History of Urcea (1798-1902): Difference between revisions

With the beginning of the 1901 campaign season, allied forces began several offensives as part of a two pronged effort to cut the nation in two and gain access to the [[The Valley (Urcea)|Urcean valley]]. In the spring, [[Burgundie]] and other Imperial allies began an invasion of Urcea in the newly formed province of [[Burgundiemarch]] in what would become known as the [[Overland Campaign]]. FitzRex had anticipated such a move and heavily fortified the province, leading to Burgoignesc forces being bogged down quickly and leading, ultimately, to operational failure.  Burgoignesc and Legitimist forces defeated the Regal Navy and established a blockade of Cana, capturing the city in June in the decisive [[Fall of Cana]]. With the port city and most of [[Canaery]] under its control, the allies began the [[Antonine Campaign]], an effort to secure access into the Urcean valley by the few routes through the [[Urcean frontier]]. With the success of that effort by the end of 1901, allied forces could now enter the Urcean plain by land or by sea, as control of Cana gave a vital base from which to raid and land soldiers. Imperial forces began to stream into Cana and across the countryside, taking much of southern Urcea from the Crown Regency. By the end of 1901, the forces of the Crown Regency were reduced to an area approximately covering the [[Urceopolis (Archduchy)|Archduchy of Urceopolis]] and Eastglen, and most of the remaining navy had defected to the Legitimist cause or surrendered, leading to a blockade over the winter. The Antonine Campaign was considered a decisive blow against the military fortunes of the FitzRex regime, and from its base of operations in Meliferia and along the ''Via Antonia'' allied forces began to launch raids across the Archduchy over the winter, severely harming the agricultural output and logistics of the regime.

The blockade led to rapidly deteriorating conditions inside the Regal lines, as food became scarce and most lower class [[Social class in Urcea|freemen]] were laid off and sent home due to the lack of available work. Widespread unrest gripped [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]] as the city approached starvation by the end of January. [[Gréagóir FitzRex|The Crown Regent]] diverted more of his power to the [[Concilium Daoni]] in order to reduce the unrest and began to re-purpose some of the Regal Army for night raids across the lines to take foodstores back to the city. The Crown Regent began a semi-effective food rationing system, and began to open the [[Julian Palace]] to the public, sharing the Palace's food stores with the masses. These measures were effective in restoring confidence for much of February 1902, but even the Palace's food stores began to run low by the end of the month. FitzRex had restored public confidence in his regime for a temporary time, but the effort became his undoing. On the night of March 2nd, 1902, a family of Urceopolitans were refused larger portions despite the state of their famished children, causing an argument between the family and the workers at the Palace. FitzRex attempted to mediate the discussion, but the argument escalated and the leader of the family stabbed the Crown Regent, leading to the Palace dining hall erupting in a massive riot. FitzRex, not fatally wounded, was trampled in the chaos and was pronounced dead in the Palace. The Daoni met in an emergency session into the early morning of the 3rd, and, following hours of debate, the socialist majority in the Daoni declared a republic which would continue the fight against the Legitimists. It voted to abolish itself and replace itself with a "National Assembly of the Republic".