Proclamation of the Kingdom of Yisrael
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| Date | March 20, 1715 |
|---|---|
| Location | Royal Palace, Yerushalayim |
| Participants | Members of the Sanhedrin, royal courtiers, and foreign ambassadors |
| Outcome | Reorganization of the Grand Duchy of Yisrael into the Kingdom of Yisrael |
The Proclamation of the Kingdom of Yisrael was an event that marked the founding of the current-day Kingdom of Yisrael at the triumphant end of the First West Scipian War with Sydalon. It occurred on Shushan Purim, a particularly joyous time in the Jewish calendar. By besting Sydalon - a Christian Crusader state that had been hostile for much of its existence since the 1230s Sydalene Crusades that overthrew the Medina Yehuda - Yisrael was viewed with a new level of prestige and respect by the Belisarian Great Powers. The Jewish leader, Grand Duke Moshe III (a direct descendant of King David), consulted the Gadol HaDor (Sage of the Generation), Rosh Yeshiva Hirsch Yaakov Ashkenazi, who instructed that the Jews were approaching closer to the pre-Moshiach times and that it was permitted to revive the Jewish kingdom.
On March 20th, 1715, the Grand Duke summoned the Sanhedrin, his senior royal officials, and foreign ambassadors, and under the watchful guise of Ashkenazi, was crowned "King of the Jews." He announced to the exuberant crowd that the "Kingdom of Yisrael, under the auspices and majesty of our Almighty G-d" now stood where they stood, and that Yisrael would be reorganized from a Grand Duchy to a "kingdom befitting the righteous [King David]." The former Grand Duke took the regnal name "Moshe I," and decreed two weeks of general festivities in addition to those dedicated to their victory in the war against the Sydalenes.
International reaction
Numerous foreign ambassadors reported back to their courts of the news; within weeks and months, King Moshe was presented with letters from foreign monarchs or their designates applauding the new king and welcoming him into "G-d's fraternity of law-upholders," as Nicholas I, the King of Lower Ghant did in his personal letter. The Yisraeli court received congratulatory or cordial letters marking the event from the rulers of Arthurista, Latium, the Noble Houses of Sante Reze, Ghant, Lihnidos-Vardana, Gran Aligonia, Talakh, Thraysia, Brumen and others across Belisaria, Scipia, and Norumbria.
Early Kingdom era
Centralization of royal power
The newfound monarch quickly established an absolute monarchy. The frequent factionalism among Jewish communal leaders was quickly squashed by the royal court, which began arrogating the power of the crown to directly appoint regional officers rather than rely on local elites as it had been under the Grand Duchy.
A standing gendarmerie force, the Shomrim - who would be the early modern forerunners of the Security Service, Civil Guard, and Special Political Police - was established to enforce the monarchy's power, dismantling the previous Duchal model of raising local forces. The new standing royal force was both a standing army and a standing police force, and absorbed the small personal guard contingent that Moshe I had had previously.
In 1718, Moshe I reined in the local Jewish courts in the walled cities and villages, instead granting more power to the Sanhedrin by decree to enforce its decisions; previously, under the Duchal period, powerful local courts or well-armed elites could refuse to enforce its rulings, issued from its seat in Yerushalayim, as the supreme judicial body lacked a dedicated enforcement arm, as the Grand Dukes usually were lightly-armed and unable to bring local powers under their will.
By the mid-1720s, the Monarchy of Yisrael was the indisputable center of power in the nation.
