War of the Caroline Succession

The War of the Caroline Succession, sometimes called the First Caroline War, was a conflict that involved most of the powers of the Holy Levantine Empire over the issue of King Leo IV of Urcea's succession in the Grand Duchy of Carolina, though by the conclusion of the first year of the war it became a general war over control of the Holy Levantine Empire. By the conclusion of the war, King Leo had routed the Imperial Army and was able to impose his will on the Empire, becoming Emperor and beginning a period of hereditary succession. Carolina would become part of Urcea and would remain so, with some interruptions, up until today. This conflict was the first of what became known as the Caroline Wars, which played a critical role in the development of modern Urcea as well as an important impetus in the decline of the Holy Levantine Empire.

Background
The Grand Duchy of Carolina had its origins nearly a millennia earlier in the Southern Kingdom of the Levantines, which grew to be known as Carolingia due to the reign of its first King, Charles. Carolina was the seat of the Southern Kingdom and its valley was a fertile and thriving area, and became closely associated with the Kingdom, eventually acquiring the name "Carolingia", or in later parlance, "Carolina". Separated into the Duchies of Upper and Lower Carolina following the conquest of the Kingdom and reunification of the Holy Levantine Empire, the Dukes of Lower Carolina (under House Mar Morgan) joined the Holy League during the Great Confessional War. As a result of the war, the Duchy of Upper Carolina was left vacant due to the destruction of its Protestant nobility, and as a reward for their loyalty the Holy Levantine Emperor, Leo III, joined Upper Carolina to Lower Carolina, creating the Grand Duchy of Carolina. From that time onward, the Mar Morgan dynasty of Carolina was extremely close to the Urcean Crown, and upon the extinction of their line in 1743, the entire Grand Duchy was left to the Apostolic King of Urcea, Leo IV. Despite this, Emperor Louis IX exercised his Imperial prerogative and issued a Pragmatic Sanction, denying the Urcean inheritance.

Though the immediate cause of the conflict came from the disputed succession in Carolina, tensions between the King of Urcea and Holy Levantine Empire had been high since 1741. King Leo IV, though he had been designated as heir apparent to become Emperor of the Levantines by the Collegial Electorate to his father, Emperor Aedanicus, was passed over upon the latter's death by the Electorate in favor of the Grand Duke of Verecundia, who became Emperor Louis IX.

The Apostolic Kingdom of Urcea had long held the ambition of the conquest of the Grand Duchy of Carolina, and had secured succession to the Grand Duchy in 1743 upon a will of its Grand Duke, Adrian II, himself a distant relative of King Leo IV. Upon his death, the King asserted his claim but a Pragmatic Sanction issued by Emperor Louis IX claimed the Grand Duchy for the Emperor. The Apostolic Kingdom of Urcea began an invasion of the Grand Duchy to enforce the King's claim, beginning the conflict as the rest of the Holy Levantine Empire rose up in arms against the Kingdom.

Besides the ties between House Mar Morgan and House de Weluta on the geopolitical macro scale, other ties drew Urcea to Carolina. A generation prior, in 1711, waves of Ómestaderoi began to enter the country to take up work in the fields and revitalize Carolina's flailing agricultural sector, which had still not fully recovered from the Great Confessional War. By the 1740s, there were thousands of Ómestaderoi in Carolina, many of which were still Urcean born and still held affinity for their countrymen. Urcea's claim on Carolina was premised not only on the legal inheritance but also of national kinship, which the Empire rejected. The Ómestaderoi would play an important role in the conflict to come.

War on Land
On July 4th, 1745, the Royal Army of Urcea crossed through the Northgate and invaded Carolina, being immediately joined by bands of Ómestaderoi militia, many of whom had been hastily assembled to oppose the Royal Army. The Emperor declared King Leo an outlaw and called the Empire to arms against him, beginning the war in earnest. The invasion of Carolina was completed without much resistance by the end of the summer of 1745. The previous ruling House Mar Morgan was widely respected throughout the Grand Duchy and the will of its last ruler was considered by many to be the final word. Consequently, many cities opened their gates and fortresses to King Leo's forces. Leo and the army wintered in Carolina in the winter of 1745-1746, recruiting a few thousand Ómestaderoi and other locals to the Royal Army. When spring came, these loyalists - along with some inexperienced levies from Urcea - were left to garrison Carolina as the King marched the bulk of his army east, into the Kingdom of Dericania. The King turned his attention to the two electorates that bordered Urcea in Dericania, namely Hollona, Orclenia, and Lucarnia. The campaign season of 1746 saw the King's army march north-to-south engaging in a harsh pillaging campaign in these three Electors in revenge for them reneging on their promise to elect him some three years later. Emperor Louis IX's large army of forces spent much of the year gathering from the corners of the Empire but were finally ready to march in the middle of August 1746.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing Map of King Leo IV's 1746 Campaign Deep into the Kingdom of Dericania, King Leo IV and the Royal Army, numbering roughly 46,000 strong, finally met the much larger Imperial Army numbering more than 79,000 in Orclenia at the Battle of Mt. Cara at the end of August, 1746. Emperor Louis's position atop a steep hill at the base of the mountain looked formidable, but utilizing his force's superior discipline, King Leo daringly launched an assault on the Imperial center. The unwavering Urcean advance lead to Imperial forces breaking first, after which time King Leo swung his force around and struck the collapsing Imperial left, sending much of the Imperial army into rout. Emperor Louis managed to personally rally most of his forces, but at the end of the day more than ten thousand Imperial troops lay dead and several thousand more injured or captured. For the rest of the campaign season, King Leo fought mostly to tactical draws, eventually forcing the Imperial Army to entirely retreat from Orclenia by the middle of Autumn. 1747 saw a year of stalemates, but in 1748, King Leo marched through the Emperor's home in the Grand Duchy of Verecundia, sacking much of it.

The Imperial Army reformed again in 1749 with more than 100,000 soldiers, but were unable to stop King Leo and the Royal Army from advancing out of winter quarters in Verecundia and towards the Imperial Capital of Corcra. Following a few close defeats in which Leo was able to retreat in good order, he again met the Imperial Army near the Abbey of St. John, some twenty five miles outside of Corcra. The Urcean 48,500 - lead by the elite shock corps, the Royal Fusiliers - totally annihilated the Imperial Army at the Battle of St. John's. The road to Corcra lay open, and King Leo took the city in April of 1746. The Emperor and his largest allies in the Empire surrendered, and King Leo accepted Emperor Louis's abdication on May 1st.

The Grand Duchy of Verecundia was dissolved into its constituent parts, and King Leo assumed the Imperial throne on May 3rd. As part of the terms of peace at the Treaty of Martinsburg, the Grand Duchy of Carolina was recognized as an integral part of the Urcean Crown. More shockingly, now-Emperor Leo demanded the concession of guaranteed hereditary succession of the Holy Levantine Empire, which the Imperial Diet had no choice but to accept. The decades of hereditary rule, and the attempted centralization of the Holy Levantine Empire, had begun.

Battle of the Three Winds
On August 3rd, 1745 a Burgundian fleet on its way to secret Burgundian troops into Grand Duchy of Carolina, was caught by a large detachment of the Urcean Royal Fleet patrolling off of Faneria. The 6 Burgundian snows defending the troop garbs moved to engage the three Urcean ships of the line, four sloops of war and their assorted support vessels. The wind favored the Burgundian fleet but it simply could not get close enough to the Urcean ships of the line to cause lasting damage. The troops were urgently disembarked and abandoned on shore as the garbs made a hasty retreat north.

The Burgundians lost two of their snows before retiring for the day. On the 4th of August, they woke at dawn to prepare for the coming fight but found a thick fog obscured the sea between the Urceans and themselves. Hoping to sneak close enough to the Urceans in the fog, they retracted the cannons and put out their oars. They slowly moved in the direction of open water where they thought the Urceans to be. Three hours later, a light breeze lifted the shroud of fog and revealed the Burgundians. They had over shot the Urcean position by a few hundred meters and were now very much exposed, silhouetted against the open ocean. The Urceans lept to action and encircled the Burgundians. The remainder of the day the Urceans slowly picked off the inferior Burgundian ships at a range they could not meet.

In all, the six Burgundian ships were sunk, with the Urceans only losing two sloops, and sustaining serious damage to one of their ships of the line.

Battle of Abylf Ledge
Fought over the western edge of the Abylf Steppe

Cronan Beaver War
Sensing opportunity to seize Urcea's territories in Crona, Kiravia decided to strike at Urcea on the seas and launch an invasion of the colonies in 1746. Following intermittent fighting on both land and sea, King Leo IV of Urcea sued for peace and ceded the territories in order to focus on the fighting in Levantia. As part of the agreement, New Archduchy's colonial borders were solidified and Kiravia recognized Leo's claim to title of the Emperor of the Levantines.