User:Vjaarland/Sandbox

While the failure of the Cuthish Revolution was widely seen in Cuthland as a repudiation of republicanism as a form of government, the liberal ideals of the Enlightenment had left a permanent impact on Cuthish society. As such, Algar III attempted to rule as an enlightened absolutist, taking advantage of the centralized state apparatus established during the revolutionary period to modernize the country. He implemented economic reforms that brought the industrial revolution to Cuthland, devoted public funds to the arts and sciences, and became one of the first world leaders to abolish capital punishment. Algar III also sustained many of the social conventions brought about by the revolution, upholding civil liberties and maintaining a merit-based system in public service. His highly popular rule restored the image of the monarchy in the eyes of the Cuthish public and ushered in an era of stability known as the Finest Era.

Algar III's death in 1825 left his son, Edmund X, as the successor to the Cuthish throne. In contrast to his father, Edmund X's rule was highly conservative, keeping many staunchly royalist members of the nobility in his closest group of advisors. Consequently, Edmund X stripped back many of the reforms made during his father's rule, controversially reinstating capital punishment for certain crimes committed against members of the clergy and nobility. These revisions of the post-revolution social order were seen as highly regressive, once more turning public opinion against the monarchy. In November 1829, riots broke out in Newbridge after a mob stormed a jailhouse in order to free two brothers who had been sentenced to death for burning a noble's field. Fearing a second revolution and return of republicanism, supporters of the liberal House of Alhstead, a cadet branch of the House of Haltboruh, staged a popular uprising against Edmund X in March 1830.

The uprising led to Edwin III being crowned Emperor of a restored Cuthish Empire and established a unique form of constitutional monarchism in Cuthland, termed Alhsteadism by political scientists. Instead of turning powers over to democratically elected officials, the Cuthish Constitution of 1830 created legal bounds within which the sovereign could exercise his power. The Constitution codified many of the enlightened absolutist practices normalized by Algar III, creating a bill of rights for the people and formally stripping the nobility and clergy of special privileges. The High Court, the highest judicial body in Cuthland, was granted the power of judicial review over the monarch's actions in order to maintain constitutionality. The 1830 Constitution also expanded the power of the Wittenmoot, requiring the approval of both houses in order for the monarch to amend the constitution or appoint new judges to the High Court.

History of Cuthland-Waldrich

• Pre-6th century: Tribes and stuff from prehistory until circa 6th century
• 6th century: Various petty kingdoms, duchies, etc. emerge and dominate throughout early medieval period
• 6th-11th centuries: But oh no, they keep getting fucked by Mascylla from the east and the Nordics from the west
• 11th century: Probably better if we unite into two kingdoms instead, Cuthland and Waldrich
• 15th century: Yeah this is pretty cool but Masc keeps fucking us so let's form a political union and totally not rip off Poland-Lithuania in the process
• 15th-17th centuries: Wow I like this whole empire thing let's go invade not!Scandinavia and maybe parts of Mascylla as well
  • We should also be artsy and shit while we're at it
• 17th century: Oh never mind this is actually completely unsustainable, ethnic tensions are sucky and our economy is in the shitter
  • Guess we better partition the G L O R I O U S E M P I R E and return to getting railed by Mascylla
• 1818: Lol jk we're getting the band back together
• 19th century: Oh look, industry and colonies
  • Oh awesome now Dulebia wants in, maybe we can challenge Lavarian/Mascyllary dominance and in no way collapse spectacularly in the process
• Great War: Oh wow that was shockingly predictable guess we suck again
• 1920s: Yep we definitely suck, Masc took our monarchy and now the commies want in
• 1930s: But what better cure for communism than a return of the monarchy, this time with double the oppression
• 1930s: Guess we should invade/annex Waldrich again, as is customary
• 1930s-1970s: Oh wow this is much better than before, we're actually kind of feared
• 1970s: Whoops maybe economics aren't our thing, the people are restless again
  • Okay we'll give you more capitalism but the monarchy stays
• 1980s-2000s: Mmm yes the sweet taste of cold hard cash
• 2000s-present: Wow we're actually developed as fuck for once