Dradelian Revolutionary Front
Dradelian Revolutionary Front | |
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Leader | Rilgar Ompastre |
Ideology | • Republicanism • Separatism • Dradelian Nationalism |
Colours | Navy Blue |
King's Council | 2 / 49
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Papal Directorate | 0 / 5
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Country | ![]() |
The Dradelian Revolutionary Front (DRF) is a political and armed organisation that agitates for Dradelian independence and separation from the Kingdom of Sorrenia. The party controls a large area of Dradelia, where the Sorrenian Royal Army are often unable to patrol. In recent months, the DRF has moderated its position, hoping to secure greater autonomy for Dradelia under a left-wing Sorrenian government.
![](/images/en/images/images/thumb/7/78/Sorrenianrebels.png/250px-Sorrenianrebels.png)
Yellow: Kingdom of Sorrenia
Blue: Dradelian Revolutionary Front
Red: Socialist League
History
Dradelian Separatism in the Sorrenian Federation
Dradelia predates Sorrenia by several years, developing a distinct culture and language of its own. Dradelia initially comprised only a small region in and around Easington Village and Colliery. In 2013 (the year of Sorrenia's creation), Dradelia was divided between the Ashukov Federation and the Sorrenian Federation; the latter in turn greatly expanded their claim to encompass Horden and Blackhall Colliery. After Ashukovo's dissolution, Sorrenia claimed northern Dradelia, resulting in a persistent Sorrenian claim over the entirety of Dradelia.
Under the Sorrenian Federation, calls for separatism were almost non-existent; the founder of Dradelia, Rilgar Ompastre was also a Sorrenian politician, ultimately becoming its president. Though Dradelian politicians secured devolution on various matters, independence was rarely presented as a serious consideration.
Independence and War of the Sorrenian Succession
After the dissolution of the Sorrenian Federation, coup, and establishment of the State of Sorrenia, Dradelia became nominally independent. Between the years of 2016 and 2018, Dradelia retained independence over its entire territory, including the southern areas first taken by Sorrenia, which had at this point become a core region of Dradelia. Like Sorrenia however, these years constituted a period of inactivity within Dradelia, with few regular undertakings.
Despite this, Dradelia did develop a well-equipped military; the Dradelian National Army had access to multiple hand-to-hand and ranged weapons, and occasionally conducted patrols throughout rural Dradelia.
As the War of the Sorrenian Succession flared up, the DNA was put on high alert, and prepared for a potential attack from the west. On the second of April, remnants of the Socialist League of Sorrenia snuck into Dradelia from the south-west, holing up in Horden. In response, the DNA marched south to meet them. In the 'Horden Carnage', the already weakened League was almost completely obliterated, though were ultimately saved by a Royalist attack on Dradelia from the north-west. The DNA turned to meet the royalists in Easington Village, but were ultimately defeated. Though Dradelia's ally, the Kingdom of Morgannwg invaded Sorrenia, they too were defeated, and Dradelia was once again subsumed into Sorrenia.
Continued Insurgency
Almost immediately, the DNA reformed as the Dradelian Revolutionary Front, a paramilitary organisation founded with the intention of restoring Dradelia to independence and ousting Sorrenia from the region. The DRF inherited the large stockpile of weapons owned by the Dradelian military, most of which the royalists had failed to confiscate. At the same time, the DRF established a political wing to agitate for independence through the King's Council. A newspaper named the Dradelian Herald was also established, which developed a large readership both in Dradelia and surrounding regions, especially in the town of Seaham in Sunderland.
As the Sorrenian Royal Army focused on establishing various new institutions in Sorrenia, the DRF took over Easington Village and Colliery. Rilgar Ompastre, leader of the DRF, signed a new alliance with Adam Scargill and the remnants of the Socialist League, who retained control over most of Horden.
Despite multiple attempts to oust the DRF, the Sorrenian Royal Army was repeatedly unable to remove the insurgents from the region, predominantly due to their use of guerilla warfare and Fabian tactics. The strong support for the DRF within the Easington population, combined with many burns which provided ample hiding spots for the insurgents, allowed the DRF to re-emerge after each Sorrenian campaign. By July 2018, the Sorrenian government moved to a policy of containment, limiting the DRF's effective range to areas east of the A19 road, north of Peterlee and south of Hawthorn. Sorrenian politician and monarchist Richard Brooker was also instrumental in securing multiple ceasefires, though these were at times broken by Phillip Pompeia, Captain of the Royal Army in Dradelia.
Thanks to the policy of containment, and intermittent ceasefires, the Dradelian conflict entered into an uneasy peace, in which the DRF retained de facto control over Easington, but little more. Throughout this period, the DRF had a member of parliament in the King's Council, and in July 2018 also accepted an independent elected in nearby Seaham into the party, who represented the growing Mackem Dradelian identity.
Premiership of Michelle Livennson
In the November 2019 election, Harold Wanton and The Republicans received a plurality of the vote and seats in the King's Council, and were able to form a coalition government with the Christian Alliance and Hortanian National Party. Central to their campaign promise of reform was their desire to reach a settlement with the DRF and Socialist League. The government passed a reform bill in December which increased the number of constituencies in underrepresented populations: within this bill, Dradelia received a second constituency, doubling its representation. This agreement was sufficient to cause Adam Scargill and the Socialist League to abandon their armed struggle. After reforming the Communist Party of Sorrenia, Scargill went on to win the new constituency in the January 2020 election.
These changes spurred on an internal discussion within the DRF, between those who wished to continue armed struggle, and those who wished to moderate their approach and message. In January 2020, Wanton attempted a cabinet reshuffle which removed several prominent Republicans from the Small Council. In retaliation, Michelle Livennson and Mark Elster - whom had both been removed - launched a party leadership campaign, which saw Livennson narrowly defeat Wanton. This exacerbated the ongoing political crisis in Sorrenia, as the Christian Alliance and HNP abandoned the coalition, and Livennson ousted several moderate Republicans from the Council. During her short 21 day tenure as Prime Minister however, Livennson secured a new arrangement with the Dradelian Revolutionary Front. Bringing them into the (now minority) government, Livennson convinced the DRF to abandon their armed struggle and moderate their party platform, away from separatism and towards agitation for autonomy. This decision was extremely controversial, with every other party in Sorrenia criticising Livennson for welcoming separatist rebels into the Sorrenian government. Nonetheless, Livennson's decision opened up the possibility of ending the Dradelian armed struggle.
Livennson was ousted from government after the January 2020 election alongside the DRF. This produced a new status quo in which the exact aims of the Dradelian Revolution were now unclear. The DRF's new party manifesto was ambiguous as to whether they supported separatism, and Rilgar Ompastre refused to answer questions relating to his willingness to take up arms again in the future. The Livennson compromise brought to the forefront a rift within the DRF, between those supportive of armed struggle and separatism, and those supportive of political struggle only.
Political Wing
The DRF engages in wider Sorrenian politics, albeit with the explicit aim of leaving Sorrenia. The political wing has been criticised for overlap with the party's armed wing. Currently, the DRF has created an alliance with The Republicans - despite prior conflict, both parties are avowedly left-wing and republican, hence the current allegiance.
Armed Wing
The DRF retains a strong armed core, and has been described by the Sorrenian Advisor on Security as 'the greatest internal threat now posed'. Members are said to possess rudimentary bows, rockets and tomahawks, as well as support from the localities.
The armed wing controls all of Easington and Easington Colliery, where Dradelia was originally centred. They also control a slither of land along the B1283, connecting them with Socialist League forces.
DRF forces occasionally conduct missions in surrounding settlements such as Hawthorn and Peterlee; although the Sorrenian Royal Army largely controls such areas therefore, contestation still occurs.
Electoral Performance
The DRF is extremely popular within Dradelia, winning around 70-80% of the vote during elections. The party is most popular in areas east of the A19.
In the June 2018 election, several members of the DRF resigned in protest at the party running a candidate in the Seaham constituency of Sunderland. The candidate won, which has spurred on the growth of Mackem Dradelians, much to the disdain of many members of the DRF.
Election year | % | seats won | +/- | Government |
---|---|---|---|---|
2018 I | 7 | 1 / 12
|
▲ 1 | No in opposition |
2018 II | 7.5 | 2 / 21
|
▲ 1 | No in opposition |
2018 III | 4 | 2 / 47
|
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No in opposition |
2018 IV | 1 | 1 / 47
|
▼ 1 | No in opposition |
2019 I | 1 | 1 / 47
|
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No in opposition |
2019 II | 1 | 1 / 47
|
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No in opposition |
2020 I | 1 | 1 / 58
|
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No in opposition |
Timeline of Party Leaders
Picture | Name | Term start | Term end | Notes |
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Rilgar Ompastre | 04/04/18 | Incumbent | Micronational veteran of Sorrenia, founded Dradelia in 2013; advocated for independence, although maintains personal friendships with many Sorrenians |
Party Factions
The DRF is rather homogeneous internally, and in practice centres its policy agenda solely on Dradelian independence. Nonetheless, two cultural factions can be identified:
• Nationalists - the larger of the two, the Nationalists base their conception of Dradelian culture on its slavic, micronationalist roots
• Socialists - while the faction doesn't necessarily advocate left-wing policies, they base their conception of Dradelian identity more so on the proletarian demography of the area and Dradelia's socialist history
Policies
• Republicanism - the DRF opposes King Ronald's claim to the throne, and seeks to restore a republican mode of government
• Dradelian Independence - the DRF has stated that its sole aim is to 'free Dradelia from Sorrenian rule'
• Dradelian Nationalism - The DRF proudly describes itself as a nationalist, self-deterministic movement
• Left-wing Nationalism - the DRF generally incorporates aspects of Socialist imagery into its conceptualisation of Dradelian nationalism, although not without some internal debate