James III
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| James III | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King of Bretislavia | |||||
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| Reign | December 9th, 1890 - June 12th, 1925 | ||||
| Coronation | December 15th, 1890 | ||||
| Predecessor | Albert II | ||||
| Successor | Albert III | ||||
| Born | 11 June 1858 By Grace of God Royal Hospital | ||||
| Died | 12 June 1925 | ||||
| Spouse | Queen Anne | ||||
| Issue | Albert III | ||||
| |||||
| House | House of Augustus-Bergsma | ||||
| Father | Edward II | ||||
| Mother | Queen Marie | ||||
| Religion | Catholicism | ||||
James III was the King of Bretislavia from 1879 to 1925. He died on the 12th of June in 1925, one day after his birthday at the age of 67. He was regarded highly by scholars on the list for his relatively smooth leadership of Bretislavia.
Biography
James was born on June 6th, 1858 at the "By Grace of God Royal Hospital" to Albert II and his wife Marie. A year later his brother Glenn was born. At the time of his birth his father was King and was first in line for succession. His childhood is remarked as one of adventure and defiance by his mother and father in their diaries, and this has also been said by James himself. His days as a toddler and youth were filled with horse riding, toy dueling, and large games of tag. At the age of 5 he attended a local school in Dutchberg, making many friends, some of whom would become soldiers and officers in the Royal Army and serve along side him.
Early Years
In 1868 James entered the Royal Academy and began his ten year long military training. During his time at the academy James is remarked as a diligent student, yet also a defiant one. He frequently argued with his teachers in his military strategy classes. His school years are regarded almost as successful as his military career, graduating 1st in his class of 55 and getting the highest rank a of any cadet after graduation (the record at the time had been Major). In 1878 when he graduated the academy he was assigned to the 13th division in the 1st army acting as a colonel. His first notable act in the military was the creation of a new Bretislavian uniform to grant less visibility to the enemy, yet still maintaining its royal symbolism. His time in the military also saw the introduction of an 18 round lever action rifle (C.C. Repeating Rifle) to the service, and a 6 round double action revolver (C.C. Army Revolver M80). At the time of his graduation, Bretislavia was fighting a territorial expansion war against the Germanic tribes native to eastern Bretislavia. James' division, the 13th Royal Hussars was sent out to southeast Bretislavia to dispatch a local confederation of tribes known as the Gerns. At 12 PM on February 9th, 1878 James' unit charged the encampments on horseback with James leading the charge against the tribes head on. The battle lasted 7 hours and resulted in 197 Bretislavian casualties and 321 Gern casualties. During the battle when James' horse was shot from under him he engaged in 3 counts of hand to hand combat before his own soldiers could back him up, this earned him a hand-to-hand combat medal 3rd class, the first of many medals to come.
Military Career
After receiving his first medal James would go on to hold a prestigious military career, being awarded many medals. During the two years between his promotion to General and his time as Colonel he was awarded, a hand-to-hand combat medal 2nd class, an Iron cross 2nd class for excellence in military leadership, and a Medal for Bravery 1st Class. In 1880 he was promoted to Brigadier General and became the youngest General in Bretislavia at the age of 22. 3 months after his promotion he was put in control of the 1st army, the same army that his old unit was in, and he began working with Field marshal Howard Kemp to destroy the tribes. In late 1881 after spending 8 months developing a new strategy James enacted Operation Hound, a 6 step plan to lower the number of tribes through trench warfare, supply raiding, skirmishing, mock fighting, and chasing. It proved to be a devastating yet effective strategy and by the time he had ascended to the throne in 1890, the original 46 tribes were now numbered at 12 and the industrialized society of western Bretislavia was moving into the east steadily.
Accession
When his father Albert II died in 1890 a prompt coronation was arranged and James was coronated as James III on December 15, 1890. James initially, was slow to take up the mantel of King. He didn't address the people until January 1st, 1891. Giving them a belated memorial speech about his father and a rousing speech about how the country would continue onto greatness. Later that month on January 17th he would announce that he would be continuing his fathers industrialization campaign in the west of Bretislavia, as well as instituting a naval buildup. These two programs, while costly, provided jobs in factories and saw a recruitment rise in the navy. On February 1st James dismissed his fathers officials, including Kurt Franken, his fathers foreign minister who was known for his uptight and gruff attitude.
The 1892 Constitution & Election
The following Year would see the creation of a Bretislavian constitution and the establishment of a federal parliamentary, constitutional monarchy. This was done as a response to the growing number of democratic support among the population, which had been demanding a parliament since 1887, the constitution was ratified on August 1st, 1892. The follow September election would see the rise of the Bretislavian Peoples Party. A moderate leftist party run by democratic supporter and republican enthusiast, Charles King, which would, in turn, would grant the Peoples Party a parliamentary majority, much to James' displeasure. James, who had wanted the conservative leaning Bretislavian Country Party to win the election.
Foreign Policy
Semi-Isolation
Semi-Isolation was a policy enacted on the 1st of January, 1880. He described semi-isolation as keeping a large army, a stable empire, good trade with very few, and maintaining overseas colonies. He stated that the policy would allow him to "Organize the homeland and its departments before moving onto the global stage further". Semi Isolation replaced his father's foreign policy of "Armed Neutrality", where Bretislavian affairs were the only affairs taken into consideration by the state.