Draft:Franconations Civil War

The Franconations Civil War also known as Communard Insurgency, took place between 30 April and 3 June 2022, within the Franconations community. The conflict began when the left-wing insurgent group called the Communards realized they had no chance of winning the annual elections after receiving only 6% of the vote in the first round. The Communards took control of the community and canceled the elections before the second round. Immediate consequences of this coup were anti-insurgents cyber-attacks and ultimately a counter-coup. As a result, the Communards were dissolved, their allies Anti-Fachonations (Antifra) were excluded from the Franconations community and new elections were organized. Later, the banished Antifra formed their own separate community of French-speaking micronations.

Quickly, the community's population expressed its discontent and disapproval of the coup, but the majority of the opposition remained peaceful. A more radical group emerged, taking the name Frankish Union (FRU). Clotilde, the leader of FRU, secretly sought assistance from the military order Vinterorden, and together they began conducting numerous cyber-attacks.

Franconations Civil War
Meme depicting the main commanders of the civil war.
Date 30 April – 3 June 2022 (1 month and 3 days) Location Franconations forum, Teamspeak and Discord servers, and several Telegram channels Result Decisive FRU-aligned victory Dissolution of the Communards Definitive separation of the Franconations and Anti-Fachonations communities
Belligerents
Communards Anti-Fachonations	Frankish Union Vinterorden
Commanders and leaders
Loic Carbonneau Elsa Guevara	Clotilde unknown
Units involved
Communard guard Action Antifra	FRU hackers group unknown Vinterorden unit

Background

Franconations is an online community comprising several French-speaking micronationalists. Every year, elections are held within the community to appoint a nation or party to lead the community until the next elections. For several years, certain far-left groups had complained about not being adequately represented within the community, and the idea of a "Red Coup d'état" had been circulating since 2018.

In 2022, internal tensions are at their peak, with member nations of the community torn apart over the Russian invasion of Ukraine or French politics in general.

War

Communard coup

The Franconations Civil War also known as Communard Insurgency, took place between 30 April and 3 June 2022, within the Franconations community. The conflict began when the left-wing insurgent group called the Communards realized they had no chance of winning the annual elections after receiving only 6% of the vote in the first round. The Communards took control of the community and canceled the elections before the second round. Immediate consequences of this coup were anti-insurgents cyber-attacks and ultimately a counter-coup. As a result, the Communards were dissolved, their allies Anti-Fachonations (Antifra) were excluded from the Franconations community and new elections were organized. Later, the banished Antifra formed their own separate community of French-speaking micronations.

Quickly, the community's population expressed its discontent and disapproval of the coup, but the majority of the opposition remained peaceful. A more radical group emerged, taking the name Frankish Union (FRU). Their leader, Clotilde, secretly sought assistance from the military order Vinterorden, and together they began conducting numerous cyber-attacks.

Lyon Skirmish

In May 2022, during a meeting of micronationalists at a bar in the French city of Lyon, a fight broke out between three Communards and a sympathizer of the FRU. This was the only physical altercation of the conflict. Declared as a victory by the insurgents, this action led to the loss of a significant portion of their supporters within the Franconations community, who perceived the fight as unfair.

Operation Witches Brew

Despite numerous attacks carried out by the FRU, the Communards managed to maintain their control over the community and forced a majority of the opposition into exile. The Vinterorden then secretly took command and launched Operation Witches Brew (Vinterisk: Operasjon Vitkensbru), which infiltrated the ranks of the insurgents to orchestrate a counter-coup. The operation took several days to unfold but was a resounding success, effectively ending the civil war on 3 June 2022.

Aftermath

During the weeks following their victory, the Frankish Union organized new elections and attempted to locate every person banned from the community by the insurgents.

Anti-Fachonations founded its own community of French-speaking micronations. They were soon joined by the Communards. More aligned with their left-wing authoritarian ideology, the Anti-Fachonations community is also based on a strong revanchist sentiment, as suggested by their official motto, "A second war will come" (in French: Une seconde guerre viendra).

Six months after the conflict, Clotilde began openly communicating about the significant role of the Vinterorden in the war, a role that had been kept secret until then, at their request. On 3 June 2023, a celebration called Witches Day (in French: Jour des Sorcières) was organized on the Franconations Discord as a tribute to the Vinterorden and the Frankish Union having restored democracy within the community.