Eilerist
Eilerists Eileristen | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Jan Eiler (ceremonial) Roelof, Count of Adhestenen Kevin Berkhoff |
| Founder | Kevin Berkhoff |
| Founded | 1865 |
| Dissolved | 1880 |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Sycretic |
| National affiliation | Reform Party (1865-1876) Continuity Reform Party (1876-1880) |
| Colours | Grey Green |
The Eilerists (Vistarian: Eileristen) were a political movement and faction within the Reform Party of Vistaraland between 1865 and the dissolution of the Continuity Reform Party in 1880. Organized under Kevin Berkhoff, a Ducally appointed representative of Eindrivier, the group sought to bring forward the thesis outlined by Jan Eiler. Eiler argued that imperial expansion had become a "patriotic distraction" given to the populace by the elites within the Vistari Colonial Company, and had stifled the development of the Vistari mainland.
Though far from the first to champion the granting of further autonomy to the individual provinces following the establishment of the Ducal Federation, Eilerists presented provincial autonomy as a way in which to wrestle power back from the mercantile elite and utilise the wealth of the provinces to better the lives of their citizens. Eiler's assessment of imperial history came to the radical and extremely controversial conclusion that the Empire was of little to no benefit for the Vistarian people or nation, and had instead allowed for Vistari culture to be "diluted by colonial exchange" and Vistari wealth to be placed in the hands of corporations.
Though opposition to imperialism is conventionally associated with the left, especially in Vistaraland, Eilerist justifications for dismantling the Empire were intrinsically linked to the perspective of Vistarian exceptionalism, and members often expressed open contempt for those born outside of the Vistari mainland. Though considered liberal by the Vistari establishment as with the rest of the Reform Party, Eilerist politicians often retained traditional, speciest assertions which argued for discrimination based on species and birthplace.
Though the faction would fall out of politics alongside the right-wing of the Reform Party, outpaced by their mainstream and progressive peers, the legacy of Eilerist theories on provincial power and empire would later influence both the Autonomist and Vistarian supremacist movements, with interpretations of Eiler amongst anti-imperialist groups and political parties varying radically.