The Day of Lead Rain
The Day of Lead Rain was a violent military coup that took place in the Corstaean Parliament House during the 04/07/1942 sitting that saw the assassinations of the Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, Minister of State, Minister of Commerce, and all but three present nationalists and militarists, resulting in the installation of progressive civilian ministers, the liberal party becoming the majority, and the Council and House of Commons being given equal power.
Prelude¶
Dissatisfied with the rapidly growing militarism and extreme nationalism in the Corstaean government at the time, and seeing the strong disapproval of the general public, parts of the Corstaean Armed Forces began planning in secret to overthrow the current government. Since the Home Guard were assigned to guard Parliament House already, the Home Guard was decided to execute the coup themselves. Later secret meetings between the Home Guard and the national police saw a large portion of the police joining the effort as well.
The Attack¶
At 11:31 on 04/07/1942, the Home Guard and the national police surrounded and invaded Parliament House during the day’s sitting, sealing all exits. They were initially met with confusion and outrage, which led one soldier to kill the Minister of Defense to assert their power.
They then presented their demands. First, to send home all forces stationed on the Grennerian border, and cancel all plans of attack or invasion. Second, to remove the Prime Minister, shuffle the cabinet, depose the nationalist party, and dissolve the militarist party. Finally, to give the House of Commons equal power relative to the Council.
Upon hearing this, the Minister of State objected and was killed. After allowing another man to speak, expressing his desire to acquiesce to the demands and end the day without further violence, the Minister of Commerce objected and was killed as well, after being accused of personally benefitting from war.
Soon after this, the attackers ordered all nationalists and militarists to stand, but allowed any nationalists who opposed the war with Grenneria - three men - to sit back down. In that moment, nearly all soldiers in the building fired at once, killing all the people ordered to stand along with the Prime Minister. Immediately after, one of the soldiers in the middle of the room shot themselves in the head, and the surviving crowd fled the building as one exit was opened for them.
Aftermath¶
All three demands were ultimately met as the ministers killed were replaced by progressive civilian politicians chosen beforehand by the military, and after the elimination of the nationalist and militarist parties, the liberal party became majority. Aside from the remaining ministers, many survivors of the attack never returned to Parliament House and retired from their positions, most choosing to move to distant rural areas and seek help to live with the trauma.
The Home Guard continued to stand in Parliament House and oversee all sittings of the next session, ensuring that their demands were met under threat of further action. After it became law for the Council and House of Commons to be given equal power in governance, the military ceased its interference.
Immediately after, the Council and House of Commons both unanimously voted to take the attackers into custody and try them for treason. Ultimately, no arrests were made, as none of the attackers were ever found.
While searching for the attackers throughout the Armed Forces, all soldiers that were questioned revealed that they were appalled by the attack. While not all of them admitted to being aware of or participating in the planning of the coup, the ones that did also revealed that the agreed upon method was a non-violent one, and they did not know how such a drastic change could have happened under their noses. After hearing enough consistent accounts from these conspirators claiming non-violent intentions, they were pardoned in good faith.
The lasting results of this coup are evident in Corstaea, as the House of Commons has remained equal in power to the Council ever since, public approval ratings have consistently remained extremely high, and the nationalist and militarist parties have never been reinstated.