Honorverse
Register
Advertisement

The Theisman Coup was the violent overthrow of Oscar Saint-Just, the de-facto dictator of the People's Republic of Haven, by forces led by Admiral Thomas Theisman of the People's Navy on May 10, 1915 PD. It led to the restoration of the orginal democratic constitution and the first free elections in centuries.

Prelude[]

Following Admiral Esther McQueen's failed coup attempt, most of the Committee of Public Safety was dead and Oscar Saint-Just assumed the office of Chairman.

Soon after, Admiral Thomas Theisman was ordered back to Haven, where he eventually discovered a file Admiral Amanda Graveson left behind; it told him who to contact in the Capital Fleet should he decide to pick up where McQueen left off. (HH9)

The Coup[]

On March 31, 1915 PD, the First Havenite-Manticoran War came to a sudden end as a result of a change in government in the Star Kingdom of Manticore.[1] Now secure from the possibility of a Manticoran attack, Saint-Just turned to internal matters and the consolidation of his grip on power. He ordered the arrest of Admirals Lester Tourville and Javier Giscard, whom he considered political dissidents. However, Commander Shannon Foraker single-handedly destroyed the two StateSec superdreadnought squadrons which prepared to take out Tourville and Giscard's ships, with a hidden computer program she had previously installed.

On Haven, the military took control of the People's Tower by breaching its walls with assault shuttles and dropping troops into it. Admiral Theisman stormed Chairman Saint-Just's office with a number of battle-armored marines, and personally executed the dictator by shooting him in the head with his own pulser. (HH9)

Ninon Bourchier was one of the civilian leaders supporting the coup. (HH12)

Aftermath[]

As a result of the coup, the Office of State Security collapsed into itself, as did the State Security Naval Forces. Several SSNF commanders decided to secede from the Republic or turn to piracy. Others became warlords and were eventually defeated in the Havenite Civil War. Meanwhile, Eloise Pritchart was instated as acting President of the Republic of Haven, and oversaw a Constitutional Convention to restore the Republic to the state its founders had intended.

The nomenclature of the Havenite government also changed, mostly back to its original state before the implementation of the DuQuesne Plan; the state was once again simply known as the "Republic of Haven", and the People's Navy became the Republic of Haven Navy (RHN). The custom of putting the word "Citizen" in front of people's names and titles was also abolished. Many People's Commissioners became were given positions in the new government as they had been supporters of the Opposition. (HH10)

References[]

  1. A consequence, in fact, of Saint-Just's assassination of the Manticoran Prime Minister.
Advertisement