Ivas VI of Talland
| Ivas VI | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King of Talland, President of the Biggonian Confederation | |||||
 Ivas VI in 1859, upon hearing of his father's death during the Siege of Prinzporte | |||||
| Reign | 12th August 1849 - 2nd Febuary 1901 | ||||
| Coronation | 8th June 1850 | ||||
| Predecessor | Ivas V | ||||
| Successor | Charles V/I | ||||
| Born | 8th August 1838 Ivasburg | ||||
| Died | 2nd Febuary 1901 Ivasburg | ||||
| Issue | Charles V, Emperor of Biggonia
Gottliebe, Princess of Talland Otto Raeisi, 6th Viceroy of Domlandia Jasmine Tallandos, Princess of Biggonia | ||||
| |||||
| Father | Ivas V | ||||
| Mother | a lady | ||||
| Religion | Virtulima | ||||
Ivas VI of Talland was King of Talland from 1859 until his death in 1901. Throughout the same period, he also held the position of President of the Biggonian Confederation. Ivas VI was the last Biggonian monarch to rule before the Biggonian Empire, and although he was not the final President of the Confederation, his son Charles V's adoption of the title was a mere formality as he shortly thereafter coronated himself as Emperor of Biggonia. During his tenure as President, Ivas VI transformed Biggonia onto the path of becoming a great power, as he successfully unified the disparate kingdoms into the Biggonian Confederation and created an adminastrative structure which outlasted the Biggonian Confederation, forming the basis of the Biggonian Empire's own structure. His legacy today is highly celebrated but also controversial, as he refused to consider creating any public input on the Biggonian Confederation's structure, which would bleed into the Biggonian Empire's structure with devastating effect. Although not a reactionary or arch-conservative, Ivas VI today is considered as a King who had little care for what he considered to be details like press freedom and elections, instead looking at grand designs such as Biggonian unification, economic growth, and reassertion of the colonial empire. Ivas VI is the only non-Biggonian Emperor to have been posthumously granted a regnal Imperial title, due to his substantial impact on the later Biggonian Emperors.
Later Life and Death
Despite being despondent towards work from 1889 onwards, Ivas VI's previous tireless dedication to Biggonia combined with the immense respect
Legacy
Ivas VI's legacy has been invoked many times, by both Centralists and Federalists, as each attempt to argue that he supported their views. Centralists argue that Ivas VI set Biggonia on the course to current unification, and simplified the administration to function across all of Biggonia. Similarly some of his reforms such as the creation of a unified General Staff and central bank; as well as the encouragement of provinces to commit more resources to the Biggonian Imperial Army rather than their own armies; has led centralists to argue that he ultimately supported a unitary system of government for Biggonia.
On the other hand, Federalists believe Ivas' centralising reforms cannot be compared to attempts of centralism today, and were still in line with the ideals of federalism. The process towards unification in other nations was far more drastic than that of Biggonia, and Ivas VI tolerated the continued existence of provincial- and even prefecture- armies. They argue that Ivas was ultimately a believer in Biggonia as a federal nation, and that his centralisation through institutions like the central bank, General Staff, and Imperial Army was a necessity for the modern age. This was the viewpoint taken by many historians in the 20th and early 21st centuries, crediting the Biggonian Empire's strong provinces to Ivas- when Empress Ricardina was impeached in 2021 for apparently violating the rights of Biggonian provinces, many speeches praised Ivas VI's foresight to grant the Imperial Diet impeachement powers, saying that this was precisely his intention when granting them. For his support to federalism, the Imperial Diet decided to position Ivas VI atop the 'Monument to the Empire' when they were redesigning the Diet square in 1981.
Ivas VI has many monuments devoted to him. Perhaps most interestingly is his own statue in the Imperial palace square, an honour typically reserved to former Biggonian Emperors. Similarly, Ivas VI is the only non-Emperor of Biggonia to be granted a posthumous regnal name, which was declared as 'Akepearcheh', roughly meaning 'Unifier'. His statue is the first in the chronological order of Biggonian Emperors, again suggesting that he was a Biggonian Emperor rather than a simple Confederation President.
