War for Voerdish Sovereignty

The War for Voerdish Sovereignty (Inesean: War of Mistakes) began in the winter of 1889 as a Civil War between rebel forces and the bankrupt government of the Voerdish Free State. After a victory in Mewich, the rebels declared independence from the "Old State" (thenceforth referred to as the Voerdish Provisional Government, or VPG) and established a new nation, The Republic of Nova Voerda, or RNV.

Fighting between the two factions continued and escalated; the nations of Cyprum Xecuii, Servoth, Khamul, and Inesea (referred to ex post facto as the Imperial Forces) took advantage of the chaos, invaded, and made claims within Voerdish territory. As more and more territory was lost to the Imperials, the two Voerdish factions agreed to come to a temporary truce until the Imperials were repelled. Presidents Jaurdan Melhurst and James Wayford of the VPG and RNV, respectively, issued calls for help to their allies and trading partners in Amplector and Promethia. A force of nearly 200,000 men and women soon joined the two Voerdish factions to form the Voerdeland Allied Forces (VAF).

The nations of Inesea and Servoth withdrew before any substantial violence occurred between the parties, but the Cycuiian forces, who were occupying southern Voerdeland, had to be dealt with by force, but were eventually defeated. The Khamulites managed to hold onto their claimed territory for decades further, despite the continued efforts of the VAF, meanwhile establishing extermination camps for the execution of over six million captured Voerdish civilians.

Once the Imperial Forces were defeated (save for Khamul's), a general election was held amongst the Voerdish people to peacefully decide whether to return to the old ways of the Voerdish Free State and the VPG or to adopt officially and permanently the new Constitution of the Republic of Nova Voerda. The new Constitution won and many soldiers and politicians of the VPG were tried for war crimes and treason.

=Background=

As the world became increasingly interconnected, the Voerdish Free State's relative isolation was taking its toll. The harsh Voerdish climate was unsuitable for the scale of agriculture needed for its growing population and importing food from abroad was increasingly expensive. Inflation was increasing rapidly, which in turn caused unemployment to rise to a staggering 36%. At one point, it was estimated that one Voerdish person died from starvation or hypothermia every twenty minutes.

In 1885, when invitations were sent out to attend the Ticciano Conference in Fanaglia, which sought to lay out plans to construct an Intercontinental Railroad across Amplector and into northeastern Promethia, then-president Alexander Kitshoff saw it as an opportunity to reconnect Voerdeland to the rest of the world, as well as create thousands of jobs to build it. He was quick to agree with the plans, despite some slight misgivings about some of the Vjiayan amendments to the proposition.

The Railroad was completed early in 1889. However, the cost of the investment had driven the Voerdish government deeply into debt -- a debt made hopeless by the constantly-increasing tariffs placed on goods traveling through Vjiay, through which nation was the only way goods could pass between Voerdeland and Amplector. The tariffs became so restrictive that it became more expensive to utilize the new Railroad in which they had invested so much money than it was to simply ship by sea as they had done before construction began.

The ICR came to be viewed by the Voerdish people as a tremendous waste and the greatest mistake in Voerdish history. The general opinion was that the Kitshoff administration had exceeded their authority in negotiating the role Voerdeland was to play in its construction, that the details should have been put up to a vote before their tax dollars were committed to the cause. Confidence in their government and their voting system was at an all-time low; dissent was rife amongst the Voerdish citizens, who had become a powder keg, ready to be set off at the slightest provocation.

=First Voerdish Revolution= (Dissenters instigated, organized, and led by Beaumont against the government)

Prelude
The Servothians would be the last of the "Imperials" to enter Voerdeland. The State would send Jekyl Franx and his assistant Dr. Louis Von Stad to a small city just off the side of the Intercontinental Railroad, a city called Luxburg. This, after the Economic Plan to rebuild the Servothian Economy devastated during the First Servothian Civil War, would be the first attempt to gain foreign land during the Military Plan. Results would vary.

Arrival
The Servothians would first arrive in Luxburg on September 2nd, 1889. Mr. Franx would make speeches to the people of Luxburg in attempt to gain their support for the Servothian Federal Empire. It would be effective for a time, mainly among that of the lower and middle classes that had fallen on hard times during their nations' failure in governance.

Set-up
Franx's speaking would eventually gather him enough support to telegram the Kaiser of his success in the city. A declaration was sent out to the world, however it was quickly met with opposition, the Concilium of Gratia Infinita would send message of their opinion, and so the Kaiser would send one back in spite.

Again too, other leaders of the world would call against Kaiser Heinz, this time Vinchero of Inoroth, the Servothian would refuse their demands too. Following this, no military action nor diplomatic ones would be taken against the Servothian Government in Luxburg.

Reconstruction
By December of 1890, having found themselves at home and unopposed by the outside world nor their Voerdish possessions, the Servothian went to work reconstructing the city. This work would go uninterupted for a short time only.

By the later half of the month, Luxburgian Terrorists had start rebelling in the city, which the Servothian had renamed Lux. Following a demonstration in the town square, the Voerdish became violent, and with it the State decided Franx was no longer doing his job properly. As a result, Franx was shot and killed on State order, and immediately replace by Victor Harz. This demonstration would result in the deaths of an unidisclosed number of Voerdish, and a greater many injuries.

As the time went on, things would escalate. In the closing days of December, the Lux Post Office Stand-off would occur. This event would go on for most of the day, and saw the first of Servothian Tanks. By the end however, this would be the last of Servothian attempts to control the city. By the end, the Servothian Military commander, Carl Harsch, made the decision that maintaining Lux was too great of task. Seargent Harsch informed Mr. Harz, and he the Kaiser, the message was sent out to the world.

Withdrawal
With that, the Kaiser sent a message to the world informing them of their withdraw from the city. The Servothians reclaimed all their supplies brought over, including that that was used in construction of buildings. (Message displayed below)

The ceremony that the Servothian promised was held on January 3rd, 1891, to VAF forces. It involved a single Servothian Soldier giving their leaders a single, small cake.

Battle of Angelhurst and Voerdish Cease-Fire
(Wayford and Melhurst agree to work together) =Voerdeland Allied Forces (VAF)=

Calls for assistance from Amplector by James Wayford of the RNV began as early as the Battle of Angelhurst and continued after the Voerdish Cease-Fire, when Jaurdan Melhurst of the VPG joined him in his pleas for help. With the nations of Fanaglia and Gratia Infinita already having pledged their assistance to the RNV and VPG, respectively, the presidents of the two Voerdish Republics chose the lake port Guryevbury in southeastern Voerdeland as a meeting place. It was there, on December 27, 1890, that the Voerdeland Allied forces, a loose confederation of nations sympathetic to Voerdish sovereignty, were officially established to include Fanaglia, Gratia Infinita, Inoroth, Vjiay, Vitzenburg, and Mishmahig and where the general course of action for dealing with the Imperial Forces was laid out.

It was decided then that the invaders ought to be dealt with one at a time, with the Cycuiian incursion to the south being deemed the most immediate threat. News of the Khamulite Death Camps in the west had not yet reached them; had they known at the time, it may have been the Khamulites that they had decided to deal with first and the 'Voerdish Genocide may have been halted before it could gain the foothold that allowed it to continue for decades to come.

It was also there and then that the Cycuiian Ultimatum was drafted, signed, and dispatched.

Servothian Withdrawal
Having occupied the Voerdish city of Luxburg from September 2, 1889, the Servothian occupation faced ongoing resistance from the Voerdish people, despite their attempts to quell them with ten-year plans, rigged elections, and eventually with violence. Many credit covert Gratian operatives for having a particularly heavy influence on the resilience of the Voerdish Resistance. In response to this resistance, as well as the looming threat of intervention by the VAF, which was then assembling en masse at the Guryevbury Conference a mere one hundred kilometers away, the Greater Federal Empire of Servoth issued a declaration of its intent to withdrawal from Greater Luxburg on December 29, 1890. The declaration read as follows:


 * To the Leaders of the World,


 * It has come under the attention of the Servothian State that the continued maintenance of the city of Lux has become increasingly impossible. As such the State has decided that any further construction on the city shall be halted, all materials used in the city's reconstruction shall be reclaimed and shipped back to the Servothian Homeland for use in other projects unrelated to Voerdeland and its' city of Lux. The State shall also be sending home all military objects and personnel along with all persons contracted for the reconstruction.


 * Upon the completion of the removal of Servothian assets in Lux, we shall hold a special ceremony in order to officially return control of the city to proper Voerde hands.


 * Thank you for your time,
 * Kaiser Heinz Krauss IX

The Servothian withdrawal came promptly, as promised, and was relatively peaceful, with only a handful of instances of pilfering of Servothian goods and arms by the remaining Voerdish Resistance, who were publicly decried as "terrorists" by the exiting Servothian forces but who largely escaped Servothian prosecution.

Ultimatum
The following was dispatched to the Cycuiian invaders by the VAF from the Guryevbury Conference on the night of December 27, 1890, shortly before midnight and arrived in Cycuiian hands on the morning of January 3, 1891:


 * This is a message from the Voerdeland Allied Forces (VAF), which include the united fighting forces of the Republics of Voerdeland, the Eternal Kingdom of Inoroth, the Rightful Queendom of Vjiay, the Righteous Kingdom of Vitzenburg, the Dominion of Mishmahig, the Concilium of Gratia Infinita, and the Kingdom of Fanaglia to the commander of the Cycuiian forces who presently occupy Voerdish sovereign territory.


 * We, the representatives of the Republics of Voerdeland, solemnly declare to the world that Voerdeland has the right to be a free and independent country -- and in fact it is so already. The entire Voerdish people are determined to mobilize all their physical and mental strength, to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence and liberty.


 * Your invasion and subsequent occupation is both unprecedented and unwarranted and is a despicable act designed to take advantage of an independent and free nation's suffering and, in doing so, have not hesitated to plunge this great nation into further misery to serve your own senseless ambitions.


 * For more nearly a year, the Cycuiian imperialists, abusing the standard of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, have violated our Fatherland and oppressed our fellow citizens. You have acted contrary to the ideals of humanity and justice.


 * In the field of politics, you have deprived our people of every democratic liberty.


 * You have set up a distinct political regime in the southern Voerdeland in order to wreck our national unity and prevent our people from being united.


 * They have fettered public opinion; they have practiced obscurantism against our people.


 * They have robbed us of our cabbage fields, our mines, our forests, and our raw materials. They have disrupted the issuing of bank notes and the export trade.


 * In these circumstances it appears to the Governments of the VAF that by their action the Cycuiian Government have created conditions, namely, an aggressive act of force against Voerdeland threatening the independence of Voerdeland, which call for the implementation by the Governments of the VAF of the undertaking to Voerdeland to come to her assistance. I am accordingly to inform you that unless the Cycuiian Government are prepared to give the Voerdish Republics satisfactory assurances that the Cycuiian Government have suspended all aggressive action against Voerdeland and are prepared promptly to withdraw their forces from Voerdish territory, the VAF will without hesitation fulfill their obligations to Voerdish sovereignty with military force.


 * Today, we have taken further steps towards the completion of our defensive preparation. This evening, we ordered complete mobilization of the whole of the combined armies and navies of the VAF. We have also taken a number of other measures, both at home and abroad, which will not be specified in detail. Briefly, they represent the final steps in accordance with pre-arranged plans. These last can be put into force rapidly, and are of such a nature that their implementation is inevitable.


 * We have no quarrel with the Cycuiian people, except that they allow themselves to be governed by an oppressive government. As long as that government exists and pursues the methods it has so persistently followed during the last two years, there will be no peace in the East. We shall merely pass from one crisis to another, and see one country after another attacked by methods which have now become familiar to us in their sickening technique.


 * We, the whole Voerdish people, animated by a common purpose, shall enter into armed conflict with Cyprum Xecuii with a clear conscience if our demands are not met, with the support of the VAF, and the moral approval of the greater part of the world.*


 * [Attached were the signatures of James Wayford, Jaurdan Melhurst, Ernest Hale, Giorgini Tropi, Quartzo Zaponi, Alanzio Foldoni, and Victor Emanuel Vinchero.]

* Content borrowed heavily from both the speech by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to the House of Commons on 1 September, 1939, in response to Hitler's invasion of Poland, and from the Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, written by Ho Chi Minh and publicly announced on 2 September, 1945.

Surrender
=Aftermath=

Vjiay
At the close of the war, the money committed to Voerdeland by the Allied Forces had all but dried up. Leaving behind the few resources for reconstruction that was financially feasible, most of the Allied forces began returning home after the Cycuiian surrender, and especially after the 1892 election. The bulk of the remaining Vjiayan forces, however, remained in-country for "mutual cooperation and security," establishing their forces in a number of bases throughout southern Voerdeland, the largest being Camp Hale, southwest of Luxburg and near the International Railroad.

Initially, the Vjiayan occupying troops were well-received by the Voerdish people and their government. The extra manpower was seen as a welcome supplement to the decimated domestic security forces and the Vjiayan troops were expected to aid in the postwar reconstruction.

Reconstruction aid from the Vjiayans was limited, to the point of being negligible in comparison to the amount of aid given by Black Shield. By the close of 1895, most of the Vjiayan bases in the interior of Voerdeland had been dismantled, while Camp Hale had expanded to cover some fifty kilometers of the Voerdish border with Valoria, with its patrols extending well beyond that. Vjiay's continued military presence in Voerdeland began to wear on the Voerdish people, particularly those in the nearby city of Luxburg and in the surrounding rural country.

A number of conflicts between the Vjiayan servicemen and the Voerdish civilians further tried relations between them. Between 1892 and 1896, there were 1,408 criminal offenses committed by Vjiayan servicemen in Voerdeland, including 6 murders, 96 burglaries, 7 arsons, 31 rapes, 78 assaults, and 1,413 thefts.

In a speech in January of 1896, Regional Director of Black Shield Jacqueline Beaumont asserted that "The Vjiayan presence in Voerdeland, which has provoked strong opposition and resistance among the nation's inhabitants, is not geared towards defending Voerdeland, but rather to serve as part of a Vjiayan forward deployment strategy aimed at Valoria, the stability of which is not important to Voerdish commercial or defense interests."

The Vjiayan military, in response to Beaumont's claims, argued that "The Rightful Queendom of Vjiay is the only nation still committing security forces to the region and, though let down by a small minority of its personnel, performs vital work on infrastructure in the immediate vicinity of its bases. Why Miss. Beaumont, a known pirate and criminal, feels she has any right to doubt our just intentions is beyond our understanding. Our remaining in the area is supported by the proper administration of the country." The Vjiayan military imposed a temporary 24-hour curfew on military personnel and their families during the winter of 1895-1896 to ease the anger of local residents. The curfew was lifted in March of 1896, with the Vjiayan military claiming that the measure had had little to no affect on crime committed by Vjiayan military personnel. Vjiayan officials cited statistics that the crime rate of military personnel is consistently less than that of the general Voerdish population. However, some criticized the statistics as unreliable when Vjiayan officials were unable to produce any sources to verify their claims.

Between 1892 and 1896 the Vjiayan Military Court condemned 9 soldiers to death by hanging, 23 to life imprisonment and over 600 to community orders, alongside 348 dishonourable discharges.

Over the course of its tenure, the Wayford Administration, made no calls for the expulsion of Vjiayan troops, for fear of jeopardizing Voerdish diplomatic relations with Vjiay, who was considered a vital ally, as well as a vital key to the Voerdish economy, thanks to their unique position granting them primary control over the western portion of the International Railroad.

The Vjiayan occupation of southeastern Voerdeland continued for decades after the end of the war.

=Legacy=