New Harren: Difference between revisions

===20th century===

Following the Crown Regency and Red Interregnum, the newly crowned Patrick III sought to restore Urcea's reputation abroad and to test Urcea's rebuilt military might. New Harren had again reached its comfortable population limit, and the King intended to prove that it was not merely his father's "pet project" but instead a viable, long-term enterprise. To that end, he deployed several of Urcea's rebuilt Royal Navy ships to shell the [[List of peoples of Cusinaut#Q-T|Schoharie]] coast before a formal declaration of war came In August of 1908; this action caused the resignation and retirement of Servilio Walsh, who privately denounced the war and thought peaceful relations with the Confederation essential. Following the declaration, the [[Royal and Imperial Army (Urcea)|Royal Army]] expeditionary force came to occupy Schoharie by the end of September, though they found it mostly depopulated. This time, the very well-armed Urcean expeditionary force defeated the Confederation in several major battles, advancing as far inland as the city of Tepetlcali in November of 1909 before malaria and supply issues forced the Urceans to turn back. The Confederate troops - armed mostly with muzzle loading rifles purchased from [[Audonia|Audonian]] nations in the late 1860s - were overwhelmed by Urcean fire, but the sheer number of troops made a total victory over the Confederation difficult and it was determined that an advance past Schoharie would be impossible given the resolve of the Confederation. The [[Treaty of Electorsbourg]] ended the war in 1910; Urcea annexed Schoharie but agreed to recognize the Confederation's extant borders, and the Confederation agreed to open fair trade relations with Urcea. The 1890 ten year truce signed between the Confederation and Rector Servioilio Walsh was retroactively extended into a 99-year peace treaty, inaugurating a century of peaceful cooperation between the Confederation and New Harren. The Schoharie War was the last formal conflict fought between Urceans and the people of Cusinaut in the 20th century, and Urcea formed strong trade relations with its Confederation neighbor, the tribe of the Mixcala. Though there was peace, numerous Urcean and other Levantine settlers filibustering into Confederate lands; these efforts were all defeated, sometimes with Urcean assistance. Increasingly, the Rector of New Harren would not only be called upon to help defend the neutrality of the Northern Confederation but would also be asked on occasion to serve as an impartial arbitrator between competing elements within the Confederation, beginning a precedent of Urcean involvement within the Confederation's internal affairs.

New Harren in the 1920s and 20s experienced moderate but stable economic and demographic growth. This relative tranquility was interrupted during the [[Second Great War]]. When [[Daxia]] entered the war, trade with Levantia to Cusinaut was cut off by the Daxian Navy. The environs of Port St. Charles were bombarded for a 45-minute period in January [[1935]] before the Daxian force was chased away by an air-sea sorty of the Royal Navy; 223 people were killed during that period. In the days after the assault, it had been reported that the 91-year old Servilio Walsh was killed during the shelling, which enraged the New Harren public and fueled the formation of a popular home guard to serve in conjunction with the Royal and Imperial Army and [[Royal Marine Corps (Urcea)|Royal Marine Corps]] garrison on the island; in subsequent weeks it was determined he died of an unrelated heart attack that occurred during the bombardment, a fact downplayed by the Rectory government. Beginning in January 1935 and continuing through February 1937, Port St. Charles was the subject of nightly bombing attacks from [[Cao]]. A small detachment of Daxian marines landed in New Harren on 12 March 1935 in the northeastern coastal corner of the Rectory. The local garrison stopped their advance but failed to repel them, and until summer [[1936]] the area was occupied by the Daxians. In July 1935 the 200 square mile area was declared the Provisional Schoharie Republic, a puppet regime of the Daxian government intended to solicit support from the [[Northern Confederation]], which remained neutral. By the end of [[1935]] and spring [[1936]] the [[Levantia and Odoneru Treaty Association]] gradually regained naval supremacy in the [[Ocean of Cathay]], ending siege-like conditions in New Harren economically. Reinforcements arrived in the rectory by June of 1936 and the Daxians were repelled. Aerial supremacy was gradually established by [[1937]], ending the bombing. While Rectory officials desired an invasion of Cao, Urcean military officials did not think it was worth expending resources on, and instead the island was quarantined and all strategic assets bombed, including airfields and ports. The New Harren-Cao conflict functionally came to an end in January [[1938]], when all strategic relevance of Cao ceased. After the war, New Harren saw a major uptick in settlement as land was made available to the millions of Royal and Imperial Army veterans who had served Urcea worldwide during the conflict.