I'm a liberal but I still have to point out that "the country's depopulated and backwards interior" (your own words) provides the food, agricultural products, and mineral plus other natural resources that cities depend on. Until urban areas manage to figure out how to conjure their food and industrial input out of thin air, rural areas are as important (and arguably more important) than cities.

It's also worth noting that a large portion of the armed forces come from rural areas. Need I point out the potential problem with a military that doesn't hold the same values as the civilian populace it's supposed to protect and obey? Bear in mind that history does have a nasty habit of repeating itself.