October Plot

The October Plot was an attempt by some radical conservatives to kill some high-ranking members of the government and replace them with more conservative and traditional leaders.

Motivations
King Johan I was deposed in 1881 and there were many Brunanters who did not accept Pieter II as king. He carried outseveral reforms, such as making the President an elected official. There was much opposition to this from conservative elements in society and there were some who wanted to remove him from office. In 1888 he was the subject of an attempted assassination at the hands of Anthony Lesnisch, but managed to survive unharmed. By the 1900s there was more discontentment from traditionals as he planned to institute reforms to tax the nobility and reduce the pensions among royalty to cut costs withing government.

Legitimacy Movement
The Legitimacy Movement was an ultra-conservative group founded in the early 1890s who was opposed to King Pieter on the throne and supported Johan's claim. Many of its' members had been opposed to the Liberal Revolution and some even fought for the king. When Johan died in 1894 they recognized Prince Eugen as king, as Johan's proclaimed heir. By the 1900s there were many who wanted to replace the king with Eugen and effectively have a coup.

The plot
Plans for the plot began in 1912 with the intent of arresting King Pieter and replacing him with Johan. Not believing there would be enough support for this, they decided that he would have to be killed. Soon the plot had been expanded to include the assassination of the Crown Prince and President Stefanus Varne. With their death they would facilitate conservative's entry into power.

On August 6, 1913 the Crown Prince was walking in Koningstad when LM member Karl Marek spotted him; he took out his gun and shit at the prince, but it had jammed. Several onlookers tried to detain him but he stabbed a man. A nearby policeman heard the commotion and was able to arrest Marek.

It was later decided for one big event to take place instead of smaller, individual assassinations. The Legitimacy Movement later found out that the King, Prince Johan and Princess Caroline would be traveling to Brezonde and it was there where they decided they would do it.

The October Plot
October 23 was when the three royals visited Brezonde. The royal entourage had decided to travel by coach instead of by car. They were driven through Brezonde on an open coach and many onlookers lined the streets so see the royals. Traveling down Venice Street one of the horses stopped and it took a while to get it to move again. In that time an onlooker, Jean-Paul Marois pulled out a gun and fired several shots at the king, the crown prince and Princess Caroline. Marois was quickly apprehended and he was shot and killed trying to escape from the police. Princess Caroline was unharmed but both Pieter and Johan had been hit. They were taken to a nearby house to be treated but Pieter was not likely to survive, having been shot twice in the chest. The king lost a lot of blood and he died a little after 3:00 PM, at the age of 53.

Around the same time the president was due to give a speech at Congress. Politician Augustus van Solberg, who was a member of the LM let in gunman Henry Hinds into the building. Hinds quickly rushed over towards the president, pulled out a revolver and shot six times. Royal Guardsmen nearby arrested Hinds and chained him. President Varne had been hit in the arm and two other senators were more seriously wounded. The president survived his wounds.

Investigation
A massive investigation was carried out over the following months. Many high ranking