Post-war viceroyalties

In consequence of the Pan-Septentrion War, Themiclesia established quasi-civilian governments in the parts of Dzhungestan and Menghe it was charged to occupy between 1944 and 1949. These governments are called post-war viceroyalties since they were both headed by plenipotentiary viceroys representing the Monarchy of Themiclesia. These viceroys were only sometimes present in the countries they ruled but were active members of the Cabinet of Themiclesia. Their wives, without any additional appointment, were titled as vicereines.

Viceroyalty of Menghe

Constitution

An enabling act passed in 1944 authorizing the Emperor to appoint, according to the advice of the Government of Themiclesia, a viceroy over the parts of Menghe that Themiclesian forces occupied. There was only ever one viceroy over Menghe—the Baron of Krye. The viceregal government of Menghe was organized as follows:

• The Viceroy in law held executive, legislative, and judicial power. The law debarred active military and naval officers from being appointed.
• A 7-member Viceregal Privy Council, supporting the viceroy using his executive powers. The viceregal privy council must pass draft orders before the viceroy's assent could grant effect to them.
  • Because the viceroy was seldom in Menghe, the most senior counsellor was the first amongst peers and in practice led the council's discussions. Members of this council were appointed directly by the Government of Themiclesia on the advice of the Viceroy.
  • With respect to the administrative functions played by the Themiclesian forces in Menghe, orders to be sent to them that will affect the welfare of the local populace are to be passed by the Privy Council.
• A 20-member Consultation Council, of which 1/3 must be inidivduals of Menghean origin and have lived in Menghe for at least 3 years by the day of appointment. Members of this council were appointed by the Government of Themiclesia on the advice of the Viceroy. This body advised the Viceroy on all matters pertaining to the welfare and preferences of the local populace.
  • There was a 3-month grace period before this diversity clause went into effect so that the Viceroy could interview candidates.
  • Any orders produced by the Privy Council that will affect the interest of locals must be submitted to the Consultation Council at least five days before it is presented to the Viceroy for assent.
• The judicial power in Menghe was only exercised when the laws of Themiclesia that applied locally were broken; otherwise, the viceroy was bound by negotiations with the other Allied powers and the Toleration Proclamation to accept the local usages and customs appertaining to the rights of individuals.

The viceregal government was established in the hopes of reducing the number of active Themiclesian military personnel in Menghe because the occupation experience in Dzhungestan after the Prairie War made plain the fiscal costs of undertaking every function of government by means of the armed forces. The Themiclesians intended to and did actively leverage the remnants of the Menghean government to assist in discharging its duties as the occupying power. Further, it was the prevailing belief in Themiclesia that Menghe waged war against it on account of an undemocratic government and ill-informed public, and the viceregal system was designed as a remedy and with eventual handover to a democratic Menghean state in mind.

The Enabling Act foresaw that the Consultation Council's role would gradually enlarge, and its composition more localized, over time. The 1/4 quota for persons of Menghean origin would increase until reaching 3/4 at such time the Government of Themiclesia saw fit. When the quota for locals reached 1/2 of its membership, the Council would be allowed to set its own agenda and table its own bills, without referral from the Viceroy.

According to the terms of the occupation agreed with other Allied Powers, spoilation was forbidden. Therefore, Themiclesia maintained separate accounts and budgets for personnel and goods of Themiclesian and Menghean origins and, for the most part, ensured that goods of Menghean origin were not exported out of Menghe or used to benefit Themiclesians. This did not prevent Themiclesia from redistributing the wealth locally in Menghe or utilizing Menghean labour and property when it was found to benefit Mengheans primarily.

Response

Despite the ideals espoused by the laws constituting the viceregal government, Themiclesian rule never achieved the popularity, effectiveness, or penetration its architects intended and expected during its continuation. Historians have generally been surprised by the level of distrust and disapproval the local population held towards the viceregal government, even by occupation standards. Only after its dissolution has reception shifted to neutral detachment and then, towards the 1960s, weary fondness that fed into the mass exodus to Themiclesia and Menghean diaspora there.

The first objection that learned and connected Mengheans had towards the viceregal government was often the Viceroy himself, the Baron of Krye. The Enabling Act expressly forbade active military officers, yet Krye was appointed in a revolving door type of situation where he resigned his Field Marshal's appointment and was re-appointed on the same day as Viceroy. He was hated because he led Themiclesia's campaign in Menghe and held a very good track record against the Menghean army, using tactics that seemed borderline unsportsmanlike.

Main vestibule in the Viceregal Palace, Sunju

Krye, ignoring the advice to fill Consultation Council's local quota with trusted but friendly Mengheans leaders, appointed stalwart critics who fled Menghe during Kwon Chong-hoon's administration. The Council was steered by these critics and so moved the Viceroy to enact sweeping proscriptions and confiscations, which the Viceroy approved to show his regard for the localized Council. These individuals had remarkably poor public approval according to some memoirs, many taking the position that their prolonged absence from the country invalidated their experiences and opinions with respect to the faculty of representation.

The viceregal government was scarcely visible in rural Menghe, partly because Themiclesian leaders had conceded they would have to rely on existing Menghean administration to an extent everywhere. In the countryside, that extent was higher than in major cities. With no civil government left, the Viceroy commanded the surrendered garrisons (disarmed to a large extent) to continue many duties that it had undertaken during the war. Thus in many ways the routines of late-war life persisted, as the military continued to requisition goods, teach students, maintain infrastructure, etc. To keep the garrisons staffed, the draft itself continued in reduced form, and the Viceroy virtually never contested the appointments the rump army recommended, except those proscribed by the Consultation Council.

Urban market

Themiclesia reshaped the city Sunju into a relatively modernized city in the hopes it broadcasts the occupier's good intentions to the rest of the country. To this end, the Viceroy invested much Themiclesian funding in Sunju and conscripted labourers from the countryside to work on the city around the clock through to the end of the occupation. Large and impressive railway stations, hospitals, schools, and government buildings were erected in the relatively brief occupation, as well as amenities like telephone, electricity, running water, and sewage discharge. Accounts of this policy are often localized: the denizens of Sunju seemed persuaded of the sincerity of the occupier, while rural communities found the policy bigoted. The sumptuous Viceregal Palace (billed as the future city hall of Sunju) was the subject of particularly bitter resentment and the site of an attempted self-immolation by a student-turned-soldier.

Nyeong entered the Palace on October 14, 1949 and shouted that a straw hut built for locals is more beautiful than a palace built for a foreign Viceroy and attempted to light his clothes on fire, which did not catch fire because they were damp from a drizzle outside.