IC:
Two months ago the Socialist Party of Ardastrom gained a majority in parliament after the national general elections. They proceeded to make sweeping reforms to limit the power of the monarchy, corporations and church. Since that time there has been civil unrest as fighting between left-wing partisans and right-wing paramilitaries erupted sporadically. Yesterday the conflict escalated when nationalists took control of the southern city of Kortha, burned down the regional Socialist Party HQ and publicly executed known left-wingers by hanging.
The government responded by quickly passing a resolution in parliament to send in the army to quell the uprising and bring the paramilitary forces to justice. Hours passed but the army failed to respond much to the dismay of parliament. Then, in the early hours of the morning tanks rolled into the city, but unexpectedly it was not Kortha, it was the capital city of Arda. Immediately following this, Grand Marshal Montaigne, the most senior army officer in the country, addressed the nation through a radio broadcast:
"Patriotic citizens of Ardastrom, the time has come for decisive action to curb the excesses of the Socialist Party and their Marxist masters in foreign communist lands. As a loyal servant of the people I refuse to let our great nation be subjected to a red revolution, to let our great institutions be burned by godless anarchist heathens. We are, and always will be loyal to our beloved King and our honoured church. We will not let ourselves by subjected to the red bureaucracy which will regulate our lives into slavery and abolish our freedom to earn our daily bread by honest labour and trade as we see fit. And so I say to you comrades, take up arms and join us in our struggle to free ourselves of the red menace! No surrender until there are no more traitors left! No surrender until every communist agent is hanged by the grace of God and the righteous hand of the people!"
Since that time there has been widespread violence in the streets as the opposing sides clash. Both sides have appealed to foreign nations with similar ideologies to send whatever support they can.
