Southern Civil War
On Winter 20 TN1948, the Southern Republic experienced a traumatic shift in its culture. Louise deRouen had set the stage to oust her political rival, Lord Protector Jacques Molay, from his position as the head of the Allied Southern Territories.
Molay struck first and declared a coup against the Louise (and thus her father) and their power base, the Estates General. With nearly half of the SRA and MILICIA throwing its support in with Molay, the bloody civil war would only last a few weeks.
Louise used her popular influence to sway the league’s population against the Molay’s forces and drew many of the rebelling legions back into the loyalist forces. The civil war was famously concluded by formal single combat between the chosen duelists of the Legion Noire and the loyalists. Sous-Lt. Laura Pestre, representing the loyalists, defeated her opponent on the Champs de Mars in Port Oasis.
The rebellious legions were allowed to return to service, but the image of the SRA was severely tainted by the civil war. The Legion Noire, which had long been the pride of the SRA, had, with the exception of the 2nd Regiment, joined Molay’s coup. After the civil war, officers and NCOs of the rebellious legions were given a choice of joining the Westphalia Cabinet’s military operations in the newly formed Terra Nova Defense Initiative or facing expulsion to the ranks of the MILICIA. The few executions to occur in the aftermath came from the ranks of the MILICIA’s senior officers.
Jacques Molay and his inner circle, including Prefect Anastazia Orsat of the Legion Noire, escaped into the Mekong Dominion with the secret help of Speaker Logan and Lord Chancellor Etienne Durocher.
With the civil war’s end, the Southern Republic was put in a severe disadvantage at the outset of the second CEF invasion.