War of the Cuthish Succession

War of the Cuthish Succession
Part of the Century of Horrors and Partitions of Cuthland
Clockwise from top left: Battle of Heihfirth, 11 August 1717 Battle of Trautenau, 6-10 September 1720 Battle of Socapatoy, 9 February 1729 Battle of X, 10 December 1735
Date 3 May 1715 – 29 September 1740 (25 years, 4 months, 3 weeks and 5 days) Location Cuthish Empire, Alvinia Result Grand Alliance victory Treaty of Habernau (1738), Treaty of Nyhavn (1740) Edmund VIII assumes the Cuthish throne First Partition of Cuthland, Cuthland cedes Asary, Herrshausen and Elpsland to Aldia, Gessbach to Welsbach, Upper Lainate to Adwhin, and Birchau, Brantens, Lilienburg and Rovina. End of the Pax Cuthica Beginning of the Century of Horrors
Belligerents
Cuthish Empire Cuthland Aldena Asary Birchau Brantens Gessbach Konreid-Woltzar Lilienburg Rovina Tambovia Upper Lainate Tudonia Eustria Gotia Herrshausen Holnia	Adwhin Aldia Norden Shwesia (1719–1738) Dulebia (1721–1740)
Commanders and leaders
Edwin II	Albert I Theodore II Maximilian of Reitersburg-Furth George Charles I Leopold of Warthburg Ernest of Loevendal Kristian IV William IX Peter II

The War of the Cuthish Succession was a major 18th-century Berean conflict between the First Cuthish Empire and the Berean states of Adwhin, Aldia, Norden, and Dulebia. Triggered by the death of Edmund VII of Cuthland in 1715, the war is considered to be a pivotal moment in Cuthish history and that of Berea as a whole. As fighting took place across the entirety of the Cuthish colonial empire and spanned multiple continents, many historians cite the War of the Cuthish Succession as the first truly global conflict in history.

Since the end of the 15th century, the Cuthish Empire had been the undisputed hegemon in the Telemerian Peninsula, and was one of two global superpowers along with Lavaria. Both nations had colonized vast swaths of territory across multiple continents, and controlled the majority of global trade. Cuthland also possessed a vast continental empire which stretched from the Karsk Sea to modern-day Mascylla. The size and power of the Cuthish Empire at its height brought about a period of stability and prosperity known as the Pax Cuthica. Edmund VII, head of the House of Loxstedt-Hoeveden and Emperor of Cuthland, was consequently one of the most powerful individuals in the world at the dawn of the 18th century, wielding the power of one of the largest empires in history.

Edmund fell gravely ill during the winter of 1714-1715, and unexpectedly signed a proclamation legitimizing Edwin of Whitford, a royal bastard and the king's eldest son, as his successor. While Cuthish succession law specifically prevented illegitimate children from assuming the throne, Edwin's supporters argued that his father's proclamation made the existing law inapplicable. Edwin assumed the Cuthish throne upon the king's death on 16 March, prompting Edmund VIII, Edmund VII's eldest legitimate child, to claim the throne for himself. Attempts by Peter II of Dulebia and George Charles I of Aldia to divide the empire in 1715 were rejected by the Cuthish, as Edmund's respective legitimate and illegitimate heirs were relatives of the Alhstead Loxstedt-Hoevedens and X which in either outcome would have shifted the Berean balance of powers. Edmund VIII solicited support for his claim from Cuthland's neighboring states, who agreed to intervene on the condition that Edmund cede territories in both continental and colonial Cuthland upon his assumption of the throne in order to challenge the Loxstedt-Hoeveden power, called the Grand Alliance.

WIP

This resulted in the 1738 Treaty of Habernau and 1740 Treaty of Nyhavn. Edwin II was ultimately confirmed as Cuthish Emperor and the Cuthish Empire remained largely intact, but it ceded territories in western and southern Mascylla, Norden and northern Dulebia. Lavaria replaced Cuthland as the dominant maritime, commercial and colonial power of Berea. The war resulted in the first major shift in the Berean balance of power in the modern era, but left disputes and broader political issues that contributed to the larger war unresolved and in stalemate. Cuthland saw its hegemonic status in Telmeria come to an end as Dulebia, Norden, and the Mascyllary states all emerged as great powers, and its household was financially exhausted from the war permanently. The war also marked the beginning of the Century of Horrors, a 115-year long period of decline, war, and internal upheaval in Cuthland such as the Cuthish Revolution and Cuthish Revolutionary War, that lasted until the Alhstead Revolution restored the Cuthish Empire in 1830.