People’s War

People's War
Date 29 November 1707 - 12 July 1709 Location Salvia, Catholic Aslonia, Bay of Salvae Result Democratic victory: Treaty of Trinity signed End of monarchical rule and ratification of Constitution del Monte family fled to Eulycea Alvernia, Tanemum granted independance
Belligerents
Supported by: Template:Country data Democratic rebels (until 1982)	Sanctum Imperium Catholicum Supported by: Template:Country data Pope of the Salvian Church
Commanders and leaders
Peter del Monte III	Alexis Carlo
Strength
Salvian Royal Family: 80,000 infatry 25,000 Loyalist militiamen 13,000 cavalry	Democratic rebels: 15,000 Royal Marines 120,000 militiamen 5,000 cavalry
Casualties and losses
Total dead 55,000 Total wounded: 87,000	Total dead: 73,000 Total wounded: 95,000
Total civilians killed/wounded: 25,000 (est.)

The People's War (Salvian: Pallo dox Taulus) was a 2-year civil war between democratic and monarchical forces in the Marenesian Divine Imperium of Salvia. Beginning on November 29th, 1707, it began after the firing on a federal fort off the coast of St. Paul’s by democratic forces, responding to many grievances committed by the monarch of the time, Peter III. It ended in a democratic victory, with the del Monte dynasty being overthrown and the institution of a new Constitution, forming the modern government type of Salvia.

Overview

During the reign of Peter the Third, the relationship between the crown and the Concilio Populi severely deteriorated. Much of the bickering between king and parliament was over the native insurrection in Catholic Aslonia known as Peter’s War, which began in 1703. The war was incredibly unpopular due to the taxes that were levied by the king, which were targeted at the upper and middle classes. Peter eventually dissolved the Concilio in 1707 as they began to draft a peace deal with the native insurrectionists. When protesters in Trinity refused to disperse, soldiers fired upon the crowd, sparking unrest. The peaceful protests quickly turned violent; riots soon engulfed many cities, forcing Peter to invoke martial law. In the south of the country, parliamentarians raised a republican army from popular militias. With tension between the two sides rising, Peter III would only worsen them with the Fort St. Paul's Decree, so called because it was officially written by the king while visiting state forces in St. Paul's. The decree angered republicans and would lead to the bombarding of the fort on November 29th, 1707, signaling the start of the war.

King Peter III was incredibly unpopular amongst the Salvian populace by 1707

Though the republicans outnumbered the Royal armed forces, which had largely remained loyal to the crown except for the Royal Marines, their poor training and discipline on the battlefield dragged out the People’s War for another two years. The fighting was largely contained to the southern coast and islands, but Peter’s dwindling support in the northeast meant it soon reached his own throne in Deopolis. After a series of disastrous defeats, the remnants of Peter’s forces on the mainland were besieged in the capital. On 9 July 1709, Peter and his family, along with most of the royal court and kingdom’s nobility, set sail from Deopolis to Ristua, Eulycea. Three days later, monarchist forces in the city surrendered and signed (though only on their own behalf) the Treaty of Trinity, effectively ending the People’s War in a republican victory.

Grievances, Trinity Massacre, and Outbreak of War

Leadup to the Trinity Massacre

By the late 1600s, the costly wars and expeditions funded by the monarchs of Salvia had become incredibly unpopular among most of the populace. To fund these conflicts, the monarch had levied heavy taxes on land and trade which angered much of the upper and middle class. Besides this, further centralization of power meant the reduction of power for the nobility, angering them further. In an attempt to regain support, Peter III introduced several laws that granted nobles greater control over wages and living conditions for their laborers, cut back taxes on the wealthy, and reintroduced new taxes on the urban working and middle class. While appeasing the nobility somewhat, Peter further angered the middle and lower classes. The Salvian Catholic Church, under the leadership of Pope Pius IV, at first supported Peter III but was soon turned against him as he applied taxes on Church property.

The Concilio Populi, controlled by much of the middle class, and the Concilio Clerici which was controlled by Church clergy members, both began drafting peace deals for the rebels in Catholic Aslonia in early 1707 to end the war. After discovering this, Peter III illegally evoked the powers of the Concilios and dissolved them with military force on 3 March 1707. Protests immediately erupted across northern Salvia and St. Paul's island as the war in Catholic Aslonia continued. Tensions were further fueled when leaders of protests on the Sicani Islands were executed for treason. In retaliation, conspirators planned for the assassination of the Minister of War, but were caught and executed.

Certain provinces and governors opposed to the king began forming an alliance and formed their own Concilio Populi, led by Governor of the Sicani Islands Jacob Bern. Bern soon after declared a new republic that was to replace the king. Peter III, now dealing with a rapidly escalating crisis, attempted to compromise with the seceding states by reducing taxes and providing benefits for mostly the ruling class. The provinces refused, and more began to join the new republic - by the Trinity Massacre, 14 out of the 23 provinces in the empire had seceded compared to just 8 a month after the dissolution of the Concilios.

Trinity Massacre

Protests began to grow as the supposed grievances continued to worsen. Taxes were raised and enforced more strictly as Peter's War endured, and the official Concilios were still forced from convening. On November 15th, eight months after the crisis had first begun, protesters in the northeastern city of Trinity began to gather in the city's port in large numbers, harassing armed soldiers of the Crown. The stand-off that ensued would lead to the commanding officer giving the order to the soldiers to shoot, causing 17 deaths and leaving around 50 injured.

The consequences of the massacre were felt immediately. Revolutionary leaders, including humanist thinker Leo Angelo and governor Jacob Bern, used the massacre as a rallying cry for secession and revolution. Many moderates who sought a peaceful solution to the crisis switched sides and joined the revolutionaries as 13 more provinces joined the new republic. Emboldened by growing support, provinces also began to seize federal forts, arsenals, and outposts, gathering arms as they also instituted conscription. Peter III, seeking a peaceful resolution, offered pardons for the governors in return for the dissolvement of the United Provinces; the governors refused.