History of Urcea (1902-1955): Difference between revisions

Entering his first full year on the throne in 1903, the King next turned to the permanent status of the office of [[Procurator]]. Some in the Concilium Daoni advocated abolishing the position and dividing its authority between the King and Chancellor. The King, however, saw the value in a non-Royal executive and decided to retain the position. Prior to the Regency, the office was appointed by the King with approval from the Daoni, which allowed for some abuse - especially given that FitzRex was functionally able to force his own appointment. Taking cues from the [[Collegial Electorate]], the King decided to adopt a new system, the ''Procuratorial College''. The Procuratorial College would meet every five years following regularly scheduled [[Concilium Daoni]] and local elections. Its membership would consist of the Governor from each province, the senior-most delegate of the [[Concilium Daoni]] from each province, and from each Royal Hold and State, five specifically elected designees. The Procuratorial College, with 83 members, would meet in December following the election for the Daoni and elect a Procurator, sometimes from among their ranks and sometimes not. This Procuratorial settlement also saw the King confirm the Procurator retaining the rank of [[Ranks in the Urcean Armed Forces|Magister Militum]] that had been given to it during the Regency period, and the authorizing law for the changes also included more clear delineation of the Procurator's powers, replacing earlier precedents. The King decided the first election for Procurator would occur on schedule in December 1905; until then, the King would continue to exercise broad executive authority in order to ensure the security of the transition. This was confirmed by the "Enabling Act of 1903", which, among other provisions, gave the King broad latitude over economic programs and expenditures within the Royal Budget and also gave the King the ability to directly implement new economic law until the next election in 1905. The passage of the Act lead to a two year long political controversy known as [[The Enabling]], as [[National Pact (Urcea)|National Pact]] delegates split decisively on the matter, creating the [[Julian Party (Urcea)|Julian Party]]. The Enabling Act would allow the King to bypass a [[Censor (Urcea)|Censorial]] veto on allowing loans at interest later in 1903; this action was later considered to be the foundation for the later [[Great Depression]] in [[Levantia]].

As 1903 came to a close and 1904 dawned, the King began to prepare for the 1905 election and subsequent transition of power to elected officials as well as a new, full Concilium Daoni. He decided to set forth a handful of policies in order to finish the restoration work he had began in 1902. Namely, the King began an extremely extensive infrastructure project which would not only rebuild the nation's wartorn railways, bridges, and buildings, but also construct many new ones. The King also took an interest in the construction of airfields and hangars for airships. His continued interest in the emergent technology of airships and, to a lesser extent, airplanes, lead to his creation of the [[Royal Air Force (Urcea)|Royal Air Fleet]] in 1904, the precursor of the modern Urcean Royal Air Force. The King's interest in military affairs did not end with experimental air technology, however. The complete failure of the [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Regal Navy]] during the [[Red Interregnum]] allowed for successful operations for the Legitimists including the noteworthy [[Fall of Cana]]. King Patrick III was deeply influenced by the effect of sea power on the outcome of the war. Like his father, the King proposed a major renovation of the navy. Integrating Regal Navy personnel, the King began construction of a modern fleet of ships. Uniquely for the time, the King decided to invite foreign military advisers to Urcea. Many radical naval thinkers from [[Burgundie]] came to [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]] in the period between 1904 and 1910, giving significant input on how a new and modern navy should look, how it should operate, and how it should be made up. Many of these advisers, like the King, had the lived experience of the [[Red Interregnum]] to provide key lessons. The King's naval reconstruction effort provided a major boost to the reconstructing economy, and the industrial base of the nation was up to the task. By 1912, the navy that the King had called for was largely in place, and most contemporaries noted that it was large enough and advanced enough to give Urcea the ability to project power on a nearly global basis and certainly in the Sea of Canete. Part of this effort saw the design and construction of the very first dreadnought in [[Levantia]] - the HMCMS ''Royal Hound'' - launched in 1909. The naval reconstruction effort centered around the ''Royal Hound'' and its sister ships in the [[Archduchy-class battleship|''Archduchy''-class]] as well as the general-use [[Coria-class cruiser|''Coria''-class]], among many other ship classes. From that point onward, the Navy overtook the [[Royal and Imperial Army (Urcea)|Royal Army]] as the area of special focus for the [[Government of Urcea]]. King Patrick III has been considered by some historians to be the father of the modern [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy]], and an architect of Urcea's coming naval dominance in the [[Second Great War]] two decades later.

In 1905, the [[Commonwealth Union (Urcea)|Commonwealth Union]] won a landslide victory over the [[National Pact (Urcea)|National Pact]], creating the first non-Pact government in decades and ending the temporary unity government established by [[King Patrick III]]. While his various infrastructure and military reform efforts would continue unabated, the King handed over primary governing responsibility to the elected government, earning him the admiration of leaders on both sides of the political aisle for his commitment to the [[Constitution of Urcea]]. Although the second half of the King's reign would not see as much vigorous activity in reshaping the nation, it nonetheless saw the continuation of development and advancement in most fields, including the economy, political stability, military technology, and social cohesion. In most ways, [[Urcea]] emerged from the crucible of the [[Red Interregnum]] stronger than it had been than any time since the 18th century. King Patrick III decided to use this strength in 1908, when he deployed parts of the rebuilt [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy]] to [[New Harren]] in an effort to expand the colony there. His father's effort to do so in 1881 had lead to the colony being considered a discredited vanity project. The technological advances of the Army combined with the Navy's strength were no match for the overwhelmed Confederates, who believed Urcea a paper tiger; Urcea successfully annexed Schoharie, a tribe of the Northern Confederation, and secured an equal trading rights agreement with the Confederation. The demonstration lead to many in the Occident taking notice; the [[Armed Forces of the Apostolic Kingdom of Urcea]] were equally as up to the task of displaying Urcean might as its political, social, and economic sectors were.

The Urcean economy became increasingly unstable due to the loosened restrictions on usury proclaimed by the King several years earlier. In [[1908]], the Royal Bank of Urcea informed the [[Concilium Purpaidá]] that received interest on its excessive lending was insufficient and that the Bank may face an insolvency issue by the late 1910s. This fact became public in February 1909, leading to major concerns of debts being called in. On 12 February 1909, a massive market sell off began as speculators sought to have enough liquid capital to cover a debt recall. This sell-off lead to a chain reaction beginning the [[Great Depression]] in [[Urcea]] and [[Levantia]] as a whole. The Commonwealth Union-lead [[Concilium Daoni]] passed the "National Banking Act" on 12 March 1909, which reinforced pre-Interregnum anti-usury laws and ordered the Royal Bank to restructure by changing from an interest-based to a [[Levantine banking and finance|non-interest based system]]. These moves stabilized the economy for the time being, but the country was plagued with some political turmoil for a decade to come. While the country remained more stable than it had been in the period of the Regency, a low-level war began between the [[Agency for the Preservation of the Restoration]] and the insurgent [[Republican Party (Urcea)|National Republican Army]], whose ranks swelled with unemployed, especially unemployed veterans.

During the [['97 Rising]], forces on both sides were still largely using mid-19th century artillery pieces, and no pieces with {{wp|Hydraulic recoil mechanism|hydro-pneumatic short recoil systems}} would enter standard usage until after the Rising. Accordingly, the interwar Royal and Imperial Army had almost no experience with modern warfare centered around heavy artillery and had to relearn tactics and basic military engineering from foreign experts. Since the last military experience had lacked the heavy artillery that lead to trench warfare, the Royal and Imperial Army had almost no experience with armor to speak of as of 1920 and no armored vehicles in service. Urcea began to license early tanks from [[Burgundie]] beginning in [[1922]], but many of these were already antiquated by the time a large number had been amassed, making them largely only suitable for training and doctrinal developments.