Communism in the Kingdom of Sierra
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Communism in the Kingdom of Sierra has been present in the country since its founding in 1858, however socialism and similar ideologies have been present before the establishment of the Kingdom of Sierra and played a role in the emergence of communism in Sierran politics and influenced its ideological development. Communist movements first emerged in the 1950s following the Mexican–American War by labor unions and other early organized labor groups which functioned as political alliances or friendly societies of socialists, syndicalists, trade unionists, utopian socialists and anarchists that later became some of the first organized groups centered around Sierran republicanism. Sierran communism began development around this time from the early writings and publications of Isaiah Landon and the Grace Colony. Landon would continue his publications throughout the 1860s which layed out his personal interpretations and theories surrounding Marxism and early communism which garnered interest from the Sierran republican movement due to Landon's prominance within the latter. Landon's political positions became more refined and its own distinct ideology in 1871 after he read the Communist Manifesto upon its circulation in the Kingdom of Sierra and wrote extensively on his criticism of the Sierran monarchy, Jacobitism, capitalism, and the conditions of the Sierran working class. Landon's theories would later be known as Landonism, however the term would only emerge in the early 20th century after Landon's lifetime.
Communism garnered major attention nationally in the 1870s during the latter half of the premiership of Ulysses Perry over his attempt to abolish the monarchy, Landon's influence among much of the Democratic-Republican Party of Sierra and republican movement, and the Sierran Civil War where it was the guiding ideology of the self-proclaimed Second California Republic and the wider Republican faction during the war. After the war, communism would be supressed by the federal government as it cracked down on all armed republican groups in order to prevent any second attempted anti-monarchist uprising from occuring again. In the 20th century, communism garnered mainstream attention and influence during the Sierran Cultural Revolution where it was a prominant force among the anti-monarchist wing of the anti-revolutionary movement and was subjected to intensive political repression, the most in Sierran history, by the Purple Shirts and other pro-revolutionary militias and Sierran state authorities with the latter getting involved in the 1930s during the Great War due to armed hostiltiies between Sierra and the United Commonwealth.
The first communist party to be formed was the Labor Party of Sierra that was established in 1886 and was the first formal communist political party in Sierra, founded by republican veterans of the Sierran Civil War to advocate Landonist thought, anti-capitalism, support for organized labor, and republicanism. The Labor Party was formed by former members of the DRPS who left the party in protest of its rejection of Landon's ideology and communism and the belief that it was submitting to the monarchy after the civil war. The Continentalist Party of Sierra was formed in 1919 in response the Continental Revolutionary War in the United Commonwealth and was inspired by the ideology and beliefs of the U.C. Continentalist Party and became one of the two main communist parties in Sierra by 1930 alongside the Communist Party of Sierra following the formation of the latter in 1928 and the collapse of the Labor Party admist party in-fighting and ideological schism. While not explicitly communist, the Democratic Socialist Party of Sierra was deeply inspired by Landon's writings and communist thought, incorporating several Landonist and Marxist theories and positions alongside democratic socialism within its platform. Amongst these parties, the Democratic Socialist Party was the only party with some communist leanings to gain any significant presence in Parliament while the other parties struggled for mainstream acceptance and support due to political repression and the Crimson Scare that occured in Sierra throughout the first half of the 20th century.
Sierran communism historically maintained influence and relevancy within national politics and discourse due to it being an influencial ideology and position within the wider republican movement, however Sierran republicanism would develop throughout the 20th century where it shifted away from communist influences and towards a nonpartisan view that allowed for supporters of republicanism and the movement to be welcomed regardless of political leanings and ideological orientation, though Landon remains respected among the movement and its influences persisted throughout its history. Communism played a role in the Sierran labor movement due to its support for the working class and criticism of both industrial capitalism and the negative consequences of monopoly control and neglect towards bettering the working class and their material conditions.
History
Early history and development
The first socialist and communist movements in Sierra emerged before 1858, pre-dating the establishment of the Kingdom of Sierra, from labor unions and organizations that were formed in the California Republic from 1848 onwards. Notable organizations included the Benevolent Association of Freemen (later renamed to the Bay Area Republicans) in San Francisco City, a friendly society of syndicalists, utopian socialists, and anarchists that supported organized labor and opposed the unregulated economy of California and the influence that big business wielded over politics and its contributions towards corruption in the country. Isaiah Landon, the father of Sierran communism and the ideological progenitor of the early Sierran Left, became acquainted with the group along with his fiance Martha Rita Cunningham. Landon supported the group, its goals, and ideology and his association influenced the development of his political positions, ideology, and theory later down the line, having joined the group following his and Cunningham's release from debtors' prison during the California Gold Rush. Landon would write for a local newspaper where he often advocated for the organization and its views, criticising Californian politicians who were influenced by big business and the corporate influence over California politics.
Early socialist movements emerged among labor unions and labor movements that grew out of the California Gold Rush and were influenced by similar movements that emerged from the emergence of the first labor unions in the United States. It wouldn't be until 1868 where The Communist Manifesto would reach Anglo-America through circulation and serialization in The Old Glory and made its way to Sierra. In 1854, Landon and Cunningham would form the Grace Colony, an experimental commune structured and based on early socialist thought, after purchasing some land outside of Bernheim following several years of working as a newspaper writer and local journalist.
