First Cuthish Empire
Cuthish Empire Cuþisc Coaserrice (Cuthish) | |
|---|---|
| 1444–1758 | |
 Flag of Cuthland (1444–1772) | |
| Capital | Kingsham |
| Common languages | Cuthish, Waldish, Widdalian, Hesurian, Pintachee |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Government | Absolute monarchy |
| Legislature | Wittenmoot |
| Historical era | Late Middle Ages Early modern period |
| 11 January 1444 | |
| 27 October 1758 | |
| Currency | Pund |
| Today part of |  Cuthland-Waldrich Mascylla Lilienburg Ochoccola |
The First Cuthish Empire (Cuthish: First Cuþisc Coaserrice), officially the Cuthish Empire (Cuthish: Cuþisc Coaserrice), was an imperial power ruled by the Haltboruh monarchs of Cuthland from 1444 to 1758. At its height during the 17th century, the Cuthish Empire controlled the majority of the Telmerian Peninsula as well as vast colonial holdings in Alvinia and northern and eastern Pamira, making it the Xth largest empire in history. The First Cuthish Empire was one of the preeminent great powers in Late Medieval and early modern Berea, and led the Age of Discovery along with rival Lavaria.
The Empire was established in the immediate aftermath of the Cuthish conquest of Waldrich, when Godric the Conqueror issued the Proclamation of the Cuthish Empire and declared himself Emperor on 11 January 1444. The conquest had ended a nearly four century long geopolitical rivalry between the kingdoms of Cuthland and Waldrich, allowing Cuthland to emerge as the uncontested hegemon in northern Berea. The empire's borders expanded across the Telmerian Peninsula over the next 250 years, and by the mid-17th century extended from the northern reaches of the Dentrian Peninsula to western Mascylla and into northeastern Dulebia. Cuthland's rise led the !Central Asian Empire to lose exclusive trading rights with many of its Berean economic partners, resulting in !Central Asia's decline and eventual collapse. The subsequent power vacuum opened the door for Lavarian and Cuthish colonization in Pamira, as Cuthish explorers began to establish trade routes with !Japan via the !Northern Passage. Cuthland consequently emerged as the dominant colonial power in northern and eastern Pamira by the late 15th century, establishing colonies across !Siberia and !Japan. In 1505, Cuthish explorer Wesley Middelton discovered the Alvinian Archipelago in an attempt to find a western trade route with Pamira, leading to the widespread colonization of Alvinia by the Berean powers. Cuthland was the first Berean nation to establish trade relations with the Indigenous Alvinian peoples, and either influenced or directly controlled most of the continent by the mid-16th century.
The Cuthish Empire began a long period of decline during the early 17th century, as the effects of overexpansion began to take their toll. The Empire faced increasing colonial competition from Aldia, Albeinland, and Dulebia in Alvinia and Pamira, leading to the slow deterioration of Cuthish colonial influence. This contraction caused the share prices of the Cuthish North Pamira Company to collapse in 1715, resulting in the complete failure of Cuthish colonial chartered companies and leading the Emperor to assume direct control over the Empire's colonial possessions. However, the thinly stretched imperial authorities found themselves unable to effectively manage Cuthland's vast colonial possessions amidst a worsening economic situation, resulting in Cuthland's complete withdrawal from eastern Pamira. The Empire's continental borders also began to contract, losing much of its southern frontier after a series of conflicts with Dulebia in 1734. Increasing ethnic tensions led to revolts in !Northern Dentria and Waldrich, resulting in the complete loss of !Northern Dentria and a recession of imperial rule from parts of southern Waldrich. After briefly stabilizing during the late 1740s, increasing tensions with the Mascyllary states, led by Aldia, resulted in the outbreak of the First Cutho-Mascyllary War in 1755. The war resulted in the complete defeat of the Cuthish Empire, which was subsequently partitioned at the Treaty of Linghope in 1758. The Cuthish monarch was stripped of the title of Emperor as part of the treaty, signalling the formal end of the Cuthish Empire.