1689 Normark coup d'état
| 1689 Normark coup d'état | |||||
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| Belligerents | |||||
 Normark
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||
| Units involved | |||||
 316th Army
| Elian Militia
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Background
Following the dissolution of the premiership of Ethan Setsman under disputed circumstances the 1688 Normark political crisis had culminated in the storming of the Nordisketing by the Elian Militia and the detention of Sigrid Årud and a number of her Einhornselskapet followers. The Court of the Prince had however rejected the "autocoup" by Setsman and continued to recognise Sigrid Årud as the Speaker of the Nordisketing, whilst concurrently retaining the seat on the Council of Eliria in her name whilst she was held in detention in Konungsheim Elieru.
Nearly a full year of negotiation between commissioners appointed by the government in Normark and the Court of the Prince, fronted by Zarmihr Hazarwuxt, the Inspector of the Autonomous Republics, ensued. These talks were to prove fraught with difficulty, with Setsman's delegates seeking recognition of his resumption of power and the suppression of the Einhorn Society whilst Hazarwuxt's mandate was to return Sigrid Årud and ensure that she did not face the threatened prosecution that loomed over the so-called "Umeå hytte affair". At stake ultimately, although both sides attempted to delicately talk around the point, was Normark's continuation as an autonomous republic within the Riqi Elluenuuerssuarion and its survival as a democracy.
There was also the question of the fate of Tarjei Thorgilsson to be considered. A mid-ranking employee of the Honourable Company and President of the Sårensby chapter of the Einhornselskapet, Tarjei had been declared, to his surprise and against his wishes, as Statsminister by Sigrid Årud during the controversial vote of no-confidence in the Setsman administration. He had enjoyed no opportunity to obtain, still less to exercise, the powers of this however as the Elian Militia had quickly rallied to the cause of the Setsman and the FJBP-government. Instead he was swiftly obliged to flee his home and seek sanctuary in the UDF cantonment in Sårensby. Since then the barracks of the 35th Territorial Division had been cordoned off by roadblocks placed by Elian militiamen from the Committee of Security and Defence for the city. This cordon had then itself been surrounded by armoured personnel carriers from the 58th Territorial Division, forcing the militia to divide their efforts between creating lines of circumvallation and contravallation facing inwards and outwards respectively. Over time these defensive positions became more complex, beginning as barricades and roadblocks formed from empty fuel drums and overturned trolley cars but gradually coming to resemble fortifications as the year wore on and temporary structures were replaced by concrete blast barriers and manned entry control points protected by sentry-guns and closed-circuit surveillance systems. The outposts of the 58th Territorial Division, initially parked armoured vehicles with sandbags heaped around them to form sangars, had been replaced by pillboxes formed of pre-fabricated concrete sections dropped into place by crane and protected by reels of barbed wire. These positions, manned by the 58th Territorial Division had themselves come under a form of siege by daily protests and nightly riots by FJBP, socialist, and Ayreonist activists, as well as criminal elements which had begun to associate themselves with the deepening disorder. Prohibited from dispersing the crowds with lethal force, the UDF was obliged to respond to fireworks and Florian cocktails with barrages of teargas and rubber bullets. The Elian Militia was strongly suspected as having an organising role in the protests, fostering mutual suspicion and recriminations which hampered efforts to negotiate the raising of the original siege.
