1891 Nobleman Insurrection
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| 1891 Nobleman Insurrection | |||||||||
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 Disarmament of Forelis Insurrectionists after their surrender in late 1891 | |||||||||
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| Imperial Government-Nobleman Insurrectionists | |||||||||
 The Empire of Common Territories |
 Neuenried Confederation[a] | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Count Ortwin Baldo BrauneFlorian Valentin EcksteinAnzo Audawakrs KnoppDiederich Raginald Voss †Fulbert Lanzo MichaelisMicha Norman Wolff † | ||||||||
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[b] 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[c] 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[d]. 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
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 degraded Nobleman Authority. Nobleman, even the non-land ruling Class, were far from being uninfluential and retained significant power even though of their autonomy had been withered away since 1504.
Insurrection & Secession
Northern Theater
Central Theater
Southern Theater
Insurrectionist Defeat
Aftermath
Notes
- ↑ Simply referred to as the "Nobleman Insurrectionists," these nobles would go on to declare the creation of their own nation which would be named after Count Ortwin Baldo Braune's capital city.
- ↑ Conflicts of military nature were partially permitted during this time in the Empire. Although it was taboo for the first thousand years of the Empire's history, gradual internal rivalry and conflicts would eventually force the hand of Imperial Authorities to permit limited conflicts so long as combatants refrained from pillaging or scorched-earth behaviors. These wars would eventually become known as "UnerheblichKrieg," or "Irrelevant Wars." UnerheblichKrieg with the Empire or its protected entities (such as Royalty) was strictly forbidden by law at the time and was considered not only treason but rebellion.
- ↑ Duke Schultheiss, for his numerous crimes on top of leading the insurrection against the Empire, was ordered by the Emperor to be publicly executed on March 13th, 1504 by public hanging. Furthermore, his wife, his children (even his youngest who had barely turned five years old), and extended family were also executed in private ceremonies. Emperor Jochim Reiher Walherich ordered the Schultheiss' personal assets be used to compensate Imperial soldiers, their families, and civilians whom lost property, limb, or loved ones during the war. As for the realm itself, the Duchy was officially dissolved on April 3rd, 1504 as part of Emperor Jochim's reforms. It was replaced by with Prince Hartwin's "Walherich Principality" the following week. Any remaining Duchy assets were ordered to be transferred in ownership to Prince Hartwin Theudoricus Walherich.
- ↑ Prince Hartwin Theudoricus Walherich death ended an era in the Forelis Province. Upon death, as was the original Decree set in place by his father, Emperor Jochim, the Principality was dissolved in 1546. Wernher Gisbert Bleche, a Count trusted and vetted by the Prince, had been selected to become the Province's first governing Duke.