A brief History of the Qizilqum Independence Movement

(This is a rather quick and dirty summary ripped from an online fact-file, but it's enough to cover what we're doing here. I'll go into more depth on the current situation when we get on-world and have the latest news - Irisz)

The roots of the movement stretch back to the time of the Terran Alliance and the destruction of the Central Asian Alliance. A repressive authoritarian regime, the Central Asian Alliance’s demise bought freedom to millions and was a part of the unification of Terra. In the aftermath of its destruction the Alliance, it was effectively purged, symbolically destroyed in much the same way as the Rim Worlds or Word of Blake’s imagery were eliminated.

While to the majority of the population, the fall of the Alliance was a boon, those who had been among the ruling elites had quite literally lost everything, even down to their national identity. In the survivors of those elites and their families, this bread a degree of resentment and a desire to recreate what had been lost, if not on Earth then somewhere else.

Colonisation provided that chance. A group of families, largely ethnic Uzbeks who were descendants from those disenfranchised elites, arranged a way off Terra, pooling resources to find their own way to the stars while ‘encouraging’ others to join as colonists. Choosing a potential world, they made their home in a dry, remote district of a world they named Qizilqum (“Red Sands”), creating a new government modelled on what they had left behind.

Unfortunately, the new colony suffered from one disadvantage; it was not alone. Terran Alliance colonists arrived on the world shortly afterwards, naming it Hamilton. Initially the two groups were unaware of each other’s existence, due to geographic separation. It was only after several years that the two groups came into contact, with disastrous results. The Qizilqum colonists saw the Alliance colonists as being their enemies, sent by the Terran Alliance to take their new homeworld.

A low-intensity war broke out, one hampered by a mutual lack of resources on both sides. Further hampering the Qizilqum colonists was their own desire to recreate their lost homeland and its government, resulting in mass unrests and uprisings once their populace found out that there were others on-world. By the time the Terran Alliance stepped in, the Qizilqum government were fighting insurrections as well as the Hamilton colonists.

Mediation by the alliance saw the Hamilton colony recognised as the world’s legitimate government, with the Qizilqum Republic disarmed and dismantled. This state lasted until the alliance’s withdrawal, whereupon conflict again broke out. It wasn’t until the establishment of the Free Worlds League and its absorption of the world that a degree of stability was bought to the issue. Under the League, the Qizilqum people were given representation in the planetary government.

During the Star League era, things remained relatively quiet; by this point, the descendants of the Qizilqum leadership were more or less integrated into the planetary population, and the prosperity of the times meant that there was little support for a violent return to the heavy-handed, oppressive regime of the past. It was during the Succession Wars that things again changed, albeit in an unexpected way.

Taking advantage of the Free Worlds League’s laws, the Qizilqum minority achieved an independence of sorts, forming an autonomous republic within Hamilton with a degree of independence from the planetary government. The result was a relatively peaceful and stable situation where the two groups coexisted, maintaining cordial relations. The Qizilqum Autonomous Republic benefited from a much lighter hand then its ancestors, treating its people with the same respect and allowing them the same freedoms as the rest of Hamilton enjoyed.

The Jihad changed all that, however. Hamilton’s government supported the Word of Blake, while at the same time there was an upswing in armed militancy among the Qizilqum people. The result was a short and bloody planetary civil war that was ended by the intervention of the Word of Blake and hired mercenaries (Rumours of a Shadow Division being used to put down the rebellion remain unsubstantiated and may just be urban legends designed to talk up the effects of the resistance).

As a result, when Hamilton joined the Republic of the Sphere, the Qizilqum movement had again been de-fanged, neither active nor willing to fight the change of government. Instead, moderates prevailed, again working with the Republic to reap the benefits from participating with the new government. The result was decades of stability and growth and a return to full integration with the rest of the planetary population.

The aftermath of the HPG Blackout, however, saw a second rise in militancy as, like so many others across the republic, the Qizilqum leadership chose to arm themselves and declare their independence from the Republic. Even after Hamilton became a part of the Senate Alliance and later the reformed Free Worlds League, the insurgency continued.

In the last few years, however, the tempo of the insurrection has dramatically increased. Rebel groups have been becoming larger and better organised, as well as much better armed. Tanks and other armoured Vehicles have begun appearing with greater frequency, suggesting that the rebels may now have foreign backers with a vested interest in the world.