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| 15th of September Movement | |
|---|---|
| |
| Leader | Thomas Michels (original movement 3411-3424)
Johannes Goddestreu (new movement 3604-3606)
|
| Founded | 15th of September, 3411 (original)
3604 (renewed)
|
| Dissolved | 3424 (original)
3606 (renewed) |
| Headquarters | Hennersdam-Numamura, Mitrania |
| Nation | Hulstria and Gao-Soto (first and second movements) Mikuni-Hulstria (third and fourth movement) |
| Ideology | Democracy, Septembrism |
| Political Position | None (Coalition) |
| International Affiliations | None None |
| Colours | FFFFFF |
| Website | www.septembrismus.gh |
The 15. September Bewegung (English: 15th of September Movement, Kunikata: 9月15日事件, Kogatsu Jūgonichi Jiken, Hulstro-Mikun: Fūnfuzentā Seputenbā Būegūngu), commonly referred to as the Septembrist Movement or the Septembrists, named for the date of a peaceful protest march that ended in a bloodbath when regime forces opened fire on the protestors, was the united movement of the democratic opposition in Hulstria and Gao-Soto against the Imperial Socialist Party regime. A broad movement encompassing many social and political groups opposed to the dictatorship, such as the two main Hosian Churches, the Hosianisch-Demokratisches Verbund and several trade unions. It also enjoyed the support of the Crown Prince of Gao-Soto.
The 15th of September Movement was the origin of most of Hulstria and Gao-Soto's parties, notably the Hosianisch-Demokratisches Verbund, Allianz für Freiheit and Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei. As a result, the politics of the United Imperial Crownlands of Hulstria and Gao-Soto were pervaded by Septembrist ideals and ideas throughout its history.
In 3404, after both the Wirtschaftliche Autonomie-Partei and the Septembrist Hulstrianisch-Sozialistischen Partei voted in favour of a Communist-led radical left-wing government, the Movement was resurrected by former Governor-General and Chairman of the Septembrist Movement (its non-party continuation), Johannes Goddestreu as the Erneuerte 15th September Bewegung (Renewed 15th of September Movement) for the purpose of preventing the establishment of a new dictatorial regime. The new alliance was joined by the HDV and the Liberale Volkspartei, both longstanding Septembrist parties. After the total collapse of radicalism in the Crownlands, leaving only the three Septembrist parties, the movement dissolved once more in 3606.
After years of persecution forced the movement underground in the Mikuni-Hulstrian Empire, continuing aboveground only in the Hulstrian diaspora abroad as the International Septembrist Movement, the War for the Emperor's Protection that erupted in the 42th century saw the return of Florian Goddestreu, the chairman of the International Septembrist Movement, and the reinstitution of a third Fifteenth of September Movement, which resurged amidst the chaos of the war as a non-violent civil defiance movement according to the example of the first movement. The third Septembrist Movement, supported by the invading Kazulian army, first founded self-governing cantons and then set up a provisional rival government headquartered in Hennersdam-Numamura, known as the Free Imperial Crownlands of Hulstria and Mikuni. When the Jihibukai Emperor revealed himself and caused the collapse of both the Contra-Revolutionary and Constitutionalist forces, the Septembrists joined his Imperial Government of Reconciliation and were reconciled to the body politic after centuries of persecution. After a constitution based on Goddestreu's drafts was passed in 4167, the third movement dissolved once more.
The movement was reformed for a fourth time under the chairmanship of Thomas Michels's descendant Hubert Michels to oppose the Hulstrian Party regime.
Several symbols have become associated with the Septembrist Movement. The widely-recognised anthem of the Movement is the old Gishoton national anthem Land of our Fathers, which due to its association with Septembrist Hulstria and Gao-Soto is now also known by the name Septemberhymne. Its unofficial motto is taken from the last verse of the anthem: "das Land von zwei Völker, vereint und frei" (the land of two peoples, united and free), sometimes shortened to simply "vereint und frei". In the third Movement, to account for the emergence of the Hulstro-Showans, the motto was often rendered as "das Land unserer Völker, vereint und frei" (the land of our peoples, united and free) or "das Land und ihr Völker, vereint und frei" (the land and her peoples, united and free). The 15th of September is considered a symbolic day.
The symbol of the 15th of September Movement and the Septembrist Movement is an aster in the national colours purple, white and green, symbolising the month of September and the virtue of sincerity.
History[]
The 15th of September March[]
When the Imperial Socialist Party came to power in 3411, initiating the North Dovani Union regime, its suppression of academia, trade unionism and religion to establish the totalitarian state was immediate. Making use of the final weeks before a demonstration ban came into force, several leaders of civil society in Hulstria organised a march for the 15th of September of 3411 to protest the erosion of liberty and democracy in the Crownlands. Among them were Thomas Michels, the later chairman of the Movement and dean of the Imperial University's legal faculty, the Selucian Patriarchal cardinal Medgar Haas and his Luthoran counterpart, leaders of the Hosian Democratic Alliance (a historically small party at the time) and prominent trade union leaders. Faced with the march, the regime decided to set tanks on the protesters, inflicting a massacre. Several leaders, including Haas and Michels, escaped the massacre, seeking refuge in a church on the university grounds; Michels himself used a sabbatical as a pretext to resign his position and flee underground.
Beginning of opposition[]
Shortly after the 15th of September, the resistance emerged into the open with a pamphlet announcing the birth of the 15th of September Movement, calling on the people to rise up in peaceful resistance as a response to the massacre at the protest march and strive towards the restoration of the pre-regime liberal and democratic order. This was more than just propaganda: the common experience of the 15th had forged bonds of understanding between multiple opposition groups, and they had indeed chosen to unite their efforts. The name "15th of September Movement" was chosen in honour of the sacrifices of the victims of the regime.
The Movement, existing underground and exercising civil defiance for the first period, immediately started gathering support. The former Hulstrian ambassador to Luthori, Sebastian Goddestreu, became its self-declared international representative, using his diplomatic network to raise awareness and gather international support. Luthori was one of the first nations to declare support; Dranland was also among early supporters, supplying arms to the Septembrists which, according to Michels, they would use in self-defence.
Growing support and victory[]
In the meantime, Septembrist support had been growing across the former Crownlands, spreading to the Empire of Gao-Soto. Septembrist organisers in Hilgar (led by Agashi Tarumoto) were among the earliest Kunihito supporters. The big breakthrough in the Gao-Showan Crownlands came, however, when the Crown Prince of Gao-Soto, Okatori Kurosawa, escaped his captivity at the hands of the regime, where he had presumably been spared for the purpose of eugenics, and joined the Septembrists. This gave the Septembrists Imperial legitimacy in Gao-Soto as well as Hulstria (where they had immediately demanded the return of the Rothingren-Traugotts). Kurosawa himself became an avid Septembrist (this is speculated in part because of his experience with the Orinco Genocide committed in his father's name) and one of the most important ambassadors for the Movement and its ideology.
The growth of the Movement in Gao-Soto had another major consequence for the development of the ideological tenets of Septembrism. For most of the past centuries, Hulstrians and Kunihito had been at odds; now they were working together in a movement to restore a democratic system they both held dear. Described by historians as the "Septembrist spirit", greater understanding and closer ties developed between the Hulstrians and Kunihito, and as support grew, the realisation dawned that the rivalry between the two groups had disabled the pre-regime democracy, causing its fall. As a result, as the overthrow of the regime came closer, Septembrism started exhibiting its now-familiar cause of building a common national identity bridging the two groups.
Using the formally democratic shell of the elections the regime used to legitimate itself, Septembrists circulated the names of write-in candidates for the 3416 elections. These candidates won a staggering victory everywhere but in Crownland Hulstria, resulting in the proclamation of a provisional government with Michels as its Governor-General and Kurosawa (after the demise of his father had been found out) as Mikado of Gao-Soto in a dual monarchy. With the help of a Luthori military intervention, Septembrists liberated Kien soon after, and the Crownlands were restored as the United Imperial Crownlands of Hulstria and Gao-Soto.
Continuing united into the 3421 elections as the government led by Michels (now officially Governor-General) and his protégée, Staatsministerin Hosianne von Metten restored the constitution, the Movement reformed the country in several important respects: the sovereignty of the component Empires was abolished and vested in the national level; the two emperors formed a common head of state to which national officers owed joint allegiance, were obliged to take an oath to national unity, and the Imperial Courts were formed as an upper house of the Imperial Diet to act as a house of sober second thought. The Movement finally dissolved in 3424, giving birth to a wide ideological range of parties including the Hosian Democratic Alliance, the Allianz für Freiheit and the Hulstrian Socialist Party, continuing as the Septembrist Movement to promote the values of Septembrism.
Second Movement (3604-3606)[]
For the better part of two centuries, Septembrism continued as the unofficial founding ideology of Hulstria and Gao-Soto as the Crownlands emerged as a model multi-party multiethnic democracy for nations throughout Dovani and Terra (sparking, among others, a democratic revival in Indrala) and one of the continent's great powers. Despite occasional extremist parties, the Septembrist Movement united the political mainstream: even moderate parties originally ambiguous about their support for Septembrist principles often embraced them after a while. However, when the collapse of the Freisinige Demokratische Partei caused an Anarcho-Communist government to be formed with HSP support and this government legalised paramilitaries, the Chairman of the Septembrist Movement, Johannes Goddestreu, led a revival of the 15th of September Movement.
The Movement quickly emerged victorious this time, aided by massive popular protests and a campaign of legislative obstruction in the Länderrat, where the Mitranian delegation consisting of Rorensu Tamaki and Obe Arinaga, Jr. engaged in a heroic attempt to filibuster the act legalising paramilitaries, famously reading the libretto to Johann Emmanuel Visp's St. Theodore Exile that gave it the name Vispobstruktion. In 3606, the Movement once more dissolved.
Fall of the Crownlands[]
After the fall of the Crownlands in 3789, bringing an end to centuries of stable democratic government in Hulstria and Gao-Soto and leading to the establishment of the Great Empire of Mikuni-Hulstria, Septembrists were persecuted by the new government and forced underground or into exile (giving rise to the International Septembrist Movement in which the Goddestreu family played a large role). Historography of the Septembrist Movement in Mikuni-Hulstria for most of its underground existence is less reliable because of the government's tendency to use "Septemberist" as a portmanteau word for subversive activities. What scarce sources are available do suggest, however, that the underground Septembrist forces succeeded in keeping the ideology alive to a significant extent.
The Septembrists were also involved in a number of uprisings against the regime. The most significant one (prior to the establishment of the Third Movement) occurred in the 40th century, when Kaiser Franz VII Rothingren-Traugott returned to Hulstria, sparking a rebellion. This rebellion eventually led to a brief period of democratic restoration which caused hopes of return in Emmanuel Goddestreu, the Chairman of the International Septembrist Movement, but which was short-lived.
Third Movement (4157-4167)[]
Following the accession of Yukio-no-Mikoto II Jihibukai, a revival of advocacy for a more democratic constitution led to the establishment of the Constitutionalist Party government, in which some Septembrist elements were to be found in alliance with the adherents of new religious movements. This government, however, continued the open hostility of the state to Septembrism, suppressing protests on the 15th of September by arresting Septembrist leader. During the War for the Emperor's Protection which followed, a civil war between Constitutionalists and Contra-Revolutionaries loyal to the Imperial Socialist regime and Kazulian intervention, the Movement once more emerged above-ground as Florian Goddestreu, returning from his Kazulian exile, became its chairman.
Due to the Constitutionalist regime's covert association with Septembrist elements, Septembrism had already grown in support among the populace to levels not seen since the fall of the Crownlands. This was demonstrated shortly after the movement re-emerged as civil disobedience swept areas of the country, most prominently in Mitrania, where self-governing communes and cantons organised a militia to protect from the authorities. With support from the Kazulian intervention force, the Septembrists declared the restoration of first the Crownland of Mitrania and then of a provisional government, the Free Imperial Crownlands of Hulstria and Mikuni.
When the Jihibukai Emperor revealed himself, having walked the land incognito making contacts on all sides, causing the collapse of both warring parties, he declared his intention to reconcile the Septembrists to the body politic and summoned them to help form a government of Imperial reconciliation. The elections of 4162, the first in a long time, saw the first electoral participation of Septembrists after centuries of persecution result in a strong showing, emerging with over a third of the seats in the legislature at 248 out of 725 seats, with a strong showing in Gao-Soto and particularly Mitrania. In the first post-election government, the Septembrists were very influential, delivering a constitutional draft for debate and successfully proposing the restoration of the Land of our Fathers, which had been banned because of its association with Septembrism, as the national anthem.
In 4167, the new Imperial Constitution passed, marking the transition from the Great Reich of Mikuni-Hulstria to the new Imperial Crownlands of Mikuni-Hulstria. This constitution, based on drafts authored by Bürggraf Goddestreu as Minister of Internal Affairs, strongly resembles the constitutional setup of the Septembrist United Imperial Crownlands, restoring the bicameral Imperial Assembly, the Governor-General's office, the Imperial oath to unity, a parliamentary form of government, the Crownlands as autonomous entities and the constitutional ban on anti-democratic parties. It also declared the line "the land and her peoples, united and free" from the Land of our Fathers, which is of high symbolic value to the Septembrists, to be the national motto. For this reason, some scholars have termed the Imperial Crownlands "neo-Septembrist". Having achieved its main stated objective, the third movement dissolved.
Fourth Movement (4304-present)[]
The Septembrist Movement had been weakened by the erosion of the Imperial Constitution, and was practically driven out of the country when the House of Labsburg seized the throne and the later Hulstrian Party began a campaign of far-reaching Dundorfication (rather than Hulstrianisation) of the Crownlands. Septembrism steadily gathered in strength under these circumstances but was too dispersed to make a fist. Increasing repression by the regime, which had by this time reimposed apartheid-like measures saw the first open actions of a fourth 15th of September Movement against the regime when Septembrists disturbed a performance of the defaced version of the Land of our Fathers that the regime used as its anthem by loudly singing the Hulstria and Gao-Soto version. At the same time, Hubert Michels started lobbying the World Congress for intervention against the regime. Other actions including plastering posters depicting St. Medgar Haas on church walls all over Hulstria.
These actions caused a repressive response from the regime, prompting the reformation of the Reichsbürgerwehr under the command of Viktor Gubler, who went by the nom de guerre "Kleinemann". Mobilised by aversion of the regime's attempt to promote a revisionist version of Hulstrian history, including forcibly renaming all locations in the Crownlands, communities in Mitrania's Oberflachland started to self-organise again, protected by the RBW. This movement received a further impulse when Otto III of Hulstria, the Rothingren claimant to the throne, joined the National Council, leading in the open proclamation of the new Movement's aims.
At the same time, the dictator Leopold Nimitz found himself opposed by a moderate faction in the party led by the aristocrat Theophilus von Geraniengau. Following several spats, Geraniengau was increasingly disillusioned with the regime and got into contact with the Septembrists via Otto III, whom he felt sympathy for because of his family's connections to the KHP. Geraniengau and his followers eventually followed through on their defection, forming a New KHP, after which Geraniengau personally volunteered his estate in rural Budenlar as a foothold for the return of Otto III and Hubert Michels to Hulstria.
This, combined with the increasingly repressive response from the Nimitz regime to both the Septembrists and their Communist rivals, bolstered Septembrist support greatly, emboldening the Movement enough to proclaim a provisional government as the restoration of the United Imperial Crownlands of Hulstria and Gao-Soto, protected by the RBW, which was armed and trained with military-grade equipment with the assistance of Geraniengau and his colleagues, who still maintained their party membership. Following the revelation of large-scale genocide on Kunihito citizens from both Hulstria and Ostland in neighbouring Ostland under the guise of the Wolfsheim plague, the Provisional Imperial Diet declared war on the regime, a first in Septembrist history.
During this war, the Septembrists were assisted by large parts of a World Congress Intervention Force sent in to effect regime change, particularly troops from Hutori, Aloria and Kazulmark, which had explicitly or implicitly extended their recognition to the Provisional Government. This made for a quick advance of the Septembrists compared to the Communists, enabling them to liberate much of Mitrania, Hulstria and Budenlar while the Hulstrian forces at the Northern border engaged the main bulk of the coalition forces.
Programme[]
See Septembrism
Septembrist Movement[]
| Septembrist Movement | |
|---|---|
| |
| Leadership | Hubert Michels, Chairman |
| Founded | 3416 (dissolution of first 15th of September Movement) |
| Nation(s) | Hulstria and Gao-Soto |
| Political Ideology | Septembrism |
| Political Position | Pan-Septembrist |
| Colours | FFFFFF |
| Website | www.septembrismus.gh |
Traditionally, the name 15th of September Movement is only used when it is acting as a concerted, active political force or resistance movement. During normal party-political competition, the movement continues as the non-party-political Septembrist Movement (sometimes referred to in an attempt at further distinction as the Continuing Septembrist Movement) promoting Septembrist values and offering dual membership with the several Septembrist parties. All Septembrist Parties in Hulstria and Gao-Soto are, as a rule, affiliated to the Septembrist Movement. The Septembrist Movement acts as the guardian of Septembrist ideology and values in the Crownlands.
The Septembrist Movement is headed by the Chairman of the Septembrist Movement, typically an elder statesman of great stature and impeccable Septembrist reputation. The families of prominent Septembrists from the first Movement (the Michels and Goddestreu families in particular) have historically supplied a large number of chairmen due to their prominent Septembrist names and high levels of political involvement. This also means that the HDV, as the oldest of the Septembrist parties and longtime natural party of government in the Crownlands, has delivered many Septembrist chairmen. Typically, if there is a threat to liberal democracy or Septembrist values, the Chairman of the Septembrist Movement organises a new active 15th of September Movement to combat it, with all Septembrist parties usually joining.
The Chairman of the Septembrist Movement and another delegate of the organisation are also members of the National Committee for the 15th of September, which is responsible for organising the annual September Day celebrations according to the 15th of September Act.
The Septembrists organise international sympathisers or Septembrist Parties in other countries into the International Septembrist Movement, which also played a prominent role when members of the Movement were forced into exile. It also has a youth organisation known as the Young Septembrists for educational purposes, which brings together the youth wings of the Septembrist parties. It also operates a scientific institute known as the Prof. Dr. Thomas Michels Foundation, which publishes a periodical with thinkpieces on Septembrist issues every quarter.
Current Septembrist Movement affiliates[]
- Hosianisch-Demokratisches Verbund
- Neue Kaiserliche Hulsterreichische Partei
- Nationale Kronländer Einheitspartei
- Freiheitliche Kronländer Liga
- Liberale Volkspartei
- Constitutional Democratic Party
Prominent former Septembrist Movement affiliates[]
- Liberale Volkspartei
- Allianz für Freiheit
- Hulstrian Socialist Party
- Liberal Civic Union
- Freikonservative Partei
- Solidarität
- Social Reformist List