Lundener Civil War

The Lundener Civil War is an ongoing conflict with between the Imperial Government and the Communist Party of Lundenwic within the Imperial Grand Duchy of Lundenwic. The unrest began on 13 September 2015 when the Communist Party of Lundenwic seized the territories of Arco Meditteraneo and Bedfunta. The Government was initially slow to respond, but on 26 October the Imperial Armed Forces recaptured the territory after negotiations with the Lundenwic Liberation Army commander, Gen. Benny Ortiz. On 21 May 2016, the Empire of Karnia-Ruthenia opted to intervene in the Civil War sided with the government of Lundenwic. Later, Leylandiistan & Gurvata, the Democratic Republic of Cinnamon Creek and others joined the fight on Legitismist side.

Popular Communist Movement
The Communist Party of Lundenwic (CPL) was founded during the build up to the Lundenwic Elections 2014 on 20 June 2014. The CPL saw early popularity with an opinion poll by the former Lundenwic Militarists Party putting both parties on 50% of the vote. Before the elections could be held however, the capital was moved and Larry Finnerty (the leader of the CPL) and his supporters found they no longer resided in Lundenwic and could no longer run the party. Alan Powell took over as leader of the CPL, but he was unable to keep the popular support Larry Finnerty had garnered for the party.

Free Fascist Movement
Originally called the Lundenwic Militarists Party (LMP), the party was founded on 14 June 2014 in Charter. It was formed after the Imperial Grand Duke went head-to-head against the Mike Lewis, Marquis of New Charter, the Prime Minister, to garner approval for his Beautification Act 2014. The Act divided the Parliament for the first time in Lundenwic's history. The Prime Minister won in his bid to sink the act with the help of the Minister of Defence, the Rt. Hon. Gen. Emma Spencer MP. . It was soon after their victory, coupled with talk of elections, that the duo decided to form the LMP.

On 20 August 2015, the Lundenwic Militarists Party and the Imperial Royalist Party merged to form the Free Fascist Party. After extensive discussions it was decided that the Rt. Hon. Gen. Emma Spencer MP, former LMP Chief of Operations, would serve as the Party Leader with the former leader of the Imperial Royalist Party, Bruce Robert Nevin, serving as her deputy. The Marquis of New Charter was forced to take the lower position of Chief Whip.

Originally the LMP considered themselves aligned with the Far-Right claiming the military should maintain superiority within the Government of Lundewnic. However, the FFP consider themselves beyond the right and left of the political spectrum. They follow the Free Fascist Manifesto, written by HG, Gen. Mike Lewis, the Marquis of New Charter, as an ideology which borrows from Italian Fascism of Giovanni Gentile. The manifesto claims "Democracy is a bureaucratic hindrance. It serves only to prolong the inevitable plans of the State. Society functions at its best without constant change of leadership and without the need of public approval. Without democracy, more can be achieved." Although authoritarian, the FFP champions liberal rights.

Tensions between the CPL and the Government
Alan Powell was replaced by the Rt. Hon. Roberto Bruno MP on 1 August 2015, from his post as editor of Imperial State News due to "missed deadlines and articles filled with Communist propaganda which could not be published". This coupled with the ruling LMP's anti-Communist sentiment, angered Al Powell and on the 24 August 2015, the CPL sent the Imperial Government a list of demands to counter what he believed was the Prime Minister trying to "send the government towards anti-Communist policies." The demands included "An apology from the Free Fascist Party and the current Prime Minister, Mike Lewis, Proper representation of the Communist Community within the Parliament, A ban on all Anti-Communist propaganda and An end to the privilege of the nobility" and was not treated seriously by the Government.

On the 29 August 2015, the Prime Minister allowed the CPL to peacefully protest against the Government in the capital, New Chater. The Prime Minister then tried to negotiate with Al Powell and members of the CPL for 45 minutes to try and get them to move on. After the talks broke down, it was reported that the protest became "distasteful and personal with members of the CPL badgering ministers and publicly bad mouthing [the] government." This led to the Prime Minister, the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Defence to forcibly remove the protestors and to temporarily close Parliament House to the public.

CPL uprising
On the morning of 13 September there was much confusion as it was reported that Benny Ortiz had resigned from his post of Chief of Intelligence and had taken refuge in Arco Meditteraneo. Imperial State News added to the confusion by suggesting Ortiz could be working with Col. Mick Lewis, suggesting a military coup was about to take place. The Lundenwic Liberator, the propaganda machine for the CPL, finally confirmed that Al Powell had led a revolution against the Imperial Government seizing the territories of Arco Meditteraneo and Bedfunta. The article went on to reveal the CPL was now claiming the territories as part of the People's Liberated Territories of Lundenwic under the leadership of Chairman Powell.

Arrest Warrant and State of Emergency
The Imperial Grand Duke as Supreme Justice of the Imperial Courts issued an arrest warrant for Alan Powell and Benjamin Ortiz on 24 September 2015. Almost a month later, the Imperial Grand Duke and the Prime declared a State of Emergency on the 22nd October 2015. The declaration suspended the Constitution and the Elections Bill, but allowed the continuation of all the Ministries and the jobs of their Ministers. It was reported that the State of Emergency was because the Imperial Grand Duke and the Prime Minister would not be able to countersign documents while the latter was in Spain. The report had unwittingly let slip of the upcoming military operation to reclaim Arco Meditteraneo in Spain.

Government recapture Arco Meditteraneo
On 2 November 2015, the Prime Minister of Lundenwic confirmed that he had recaptured Arco Mediterraneo swiftly and with ease. In a statement released by the Marquis of New Charter, it was confirmed that he had personally visited the territory, recaptured it and left Col. Mick Lewis rightfully back in charge. It was also confirmed that the Minister of the Interior, the Rt. Hon. Roberto Bruno MP, had travelled with him and assisted in the recapture. The Minister of the Interior played down the recapture though, claiming the escapade was more of a holiday. The Prime Minister later revealed he was suffering from an infected insect bite on his left elbow which is why his statement on the recapture was late.

The Lundener government made an official statement, announcing that the territory of Arco Mediterraneo was back under the control of the Imperial Government. The Marquis of New Charter and the Minister of the Interior travelled to Arco Mediterraneo. When they arrived there, they found it abandoned. The next day Col. Mick Lewis and his wife joined the forces of the government. On the 26 October, the Marquis met Benjamin Ortiz. The meeting was amicable and Ortiz assured that he would relinquish all claim to Arco Mediterraneo. He was satisfied that he would keep his word, especially now Col. Mick Lewis was back at the territory.

The CPL later confirmed that Benny Ortiz had renounced all claims to Arco Meditteraneo but did not have the proper authority to do so and that before he could be labelled a traitor, he offered his own house to the PLTL to make amends. The CPL accepted and named the new territory Torreblanca.

Imperial Armed Forces recover stolen documents
The Imperial Armed Forces of Lundenwic carried out an important operation into the heart of the CPL homelands to recover documents stolen by Bruce Robert Nevin during his defection. The successful operation, led by the Marquis of New Charter in his role as General of the Army, was undertaken while the former territory of Bedfunta was unoccupied. The small force of four managed to recover the documents believed to be vital to recording the history of the Imperial Grand Duchy of Lundenwic.

Also recovered were missing funds and documents from the Treasury stolen in a Lundenwic Liberation Army “raid” from the capital New Charter back on the 14 March 2016. After returning to the territory from an apparent holiday, Alan Powell, Chairman of the People's Liberated Territories of Lundenwic, vented about the operation on the Lundenwic Liberator calling it 'cowardly' and claiming that the Imperial Armed Forces had "reduced their image to that of the common thief". The Prime Minister was quick to comment with, “Does he not see the irony. We stole back items that he stole from us in the first place. He's a f***ing moronic nutjob.”

So far the Imperial Government has remained tight-lipped on how they knew to strike when they did and whether any other items were taken leading to speculation by some Lundeners.

Attack against the Charter House
On 14 June, Alan Powell and the CPL planned a surprise attack. Alan Powell and Bruce Robert Nevin, former Chief Medical Officer, knocked on the door to Charter House, in what would seem as an attempt to gain entry. As the Prime Minister opened the door, Al tried to force his way inside but was stopped by the Prime Minister pushing back against the door. He called for the Minister of Defence, General Emma Spencer, who eagerly came to his aid. The Prime Minister managed to grapple Powell away from the door. Nevin then stepped in to grapple the Prime Minister and as the Minister of Defence was trying to get out of the door to help, Powell pulled the door shut, jamming her hand between the door and the frame. A truce was instantly called and Powell apologised profusely. General Emma Spencer was taken to hospital and it was confirmed that her hand was not broken, just heavily bruised.

Battle of Vleshko
Treated as the "Battle of Vleshko", the event was a discussion that took place between the Emperor-King of Karnia-Ruthenia and the Leader of the Vleshko Federation in Micronation.org Forum in the last hours of 27 June and the early hours of 28 June 2016. The discussion was initiated by the Leader of Vleshko, who in successive attempts to vandalize the page in a supposed attempt to support the Communists, questioned the allegedly excessive attention of the Imperial and Royal Government to the article about the civil war, since its changes were successively reversed.

Angered to see Karnia-Ruthenia mentioned by him, the Emperor-King retaliated with a furious speech, setting out his reasons and the Vleshko inability to even be considered part of the conflict, in addition to being ignored even by whom they said they would fight alongside in the conflict. The discussion fell apart in provocation by Vleshko part and Ruthenian tone became even more aggressive. However, the battle was not limited to the discussion. Vleshko created a false account MicroWiki to delete the page and then recover it in order to give the appearance of moral superiority to Vleshko, while could also accuse Karnia-Ruthenia to have unfairly harmed them. Having noticed the maneuver, the Emperor-King immediately accused the Leader of Vleshko and asked the administration to check the origin of the fake account and ban the responsible.

In a desperate attempt to mobilize support and forge his innocence, the account created to vandalize the Lundener Civil War page also vandalized the pages created by the Government of Vleshko. The Vleshkian Leader even sent a private message to the Emperor-King, questioning him about what happened. The answer was that the Emperor-King believed he was responsible. But the answer came after moderation reversed all changes made by the fake account and banned both the Leader and his false account for "abuse of multiple accounts, sockpuppeting and consistant vandalism of the Lundenwic page".

Considered a battle by Karno-Ruthenian authorities, the event had the same nature of civil war itself: ideological and moral. It is clear that the confrontation between the two parties alone was inconclusive, but the attitudes of Vleshko Government deeply damaged their image. And once placed out of combat, again left the Communists without support; not even a simulated support as was the assistance provided by the Vleshko Federation.

Peace negotiations
After days of negotiations between the two factions, the Lundener Prime Minister, Mike Lewis, Marquis of New Charter has stepped in to reject a "crude" peace treaty drawn up by Alan Powell. It was received on 13 August in the capital of New Charter and was passed onto the Imperial Grand Duke himself. However, it is believed that the Imperial Grand Duke has failed to comment on the treaty and the Prime Minister, who was not part of the peace treaty talks, has stepped in to publicly reject it.

The Prime Minister said in a statement that he "cannot allow this crude peace treaty to be taken seriously. There is no compromise. Alan gets what he wants at a cost to the Imperial Grand Duchy. I will not stand for it!". The Minister of the Interior, Roberto Bruno, appeared to take a veiled swipe at the Prime Minister when he said, "This is a huge blow to the peace process. I hope the Imperial Grand Duke has a back-up plan or something".

The End of the War
On 10 October 2016, the Prime Minister spectacularly announced that the Lundener Civil War would be over within a month after he handed the Rebels an eviction notice. The eviction notice, by English law, means the Rebels have to leave the property within the month or face the legal consequences. It is a massive boost to the Imperial Government after peace talks with the Communists had completely failed. The Prime Minister also confirmed that fresh arrest warrants had been signed by the Imperial Grand Duke on Friday for members of the CPL. The new arrest warrants included ‘participation of a banned group’ which was made a crime the same day when the Prime Minister and the Imperial Grand Duke signed the Hurtful Associations Act 2016. The Imperial Grand Duke and the Prime Minister used the powers granted to them thanks to the current state of emergency to pass the act. This means the act didn’t need to get the approval of the Parliament. However, both the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Justice read and approved the act before it was signed.

Below is the full speech from the Prime Minister: ''I have the greatest pleasure in saying that today I served the Communists with an eviction notice. This means they have one month to vacate the property by English law. This also means the Lundener Civil War will be over next month. On the 14 November, Col. Mick Lewis and his wife will be returning to Bedfunta from Arco Mediterraneo. I think you will all agree that this a momentous moment in Lundener history and a huge victory for the People, Lundenwic and Free Fascism. The Imperial Grand Duke has completely supported the move and has signed arrest warrants for a number of known members of the Communist Party of Lundenwic.''

The Imperial Grand Duke said he was “cautiously optimistic” by the news. While the Minister of the Interior said, “It’s good to see the light at the end of the tunnel after this long and harrowing war with the Communists.”

Arrest Warrants
The Military Committee of Lundenwic met on 15 October 2016 and issued warrants for Benjamin Ortiz, Gus Nevin and Sue Ryder for military crimes including desertion and assisting an enemy. The announcement was not a surprise given the Imperial Government’s renewed aggression against the Communist Party of Lundenwic. The Imperial Government seek to further normalise its functions as it prepares for the end of the Lundener Civil War.

Legitimist victory and capitulation
On 10 November 2016, after more than a year of ideological and moral warfare, the keys to the territory of Bedfunta were officially handed back to the Baron of Bedfunta, Lord Lewis. The handing over of the keys marked an official end to the Lundener Civil War. Al Powell and the Marquis of New Charter chatted amicably before the keys were handed over. The Imperial Government is keen to thank all of those who supported them during the Civil War. The Prime Minister commented, “''We made the pledge that the Civil War would be over this year and we have fulfilled that pledge. This is a historic day and I thank all those involved''”. The state of war was declared finished in the Empire of Karnia-Ruthenia on the following day, with the Imperial Decree n. 54/2016.

Defections to the CPL
Following the start of the civil war against the Communists, it was reported on 24 February 2016 that Bruce Robert Nevin had defected to the Communist Party of Lundenwic. A decision was taken by the Party Leader to suspend his membership and position in FFP.

Breckland
The Grand Duchy of Breckland made its position clear in a private letter to the Ludener Government. The Breckland Government has said it would support the Ludenwic Government in any way they can. On 10 June the Breckland Government passed two acts of legislation which allowed them to intervene in the conflict. Parliament gave official permission for military and political intervention in the Civil War.

DRCC
The Premier Dallin Langford has signed an Order of Support to the Imperial Grand Duchy of Lundenwic on 09 June 2016, making the Democratic Republic of Cinnamon Creek the fifth official pro-government supporter in the Lundener Civil War. Though the Premier did not say that the DRCC Army would be officially involved in the war, he did mention that volunteers may join involvement in the Lundener Civil War but will not be officially recognized by the DRCC Government unless, the Government will be willing to consider the option of declaring war on the communist rebels. Until then, the height of involvement whether financial, military, or other is unknown until further notice. The Prime Minister of the Imperial Grand Duchy of Lundenwic heard the news, he responded, “That is great news”. The Premier said that, he was “glad to help a fellow micronationalist, friend, and ally”.

Hodiny
Duke Dylan I has stated that though Hodiny will not participate in the Lundener Civil War, they will support the legitimate Imperial government. Hodiny has treaties with Lundenwic and Karnia-Ruthenia, as well as friendly relations.

Karnia-Ruthenia
After two days of intense correspondence, on the afternoon of 21 May 2016, the Emperor-King met with the Prime Minister of the Imperial Grand Duchy of Lundenwic to discuss the renewal of the treaty of diplomatic relations between micronations and the Civil War in progress in the grand duchy. After the meeting, His Imperial and Royal Majesty said that the Empire would intervene in favor of the legitimate government of the Grand Duchy and called the General Staff of the Armed Forces. Through intense propaganda and political movement, in addition to the encouragement of the General Staff of the Imperial and Royal Armed Forces, the Karno-Ruthenian Empire was the first micronation to intervene officially in the conflict. The recommendation given by the Imperial and Royal Government was to try, despite the conflict, to mediate a diplomatic solution to end the civil war.

Leylandiistan & Gurvata
The Government of Leylandiistan & Gurvata announced on its "Statement on Foreign Policy" that the micronation would stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the government of Lundenwic as they attempt to resolve the most significant internal crisis they have ever faced and understand the “Communist Party of Lundenwic” received no votes in the most recent election, thus proving they have no mandate for rebellion. Furthermore, the Government condemned the seizing of some of Lundenwic’s territory by the CPL, and does not recognise the legitimacy of the “People’s Liberated Territories of Lundenwic”. The Foreign Secretary, on behalf of the Government, called the CPL to return the seized territories and end all hostile action towards the government of Lundenwic.

Nedland
On 20 June, the State of Nedland released a declaration supporting the Imperial Government. The declaration stated "will not supply men from their military to the war, but they will nonetheless support the current Lundener government wholeheartedly in any other way that they can."

Occitania
The Popular Union of Occitania, although being a socialist micronation, opened diplomatic relations with the Imperial Government and "support the legitimate government".

Shorewell
On 29 June, the Kingdom of Shorewell declared it's support for the Imperial Government via their website. The Kingdom of Shorewell had been in an alliance with the Vleshko Federation, but supported the Imperial Government after the 'Battle of Vleshko'.

Vleshko Federation
The Vleshko Federation offered its support to the Communists, having secured fighting alongside them and use all necessary means to victory. However, having been ignored by the Communists because of their lack of professionalism and understanding of the subject, they eventually garnered for themselves the anger of anti-communist allies. Accusing the anti-communist allies, especially Karnia-Ruthenia to prevent them from fighting since their editions was full of misspellings and verbal agreement were reversed, they were defeated in the "Battle of Vleshko" and were removed from the conflict.