Collectivist Primer:RDNA-verse

A Primer on the Origins of Collectivism in the RDNA-verse Prior to the Terror.
Distributed by [REDACTED]

To understand Collectivism, insofar as much of it could be understood, would be to look beyond its madness, propaganda and imposing barriers into its humble and unassuming past.  Regardless of whether it has actually lived up to its word in practice, if one were to inform the "Fathers" of this ideology, they would likely have balked at the notion; then again, so would many at that time.

The story begins in the emerging factories of the Western world during the late 18th-early 19th Century, early in the so-called Industrial Era. Concerns were being expressed over the haphazard conditions of the developing working classes and its implications over the rest of society, though it would take longer before any functional structures were put in place. It was in this backdrop that from 1830 onwards, Wilhelm Marx and Edmund Heinrich, mythologized by the Reds as the "Fathers," made scathing critiques on what they saw as social inaction and called for a need to foster properly-conceived justice for the common good of all men. It was a school of thought that had no formal name, but is known by later historians as Social Communalism.

As with many ideas, it quickly spread and found its audiences in industrial alleys and university halls alike. From this came about various strains of what another world or time would call Socialism and Communism; for the sake of brevity, to cover all these forms would only serve to distract from the point. Practically all of these sought to find a reasonable and humane solution to the plight of their fellow man.

Then around the mid-19th Century, one particular branch emerged that would displace all others; attempts to pinpoint an exact point of origin have only shown it appearing in Russia and different parts of Europe at roughly the same time. Claiming to be a pure and truthful account of the "Destiny of the Laborer," it soon took on a particular zeal that spread though both preaching and subterfuge. What likely began as an ideology of pure economics and class struggle became nigh-scriptural dogma dedicated to the complete destruction of the corrupt "Capitalist Heresy" and triumph of the "Will of the Workers;" of all the changes and "inspirations," only the latter term ironically remained associated to the Fathers. By the time this sect began calling themselves Collectivists (otherwise known as "Reds") in the 1880s, its members were already "converting" or "purging" many of the other Social Communalist variants and derivatives that existed; only a few of these survive in some form today in the Free Nations. And despite the reforms to counter this threat in Europe and elsewhere, they proceeded to exploit the downtrodden and disillusioned as more fuel to the fire. All that mattered was that the Will was satisfied and their Way remained unopposed.

From there, it became a matter of hidden subversions, purging and conversions, despite noble attempts to control them. As one reaches the last Indian Summer before the Terror and its initial stages (1923-24), however, the record becomes blurred. Once that chaotic time began, it soon became difficult to piece together the many conflicting fragments. Nonetheless, its impact was clear: indiscriminate of blood, ethnicity, class, creed or nationality as whole countries and societies that had existed for centuries crumbled away into history. All the while the self-appointed leaders of the Party known collectively as the Founders forged what is now the Collectivist Internationale over the ashes.

One thing that continues to baffle scholars was the Reds' speed and success, especially as the Terror reached its initial end in 1927-28 and the immense expansion of the Internationale's "membership" in the subsequent years. But that is another matter, one open to speculation more probable, if not unreal, than plausible.

Another is a hidden but recurring mention in Collectivist thought (or what researchers could make of it) of purging the "Abominations," beings who supposedly use their unnatural powers to hinder the Will as well as the dignity of the Worker. This would most likely pertain to [REDACTED], as in the case of Fraulein [REDACTED] of New Austria and other [REDACTED]. Which opens new questions as to whether "these people" really are...

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