CSR

"From the ashes anew."

- Official motto of the CSR

"Si vis pacem, para bellum."

- Vangerist saying

L'Guerriers du Monde

- Anthem of Vangerism and the Commonwealth

The Commonwealth of Socialist Republics, or CSR (Asterian: Communauté des Républiques Socialistes, CRS) is a supra-national union of Socialist states situated on the south-east of Eidora. It is a very young union, having existed only for 7 years at the beginning of the story (1914). The union came to be after three former kingdoms, with Asteria at its core, succumbed to Gracchist uprisings, and the new republics signing a treaty to begin the world revolution under one flag - the star-flower.

Their stated goal is to, unsurprisingly, unite the workers of the world under one banner, by force if necessary. As a result, the CSR is highly militarised, and it eventually finds itself taking part in a 3-year war with Radovia in what would become known as the Great Eidoran War.

Scholars are still unsure whether or not the CSR could be considered a state, an alliance, or some kind of coalition; a problem most contemporary politicians struggled with aswell.

Vangerism
Vangerism is a militaristic and revolutionary form of socialism, that grew out of the Age of Turmoil in central and eastern Eidora. Contrary to earlier socialist ideologies, Vangerism advocates armed conflict and military conquests as a mean to further socialism, as the capitalist structures of old are too rigid to collapse on its own. Thus, when Vangerism took a hold of Asteria and nearby kingdoms in 1907 and formed the CSR, the rest of Eidora prepared for a fight.

Thaddeus (1876 - 1906) and Junea Vanger (1879 - 1906) were the founders of the ideology. A lower-middle class couple, Thaddeus and Junea worked together to organise their fellow workers into unions in the kingdom of Asteria, a practise that was shunned by the authorities. After the Age of Turmoil began, worker agitation began reaching new heights, and several strikes and protests were violently shut down by police and gendarmerie. While spending time in prison, they began to formulate a new strain of Socialist thought that would bring the workers of the world together.

Vangerism is a very militant socialist ideology. While movements advocating violent overthrows of the government had existed before, Thaddeus and Junea argued that simply replacing the government of one state was not enough. No, for the revolution to truly succeed, socialist states would have to take an active role in spreading it: Vangerism thus advocates for war to liberate the workers of the world. The end goal then, postulated the Vangers, were the creation of a worldwide union of socialist states, and with it, eternal peace. It was this line of thought that would lay the foundations of the Commonwealth in 1907.

In 1906, the two Vangers were shot and killed by police during a socialist rally. Speaking to the crowd, the two had refused to stop spreading their message, and were killed during the attempted arrest of the two. The crowd, now agitated, turned on the sorrounding police and gendarmerie, killing or disarming them for their weapons. This would be the start of the Asterian revolution, which after a month resulted in the overthrow of the monarchy and the creation of the Asterian Socialist Republic.

Behind the scenes (meta)

 * The CSR is, unsurprisingly, based upon the Soviet union, and Vangerism on the theories of a world revolution.
 * The member countries, including Asteria, are mostly based upon romance-speaking languages.