The Ventismarien continent was the source of western modernity and culture. Its culture, which had been taking shape for more than two-thousand years, was one copied by many. The scientific and philosophical revolutions of the past two hundred years saw a massive growth in not only technology, but also in the general welfare of the average person. It gave birth to ideas such as humanism, democracy and liberty. Sadly, the ideals of nationalism were also taking shape simultaneously. The Great War, which was a direct consequence of this nationalist thought still had a large impact on Ventismar in the form of an economic crisis the likes of which had never been seen before to man. The tensions arising from this first world wide crisis fuelled revanchism and a general feeling of discontent.
In Ripuaria and Umbrellya this lead to fascist regimes taking power. They made promises that the regular politicians could not and would not make. In Lindenholt regular politics tried their best to alleviate the effect of the great depression by instigating mass projects. Thousands of square kilometres of new forests were planted and a plan to pump dry huge swaths of land in the inner bay area also gave work to millions. Meanwhile, in order to give a home to the thousands of unemployed and homeless city dwellers the Lindian government decided to relocate the most unfortunate. In an effort to also further integrate Felsinia in to the realm tens of thousands of Dutch speaking Lindians were relocated to Felsinia where they got jobs in the administration and, more importantly, a second chance in life.
This forced assimilation was not well met by the Felsinean population however. Resistance to the Lindian overlordship grew by the day. It had been present since the start, however it had reached a new extreme. Radicalised supporters of independence attacked Lindian institutions such as Dutch language schools and more importantly a number of new immigrants were beaten in the streets. This act of aggression made the perfect conditions for nationalists and reactionaries to make promises of ridding the nation of traitors and separatists. According to them Lindenholt was under threat. French speaking Lindians in the east wanted to secede, Felsinean wanted their independence. They were all traitors, and Lindenholt should rid themselves of them. The, at the time, ruling social democrats promoted an ideals of brotherhood and equality. They advocated for a peaceful solution. To create a Lindenholt where the Felsinean and French speakers would also feel at home. Democracy punished their lack of radicalism and awarded those with the loudest arguments.
Now the time for getting rid of Lindenholt's traitors had come...
Stelten, Kingdom of Lindenholt - 17th of June 1940
Over the last three months the government had become more and more paranoid of independence movements within Felsinia and Lindenholt proper. Measures such as banning the Felsinean and French languages in public areas, a massive lay off of French speaking officials and a curfew in large cities such as Stelten all showed that the government was desperate to quell the unrest and remove minorities from power. It was early in the morning of June 17 1940 when radio operator Van Agt, stationed at the military barracks just outside of Stelten, received a telegraph from high command in Artwingen.
SEIZE LOCAL POLICE HQ. RELIEVE ALL POLICE FROM THEIR DUTY. PERFORM CIVILIAN POLICE DUTIES. AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTION.
Van Agt stood up and went to the office next to his own. Knocking twice, he heard a stern voice telling him to enter. Upon saluting his commanding officer - General Dries - he read aloud the order and handed over the piece of paper. After saying his thanks, the general picked up his phone. Whilst dialling the number, he requested the radio operator to leave his office. The door shut, and the dialling tone made way for a voice.
"9th Motor Rifle Battalion speaking"
A dozen trucks were ready in the yard of the barracks. Whilst the majority were loaded with armed soldiers, some were loaded with boats. Others also had trailers attached to them, which were also loaded with boats. Within the hour convoy left the military barracks heading to the old city centre of Stelten. Upon reaching the cobbled streets the rear trucks stopped, the soldiers got out and they lowered their rowing boats in to the canals of the city. The picturesque city of Stelten, known for its canals, required the soldiers to dismount from their transports and board wooden rowing boats. Upon arriving at the police headquarters the men disembarked and went in to formation. This display of force by the Lindian military gathered the attention of not only the Stelten police chief, but also a crowd of Felsineans that were on their way to work or do their shopping at the markets. After a few moments of silence the police chief got out of the building and greeted the commanding officer. With a worried look on his face the captain in charge of this motorised infantry company said: "Sir. You and your personnel are under arrest on charges of treason." Without saying a word, the police chief turned back and shut the doors of his headquarters. In the silence the sound of the door being locked was a clear message to the captain.
Suspecting resistance, captain Frank de Looij yelled out a simple order to his troops: "fix bayonets!". Whilst nearly one hundred men fumbled with their gear to attach their bayonet to the end of their rifles, a team of 3 army engineers started work on breaching the door. What can only be described as a glorious last stand occurred moments after the soldiers rushed in to the police headquarters. Seeing this, Felsinean civilians rushed to the aid of their compatriot police officers. Arming themselves with tools, sticks and oars, a crowd of around a thousand was quickly mobilised. They took out their anger on the small rear guard. Within moments they were overpowered. The soldiers were beaten and afterwards thrown in to the canals. Seeing this and not knowing what to do a junior officer ordered some men to fire from the roof of the building with a machine gun.
The ensuing slaughter only escalated the violence, as the entire city turned in to anarchy. In an effort to contain the violence more soldiers were sent, yet the mere presence of armed soldiers did not deter the civilian population from raiding Lindian institutions and lynching Lindian civilians. Not knowing what to do and seeing themselves surrounded, the 'peacekeepers' fired their weapons at anyone daring to go near the positions held by the Lindian military. Often a gunshot would be heard, followed by a splash of water. Corpses were thrown in to the canals by both sides. Some parts of the canal system had a distinct red colour by nightfall. An estimated 10 000 people were gunned down in total (often randomly) by Lindian soldiers. Sometimes they fired because they were legitimately in danger, sometimes due to the stress of being outnumbered, however more often than not it was out of revanchist spite for earlier uprisings...
Artwingen, Kingdom of Lindenholt, 18th of June 1940
"TEN THOUSAND KILLED IN STELTEN MASSACRE
STELTEN -- OUR CORRESPONDENT REPORTS THAT NEARLY TEN THOUSAND PEOPLE WERE KILLED AFTER THEY TOOK UP RESISTANCE AND KILLED INNOCENT CIVILIANS. OUR SOLDIERS HAD NO HESITATION TO SHOOT THESE BARBARIANS ON SIGHT WHILST THEY WERE LOOTING STORES, RAIDING HOSPITALS AND LYNCHING OUR COUNTRYMEN. WE WILL NOT BOW DOWN TO ANY TRAITORS WHO ARE TRYING TO DIVIDE OUR COUNTRY FOR THEIR OWN TREACHEROUS AMBITIONS. MORE DETAILS ON PAGE 2" - Cover of the Artwingen Courant, June 18 1940
"Unacceptable! Who do they think they are, gunning down unarmed civilians?" The loud voice of Sander Vermeer, chairman of the Labour party, sounded in the halls of the Lindian parliament. His party, being reduced from the second largest in 1935, went to a mere 24 seats out of 619. Not letting his voice being drowned out by the right-wing majority, the Labour party leader raised his voice again: "These actions by our government are a good example of how our government thinks about the right of self determination and human dignity. It is a shameful display. Shame on everyone who thinks that in these times of modernity we can allow for such barbarity! We will not stand for this. The Labour party will show their solidarity to our Felsinean countrymen. At noon we will hold a rally! We shall fight until the bitter end to bring an end to this blatant discrimination!" After finishing his speech the left-wing opposition simultaneously stood up and left the parliament building in order to prepare themselves for the upcoming protest to be held in the main square of Artwingen.
Not only liberal and socialist party members would be present however. A group advocating for the official recognition of French speaking Lindians also showed up in massive numbers. Little did they know that the police and army had orders to disperse the protests. Violence erupted at around 3 PM when officials asked protesters for documents. Several Ripuarian nationals were apprehended and charged with accusations of espionage and sabotage. Some French speaking Lindians were tricked in to admitting they were traitors or spies due to their poor Dutch, and thus they were also rounded up. Seeing how more and more demonstrators were being arrested, a part of the crowd showed signs of resistance. What started as pushing and pulling between the people and law enforcement quickly evolved in a fistfight, followed with machine guns placed on the roofs of several buildings firing in the air as warning shots. The events of yesterday will still fresh in the minds of the protesters and mass panic ensued. In the haze more violence took place, the barricades set up by the police and military was rushed by thousands of protesters trying to flee from yet another massacre. This, however, was also seen as an act of violence, and the machine guns opened fire on the crowd killing 40 people and injuring over a hundred.
Okay. Very nice. Now where do I sign up?
Please send a telegram to Lindenholt to participate.
