Hanseatic Civil War (1934-1954)

Hanseatic Civil War
Part of Great War
Date July 18th 1936-April 1st 1954 Location Hansa Federation Result Establishment of the Hansa Federation
Belligerents
The Hanseatic Empire	Second Hansan Republic	Peoples Republic of Hansa
Commanders and leaders
Arthur MacHeath	Johannes Stelford Paul Quenten

The Hanseatic Civil War was a multi-party civil war in the former Hanseatic Empire, sparked by the coup of the Regnochtfolger dynasty by Arthur MacHeath in summer 1936. In the wake of the great war, the overthrowing of the Regnoctfolger dynasty, many factions fought in the Hanseatic civil war. The civil war is divided into two sections, the MacHeath section (1936-1944) and the Federation section (1947-1949).

The Hanseatic monarchy was secretly ended during the Great War with the "secret coup" of Arthur MacHeath in July 1934. However this was kept a secret for 2 years until the last monarch Frederick II escaped house arrest and exposed MacHeath to the world. Various factions quickly rose up and after the Treaty of Shuto and full scale war started with the secession of Wustiech in October 1939.

Background

The Great War

The Hanseatic Empire fought in the Great War from 1923 and fought with SBR and Tussia but primarily fought most fronts alone with its many colonies. In the Hanseatic monarchy opinion on the war was mixed with King Frederick commonly fighting his own generals and colonial administrators. After several years of stalemate and slow pushback the Hanseatic generals requested more material and men for the war effort however Relykstrana was a rising industrial power and were starting to beat the Hansans navally. The great recall was called in 1932 to defend the mainland and push Relykstrana out of the war and bring Tanistoia fighting on their own. This was a deeply unpopular move within the military hierarchy however it was largely sucessful.

The Secret Coup

Because of increased Relyk bombing raids by 1930, a rising commander named Arthur MacHeath was granted command of the defense of Hansa and eventually became the war minister in 1927. As general of the North Amnis front MacHeath was deeply unsatisfied and believed that the only way to stop their enemies were to fully exterminate all of them. As war minister MacHeath greenlit various atrocities such as the mass arrest of Relyk and pontifical citizens and the Hoosier genocide. Eventually in 1936 with help of senators Duran Williams and George Miller, he orchestrated the secret arrest of King Frederick which is what is commonly cited as the start of the civil war.

The War

The Great Exposition

As the Great War went on into the 1930s, the war was going okay in North amnis, but poorly in just about every other region of the world. However MacHeath refused to back down. Back in Hansa, a growing number of people were getting concerned with MacHeath's hawkish attitude and the confusing absence of the King. Senators that did not agree with MacHeath were routinley dissapeared and never heard from again. Senators that did not support MacHeath also went into hiding. The most notable was senator from Tollerland Johannes Stelford. Stelford was deeply concerned about the state of the nation and held a conference with the Treasonous 12, a group of senators who were very anti MacHeath. This was called near Cabinesshanse national park deep in the Great Amnis Desert to avoid being found.

In summer 1939 Stelford returned to Konlichburg and used his ties in the department of Internal Security to uncover the truth about King Frederick and nearly failed if it were not for a Relyk bombing raid on Konlichburg. The July 20th bombing raid allowed members of the Treasonous 12's militia (also called the treansous twelve) to rescue King Frederick however Johannes Stelford was captured and famously shot while escaping the city. However Frederick disappeared into the countryside and the fate of the nation was very unclear.

By september the nation remained in a weird middle ground between wanting a legitimate government and preventing Relyk takeover. Because of the death of Stelford, the Treasonous Twelve were in disarray and lacked a clear leader. MacHeath meanwhile, was proving himself as a genuine military strategist and was able to keep the Relyks off of Hansan soil for the time being.

The Wusten Rebellion

Down in the newly aquired Kinderlanden of Wustiech, Arthur MacHeath ruled with an iron fist. However the wartime National Defense Act of 1937 that established national guards for all of the Kinderlanden would prove to be a great thing for Wustiech. Since the guardsmen were made of people from the state and actual Hansans were being sent overseas, the government essentially gave Wustiech its own army. On October 31st 1939, the Wustiech national guard stormed the state capital building in Wustiech and Governor Sheldon Weldon nominally declared independence. MacHeath responded by dispatching neighbouring Weimeisenland's national guard to take care of the rebellion since the Hansan army was busy elsewhere.