Laeralian War of Independence
| Laeralian War of Independence | |||||||
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| Laeral | Duchy of High Fells | ||||||
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| 20,000 dead (including battle and disease) | 14,000 dead (including battle and disease) | ||||||
The Laeralian War of Independence was a conflict fought in Laeral during the nineteenth century, in which Laeralian rebels successfully won independence from the Duchy of High Fells. The conflict lasted for six years and resulted in great death and destruction, before concluding with the Treaty of Meilun which established Laeral as an independent nation carved from High Fells. The war was also one of the last wars to use archaic technologies during this time period.
Reign of Duchesse Louise I
During the 1830s, High Fells, a French colony located in the International Democratic Union, remained peaceful. The native Rén peoples remained subjugated by the High Fellsian monarchy, which continued to govern the colony in the name of the French royal line despite being disavowed by various French governments. Duchesse Marie-Therese I was a canny political strategist successful at maintaining order. She died of disease in 1836, prompting her oldest child, Louise, to take the throne. Louise and her younger sister, Josephine, were the products of Marie-Therese's liaisons with an unknown consort, suspected to have been Jules-Henri de Lauzan, the Marquis de Avenir. Louise, named as Duchess Louise I, was a hard-line conservative in contrast to her mother, who had established a consultative assembly. Louise quickly disposed of her sister by marrying her to an obscure provincial noble, and then moved to reverse her mother's reforms. She alienated certain members of the nobility by reinstating the strict etiquette and protocol that Marie-Therese had done away with. She instituted various economic reforms, including limiting banking and commerce, which cost her support among the nation's middle class. She increased taxation to fund military increases as well as her own legendarily hedonistic lifestyle. After a famine in the Northern Marches led to protests by the majority-Rén farmers living there, she authorized a massacre at the town of Vanoît which killed dozens. In 1843, a religious prophet claiming that he was the son of the Divine led a revolt, known as the An Heng rebellion, which was brutally suppressed. This was followed by the Blue Cockade Revolt in 1844, led by an individual claiming to be the older son of Marie-Therese, which was brutally suppressed over two years, culminating in the pretender's public death by slicing. As she grew ill at the Spring Court in 1848 (poison was suspected) it was clear that the ducal throne would next proceed to Louise's daughter, also named Louise.
Council of Althea
Having watched cautiously the news of Louise I's failing health, those opposing Louise's rule convened in Althea. Hundreds of leaders from across Laeral met at the Althea Hotel, to create what was called the Provisional Assembly. The Provisional Assembly was intended to decide upon a plan of action to protect the Laeralian people. The Provisional Assembly elected 12 members from among their own to lead the Assembly. This Provisional Council contained a wide variety of opinions, reflecting the diverse ideological makeup of the Provisional Assembly itself. The Assembly included constitutional monarchists, liberals, bankers, socialists, and anarchists, both Arrivée and Rén.
After months of fierce debate, the Assembly concluded that the reign of a Duchesse Louise II would be catastrophic for the Duchy of High Fells. Hardliners pushed for the declaration of a new independent nation, which was ultimately agreed upon. Inspired by the news of revolts underway in Europe, the Provisional Assembly declared on July 17, 1848 in the Binding Charter that a revolution would be led against the High Fellsian throne.
First Hostilities
Louise I died on September 18, 1848, and was succeeded by her daughter, who named herself Duchess Louise II. By February of 1849,