Grailism

Grailism is a collection of economic and political strategies first outlined in "Der Stahl des Sieges" (The Steel of Victory) by Francisco Grail. The term comes from the name of its creator, after initially being called Stahlism, which was phonetically too similar to Stihlovism. The ideology is largely based around Messierism.

History

According to legend, Zokesian soldier Hans Messier was badly wounded in the Vulcan Wars and received a meager pension for his injuries. After Emperor Vulcan VII abdicated, Chauvin maintained his fanatical Imperialist belief in the messianic mission of Imperial Zokesia, despite the unpopularity of this view under the Phoenix Restoration. His single-minded devotion to his cause, despite neglect by his faction and harassment by its enemies, started the use of the term.

Messierism has extended from its original use to include fanatical devotion and undue partiality to any group or cause to which one belongs, especially when such partisanship includes prejudice against or hostility toward outsiders or rival groups and persists even in the face of overwhelming opposition. This Zokesian quality finds its parallel in the Kafrican-language term jingoism, which has retained the meaning of Messierism strictly in its original sense; that is, an attitude of belligerent nationalism.

Francisco Grail grew up in Neo-Zokesia, and as a schoolboy lamented how the great Zokesian Empire of old had fallen into history, seemingly wiped out following the unification of the Old Kolus Trade Organization in the 20th century, never to return. In 2057, the Zoke-Sovie War broke out, and a young Corporal Grail was on the front lines, to see firsthand the events of the war and the spark that birthed the Zokesian Republic.

In the years following, Grail studied at Ward college and began to write a manifesto paralleling the ideology of Hans Messier, calling for a return of the national pride and excellence that had proceeded the nation in the Imperial days. Grail was the leader of the Blutgard during the 2075 elections and was arrested for battery, assaulting a Union of Workers politician and served 2 years in state prison, where he wrote the book Der Stahl des Sieges (The Steel of Victory), foretelling the economic crisis and blaming the future shortages on immigration and lack of Zokeisa-first political and economic policies.