Richmond was the center of power in the Commonwealth of Virginia before the Second Great Depression. Before the politicians of the day took the final steps that herald the ends of empires. They thought their word was law, and they thought they could win if they silenced their opposition once and for all. They thought they could arrest or kill enough of the peons to quell the others. As is often the case with those like them, they did not see the end before it came. It was no grand Hollywood movie about resistance overthrowing the oppressors. It was far more mundane an end. The politicians of Richmond ran out of money, and when they could no longer buy loyalty, those they had bought went elsewhere in search of a paycheck. Richmond survived the chaos that followed, but its influence in the affairs of Virginia did not.