Unionism (Busar)

Unionism (Sularin birlikçilik) is a political doctrine in Busar which advocates the creation of a single unchallenged Sirian, aphypnist, and (in some interpretations) Saganic power in northern Lestria and around the Strait of Calcar. Unionism emerged in the 1940s after the annexation of Arisia during the Portent Wars and under the influence of early Ordu ideological fervour. It is associated with the so-called Unionist period of the 1950s to 1990s, which was vaguely defined but associated with the political prepollency of Unionist military officers and a number of interventionistic regional adventures.

With Busar acting as a Zepnish ally in the recently erupted Sleepwalker War, general and premier Erdem Dagh, derisively nicknamed the 'Karamagali of Kerkes', sought to act on the Unionist programme. Busar invaded and occupied Bilgedoghan in 1951, deposing its pro-Madarian rulers and instituting a puppet government in what later became known as the Keretul Protectorate. Dagh then invaded Oturech in 1953 to contest the Kabartal Gulf, and also participated in the 1956 Serrinean War against Odann. Dagh's successor Tunch Han became emboldened to the point of invading Gekit in 1963, attempting to annex Keretul in 1965, and intervening in Tisceron in 1966; all of these expeditions ended in failure, alienating the Zepnish from his rule, and forcing a pause to military expeditions, though by this point Busar had become the foremost power in north-western Lestria.

Busar’s strong ecovery from the climatic disruption period and the Arisian War of 1974–77 steered Busar back under a Zepnish aegis and revived an appetite for foreign adventurism. Guenesh Karamaghali, the 'iron lady' of the Arisian war effort, attempted a second annexation of Bilgedoghan that erupted into the bloody 1979–80 Keretul War. Karamaghali was thwarted by Siursk intervention but followed the misstep by equally disastrous interventions in the Gekiti War of Succession (1981) and Tisceron (1982), resulting in her ousting. The inward-focused term of Akarsu Iyilikli (in office 1983–90) saw enthusiasm for Unionism die down, and the few actions in that period were much more moderate in scope, supporting Zepnish interests in Gekit.

The last vestiges of Dagh's Unionism finally unraveled after Guch Beshtashli (in office 1990–99), losing popularity late in his term, attempted a third failed annexation of Keretul in the 1995–97 Keretul War which saw the Protectorate overthrown by its end, and another failed invasion of Tisceron in 1996. Though the Suza War of 1997 against Sanjar was successful, the more expensive and humiliating war in Bilgedoghan weighed heavily in Beshtashli's downfall after a political scandal in 1999. Expansionist and hegemonist sentiments have since become much muted in Busar.