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Jul 27, 2009
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  • Hearts of Iron II: Armageddon
  • Deus Vult
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Paris, February 13th, 1936.

makhno01.jpg

The Bourse Générale du Travail erupted into roaring applause and cheers, as their recently elected Chairman walked up to the speaker's podium, shaking hands with the Premier of the Comité de Salut Public, Daniel Guérin. Slowly turning towards his audience, the Chairman raised his arms in a futile attempt to calm the thunder. With a gentle smile on his face he waited a few minutes, until the applause finally died down a bit.

"Comrades..." he began his improvised speech, and his thundering voice showed his background of talking people into a frenzy. "Today is a great day for France! Today is the day that true freedom will show itself. Anarchism does not depend on theory or programs, which try to grasp man's life in its entirety. It is a teaching, which is based on real life, which outgrows all artificial limitations, which cannot be constricted by any system."

He paused for a moment, taking a sip from the glass of water in front of him, which the parliament used to burst into applause yet again.

"Anarchism's outward form is a free, non-governed society, which offers freedom, equality and solidarity for its members. Its foundations are to be found in man's sense of mutual responsibility, which has remained unchanged in all places and times. This sense of responsibility is capable of securing freedom and social justice for all men by its own unaided efforts. It is also the foundation of true communism. Anarchism therefore is a part of human nature, communism its logical extension. I think that Godwin, Proudhon, Bakunin, Most, Kropotkin, Malatesta and even Sébastien Faure, never believed, that they could harness anarchism, a framework of immutable scientific dogma, by their theories. Instead, the teachings of anarchism represent a concerted effort to show its roots in human nature, and to prove that man's creative achievements never deviate from it; anarchism's fundamental trait, the negation of all bondage and servitude, is likewise to be found in human nature. Anarchism means freedom; socialism cannot destroy chains or bondage."

Many of the audience members turned towards Sébastien Faure at the mention of his name, only to see the old man of anarchism sit on his chair with a petrified expression on his face.

"We now know the real truths behind government. To the Jacobins and Sorelians we say: 'Shame! Dishonor! You talked such a lot about the terror of the bourgeoisie and you took the side of revolution with great zeal. But when you are in power you show yourself the same old fools, the same lackeys of the bourgeoisie, and slaves of their methods. You have turned yourselves into bourgeois.' You know that the exploitation and suppression of the working majority is inherent in this system, that the vicious life of sloth is not cast aside in socialism, but that it merely masquerades under another name before spreading and taking root again. This is the Truth! Liberalism, socialism, Bolshevism; they are three brothers who go their different ways to grab power over man. This power is used to block man's advance towards self-realization and independence."

For a moment there was a stunned silence hanging over the room. No one had expect the Chairman to confront his enemies so openly and especially during his inauguration speech. While some were sitting on their chairs with their mouths wide open, others (especially the minority of Sorelians and Jacobins) showed open contempt now.

"TO REBELLION! This is the cry of the anarchist revolutionary to the exploited. Power is used by those who have never really lived by the work of their hands. Government power will never let workers tread the road to freedom; it is the instrument of the lazy who want to dominate others, and it does not matter if the power is in the hand of the bourgeois, the socialists or the Bolsheviks, it is degrading. There is no government without teeth, teeth to tear any man who longs for a free and just life. Brothers; drive out the power in yourselfs. Never let it fascinate you or your brothers. A true collective life is not built with programs or with governments but with the freedom of mankind, with its creativity and its independence. The freedom of any individual carries within it the seed of a free and complete community without government, a free society that lives in organic and decentralized totality, united in its pursuit of the great human goal: Anarchist Communism! TO REBELLION!"

And with this final cry, Nestor Makhno turned around walked towards his seat again, while the Anarchiste faction carried on his cry "TO REBELLION! TO REBELLION! TO REBELLION!".


Two young man stood in the shadows on the sidelines and watched the enraged Sorelians and Jacobins walk out of the room with their face twisted by hate. "Well Maurice..." the younger one of the two said and casually lighted his cigarette. "I guess our work will start earlier than we expected..."



===============
The speech is taken in parts from "The Anarchist Revolution" by Nestor Makhno.

((Welcome to my very first AAR. I hope you'll enjoy the ride into Anarchist Communism, we'll see where exactly it'll take us. :D))
 
Will be Makhno supreme leader of CoF? I think that you can chose him on elections via event. Looks like it will be interesting story.
 
Yes, the anarchists won the elections and Nestor Makhno succeeded Sébastien Faure as the Head of State (or Chairman of the Bourse Générale du Travail).
We'll see how his competitors will react. ;)
 
Goddamn, it's like a total Kaiserreich revival :eek:. Did you know about 80% of all currently active AARs are now Kaiserreich ones?

Not that this is bad, of course, KR is awesome.

Viva la republique!
Liberté, (and since were anarchist) Liberté, et encore plus de liberté!
 
Goddamn, it's like a total Kaiserreich revival :eek:. Did you know about 80% of all currently active AARs are now Kaiserreich ones?
[/B]


Does my mixed AAR falls in KR group too? :D

I saw some CoF AAR's but I don't know if any of them were completed. I wish this one will be complete Syndicalist world conquest(not CoF world conquest alias paint world blue, but conquest with allies and puppets).
 
Does my mixed AAR falls in KR group too? :D

I saw some CoF AAR's but I don't know if any of them were completed. I wish this one will be complete Syndicalist world conquest(not CoF world conquest alias paint world blue, but conquest with allies and puppets).

In that case, you have my full support sir :p. Are you using the Author GFX kit? It could help out with picture editing, I'm working on uploading a new version atm

-Vincent
 
As I have been asked:
Settings are Normal/Normal. Mostly because I suck at fighting multi-front wars, but also because I wanna focus on storytelling.
Concerning changes I might have a small problem, cause I wanted to write some events of my own, but now realized, that I have no idea how to do that.
So if anyone would like to help me out, please drop me a line. ;)

@KaiserMuffin: Yeah, I always thought Makhno to be a fascinating person, so who else to choose as a HoS? :D

@XHR: Great to have you aboard, old friend. You'll read more about Maurice soon.

@TRP: Huh, I didn't know, but I like it as well.

@Zauberflöte: Yeah, I don't think the forum had one of those before. ;)


First update coming up soon. :)
 
February 14th, 1936
8:13 AM
Paris, XXe arrondissement

mairie20earrondissement.jpg

The town hall of the 20th Arrondissement

Seraphine Lefèvre winced noticably, when she heard another outburst of anger through the closed wooden door. She had been working as Monsieur Duclos' secretary for two years now, but this was the first time she was indeed afraid for her life. Marcel Cachin and Maurice Thorez had arrived about half an hour ago and the shouting hadn't stopped since. Seraphine wasn't able to understand the words, but she was sure that the anger in their voices focused on Nestor Makhno and the Anarchists, and the fact that the Jacobins under Monsieur Cachin had lost the elections. With a sigh she turned back towards the files she was sorting, she didn't really care alot for politics and again she wondered what in the world had driven her to take this job...


thorezcachinduclos.jpg

Marcel Cachin - Jacques Duclos - Maurice Thorez


"Marcel... will you please calm down now?" Jacques Duclos leaned back in his worn leather chair and carefully adjusted his glasses, looking up at his long time comrade. "I already told you, that you have no reason to act up like this."

"And how am I supposed to stay calm, when this upstart, this ukrainian dog, not only insults us, but also compares us to the bourgeoisie?" Marcel Cachin paced up and down through the office, gesturing wildly, but now at least trying to keep his voice down.

"Well, I don't know if you forgot, but I am still Chief of the General Staff of the Communal Army and the Commander of Communal Ground Forces, while our good friend Marcel Déat is the Commander of Communal Navy, which means that we can count on the support of most of the soldiers." Duclos replied with a fine smile on his lips. "And I can assure you, that our dear Maurice here, has plans of his own."

Cachin's eyes darted back and forth between Duclos and Thorez, who didn't say anything and just looked at some notes he took before. "Yes... a purge to free us from those crétins. The streets will be awash with their blood." he whispered more to himself and a diabolic smile showed on his face.


df3emptyhotelroom.jpg

An abandoned house two blocks away...


The eyes of the two young found each other and they both knew the other thought. Slowly the younger one removed his headphones and ran his fingers through his dark hair. "I told you, they'd be stupid enough to talk about their plans in Duclos' office, but who could have known how far they are willing to go?" His voice was still shivering from the shock. He wasn't really expecting his silent friend to answer when he stood up and looked out the window, so when he heard Maurice's voice, he jerked a bit and raised an eyebrow.

"Say Albi... would you like to get to know someone by the name of Seraphine Lefèvre?"
 
@Strombringer: Welcome aboard. I'll let you know, when I know what I want. ;)

@XHR: I'm just wondering how long I should keep up those secrets, but you'll see how it works out in the end. :D

@yourworstnightm: Will France erupt in another civil war, or will someone be able to stop the Jacobins? We'll see...

@General_Hoth: I wish I was able to understand the lyrics. :D


Quick interlude coming up soon. Next proper update probably tomorrow. :)
 
A short interlude

A Letter to Spain

carbopestana.jpg

Eusebio Carbó - Ángel Pestaña


Dear Comrades Carbó and Pestaña!


Convey to our Spanish friends and comrades and, through them, to all the workers in general my encouragement to them not to let their resolution falter in the revolutionary process which has been launched, as well as to make haste in uniting around a practical programme drafted of a specific ideological direction. At all costs there must be no let up in the pace of the masses' revolutionary action. On the contrary, we must rush to help them compel (by force if there is no other way, no other means) the acting monarchist government which is hindering and distracting the revolution with its absurd decrees to desist from such harmful endeavours.

The Spanish toilers - workers, peasants and working intelligentsia - must unite and display the utmost revolutionary energy so as to conjure into existence a situation whereby the monarchy may be precluded from opposing the revolution and the people, the seizure of land, factories and full freedoms: a situation that would thus become more and more widespread and irreversible. It is crucial that no effort be spared so that the Spanish working people grasp this and understand that to let this make-or-break moment slip by whilst remaining inactive and making do with the mere passing of verbal resolutions which come to nothing, would be tantamount to unwittingly playing into the hands of the revolution's enemies, allowing them to seize the initiative and giving them time to recover and then to snuff out the revolution that is underway.

To that end, there is a need for a union of anarchist forces, most especially in the shape of the foundation of a great Peasant Union that would federate with the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), and within which anarchists must work untiringly. It is also vital that the workers get help to establish, on the spot, organs of economic and social self-management or Free Soviets, as well as armed forces for the defence of the revolutionary social measures that they will inevitably be imposing once they have come to their senses and broken all the chains of their slavish condition. Only in this way and through such methods of social action will the revolutionary working masses be capable of striking while the iron is hot against the attempt by a new system of exploitation to drive the revolution off course.

As I see it, the Federación Anarquista Ibérica (FAI) and the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo must take this problem seriously. To that end, they must be able to call upon action groups in every village and town. Likewise, they must not be afraid to assume the reins of the strategic, organizational and theoretical revolutionary leadership of the popular movement. Obviously they will have to avoid any union with the political parties in general and with the bolshevik-communists in particular, for I imagine that the Spanish bolshevik-communists will be worthy imitators of their Russian friends. They will follow in the footsteps of the Jesuit Lenin, not hesitating to assert their monopoly over all the gains of the revolution, with an eye to establishing the power of their party in the country, and the silencing of all free revolutionary tendencies and of all independent toilers' organizations. Indeed they see themselves as holding power alone and being in a position to control all freedoms and rights in the revolution. So they will inevitably betray both their allies and the very cause of the Revolution.

Let the experience of the russian civil war be a warning to you. May the calamity of Russian bolshevik-communism never take root in the revolutionary soil of Spain!

Long live the union of the workers, peasants and working intellectuals of the whole of Spain!

Long live the Spanish revolution as it strides towards a new world of increasingly liberating gains, under the banner of anarchism!


With my fraternal best wishes,

Nestor Makhno



============
The original letter of Nestor Makhno was published in:
Probuzhdeniye, N°23-27, June-October 1932, pp. 77-78.
I took the liberty of editing it in the sake of the alternate Timeline.
 
Hm... so the Spanish Civil War starts and the Communist Anarchists seek to influence it? Or did I get it wrong?

Well, it didn't start yet. But the CNT-FAI took their first steps in protesting against the policies of the current government. Makhno supports them in their goals, but also warns that they might have to take up arms, as he wrote: "if there is no other way, no other means".

When the war starts, and it will start sooner or later, the Commune of France will stand at the side of their spanish brothers, of course. ;)