The Pulling of the Weeds

Overview

A significant political coup in URSA in 2101. URSA’s first elected government since the Dark Decade had negotiated an agreement that would bind URSA into adopting The System by 2129 and went as far as signing the agreement with GATA.

Over the following night a coup was carried out by the signing’s opposition, a populist movement driven by the bitter, displaced Kingdoms.

The coup was bloody and, in an effort to reduce retributions, comprehensive. 31 GATA sympathizing thrones (leaders of kingdoms), 18,100 crowns (members of royal families), and 120,000 vassals’ lives were taken over a four week period.

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Contemporary Context

Today, the ruling Kingdoms call the event in Russian "Чистка Королевств" (Chistka Korolevstv), translating to "The Purge of Kingdoms” and in Arabic "تطهير العروش" (Tat'hir al-'Arush), which translates to "The Purification of Thrones".

But the people know it as "Кровавая борьба за власть" (Krovavaya bor'ba za vlast'), meaning "The Bloody Struggle for Power" and "مأساة الخيانة" (Mas'at al-Khiyanah), translating to "The Tragedy of Betrayal".

In Iran it is known as “"کندن علف‌های هرز" (Kandan-e Alafhāye Harz) which was translated to “The Pulling of the Weeds”, as it is taught to students in GATA. GATA’s adoption of this name is attributed to an Iranian poet who had written a book with that title in an Atlan refugee camp in the wake of the atrocity, which was then widely circulated across GATA. The title is ironic, as the titular poem depicts a gardener who has been gardening for years and has seen only weeds grow, daydreaming about what a flower might look like, unknowingly having been picking only flowers all along. By most readings, the poem seems to suggest that the greed of the Kingdoms restricts their own prosperity, and that of their vassals.