Goldenbird

Demonstration

The proletariat of Ginestra is ethnically mixed but united in their dissatisfaction with the order of things. From Italy, they hear news of workers taking over the factories; in Germany, the aristocrats have been crushed; in Russia, the Bolshevik revolution seems to succeed. All this and the constant shortage of everything inspires some union leaders to take matters in their own hands.

Originally, the majority of the Ginestran people supported the Dux, because he expelled the hated Austro-Hungarian bureaucrats and French and American forces that had been stationed in the city. However, the Dux’s freewheeling attitude hasn’t brought him any friends in the international community. The Pinkshirts live by piracy (and friends in the Italian navy) but the ordinary workers are locked out when Ginestra is placed under an international blockade.

What’s worse, the Dux starts cracking down on political activities outside his control. Unlucky people disappear without a trace. Some escape to the mountains, since the Dux cannot control the countryside. The borders are leaking smugglers and refugees in both directions. Some foreign adventurers stranded in Ginestra take part in the revolutionary preparations…