Blühen Wars
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| Blühen Wars | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
Gothic Forces Waldreich Bewahren Sudentor |
Lushyod Forces Viragstag | ||||||
Vassal Tribes
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Goth Allies
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Mercenaries
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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| Strength | |||||||
| TBD | TBD | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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| Approximately XXX,XXX Peasants Dead | |||||||
The Blühen Wars (834 - 980), als commonly referred to as the Gothic Wars, were a series of two major conflicts centered around Lake Blühen which pitted the Lushyod kingdom of Viragstag against the Gothic nations of Waldreich, Sudentor and Bewahren. The conflicts stemmed from Viragstag's establishment in the northern shores of Lake Blühen, as well as its expansion which eventually placed it into direct confrontation with the Gothic nations. Viragstag was established by Havar I, second son of Worsak I King of the Drev. When Worsak I died as per Lush custom, Havar I inherited the leadership of the Kurt-Gharmat, a tribe with a semi-nomadic lifestyle. He led this tribe to the northern shores of Lake Blühen which at the time was called the Northern Empty by the Gothic peoples. At the time the Gothic nations however were preoccupied with the War of the Three Nations at the time and did not fully comprehend the potential threat the Lush kingdom would pose to them. By the time this was realized however it was too late, Viragstag had established itself as the dominant power of the Northern Empty and saw the three Gothic nations as rivals. The First Blühen War (834 CE - 849 CE) resulted in Lushyod hegemony over the region. Waldreich, Sudentor and Bewahren were decisively defeated by Viragstag allowing the Lush kingdom to occupy the entirety of Lake Blühen and its surrounding lands.
In the interwar period (850 - 861) Waldreich underwent a series of major political, economic & military reforms in an attempt to prepare itself to reassert itself as the hegemon of Gothic people. Led by a new leader Klaus I, Waldreich reformed itself from a confederation of tribes into the Kingdom of Waldreich. Its military also underwent major reorganization, updating its doctrine, modernizing its equipment and formations. Rather than a continuous series of wars, the Second Blühen War was a series of scattered raids and short periods of open warfare between the Gothic powers and Viragstag which spanned from 862 and would last until 980. This final conflict would ultimately result in a Gothic victory, the partition and dissolution of Viragstag, the end of Lush rule in Brumenese lands and the rise of Waldreich as hegemon of the Gothic nations. New Gothic kingdoms were established in the northern empty, permanently settling the previously lawless lands with monarchs loyal to either Waldreich or Sudentor installed by the two regional rivals. In the aftermath, two additional conflicts continued to take place: a war between Waldreich & Sudentor, and between the newly established Kingdom of Hoffnung against the Kingdom of the Drev for control over the Kastory Mountains.
Background
First War
The First Bluhen War was ultimately caused by the conflicting ambitions of Viragstag and the Gothic powers as both sides sought to become the hegemon of the region. It was this conflicting ambition that brought the Lushyod & Gothic powers into armed conflict as one sought to dominate the other. However there were a variety of other contributing factors as well to the First Bluhen War. The gradual settlement of the Northern Empty by Havar I, a Lushyod prince, being one of them. Havar I was the second son of Worsak I King of the Drev. When Worsak I died as per Lush custom, Havar I inherited the leadership of the Kurt-Gharmat, a tribe with a semi-nomadic lifestyle. He led this tribe to the northern shores of Lake Blühen which at the time was called the Northern Empty by the Gothic peoples. The arrival of Havar I had a profound impact in the region. In 830 CE Havar I founded the city of Viragzag, the first permanent settlement in the Northern Empty, and became the King of the Viragstag. The city became the first permanent settlement to be successfully established in the Northern Empty and had a profound impact to the native Gothic & Ludic inhabitants. The city became a center of commerce for the region while its organized & well disciplined armies brought stability to the region. Many native Gothic & Ludic tribes engaged in trade with Viragstag or otherwise became vassals of the nascent Kingdom, allowing the young Lush kingdom to quickly flourish and expand its influence across the region surrounding Lake Blühen. Its expanding influence brought it into direct confrontation against the Gothic powers, Waldreich in particular who saw itself as the rightful hegemon of the region. The Northern Empty is vast swathe of land located between the northern shores of Lake Blühen, and south of the mountains that form the modern day borders of Brumen and Drevstran. The area is generally considered as the final frontier, a place that has yet to be tamed by mankind where the rule of law has yet to take place by the Goths. Due to its distance from the capitals of the Gothic nations, the Northern Empty has been generally left unclaimed by the existing major powers. Its original inhabitants include Gothic tribes and Ludic migrants who traversed the mountains and settled in the lands. The Northern Empty often fell prey to numerous raids from bandits, skirmishes between petty warlords and various tribal chieftains which made the lands politically unstable and economically fragile. During Latin occupation, the Northern Empty was also an area that was not occupied hence the lack of any signs of infrastructure that were typically associated with Latium provinces. Havar I was able to successfully leverage Viragstag's economic output to convince or otherwise coerce the native Gothic & Ludic inhabitants of the Northern Empty to become a part of his new kingdom.
Second War
The First Bluhen war had a profound impact upon the region. Viragstag became the undisputed hegemon of the area whereas the Gothic powers were reduced to becoming mere tributaries or rump states. This dealt a psychological blow to the Gothic social psyche, a majority of which considered themselves as proud warriors. A decisive military defeat shocked the Gothic populace deeply. The peace treaty that was signed by Waldreich and Brumen were also highly disadvantageous to the defeated powers. Waldreich in particular resented the terms of the treaty greatly, with both the peasant population and ruling chieftains referring to the treaty as as a diktat. Thorsten IV, the successor of Thorsten III who was killed in battle, was the Grand Chieftain of Waldreich who pushed for the other chieftains to pursue a peace treaty with Viragstag. His support for peace with Viragstag made him a deeply unpopular figure among both commoners and tribal leaders alike. Thorsten IV was Grand Chieftain in name only and was unable to maintain support among the council of chieftains for long and he was deposed by a coalition of chieftains. A new Grand Chieftain: Klaus, was chosen from among the conspirators and led Waldreich through a period of massive political, military & economic reforms. The confederation was reorganized into the Kingdom of Waldreich, Klaus was crowned the first King of Waldreich. These reforms helped prepare Waldreich for a protracted conflict and bolstered the capabilities of its warriors. These reforms also led to the establishment of the first standing army among the Gothic tribes, as previously most armies were only called upon to arms during periods of war. This eventually culminated in Waldreich approaching Bewahren and Sudentor, proposing that the three nations work together to remove Lushyod rule from the region. After a period of careful planning and consideration, the Second Bluhen War began when the Gothic nations launched a series of raids against Viragstag and its Gothic allies.
Factions
Goths
Lushyods
Havar I army which arrived on the shores of Lake Blühen in 830 was made up mostly of a single Lushyod tribe : the Kurt-Gharmat. As per the customs of their semi-nomadic, all men of the tribe served as active fighters, mostly in the capacity of horse-archers an art in which they were trained since birth. This made both the strength and the weakness of the Lushyods who fought using tactics never seen before by the southern Goths, but each horse archer loss was an unsurmontable loss. As a result, the Lushyods themselves fought mostly as scouts and raiders, harassing the enemies, making use of their mobility to appear more numerous than they were, and waiting for the right moment to strike.
Beside the Kurt-Gharmat, other minor Lushyod clans had abandoned their tribes to follow Havar southward, sometime even just bands of mercenaries and adventurers recruited by the Prince for his expeditions. Among these clans the most important one were the Havar-Janet, the members of the Drevstag royal house who followed Havar, and their retainers. These high ranking and wealthy princes would form of the core of Havar' personal retinue and the heavy cavalry of the Viragstag.
In addition, Havar' Lushyods brought with them their Ludic dependents. Some, part of the personal retinues of their Lush lords, served as light cavalrymen, but the majority served as light infantry during battle to harass and bait enemy forces. As the Viragstag grew, so would the Ludic and even Gothic troops, recruited among the tribes who submitted to Havar. Closer to the tribal levies of the Gothic states, these bondsmen formed the bullwark of the Viragstag' army, a mass infantry that slowly got heavier as their tribes enriched themselves under their new masters. As such, by the middle and late era of the Viragstag, Shield walls were the staple of all sides of the Blühen Wars.
The Lushyods also evolved their tactics as the generations went buy. Their settlement led to a slow dwindling in both the number of horses suitable for mobile archery as well as a depletion of the number of Lushyods formed to such tactics. Instead, the Lushyods selected heavier and heavier breeds of horses, no longer capable of feeding on only grassland but able to carry greater weights and thus suited to serve as heavy cavalry. The loss of mobility, coupled to a lack of a permanent military as the Viragstag remained very tribal in its social structure, will play their role in the growing number of tactical and strategic defeats suffered by the Lushyods throughout the era, until the final collapse of their state.
Timeline
First Blühen War
In 834 Viragstag marched upon Bewahren, marking the beginning of the First Blühen War. Lushyod raiding parties probed Gothic tribes at the outer most edges of the Bewahren-Viragstag border to look for weaknesses and bait a reaction. While the Goths had far greater numbers, a distinct military advantage the Lushyods had was the utilization of highly mobile mounted archery. Gothic armies which primarily relied upon loosely organized infantry formations were easily routed by flanking Lushyod cavalry forces. The Gothic kingdoms which had primarily engaged in tribal warfare with one another were caught off guard by the Lushyod's tactics and strategies. A string of military routes for Bewahren prompted the kingdom to seek assistance from Waldreich who sent reinforcements to the battered country. The reinforcements however only delayed the inevitable as in 839 CE Viragstag defeated the Bewahren-Waldreich joint forces in battle, allowing them to continue their campaign free of threats. Eventually in 840 CE, with more than half of its lands occupied and its armies decimated Bewahren signed a peace treaty with Viragstag. At around the same time Sudentor, hoping to avoid Bewahren's fate, sued for peace and pays tribute to Viragstag.
With Bewahren defeated and Sudentor out, Havar continued his campaign to pacify the last remaining goth state: Waldreich. Thorsten III led Waldreich through nine years of onslaught by Viragstag until he was killed in battle in 848 CE. In spite of these set backs however no major territorial gains were achieved by Viragstag. It was until in 849 when nearly half of all Waldreich's vassal tribes defected to support Viragstag did the Lushyods made significant territorial gains in Waldreich. Battered and weary, the war torn tribal confederation sought for peace by any means necessary. Thorsten III's son and successor, Ulrich I, signed a peace treaty with Viragstag in 849 where it relinquishes control over large numbers of its vassals to Viragstag. Having defeated the three Gothic nations, by 850 CE Viragstag reached its territorial peak, controlling the entirety of Lake Blühen and various vassal tribes as buffer states between itself and its defeated rivals. This made Viragstag the dominant power of the region, with its three greatest rivals: Waldreich, Bewahren & Sudentor reduced to mere tributaries or rump states.
Second Blühen War
The Second Blühen War began in 862 and would last until 980. Rather than a series of large scale military engagements, Waldreich pursued a strategy of small scale raids against Virag-aligned tribes & vassals along its border. These raids prompted Viragstag to mobilize and focus its attention on Waldreich. Seizing the opportunity of Viragstag' armies being diverted elsewhere, Bewahren (augmented by Docetic & Lushyod mercenaries hired by Sudentor), conducted their own raids against Viragstag and opening a new theater of conflict for the Lushyod kingdom to contend with. This low intensity conflict would drag on for until 910 when Waldreich achieved its first strategic victory in the Battle of XXX. Not long after its first major defeat Viragstag fell into a brief but devastating period of civil war, during which time the Gothic powers continued their progressions and occupied Virag lands south of lake Blühen. However by 921 Lazvig IV, the eight King of Viragstag, was able to end the civil war and stabilize the nation. With his internal enemies defeated, Lazvig IV would then turn his attention to drive back the invading Gothic powers.
Lazvig IV engaged in subterfuge to de-stabilized the Gothic nations. He offered Sudentor's vassal tribes various royal titles and gifts, effectively bribing them to switch allegiances or at the very least render them neutral in the conflict. As a consequence Sudentor lost a substantial amount of its armies as its vassals withdrew their support from the campaign. Sudentor found itself relying more and more upon various foreign mercenary elements to support its armies, representing an always growing share of the kingdom' budget to the point of threatening Sudentor' economy. Ultimately, it was forced to reduce the size of its army, leading to grave problems of banditry and other economic troubles as demobilized mercenaries plagued the countryside. With one of the major Gothic powers de-facto no longer involved in the conflict, Lazvig IV was able to push back Waldreich's and Bewahren's armies and retake most of the fortresses and settlements seized by the Goths. Borders were now roughly the same as before the start of the First Bluhen War and beside minor coups-de-main, neither side had the capacities to push any further, depleted by years of warfare. The years 930 - 970 saw a period of relative peace with neither side engaging in any major military campaigns. Lazvig IV's death in 956 however saw the return of an internal conflict amongst the various Virag noble houses. His son and successor, Bezias III, while unable to reign in the various noble houses, was able to keep the Gothic armies at bay. This internal instability however would become the Lusyhyod's undoing in the long term.
In 973, further political instability within Viragstag prompted a faction from the Lushyod aristocracy to seek assistance from Waldreich, giving the Gothic nation a carte blanche to lawfully enter and occupy the southern lands of Viragstag. This unprecedented turn of events, a Lushyod noble house seeking assistance from a Gothic nation, is generally considered the beginning of the end of Lushyod rule in the region by contemporary historians. Waldreich used these turn of events to occupy certain sections of Viragstag's land. These occupied lands were used as staging areas to launch renewed raids against Viragstag by Waldreich. Bewahren and Sudentor, sensing Viragstag's imminent defeat, also launched their own subsequent raids against the battered Lushyod nation. A final raid in 980, which ended in a siege against the capital city of Viragzag, resulted in the death of Bezias III and surrender of Viragstag. The Lushyod Kingdom was dissolved and partitioned amongst the victorious Gothic powers. New Gothic kingdoms were established in the northern empty, with chieftains loyal to either Waldreich and Sudentor installed as their monarchs.