The KSRK

Konsistigaj Socialismaj Respublikoj de Kormoranoj

(Komoranoj Constituent Socialist Republics) Government: Workers' Council

Bloc: Communist

The KSRK itself is not a very old nation, though its antecedents are millennia old. It's immediate predecessor, the Empire of Komoranoj, was over a millennium old at the time of its fall, and a preeminent world power for the majority of the preceding 500 years. Ultimately it was not the suffering due to its archaic political organization that would precipitate its fall, but rather the attempts to reform and modernize the empire's governance. The most notable attempt took the form of a self-coup by the Emperor Andronikos XVI to abolish the aristocratic parliament and restore imperial rule in 1922, with decrees that proclaimed large-scale social and economic reforms, primarily in response to the power of the emergent capitalist class.

In response to these proposals of any sort of reform, the Bourgeois-Republics of the Free City of Vukovia and its league with its neighbors, declared unilateral independence from the crown. In their proclamation of the monarchy's rule over their land forfeit, they created a rump-state of coastal cities unburdened by decrees of reform, and creating a sudden reversal of workers' rights and a sanction for the increasingly oppressive conditions of the factories and docks. The people of Vukovia did not tolerate this return to industrial serfdom, and understandably seized the city in the name of revolution. The naval arsenal provided enough arms to raise an army, and the city walls formed a defense against reactionary reprisals.

Outside of the cities, the increasingly marginalized aristocracy and landed elite attempted to gain support from the Istros Federation for an overthrow of the Emperor and bring a 'restoration of order' to the Council-Cities. As the fate of the empire rested between a continued decline through reaction and backwardness, or the hope for renewed economic and political power through reform or revolution, the Emperor announced the abolition of the monarchy and birthright, the beginning of rapprochement and reunion with the Council-Cities, and the nationalization of industry. The aristocratic faction failed to gain external support which ensured that the ensuing civil war was rather brief, with the worst of it over in less than a year, though the riots and anti-aristocratic reprisals against reactionary elements and the seizure of assets and industry lasted for several years afterward.

While the main task in the decades following the revolutionary upheaval was the reorganization of the administration and the establishment of workers councils throughout the country, the specter of a foreign-supported aristocratic government in exile remained a persistent threat, and informed many of the foreign-policy decisions taken by the newly organized Constituent Council. One of the most major initiatives was a large-scale expansion of the military and state intelligence apparatus, as well as a focus on aggressive foreign policy through subterfuge and support for communist-aligned ideological movements. While not always successful, these efforts gave helped put the KSRK back into a position of global contention for dominance, as well as one of increasing geopolitical influence.

Relations with the Istros Federation are chilly in the best of times, with many neighbors viewing an aggressive revolutionary state as threatening to regional stability as well as their own internal stability. While the KSRK does have cordial relations with some non-socialist states, their primary focus seems to be the attainment of hegemony through ideology. Ultimately, only time will tell how far the revolution will proceed through subterfuge, and how much will need to be at the barrel of a gun.