Years 1968-1972: The Beginning
The summer of the year 1968 in the Kingdom of Vacuo seemed charged with worry and excitement. The King, Huojin the Third, was powerless to stop the election of a fairly new political group calling itself the Authoritarianist Party, which had been humiliatingly defeated in the Governing Council elections of 1964 and 1960. Led by a charismatic speaker and a veteran of the Great War, Gris Manchette, the party would capture 71 out of 114 seats in the Assembly and 16 out of 24 seats in the Senate, gaining control over the government and giving Manchette the position of Prime Minister.
This would prove to be the last true election in Vacuo for years to come. By December 1968, the Authoritarianists had outlawed all other political parties and had proposed an amendment to Vacuo's constitution that would grant almost all power to the Prime Minister. When Huojin III threatened to veto it, they threatened to kill him and his family, though this was not revealed until much later. Thus, in 6 short months, Vacuo had transformed from a parliamentary monarchy into a dictatorship.
Once they had the power, they got to work to transform Vacuo into what they called "the Great Society." They immediately passed laws forbidding humans and faunus from marrying, and then went further by passing laws banning sexual relations between them, as well as between persons of the same gender. Then, in 1971, they passed the Menagerie Laws.
Vacuo had purchased an island near Mistral in 1970 as part of a treaty to resolve several issues that came about due to the Great War. It was ironic in the regard that what was meant to be a deal of peace would ultimately lead to war. This island was named Menagerie for the abundant wildlife on the island, as well as the small population of people that was disproportionately faunus. It was believed that this island was where they first originated over 100,000 years ago, according to the theory of evolution. It would prove to be a nightmare for them.
The Menagerie Laws stipulated that the government would "encourage" all faunus to move to the Menagerie Special Territory, and anyone who didn't would be required to register with the government and carry ID cards, as well as pay a yearly fine. It also stripped faunus of their citizenship and reclassified them as state subjects. Additionally, it forbade human females under the age of 45 from working in faunus-owned businesses and households, supposedly for their protection. Among the many other things it banned were:
* Books that were considered un-Vacuouan, including books by faunus authors.
* Faunus from flying or displaying Vacuouan flags or emblems.
* Faunus from visiting government-owned property.
* Faunus and human children from attending the same schools.
* Faunus and human patients from attending the same hospitals.
* Faunus from medical, police, military, rescue, and firefighting positions, paid and volunteer.
In the run-up to the passage of these laws, Manchette cracked down on people in his own party, particularly the infamous Blue Shirts, the old street gang that affiliated with and heavily supported the party in its infancy. Their leader was a man named Citron Fulvous. There were many rumours that he was a homosexual. After all, he was 56 years old and had never married. Manchette also planned to force the Deputy Prime Minister, Liao Guowei, to resign. He was quietly against the anti-faunus policies of the Authoritarianists, but he was rather old, being 74 years old, and since his old political party, the Social Democratic Party, had been banned, he had no one to back him up.
On August 7, 1970, the Night of the Gun Barrels took place. Fulvous was captured in his house with, sure enough, a sexual partner who was also a man. They were both taken to Fulvous's backyard and lined up against a wall. They were then shot to death by 6 secret police officers from the National Security Office, which would later commit unspeakable atrocities against faunus. Liao Guowei, under the threat of death, submitted a resignation to Parliament, which was quickly accepted. In a single night, 26 were killed and exactly 1,864 were arrested, 442 of which were later executed for "treason." Liao Guowei was not arrested, but he lived the rest of his life as a recluse until his death from diabetes in 1977. The official explanation from the government was that the Blue Shirts were planning a coup d'etat. This was obviously proven not true after the fall of the regime.
Who Was Gris Manchette?
Gris Lautrec Manchette was born on April 9, 1920, in the small village of Gury. His father died when he was 12, leaving his mother to care for him. His older brother was named Henri, and worked as a shopkeeper.
In 1935, the Great War broke out, pitting Vacuo, Atlas, and several lesser states against Vale, Mistral, and several other lesser states. After Henri, who was 21, joined the military, Gris signed up by faking his age. For the next 5 years, he fought on the Vale-Vacuo Front, receiving several citations for bravery in action. Tragically, his brother Henri was killed in action in 1938 while leading what would prove to be a very successful charge against a heavily fortified Valeanian bunker, resulting in him being posthumously awarded the Cross of Valor, the highest military award in Vacuo, alongside 2 other living soldiers and 1 dead soldier in his unit.
In 1940, faced with Valeanian forces being just 300 miles from the capital city of Port Vacuo, and Atlas pulling out of the war with a peace treaty a year before, Vacuo surrendered. In the Treaty of Port Vacuo, Vacuo was forced to pay over 20 billion US Dollars to Vale and Mistral each. The only problem was, the war had crippled Vacuo's economy. For the next 28 years, Vacuo's economy stagnated, and unemployment hovered at 15-18%.
After the war, Gris was unemployed and bored. While looking for a place to stay, a friend suggested he go with him to a political sciences study, sparking his interests in political science. For the next 5 or so years, Gris attended many debates and seminars about politics in Vacuo. At one of these debates, he met a group of people called the Vacuouan Authoritarianist Party. He joined them soon afterwards.
On July 7, 1946, he became their leader and set about expanding the party. He began a pamphlet-spreading campaign. Around August, a biker gang composed of Great War veterans named the Blueshirts contacted Gris, saying they wholeheartedly agreed with his positions. He accepted them in and made it the pseudo-armed wing of the party. At the time, many political parties had street gangs that would often battle on the streets. Over the years, the Blueshirts developed a strong rivalry with the Collectivist Party of Vacuo, who had the Red Guard.
The 1948 elections were the first time the party held any seats in office, gaining 13 seats in Provincial Legislatures. Even so, it was miniscule. That same year, Gris published The Authoritarianist Papers, a book that provided an account of his life and laid out his goals for Vacuo and his political opinions, as well as his virulent racism towards faunus.
Until 1956, the party held no seats in the National Parliament. Then, in 1956, they captured 5 seats in the Assembly. In 1960, this increased to 16 Assembly seats and 3 Senate seats. Gris was impressed with his work, but many highly doubt he could have done it without the help of several key allies:
1. Bo Jintao, the head of the party's campaign section, who would later become the Minister of Information.
2. Joseph LaFleur, who was a member of a Provincial Legislature from 1948 to 1956 before being elected to the Assembly from 1956 to 1964. After the party rose to power, he became the Minister of Security and War.
3. Robin Chauveau, who would later become the Deputy Chancellor of Vacuo.
4. Jou Peng, a key ally in the Royal Vacuouan Air Force who would later become the Senior General of the Air Force.
5. Henri Lagune, a key ally in the Royal Vacuouan Army, who eventually became the General of the Armies of Vacuo.
All 5 of these allies would later be implicated in various war crimes alongside Gris Manchette himself.