Irish Revolution of 2011
 |
| ||||||||||||||||
The Irish Revolution of 2011 was a period of massive political, economic and military changes to Ireland, which dismantled the economic and political establishments of the country, after occupation by the United Kingdom created a new national army. These changes greatly altered the economic nature of Ireland. The political class that had ruled Ireland for years previously collapsed within three months, and Irish military culture and society was transformed greatly. The Revolution has at various times been considered a large factor in the entrance of Ireland onto the international scene, its continued membership of large military alliances, and the optimisation of the Irish economy for war.
Contents
Background
Economic issues
The pre-revolutionary economy of eIreland was dominated by ideas from "real life", and as such reflected the post-Cold War situation in reality, with an economy greatly based on the market module, production being sold as normal, and with the state reliant on taxation income as opposed to monetary market manipulation or communes. This was particularly reflected in the acquisition of arms for the Irish state military, the Irish Defence Forces, which relied on the state procuring arms from the private sector in times of war, and with limited state production paying market wages in much the same manner as corporations. The IDF's elite unit, the Fianna, was an exception to the rule in that it did have its own companies, but even this unit did not exploit the full benefit of commune systems.
This economic model greatly increased both the cost of national defence and of training military personnel in order to increase Ireland's damage output, as well as placing a huge reliance on the private sector, which lead to war profiteering as is natural with supply and demand. The economic problems were of paramount importance to the revolution's occurrence, though their urgency was only revealed with the First Anglo-Irish War and the subsequent occupation.
Political and military elitism
By late 2010, the political establishment that had ruled Ireland essentially from the aftermath of the Irish coup d'état of September 2009 was very secure in its position. Key military and political figures often changed, but the core personnel in both administrative and military terms did not change either in terms of the people running government or in their ideas on how to do so. Logistics was in constant disarray due to changing logistics personnel. Furthermore, the political and military elite were from the same peer groups, their friends were often the same.
This lead to the opposition becoming isolated and increasingly radical, as the established players refused to allow hints of a new order to emerge, and retaliated politically against any successful change of guard in government, particularly in the office of President. The three left wing Presidents of the era (Dubhthaigh, Irishbhoy1967, Orangejuicemmm) faced impeachments or significant political unrest, often carried out with the very barest of justifications to cover for the open partisan motivations behind them. Similarly, soldiers not part of the peer groups of the officers in the IDF were discriminated against for supplies, even in time of war.
The elitism in both politics and military ranks lead to fertile ground for radical opposition to recruit from and organise within. However, the elitism was not greatly opposed by anyone other than a small group of dedicated revolutionaries, and did not lead to a mainstream reaction until early 2011, which came in three forms, political, economic and military.
The Labour movement and the Irish Citizen Army
In December 2009, the controversial socialist and republican figure Brian Boru set up The Labour Party. An alliance party of "socialists, communists, Irish Republicans and militarists", the party quickly gathered significant support from those groups, particularly soldiers who were unhappy at the state of the country. The party also aligned itself with the communist eInternationale, a large group of socialist and communist parties worldwide that often provided both material and personnel support to the party. It was from this party that Irishbhoy1967 and orangejuicemmm launched their political and military careers. The party set up communes, demonstrating their viability for both economic and military purposes. The party's contribution to the revolution cannot be understated, as it solidified the need for a large left wing party to engage with the political scene, with emphasis on military strength. It also openly challenged the establishment to an extent unseen before in Ireland.
The party did not survive the political scene, as orangejuicemmm's impeachment on dubious grounds lead to a seizure of the treasury by him, and the changing of the party. The Labour movement's ideas did not die however, and the party's spirit was reborn in the Sons of Eireann party, the same party which would later take power via the revolution.
Just as important was the foundation of the Irish Citizen Army. Created in January 2011 by Joe_Hitman, the ICA became the military wing of the Labour movement and eventually came to dominate it. A communised military force, the first of its kind in Ireland, its effectiveness relative to its size was great. Furthermore, it proved that a military unit could be organised along communist lines, and that doing so was actually more efficient than the old system used by the government. The ICA was committed to changing Ireland's direction, and its members highly disciplined with regard to pursuing that objective.
Anglo-Irish relations
Hostility between Ireland and the United Kingdom was high in the period leading up to the First Anglo-Irish War and the revolution. Irish Republicans, including the likes of Brian Boru, Ian Arb, and Padraig Pearse, had succeeded in swinging Irish opinion on the status of Northern Ireland a year previously, and in early 2010, the Edana Savage administration used a massive EDEN attack on the UK to attack a then-Norwegian held NI. This represented a significant breakdown in relations with the UK, which lead to Ireland joining the Brolliance and aligning itself with the United States and Canada against the UK. This change was perhaps greater than the revolution that followed it; Britain and Ireland had been close allies since the very start of eRepublik, and the change in diplomatic attitude was crucial to both Ireland and to the revolution.
The First Anglo-Irish War
On November 18th, 2010, the forces of Ireland invaded the United Kingdom in support of a Canadian attack. However by November 21st, British counterattacks leave much of the island under occupation. The situation remained fluid, as the Canadian presence in Britain continued, allowing the Irish enough breathing space to survive into December. However, by the 7th of that month, with British territories secure, Ireland is wiped as a country for the first time.
The occupation sends the country into absolute disarray, despite quick resistance wars to regain territory. The Irish economy is rocked by the loss of companies, but this is corrected soon afterwards as the game mechanics are changed to allow movement of companies to the country of citizenship of their owners. The wipe was still extremely disruptive to the Irish economy, though market companies were far more greatly affected due to loss of workers and lost production, whereas commune companies were able to re-recruit their members relatively quickly.
More importantly however, the political parties of Ireland were destroyed and transferred to the British system. The structural basis for the political elitism of the previous era was destroyed overnight. Furthermore, with congressional elections two weeks distant from the wipe, new political groupings had time to consolidate membership.
In this environment, the Sons of Eireann was created by Marcus Suridius, on a platform that the old system and prejudices had to go, as they had destroyed Ireland. The party attracted the entire set of the old ICA/Labour guard, including Orangejuicemmm, IrishBhoy1967, Brian Boru, and most crucially, CelticTiger211.
The Revolution Begins
The Presidential elections of January 2011
After a strong showing in the congressional elections, in which the Sons of Eireann received the largest number of votes, it was clear that the cause of changing Ireland had real support. The party soon selected CelticTiger211 as their candidate. Facing off against e-kane of the refounded Irish Union Party, the Sons of Eireann emerged triumphant.
The foundation of the Irish Army
After some political confusion in which Marcus Suridius temporarily took the powers of the Presidency, CelticTiger211 created the Irish Army on January 10th 2011, along the commune-based lines of the US and Croatia, and later announced the disbandment of the Irish Defence Forces in an article entitled "A New Era";[1]
| “ As of today the IDF is disbanded. Our national military has been a large handicap onto our country. Ministers of Defence inherit an unorganised, outdated system of military that, when compared to armed forces around the World, fails hard! The IDF lacked modernisation, using an ineffective template of infrastructure. It lacked consistency in maintenance, every term it was subject to a new roster of staff. It lacked organisation, all soldiers could run free & demand supplies with no commitment to the military made on their part. The IDF has been subject to countless reforms all unsuccessful. So rather than attempt a 6th or 7th reform, I’ve decided to scrap our national forces and institute a new military. ” |
The new army was immediately popular with most Irish citizens, though many remained skeptical about its structures for a time. Regardless, the old way of doing things was utterly crushed both politically and militarily. Attempts to split off and form an IDF rearguard without government support failed without the state coffers to back it.
Consequences of the Revolution
Political
Political consolidation of the Revolution continued under Seanan and Digits, independent reformists, and was completed under Marcus in April with the prevention of yet another British invasion via use of Canadian forces. The political scene became much more fluid than previously, with no group of players being able to claim to be an establishment of anything near the power or elitism of the previous era. This fluidity continues today.
However, the ICA was placed in a far greater position politically as a result. Several ICA-aligned Presidents were elected, most having great success in their terms partially as a result of the competency of the military they founded.
Military & Diplomacy
Irish military strength relative to its size increased greatly as a result of the modernisation of the logistics and production systems. This itself aided diplomatic efforts by subsequent governments, as Ireland was now a country worth investing military capital in to a certain extent. Ultimately, Ireland's membership of EDEN and its raised international profile can be attributed to the Revolution's changes and the ideas behind it.
This new found place at the world diplomatic table allowed Ireland to not only gain Northern Ireland several times, a key motivation for the changes of the Revolution in the first place, but also enabled Ireland and her allies to wipe the United Kingdom several times and attack as far afield as Scandinavia.
Economic
The market economy of Ireland slowly waned in influence, as communes replaced market companies in large part as far more efficient for military purposes, and not subject to either market forces or war profiteering. While this achievement has been eroded somewhat as a result of game mechanics changes, particularly in the food market, the private sector of Ireland remains largely destroyed, fulfilling both prophesies by leading socialist thinkers, and a key economic objective of the Revolution in the eyes of the socialists in the ICA.
The Irish Citizen Army
The ICA initially suspended its activities after the foundation of the Army, but soon reformed and continued as the guarantee of continued power to defend its achievements did not prove to be forthcoming. The ICA developed into a powerful multi-national military unit, which brought players such as MUFC1992 to Ireland and lead to much controversy around their continued activities. The ICA finally disbanded in late 2012, and formally merged into the Irish Army.
Professional administration
The Revolution established that a group of competent ministers was an absolute for the country, particularly in Finance and Defence. As a somewhat unintended result of this, relatively non-partisan but highly competent bureaucrats became highly regarded by all factions, and have served repeated terms in cabinets of all political affiliations. Some were involved in the cause, others were not. The most prominent today include Seanan and Appleman. Other more partisan but also highly competent players such as Sweet Drinker also gained respect and position.
Quotes
"Our supply chain is free of discrimination based upon rank and strength, all who work within the military will be armed. We believe that the army’s progression is dependant on the progression of her soldiers." - CelticTiger211, President of Ireland
"The ICA has achieved its long term goal of encouraging the reformation of the national military into one in which soldiers are professional soldiers and work for the Army to create the weapons and food which will be supplied to themselves and their brothers in arms." - Mr. Ginge, Irish Citizen Army
"In effect, we have adopted communist ideas not because we dislike capitalism, but because they give us the strength we have desired for so long." - Brian Boru, republican and socialist
