Erethian Crisis

The Erethian Crisis (2958-2967) was a series of events that ultimately led to the Erethian War of Independence and creation of the Republic of Ereth. For nine years, the comparatively small state of Ereth became the center of attention in Andromeda. Ever since the Protection Act in 2970, the Tokelian Republic had become a diplomatic pariah in Andromeda while also being the ideological and historical rival of the Four United National (most notably the Lokelian People's Republic). When unrest in Ereth reached a breaking point, it became clear that this was an opportunity to weaken Tokel, and the crisis became as important to Lokel as it was for the Erethian people themselves.

The colony of Ereth is located on border between the far east and mideast, which in the days of the Lokelian Empire, meant that Ereth was an incredibly poor colony. Fortunately, the planet benefited from the trade between the two regions and became a local center of trade. This began a slow and steady process of the Erethian people becoming more than just a colonial identity. Six colonies joined Ereth in declaring independence from the Lokelian Revolutionary State during the Lokelian Revolution, creating the Erethian Social Republic. Despite being integrated back into the LPR in the Dissolution Treaty, the people of Ereth and those who inhabited the neighboring six colonies developed a distinct identity.

The Erethians faithfully fought alongside the Tokelians during the Tokelian Revolution. As a reward for their brave contribution, the state of Ereth in the new Tokelian Republic was guaranteed autonomy from the central government. This autonomy continued beyond the takeover of the Blues, but during the Age of Conflict, the autonomy of Ereth was continually violated. Before the start of the crisis, the grossest violation of their autonomy was the Lavigath Scandal, which saw the illegal execution of the governor of the state. This caused the Uprisings of 2948.

The crisis itself was started in 2958 when Erethian Liberation Army radicals bombed Serkinae District in Ereth's capital city. The attacks left 78 dead. By this point, the Closer Tokelian Relations Party was considered the de facto government of the state, and a four month long manhunt operated by them resulted in eight ELA members being arrested. Such as to not disturb the Erethians any further, the ELA members were tried and sentenced within Ereth's legal system, resulting in the execution of three and life imprisonment of the others. A year later, 200 ELA militants took around 500 hostages in the 2959 Hostage Crisis. They were held up in a state building, and when local state militia conducted an operation to free the hostages, a deadly firefight ensued, with all militants and 314 of the hostages being killed. In 2960, the CTRP founded the Erethian Internal Stability Police with the task of apprehending ELA militants and restoring order to the state. Nicknamed blackshirts, they conducted various extrajudicial forms of punishment, mostly including public execution of suspicious persons. This oppression caused the Uprisings of 2960, which resulted in a massive sweep of violence across the state. Wanting to desperately escape the deteriorating country, about 200,000 Erethian refugees migrated to the LPR, where they were accepted.

Violence calmed down for six months before getting revived by the ELA in 2961. The Red Days brought even more devastation to the state, and another 500,000 refugees fled to the LPR to escape roaming death squads and secret police. In awe of the level of destruction the crisis has brought, the issue was brought before the Grand Council by the LPR which sought to peacefully sort out this conflict before more innocent lives were lost or displaced. Rather hasty negotiations produced the Autonomous Erethian State Agreement of 2961 (GCMPA-1), which installed a four year ceasefire between the ELA and CTRP to allow for a workable solution to be created. Unfortunately, only after 403 days into the ceasefire, the ELA violently took over towns and districts of cities. As a response, the blackshirts led a brutal crackdown on possible militants in the Night of Great Terror. With the battle lines drawn, the two sides waited for the other to twitch. In 2964, the LPR was revealed to have been supplying the ELA weapons and advisors, an action the Grand Council deemed as illegal as it hostilely violated the sovereignty of a member state. Seeing this as the breaking point, the ELA openly declared itself a part of the new Republic of Ereth, thus starting the Erethian War of Independence.