| Second Martian Revolution | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| United States Martian Colonies |  MSIF
| ||||||||
| Commanders | |||||||||
| Colonial Leaders | Revolutionary Leaders | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 35,000 | 11,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 3,000 | 7,000 | ||||||||
The Second Martian Revolution or the Martian Rebellion of 2129 was a political movement that took place on Mars from 2125 to 2131, culminating in an armed uprising in 2129. The political movement continued for two years after the Bradbury Riots, and is considered to have ended with Lionel Halvidar's run for the American Presidency.
Names[]
The terms used for the movement often reflect the viewpoint of the writer. In modern Terran, the war is often referred to as the Martain Rebellion of 2129, reflecting both a Nationalist and an Earth-centrist point of view that the MSIF represented anti-American separatist values. In the 2120s, the ITC did not label the conflict a civil uprising, but a contemporary political movement, since the MSIF was one of many political factions taking part, and one of the only ones espousing violence.
History[]
Origins[]
Mars, while under the Interplanetary Trade Commission in the early 22nd Century, suffered a series of economic problems, and political embarrassments at the hands of the Earth-based anti-colonial powers; in particular, the humiliating abandonment of the colonies by the United States government on Earth during the Guardiola Incident. The Terrran government of the United States, led exclusively by Earth-born citizens, was seen by much of the Martian population, as an ineffective and corrupt regime. Anti-Earth sentiments were strongest in the Western Araby colonies among the rural artisan and agrarian classes, who felt so disaffected by ITC's rule that they flocked to join Maisie Luong, a second generation Martian, and charismatic veteran of the Guardiola Incident.
For decades Mars and the rest of the system's colonies saw their populations grow from a stream of colonists from Earth. By the 2130 census Mars's population had reached 3 Billion citizens, and hundreds of territories. Resident commissioners from these territories constituted a large and deafening voice in the US Congress on Earth, nearly matching the number of every Representative and Senator. Yet their voices were always treated as secondary to the voices of their Terran counterparts. For a time, this arrangement wasn't detrimental to either side. The colonists governed themselves without meddling from Earth, and the nations of Earth were free to act with minimal interruption from the colonies. The bad blood between the colonies and Earth after the Guardiola Incident, had turned from contempt to apathy among the majority of the population. As the situation on Earth deteriorated, however, that feeling began to turn to fear and that fear fed the forces of reaction.
As the struggle between Mexico and the US threatened to explode into a far worse war than any in this century knew, the colonies feared that such a conflict might spread to them; the specter of the Guardiola Incident continued to haunt the minds of the colonists. Mexico had been steadily weaponizing their Orbitals since 2115, and it was no secret that Mexico wanted a piece of the colonies for themselves. This gave fuel to the long dormant Independence movement in the colonies, particularly the Mars Society for Independence and Freedom, which began a more aggressive and often militant push for a formal separation from the United States on Earth.
Early Years[]
The MSIF argued that only as an independent power could Mars and the rest of the colonies hope to defend themselves, and achieve the rights that the US on Earth had long denied them. Luong rallied her supporters across the planet through propaganda and marches on territory Capitols, often clashing with local police forces. As the Dignidad Party on Earth continued their tirade against the colonies, and Mexico conducted more drills with their Orbitals, the MSIF got louder and more aggressive.
Bradbury Riots[]
Halvidar had publicly debated Luong herself to quell the calls for independence, but as the MSIF became more militant, Halvidar eventually advised police and territorial militias to increase their presence at locations where the MSIF held their rallies. It all came to a head when Luong and her supporters stormed the Headquarters of the ITC in Bradbury. Luong hoped to overthrow the ITC, which she and her supporters had come to see as lap dogs of the US government on Earth, and Halvidar as a political threat. Flying red flags and brandishing old weapons and armor from the Guardiola Incident, five thousand MSIF stalwarts clashed with the police November 11, 2130. Halvidar called out the territorial militia, and eventually the Mars Planetary Guard to put the mob down, and never left the ITC headquarters during the riots. After the violence had ended, Halvidar declared the MSIF to be a "clear and present danger" to the colonies (something the Chairman of the ITC didn't actually have the power to do) and ordered the arrest of every member for treason. The majority of the MSIF was arrested or killed in the raids on their safe-houses following the Bradbury Riots; Luong herself was killed during one such raid. While the MSIF was destroyed, Luongist supporters from Tharsis to Araby have continued to fly the red flag against the ITC and the US on Earth, a constant reminder of the tensions that threaten to tear the Union apart.
Aftermath[]
In contrast to the MSIF, and the Independence Movement, the majority of the colonists have renewed calls for full integration into the Union, flooding the Congress of with pro-integration Resident Commissioners. ITC Chairman, Lionel "Leo" Halvidar has been the driving force behind this renewed call to action. A longtime advocate for integration, and one of the most active Chairmen in living memory, Halvidar was seen by most as a moderate between the revolutionaries in the colonies, and the established forces on Earth. The Levin Administration, having lashed itself to Dignidad party leader David Castillo, could do little to answer these calls, being paralyzed with fear over a civil war in the Homeland. Halvidar lobbied the government on Earth with one message, "Bring the colonies into the Union, or you will face TWO rebellions." With the parties busy tearing themselves apart over the 2130 midterms, it doesn't seem likely that this warning will be heeded by the leadership of Earth.
While some in the colonies feared being pulled into a war on Earth, others colonial leaders believed that even if war did not spread to the colonies, Earth would be devastated by a conflict between Mexico and the US, and the colonies would be left to manage untold waves of refugees. With Mars's population reaching its cap, and Venus still not fully Terraformed, this was simply not an option. To prepare for the possibility of devastation on Earth, or outright war, the ITC quietly funded the construction of a series of ruggedized, high speed spacecraft in the Asteroid Belt. They would not be outfitted with weapons, and be crewed only for running relief efforts to the Earth, but the ITC knew they were building a fleet to either end a war on Earth, or at least prevent one on Mars.