Primary armed factions in the British Civil War, 1984 to 1986
Mar 25, 2019 22:57:17 GMT
lordroel, archangel, and 1 more like this
Post by James G on Mar 25, 2019 22:57:17 GMT
This is all part of something bigger which I once tried to write by crashed-&-burned. I edited my notes and made it presentable.
This is just it though: there is no more!
Primary armed factions in the British Civil War, 1984 to 1986
(Listed in alphabetical order, main groups bolded with medium-sized ones underlined)
Democrats
The eventual winners of the civil war. Formed from the discredited and defeated Royalists – or HMG as they preferred to be known – and took their international recognition. A centralist & moderate government which gained an early victory on the battlefield at Nuneaton in the Midlands followed by the successful Wessex Campaign. The Democrats established themselves in Bath throughout the war. They fought a failed fight up the Thames Valley towards London yet slowly took ground in the East Midlands and then the North instead despite physical separation of forces at first. They had the Royal Navy onside though plus later took control of most of Wales (but not the southern parts) to link up their forces. Never took Merseyside until the end nor places such as South Yorkshire or Hull. Their final fights were first for London and then the West Midlands where they emerged victorious. Much of their final victory came about due to foreign support from NATO and the Commonwealth who, finally, intervened with equipment and supplies to allow for a victory by this conscript army often outnumbered on the battlefield yet one which was well-led.
The Democrats gained post-war the addition of the now-freed ‘Prisoner Army’ which NATO had kept held in West Germany – a demoralised force – to help bring order throughout the country following the defeat of rebel forces. London was re-established as the capital and the Union reformed yet with significant concessions to Scotland and Ulster made. War crimes were committed by ‘allied groups’ yet the Democrats and their army strove to give the appearance of innocence in these. Were responsible for the 'second Republic' formed in 1988 though this one without any violence to it.
Irish National Liberation Army
A small Irish Republican terror group at the start of the war who fought its way to primary prominence over the semi-defeated P-IRA. They battled Loyalist forces and the organs of the state in Ulster – one in the same during the war – in a vain attempt to defend Catholic communities from within against often insurmountable odds. Caught unawares by the end of the conflict in a wider sense, when they were fighting a rural fight, most of the INLA was wiped out towards the very end with a bloody result for them. Their crimes (many of those, especially against the families of their enemies) cannot be justified yet their murders post-ceasefire cannot be justified either.
National Front
Racist murderers. Skinheads who harassed and murdered ethnic minorities. Should have played no significant role but adapted – under a tight leadership – during the conflict to fight the People’s Republic due to its public position of no-racism. Gained significant support in white working class urban areas with large numbers of the unemployed due to the war. Fought an urban terror campaign which was costly for them and innocent life too. The National Front were refused any aid from the Royalists / Democrats though maintained contact with the Patriotic Guards and independent Patriot groups plus also some in Ulster. Post-war ‘return to normality’ saw the National Front destroyed completely and the myth of its role in the war supposedly as part of the winners exposed for what it was.
Patriotic Guards and various Patriotic groups
Alongside the various Ulster Loyalists, the Patriotic Guards formed an early opposition to the People’s Front when the latter were responsible for stopping & overturning the General’s Putsch of June 1984. Various right-wing groups like Civil Assistance and GB84 turned into the Patriotic Guards. Soldiers who abandoned both the People’s Republic and Royalist armies joined with foreign mercenaries in fielding a rural guerrilla force through parts of eastern and western England as well as at many points holding large areas of Wales too, even where they had near-zero support. They survived by being on the side-lines. Allegations made, which in later years have been proved true, that they formed unofficial shooting parties and committed acts of terror in a deniable fashion for the Royalists through 1984. The Democrats them cut off mostly though the Patriotic Guards remained fighting until the end. Disbandment of the main force and semi-aligned independent outfits saw most members leave the country in the decade following the war: this wasn’t what they had fought for, especially when the monarchy was ultimately dissolved when the Democrats finished what the People's Republic had started there.
People’s Front later People’s Republic
One of the leading armed factions of the civil war and later one of the two competing governments for international recognition as legitimate. Grew out a protest movement against the coup d’état in the early Summer of 1984 into an army within the year. The initial revolution was betrayed and hi-jacked, as they often are, by extremists hell-bent on doctrine over the real-world. Foreign support limited yet did occur. Working-class roots though significant numbers retired military personnel filled its ranks of soldiers. A very effective army, especially in urban warfare which had quite the patriotic feel and high morale, especially in its early stages before enforced conscription.
At its height in 1985, before counter-coup after counter-coup, the People’s Republic controlled two thirds of Britain due to its alliance with the Scottish Communists. The Council – the republic’s leadership – went through six leaders and repeated purges; its public security forces suffered a similar time as they couldn’t dampen opposition within areas of the country supposedly under the control of the state. Its army’s last battle was at Bolsover; the last de facto capital at collapse in Autumn 1986 was at nearby Nottingham (de jure capital was in London still). Despite an amnesty for all but the worst officials of the regime, many fled overseas to various nations when they distrusted offers of a national making-up to let bygones be bygones.
Provisional Irish Republican Army
Northern Ireland based terror group who operated throughout the UK and Ireland, even further too, before the war. Faced the full might of Loyalist armed groups during the war who were free from any control from London. Waged a guerrilla war though could always escape to the Irish Republic if need be. ‘I Ran Away’ was once more a term used to describe the P-IRA. Failed to have any big impact on the wider civil war beyond border activity in Ulster yet did pack quite the punch on many occasions.
Red Hand Commandos
Ulster Loyalists. The ‘butchers of Belfast’ and the ‘destroyers of Derry’ who emptied these cities of most of their Catholic communities in mayhem with murder and arson. Their actions nearby brought international intervention into Northern Ireland. Forever a strain on the unified Ulster Army Command and its alliance with the Royalists / Democrats due to their actions. Many members remain high-ranking pillars of the community – as well as common criminals – within Northern Ireland; international indictments on war crimes charges are sought for many key figures too who refuse to leave Ulster.
Royalists
A hated name: they considered themselves to be ‘Her Majesty’s Government’, yes, but weren’t fighting for royalty but rather the deposed legitimate government. Formed from mainstream politicians – Conservative, Labour and Liberal – following the revolt against the General’s Putsch by the street movement alliance soon known as the People’s Front. Later joined by many of those generals and even those purged from the People’s Republic in its early months. Kept international recognition and fought against what was considered to be an armed insurrection. Fatally weakened by the loss of its de facto capital in Oxford and then chased into the South West. Legitimacy was transferred to the Democrats and the Royalists would give up their army too.
Ceased to exist come January 1985.
Scottish Communists
Through an uncomfortable but necessary alliance with the People’s Front / People’s Republic, the Glasgow-based Scottish Communists kept power over the majority of the country for most of the war. Hard-line Marxists initially seized power Bolshevik-style and took control of Scotland. They held it with a small but efficient army against ‘the English’. Rebel groups opposed them throughout with armed attacks. A Stalinist internal coup toppled the regime by a convicted murderer freed from jail six months in yet relations with London (at the end Nottingham) remained.
The Scottish Communists would see major desertions including to the rebels then later the Unionist army marching north on Glasgow after Bolsover. Glasgow fell only weeks before all of Scotland was lost. General amnesty as in England for ‘traitors’ didn’t occur in Scotland and there were many post-war hangings due to the discovery of how increasingly sectarian as well as brutal the regime had been when faced with any and all forms of opposition to its rule.
Scottish Rebels later Scottish Unionists
An initially wide diverse and unorganised grouping of opponents of Glasgow who combined under a right-wing banner – purging left elements of which there were many – to fight against the Scottish Communists. Rural based who first acted as guerrillas. Areas of support were first in the Borders and the southwest before they gained footholds in the northeast too. They were supported with arms and shelter in both Ulster and northern parts of England. Emerged victorious from the war when in the later stages they fully aligned with the Democrats marching north: the Scottish Unionist government was set up in Edinburgh post-war.
Ulster Defence Association later Ulster Defence Army
Started out as a terror group in all but name with significant state assistance through collusion. Its leaders refused to accept the legitimacy of the duly-elected government in May 1984, backed the General’s Putsch and then supported the Royalists against ‘the communists’. Took control in Ulster when regular soldiers left to fight in England and the organs of the state were left weakened.
The unified Ulster Army Command was theirs in reality. The Ulster Defence Army fought at home yet also in England too with an expeditionary force as part of the ultimate but unofficial Unionist coalition which the Democrats led to victory. Much of the UDA transformed into the new Northern Ireland government post-war where the state-within-a-state which they had at Belfast during the war continued unabated.
Ulster Volunteers
Taking an old & established name, these were a lightweight version of the Red Hand Commandos. First in the fight against Irish Republicans using arms ‘liberated’ from military sources, they stood back when the RHC did the real dirty work. The height of their influence was during the troubled times of late 1984 when there was chaos both in Ulster and on the mainland too. Ultimately subsumed into the UDA from where it was said many were only ‘on loan’ to do dirty deeds – often across in the Irish Republic too – which Belfast didn’t want to have attributed to it.
This is just it though: there is no more!
Primary armed factions in the British Civil War, 1984 to 1986
(Listed in alphabetical order, main groups bolded with medium-sized ones underlined)
Democrats
The eventual winners of the civil war. Formed from the discredited and defeated Royalists – or HMG as they preferred to be known – and took their international recognition. A centralist & moderate government which gained an early victory on the battlefield at Nuneaton in the Midlands followed by the successful Wessex Campaign. The Democrats established themselves in Bath throughout the war. They fought a failed fight up the Thames Valley towards London yet slowly took ground in the East Midlands and then the North instead despite physical separation of forces at first. They had the Royal Navy onside though plus later took control of most of Wales (but not the southern parts) to link up their forces. Never took Merseyside until the end nor places such as South Yorkshire or Hull. Their final fights were first for London and then the West Midlands where they emerged victorious. Much of their final victory came about due to foreign support from NATO and the Commonwealth who, finally, intervened with equipment and supplies to allow for a victory by this conscript army often outnumbered on the battlefield yet one which was well-led.
The Democrats gained post-war the addition of the now-freed ‘Prisoner Army’ which NATO had kept held in West Germany – a demoralised force – to help bring order throughout the country following the defeat of rebel forces. London was re-established as the capital and the Union reformed yet with significant concessions to Scotland and Ulster made. War crimes were committed by ‘allied groups’ yet the Democrats and their army strove to give the appearance of innocence in these. Were responsible for the 'second Republic' formed in 1988 though this one without any violence to it.
Irish National Liberation Army
A small Irish Republican terror group at the start of the war who fought its way to primary prominence over the semi-defeated P-IRA. They battled Loyalist forces and the organs of the state in Ulster – one in the same during the war – in a vain attempt to defend Catholic communities from within against often insurmountable odds. Caught unawares by the end of the conflict in a wider sense, when they were fighting a rural fight, most of the INLA was wiped out towards the very end with a bloody result for them. Their crimes (many of those, especially against the families of their enemies) cannot be justified yet their murders post-ceasefire cannot be justified either.
National Front
Racist murderers. Skinheads who harassed and murdered ethnic minorities. Should have played no significant role but adapted – under a tight leadership – during the conflict to fight the People’s Republic due to its public position of no-racism. Gained significant support in white working class urban areas with large numbers of the unemployed due to the war. Fought an urban terror campaign which was costly for them and innocent life too. The National Front were refused any aid from the Royalists / Democrats though maintained contact with the Patriotic Guards and independent Patriot groups plus also some in Ulster. Post-war ‘return to normality’ saw the National Front destroyed completely and the myth of its role in the war supposedly as part of the winners exposed for what it was.
Patriotic Guards and various Patriotic groups
Alongside the various Ulster Loyalists, the Patriotic Guards formed an early opposition to the People’s Front when the latter were responsible for stopping & overturning the General’s Putsch of June 1984. Various right-wing groups like Civil Assistance and GB84 turned into the Patriotic Guards. Soldiers who abandoned both the People’s Republic and Royalist armies joined with foreign mercenaries in fielding a rural guerrilla force through parts of eastern and western England as well as at many points holding large areas of Wales too, even where they had near-zero support. They survived by being on the side-lines. Allegations made, which in later years have been proved true, that they formed unofficial shooting parties and committed acts of terror in a deniable fashion for the Royalists through 1984. The Democrats them cut off mostly though the Patriotic Guards remained fighting until the end. Disbandment of the main force and semi-aligned independent outfits saw most members leave the country in the decade following the war: this wasn’t what they had fought for, especially when the monarchy was ultimately dissolved when the Democrats finished what the People's Republic had started there.
People’s Front later People’s Republic
One of the leading armed factions of the civil war and later one of the two competing governments for international recognition as legitimate. Grew out a protest movement against the coup d’état in the early Summer of 1984 into an army within the year. The initial revolution was betrayed and hi-jacked, as they often are, by extremists hell-bent on doctrine over the real-world. Foreign support limited yet did occur. Working-class roots though significant numbers retired military personnel filled its ranks of soldiers. A very effective army, especially in urban warfare which had quite the patriotic feel and high morale, especially in its early stages before enforced conscription.
At its height in 1985, before counter-coup after counter-coup, the People’s Republic controlled two thirds of Britain due to its alliance with the Scottish Communists. The Council – the republic’s leadership – went through six leaders and repeated purges; its public security forces suffered a similar time as they couldn’t dampen opposition within areas of the country supposedly under the control of the state. Its army’s last battle was at Bolsover; the last de facto capital at collapse in Autumn 1986 was at nearby Nottingham (de jure capital was in London still). Despite an amnesty for all but the worst officials of the regime, many fled overseas to various nations when they distrusted offers of a national making-up to let bygones be bygones.
Provisional Irish Republican Army
Northern Ireland based terror group who operated throughout the UK and Ireland, even further too, before the war. Faced the full might of Loyalist armed groups during the war who were free from any control from London. Waged a guerrilla war though could always escape to the Irish Republic if need be. ‘I Ran Away’ was once more a term used to describe the P-IRA. Failed to have any big impact on the wider civil war beyond border activity in Ulster yet did pack quite the punch on many occasions.
Red Hand Commandos
Ulster Loyalists. The ‘butchers of Belfast’ and the ‘destroyers of Derry’ who emptied these cities of most of their Catholic communities in mayhem with murder and arson. Their actions nearby brought international intervention into Northern Ireland. Forever a strain on the unified Ulster Army Command and its alliance with the Royalists / Democrats due to their actions. Many members remain high-ranking pillars of the community – as well as common criminals – within Northern Ireland; international indictments on war crimes charges are sought for many key figures too who refuse to leave Ulster.
Royalists
A hated name: they considered themselves to be ‘Her Majesty’s Government’, yes, but weren’t fighting for royalty but rather the deposed legitimate government. Formed from mainstream politicians – Conservative, Labour and Liberal – following the revolt against the General’s Putsch by the street movement alliance soon known as the People’s Front. Later joined by many of those generals and even those purged from the People’s Republic in its early months. Kept international recognition and fought against what was considered to be an armed insurrection. Fatally weakened by the loss of its de facto capital in Oxford and then chased into the South West. Legitimacy was transferred to the Democrats and the Royalists would give up their army too.
Ceased to exist come January 1985.
Scottish Communists
Through an uncomfortable but necessary alliance with the People’s Front / People’s Republic, the Glasgow-based Scottish Communists kept power over the majority of the country for most of the war. Hard-line Marxists initially seized power Bolshevik-style and took control of Scotland. They held it with a small but efficient army against ‘the English’. Rebel groups opposed them throughout with armed attacks. A Stalinist internal coup toppled the regime by a convicted murderer freed from jail six months in yet relations with London (at the end Nottingham) remained.
The Scottish Communists would see major desertions including to the rebels then later the Unionist army marching north on Glasgow after Bolsover. Glasgow fell only weeks before all of Scotland was lost. General amnesty as in England for ‘traitors’ didn’t occur in Scotland and there were many post-war hangings due to the discovery of how increasingly sectarian as well as brutal the regime had been when faced with any and all forms of opposition to its rule.
Scottish Rebels later Scottish Unionists
An initially wide diverse and unorganised grouping of opponents of Glasgow who combined under a right-wing banner – purging left elements of which there were many – to fight against the Scottish Communists. Rural based who first acted as guerrillas. Areas of support were first in the Borders and the southwest before they gained footholds in the northeast too. They were supported with arms and shelter in both Ulster and northern parts of England. Emerged victorious from the war when in the later stages they fully aligned with the Democrats marching north: the Scottish Unionist government was set up in Edinburgh post-war.
Ulster Defence Association later Ulster Defence Army
Started out as a terror group in all but name with significant state assistance through collusion. Its leaders refused to accept the legitimacy of the duly-elected government in May 1984, backed the General’s Putsch and then supported the Royalists against ‘the communists’. Took control in Ulster when regular soldiers left to fight in England and the organs of the state were left weakened.
The unified Ulster Army Command was theirs in reality. The Ulster Defence Army fought at home yet also in England too with an expeditionary force as part of the ultimate but unofficial Unionist coalition which the Democrats led to victory. Much of the UDA transformed into the new Northern Ireland government post-war where the state-within-a-state which they had at Belfast during the war continued unabated.
Ulster Volunteers
Taking an old & established name, these were a lightweight version of the Red Hand Commandos. First in the fight against Irish Republicans using arms ‘liberated’ from military sources, they stood back when the RHC did the real dirty work. The height of their influence was during the troubled times of late 1984 when there was chaos both in Ulster and on the mainland too. Ultimately subsumed into the UDA from where it was said many were only ‘on loan’ to do dirty deeds – often across in the Irish Republic too – which Belfast didn’t want to have attributed to it.
