Kingdom of Northumbria
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Kingdom of Northumbria ᛄᛠᚱᛗᚣᛗᛒᚢᚱ ᛈᚪᚱᚪᛝᚩᛞᚪᛞᚪᚠᚪ Hjermymber Parangodadava | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921–1941 | |||||||||
 Flag | |||||||||
| Status | Disputed | ||||||||
| Capital | Farranday | ||||||||
| Common languages | English Northumbric | ||||||||
| Government | Unitary parliamentary republic | ||||||||
| King | |||||||||
• 1924–1941 | Frederick III | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1924–1926 | Alfred Timms Cary | ||||||||
• 1926–1928 | Geoffrey Natsaigh | ||||||||
• 1928–1941 | Elias J. Costerkin | ||||||||
| Legislature | Royal Diet | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Independence declared | 10 December 1921 | ||||||||
• Monarchy | 14 January 1923 | ||||||||
| 25 November 1925 | |||||||||
• Annexation | 1 March 1941 | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1935 | 1,149,000 | ||||||||
| Currency | Northumbrian pound | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of |  Ambrose (  Northumberland) | ||||||||
The Kingdom of Northumbria (Northumbric: ᛄᛠᚱᛗᚣᛗᛒᚢᚱ ᛈᚪᚱᚪᛝᚩᛞᚪᛞᚪᚠᚪ, Hjermymber Parangodadava), known simply as the State of Northumbria until 1923, was the independent sovereign state that governed the Northumberland between its formation in 1921 and its dissolution in 1941. The state was formed by the four secessionist Northumbrian thanedreds of the Ambrosian Confederal Republic, and was supported primarily by the Entente powers, mainly Sjealand and Wosrac, fighting against Ambrose during the Continental War. After a contentious process, the throne was offered to Prince Frederik Eugen, of the Sjealandic House of Lyksborg; the first ruler of an independent Northumberland in 167 years took the name Frederick III.
The kingdom existed under a fragile parliamentary system, and was wracked with political instability. It relied on monetary aid from foreign powers to assist in post-war reconstruction, which racked up the young nation's debts to an extraordinary degree. Although its independence was guaranteed by the Treaty of Asgård, increasing radicalism and polarization coupled with continental economic troubles allowed Ambrosian interference. General Elias J. Costerkin rose to the position of Prime Minister in 1928 and managed to sideline the King, effectively ruling as dictator through the 1930s. Several high-profile diplomatic crises led to the country's invasion and eventual re-annexation by Ambrosian President Frederic Townsend's military government in 1941.
The legacy of the Kingdom is controversial in Ambrose. Among Harwickers, it is near-universally maligned as yet-another injustice of the 1924 Treaty, and the Northumbrian War is celebrated as the restoration of the union between Harwick and the Northumberland. Some Northumbrian nationalists view it as the last legitimate independent Northumbrian state; other Northumbrians, however, see it as an undemocratic failure that led to the nation's continued subjugation up to the modern day.
History
Establishment
During the Continental War that engulfed Nordania between 1917 and 1924, tensions between the central government in Elsbridge and the thanedred governments of the Northumberland led to a standoff between the two parties, derisively termed "Cary's Rebellion" (after the Governor of Northumbria, Alfred Timms Cary). The rebellion climaxed at the Battle of Sharpsburgh in late 1921, and the ensuing Sharpsburgh Declaration declared a free and independent State of Northumbria. The rebellion escalated into a full out war of secession, as North Home Guard detachments began actively resisting regular army forces attempting to quell the uprising. The Northumbrians enjoyed covert material support from the Entente powers, including Sjealand, Wosrac, and Aurega, among others; however they remained de jure unrecognized.
At the time of the declaration of independence, the nation had been declared a republic. However, as the Ambrosian government President Anselm Sproat collapsed and the invasion of Ambrose began in 1922, monarchists in the Provisional Diet began agitating for the revision of the Sharpsburgh Declaration; they felt that the election of a monarch from one of the royal houses of Nordania would grant them wide international recognition, and would allow the new state to be seen as a legitimate entity rather than an Entente puppet.
Despite the opposition of republicans such as Timms, the monarchist faction led by Marshal Geoffrey Natsaigh official proposed the idea of constitutional monarchy before the Diet in November 1922. The ensuing debate became so heated that republican representatives stormed out of the proceedings several times. On January 14th, 1923, the Diet voted 13 to 7 to establish a hereditary monarchy. The Diet agreed to invite Prince Frederik Vilmar Rasmus de Ergen, Duke of Vanaheim; the Prince, suggested by Sjealandic observer Captain Theodor Scavenius, was the youngest brother of Valdemar XI of Sjealand, and thus was unlikely to ever rule in Sjealand.
The announcement of the monarchy polarized the government of the new state; right-wingers supported it on the basis that a monarchy constituted an unequivocal rejection of Crovanism and republicanism, a concept tainted by Ambrosian association; stemming from this, it was further argued that the Entente would more readily support a monarchy with financial and material aid. It was opposed by left-wingers, who saw the establishment of a monarchy as a betrayal of the ideals of democracy and self-determination the separatists had fought for, as well as by some nationalist right-wingers, who criticized the choice of a foreign monarch, when the descendants of the dukes of Northumbria still lived. Nevertheless, on 20 February 1923, after having consulted with his brother Valdemar, Frederik communicated his acceptance of the throne, taking the regnal name "Frederick III, King of Northumbria, Duke of Ulstead and Tyemara, Lord of the North" in reference to the two Fredericks who reigned as Duke of Northumbria in the 1700s.
Early existence
The first elections in the Kingdom were held in May 1923; though the Royal Diet was officially non-partisan, the results returned a slight left-wing majority. Frederick III was angered by the fact that elections had preemptively been called by the Diet without his consent (or even presence, as he was still in Sjealand). In order to placate the moderate left-wingers, the King appointed Alfred Timms Cary to the position of prime minister (one which he had de facto occupied since 1921). While this appointment saved the quorum in the legislature (many of the republican deputies elected had pledged themselves to abstentionism), the two grew to despise each other; Cary saw the King as a foreign autocrat and Frederick viewed Cary as a political hack.
From the outset, many sectors of society were less-than-enthusiastic about the new kingdom. Trade unionists and social democrats, aside from being opposed on a purely-ideological basis, feared a dismantlement of the Crovanist welfare state that remained extremely popular. The clergy were distrustful of Frederick's professed conversion to Annwynism, suspecting that he remained a practicing Atrunathorian in secret. There was also hostility from much of the landed gentry, as Frederick had only chosen a few to be elevated to the peerage.
Despite the precarious political situation, Cary believed he had a wide-reaching mandate, embracing a confrontational attitude towards the King. He regularly clashed with Frederick over fiscal matters, with the King regularly overriding his decisions. The relationship between the two climaxed in November 1926, as Cary was dismissed and a snap election called. Geoffrey Natsaigh, the former Minister of War, was named Prime Minister.
Natsaigh recognized the revanchist attitudes that had taken hold in Ambrose (which was pursuing a policy of non-recognition towards Northumbria) and embarked on a massive military buildup. Both he and Frederick attempted to strengthen alliances with Wosrac and Sjealand (whom he viewed as guarantors of the post-war status quo), though he narrowly failed to ratify a tripartite mutual defense pact in 1928. Natsaigh also initiated an extensive reconstruction program designed to modernize the young nation's poor infrastructure; these efforts, though popular among voters, alienated regional governments, who feared the same centralization that had led them to secede from Ambrose in the first place.
In 1928, Frederick was the victim of a deranged anarchist's assassination attempt, and was near death for several weeks. Though he recovered, the wound compounded his already-faltering health and his public appearances and prominence became more limited. The period of convalescence immediately after the attempt saw Natsaigh declare himself regent, unilaterally passing several ordinances and taking out even more loans for his ambitious public works schemes—including several from Ambrosian banking companies.
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