Second California Republic

 

Second California Republic
1874–1877
Flag
Motto: Bow to no Crown but God (officially) Our Traditions will never die (unofficial, popular)
Capital	Bernheim
Government	Federal one-party Landonist republic
Chairman of the Executive Council
First Minister
Legislature	National Congress
Historical era	Sierran Civil War
• Bernheim Address	April 13th, 1874
• Landon's surrender	November 11th, 1877
Currency	California Dollar
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Sierra Kingdom of Sierra

The Second California Republic, also known as the California Republic, Landon's California and Landon's State, was a self-proclaimed revolutionary breakaway state formed by San Joaquin senator and republican advocate Isaiah Landon at the beginning of the Sierran Civil War. The nation was formed in the aftermath of the Bernheim Revolt which saw San Joaquin's capital fall to republican revolutionaries and was where the republic was proclaimed and the city made its capital. The state was formed in the aftermath of the assassination of Sierran Prime Minister Ulysses Perry in 1874 and was viewed as an act of murder by the royal government. The republic soon spread and absorbed the core provinces of the Styxie after they announced their secession to the republic and began spreading into Plumas, Shasta and even San Francisco after the province fell to republican forces. During the war, the nation was used by Landon to implement his personal philosophy and application of socialism, Landonism, within the republic's territories. By 1875, the republic reached its territorial height after capturing San Francisco and most of the Central Valley before being pushed back.

After the loss of the Central Valley's southern territories, the monarchist forces went on the offensive and began driving deeper and deeper into republican territory with Landon and the military leadership using desperate and controversial measures as they continued to lose more and more ground. This included scorched earth tactics, executing surrounding royalist forces, attacking Sierran Jacobites, and even drafting children into the ranks of its military. By the summer of 1877, the Styxie was invaded and captured with Bernheim falling by the season's end. The autumn saw the republican lines collapse and reminding forces make their last stand at Indian Hills and ended with Landon's surrender and capitulation on November 11th, 1877 and the last units surrendering along with him.

Government

National politics

Isaiah Landon, the leader of the Second California Republic.

The Second California Republic was officially a federal republic in which each province of the republic was guaranteed a degree of autonomy and were allowed to enforce their own laws and affairs as long as it complies with the laws of the central government. The government was guided under the principals of Landonism, the interpretation of Marxist teachings by Isaiah Landon, the nation's founder and sole leader throughout the civil war. The main governing body of the republic was the Executive Council, an eighteen man strong un-elective body made up of Landon's closest civilian, military and political advisors. The Executive Council was officially the main body that made up the republic's executive branch and rested in the hands of the council's leader; the Chairman. There existed a civilian body known as the National Assembly and was an elective-body that made up the legislative branch. It was responsible for passing laws and conducting civilian administration of the country. In practice the actual powers of the assembly were very limited and its jurisdiction was limited only towards provinces that willingly joined the republic, mostly those in the Styxie. The Executive Power held the most authority in the republic's government and its power grew more and more as the civil war progressed. By early 1877 with the republican armies being pushed back and the monarchists forces advancing deep into the Styxie, Landon and the Executive Council passed Executive Order No. 177 ordering the dissolution of the National Assembly and granting all legislative powers towards the Executive Council.

Civilian administration

Civilian administration in the Second California Republic was limited throughout the entire war due to the chaotic nature of the civil war and Landon's devotion to fighting and winning the war. Provinces that willingly joined the republic had civilian administration. The Styxie provinces of San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Reno, and Taho were subjected to a military government with active provincial governments and elected representatives to the National Assembly. San Francisco had surrendered to the republic, but by 1875 it had elected members to the National Assembly and was under civilian administration. Plumas had a civilian administration, but harassment from pro-monarchist partisans and militias, mostly citizens of Dutch descent, had prevented the entire province from being under a full administration and all northern districts in Plumas were placed under a military government which became controversial for its usage of civilian internment and reported massacres of royalist partisans. Civilian administration remained limited to only the Styxie, Plumas and San Francisco and other provinces occupied by the republicans in Southern Sierra were placed under a military government throughout the war.

The provinces of the Central Valley and Kings were occupied by the republican armies, but due to heavy resistance due to stronger levels of support for the monarchy and were thus subjected to a military government. Only the western counties of the Central Valley had a civilian government, but such an authority was only permitted to govern in the counties that held pro-republican views. The rest of the Central Valley was under a military government and had to deal with moderate Democratic-Republicans and Royalists who were subjected to heavy surveillance and reprisals were carried out in response to partisan attacks. Kings was infamous for its military government which saw two-thirds of the province occupied by the republican armies and various towns that remained loyal to the crown were turned into internment camps and cities emptied of civilians not loyal to the republic and re-occupied by republican soldiers. By the latter half of the war, civilian administration began to decline significantly with all of Plumas being placed under a military government and the San Francisco Provincial Government falling under the control of the republican commander of the Peninsular Army. By late 1876, only hr Styxie provinces had any functioning civilian government which effectively collapsed following the end of the Bernheim Campaign in 1877.

Military

Main article: Military forces of the Second California Republic

The military fo the Second California Republic was a loose collection of various militias, paramilitary organizations, foreign volunteers and various units that defected from the Sierran Royal Army. Military leaders that defected to the republican cause either at some point during the war or from the beginning due to pre-existing republican and anti-monarchist sentiments lead these various militias who were organized into military forces. The California Republican Army was the largest branch and was made up of various militias aligned with the republic, most notable the Bear Flag Movement, and select units of the provincial guards in each of the occupied provinces. The Republican Guard was a reserve force made up of the various provincial guards of the republican provinces and units from the Sierra National Guard that defected to the republic. The California Republican Navy was made up of ships captured during the Peninsular Campaign and was based in San Francisco, though the navy saw limited service throughout the war.

Territory

At the onset of the war, the core provinces of the Styxie; San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Reno and Tahoe, had all joined the republic and were the first Sierran provinces to do so. San Francisco had fallen following the strategic republican victory during the Peninsula campaign in December 1874 and by the winter of 1875, Plumas and Shasta had also joined the republic and Central Valley had officially joined the republic, however it had dual governments between the pro-republican government of Governor Michael Abrahms and the unionist Restored Government of Central Valley under the leadership of former governor Henry Wallace. Most of Kings was occupied by republican forces, but the western coastal regions remained largely unoccupied and in unionist hands.

See also

• Isaiah Landon
  • Landonism
• Republicanism in the Kingdom of Sierra
• Bear Flag Movement
• California Republic
• Styxie