14,541
edits
History of Urcea (1798-1902): Difference between revisions
m
→Rise of the Rifled State
| (One intermediate revision by the same user not shown) | |||
| Line 49: | Line 49: | ||
===Railroadocrats=== | ===Railroadocrats=== | ||
During the 19th century, railroads became a major force within the economic life of Urcea and a regular feature of industrial society. Urcea's general economic prosperity during the first decades of Aedanicus's reign was partly driven by the rise of this new technological innovation, and the 1840s and 1850s saw a general boom in all things railroad, also leading to significant enhancements in the steel and logging industries. With this revolution in transportation underway, many men - mainly [[Social class in Urcea#Privilegiata_2|privilegiata]] - became millionaires practically overnight, greatly transforming social and economic dynamics within Urcea. By the late 1850s, a large class of railroad tycoons had emerged, largely displacing the [[Social_class_in_Urcea#Optimate_2|optimates]] in high society; due to their self-made status, the new men of high Urcean society did not have the successive generation requirement necessary to become optimates, and these new men embraced their continued status as privilegiata. The rise of the privilegiata high society, most of whom were far wealthier than their optimate peers due to successes in capitalist exploits, functionally ended any residual influence of the optimates and reduced them to an urbanite social class, though one still heavily resented by the privilegiata. Far more important than the impact on class structure, however, was the political impact of the new class of men. The money and power wielded by the railroad tycoons was easily transferred to politics, where the men generally collaborated to make the state deferential to railroad interests, acquiring land designated for [[Ómestaderoi|homesteads]] using {{wp|eminent domain}} while exempting railroads from [[Guilds (Urcea)|guild]] requirements. Their interests went beyond just railroad-related concerns, however; these educated privilegiata generally believed in a program of reform for Urcea to modernize it and place men such as themselves, rather than clerics, nobles, or the [[Julian dynasty]], at the center of it, not only to benefit their own enterprises but also to make the state more "meritocratic" in their view. The politically motivated railroad tycoons would become known as the "railroadocrats", and their influence over the Urcean state would grow rapidly between the 1860s and [[1889]]. | |||
===Military commitments and rebellions=== | ===Military commitments and rebellions=== | ||
In 1870, the seventy-two families of the [[Kingdom of Crotona]] launched what is known as the [[Kingdom_of_Crotona#Reform_efforts_and_Valerian_Rebellion|Valerian Rebellion]] following the removal of one of their members as the Custóir of the [[Estates of Urcea|Valerii estate]] in combination with economic reforms launched on the island. Following two years of fighting between the [[Royal and Imperial Army (Urcea)|Royal Army]] and forces loyal to the seventy-two, the latter were broken and their political and economic hold over the island destroyed. Domestic violence on this scale in [[Urcea]] had been unheard of since the [[Great Confessional War]] and the incident was deeply embarrassing to the country and [[King Aedanicus VIII|King Aedanicus]]. Following the war, military rule was established on the islands for the remaining time of the Kingdom's existence. | In 1870, the seventy-two families of the [[Kingdom of Crotona]] launched what is known as the [[Kingdom_of_Crotona#Reform_efforts_and_Valerian_Rebellion|Valerian Rebellion]] following the removal of one of their members as the Custóir of the [[Estates of Urcea|Valerii estate]] in combination with economic reforms launched on the island. Following two years of fighting between the [[Royal and Imperial Army (Urcea)|Royal Army]] and forces loyal to the seventy-two, the latter were broken and their political and economic hold over the island destroyed. Domestic violence on this scale in [[Urcea]] had been unheard of since the [[Great Confessional War]] and the incident was deeply embarrassing to the country and [[King Aedanicus VIII|King Aedanicus]]. Following the war, military rule was established on the islands for the remaining time of the Kingdom's existence. | ||
| Line 59: | Line 61: | ||
During the 1880s, [[King Aedanicus VIII|King Aedanicus]], now in his 60s, was struggling with various illnesses and would be known to have long lapses of reason and consciousness. Beginning a tradition that remains through the present, the King decided to permanently relocate to [[Castle Welute]] to take in the "country airs" and to escape the looming political chaos in [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]]. Despite this retreat from public life, the King finalized publication of the ''[[Consolidated Laws of HMCM's Kingdom and State]]'', a sweeping legal reform and consolidation that considerably eased administrative and judicial burdens. The Election of 1885 threw the government into chaos, as dissenting factions within the [[National Pact (Urcea)|National Pact]] could not agree on a leader. King Aedanicus opted to appoint a leading General, [[Gréagóir FitzRex]], as [[Procurator]] in an attempt to co-opt the military and restoring order in the government. FitzRex received a very narrow approval from the [[Concilium Daoni]] and began to exercise increasing control over the government, appointing his own members to the Purpaidá despite that being under the Chancellor's purview. Despite the military's nascent political power, it was not immune from the growing sense of decay at the end of the long Aedanicad that struck every other part of the country and society. While the navy was falling behind technologically, the [[Royal and Imperial Army (Urcea)|Royal Army]] became imbued in a scandal known as the ''Eight Rifle Affair'', in which the Army ordered [[List_of_Urcean_service_weapons#Affair_Six|8 different standardized rifle designs]] between 1880 and 1887 due to a series of escalating favors and corruption within the Army and connected industries, with six of the rifles being used for less than a decade. The Eight Rifle Affair was supported by funds specifically appropriated for the conversion to use of {{wp|bolt action rifles}} as part of a modernization program, and the failure and controversy around it weaked both the Apostolic King and [[Concilium Daoni]]. The Eight Rifle Affair was extremely costly to the already-tight government budget, leading to a near-discrediting of the army and a hope for FitzRex's opposition. Army leadership eventually decided to license a foreign design from [[Veltorina]]. The adoption of the this semi-successful licensed rifle - dubbed the SR-8 - brought the affair to an end in 1887, finally giving the Royal Army a standardized bolt-action rifle for use for the next decade and a half. The Affair gave the late Aedanicad regime its popular nickname - the "Rifled State" - referring both to public corruption and the general influence of the armed forces. | During the 1880s, [[King Aedanicus VIII|King Aedanicus]], now in his 60s, was struggling with various illnesses and would be known to have long lapses of reason and consciousness. Beginning a tradition that remains through the present, the King decided to permanently relocate to [[Castle Welute]] to take in the "country airs" and to escape the looming political chaos in [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]]. Despite this retreat from public life, the King finalized publication of the ''[[Consolidated Laws of HMCM's Kingdom and State]]'', a sweeping legal reform and consolidation that considerably eased administrative and judicial burdens. The Election of 1885 threw the government into chaos, as dissenting factions within the [[National Pact (Urcea)|National Pact]] could not agree on a leader. King Aedanicus opted to appoint a leading General, [[Gréagóir FitzRex]], as [[Procurator]] in an attempt to co-opt the military and restoring order in the government. FitzRex received a very narrow approval from the [[Concilium Daoni]] and began to exercise increasing control over the government, appointing his own members to the Purpaidá despite that being under the Chancellor's purview. Despite the military's nascent political power, it was not immune from the growing sense of decay at the end of the long Aedanicad that struck every other part of the country and society. While the navy was falling behind technologically, the [[Royal and Imperial Army (Urcea)|Royal Army]] became imbued in a scandal known as the ''Eight Rifle Affair'', in which the Army ordered [[List_of_Urcean_service_weapons#Affair_Six|8 different standardized rifle designs]] between 1880 and 1887 due to a series of escalating favors and corruption within the Army and connected industries, with six of the rifles being used for less than a decade. The Eight Rifle Affair was supported by funds specifically appropriated for the conversion to use of {{wp|bolt action rifles}} as part of a modernization program, and the failure and controversy around it weaked both the Apostolic King and [[Concilium Daoni]]. The Eight Rifle Affair was extremely costly to the already-tight government budget, leading to a near-discrediting of the army and a hope for FitzRex's opposition. Army leadership eventually decided to license a foreign design from [[Veltorina]]. The adoption of the this semi-successful licensed rifle - dubbed the SR-8 - brought the affair to an end in 1887, finally giving the Royal Army a standardized bolt-action rifle for use for the next decade and a half. The Affair gave the late Aedanicad regime its popular nickname - the "Rifled State" - referring both to public corruption and the general influence of the armed forces. | ||
Now empowered, Procurator FitzRex convinced the elderly King to grant him the previously Royal title of [[Ranks in the Urcean Armed Forces|Magister Militum]], granting FitzRex total control over the [[Armed Forces of the Apostolic Kingdom of Urcea|armed forces]], subsequently inducing the Daoni to vote the powerless title Commander-in-Chief to the King instead. The Daoni remained without a [[Chancellor and Temporary President]] for the remainder of the 1886-1890 term, and Procurator FitzRex used this to push through a series of aggressive reforms intended at modernization, which were initially popular. In 1889, King Aedanicus VIII died | Now empowered, Procurator FitzRex convinced the elderly King to grant him the previously Royal title of [[Ranks in the Urcean Armed Forces|Magister Militum]], granting FitzRex total control over the [[Armed Forces of the Apostolic Kingdom of Urcea|armed forces]], subsequently inducing the Daoni to vote the powerless title Commander-in-Chief to the King instead. The Daoni remained without a [[Chancellor and Temporary President]] for the remainder of the 1886-1890 term, and Procurator FitzRex used this to push through a series of aggressive reforms intended at modernization, which were initially popular. In late October 1889, King Aedanicus VIII died, beginning a sequence of events that would result in Urcea transitioning to a Crown Regency led by FitzRex. | ||
===Coup of All Saints=== | |||
== Crown Regency == | == Crown Regency == | ||