May Action

May Action Mai Aktion
Protestors throwing stones at a passing Weisenburger Kriegstruppen tank.
Date 1762.8 AN Location United Principalities of Cibola Status Suppressed
Belligerents
United Principalities of Cibola	Sozialistische Arbeiterbund
Commanders and leaders
Ludwig I Albrech von Saza Heinrich von Gerßalda Julian Strauß	Erich Bosch
Units involved
1st "Weisenburger" Infantry Division Der Kaiser Local Police Forces Staatsschutzbehörde	Unorganized Protestors
Casualties and losses
2 police officers injured	4 protesters dead, 15 wounded

(WIP) The May Action (Saxon: Mai Aktion) was the suppression of socialist protests, led by the Sozialistische Arbeiterbund (Socialist Workers Federation). After protestors pelted police officers with handfuls of pebbles and small stones, the army and the Staatsschutzbehörde were controversially called in to end the protests. By nightfall, police had arrested hundreds of protestors and cataloged four dead.

Background

Even before the foundation of the UPC, trade unions and socialist movements had dominated the political landscape of Southeastern Cibola. In 1725 AN, several socialist organizations convened in the town of Geheim am Moltz and proclaimed the creation of the united Sozialistische Arbeiterbund. Initially tolerated by the government in Weisenburg, this changed when the organization began calling for strikes and protests in Bülow and Altdorf which effectively halting the shipbuilding industry in the area for over a week.

In mid-1726 AN, Erich Bosch (the Weisenburg district leader of the SAB) called for workers to walk about of their jobs and march to the seat of the parliament at the Altes Rathaus. At around 10:00 AM, workers around the city left their jobs in factories and assembled in the city square before marching to the Altes Rathaus.

The Action

Initial Clashes

As local police spotted the mass of protestors marching towards the parliament building, officers began to form a barricade on the intersection of Georgstaße and Lehrstraße. When the protestors eventually reached the barricade, they began verbally berating and harassing the officers stationed there. According to police reports and witness testimonies of those at the intersection, several protestors began throwing stones, bricks, and other objects at the officers. With all of this stress on these officers, it was inevitable someone would lose their temper and shoot.

It is unclear if the police or a protestor shot first, but before many had the chance to recognize what had happened a full on gunfight was breaking out at the intersection. Two officers, Fritz Jürgens and Felix Bernauer, were wounded by .22 mm rounds. As the situation grew evermore violent, an officer (it is not clear whom) telephoned Weisenburg Police HQ of the dire situation. This would eventually lead to a call being placed to the headquarters of the 1st Infantry Division of the Weisenburger Kriegstruppen's headquarters.