Evgenia Exteberria, First Chairman of the Byzantine Commune
Inaugurated October 28th, 1884
The Athens Commune
: It’s difficult to even comprehend just how far we’ve come in so short a time. One year ago, it was still business as usual in an uncaring Republic paid for, purchased, and subverted by a tiny stratum of capitalists sitting at the apex of society, with the rest of us doomed to abject poverty. Any hope we might have cherished in our hearts that things could ever change seemed extraordinarily remote— the cold twinkling of stars in the inky depths of space, trillions of miles away.
: One month ago, we were at the vanguard of one of the most extraordinary revolutions in history, but victory was far from assured. The bourgeois officers of the Old Republic’s army lurked in Belgrade and elsewhere, weighing their options. Unsubstantiated rumors of treasonous plans among counter-revolutionary elements of the Red Guards for a permanent dictatorship circulated. All over Byzantium, there was chaos, uncertainty, and– yes, tragically but necessarily, bloodshed. Yet all around me, in my long march from Athens to Byzantion, I saw something new— hope, not secretly cultivated deep in the heart, but an open, joyous hope animating the collective spirit of the Byzantine people.
: Now, today here we are— the brightest of moons illuminating the darkest of nights. I am so, so proud of all of you. Finally, finally there is a state that truly realizes what it means to have the Mandate of the People.
: From the very instant I called upon the communes of Byzantium to down their tools and declare a general strike, I was struck by the music of the revolution. From Athens to Constantinople, from the shadow of the Parthenon to the House of Golden Horn, song filled the air— songs of revolutions present—
-and revolutions past.
: We have long been a Janus-headed nation— one face boldly gazing into the future, the other always cognizant of our inconceivably ancient history. The myriad peoples of Byzantium all share a revolutionary heritage— the Solon and Athenians overturning the Draconic code and building the world’s first democracy— the overthrow of Tarquin the Proud by the old Romans— the economic justice sought by the brothers Gracchi— the Peasant’s War of the Deluge reigning in an imperial throne grown despotic— the revolutions of Juno Koca and Noor Sallajer. All of these revolutions were ultimately imperfect— but each and every one of them was a step into the future, a bridge from ancient tyranny to communal democracy.
: But the Byzantine revolutionary tradition is not the only one. The modern Republic was born in Japan when the commoners suffering in the constant wars between imperial royalty and a military aristocracy said enough was enough and dissolved both classes entirely. The Golden Revolution chased the spectre of absolutism from the British Isles forever. Peasant revolutionaries brought down the Qin dynasty. St. Greger Dunin led Central Europe to freedom from foreign occupation. Even in France, the fire of liberty was kept lit by the Jacobins through the most vicious of Valois-Vexin persecutions.
: We are the first to take this next step into the bright future where freedom from want joins freedom of speech, freedom of worship, and freedom from fear as a prerequisite to true democracy. But we will not be the last— in fact, many Communist parties, unions, and other groups tirelessly working to bring communal rule to their home countries are in attendance.
: Because, ha ha, it wouldn’t be much of an International otherwise, huh?
INTERNATIONAL DELEGATIONS
OOC: Want to represent the Communist Party delegation of another country at the First International? Well, now you can!
If you want, claim a country, name your party, and set its policies. This will then go into the mod, replacing whatever boring party I had there before. If that country goes communist, your party will get to rule that country! I mean, obviously you can’t actually control it or anything, but you can RP about it really obnoxiously, or whatever.
Here is what the Victoria 2 wiki has to say about Communist party policies, but a lot of that doesn’t really apply to ByzLP communists.
So here are your options for each political policy:
Trade Policy: Free trade or protectionism. Protectionism would be more common, I guess, but we did just vote to maintain free Baseball trade or whatever.
Economic Policy: Planned economy. That’s it. Otherwise your party would just be indistinguishable from a V2 socialist party except for a slightly darker red splotch, right?
Religious Policy: In vanilla V2, communist parties are almost always atheist. This should probably not be the case in ByzMod! Your party could favor secularism, pluralism, or maybe even moralism. Religious policies are pretty infamous for having { #no effect }, but they matter a lot in terms of flavor IMHO.
Citizenship Policy: Full citizenship is pretty baked into the Byzantine socialist/communist tradition, and it probably is in yours too. But maybe your communist party is connected to your nation’s nationalist movement? If you really want to, you could favor limited citizenship, or residency if you want to be asshole communists.
War Policy: This can be all over the place, since the question of when violence and war is justified is one of the most contentious among the left of ByzWorld. You might be Pacifist, Anti-military, pro-military, or even jingoist.
Optionally you can also make a 93 x 64 logo for your party, which will replace whatever your country’s communist flag was before in the mod. I’m going to make a few exceptions, though:
China, because like half the communist flags I made are based on theirs so if it’s different the world will probably spin wildly off its axis and fall into the sun, or something.
Also, there are some countries that already have cool flags that other people made earlier in the thread, so those should probably take precedence for countries that have ’em.
Here are some transparent images that might be useful for flag-making (god knows I recycled the hell out of them):
You’ll be able to register parties throughout the First International, not just on Day One– I just wanted to get the ball rolling on this ASAP.
Anyway, our own party’s policies will be selected based on how we vote on other related issues during the International. Although probably one of the regular socialist parties will win the next election anyway, oh well. So, without further ado, let’s get on with the voting!
There are two different formats for decisions at the International— votes and debates. Votes are, well, votes. You vote on stuff. Debates are where you’re asked an open-ended question, and the most well-argued, flavorful, cool, or whatever option will just emerge from the conversation or just be arbitrarily chosen by me.
: We must carefully consider what is necessary to build the future we deserve without senselessly destroying or dogmatically following the past. And so, the first question I call upon the International to consider is this: what is to become of Constantinople?
VOTE 1: SHOULD THE CAPITAL OF THE BYZANTINE COMMUNE BE IN CONSTANTINOPLE OR ATHENS?
Athens is the birthplace the Commune, and the crucible of the new democracy that we’re… you know… Athens Commune… Byzantine Commune… I… okay, look, realtalk? Remember how in the Containment War China smashed our defensive lines in Anatolia and crossed the Sea of Marmara at the Hellespont and occupied Constantinople? Remember how the Theodosian Walls weren’t exactly doing much to stop modern artillery? Remember how the war was pretty much lost right then and there? Yeah. Yeah. I’ve been in the shit. Greece is much more defensible in the sorts of wars we can expect to fight at this point, since the days of a hundred thousand French soldiers appearing over the horizon are long gone.
##Support the Practical Red Guard to move our capital to Athens.
The strategic location of Constantinople isn’t simply military expedience. Byzantion is the gateway between east and west, where Europa and Asia meet. It is home to one of the most diverse populations in all the cities of the world, a vital center of trade. It was the stronghold of the Byzantine peoples in our darkest hours— the site of our greatest triumphs— the City of the World’s Desire. For thousands of years, it has been one of the great junctions of Eurasian civilization. It is what makes us Byzantines.
##Support the Captain of the Greens to keep our capital in Constantinople.
Probable game effects: As far as I know, where our capital is in Victoria 2 doesn’t matter a whole lot, except that your opponent gets lots of war score for occupying it. An event to relocate our capital will involve paying some money, and may have other effects depending on what else happens at the International. I guess it would also decide which baseball team we root for? Athens and Constantinople are both pretty terrible, though.
VOTE 2: REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOME OF VOTE 1, SHOULD CONSTANTINOPLE BE RENAMED?
Frankly, I’m surprised Noor Sallajer never got around to it. No man or woman shall conspire to restore the Empire of Rome, but being ruled from a city branded with the name of a Roman Emperor was perfectly acceptable to the Old Republic. Constantine was a monster, anyway— he killed half his family, poisoned the soul of Christianity by forcing it to fit into the mold of an imperial state religion, and left the empire to his three vile sons with no consideration given to the welfare of the people. Or perhaps we should name all our cities after the tyrants of our past? “Dracopolis” would be a fine name for Athens. We’ll take a page from Commodus’ book and rename Rome “Colonia Lucia Annia Commodiana”! Ankara– Yaroslavograd! Florence– Theodora! Venice– Aurelia (named for the bad Aurelian, not the first one, of course) Might as well! That’s the message we’re already sending by trying to build socialism in the shadow of the dominate.
##Support Evgenia Exteberria’s Girlfriend, Probably to rename Constantiople based on the results of DEBATE 1 below.
Constantine was, in his own way, a revolutionary. None would deny Christianity’s origins as a religion of resistance against the pagan empire of Rome— even a cursory examination of the Gospels shows how radical Jesus’ political program was. Constantine brought an end to centuries of religious persecution and martyrdom and embraced a faith in which all men and women were equal in the eyes of God. Constantine’s religious policy was one of pluralism and tolerance— it is folly to lay the later crimes of the likes of Theodosius I or the False Saint Valeria at his feet. Was Constantine perfect? Of course not— he was still an emperor, and as we know no man reigns innocently. He fought, he killed, he made war, he ruled as a tyrant. Yet a deeply flawed man is still capable of great good, and we all have the capacity to atone for our sins.
##Support the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople to keep Constantinople weird Constantinople.
Probable game effects: None, except whatever influence this vote has on the Athens Commune’s party policies
DEBATE 1:
If you supported Evgenia Exteberria’s Girlfriend, Probably in Vote 2 and Constantinople gets the works, what should Constantinople be renamed? (If you supported the Ecumenical Patriarch, we already know what you think Constantinople should be named. ( :V )
OTE 2: REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOME OF VOTE 1, SHOULD CONSTANTINOPLE BE RENAMED?
##Support Evgenia Exteberria’s Girlfriend, Probably to rename Constantiople based on the results of DEBATE 1 below: 26
GSD
Ogianres
Chief Savage Man
Raserys
Tulip
Brutus Salad
StrifeHira
Hitlers Gay Secret
Ghetto Prince
ChrisAsmadi
ThaumPenguin
Juvenalian.Satyr
Espilae
TheLoquid
Lynneth
Rahmbo
Shogeton
RabidWeasel
Lustful Man Hugs
GunnerJ
loquacius
ThatBasqueGuy
Freudian
TheMcD
Frontspac
AdventFalls
##Support the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople to keep Constantinople weird Constantinople: 21
RZApublican
Lord Cyrahzax
Thordain
Danann
Rodyle
HiHo ChiRho
Flesnolk
Rubix Squid
WeaponGradeSadness
NewMars
Caustic Soda
Erwin the German
AJ_Impy
Rejected Fate
Clayren
Cestrian
Sky Shadowing
CommissarMega
sniper4625
Luhood
catlord
Unwise_Cashew
Vote closed!
: It was a very close vote, and both sides made compelling arguments, but in the end the will of the communes assembled seems clear— we should not live in the shadows of the caesars.
: Of the names suggested so far, Byzantion perhaps most respects our history— although I also rather like the idea of honoring the woman who brought down the Roman Empire by calling the city Sallajinople or some other such name derived from the name of Noor Sallajer.
: On the other hand, we could break entirely with tradition and give the city a name like Cosmopolis— for our cause is a universal one.
: These are just my initial reactions to the names, however. We’ve yet to see a truly decisive argument made for or against either name, so we shall continue this debate for now.
: Perhaps we’ll all come at this discussion fresher once we’ve had some time to rest. It’s been a long day.