Goetic Revolution

The Goetic Revolution, known in Goetia as the Krieg des Erwachens (Anglic: War of Awakening), was a multi-party civil war within the former Goetic Empire from 1924 to 1925 near the end of the Grand Campaigns. The largest belligerents were the incumbent Goetic Empire; the Red Collective (colloquially referred to as the Reds) including the self-proclaimed Socialist Republic of Goetia plus several smaller communist and anarchist groups; and the Liberal Coalition which principally consisted of the self-proclaimed Free Republic of Goetia and later Austrasia. Occurring concurrently with the Grand Campaigns, battles between Goetic imperial, Crown Alliance, and republican forces merged with engagements connected to the civil war. The Crown Alliance generally acted in support of the Red Collective, having covertly supported their build-up earlier in the Grand Campaigns as a means of weakening Goetia. Meanwhile, the republicans supported the Liberal Coalition.

The conflict resulted in the end of the Goetic Empire. The monarch of Goetia Frederick IV was executed by communist militants in Oberlandscheid on 15 August 1924. Following this, communist militants continued to fight imperial loyalists, as well as the liberal revolutionaries and republican forces, until a truce was signed on 7 June 1925 ending the revolution and combat against the Goetic Empire in the West Artemian Theatre. It ultimately resulted in the creation of the Socialist Republic of Goetia, Austrasian Riche, and cessation of some lands to South Boaga and Agrana y Griegro.

Crown Alliance subterfuge
Following the entry of the Crown Alliance states — namely Tiperyn, Koryeo, and Agrana y Griegro — on behalf of Ovancia and Boaga, it became a priority to destabilize the Goetic Empire from within to force a peace settlement. This became even more urgent after the Crown-Republican split in 1920, which turned the West Artemian Theatre into a three-sided conflict on three vaguely defined fronts. By 1922, the Tiperyn Ministry of Subterfuge had begun making preparations to materially support and train militant groups within the Goetic Empire with the ultimate goal of sparking a civil war. Such a conflict had little aim other than to create a chaotic situation behind enemy lines, pulling Goetic units off of the frontline for internal security duties and destroying critical infrastructure such as railways and factories. At the time, there were a handful of viable political groups in Goetia to exploit. Tiperyn brokered deals with various communist and anarchist groups to form a tentative alliance known as the Red Collective, which opposed the Goetic Empire's rule as well as the fledgling liberal factions in the nation's east. They were chosen specifically due to their popular appeal in Goetia, which was stronger in the west than the east — making them more relevant for Crown Alliance purposes — and because of their animosity towards liberal ideology, which made them unlikely to be heavily influenced by the republican faction fighting the Grand Campaigns. While a communist Goetia would not have been ideal for the surrounding monarchies, the operation was primarily meant to force the Goetic Empire to come to negotiate an armistice. After, it was envisioned that the Crown Alliance would turn on the communist militants and support a reformed traditional Goetic government in securing its borders.

Fall of Oberlandscheid
By July 1924, Tiperyn and Koryese forces had advanced deep into northwestern Goetia following their successful Zahner Offensive earlier in the year. Crown Alliance forces had advanced to the Wilge River, linking with Goetic communist revolutionaries and surrounding the capital of Oberlandscheid on three sides. The combination of renewed offensives by both the Crown Alliance and Republicans, as well as attacks by Goetic communists, had battered the Goetic army in the north and heavily damaged its rail infrastructure. At dusk on 2 August 1924, the Tiperyn No. 1 Mechanicalized Regimental Group, No. 14 Lorried Rifleer Regimental Group, and Koryese Black Flag Army completed the encirclement of the Goetic capital, trapping the Goetic V. Corps inside the city limits. Reinforced with Tiperyn theatre-level artillery regimental groups and an additional three division-sized units by 6 August 1924, communist militants began their assault on the city in earnest.

While receiving heavy artillery support from the Crown Alliance, Tiperyn and Koryese forces did not enter the city until 13 August. The delay has been attributed to an unwillingness by the Tiperyn expeditionary corps commander to risk substantial casualties at that point in the battle. Rather, it had been the Crown Alliance's strategy to allow the communist militants to soften up Goetic loyalist forces and conduct risky reconnaissance missions in order to both spare friendly forces and wear down the communists. This is due to the fact that it was not expected by military planners that the communist revolutionaries would remain active following the Zahner Offensive. Rather, they were intended to be a temporary means of striking critical infrastructure behind enemy lines in the lead up to the 1924 offensives.

Two days after Tiperyn and Koryese forces entered the city, communist militants stormed the Imperial Palace at the heart of Oberlandscheid. Frederick IV was captured on 15 August after a brief firefight in the fortified palace and summarily executed by communist forces. Although Tiperyn and Koryese command had wished to capture the Goetic monarch alive in order to negotiate a ceasefire, local Crown Alliance commanders allowed for the communist forces to lead a purge of the city's federal institutions. The city was officially secured by 5 September.

Aftermath
The end of the Goetic Revolution in June 1925 coincided with the end of hostilities against the Goetic Empire. However, against the Crown Alliance's initial intentions, the Red Collective emerged relatively strong. With no substantial royal government left in Goetia, with the monarch executed and most of the royal family exiled to Alva, the Crown Alliance accepted that it would have to work with the new provisional communist government. In the east of the empire, supported by Modrovia managed to rest control of what is now Austrasia from the control of its federated monarch.

Shortly after the end of the revolution, Republican forces attacked royalist Ovancia in what became known as the Ornans Offensive. With the bulk of Tiperyn, Koryese, and Tiberian forces in Goetia and the Ovancian military left to defend its border with the rebellious republican Ovancians during the Zahner Offensive, Legantine forces quickly broke through royalist lines and advanced to the Ovancian capital of Ornans. The Ovancian monarch fled the city by train, escaping the country to Tiperyn via Bron. Crown Alliance forces were largely fixed in place in northern Goetia due to coordinated republican attacks along a broad front to distract from action in Ovancia. Ovancia fell to the Republicans in December 1925, and an armistice was signed ending the Grand Campaigns. The new provisional communist government in Goetia, with the threat of the Republicans and Goetic Empire gone, heavily resisted the Crown Alliances' attempts to influence it. With communist militias becoming ever more violent against their occupiers, the communist government consolidating their influence and popular support, and the Crown Alliance powers exhausted from six years of war, Crown forces left Goetia in the spring of 1926.