Great Covenant
Great Covenant 大盟 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1807–1861 | |||||||||
| Capital | Port-Fleuri Hóngzhàng Vives-Eaux | ||||||||
| Religion | Macakkanism Perendism Jiuism Neo-Macakkanism folk religion | ||||||||
| Government | Confederation | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| 1807 | |||||||||
| 1861 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
The Great Covenant (大盟, Dàméng) was a Supranational political and Economic union located primarily within modern Shang Fa, or northern Huran. Established in the aftermath of the Tan Civil War, it was composed of Anchu, the Kingdom of Bian, Khitay, the Republic of Lu, the Principean League, Tabgachia, and the Tan Dynasty. Each union member was still recognized as a sovereign and independent country internationally, but who agreed to form a joint diplomatic front in Surucia. The Principean League notably had a special status as part of Blayk colonial empire.
History
In 1792, when Tan Mingdi took over the throne as King-Hegemon of Neidi, his main concern was the rapid growth of Perendism in his kingdom which he perceived as a threat to his authority. There was an estimated 360,000 converted Perendists, present in both urban and rural areas, forming a network of potential rebels. There were 56 foreign missionaries helped by 121 Huranian priests structuring those missions. In parallel, there were Blaykish and Principean adventurers and soldiers serving as ministers and administrators within the Tan state. The Principean community had especially strong ties with the military and the navy of the Tan state, among other supporters tied by blood or economic relations.
Membership
Anshu
Kingdom of Bian
The Kingdom of Bian was founded by the Huranian officer Dujue, Viceroy of Bian before the Civil War and leader of the uprising against the Tan Dynasty. While he was still alive, Dujue remained the real hegemon of the Grand Covenant. Afterward, the position of Bian within the alliance would continue to diminish with each passing generation of ruler.
while the Later Tan fell into the hands of private companies, local councils, and trade associations, Bian retained the magistrate-based social structure traditional of Neidi but with a twist: it's the military magistrature that took proeminence over its civilian counterpart. Military Commanderies and Prefectures replaced Mandarins, 10 years of military service was demanded of anyone who wished to make a political career, and the state was “rationalized” with the explicit purpose of making the military more efficient to the point that Bian was characterized by observers as an “Army with a state” (軍有國家, jūn yǒu guójiā, L’armée à l’état-nation). Bian would dominate the early decades of the Grand Covenant.
Khitay
Posterior Tan Dynasty
Following their victory, the rebel forces led by Viceroy Dujue and the Chatellier Brothers deposed Tan Mingdi and installed his nephew, Tan dedi (覃德帝) on the throne instead. The post war treaties carved the Tan lands in pieces: The Viceroyalty of Bian was turned into a Kingdom and although it recognized the suzerainty of the Tan lineage, King Dujue was de-facto independent and the guarantor of the Tan state. The Khitans and Tabgachs formed their own, fully sovereign, states, the Qingming Associations to the west broke away as well, and the question of the Perendists Missions which remained under Tang administration remained unanswered.
Principean League
Part of the agreement between the rebel forces and the Tan Dynasty was that no Principean would serve in the state's administration or government. Principean people and their immediate families would be gathered in independent colonies. These colonies were generally the settlements the Principeans had taken refuge in during Mingdi's persecutions and the ensuing civil war. These included the trade ports and some of the Perendists Missions (most Missions would remain part of the Tan Dynasty) but also bastions and fortified positions seized by the Principeans during the war and kept to secure their interests in Huran. 79 colonies in total were founded by treaties, which immediately organised themselves as the Principean League. The most populous of these colonies was Vives-Eaux where many Principean families had found refuge but also Perendists converts who received the Aquiprimian citizenship. The port city represented a population of 20,000 out of the 37,108 colons listed in 1807. In 1821, natural growth, immigration from the rest of Neidi but also Blayk and its empire had more than quintupled the population to 285,547 citizens. The expansion in 1845 of certain colonies, the Tan Dynasty transferring the control of a dozen of urban agglomerations where the Principean colonies had previously represented only a district, further boosted the League population of these original 79 colonies to 520,211 citizens. But by that year, around 240 new colonies had been founded, either through land acquisitions, transformations of ancient military bases into settlement colonies, or the inclusion of certain Missions into the League. The 320th, and last, city-state was added to the League in 1850. Because of their natural demography, economic attractiveness of many colonies, and late inclusions, the League had reached a population of 2 million citizens in 1861 at the beginning of the Social War.
The colonies making up the Union were led by three officials nominated by the colony' Odoquole and appointed by the larger Comice : the Arioparte for the administration of the city, the Vellaune for law enforcement, and the Bretodane responsible of the judiciary. But gathering the representatives from all colonies was the Megodoquole held in Vives-Eaux. The Megodoquole held de-facto all legislative powers over the Principean colonies, checking in the powers of the Major-Resident, himself de-facto independent from Blayk because of the continuing republican wars in Auressia.