Albandaean Crisis

Albandaean Crisis
Imperial soldiers awaiting Praetonian troops at a trading post outside Albandaea
Date March 5 - October 18, 1896 Location Empire of Exponent Result Praetonian Victory Angel Bay Accord Albandaea ceded to Praetonia Modernization of Imperial Exponential military
Belligerents
Empire of Exponent Anti-foreign mobs	Praetonia Healers
Commanders and leaders
Chancellor Marcus Coldstream Legate Gaius Antonius Benenatus Dux Julius Graywater	???

The Albanaean Crises was an uprising which took place in the Empire of Exponent and resulted in the resignation of Octavius V and the handing over of the city of Albandaea to the Empire of Praetonia. It was initiated by the Healer movement and was motivated by liberal demands for reform of the Imperial government. The Praetonian government intervened and defeated the Exponential Imperial forces.

Background

Since the mid 1700’s, Praetonian merchants frequented the ports of Exponent and partook in a profitable trade, being the only Havenic nations with access to the Empire. For decades, the two nations carried out their interactions in a relative peace, but as the years wore on, Praetonian ideas of liberalism began to take a more and more serious hold on many of the people of Exponent, particularly in the city of Albandaea.

Albandaea was one of the Western Provinces busiest ports, and also saw the most Praetonian ships traveling in and out of its harbor. It was this city in which the Praetonian liberal ideas took the most roots. Praetonians had long been spreading the notion of their own Bill of Rights, and of the great things that it could bring to the Exponential Empire, all the while pointing out the flaws within the Imperial government.

Hostilities Commence

On March 5, 1896, the citizens on Albandaea, as well as those in many surrounding areas, took up arms against the local Imperial forces. With Praetonian support, they quickly gained land, and by the middle of May had nearly reached Divinity. The rebels were finally met by a large Imperial force just outside of the town of Virerica, and were forced to stop their advance after a nearly three day battle that claimed almost three thousand lives on both sides.

During this time, anti-foreign sentiment in Paradise City and Redemption soared, and this, combined with the frustration of constant defeats in Polarus, led to a release of massive public outrage. Exponential men and women stormed into the Praetonian quarter in both cities, and reports were also coming in of attacks in other parts of the country, and massacred the foreigners found. Imperial soldiers joined in on the attacks, and the situation rapidly deteriorated as various atrocities were committed across the Empire. As the massacres were beginning, Imperial forces stormed the Praetonian ships in both cities, capturing them and imprisoning their crews, which for many saved them from the fate of their countrymen elsewhere in Exponent.

Praetonian Intervention

The seizure of the ships along with the massacres of civilians forced the Praetonian government to act, and they quickly deployed a fleet and an expeditionary force to reclaim their vessels. By August, Praetonian forces began to arrive in Albandaea to find the city under siege by Imperial forces. With Praetonian support, the rebels, now calling themselves the Healers, believing that they would heal the nation and make it stronger, were able to smash the Imperial army and once again begin a march down the coast, this time making it to the gates of Divinity, where once again an Imperial force, now along with a large loyalist militia, met the Healers and their Praetonian allies. The Imperial soldiers dug into a complicated series of trenchworks, and set up for a long defensive fight that would end up costing the Empire nearly ten thousand more lives, and an equal number on the Healer side, all in the time span of a month and a half.

Meanwhile, the Praetonian Navy had arrived outside of Paradise City on October 8, and fired off warning shots, demanding the release of all Praetonian civilians and ships. The Chancellor at the time, Marcus Coldstream, refused and called upon the Imperial Navy to remove the foreign fleet. During the ensuing battle, the antiquated Exponential fleet proved to be no match for the steam powered Praetonians, and they were devastated, losing dozens of ships. The Empire broke into a panic, as the possibility of the capture of both Divinity as well as the capital a very real possibility. By October 15, the government of Exponent invited the Praetonian admiral to meet with him at Angel Bay, a small town along the Sea of Neptune. A few days of debate followed, and by October 18, the Angel Bay Accord was signed.

Aftermath

The Accord seriously embarrassed the Empire, but served to help bring the Empire into the modern world. All Praetonian vessels were released and all Praetonian civilians within the Empire were subject to Praetonian law only. Not only this, but the city of Albandaea was given to Praetonia as a permanent outpost in the Empire. Exponent would learn from this, and Praetonian engineers would work together with Exponential forces, eventually fully modernizing the Exponential army and navy by 1905, and by 1919 Exponent would have a fully operational air force.

The reforms ushered in after the Albandaean Crisis also eliminated Hesperidesian Inquisition and led to the 1897 Hesperidesian Census, which broke with prior tradition and gave every citizen of the Empire a surname.