War of the Five Kings

War of the Five Kings
The Battle of Auserburg (7-8 May 1790)
Date 4 September 1789 (1789-09-04) – 29 March 1793 (1793-03-29) (3 years, 6 months and 25 days) Location Mascylla, North Sea, Lake Sigismund Result Aldian-led Elbgau Confederation victory Dissolution of the Elbgau Confederation Formation and unification of the Mascyllary Kingdom Exclusion of Adwinia from Mascyllary politics and leadership Inherent rise of Mascylla as a Berean great power Territorial changes Aldia annexes fringe possessions and parts of Holnia and Adwinia Welsbach annexes parts of northern Adwinia and Tudonia Incorporation of all Mascyllary states into the Mascyllary Kingdom, excluding the Grand Duchy of Lingburg and Duchy of Lilienburg
Belligerents
Elbgau Confederation Aldia Shwesia Welsbach Langquaid Amretz-Teufurt and Mühlingshausen Merzenich Eustria Konreid Gärlburg-Altenberg Flussmund Estmar Dockfurt Supported by: Valimian Empire	Adwinia Holnia Tudonia Amretz-Heinrichsbronn-Amsern Welsbach-Gehrach Engelbart-Maining und Saalburg Würthburg
Commanders and leaders
Lucas I William of Stenreck Helmuth of Mohrnau George of Schüldte Charles Frederick II Franz Kohlner William of Oppenburg	Charles Anthony III Christopher of Wälsberg Louis of Bernestedt Erich Joseph Kleitzer Crown Prince Leopold
Strength
666,370 390,870 275,500	556,700 408,100 90,000 58,600
Casualties and losses
61,205 44,746 16,459	102,320 68,960 20,864 12,496

The War of the Five Kings (Hesurian: Krieg der fünf Könige [ˈkʁi:k de:ɐ̯ fʏnf kø:nɪgə]), also known as the Mascyllary War of Unification, Third Aldo-Adwinian War, Brothers War, or in Mascylla the Mascyllary War, was the last war between the Kingdom of Aldia and Kingdom of Adwinia and their respective allies in the Elbgau Confederation and remaining Mascyllary states, and ultimately culminated in the Aldian-led unification of Mascylla into the Mascyllary Kingdom following the war's end with the Treaty of Langquaid in 1793.

In March 1789, the Duke of Phalia-Lehpold, Charles IV, suddenly died but left no heir apparent and the throne vacant. Aldia quickly suggested an Ahnern candidate, Lucas's brother Leopold, as Phalia's successor, but Adwinia, recognizing the strategic and economic importance of Phalya, aggressively objected and pushed for King Charles's nephew, Prince Maximilian, to succeed Charles IV. The issue quickly evolved into a diplomatic fiasco, and on 4 September 1789, Adwinia issued to resolve the conflict through war.

While Adwinia quickly invaded Phalia, the Elbgau Confederation was able muster a larger standing army under the command of Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Fürst von Stenreck. The conflict quickly escalated into a full-scale war and it became apparent the Elbgau Confederacy and its allies would emerge victorious. After numerous victorious battles in Eustria and Phalia over the course of two years, the Battle of Auserburg in May 1790 was a decisive blow to the Adwinian armies protecting the fortress of Auserburg, completely eradicating the bulk of its land army and capturing King Theodore himself. While Aldia continued to advance further south, Franz Kohlner and a trail of thousands of petty soldiers, peasants and activists, collectively known as the "Expedition of the Thousand" (Zug der Tausend) and politically motivated by the Cuthish Revolution, marched onto and invaded Breisgau.

Shortly thereafter, Adwinia capitulated without any peace terms and representatives of 20 Mascyllary states and free cities gathered in the Congress of Lancaide. Lucas I of Aldia was chosen to ascend the title of Mascyllary King after the style of Emperor of Mascylla (Maskillischer Kaiser) was unanimously rejected, the Elbgau Confederation was dissolved, and its member states as well as the defeated nations were merged into a single Mascyllary state. Rigorous debate ensued in response to Mascylla's formation as an Enlightened absolutist monarchy, as intellectuals had hoped to implement Cuthish revolutionary ideals. The Treaty of Lancaide itself was signed and ratified on 18 May 1793 after months of negotiation. Subsequently, Lucas I was officially coronated in the St Michael's Cathedral in Lancaide to the largest audience of nobility in Mascyllary history.

While the war itself was brief, it left a devastating toll on the civilian population and southerly regions who suffered from looting during the conflict. The government was largely composed of war veterans, such as Wilhelm Fürst von Stenreck, who was appointed Mascylla's first Prime Minister. However, Adwinia and other southern states were deeply indebted, impoverished and virtually unrepresented politically, culminating in a series of strikes and riots in 1795 (Aduhinischer Bauernaufstand) which were quickly put down by Aldian military forces.

However, Mascylla witnessed an unprecedented economic rise, and Lucas I massively grew in public popularity with the introduction of a new row of statutes that satisfied the expanding middle class of classical liberalists and nationalists who continued to rise in influence in national politics and commerce, while the country's absolute monarchies were slowly replaced by constitutional systems.

Course of the war

Sides and alliances of the War of the Five Kings:
  Kingdom of Aldia
  Other Elbgau Confederation members and Valimian Empire
  Neutral states (Birchau)
  Disputed territory (Phalya)
  Kingdom of Adwinia
  Adwinian allies

Negotiations and aftermath

Treaty of Langquaid

King Lucas I, proclaimed King of Mascylla, taking the oath of the Constitutional Charter on 23 May 1793 in the Langquaid Great St. Gideon's Basilica

A rigorous debate erupted as to how the political system of Mascylla would actually be structured; a majority of states from the south who had a conservative point of view advocated for an enlightened, but absolute monarchy, while the peasantry, middle class and a number of northern states favored a democratic republic with a monarch as its figure head. Fearing the southern states would rebel and eventually secede from Mascylla, Lucas I drafted a compromise betweeen both parties, in which the monarch would have considerable power but be advised and kept in check by elected members of government. While this compromise resolved the ongoing dispute of Mascylla's governance, Lucas had own personal aspirations as a leader of power and therefore detested being removed political powers. Franz Kohlner as an influential political figure first strongly opposed his proposal, but reluctantly agreed later on, burying the nation-wide hopes of a civil state spurred by rising discontent in the Cuthish Empire and Falland in the 1790s for another century.

Another similar discussion arose after Lucas I proposed the title of "Emperor of Mascylla" (Kaiser Maskilliens) to Stenreck and his war cabinet who had voiced interest in the proclamation of an empire following Mascylla's unification in 1792. However, the absolute majority of the nobility outright refused this royal institution, mainly because of the vocal superiority and higher ranking of the title of emperor in comparison to those of kings or grand dukes which Lucas acknowledged would have irrefutably endangered the integrity of Mascylla's unity and aliented him from his "subordinates" of other royal heads. Furthermore, the existance and continuation of the Welsbach–Valimia personal union under then-respective Grand Duke and Emperor Charles Frederick II would have meant that Lucas I as Emperor of Mascylla would outrank Charles Frederick II as Emperor of Valimia, and Charles, as member of the Imperial Convention, electing any Mascyllary emperor was seen as offensive and politically ridiculed.

Ultimately, the treaty itself was signed and ratified on 18 May 1793 after months of negotiation. Lucas I was officially coronated in Langquaid to the largest audience of nobility in Mascylla's history on 23 May as "Mascyllary King" (Maskillischer König).

Notes

a.^ Hesurian: Maskillischer Einigungskrieg, IPA: [ˈmaski:lɪʃɐ ˈaɪ̯nɪgʊŋskʁi:k]

b.^ Hesurian: Dritter Aldisch-Aduhinischer Krieg, IPA: [ˈdʁɪtɐ aldɪʃˈa:dʊhɪnɪʃɐ kʁi:k]

c.^ Hesurian: Brüderkrieg, IPA: [ˈbʁy:dɐkʁi:k]

d.^ Hesurian: Maskillischer Krieg, IPA: [ˈmaski:lɪʃɐ ˈkʁi:k]

e.^ The Valimian Empire and Grand Duchy of Welsbach were jointly ruled through the Welsbach–Valimia personal union from 1659 to 1923.

f.^ Simultaneous Grand Duke of Welsbach and Emperor of Valimia since 1763.