In this regard, secession fit the model of “pre-emptive counterrevolution” developed by historian Arno Mayer. Rather than trying to restore the old order, a pre-emptive counterrevolution strikes first to protect the status quo before the revolutionary threat can materialize. “Conjuring up the dangers of leaving revolutionaries the time to prepare their forces and plans for an assault on their terms,” writes Mayer, “counterrevolutionary leaders urge a preventive thrust.” To mobilize support for it, they “intentionally exaggerate the magnitude and imminence of the revolutionary threat.”27
