Peninsular Revolution

Peninsular Revolution
Part of the Post-Cornicae conflicts
Cuthish soldiers conduct a raid in Kingsham during the Christmas Uprising
Date 15 December 1943 – 20 January 1944 (1 month and 5 days) Location Cutho-Waldish Peninsula Result Peninsularist victory Overthrow of republican governments in Cuthland and Waldrich Establishment of Peninsularist rule Beginning of the Cutho-Fawstonian War Reunification of Cuthland-Waldrich Revolutionary fervor continues until 1962
Belligerents
Peninsularists Supported by: Erytheria	Cuthland Waldrich Supported by: Aussonia
Commanders and leaders
Gerrit Hartnell Sikke Rijnders	Harold Blakemore Aldert Hoekstra †
Casualties and losses
4,000+ killed

The Peninsular Revolution was a series of armed uprisings across the Cutho-Waldish Peninsula during the winter of 1943–44. Peninsularist rebels revolted against the republican governments of Cuthland and Waldrich, which had gained their independence several months prior following the collapse of Cornicae. The Revolution resulted in the establishment of Peninsularist governments in both nations, and led to the reunification of Cuthland-Waldrich several months later.

Revolutionary sentiments had been building for decades following the end of the Continental War. Despite emerging as one of the victorious parties, Cornicae was plagued by increasing disunity. The war had seen widespread ethnic cleansing of Hesurianics living in the Peninsula by Cornicae's Latin majority, killing as many as 100,000 Cuthish and Waldish individuals and deepening the rift between Hesurianics and Latins along ethnic, religious, and linguistic lines. As the empire began to weaken, support began building for a restoration of the Cutho-Waldish Realm, which unified much of the Cutho-Waldish Peninsula during the early modern period and was widely seen as a "golden age" of Hesurianic culture in Cardia. Supporters of reunification rallied behind the charismatic Gerrit Hartnell, whose mixed Cuthish and Waldish ancestry was seen as emblematic of the Peninsularist movement. Hartnell and his supporters formed the Peninsular Party in 1920, quickly gaining traction throughout the Peninsula.

Upon Cornicae's dissolution in 1943, republics were established in the newly independent states of Cuthland and Waldrich. However, these new governments proved unable to mitigate the economic collapse produced by the Empire's fall, resulting in runaway hyperinflation and sociopolitical unrest. Hartnell and his supporters attempted to channel public anger by framing the republican governments in both nations as "Latin puppets", controlled by ex-Cornice nobles who desired to keep the Peninsula weak and divided in order to facilitate a Latin takeover of the Peninsula and eliminate Hesurianic culture. These efforts proved successful, and by late autumn revolutionary fervor had reached a fever pitch across the Peninsula.

The Revolution began with the December Uprising in 1943, when armed rebels led by Hartnell attempted to storm the Cuthish Parliament building in Kingsham. While the assault proved unsuccessful, similar uprisings broke out throughout the nation, with militants attacking government forces and seizing official buildings in cities across the country. By the beginning of 1944, the revolts had spread to Waldrich, and the Peninsula appeared to be on the brink of open conflict. Both governments had completely lost control of vast regions of their respective countries by mid-January as continued revolutionary attacks and widespread military and police defections rendered them completely ineffective. The Revolution ultimately culminated on 19 January when elements of the Waldish military staged a coup d'état, arresting and summarily executing Prime Minister Aldert Hoekstra in a public spectacle that attracted worldwide media attention. The Cuthish government resigned the next day, allowing Hartnell to enter Kingsham unopposed.

The Revolution had widespread political impacts on the Peninsula. Immediately after seizing power in Cuthland, Hartnell launched a failed invasion of Fawster that was ultimately repelled with foreign assistance. The new governments of Cuthland and Waldrich signed the Treaty of Wesselstêd in June 1944, establishing the Commonwealth of Cuthland and Waldrich as the first unified and independent Cutho-Waldish state since 1811. Hartnell established a cult of personality as a populist leader, continuing the revolutionary fervor and militantly pursuing irredentist claims on former Cutho-Waldish territories until his death in 1962. His ideas, collectively known as Hartnellism, became the foundation for Cuthland-Waldrich's socio-political institutions and policies post-reunification.