Für ein offnes land

[Zabuza825]

Monday, 16 Treizen, 1581
Vien, Volta

It was at the early morning, only a few hours after dawn broke. It was probably no later than 6 or 7 AM. The streets of Vien at this time were usually only moderately busy, with most people only moving for business reasons. Things had gotten a lot busier compared to before the time Chancellor Ernst Krenz came into power, his gradual relaxing of the state's tight control on the economy allowed for non-state controlled businesses to grow and thus, the early morning was busier than it once was in the past. Life was still hard for the Voltans, but many felt it was getting better even if very slowly.

Around the corner, in a street by brick buildings, a few hundred people gathered. They held signs and waited. They were waiting for other people to arrive, and arrive they did. By the time 8 AM came around, there was probably about 1,000 people there.

Now if this had been before Ernst Krenz became Chancellor, this would have been unthinkable. They would've been shut down by the NSD (Nationaler Sicherheitsdienst) secret-police. But things had changed under Krenz, and protest was being allowed so long as it didn't call for the overthrow of the government.

The 1,000 people that gathered held up signs and began marching down the streets. The signs had statements, ranging from "Constitutional convention - we want it now!" "For an open country with free people!" (Für ein offnes land mit freien menschen). In any case, the march started and the people started walking. They were going to head to the square in front of major political buildings.

As the protesters marched, shouting slogans in favor of greater reforms in Volta, they continued marching. Some people watched them nervously, afraid of government retaliation. Others cheered them on. Police officers they came across, however, just let the march continue. It probably helped that the protesters hadn't made this a secret, something that before Krenz became Chancellor would've spelt a trip to labor camps with 100% certainty.

But things were different now, Chancellor Krenz had tolerated criticism of the government before. And while the government had tolerated small protests in the past, this was something that might provoke a response. And that was what the protesters wanted, but they didn't want violence. Rather, they wanted the Chancellor to hear their voice, they wanted more reforms, and they wanted them soon. They no longer wanted to wait for the promised constitutional convention - which faced delay after delay. These people weren't stupid that the hardliners in the party probably were forcing the delays, but they hoped that showing the Chancellor that they were on his side would push him to make it happen sooner.

Only time would tell how the Chancellor responded.

---

When word came to Ernst Krenz of the protest that started, Krenz was in the Chancellors office. He could immediately imagine the hardliners demanding that it be suppressed with as much force as possible. In fact, that was exactly what the leader of the NSD, Wilhelm Mielke wanted. He was known to be a hardliner, and Krenz had tried to get him replaced in. But it turned out he had quite a bit of connections, so getting rid of him was easier said than done. Krenz was just looking for the perfect opportunity to do so.

The suggestion that Wilhelm made, though was unacceptable. He wanted to crush the protests immediately, but Krenz didn't see any reason to do so.

"These are reactionaries who threaten the very foundation of our government! We must crush them!" Wilhelm said, but Krenz simply shook his hed.

"They are but ordinary people voicing their grievances, they don't threaten the party or the nation." Krenz answered "Let them continue unimpeded, if nothing else we should at least listen to their demands."

Wilhelm fumed, but he had no choice but to let Krenz have his way. Both, however, were looking for an opportunity to seize control.

Krenz, however, needed to get ready for a diplomatic visit to Carpathia to discuss a number of issues (including trade and possible observer status in the Trilateral Alliance) It would be a historic moment, the first time a Voltan Chancellor ever visited Carpathia since the Voltan revolution. It would be the moment that showed Volta was committed to pursuing an independent foreign policy, but the hardliners would hate it.

---

To the surprise of the protest organizers, the protest continued unimpeded. There was no attempt to stop them by police, and aside from the police monitoring them through the protests there was no interference by police. The protesters were satisfied with what they did, and prepared to protest again the next day.