Gerrit Hartnell

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Gerrit Hartnell
1st Earl of Halifax 1947.jpg
Hartnell in 1947
Foresitter of Cuthland-Waldrich from Cuthland
In office
19 June 1944 – 5 August 1962
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byWilfred Thornton
Prime Minister of Cuthland
In office
20 January 1944 – 19 June 1944
Preceded byHarold Blakemore
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Foresitter of the Peninsular Party
In office
17 March 1920 – 5 August 1962
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byAdde Laninga
Personal details
Born
Gerrit Alfred Hartnell

(1881-11-14)14 November 1881
Leihstead-on-Fen, Stanworþscire, Cornicae
Died5 August 1962(1962-08-05) (aged 80)
Cingsham, Cingshamscire, Cuthland-Waldrich
Cause of deathHeart attack
Resting placeSt. Sigeburg's Church, Leihstead-on-Fen
CitizenshipCornice (1881–1943)
Cuthish (1943–1944)
Cutho-Waldish (1944–1962)
Political partyPeninsular Party (1920–1962)
Spouse
Cwenhild Sharpe (m. 1909)
Children
Parent(s)Godric Alwin Hartnell
Jeltsje Fenna Barwegen
Alma materUniversity of Swinfield
Profession
  • Soldier
  • farmer
  • politician
Military service
Allegiance Cornicae
Branch/serviceRoyal Cathartic Army
Years of service1903–1916
RankMajor
Unit5th Royal Stanworþscire Artillery
CommandsB Battery, 5th Royal Stanworþscire Artillery
Battles/warsContinental War

Gerrit Alfred Hartnell (14 November 1881 – 5 August 1962) was a Cutho-Waldish politician, soldier, and farmer. He was the ideological architect of the Peninsularist movement in post-Continental War Cornicae, founding the Peninsular Party in 1920. He was largely responsible for orchestrating the Peninsular Revolution and served as one of the first two Foresitters of Cuthland-Waldrich following the nation's reunification. Hartnell is widely regarded as the father of the modern Cutho-Waldish state, and his ideological views are considered foundational to the nation's political and socio-economic institutions.

Hartnell was born and raised on a farm in southern Cuthland, then under the rule of Cornicae. He was of both Cuthish and Waldish ancestry, and from a young age experienced discrimination due to his mixed heritage. He served as a field artillery officer in the 5th Royal Stanworþscire Artillery of the Royal Cathartic Army, seeing action during the Continental War Upon returning home after the war, Hartnell discovered that both of his parents had been killed and his wife tortured by Cornice soldiers during the Peninsular Genocide. The fate of his family spurred him to enter politics, and he spent the next several years authoring his manifesto, The New Realm, in which he advocates for an independent and unified Hesurianic state in Cardia to restore the territory of the former Cutho-Waldish Realm. Hartnell's Peninsularist Party gained strength as Cornicae began to decline throughout the 1920s and 1930s, catapulting him to notoriety as one of the most influential and powerful social figures on the Peninsula. The Peninsularists overthrew the newly independent governments of Cuthland and Waldrich following Cornicae's collapse in the bloody Peninsular Revolution, which culminated when Hartnell declared himself to be Prime Minister of Cuthland on 20 January 1944.

Assisted by his Waldish counterpart Sikke Rijnders, Hartnell declared war on Fawster immediately following the Revolution in an attempted annexation which was ultimately repulsed by Aussonian intervention. On 19 June, Hartnell and Rijnders signed the Treaty of Wesselstêd, reunifying Cuthland and Waldrich under the newly established Commonwealth of Cuthland and Waldrich. Hartnell began a series of revolutionary reforms to the Cutho-Waldish political, economic, and social structure known as the Peninsular Fervor, creating an illiberal democracy based on his idealized vision from The New Realm. He divided control of the national government between both Cuthland and Waldrich, creating a diarchic head of government in which one Foresitter was elected from each state. He enacted a series of populist economic policies including severe protectionist measures aimed at autarky and competition legislation that broke up many of Cuthland-Waldrich's major corporations. Vestiges of Latin culture introduced by Cornicae were systematically purged from Cutho-Waldish society in order to fulfill Hartnell's vision of a purely Hesurianic state, including the persecution of Ditanerists and a series of linguistic reforms to remove loanwords of Latin origin from the Cutho-Waldish languages. In foreign policy, Hartnell sought to assert irredentist claims on former territories of the Cutho-Waldish Realm, launching a failed invasion of the Quatrines Islands in 1954. Scholars have classified Hartnell's rule as a cult of personality, using extensive propaganda to present himself as a heroic, almost godlike figure despite never technically being the sole head of government outside of the diarchy.

Hartnell died of a heart attack on 5 August 1962, making him the only Cutho-Waldish head of government to die in office since reunification. His death saw the end of the Peninsularist Fervor and the beginning of the Long Stability in Cutho-Waldish politics, as his successors sought to distance themselves from many of his more idealistic and aggressive stances and seek normalization with Cuthland-Waldrich's neighbors. Nevertheless, Hartnell remains a popular, unifying figure throughout the nation, featuring heavily in modern Cutho-Waldish propaganda and remembered through many artistic works. A number of conspiracy theories have emerged surrounding Hartnell's death, with many alleging that he was assassinated by political competitors within the Peninsularist Party.

Early life (1881–1903)

Military service (1903–1916)

Continental War

Early political career (1916–1920)

Peninsularist movement (1920–1943)

Revolution (1943–1944)

Foresitter (1944–1962)

Co-Foresitters

Domestic issues

Constitution

Language reforms

Ditanerist purges

Economic policies

Rethish insurgency

Foreign affairs

Cutho-Fawstonian War

Quatrines War

Death

Political, social, and religious views

Legacy