed were the fundamental principles founded in the 30 April uprising the year prior, the basis of Velvetine socialism. The manifesto also made use of left-wing populism to garner support from the cabaceros and called for the formation of one final provisional government, this time with the Emperor serving as the commander-in-chief so as to divorce the role from partisan politics. This sixth and last provisional government was formed on 30 September 1996 with the Emperor as the commander-in-chief, and Admiral Hugo Castillo, who previously served as commander-in-chief, was made prime minister; it also included Vito Borbon as deputy prime minister, the leader of the Group of Nine as well as members of the PNC, the PDP, and Marxists. This government, which was to remain in power until January 1997, when the first constitutional government was formed, was pledged to adhere to the policies advocated by the "velvetines" as well as the "steelhead" policies promised.
Evolving political stability did not necessarily reflect the country as a whole, which was on the verge of anarchy even after the conclusion of the civil war. Even the command structure of the military broke down. It was not until late September of 1996 when political parties became more confident and increasingly fought for order, as did many in the armed forces. The granting of statehood to Kalanatoa and Na'aturie earlier that same year meant that the Loaland campaigns came to an end. The attainment of peace, the main aim of the military during all these months of political upheaval, was thus achieved, and the military could finally begin the transition to civilian rule.
Consolidation of democracy
The polling results of the November 1996 legislative elections for the Congress of the Commons showed the PDP and the PNC taking 76.8% of the vote, compared to the 16.2% for the PRD, and the 7% for the PCR. These results, as well as Borbon's approval of said results, legitimised the popular support given to the parties that could manage and welcome this transition.
A degree of compromise among competing political visions of how the new Castadillaan state should be organised was reached, and the country's new Constitution was proclaimed on 31 December 1996, paving the way to the termination of the provisional governments and of the Período de Salvación Democrática. By 21 January in 1997, the first constitutional government, a coalition government between the PDP and the PNC led by Francisco Carvalho, was sworn in. The PDP continues to be the ruling party of Castadilla to this day, now holding a majority government ever since the 2000 elections.
These elections could be said to be the definitive end of the period of revolution. Moderate democratic parties received most of the vote, with a coalition government being formed between the PNC and the PDP. Revolutionary achievements were not discarded, however. The constitution pledged the country to realise socialism, and the PDP maintains its commitment to the transition towards socialism and as the nation's vanguard party. Furthermore, the constitution declared that the extensive nationalisations and land seizures of 1996 were irreversible. The military supported these commitments through a pact with the main political parties that guaranteed its guardian rights over the new democracy, as well as the continuation of the Council of the National Revolution, for four more years. The Council was dissolved in 2001, ending the military's role in the nation's politics.
During its near-40 years in power, the PDP has cemented Velvetine socialism as the party's main ideology as guided by Carvalho's ideological viewpoints, has transitioned Castadilla's economy towards one where the state maintains an active role in dirigism, and has established special economic zones (SEZs) over the states of Portas Gemeas and the Federal District. By 2005, the results of these economic policies allowed for the nation to experience economic growth for the first time since 1993, soon reaching to VEA levels in 2011, partly thanks to Castadilla having joined the VEA in the early 2000s.
See also
- 1992 Republic Day revolution – which occurred along a similar time period in The Cape
- Assumption Accords - what led to the Estado Social becoming increasingly isolated
- Lushan Square Massacre - an attempt at a similar event in Daxia that was repressed
