Uralic Purges

The Uralic Purges is a term used to refer to a period of extreme oppression of Uralic peoples dating from mid-March to early May of 2007, mainly during Great War III. Although the name might suggest a Holocaust-like genocide, the death toll was only just into the hundreds of thousands, although the number of people that became displaced as a result was over ten million.

The Uralic peoples had lived in the areas constituting the Russian Empire for centuries, as their Urheimat is located in the Ural Mountain area. However, over the years, Russians have attempted to assert their dominance over these people, leading to persecution. Before the Cataclysm, the worst persecution was centred in two areas - the historical states of Mari El and Mordovia - with tensions being existent but not particularly bad in most other Uralic areas.

The Cataclysm put a temporary end to this persecution, however ethnic tensions flared up again once extremist organisations began springing up again. It would come to a head during Great War III, where several Uralic groups supported The Initiative and were deemed untrustworthy by Russian extremist groups as a result.

Russian Role In Purges
Oddly for such an event, both the main proponents of the Purges, and some of the fiercest opponents as well, were Russians. In particular, most Russians living in Udmurtiya were very staunchly opposed to the actions of extremists in the area.

Diasporas Resulting From The Purges
In the immediate short-run, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons stemming from anti-Uralic persecution reached a maximum of ten million four hundred fifty six thousand nine hundred and eighteen (10,456,918) in mid-April. The hardest-hit areas were those whose persecution levels ran high before the Cataclysm. The city of Yoshkar-Ola in particular lost 75% of its population - its entire Mari population and those Russians who supported them - due to extremist groups running rampant.

The largest diaspora was an eastbound one, with many Uralics settling in cities and towns such as Syktyvkar, Inta, Vorkuta, Serov, Salekhard, Kotlas, and Punaturjin. There was, however, also a large diaspora of Mordvinic peoples to Finland and Hungary, and a Saami move into Nordic Sapmi (Finland/Sweden/Norway).

Short-Term Backlash
The beginning of the reversal of the Purges would come with international publicity of the persecution and violence, and the alliances swiftest to condemn the actions were the CCC, the FCO (being Uralics themselves), and the NpO, as well as the vast majority of ex-NAAC nations, even though they fought against the Initiative. Individual nations from a wide variety of alliances also stepped up to offer their solidarity with the various displaced peoples.

Furthermore, the foundation of the Uralicist Movement in Syktyvkar by Vaido Kuik, Lasse Mäkelä, Yevgeny Kolpakov, and Meri Vanhanen in June of 2007 gave a face and a voice to those being oppressed. These were backed fully by the FCO.

Pressure from all angles forced the extremists to cease the large-scale persecution, allowing people to return to their homes. Even so, some would remain in their new "homes" for some time.

Long-Term Consequence
Persecution against Uralic peoples would continue to be a problem in European Russia for some time to come, however as the numbers of extremists working the areas hardest-hit - that is, Mari El, Mordovia, and "Russian Karelia" - dwindled, the Uralics began to stand up for themselves, resulting in the occasional riot, but also in a swell in the ranks of the Uralicist Movement which brought in some of its higher-profile leaders, most notably Jarkko Salomäki and Ovdey Shlomov. The Unjust War did have some battles in the region, however racially-motivated persecution was a non-factor.

The inevitable consequence of the Purges, however, was the formation of a pan-Uralic state, Uralica, which officially came into being nearly a year after the Purges started.

Casualties

 * 101,256 killed (includes 34,109 Mari, 19,521 Mordvins, 15,203 Karelians, 13,926 Komi)
 * 429,370 wounded
 * 10,456,918 displaced (at peak)