Horizontism
Horizontism is an aphypnist intellectual and political movement that originated in Zeppengeran in the early 20th century. The movement embraced the societal disruption brought about by industrialisation, proposing that the consequent destabilisation of society would provide an opportunity to reveal underlying Sirian first principles such as henosis, previously obscured by centuries of tradition and institutional inertia. Horizontist thinkers promoted the radical restructuring of the state and society, the embrace of new technology (such as the automobile, radio, and aircraft), and a general disregard for tradition. The last of these often manifested as anti-aristocratic sentiment, owing to the predominantly upper-middle-class origins of the movement. The most radical fringe of this element included those who promoted ausblasen, literally the "blowing out" (i.e. abolition) of noble ranks and privileges, in addition to the abolition of the imperial monarchy. Despite the movement's Sirian intellectual roots, horizontists sometimes took on critical stances against Sirian clericalism and superstitious beliefs, instead promoting what Greta Sorg called "Functional Siriash."
History
Origins
Influenced by the Strong Externalists of Outer Joriscia, whose work was widely disseminated among translationists across Messenia, critics of the movement, particularly within more reactionary Sirian circles, accused horizontism of indulging in Vaestophilia. Beyond its eastern influences, horizontist thought also drew heavily from contemporary aphypnist movements, most prominently the revolutionary Ordu of Busar. Indeed, the account of the early horizontist writer and journalist Otto Sauer of his time during the 1925 Aydin Revolution, Archtum Manifest, played a key role in promoting both the Busari cause among the Zepnish public and disseminating Ordu thought among the intellectual class, laying the groundwork for the early horizontist movement.
First-wave horizontism was popular among deigmations and in the salons of major Zepnish cities. While horizonist organisations during this period could be found across Siriandom, from Busar to Settecia, many of these groups were small in number for a variety of reasons, and early 20th-century horizontism is regarded as a primarily Zepnish phenomenon. A notable exception was in Sergony, to Zeppengeran's south, where the discovery of considerable oil reserves in 1923 reinvigorated the flagging Sergonish economy. Amid the backdrop of this economic boom, the Sergonish port city of Orhaven hosted a considerable horizontist contingent. Nevertheless, the Orhaven horizontists remained closely associated with their Zepnish counterpartss.
Prominence
At its peak in the early Long War era, the movement was dominated by an intellectual circle known as the Cult of Speed, active from 1926 until its final disbandment in 1954. The Cult of Speed grew from a clique of students at the Vergental Deigmation led by Reinhard Strauss, which expanded to include intellectuals, writers, artists, and other deigmation-trained professionals among its members. The group published its own newspaper, maintained its own publishing house, and amassed a small fortune from sympathisers, which it used to finance its activities. Despite the currency gained among educated, professional circles, the Cult of Speed struggled to translate its program into political successes; Strauss attempted to stand for election to the Diet of Zeppengeran in 1935, but was barred from doing so by the authorities.
More moderate horizontists managed to ingratiate themselves with entertainment magnate Oswald Meyer when he began his first forays into politics in the 1940s. The reformist Meyer was already acquainted with figures such as Otto Sauer and Marlene Pohl from his time as a filmmaker and patron of the arts, and was sympathetic to the movement's visionary approach to politics. While some in the movement hoped to use Meyer's political ambitions as the foundation for implementing a horizontist political program, it was Meyer instead who appropriated horizontist figures and imagery to his own ends. Because of this, Meyerism maintained a noticeable horizontist influence, reflected in its messaging and in the prominent role played by some horizontists during Meyer's premiership.
Ebb
Despite the apparent successes of many prominent horizontists, the wider movement began to lose traction in the 1950s; when the Cult of Speed disbanded in 1954, the escalating tensions between movement hardliners within the group and those who aligned themselves with Meyer played a major role in the collective's demise. In Madaria, where horizontism had already ran afoul of the dominant Sacred Hands movement, the movement faced proscription as a pro-Zepnish ideological force. A general turn away from aphypnism in southern Messenia by the end of the Long War in 1959, disillusionment with technical progress in the wake of the years without summers among the public, and the waning political fortunes of Meyer in Zeppengeran diminished the impact of horizontism in mainstream thought. While some horizontist groups persisted through this low point, the movement was substantially smaller than in its heyday and relegated to the fringes of intellectual society.
Horizontism experienced a resurgence in Zeppengeran in the late 1970s in response to the Fegen panic and a resurgent interest in aphypnist thought among the Zepnish "Hunger Generation". Second-wave horizontism played a supporting role in precipitating the 1981 Zepnish Realignment, with student-horizontists forming the more militant, revolutionary wing of the Extraordinary State Council's base of support. Pro-realignment horizontist organizations were eventually subsumed into the New Alignment Society in 1983, and the remnant horizontist faction within the society was purged in 2003.