1891 Nobleman Insurrection

1891 Nobleman Insurrection
Disarmament of Forelis Insurrectionists after their surrender in late 1891
Date February 12th, 1891 - March 4th, 1892 Location Mainland TECT Result Imperial Victory, End of Noble Domain Rule within Mainland TECT Territorial changes End of Noble Domains within Mainland TECT
Imperial Government-Nobleman Insurrectionists
The Empire of Common Territories	Neuenried Confederation
Commanders and leaders
Emperor Charles I Duke Grutmen Duke Rothenberg Duke Ackermann Imperial General Wolfgang Hendrik Wägner General Wulf Gilbert Beitel General Tiedemann Sigimundaz Burgstaller General Fulcher Leuthar Schmidt Admiral Rudericus Wenilo Beltz Hermanus Körbl Yount Dietrich Autchar Kron	Count Ortwin Baldo Braune Florian Valentin Eckstein Anzo Audawakrs Knopp Diederich Raginald Voss † Fulbert Lanzo Michaelis Micha Norman Wolff †

Braune Countdom forces laying siege to the Imperial Branch Palace in Neuenried, Forelis Province.

The 1891 Nobleman Insurrection, or often reflected upon negatively as the "2nd Nobleman Rancor," was a short-lived unsuccessful military revolt lead by Count Ortwin Baldo Braune and several other moderately ranked secessionist Nobleman Families (and their allies) against the Imperial Government in Reichsstadt. Noblemen from the northwestern Forelis Province officially revolted on February 12th, 1891, with Count Braune leading several surrounding realms in declaring a state of rebellion; on that same day, the combined armies of Count Braune and his allies launched surprise attacks on all Imperial facilities and garrisons within their reach. In the prelude of the uprising, Count Braune dispatched hundreds of letters beginning at the start of the month directly addressing the Emperor along with hundreds of other Nobleman Families. Each letter contained a series of declarations that would later go on to be known as the "Letters of Declarations." In the Letters, Count Braune passionately made his case to the recipient, often including personal letters addressed to the recipients, and outlining his plan of action in the months to come. In one of the paragraphs outlining his plan of action, the Count addressed himself as "King" of the new "Kingdom of Braune," declaring that his kingdom and its allies planned to secede from the Empire because "repairing its declining health internally is no longer a viable option." The Letters also encouraged other noble realms to join their cause and stated their end-goal was to "emancipate the Empire their forefathers built from the reigns of filth who've irrevocably perverted Imperial Authority and Noble Rule." In an attempt to assassinate the Emperor and send a clear message, Count Braune's Letter to Emperor Charles I supposedly contained an unknown poisonous powder. Believed to be the recently synthesized poison Ricin, the Emperor's Secretary was the first casualty of the Insurrection, almost immediately becoming violently ill after flipping through the documents. The envelope never reached the Emperor and the staff who responded to the calls for help were treated - the Emperor's Secretary was less fortunate and died. Before destroying the contents for decontamination, a handwritten note was supposedly discovered with only one sentence written on it: "Ich hoffe Du verreckst, Schmore in der Hölle!" Translated to English the message means, "I hope you died, Burn in Hell!"

Prelude To Secession

At its core, the central conflict leading to the 1891 Nobleman Insurrection were the historical disputes held by a significant faction of Noblemen which argued that Imperial Authorities had eroded the legitimate rule of Noble Dynasties stemming as far back as 1453, decades prior to the 1502 Nobility Civil War or "1st Nobleman Rancor". Nobleman back then argued that Imperial Authorities, namely the Emperors of the time, had begun unfairly burdening the Nobleman Class while also abrading privileges enjoyed by their forefathers for generations. Modern Noblemen argued that not only were their predecessors proven correct in their assessments in the immediate aftermath of the civil war, but that the swift reckoning of Imperial Authorities post-civil war had been so harsh that noblemen had little reason but remain scornful of Imperial rule.

The Feud Between Nobility and Royalty

Much of the Nobleman Class' ire originates from Imperial governmental reforms throughout history, the first of which occurred prior to the 1502 civil war. Emperor Kaufmann Albert Walherich saw that corruption among the nobleman was not only pungently abrasive but had grown so egregious that noblemen had even began openly dealing with foreign adversaries south of the Empire. Believing a firm hand cowers the weak and inspires the strong, Emperor Walherich instituted a number of reforms in 1453 aimed at restoring not only public order but also putting fear in the hearts of would be traitorous nobleman. Emperor Walherich personally punished numerous nobles along with instituting wide-ranging reforms in order to send a message to those within the Nobleman Class who continued to subvert Imperial Authority. Aside from several noblemen being stripped of everything, including their lives in some cases, reforms to oversight and installing new rules regarding nobleman financial decisions on their populace were enacted. Although this made the Emperor very popular among the average family, the Nobles (namely the land ruling ones) were exceptionally enraged by the reforms. Generating wealth was largely needed during the time as minor conflicts with neighboring nobles was common. Living a life of luxury was also important to most nobles, some of which had no need to fear conflict and instead wished to amass great wealth for personal reasons; between owning properties, buying luxury items, forcing lower classes to serve them as if they were slaves, all that and more required Nobleman to enact unfair taxation and regulations that steadily became common in the lower realms of the Empire. In the following years after Emperor Walherich's reforms, minor protests and revolts occurred ranging from full-blown wars with Imperial Authorities to some nobles outright declaring their intent to rebel in some extreme scenarios; a few realms, such as the former Dresdner March, went as far as pledging their allegiance to the Empire's neighbors before facing Imperial wrath. Although Emperor Walherich's reforms are sometimes called into question for how effective they truly were at stemming corruption, historians mostly agree that Emperor Walherich's reforms were the point of origin for the longstanding feud held between Imperial Authorities of the Reichsstadt and the historically influential Nobleman Class. In the long run, historians often credit Emperor Walherich for helping to quell Imperial instability, increase Imperial authority while it was at its weakest, and generally improve the quality of life of citizens within the Empire.

Between 1504 and 1890 were a number of events that gradually if not exponentially reduced the influence and authority nobleman held within the Empire. Reforms enacted in 1504 by Emperor Walherich's grandson, Emperor Jochim Reiher Walherich, severely impacted the Nobleman Class' authority within the Empire. Although advertised as Imperial Government reforms intended to repair the country as a whole, Emperor Jochim's reforms post-civil war (with his predisposition against nobleman since childhood) was clearly intended to punish and defang the Nobleman Class according to historians. In a moved aimed at ripping away their powerbase, the Empire's internal borders were redrawn and a new provincial system was implemented. This process not only required the redistricting of Noble Realms a great deal, it lead to the dismantling and creation of numerous Nobleman Houses. Duke Anselm Pankraz Schultheiss' Dukedom was the greatest to be affected. Given its position as the leader of the rebels during the civil war, the Schultheiss Dukedom was completely dissolved and replaced under the direct rule of the Royal Family's 3rd Prince, Prince Hartwin Theudoricus Walherich. Under the new Imperial Province System, and under the authority of the newly created "Walherich Principality," the former Dukedom's ruling class was spared no quarter. On the local level, Prince Hartwin became the Empire's personified retribution to the northeastern nobles, continuing to not only punish and execute disloyal nobleman who hadn't been dealt with yet, but also stamping out the deeply engrained anti-Imperial culture that had began to flourishh within the last two decades. Prince Hartwin is noted by historians for being ruthless with his regime's predecessors, believing them to often not live up to their responsibilities and ultimately resulting in their systematic cleansing. Over time a number of policies and revitalization efforts put in place by the Prince to refranchise the people along with installing perceivably righteous nobleman steadily reversed the disloyalty seen throughout the province's citizenry. Prince Hartwin believed the realm could be healed and reintigrated peacefully into the Empire over time, and so spent his life working to make that belief a reality until his death in 1546. Imperial reforms, namely the Provincial System, brought with it a number of changes to the Empire's decentralized governance. Provinces would be governed, not ruled, by Dukes or their betters (such as Prince Hartwin). These provinces would be overseen by Imperial Officials known as Viceroys, whom were appointed by the Emperor himself to act as an Imperial overseer. Regardless of reasoning, inter-Imperial warfare was now outlawed unless the noble could prove it was out of self-defense. Oversights intended to combat corruption and degradation of the population also proved effective at hampering the Noble Classes' powerbase. Ultimately, these and other reforms were made into Imperial Law through the Empire's newly drafted constitution.

Prelude To 1891's Insurrection

Emperor Landebert Konrad Thorsten's "1865 Reformation Law" is historically recounted as the root cause of the Nobleman Class' revitalized outrage prior to the 1891 Insurrection. Although significant reforms to the Imperial Government were put in place during the last three centuries, most of these reforms slowly degraded Nobleman Authority over time and revolts against them were successfully put down. Nobleman, even the non-land ruling Class, were far from being uninfluential and retained significant power even though much of their autonomy had been withered away when compared to nobleman autonomy in 1504. Since the end of the Hartwin Principality and rise of the Rothenberg Dukedom, Forelis Province has experienced the brunt of Imperial and Duchy reforms aimed at curbing nobleman authority to abuse their citizenry. The back-and-forth clashes between the Nobleman Class' historically relevant ruling powers and the Emperor's cultural and constitutional powerbase came to a head often, but none were as heated as the 1865 Reformation Laws.

Briefly explained, the 1865 Reformation Laws enacted by Emperor Thorsten once again revisited the authority nobleman, especially land governing nobles, had when administrating their territories. The most controversial Law within the Laws was the dismantling of nobleman controlled standing armies within the Mainland, meaning nobleman realms on Mainland TECT could no longer retain military forces that could hope to resemble that of a standing army. Although policing forces were exempted, in the same section they're exempted from the law, a strict list of guidelines prevented abuse using loopholes that would allow for militarized police units. If that weren't bad enough, the Laws made it all but illegal to ignore the civil rights now promised to citizenry by those of higher class, namely the Nobleman Class. Imperial Supreme Court decisions on the matter already upheld that citizens held rights outlined in the TECT Constitution regardless their standing in society, and that discrimination by Class (without legal justification) was illegal. All these new Laws made Nobleman question what exactly did they have left as leverage within the Empire. If earning an income is becoming even more difficult, if privileges enjoyed since the Empire's foundation have eroded away, and if nothing is stopping the Empire from enforcing its will upon the Nobleman Class by gunpoint, what made Nobleman different from regular citizens?

Historically speaking, by this point in Imperial history, the Empire had united the entire continent under its banner. Although some resistance remained in the newly annexed southern regions, the Empire had finally reached its greatest triumph. Now nearly a century later, newly patriated citizens and those born after unification had at least reached some equalibrium thanks to the Empire's stabalization efforts with everyday citizens. In fact, many Emperors dating back to Walherich I realized the same thing Maximus Forelis did almost three millennia's ago: Nobleman may govern empires, but the citizenry are what make up empires. Historians believe this viewpoint is what eventually led to the four century long conflict between the Empire and its own Nobleman Class. So although the Imperial Family may have been greatly disliked and lost much trust with many if not most nobleman, popularity among the masses, even in more newer territories, soared to new heights. As nobleman continued to swipe back in any way possible, their popularity with their own people declined. So much so that in some extreme examples, nobleman faced mobs of angry citizens each time a new policy negatively effecting them was passed within the realm - something unheard of four hundred years ago. The power struggle among nobleman became fiercer as many swapped their allegiance to the Empire for not only survival but also to hold onto what power they had left. Others continued unrelenting to the new trends, resisting Imperial Authority until the bitter end. Bitter ends happened frequently with many stepping down due to their lost authority or wealth, others removed by force for breaking Imperial Law, and some outright cashing out and giving up their claims to territory in order to strive for different goals. As the staunch conservative faction of nobleman continued to dwindle, so too did their options, leading to desperate measures.

Braune v. HRIM Thorsten (1885)

In what is said by historians to have been the final peaceful attempt by disenfranchised nobleman at refuting perceived injustices in Imperial Law, Count Ortwin Baldo Braune filed a lawsuit against the Imperial Government, namely the Emperor, in the Empire's 2nd Imperial District Court. Count Braune, in the opening section of his lawsuit, accused the Imperial Government of violating the rights and privileges held by Nobleman, some of which were found within the TECT Constitution. Filed on April 3rd, 1885, the case was first argued in front of a panel of five Forelis Provincial Judges whom vetted the lawsuits merits in both the Provincial setting and the Imperial District setting. Count Ortwin Braune's case was found to be of merit by all five judges, arguing that the case not only belonged in Imperial Court but was also of considerable standing to be heard. Writing the Opinion, Judge Wandal Thälmann wrote, "Count Braune's arguments, which do take aim at Provincial Authorities and the laws they have passed previously, sets its true aim at Imperial Authorities for whom the accused offenses originate from. Furthermore, arguments regarding rights of citizens upheld in the Imperial Constitution in this circumstance are unique. Never before has there been a more concise and thought provoking challenge to the Empire's Constitution in this court's history."

A month later on May 12th, Count Ortwin Braune's case was heard before another panel of judges, this time in 2nd Imperial District Court. Arguing his case alongside his team of lawyers, Count Braune made several key points the center of his legal challenge to not only the 1865 Reformation Laws, but also brought into doubt how the Imperial Constitution viewed Nobleman. Among his challenges brought before the court, the Count argued the prohibition of nobleman retained militaries was a violation of his and his realm's civil rights, arguing that their right to bare arms and right to self-defense were violated. Taxation and lower realm autonomy was brought into question as well, with one of Count Braune's lawyers arguing that although Imperial law supersedes Realm or Provincial Law, the Imperial Constitution delegates local powers and taxation to local authorities, namely the Provincial Dukedom or the lower realms. Imperial Authorities outlawing or micromanaging the Province's or even the Countdom's taxation methods would be unconstitutional if the Count's lawyer was to be believed. Although a longshot, Count Braune also argued that Nobleman Authority has been unrightfully disturbed or even eroded, using Decrees from Emperors as far back as Maximus' Household to prove his argument.

Arguing for the Defense was the Ministry of Justice's legal team alongside the Emperor's own personal legal counsel. Although the Emperor could have halted any court case with a swipe of the pen, doing so would present terrible political optics and thus was avoided for the time being. Ministry lawyers immediately dismissed the arguments made by Count Braune and his legal team. Their argument was that while Nobleman weren't referenced by name within the Imperial Constitution, realms were covered within Article Two under Provincial & Local Jurisdictions. Arguing the rights of Nobleman as if they were the Realm they represent was, according to the MOJ's lead lawyer, "An act of self-preservation for illegal activities designed to make murky Imperial Law and confuse the court on the perception of whether the man in front of you is human (like the rest of us) or the land he governs." As for the right to bare arms and self defense, the MOJ's third lawyer argued that not only did Realms/Provinces lack said rights, but even if they did have said rights, those rights had not been violated. "The fundamental right to bare arms - protected by the Constitution and the Emperor's Decree - explicitly states that citizens are guaranteed these rights. Although the Count is a citizen and his rights to self-defense have not been challenged in the least, it is the opinion of the Defense that Count Braune only utilizes his civil rights in convinient arguments and not in terms of the Law itself. Even if the Realms had these specific rights, which it does not but rather authorities, these rights were not violated given that the 1865 Reformation Laws outlined militarized units were no longer needed and only policing forces were required for a Realm or Province's security. Security of the Realms and Provinces have not been degraded in any way shape of form given that no foreign nation exists to attack them, and inter-Imperial warfare has been illegal for centuries." Lastly, the Emperor's own lead counsel chimed in, stating "His Imperial & Royal Majesty the Emperor, according to his birthright, to our very culture and Constitution, reserves the power to make law and Decree as he pleases. And in his Constitution it is clearly written where the separation of powers begin and end. Imperial overstep, as explained by my Ministry colleagues, has not occurred nor have these accusations been proven to be true."

verdict