Roeselle
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Federal Republic of Roeselle République Fédérale de Roeselle | |
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Flag
 National Coat of Arms
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| Motto: A Bien Mérité de la Patrie | |
| Anthem: Patrie | |
| Map of all Roessan Regions Map of all Roessan Regions | |
| Capital | Ville de la Liberté |
| Largest city | New Constantine |
| Official languages | Gaullican (National Government, Economic, Educational & Court Language) |
| Recognized languages | Akakaze, Envalé, Sequoien |
| Ethnic groups | Roessan (94%)
Asterian (2%) Mariranan (1.5%) Estmerish(1.1%) Lusitanian (0.6%) Other (0.8%) |
| Demonym(s) | Roessan |
| Government | Constitutional Federal Republic |
• Chancellor | Jean Francois Mercier |
• Vice-Chancellor | Charles E. Beaumont |
| Legislature | Federal Congress |
| Consul | |
| Chamber of Councillors | |
| History | |
• The Great Reform | September 17th, 1772 |
• The Second Great Reform | July 1st, 1822 |
• Johann Vollain Compromise | August 30th, 1871 |
• Philosophical Revolution (Also the Philosophical Renaissance) | 1854-1876 |
• The Morgenstern Doctrine Signed | March 15th, 1911 |
• Liberty City Bombing | January 9th, 1916 |
• The Big Step Onward | 1941-1958 |
| Population | |
• 2015 estimate | 87,445,000 |
| GDP (nominal) | estimate |
• Total | 1.99 Trillion USD |
| Currency | Rosemarque (ℜ) (RMQ) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | 32 |
| Internet TLD | .rslc |
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Roeselle, officially the Federal Republic of Roeselle (Gaullican; République Fédérale de Roeselle), is a sovereign nation located in northern Asteria Inferior. Roeselle is bordered by the Asterian Federation to her north and Marirana to her East. The population of the country is largely suburban and distributed throughout its vast lands. The most populous areas are the Cuvimont Coastal Plain followed by the Deep South and the Biscayne Coastal Plain, the center of Roeselle is less densely populated with a few industrial centers scattered throughout the various mountainous, forested and plains regions. Aside from these industrial centers, much of Eastern Roeselle is rural and marked by large national parks and historic sites. Roeselle is a constitutional federal republic with its capital located in Liberty City, the country's second largest city. The largest city in Roeselle is New Constantine which serves as the nation's economic hub and cultural and commercial centre. Roeselle has a separation of powers between its Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches, and is a secular state based upon popular sovereignty.
Roeselle was inhabited by several warring tribes prior to colonization in the mid to late 16th century. Administered as a colonial possession of the Kingdom of Gaullica, Roeselle began a pathway to independence as a consequence of the United Front Rebellion. However, it is debated as to this day whether the nation gained independence in 1738 with the creation of the United Kingdom of Roeselle, or whether this state of association with Gaullica, which ended in 1797 with the proclamation of the Roessan Republic. However, independence did not correlate to a stable society, and the radicals which took over during the brief existence of the First Republic would lead it to its demise. This would lead to a Second Republic, which the current Roessan government claims was the first legitimate Roessan government. However, with nationalism on the rise in Euclea, similar sentiments spread to Roeselle which shared a spirit of Manifest Destiny with the Asterian Federation. This led to the rise of the Roessan Directorate and later, the ascension of Pierre Rousseau to absolute sovereign and Emperor of Roeselle. The Rousseauist Wars, most notably culminating in the Roessan-Asterian wars would see the decline of Roessan dominance in Asteria Superior and lead to the ineffective Third Roessan Republic. Effectively an Asterian puppet, the Third Republic was extremely unpopular with the Roessan people, and with the industrial revolution underway, the Congregationists rose up with support of the Cooperativists to form the Union of Roeselle. This Union was not built to last either, and the reactionaries throughout Roeselle organized a coup with the support of several Generals and Admirals. The Rousseauist military officers then allowed the Rousseau Family to return from exile and installed Alain Rousseau, the grandson of Pierre as their new Emperor. The Empire was centered around the charismatic and intellectual emperor, and so with his passing, the Roessan Parliament abolished the monarchy and formed a Fourth Republic. The Fourth Republic was marked by Populist, Progressive and Nationalist politics and the Fourth Republic would oversee the country's stability throughout the Great Depression and the Great War. The aftermath of the Great War saw a conservative administration lead the nation into a post-war recession. Cutting social benefits to veterans to attempt to lower taxes would undo decades of progress and soon a second wave of Cooperativism and even strains of Functionalist Cooperativism would emerge in the impoverished regions of Roeselle. An insurgency emerged in the now rusting industrial centers and soon the nation descended into Civil War. The war soon balkanized as several generals defected to create the Roessan State and the Cooperativists began seeing infighting due to differences in doctrine. The result was General Chevalier being granted absolute authority by the Roessan Senate and the resignation of then president Jean Duchamps. General Adam Chevalier led the Fourth Republic to victory which was attained in the mid 1960s with the defeat of the last Cooperativist rebels. General Chevalier did not relinquish his power immediately however, in his 1965 declaration he announced that "The Roessan nation is not ready for a democratic regime and will not be until the economy and society are stable." The Chevalier Regime lasted for twelve years and had close ties with the von Hoffstadt Regime in the Eisenkuste. Taking after the Eisenkuste, in 1977 Marshal Chevalier called for a national referendum on the form of government going forward offering a Parliamentary System, a Federation or a Constitutional Federal Republic. With high voter turnout, the people opted into the third option by a wide margin, and on the new year in 1978 the Federal Republic of Roeselle was established. Since the Chevalier Regime's end, Roessan society has been far less stratified with both National Functionalism and Cooperativism being considered the fringes of the political spectrum. The current Roessan administration is led by the Unity Party which promotes Economic Populism, Federalism, and Republican Nationalism.
Etymology
History
Early Colonization
(1572-1640)
On September 19th, 1572, Marquis Jean-Henri-Jacques-Baptiste-Hilareaux de Soleil Couchant requested an expeditionary force from the King, Francois I de Gaullica. Known eventually to settlers as Viceroy de la Couchant, the Marquis landed in Sommes at the basin of the Cuvimont River on March 12th 1573. The colony established and maintained positive relations with the natives and flourished under the leadership of the Marquis, whom after selling most of his holdings in Gaullica to purchase the title of Viceroy de la Couchant, Imperial Governor of Cuvimont became a nearly autonomous leader in the region, though loyal to the King of Gaullica. Trading with the natives for furs and eventually switching to trapping themselves as new colonists began to travel further inland along the river, the trading industry grew rapidly in the nation and soon a wave of merchants entered the nation creating the Merchant Class. In 1595, after appealing to the King for a second expedition, de la Couchant discovered the upper river basin and named the entire territory Cuvimont, which would become the name of the symbolic 'spirit of the Fronteir'. As the colony grew, smaller colonies sprang up along the coast and down the Cuvimont river and with a flood of wealth into the homeland a third expedition was granted, this time de la Couchant ventured inland and further south where he discovered a land abundant with tobacco, cotton, indigo, hemp, and wheat, and during the return along the coast from his expedition he discovered a coastal area, fertile for farming and with a plateau region that showed heavy traces of silver, this allure of wealth earned it the name Côte d'Argent. Soon, settlements emerged along the coast of the region, including a silver trading port named Gaulleville, and in time these areas would become a major trade asset to the Gaullican Empire. In the year 1597, Viceroy de la Couchant and his family was formally declared the official royal family of this new colony titled the Imperial Viceroy of Cuvimont and the Silver Coast and sold his remaining estates to his brother in Gaullica before moving his family to the new world. With his new status he convinced a large number of Gaullicans to emigrate to the new world for with the allure of land, open space and wealth. And while he never personally advertised it as a haven for those persecuted in Gaullica, for many, the new colony was seen as a chance to flee to a land more free and open towards their political and religious views. These combined factors led to the Great wave of 1600 where, beginning at the turn of the century, the number of colonists coming to the new world spiked and in two decades 50,000 Gaulicans moved to the various settlements in Franciania.
In 1607, new technologies developed and used to a profound effect in defeating the Gopeka tribe which were migrating in from the northern plains of modern day Asteria. Having lost a war to another tribe further north, they were openly hostile to the Gaullican settlers and natives of the area alike. This shared interest united the Gaullican colonial government and the Cheroken, Greyfoot and Potwan, known as the Civilized Tribes natives whom cooperated in fighting off the Gopeka with settlers arming the tribes and assisting them in build fortifications. After a string of victories on the frontier, a strong bond between the natives and the frontiersmen was made and some tribes and frontier settlements began to openly intermingle. These relations resulted in a process of willing assimilation and eventually the legal integration of the tribes 1630s and onward as the natives began to convert to Solarian Catholicism and adopt Gaullican customs. However, some native customs such as hunting communities and methods for frontier combat would remain ingrained in Roessan Frontier culture, and to a degree some elements of native culture are visible in the countryside to this day.
As the colony gradually began expanding deeper into the heartland of the new world and south along the coast, a governing body was established by the house of Soleil Couchant and the Merchant Class called The Order of Roeselle, named after the small village in Gaullica where the House originated. This order allowed for colonial governance through councils that allowed merchants and land owning farmers in cities not ruled by members of House Soleil Couchant to elect community councils, to levy taxes, and finally made a united colonial levy possible. Called the Roessan Militia the force would gradually become more professional and would later become a standing army. Eventually the militia, though worrying at first, was recognized by the King of Gaullica who in the year 1638 signed a treaty binding the Order to the Kingdom in a document called The Red-Silver Concordat which ensured that all members of the Order would pledge allegiance to the House Soliel Couchant, and the King of Gaullica. This contract stated that the King had the final say in all colonial matters and could demand military, diplomatic, administrative and social changes, actions and could furthermore dissolve the concordat in exchange for the Ordre des Roeselle having the power to locally govern and administrate the colony to increase their economic efficiency and help to centralize the local autonomy of the colony, furthermore all imports and exports would have low tariffs between the overlord and colony, as they were a dominion under the control of the Kingdom. Finally, the concordat established Solarian Catholicism as the official religion in the colony.
In the year 1621 Marquis de la Couchant died of natural causes and his son Marc-Vincent-Henri-Jacques-Baptiste (Known also as Marc, the First in reference to the fact that he was the first of his name) was made leader of the colonial government. This would mark the official beginning of an effective Monarchy within the colony as the Ordre abandoned it's semi-oligarchic form and became centered around the Viceroy and his overlord, the King of Gaullica.
The Dawn of Roessan Expansionism
(1640-1680)
As the Colonies grew in size and wealth it began to attract more and more Gaullican settlers to its coastal towns. During the 1640s the Gordes, a people distinct from the mainstream Gaullican culture along with Gaullican investors looking for land and in many cases religious freedoms, Hennish traders, and Werenians who also fled from their homelands in search of similar religious freedoms made up the main demographics entering the nation, many immigrating to Gaulleville. It was in 1648 that King Marc I died, and his successor Charles I saw the wave of immigration as both a threat and an opportunity for rapid expansion. The township of New Constantine, the second largest colonial town in Cuvimont was more heavily influenced by Werenian and Hennish settlers and was named New Constantine. Located significantly further north of Gaulleville past Sommes, New Constantine was the first Non-Gaullican majority township in the Cuvimont territory. Established in 1649 the nation had signs in various Werenian dialects and Hennish, however this changed significantly within a decade. Many new settlers continued to press further into the frontier and encounter natives, but with a few exceptions, the interactions were peaceful and based on mutual trade which would eventually lead to the slow assimilation of native tribes along the Cuvimont river due to their constant interactions and increasing interdependence with the Gaullican frontier towns. After years of this mutual trade and the slow assimilation the natives followed in the footsteps of the Civilized Nations, and within two centuries the last tribes in Eastern Roeselle would be assimilated.
The Colony of New Constantine was secured by the the Order of Roeselle in 1653 in the name of the Kingdom of Gaullica due to a minor colonial conflict which saw the colony of New Constantine attempt to claim that it was under its own jurisdiction due to cultural differences and lack of oversight by Gaullican infantry and Roessan militiamen. Due to this attempt to create a Free City state, the Roessan militiamen were sent to subdue to locals and arrived with five thousand men, the poorly armed and organized militia of little over seven hundred men in New Constantine quickly surrendered. With the fastest growing colony now under direct control of the Order of Roeselle, the population of the region soon began to double in size and the Order of Roeselle adjusted to these changes by expanding its recruitment program to include those of Werenian and Hennish descent. It also worked to distinguish New Constantine as a distinct region, with locals lobbying for it to be given its own title and regional boundaries, as its coast had dark grey sand it was named The Grey Coast, though it was later renamed Nouveau Assoinaire. The convention opened to name the region eventually led to the naming of several regions that are used to this day. However, for a time Cuvimont remained a blanket term for all of the colonial territories along the Western coast of modern day Roeselle, especially in core areas where the Gaullicans had landed and initially colonized. Eventually Local Councils emerged in newer settlements and the vast majority quickly petitioned to join the Order of Roeselle which now worked with the Viceroy to negotiate any disputes between them in a fair manner and prevented frontier wars. These municipal governments were used to micromanage the specific regions within the greater colony, but also would weaken the firm grip the Order once had on the entire colony as they would raise independent militias and create their own social communities.
Charles I's reign was one of expansion and consolidation of the Order's colonial power. His trade policies helped to make Gaullica the richest empire in the world during this time period as his policies greatly benefited fur trappers and merchants. However, issues arose when in a sign of loyalty and understanding for conditions in Gaullica, Charles lowered taxes on farm products being exported when the King increased taxes on products going to the new world due to financial troubles in the Fatherland. The tension that emerged from his perceived submission to the crown was resolved after the economy back home recovered and the tension disappeared before they could cause any true problems. With the economy on the upswing, Viceroy Marc began to raise taxes to former rates and used the money to invest in the development of trading posts along the Cuvimont River which extends across the lower half of the continent of North Asteria.
Marc's era saw an influx of new Euclean styles of architecture, and intricate stone structures arose in cities replacing the colonial wooden town centers. Hastening this, in 1652, the Great Fire of New Constantine ripped through the city and almost destroyed the town killing three hundred colonists, the entire town shifted towards stone buildings from then forward and no remnant of the old town exists intact today. In addition constant floods began to harm farming in the southern portions of Cuvimont Proper due to an overflow of water in the Fourcès river and an engineer named Felix Masson of Hennish and Gaullican descent became famous for diverting a portion of the Fourcès River marginally further north to provide a closer water source for the farms there and reducing the threat of floods in New Constantine. He later went on to establish the Masson River Company which was famous for its ability to work with the conditions in the new world, constructing towers, wells, fences, dams, dikes and windmills for the colonial government and wealthy merchants, investors and farmers and gained much fame and prestige throughout his life as an architect and engineer. This grew during the 1650s as the colonial government began paying him to carefully survey and plan out stone path roads between Gaulleville, New Constantine, Havreville, and Foireau. A road to Roche Rouge and Montage Château de Glace was constructed five years after the first road's completion later linking all of Cuvimont's large settlements and leaving behind an impressive legacy in civil engineering and architecture. This too only contributed to the rapid expansion into the Roessan wilderness that would mark the late 1600s as they pressed towards the central mountain range.
The Early Development Period
With a system of roads networking the colony together the strength of the order of Roeselle grew greatly and local councils in important settlements and towns were easily accessible. The Viceroy called for the Reform of the Roessan Order, which granted the Order the right to quarter soldiers in houses due to occasional raids by natives in the northern territories. Backlash to the reform was weak as the threats from the northern natives was great, and the unprecedented power granted to the order and Viceroy went unchallenged. Further strengthening the Viceroy's position, the swampy lakes where the beavers were in an abundance was mapped in 1660 and soon the economy began to boom, with it came an influx of settlers, but so too came slight devaluation in the trade. To counteract this the Viceroy placed quotas on the export of fur products to ensure the prices remained high, this gained him the support of the traders in the Order, and the investors enjoyed the price of fur steadily rising again. With the economy consistently growing and a feeling invoking god now associated with the endeavor to homestead and move into the frontiers, the future was bright in the 1660s. However, it was also in 1666 that King Charles I, at the age of 50, died in a hunting accident. His son Charles II was crowned and despite the loss of a fondly remembered figure in the new world, a sense of enthusiasm was almost tangible.
Based off of the growth in trade, in Gaulleville a market speculating the value of such commodities soon emerged and stocks were created based on European exchanges to invest in profitable colonial companies. This financial sector clustered around a down town area, specifically a street five blocks west of the Viceroyal Palace, and so Commerce Street was born, officially dubbed such in 1672. With the merchant class now clustering around Gaulleville, the city began to rapidly develop, temporarily outpacing New Constantine, but due to the farming export market being based in the northern city, it continued to have a more steady supply of immigrants.
During this period there also emerged a great threat in the Acrucian Sea, which until now was an open and valuable region full of sugar, spices, and tobacco, only rivaled by southern Roessan plantations. However, as the value of Roessan trade grew, piracy emerged and quickly began to plague the Acrucian sea, preventing the goods in the Acrucian from being as reliable and encouraging Roeselle to begin southern expansions. Quick to secure itself a part of the Acrucian, the Dawn Isles were first colonized in 1677 and the first deeply southern town emerged, named Charlesville, in 1679. However, instability would not be contained to the Acrucian, and as increasingly authoritarian measures were taken by the Order to maintain trade efficiency and enrich the coastal traders, some inland traders were seeing their wealth sucked out of the frontiers and back west. Tensions were rising both against the Viceroy and the Kingdom of Gaullica, and Viceroy Charles II was not seen as persuasive and intelligent a character as his father due to his quiet demeanor and because he would often rely on the Roessan Order to coordinate all of his affairs for him. Soon rebellious sentiment was emerging along the frontiers, and without any frontiersmen being members of the Order, they had no hope of making their concerns and mistreatment known to the Viceroy.
The Rise of Roessan Revolutionary Sentiment
(1680-1732)
Called the Purple Order, several members of the Order of Roeselle broke away from the main organization and began their own efforts to gain control over the colony. Led by famous sailor, navigator, explorer and owner of the Acrucian Indigo Trade Company named Dominique Charrier, whose company is considered responsible for the rapid colonization of the Caroline Coast and administration of Caroline. The Purples would gradually gain power in newer southern colonies and begin to challenge the Roessan Order for control over the coastal areas along the Acrucian. Eventually, due to the Roessan Order having greater connections to the Kingdom and higher standing in the eyes of merchants, the Purples found themselves being given secondary treatment, and soon began a movement to unite the colonies under a new government, one free of Gaullican Kings and nobility. The purples identified themselves with purple sashes, the movement consisted of mainly frontiersmen, traders aligned with the Acrucian Indigo Trade Company and rich farmers in Caroline. The Purples planned to create a government based around a parliament and judiciary and invited wealthy investors from Gaullica to act as figureheads for the order. Some colonial municipalities began to instantly crack down on the movement oppose this movement while the leadership of the Caroline Coast, and Hauteseaux Municipality showed some support for this movement. In response to this treasonous talk, the Order of Roeselle, prepared to arrest and dismantle the local ordinances allowing for the Purples to assemble militias. However, this was delayed due to the Viceroy not wanting to risk war with his fellow colonists as it could potentially invite external threats such as the Northern tribes or colonial powers into the area to contest their expansion. However despite some measures to reduce tensions such as conceding some autonomy to frontier regions, this only slowed the path to war and the rebellion of 1687 began as Purple Militias marched through the streets of areas with majority support from the south and under the leadership of their elected figurehead Jean de Montfort. On September 21st of that year, they declared independence.
However this Rebellion ultimately would be crushed within eleven months. The King of Gaullica intervening and demanding Jean stand down, which he conceded having his family living in Gaullica and knowing that his rebels would be no match for the Gaullican Royal Army. However, Dominique and Laurel Vlasic, whom was the municipal leader of the Caroline Coast abandoned Caroline City, which had been blockaded since October and was captured by Order of Roeselle affiliated militiamen by mid-November. Now in the Black Mountains, Dominique was elected by the few remaining investors and traders that had followed him and proclaimed leader of the Hauteseaux Republic. After a declaration of independence, the fronteirmen in the area were mobilized to prepare a defensive war of attrition in the mountains. However, this resulted in several defeats at the hands of pro-Cuvimont and Order affiliated militias already in the area. With the arrival of the larger militias from the west, the Siege of Montage Château de Glace, a castle styled fort in the mountains, would begin. After nearly a year the garrison mutinied and surrendered. Arrested and sent back to the capital, the remaining Purples including Dominique and Laurel Vlasic were executed on counts of conspiracy and treason, and their property was confiscated by the state. In the aftermath the Purple Order was promptly dissolved and revolutionary sentiments would fade for a time. However, while this victory strengthened relations between Cuvimont and Gaullica with the Order of Roeselle being now seen as loyal Gaullican administrators, the rebellion left the seeds which would continue to grow due to tensions between elements of the merchant class and the Kingdom of Gaullica.
Viceroy Charles II died aged 51 due to an outbreak of scarlet fever, and his son Charles III reigned for nine years before dying of poor health. Therefore his uncle, (brother to Charles II), was named Imperial Viceroy Marc II. Marc II was less religious than his forefathers and even privately ridiculed the Red-Silver Concordat that binded him to the Solarian Catholic church. He was crowned at the age of 35 at the time of coronation. Many historians argue his reign led directly Roeselle emerging as a separate identity from Gaullica.
The early 1700s were heavily influenced by the thinker Francois-Jacques Bellamy who wrote multiple philisophical works critical of the dominance of the Solarian Catholic Church and its more questionable practices, instead promoting skepticism and identifying himself as a deist. Though greatly opposed back in the fatherland, his writings became famous in Gaulleville and New Constantine along with other larger settlements where many had fled the fatherland in hopes of finding religious freedoms. Rich farmers and other devout Solarian Catholics were far less appreciative of his writings calling for him being banned. However, he moved to Gaulleville in 1719 and later to Charlesville in 1726.
He published a total of 122 pamphlets, wrote 12 books, and furthermore 143 letters to various municipal officials over fourty of them in correspondence with the Imperial Viceroy Marc II de Soleil Couchant who at first argued with him, but over time began to agree with him over the years raising his children deist. This shift in culture further strained relations with the fatherland initiated the beginning of a wide cultural divide. The 1720s and 30s also saw the rising popularity of Marc II, his influence on culture and perceived authenticity would mark his early reign due to his journeys into the frontier alongside other explorers, a trait lost in Viceroys since the hunting accident that killed Charles I.
Viceroy Marc II often tolerated statements in opposition to the Crown, and the Order of Roeselle began violating portions of the Red Silver Concordat under his direct orders as the 1720s came to a close. The King's popularity grew much when, after years of doubt towards the concept, he adopted Bellamy's view of Constitutional Monarchism, making the Order no longer based in nepotism, and allowing all land owning colonists to elect its members in 1730, additionally granting the body Legislative powers. The Order became very popular and the men within it were seen as the strong representatives of the colony's interests. In pro-independence circles the term Roessan was seen as a fitting term for supporters of an independent nation, which they eventually began to call Roeselle. Soon Marc II became known as 'the people's king' for his support of liberal reforms based in his backing of colonists' rights to representation. With his approval of the legislature's reduction on taxes for residents of major settlements and local farms to encourage their growth made him adored by the people.
In 1732 the Mouvement Constitutionnaliste pour la Dynastie de Soleil Couchant gathered in large numbers in Gaulleville to protest, demanding a constitution which would formalize Marc's change in the form of government and insisting that the Imperial Viceroy be formally declared King of the people of Roeselle with a Constitutional Consul acting as his sole subordinate. The Viceroy responded by meeting with the leaders of the movement and after almost two years of discussion and planning, declared independence from Gaullica on the March 17th of 1734. Thus began what is now known as the United Front Rebellion.
The United Front Rebellion
(1734-1738)
See Main Article: The United Front Rebellion
The United Front Rebellion began on March 17th of 1734 after weeks of rioting and preparations by the Roessan Viceroy whom conspired to push out the Gaullican military, which they hoped would be too overextended to quickly deal with a popular revolt, especially if they could quickly take core territory from the forces loyal to the King of Gaullica. The revolution was mostly funded by the merchant class whom dominated the Roessan Order, and saw many in the frontier who had carried on the spirit of independence from the Purple Revolt of the 1680s aid in the war effort. Imperial Viceroy was forced to flee north from the city four months later after the city was captured by Gaullican colonial forces whom had been stationed at a nearby fort. On July 19th, 1734, in rural Nouveau Assoinaire, before his army and a gathering of local farmers, Marc II declared the formation of a United Front of Roessan people and was on the next day named the First King of Roeselle by the Order of Roeselle in Roussillon City in a romanticized coronation in exile. The first major battle of the war was the Battle of New Constantine in which the 10,000 man Gaullican force engaged the 15,000 man Roessan Revolutionary force, underestimating their ability to prepare for the battle, and their numbers. This resulted in a Revolutionary victory and with the capture of the northern parts of New Constantine, it marked the path for a string of revolutionary victories further inland in the next two years known as the Victory March which almost led to the recapture of Gaulleville as they slowly pushed south, though they were delayed due to being stopped at the Fourcès river. The success at holding the Revolutionaries from recapturing the city allowed for the 1734 arrival of Gaullican reinforcements in Gaulleville which far outnumbered the Revolutionary forces and the Gaullican forces led by General Raymonde pushed the revolutionaries back across the river and into the countryside north of New Constantine, where King Marc II rode to the battlefield to rally the revolutionaries. The Gaullican forces, with a numerical advantage, pushed the Second Battle of New Constantine which led to the City again being divided by the New Constantine River that cuts through the middle of it and a three month stalemate, known as the Short Peace.
During the short peace, there were several changes in the structure of the Revolutionary militia after their series of defeats and they began to change first by more formally structuring their forces under the leadership of General Charles-Maxime Collines, they received canon previously ordered from the Estmerish government which was at odds with the Gaullicans smuggled from along the Red Coast. The conflict resumed in 1734 when a band of disillusioned locals shot at Gaullican line infantry stationed in in Gaulleville. The United Front used rumors of the incident being provoked by the Gaullican occupying force to rally together a larger force, and the crack down on citizens in the North led to a large number of young men moving south to fight for the United Front which nearly doubled the number of revolutionary soldiers enlisted. On July 9th, the Third Battle of New Constantine began and Francis Morgan and Marc Lyon a former high ranking officer in the Gaullican Army from continental Euclea participated as Generals dividing the force with General Charles-Maxime Collines. The Battle, which saw a massive commitment of soldiers on both sides was hard fought, but as they fought on through the night, it became clear that the revolutionaries had the advantage as they held the high ground and maintaining morale. Soon, unwilling to begin taking massive losses, the Gaullican force slowly retreated south for Gaulleville.
Over the next year and a half, the revolutionaries pushed north, and pro-revolutionary groups under Gaullican occupation developed a new guerrilla warfare system called the "tactique terrestre" a tactic which aimed specifically to ambush and assassinate enemy commanders to weaken their overall organization and integrity. Over time these tactics wore down enemy forces in the North and on June 7th, 1735, the March of Deliverance began with about 37,000 militiamen marching into Gaulleville, swiftly crushing the remaining Gaullican forces on the 19th of September, 1736. Two months later with the Revolutionary victory in the northern frontier town of Sequoia effectively ended the land war in Roeselle. However, with Gaullican forces pooling in Senouillac and preparing for a naval invasion, neither side was particularly excited about further conflict. Instead of continuing the war the two sides came together in the treaty of Gaulleville, which formally elevated the status of Roeselle to that of a client kingdom, making the King of Roeselle subordinate to the King of Gaullica, but giving it further autonomy from the homeland. It also provided for Gaullica to retain full control over it's holdings in Sud Pointe and a stretch of land south-east of that known as as Clearwater. The news of this victory was celebrated throughout the new nation and secured a route to full independence.
The United Kingdom of Roeselle
(1738-1788)
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On September 21st of 1738, the United Kingdom of Roeselle was established and the Constitution of Roeselle was signed into effect. Immediately the militias were organized into a single national Armed Force and initiatives to expand along the frontiers and secure the territory once claimed by Gaullica began, the last few native tribes began to assimilate as the Government policies with trade, work, and expansion came to intentionally encourage natives to integrate. The United Kingdom of Roeselle was first assembled in New Constantine and formally established a Legislature, eventually completely restructuring the Order, renaming it the National Parliament, a Judicial branch, which was made subordinate to the Executive branch, established a Royal Army, and passed the Declaration of the Rights of All Mankind which laid out twelve supreme laws that outlined laws that the government and citizens alike could never violate. These Rights were not questioned in the Kingdom and never were discussed in the Parliament despite them being allowed to be amended. On April 21st of the year 1740, King Marc II died and his son Henri I was crowned at the age of 29 on April 25th. The Parliament was finally granted a Prime Minister by the King and the first Prime Minister was the war hero and Republican party leader Francois Morgan who would successfully be re-elected two times in 1745 and 1750 before retiring. Under Prime Minister Morgan's leadership the Economic status of the nation improved and large trading companies arose such as the Bourgogne Voile Trading Company and Sud-Ouest Trading Company. Companies like these strengthened the economic situation in the nation as it's agricultural prowess in tobacco, corn, rice, hemp, livestock and indigo became highly prevalent in its growth in economic opportunities.
As the Kingdom of Roeselle expanded eastward multiple small towns emerged along the always moving frontier. These towns grew quickly and after a wave of immigrants from Gaullica and Hennhouwe arrived these areas were quickly settled. However, while most tribes willingly assimilated, the Falcon Tribe deep in the Eastern Red Forest, a tribe which had come to utilize firearms which they purchased and stole from Asterian settlers to the North did not. Located between the Black Mountains and the Eastern Shore they were extremely hostile and in the year 1751 a three year war with the tribe began after Roeselle settlements were massacred by the native tribe. The War saw the rise of a military General named General Joséphe Dubois. His successes peaked in the Battle of Point Noir a small settlement on the Eastern Coast of Roeselle that saw the defeat of native general Chanting Fox and the decline of the Falcon Tribe.
During this period two major political parties came to dominate the country, the Royalists that supported the United Kingdom and the Dominist Party which wanted several Democratic reforms, specifically in the image of the first rebellion against the Gaullican government.
In 1752 the Royal Gendarmerie was founded by General Joséphe Dubois who explained that a security force would be needed to maintain peace and stability in the nation. The Royal Gendarmerie was officially organized and headquartered in Gaulleville in the year 1753. Meanwhile in the Parliament a Statesman rising in fame named Richard Maximilien who proposed a central bank be established to print all national currency, and that Roeselle should expand south along the Eastern Seaboard and into territories claimed but not yet controlled by other nations stating that they would act as liberators to those that one day live there. His bill to establish a central bank passed in the Consul but was rejected by Prime Minister Morgan who remarked that that form of economics wouldn't work and would just make the situation worse, however, entering a recession since 1753 when silver mining led to inflation Richard Maximilien was elected as the second Premier Consul in 1755 his five years saw a war with a colonial body to the south calling itself the Free Republic of Couchant. This Republic had gained effective independence during the election prior and was never recognized by Roeselle, which maintained a policy of cold diplomacy where the two seldom communicated. The war called the War of Roeselle's Destiny took place over a period of 4 years and resulted in the battle of Vernon which saw a massive victory for Roessan forces who defeated the rebels in battle by taking advantage of the hillside to the north and surrounding the heavily outnumbered Couchantan force. The new territory was reintegrated into the now restored nation and divided into the regions of Couchant and Victoria, named specifically after their victory in the south. Though unsatisfied with Roessan rule, the Couchantan people were unable to organize a second rebellion and lost rights to hold independence rallies after the passage of the Sedition act of 1758 and enforcement by the Gendarmerie. In 1760 Maximilien decided not to run for re-election and Joséphe Dubois resigned as head of the Gendarmerie to run against Consul Luc Valois, who became popular for supporting becoming a full fledged republic. Joséphe Dubois was elected as a Royalists and shortly thereafter Luc Valois defected from the increasingly status quo Dominist party and founded the Radical Dominist Party.
In the year 1759 King Henri I, after a quiet and uninvolved reign died and his religious and ambitous son Augustin I, at the age of 29 is crowned as the third king of Roeselle on March 15th. King Augustin was far more involved and spent much of his time weakening the legislature, he first did this by using his powers and support from the majority party which was swelling after his recent coronation to support him when he banned any press and assemblies that questioned the royal monarch, this came after satirical articles about his father came out after his death surrounding the idea that he passed as he came, without a single man noticing. However, Augustin provoked the majority of the population when he passed a bill that raised taxes on alcohol and sugar to help the country get out of a recession that had loomed over the nation after the central bank began to fail. In 1765 Premier Consul Dubois was re-elected though the new Republican party was much closer to winning a majority in the consul and became more inflamed by the Kings policies after the election leading to mass protests. The failure of the central bank was blamed on the Radical Dominists and the party was banned in 1766. The King also established the Public Safety Commission to reduce the number of crimes, smugglers and pirates in and along the coasts of Roeselle, these policies led to the First Pirate War, a naval war between Roeselle and it's neighbor New Eparia when the Free City of Biscaye's Navy accidentally fired on their ships after mistaking the Roeselle Navy's attack on a pirate ship as an attack on a Biscayne civilian vessel known as the Pirate War Incident. This led to the first unanimous vote in the Parliament that encouraged the King to declare war on the Free City of Biscaye which Roeselle considered as part of its claimed territories.
The First Pirate War
(1767-1769)
The First Pirate War took place across the Gulf of Roeselle involving the Roessan Royal Navy and Army and the Biscayne Navy and its hired Privateers, it lasted two years between 1767 and 1769. During those years the Roessan Army mobilized a much larger force than in any prior war due to a perceived need to uphold territorial claims and ensure that other countries wouldn't ignore them. This came in the way of a tactic called dirty by the Biscayne Navy where in the largest battle of the war, the Battle of the Damned, a fleet of captured pirates arrested by the Roessan Navy was forced to sail into a large Biscayne Naval escort acting as a shield for the Roessan Navy and allowing them to easily achieve a victory against the Biscaynians eviscerating their navy and confining them to a land war. Without a navy, the Free City of Biscayne mobilized as many militiamen as possible, however a few days later the Roessan Army was marched into the outer reaches of the city and began seizing assets from farms and capturing several miles of farmland before halting on the Kings orders. With the Biscayne Navy decimated, the Roessan Navy set up a blockade around the Port city of Biscaye. The Biscayne militia was not prepared to deal with the Roessan armies, and by August 12th of 1769 the war was over with the Biscayne government submitting to the crown of the United Kingdom.
The Royalist Period
(1769-1778)
After their victory against Biscaye, the public support for King and Country grew considerably. The Traditionalist Party's head and incumbent Prime Minister Joséphe Dubois had stepped down to allow for a new election. However, in violation of the constitution, King Augustin I was placed on the ballot for the election. There were several small-scale protests in Gaulleville and in the countryside, however the majority of parliament simply re-arranged around the king forming the Royalist Party. On January 1st 1770 (election day) the supporters of the king began marching through the streets of New Constantine in what was called the New Year Victory March and led to a massive assembly of the the majority party in the city after the election results revealed that the King had been elected Prime Minister. As Prime Minister he immediately dissolved the Parliament and declared a new era of Roeselle referring to it as the Sunset Kingdom in reference to his dynasty name. The leadership of the Royalist Party was made into the Board of Advisers and were appointed by the King to manage certain aspects of the government allowing the King to shift his primary focus as he wished.
The years that ensued saw the a major change in the way the freedom of speech, religion and assembly was viewed by the government, and an royal decree elevated the Solarian Church, making it once more the official religion of Roeselle. The new opposition movement known as the Republican Movement was founded in Gaulleville in the year 1773 and several chapters of them gathered to sign the Liberty Pact on August 18th. Around this period the royal family of Roeselle began to attempt to further legitimize its Monarchy by entering into royal marriages with Euclean monarchies.
In the year 1775 the Kingdom of Roeselle promoted a new frontier expansion policy to encourage the people of the nation to move out to more rural areas and increase the growth of new towns in the forested territories. During this time, a city called Vallée de-Lys, now one of the largest cities in Roeselle was founded as well as the first western settlement past the Black Mountains founded in 1776 named Augustin, now known as Augustville which marked the extent of the country's reach at the time. Later that year the King demanded the closure of non-Solarian operating churches in close proximity to Solarian churches to further appease the Church officials and appointed the Archbishop of Gaulleville to his board of advisers. It was declared by the king that there would be an Era of Solarian morality, where adultery and questioning the church became high crimes and a Great Catholic Revival ensued.
The Decade of Soralian Morality
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In the year 1778 King Augustin declared the beginning of the Solarian Era and the majority of the populace endorse, certainly the political elite, adopt the morals promoted by the new cultural shift which yields changes to the country's architecture, clothing, music, and lifestyle which all become more simple and christian in nature. Crosses are placed over the entrances of buildings, sculpted into the pillars of the kings palace and even the former legislative building which by this point served as the meeting place for the Board of Advisers. This cultural shift also managed to spread to the frontier rather rapidly where new churches and religious places open and statues of Christ are erected along paths east as christian communities begin to grow.
The Solarian church saw it's membership in Roeselle triple in size and a population boom occurred around the year 1780. Christian schools open starting in the year 1781 in the city of Gaulleville offering education to upper class Christians, but soon these spread across the nation. The last natives in the mountains and eastern forests began converting around this same time and were offered full citizenship in the Incorporation Act of 1782, which some tribes accepted willfully.
However, soon the Catholic revival began to see some resentment after, on June 28th, 1783, the first Christian militia was formed in the countryside of Kansa and began mobilizing across the province enforcing Catholic doctrine and making locals undergo forced conversions Solarian Catholicism. Soon dozens of such militias are formed across Roeselle and on April 2nd, 1784, King Augustin saw an opportunity ordering the formation of a royalist militia called the Solarian Knights of Roeselle whose mission was to advance the interests of the Solarian church and the crown. The militia met with little resistance at first, however, on February 8th, 1785, a protest against the knights in New Constantine led to the Snowfall Massacre where during a heavy snow, 31 protesters were killed and 23 were injured. Though many people in the country had become Solarian fundamentalists, this event led to the steady growth of the opposition to the Solarian church and King Augustin I. Later that year Augustin I died of tuberculosis abd his eldest son, Bénédicte I was crowned king.
Raised catholic, he was very supportive of his father's policies and trusting of his father's council. In 1785 took the advice of his church adviser Aurelien Paget and placed a 12% flat tax on all Roessan citizens except for those in major businesses who received a lower 8% tax. This earned him disillusionment in Roeselle's lower class who called him the King of the Rich. In 1787 he also imposed laws forcing all lower class citizens to pay a 2% church tax, only adding insult to injury. Despite clear opposition and several protests he insisted that the tax would be a way to encourage them to attend church sessions. Furthermore in 1790 he passed the citizenry act which literally established four estates of man, the royalty, the church officials, the wealthy business owners, and the lower classes. He lowered taxes on Nobles and Church officials later that year breaking away from his flat tax policy insisting that such people were too central to the economy to tax so heavily, lowering both groups rates to 7.2%.
In 1791 King Bénédicte ordered the Royal Gendarme to arrest those preaching religions other than Solarian Catholicism and, crossing the line for the last time, banned all alcoholic drinks and spirits save communion wine in on January 1st, 1793. On February 29th a petition was signed by 138 prominent figures from throughout Roeselle's many local governments and posted in public for any to see in New Constantine demanding an end to these 'intolerable and unconstitutional acts', this led to the king ordering their arrest under the charge of treason, only 27 of them were successfully arrested before a major riot broke out on May 3rd that year, which led to the formation of the New Democratic Party of Roeselle on May 4th. On May 5th members of the New Democratic party who had just attended their founding rally protested, the protests were relatively calm until a line of Solarian Knight militiamen fired on a group of protesters, known now as the Massacre of May 5th. This subsequently led to widespread riots and the organization of militias across the nation. The Republican Corps was formed on May 21st and began bringing together revolutionary militias across the nation in preparation for open rebellion.
The Republican Corps promoted ideas espoused by Bellamy towards religion, promoting deism and the abolition of the Solarian Church in Roeselle. At first a letter with demands was to be sent to the King, but when Damien Roux, one of the men accused of treason, became considered the official leader of the New Democratic Party and renamed it the Liberty Party, this plan was abandoned. Instead a fringe group led by young General Cyril Renaud defected from the Royal Army on the 17th of August and joined the Republican Corps, his subordinate officers remained loyal to him, and with regular troops came better structure to the Republican Corps. The events that then came to pass are now known as the Roessan Revolution.
The Roessan Revolution
(1791-1797)
Officially starting on August 21st of 1791 after the King responded to a letter demanding his resignation, the Republican Corps responded in a speech given by Damien Roux in Victoria City which was being overrun by Revolutionary forces, who charged the king with being a traitor to the Constitution, Roessan people stated that he was a "enemy of the common man" going so far as to say that he ultimately wanted to see the lower classes of the nation become serfs and to have their lands colonized and ownership transferred to the rich nobility. Damien declared that there would be a revolution for the advancement of the Fourth Estate and the end of tyranny and monarchy within the nation. The membership of the Liberty Party, swelled to 120,000 and by the end of the year several brigades of self declared policemen were formed to monitor areas within the revolution's bounds of control. Called the Communard Brigades, these militias arrested Monarchist collaborators in rebel occupied areas and enforced the law with a revolutionary court, several forts that had been seized were used as prisons. With executions speeding up due to fast sentencing by the revolutionary courts, a new face of execution was devised by an engineer in the city of Charlesville, Kansa named Henri Cosme called the Cosme Blade and nicknamed the Revolutionary Razor. The popularity of this blade rose due to the method of execution being considered humane in its ability to quickly end the life of those condemned to die, and over two hundred were produced by the end of the revolution.
The Revolutionaries fought for the coastal town of Port-Vert, and against the overwhelming odds of 7,000 revolutionaries vs. 22,000 royalists the revolutionaries were able to win by gaining favor of the locals who came out in mobs during the riot. This victory marked the decline in the King's confidence in his ability to win, during skirmishes and battles his men were routinely mutinying and even defecting, morale was low and supplies were running even lower. The revolutionaries now effectively controlled the East of the nation, and for some time, there was discussion of secession, but with many militiamen and revolutionary leaders being from the West Coast, they were unable to gain a majority of the council required to shift the war goal. Instead they re-organized the Republican Corps and marched for Couchantville, named in the honor of the royal family. Led by General Renaud with a much larger force of 15,000 Republican Corpsmen, the surprised and poorly supplied 12,000 man force was defeated. Caught of guard they were forced to reinforce the line while fighting the revolutionary army, and by the time the last men arrived from within the city, the battle had ended. This victory was pivotal as until this point the revolutionaries had been confined to the Eastern frontiers, with access to the rich fertile farmlands of the south, they would be able to better supply further incursions westward. The city was renamed Victoria City and a massive parade was held as news emerged that the Republican Council would begin meeting in Victoria City, a show of the weakened position they had put the Kingdom in.
The Defeat horrified King Bénédicte who called their willpower that of a savages driven mad by their lust of destroying all that was sacred. To counteract the revolutionaries advance, the King decided he needed a swift blow to weaken the revolutionary forces morale and help even the odds out and sent a force of his 10,000 most prestigious forces from the Royal Army and ordered them to march on Victoria City with the help of another 18,000 men from the Gendarme. This led to the Battle of the Silver Coast which saw the Republican Corps intercept the Royalist Forces in a series of battles that lasted four days and saw over 24,000 Revolutionaries fight the 28,000 man Royalist force and led to a victory for neither side, but the Butchery of the Republican Corps who suffered 11,000 deaths and 3,000 injuries losing entire battalions of veterans would be a setback for the revolutionaries while the Royalists lost 9,000 of its men as well. With a Royalist Victory, the route to Victoria city was open and they began to march towards it in hopes of arresting the Republican Council. However, the Revolutionary Army, after pulling back from battle, marched onward, taking a route further inland and then south again approaching New Constantine which only had a garrison of 6,000 men who had stayed behind and prepared defenses only to leave the road undefended and allowing the Revolutionary force that still consisted of 10,000 men march into the city and capture it.
The Capture of New Constantine only saw 355 deaths and 334 of them were on the defending side before the garrison surrendered. The King, who had refused to leave, was sent to Fort Guillaume in the central mountains to be Judged, and when news reached the Royalist armies that the King and royal family had been captured, they surrendered arms in Victoria City. The King was judged guilty, but sent to Victoria City for a second trial. Again after a month of deliberation the King was declared guilty and was executed two weeks later on counts of treason, murder, oppression, tyranny, crimes against the people, conspiracy and violating the national constitution. However, he had a nephew, who was 27 years old and was in Gaulleville far outside of the reach of the Republican Armies, so some Royalist militias reconvened at Gaulleville and prepared for a last stand, and on December 24th of 1793, the claimant was crowned King Augustin II. Meanwhile on January 1st, 1794 the Republic of Roeselle was established with a Republican Council serving as subordinates to the democratically elected Chairman of the Republican Council Damien Roux and Jean Hannibal became the first Diplomat between the Republic and Gaullica securing the recognition of the republic. With the execution of the King and beginning of the republic, the phyrigian cap became a symbol of the revolution and was adopted by the revolutionary army.
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Roux wrote the Declaration of Rights of the Citizen which addressed their rights to fair trials, freedom of choices in occupation, mobility throughout the realm and certain property rights, it also made it legal for women to divorce their husbands without any permission from him, and in a less popular move banned slavery in all of Roeselle. However, the Republican Council cracked down on the Freedom of Speech and Press only allowing radical newspapers to print, for now, people preferred this seeing it as the beginning of an overhaul of their way of life, but content for the leadership was in an exponential decline. A two year stalemate began when the Royalist army set up camp near the border of Cuvimont and the Revolutionaries set up along the other side of the border, often either side would conduct drills and several close calls that could've prompted a resumption of warfare occurred, but for much time the two simply awaited orders to advance, and diplomacy between the two sides commenced. However this ended on June 11th, 1796 when a fight broke out between the two encampments and soon descended into a battle that became known as the Battle of the Drunkards, named after the fact that it started due to drunken slurs shouted from one camp to the other. However, this battle was the bloodiest in the war and saw a total of 29,000 deaths in a period of 11 days where either side sent reinforcements and stopped fighting at dusk only to start up the battle at dawn.
Disgusted by this way of fighting, General Renaud demands a position at the front and forces the revolutionaries to cross the bridge using men across the river to flank the enemy. Despite all odds the enemy was so taken by surprise that they did not organize fast enough to effectively catch the revolutionary army at the bottle neck point that was the bridge which led to the defeat of the Royal Army which retreated North fast and tried to fortify the new capital, Gaulleville, but far outnumbered and experiencing riots throughout town as the revolutionaries approached the Royalists were weakened to a point where when the Revolutionaries arrived, they only managed to keep them out for two days before the siege defense failed and the Republican Corps marched into the capital and executed over 5,000 government officials before Executing the King and deporting his wife and child to Senoulliac after a plea of mercy during the Royal Trials which ended on November 15th, 1797 with the city of Gaulleville being renamed Liberty City and declared the new capital of the Revolutionary Roessan state. The Republican Council had absolute power and the people, for a while, were content.
The First Roessan Republic
(1797-1808)
With the first stage of the Revolution over the Republican Council began pushing for massive regulations on trade and commerce and several repressive policies against its people. For six years Damien served as Premier Director over the board of directors until his re-election, during which he consolidated his power by passing the dissolution of anti-revolutionary forces banning political parties besides the Roessan Liberation Front. However, on November 18th, 1803, during his re-election campaign, one of his more famous subordinate Directors Jean Hannibal criticized him in public for his stances on civil liberties which caused a shift in public opinion. He was imprisoned for betraying the revolution two days later, but not before putting his name out as a potential reformist. So a reformist force of 5,000 protestors broke into the Republican Council Building and taking him to the Gendarme office where the head of the Republican Corps, Florentin Janvier declared him suitable for a trial. The trial took place over the next three months and saw him charged with treason and betraying the cause of the revolution, on February 22nd he was executed with the Revolutionary blade and Jean Hannibal declared himself the new director. For almost two years, Jean had a good impact on civil liberties lifting many restrictions at the cost of him being portrayed negatively for his horrible economic policies.
On December 21st, 1805 he stepped down as head director allowing unpopular but expert economist Gerald Maximilien to seize power. Maximilien gained fame quickly however when he prevented a recession and brought the nation into an economic boom which he attributed to his other major policies, once again restricting the freedom of the press and tripled the number of daily executions. However, he was successful and ruled for three years where he saw safe regulations put in place and even gave women all the same rights as men within society when it came to occupational choices, however, after a massacre in Liberty City involving a minor protest, the call for revolution was once again heard, this time with former General Cyril Renaud stating that he could better run the nation and would end what he called 'the reign of terror'.
Cyril Renaud held a protest in front of the Republican Council Building in Liberty City which soon turned into a riot with looting and soon a rebellion which saw Renaud put his tactical skills to work as he organized a militia of 1,500 men to march on the Republican Council building from throughout the city and demand Maximilien's execution for betraying the revolution, lying to the public and restricting the press and free speech, though Maximilien plead innocent saying those were abstract, impossible concepts he was found guilty after a list of political rivals he had with names crossed out corresponding with executed men surfaced and he was sentenced to be executed the next morning on October 11th, 1808. With him executed the Second Roessan Republic was declared with Cyril Renaud the First President of it and began the term on January 1st, 1809 which he served out over five years, on the 11th of February the Roessan Constitution was signed with 12 Universal Rights written within it, this, among other things, ended the restrictions on the freedom of press and speech.
The Second Roessan Republic
(1809-1831) Cyril Renaud was a Federalist who believed a bigger, more united government was better for the people. He also supported a division of powers establishing the National Consul and the National Assembly as the Upper and Lower Houses respectively with members of the National Assembly called Representatives and the members of the National Consul called Consuls, and naming the Judicial Branch the National Court which was to help in defining the constitution and in any cases that needed judicial revision of the law in. On March 15ths the office of President was formalized and the legislature was opened with elections set to take place every five years for President and every three years for Consuls and Representatives with the representatives first election being held in a year from that date. On April 11th of 1809 the Military Re-Establishment and Modernization Act saw all of the military renamed the Republican Armed Forces with a Republican Army, Republican Navy, Republican Gendarmerie and the Republican Coast guard established along with a new branch being added, the Troupes de Marine, who would fight in coastal warfare, the act also saw the first real military budget in the new republic organized whereas before the military made money by coming before the Legislature to request funding. On September 2nd, 1809, the Tariff and Internal Taxes Act of 1809 saw a limited tariff on goods from Euclea set in place and a national taxation system put in place to set a minimum for municipalities to collect. On October 8th the Rum Act was passed placing a national tax on the popular alcoholic substance to help bolster the economy. Later that year on the 14th of December, the Rum Rebellion in the southern portion of the Kansa Municipality after a tax on the substance was put in place, leading to the mobilization of the Republican Gendarmerie. Using his position of head of the armed forces, President Renaud rode along with the Gendarme forces to suppress the rebel forces. However, by the time he arrived, word of the former general commanding an army on the way to the Municipality caused the riot to end as they knew they would be unable to defeat him, and stability in the realm was established as the Republican Government had established itself as self-maintaining.
1810 saw the first major trading treaty since the revolution began, between the young United States of Asteria, and the Second Roessan Republic. This Trade deal saw a discount on land and sea trade with no tax on harboring ships in port other than those normally in place and a special deal in place where the Asterians discounted Roessan silver and indigo in exchange for Asterian grain, tin and copper, which was more plentiful at the time than that in Roeselle. The deal was signed on January 8th and was celebrated towards the end of the month as bread prices dropped significantly. January 30th saw the passage of the Defense of Religious Freedoms Act which officially ended taxes on any religious places of worship. The Foreign Citizen and Sedition Act was passed on May 17th allowing Foreigners to live in Roeselle while maintaining their foreign citizenship and allowed the possibility of a future act giving them the power to become citizens later on while also placing a ban on any speech that directly claimed support for the overthrow of the government. On October 29th the Slave Trade Prohibition Act forced all Roessan companies engaged in overseas Slave Trading to stop their trading actions by January 1st 1811 or face arrest.
On February 22nd the Naturalization Act of 1811, pushed for by consul Jacques Thomas during the first month and a half of the year, was passed allowing there to be federal standards on citizenship and defined all "natural born" citizens as Roessan citizens, that being that if you are born to a Roessan then you are therefore Roessan, however, it goes on to say that if you become a citizen of another nation or are a member in a foreign military that you forfeit your citizenship. Finally it stipulates that you must live in Roeselle for 5 years in which time you must have been employed or a land owner during to become a foreign integrated citizen, this act also exempted those in the nation before it was passed and until March 15th, allowing time for authorities to prepare for the act's full implementation on a national level. On March 29th the Roessan Postage Act, proposed by consul Jean-Christophe Muclaire, established the Roessan Postal Service to allow people to send messages throughout the nation which was received with large popularity as letters to and from the frontier were avoided by most postal companies, however, the act was originally intended to be for government purposes only and was only extended under a revision by the Consul to apply to the rest of the nation. On June 4th a series of massive earthquakes hit Augustin's Landing and the surrounding province of Renard-Faucon. The reparation of the region would take place over the next several months. On August 4th the Land Clearance Act of 1811 was passed halving the price of purchasing federal territories in the Eastern territories. On December 27th the New Year's festival featured a massive series of fireworks and starts a new tradition where the last four days of the year become a time of celebration.
On June 13th, 1812, the Standardization Act of 1812 was passed officially adopting the metric system as the system of measurements was made official and Antoine Lavois, a famous Roessan scientist known for his many discoveries in the field of chemistry, biology and stochiometry specifically, was appointed Minister of Science and granted funding to refine the standards by the end of the year and additional funding for scientific studies that could advance the nation. On August 24th the motto "Liberté, Unité, Honneur" was officially adopted by the Consul after it was suggested by prominent consul Adam Cambert. On the 22nd of October, the Grand Vehemens Charter was signed between the Federation and Roeselle establishing further agreements between the two nations. On the 9th of December, the Consil passed a fund to raise money for the Navy due to relations with Gaullica worsening. The Republic's Fleet was to be built at Liberty City over the next five years and to replace the outdated one from the 1760s and 80s that had well served the Roessan Navy.
On February 18th of 1813 the Roessan Republic signed it's first treaties with Venatia which established a trade where the Venatian people would trade gold and certain fruits that were more common there for furs, timber and silver. On the 29th of July, the Republican Gaurd was formed acting as presidential escorts and defenders of federal facilities. On the 14th of August, the Divertion of the River Chatoyante was completed draining the inland swamps in the region and freeing up farmland, the engineer responsible, Ryan Neville was awarded a medal of distinction and founded the Order of Honor which would accept any military, diplomatic, engineering, artistic, or otherwise prestigious individual for their merit as citizens. On October 4th, Chancellor Renaud decided not to run for re-election due to him suffering from an unknown disease and now sixty three years old. This led to the formation of the Federalist party founded by Adam Cambert and the Democratic party founded by Jean-Christophe Muclaire. Despite Chancellor Renaud insisting these parties disband and all politicians run independently, they did not.
February 10th saw the passage of the Centralization Act of 1814 leading to the establishment of the Roessan Central Bank which acted as the nation's treasury. On March 15th the election came and Adam Cambert was elected as the second Chancellor. The Federalist party gained a majority in the National Consul and National Assembly and began pushing it's big government agenda by writing an amendment to the constitution on the 4th of August that year. Called the Unity Amendment and the 13th Amendment, it barred municipalities from seceding from the republic, extended the Chancellor and Legislature's authority to be able to mobilize local militias and banned indentured servitude in all forms. This amendment would spark a small revolt in the southern rural portion of Biscaye near the town of Rennee which was stomped out by the Biscaye Municipal Guard within a month and solidified the power of the Unity Amendment.
On January 17th, 1815, the Coast Guard was given additional funding in the Coastal Defense Act of 1815 after reports of renewed piracy in the Roessan Gulf were confirmed. On May 8th, a popular revolutionary tune named "Le Mars des Lions", written in 1808, which was about the bravery of those who fought in the revolution was adopted as the national anthem. On March 12th, Cyril Renaud died of his mysterious disease. The day was declared a day of grief and named Republic Day. On September 16th a new set of trade routes were drawn out between the Roessan and Asterian governments to adjust due to new settlements. December 24th, the Battle of the Coast of Victoria occurs with a massive pirate crew coming within sight distance of Victoria in the Couchant municipality, the Coast Guard and local naval forces are mobilized and under the command of Admiral David Fremont the pirate ships were boarded and looted with the famous Red Beard being caught, he was hung two days later and the loot was seized as government spoils.
On March 3rd, 1816 the Government passed a bill that lowered the cost of coastal land in the eastern provinces to encourage citizens to purchase lands that can be eventually developed into cities. On October 12th the government decides on a Grand Seal which consists of the battle flag flown by Chancellor Renaud and the Victoria City flag with a Black circular background and gold rim representing the final victory of the revolution with the establishment of the Second Republic of Roeselle. On January 9th, 1817 the Aube Îsles saw their first major settlement Aube City established on the northern island. On June 10th, the Roessan military uniform was modernized to less resemble the early revolutionary uniform and look more modern replacing the Phyrigian caps with contemporary headgear and the revolutionary uniforms with more modern and simple uniforms. On September 21st the Roessan National Gendermerie destroyed a bandit operation being run in Northeastern Roessan settlements that used religious extremism to recruit members, the religion, called the Church of Resurrection.
On March 13th, the Church of Resurrection was banned as a religion and was classified as a cult, the first to receive such a judgement in Roessan history. This led to the New Mahelite War as a few settlements full of them began attacking Roessan traders and military forces in retaliation for the ban. See further below for the New Canaatite War. Domestically, the guitar emerged as a common instrument and early folk music began in the countryside. On December 12th, the Roessan Government banned cruelty to pets putting sentences on those who needlessly beat animals. Later, on February 20th of 1817, the National Rally for Justice promoted enlistment in the Army to fight against the canaanites, and newspapers reported the dangers of Cult devotion. After the victory declared in October, a festival was held in New Constantine, Liberty City, and Victoria City.
On the 10th of January, 1818, Adam Cambert lowered taxes calling it a "Victory Cut" and since the government was in relative peace, it would only occasionally pass local bills. This period of Victory lasted through the next election. On June 26th, Marc Sabre, Consul Minority Leader of the Democrats praised Adam Cambert for the cuts and the two managed to agree enough to set a new trade policy that opened trade up to Coius and Bahia by arranging trade agreements with those nations. With an open market, the Roessan market flooded with foreign goods and the economy became more diverse. On November 7th, the Roessan Government incorporated the Akakaze tribe who had previously fought against the New Canaatites, they were given technology and a policy of slow integration was put in place. The Democrats ran Hubert Leroy, a former Revolutionary soldier and Governor of Kansa. Adam Cambert ran on his successes, and ultimately landslid the Democrats taking over 71% of the vote.
Adam used the momentum in his campaign to promote his party which won an even greater majority, and immediately got to work shifting it's focus to Marirana. The Mariranan government had already had a hostile relationship with Roeselle historically, and controlled lands which were populated by a ethnic Gaullican majority. Additionally they were weak, the flame of the revolution had spread to Marirana and the government there was struggling to suppress the revolutionaries. Adam blamed the weakness of the Roessan Armed Forces on the fact that most soldiers were members of Municipal guards and made a speech encouraging the nationalization of a military, this issue was pressed further when the Roessan and Mariranan government began mobilizing forces within the disputed territory. The death of nine Roessan settlers which were blamed on Mariranan militiamen and the subsequent murder of four Mariranan soldiers by Roessan citizens in the country had led to a massive rift between the nations and eventually, on May 22nd, they declared war on one another. However, the war lasted ten days before Jean Durand, a Roessan Diplomat negotiated a white peace between the two, but tensions remained high. During the New Canaatite War most political issues were thrown aside as the nation finally embraced secularism as the state stance on religion in the Separation Act of 1817 signed on August 12th.
The New Canaatite War
The New Canaatites were led by their Archbishop Adrien Brun who raised a force of 6,000 religious extremists. They were based in New Canaat, Enavale, a territory at the time not incorporated into Roeselle, and declared themselves the Holy State of New Canaat. After launching several raids but denying involvement, they initiated the conflict when members of their National Militia raided St. Marco, Biscaye and killed 2,000 Roessan civilians on May 10th. This led to President Cambert declaring war on the State of New Canaat. The war consisted of the Akakaze Campaign which saw the death of 3,000 Roessan Troops and 4,500 New Canaanite Forces, the August Ceasefire which lasted until February, 9th of 1817. In that time the Canaanites recruited new troops and marched on Kebec to supposedly liberate the region despite them making up a minute proportion of the population. The Canaatite forces broke a Roessan defense in Grand-Chêne, Kebec capturing the small town of 4,000 and massacring 1,400 of its citizens. The Roessan government responded by mobilizing 21,000 men who began the "March of Retribution" this march would take 7 months in total. They first marched through Grand-Chêne liberating the city without a single death as the Canaatites retreated and then through to New Canaat City where they battled the 5,000 man militia that was mobilized by the Canaatite forces. The battle saw 587 Roessan deaths and 4822 Canaatite soldiers die. The King of New Canaat was executed and some of their most extreme elements fled north to the Asterian Federation to re-settle. On October 28th, Adam Cambert formally declared victory in a speech in Victoria City a tradition that would live on.
One General who had served in the war, Pierre Rousseau was appointed colonial governor of Akakaze and a founding member of the Front Nationale, a political party advocating for expansion and the establishment of Roeselle as a hegemonic power in the Eastern Hemisphere. The Canaatites remnants held out over the next two years in which Rousseau led a scorched earth campaign against them wiping their last stronghold out in the Battle of Susquahanna Valley which occurred on April 29th 1819. Adam Cambert's next three years were quieter, a feeling of victory resonated and he was considered the Consul who solidified Roeselle's power as a free Republic.
In 1822, the Democrats ran Jean Hubert against Federalist Francois Roland and Nationalist Marc Dubois, the campaign was brief and all parties candidates had only declared four months prior to the election. The Nationalists won majorities in Akakaze and Envale and the Federalists won outright in half of the east coast states and Kebec. However, the Democrats managed to squeak out a majority of the vote winning 51.22% of the popular vote. The Democrats advocated for a more relaxed and libertarian style of government eliminating several departments and ministries that had been instituted by President Renaud and Cambert. Jean Hubert then passed the Decentralization Act of 1823 on March 15th of that year lowering taxes, decreasing military funding and reverting to a free trade policy.
The Fall of the Second Republic
Unfortunately, this led to an economic downfall as pirates took advantage of the situation to begin raiding Roessan ships. The once pirate free Gulf of Roeselle became polluted with Pirates and neighboring nations saw pirate havens capture some of their port cities within the next three years. Bandits in the mountains grew in power, and the nation drifted into an era of uncertainty where the economy, and overall national situation worsened. Chancellor Hubert did open trade with new nations and under his leadership the eastern countryside blossomed with towns arising, just as he had promised. However, cities and towns in the West Coast, the South, and the Mountains all suffered. On February 12th of 1826 a protest led by the Nationalist Party was held advocating a stronger government. However, the Federalists took it further on the east coast rebelling and overthrowing the government and establishing a Directorate in the March 14th Coup.
The Directorate of Roeselle
Director Roland began his term by passing the "Restoration Act" revitalizing the Armed Forces and putting new trade regulations in place to curtail piracy and protect domestic trade. Director Roland rose in popularity as the passage of the bills involved in that move to revitalize the Roessan Republic. On March 22nd the Recentralization Act of 1826 was passed giving the federal government back its former power. Next, the Armed Forces Expansion Act of 1826 was passed on May 4th starting a process to bring back the 200,000 troops who had been laid off due to previous budget cuts. The next stage took three votes in the Directory, which was structured in the same manner as the Consul. But on August 29th the Stability Act was passed to crack down on piracy and resulting in what was dubbed by some at the time the Second Pirate War, however, it only consisted of one major raid and a few naval engagements. It also saw a rise in naval patrols and searches of goods entering and leaving the country. Next was the Tariffs Act of 1826 resetting the tariffs to what they were in 1822 adjusted for inflation which had risen considerably since then. Political tension rose, however, despite Director Roland refusing to ban the Democratic Party and insisted that soldiers and policemen not rush to violence during riots.
However, what ensued was a disaster with riots continuing to get more violent and Director Roland eventually changing his position to crack down on the assembly of Democrats. The Democrats detested the coup insisting it violated the Constitution and some even began planning there own being caught in the act of conspiring in the harbors of West City. Riots began across the countryside and the "Sedition Act of 1826 was passed on December 22nd after the commander of the Victoria city town guard was murdered by a mob of Democratic Party supporters from the nearby countryside.
On January of the next year Director Roland stated an election was to be held in Roeselle on the 20th of March, 1830 and from thereon all elections would be held routinely on a four year basis and the Nationalists seized the opportunity putting up still popular Pierre Rousseau who now was the Secretary of War to help strengthen Roeselle. He ran against Director Roland and the Democrats' Masson Montagne and gained grassroots support from many and starting a four year campaign which undermined the nation's stability. During the four years the Mariranan government declared war on Roeselle insisting that Roessan settlements in Marirana which violated several prior treaties settlers leave their Republic. Rousseau insisted he lead an army into Marirana to liberate the Roessan majority territories from the Mariranan Republic. He marched an army of 10,000 men into the border territories to engage a 17,000 man Mariranan force and after the battle of Florentinville, a settlement named after a Revolutionary figure. The defeat of the poorly prepared Mariranan Army set the pace for a destructive war.
Pierre Rousseau immediately mobilized another 36,000 troops who rallied at Florentinville on October 24th of 1828 before marching onward to the city of Duras, which had a Roessan majority. The Roessan and Mariranan forces met in the outskirts of the town where the Battle of Duras began. The battle between 28,000 Roessan forces and 30,000 Mariranan forces began and there was a long period of time where the battle was inconclusive and the forces on both sides pulled back to their war camps to re-organize. However on October 29th, a local town militia gathered numbering of 1,100 men comprised of local Roessan ethnic people, they made their way to the Roessan side during the battle on the morning of the 29th and their presence led to a decisive victory and the arrest of the local military governor.
With the victory in the south the Army rallied a total of 76,000 men at the city of Duras over the next six months during the winter stalemate and then marched onward to Marirana's capital in a bloody campaign named Rousseau's March. He led the march on horseback and with him went the Republic's finest artillery the Solarian Guns which had been invented in Victoria City three years prior. The campaign saw a total of 41,000 deaths, mostly on the side of the Mariranan forces who were now crumbling under Rouesseau's well planned offensive. This ended in the conquest of the capital of Marirana which was relatively unbloody other than several skirmishes and the 500 man last stand at the Presidential Building. Rousseau decided that the military would establish the Kingdom of Marirana, however, they were to maintain a massive presence throughout Marirana and ensure their loyalty to the empire.
The First Roessan Empire
He returned home a victor and was greeted by massive crowds, the military paraded through the streets. On March 15th of 1830, after winning the election against Francois Rolland with 65% of the vote Pierre Rousseau used the lack of constitutional restrictions to declare himself Emperor of the Roessan Empire and re-styled the Mariranan government a Protectorate even having a portrait of the new Mariranan Royalty bowing down to him and his Generals. He annexed the border territory creating two provinces named Poussez-Orient and Triomphe symbolizing the change in the Roessan diplomatic stance. On September 19th, 1829, he released a document labelled the Rousseauist Code which held that people had certain unalienable rights, that the freedom of religion and speech were protected, and that the freedom of movement, occupation, and even women's right to divorce would be protected in the Empire. It also provided that there would be regional councils elected by the people and that the Emperor could appoint one of the councillors as the regional governor.
This set of morals spread across the globe, most notably to the Clearwater Kingdom and the South Point Republic, two ex-Gaullican colonies that now bordered Roeselle. On January 1st, 1830 Emperor Rousseau demanded that the two ex-Gaullican colonies integrate with the Empire and adopt it's code to protect them from colonialism and allow them to become citizens of a greater nation. The South Point Republic, having only been independent for seven years had a referendum deciding to join on May 23rd, however, the Clearwater Kingdom was more hesitant. Their King Marc II Eau-Claire demanded that he be given semi-autonomous power, however, as he was already unpopular in his kingdom, which had very conservative social laws and was just as new as the South Point Republic, this led to the liberal rebels who had held the northern portion of the nation requesting support from the Roessan Armed Forces. The result of their pleas was the 24 Day War where the Roessan Army marched south with the rebels and captured Clearwater City. The Royal Family was made symbolic and the province retained its former name, however, the region was governed by Jean Jardon.
On the 17th of June 1830, Rousseau established the Public Education System instituting it as an option for all citizens of the Empire aged 7-17 and allowing them to prepare for higher trades regardless of their class. This met some resistance from the upper class and some christian schools, but in time it was accepted as a hallmark of the Empire. On July 20th, he put a Central Government System in place making Governors and councils no longer valid and re-assigning them as Regional Advisors and putting Military Governors in charge of each region's National Guard Regiment. This helped give the National Government the power and made all further government actions more efficient.
On the 12th of March, 1831, Rousseau announced that any and all colonists heading north along the East Coast of Roeselle had the support of the National Government and their goods would be tariff free. Rousseau then established the Grande Armee on the 28th of November preparing the Republic for armed struggle as the Diamond Isles, the Kingdom of Concordia, and the Eastern States had established a coalition opposing the Roessan Empire, putting bans on any Roessan goods and stopping shipping in the Southern Arucian Sea. They felt that united they could take on the Roessan Empire and allow Republicans in the country to re-establish a Republic. Rousseau felt especially insulted by this and closed all diplomatic ties with those nations moving his navy on patrols around the Diamond Isles and blocking cargo ships from leaving once they entered unless they came from countries with good ties with the Roessan government.
He also began building an Imperial Navy on the docks of South Point City, a city which had previously been instrumental to Gaullica's navy in the New World. The Mariranan royalty had been less than supportive towards the Rousseauist regime making several public statements that caused distrust between the two countries and was struggling with revolutionaries who wanted to re-establish a republican form of government. The constitutionalist revolutionary Mariranan forces requested that Rousseau back their move to seize power and make the Mariranan royalty symbolic monarchs in exchange for their loyalty. He allowed this and encouraged the detainment of the Mariranan royalty allowing the Rousseauist rebels in Marirana to take power. When this occurred they signed the Treaty of Aquinas, which renamed the Protectorate of Marirana the New Kingdom of Marirana, though in practice they were heavily aligned with the Rousseauist regime and essentially puppets to the regime, they signed a treaty of alliance with the Roessan government and gave the Roessan military access through Marirana. This horrified the 1st Coalition, and on the 4th of November, they stationed their armies along the Mariranan and Roessan Borders.
The Rousseauist Wars
(1832-1847)
War of the First Coalition
By the 5th of June, 1832, the Roessan Army had recovered enough from the war in Marirana for a large scale war according to documents written by the military leadership at that time, and on July 10th, Pierre Rousseau declared war on the Coalition for obstructing his trade and aiding and abetting pirates in the Arucian Sea. Though the Imperial Navy was still well under construction, the ships built during Cyril Renaud's time in power was enough to defeat the Diamond Isles navy in the Battle of Flamenco, along the largest of it's isles. The invasion of Flamenco was conducted over a three month time period as 11,000 Roessan forces engaged the local 8,000 man garrison. The government in power was replaced by Rousseau's brother Jean Rousseau, who previously was well known for his leadership in the Roessan Navy.
Meanwhile, the Mariranan Border he launched the invasion of the Eastern States, a federalist, though notoriously corrupt republic along the eastern coast of the Hand of God peninsula. The force, containing the 72,000 man Grand Army and Mariranan's 23,000 man Revolutionary Army marched to the capital of the Eastern States incurring 11,000 Roessan, 5,000 Mariranan, and 22,000 Eastern States' casualties along the campaign south which took a a year and a half. Once the capital was reached on December 22nd 1833 the war in the Eastern States was practically over. The battle for the capital occurred on the 13th of January, 1834 resulting in a defeat for the Eastern States Enclave forces. They dissolved the government and instated a revolutionary council led by four defecting Eastern States Generals and Rousseau's close friend, Asterian born Francis Kellermann. They would put together a new revolutionary government in the coming years.
As the Revolutionary Government was being formed, the Roessan Grand Army marched back north and fought against the Kingdom of Concord, whom over a six month period called the Northern Campaign. When the Concordian government fell on July 2nd, 1834, the Monarchy was deported and a republic was installed, one that has more or less lasted until this day. With the defeat of the first coalition, the war concluded when Pierre Rousseau held a speech in Victory city on July 12th declaring victory and finalizing the Annexation of western Mariranan territories.
The Short Peace
(1834-1835)
The fall of 1834 consisted of celebrations and ceremonies, and most notably the re-establishment of the Solarian Church as the official religion, though other religions were permitted. A monument to Rousseau was built in Victory City which became the new capital of the Roessan Empire, and the economy grew off of the Roessan puppet governments throughout southern Asteria Superior. On December 31st, the New Years festival was held in Victory City, and is said to have had a massive attendance. A military parade was conducted the next day and Rousseau decided to exempt the first day of each year from taxes from that year onward as a gift from god, and the forefathers who brought forth the ideals of the revolution.
On February 18th, tensions between Roeselle and the Federation first emerged with the earliest disputes on the East-most territory just north of the Roessan Province of Renard-Faucon as both had a large number of settlers in the area. This epitomized with the Battle of Victorville which saw Asterian and Roessan settlers engage in armed combat over a 20 acre area of river delta perfect for growing tobacco. The battle resulted in the Treaty of Augustin City, which led to a five year peace between the two. However, it solved nothing and led to the Roessan-Asterian War.
War of the Second, Third, and Fourth Coalitions
(1835-1839)
On the 13th of April, Pierre called for the 'expansion of the revolution to the south' and initiated the War of the Second Coalition in which he went to war with several smaller countries towards the south-most portion of the Main-de-Dieu Peninsula. The war lasted eight months and led immediately to the war of the Third Coalition which consisted of countries on the Eastern Coast of the Main-de-Dieu Peninsula whom expected support from locals throughout the peninsula, but were unable to help in organizing a rebellion in other portions of the Peninsula. The year and a half war resulted in the utter defeat and conquest of all remaining countries in Central Asteria and led to the creation of the Confederation of the Southern Peninsula.
The War of the Fourth Coalition began when the few countries in the Acrucian Sea formed a defensive pact and began patrolling near the Roessan Coast. Pierre claimed that this violated Roessan Maritime Territory and a dispute began leading to a war in the Acrucian Sea. From Flamenco, Rousseau launched an invasion of all of the members of the Acrucian Sea Coalition and, after defeating their navies, sued for peace under the condition that they all enter a permanent defensive alliance with the Roessan Empire, and their governments reform to the Revolutionary model.
The Roessan-Asterian War
(1840-1847)
See the main article: Roessan-Asterian War
Aftermath
After the capture of Victoria City and expulsion of Rousseauist military generals, family members and politicians, the Roessan Provisional Government was established by the Asterian government, and Roeselle was divided into seven military districts, with all areas conquered during the Rousseauist wars except for the Kingdom of Clearwater and the South Point Republic.
The Provisional government had General Damien O'Ryan as it's head of government, and did not allow elections until 1849. When it did, the Federalist Party swept the polls against the New Democratic Party, which was sponsored by the Asterian Federation, and while the Asterian Federation mandated that there not be an executive branch, they gained a majority in the Senate. The Federalist Party demanded reform and for the occupation at the hands of Asterian forces to end. However, the Asterian Federation maintained it's occupying force and demanded a new constitution be written to prevent the re-establishment of the Roessan Empire. This document was called the Articles of the Republic, and mandated that certain restrictions exist against the military and that there be no executive branch, limiting the Roessan Army to 55,000 men and their navy to 30,000 men and eliminating the office of Premier Consul. This angered the Roessan populace, but with split public opinion and many pro-republic politicians painted the Asterian victory as a gift to the nation, the bill stood.
The Third Roessan Republic
(1854-1874)
After five years of no change, in 1854, the New Democratic Party was elected and swept the Senate holding 77 of 100 seats. For the first time in Roessan history third parties did not exist, and the New Democrats, who argued that a Third Roessan Republic be established and that relations with Asteria should stay good managed to gain a massive majority as the Federalists had been blocked from getting any of their reforms through the Senate and therefore the country stayed in ruined condition. They allowed the Asterians to keep a small occupying force in the country, but reformed the government with a reform to the Articles of the Republic which gave the Senate the power to elect a President, effectively establishing the Third Roessan Republic on March 15th, 1854. The first President of the Senate was New Democratic party vanguard Basile Vipond.
President Vipond's first act was passing a bill that put 8 Billion Rossmarques towards the reconstruction of the country and began signing contracts with construction firms to help speed the process. This era of reconstruction coincided with an immigration wave from Estmere, Caesana and Gaullica, leading to new towns in the countryside growing and the urban population increasing. However, beyond the reconstruction, Vipond did not advocate for much to change, adopting taxes from Cyril Renaud's times as Premier Consul, and raising the military to its mandatory maximum. Though he was a well liked and enjoyed statesman, he declined to run for re-election, and in 1859, New Democratic governor of the Olive Coast, Didier Villeneuve was elected President after the Senatoral election led to a 61-39 victory for the New Democratic Party.
Didier was a conservative man, and a timid one as well, but was known for keeping a steady hand, and so his experience was seen as a good prospect. However, he only served four months before contracting an unknown disease and dying on July 28th of 1859, so the Senate elected New Democratic Senator and Roessan Apologist Théo Laurent. President Laurent was voted in during a rushed session with several abstentions and a handful of absentees. With six senators absent, the vote was rendered 48-37-9, and this technical minority vote led to him being wildly unpopular. He accused the Federalists who began small protests of being Rousseauist Restorationists, and had some imprisoned. He also cut down Army numbers to 56,000 troops, which led to several prominent officers from the Rousseauist Wars being retired. He passed another bill pushing a free trade policy with the Asterian Federation, and stated that the country should go into relative isolation, cutting off trade ties with Euclean powers. The result was his unpopularity rising, and on February 17th of 1860, the Senate failed to impeach him in a close 48-52 vote on his impeachment. He resented his own party supporters voting against him, and called them 'deceitful traitors to the party', in response to this fourteen New Democratic senators left the party and founded the Liberty Party, advocating full Roessan independence from Asteria, and the end to Asterian occupation. The result was that despite President Laurent supporting a prolonged occupation, the Federation willingly de-occupied Roeselle and only maintained a small force in the harbors of Liberty City.
President Laurent was furious, and he banned the Federalist Party and Liberty Party, essentially establishing a one party state. This resulted in him being condemned by the Asterian Federation which he purported to support, and so he resented what he perceived as their betrayal. He ended the free trade agreement with Asteria, and after the Senatorial elections in 1864, where only New Democrats approved by him got seats, he declared himself President-Protector of Roeselle, however, the Army stepped in and overthrew his regime, sentencing him and a few co-conspirators to death and setting in place new elections in 1865. The new elections led to a massive swing victory by the Federalist Party and the rise of the Liberty Party, with a 46 Federalist - 33 Liberty - 21 New Democrat government arising, and typically with the Federalists and Liberty Party creating a dominant coalition.
The first thing the coalition did was put Federalist Party head Justin Poulin in charge of the country as the new President, and his first act was to reform the constitution, throwing out several clauses that restricted the military, and giving the executive branch far less power after the last tirade on behalf of former president Laurent. This, however, also led to a clause banning the Rousseauist family from returning to Roeselle from being enforced, and so they returned to Victory City on October 7th of that year and by the next year founded the Imperial Party. With Executive powers now reduced, the two new major parties, the Liberty Party and Federalist party fought over social policy, with the Liberty party campaigning for prohibition and several conservative stances, and the Federalist party campaigning to bring back women's suffrage, re-institute the Federalist system from the era of Cyril Renaud, and expand the armed forces. The result was a landlock, with the New Democratic Party only occasionally siding with one side or the other, and with little more than a tax break on farmers in 1867, a small trade agreement with Asteria, and prohibition being allowed to be set in place by regional governments, nothing was accomplished.
In 1870, the Imperial Party ran a dirty campaign pointing out the lack in progress and gaining 23 seats, effectively replacing the New Democrats who fell down to four seats. With the Federalists retaining 37 seats and the Liberty Party rising to to 36, this new situation led to even more landlock, and the Imperial Party to call for a referendum on a return to Empire, which was rejected by the majority of the senate who instead appointed centrist economist Melvin Klien as President. Melvin turned out to be more conservative than anyone would have thought, and he helped push through a prohibition on alcohol in Roeselle, and vetoed a bill to reinstate women's suffrage. The Federalists were up in arms, and while the Imperial Party had until then refused to vote, it helped them override the President's veto, allowing women the right to vote in Roeselle once again. This action on behalf of the Imperial Party made it popular among the newly enfranchised women, and after another three years of landlock, a referendum was called. The Federalists decided to allow a national vote by a narrow margin, as they believed that the populace would simply knock it down and that it would allow them to gain votes from Pro-Imperial voting bases, however, the results came in on November 8th, and 53% of the population approved of the referendum, which only would allow for a constitutional monarchy. There was an effort to imply that technically they could not allow the referendum to be acted on, however, the Imperial Party demanded that the Federalists in dissent back down, and so they did. The result was the institution of the Third Roessan Republic under a Constitutional Monarchy.
The Imperial Party began compiling a list of relatives to Emperor, and the best option was quickly taken, nephew to Pierre Rousseau, Former Cavalry Officer in the Third Republic's Army, and Governor of Sud Pointe, a 36 year old man named Alain Florent Rousseau, whom immediately used his executive powers to enact the "Directive Impériale", which raised an army of 500,000, and formed a 50,000 man cavalry corps called the "Rédempteurs Corps" with a single goal; to secure the border with Asteria and shut down immigration from the country. They then began arming the Roessan-Asterian border and preparing for war if needed. In an measure passed in early 1871, the Army's size was raised to be 841,000 men strong, making it the largest standing Army ever raised in the New World until that point, and beating the old imperial record of 726,000. He then ordered the Grand Marshal to rally men along the Mariranan border. He asked President Melvin Klien to officially declare war on Marirana to allow Roeselle to reclaim it's imperial territories. President Klien stood by his supporters, who were anti-Imperial, and declined. Emperor Alain Rousseau responded in a speech calling President Klien "a coward, and a fool, unwilling to stand up for Roeselle's rightful place as the most powerful nation in the New World.", rhetoric which was growing in popularity with the young and the elderly, both reminisced in the once shining glory of the Empire, and were beginning to pick up on a very nationalistic line of rhetoric.
The Fall of the Third Roessan Republic
Despite this, President Klien managed to keep the Senate locked down vetoing several bills until April 19th, 1874, when the Emperor declared himself absolute monarch of the Roessan Empire, and sent in the Rédempteurs Corps, who now were a 70,000 man army of infantry and light cavalry, to arrest the President and disband the Senate, while the Imperial Party members simply walked out of the Senate building along with some Federalists, the Liberty party stayed, and the Senatoral guard refused to allow the Rédempteurs into the building. The result was a small skirmish called the "Battle for the Fate of Roeselle", and with over 45,000 of the Rédempteurs in the city up against the Senatoral guard of 1,500, the battle was quickly decided and the members of the Liberty Party, along with President Klien were hung for being traitors.
The Second Roessan Empire
(1874-1899)
With his newfound powers, and only a slight hit to his popularity from shutting down the Senate, on August 11th of 1874, he called for the Rousseauist system to be restored, ending prohibition and giving members of the former Imperial Party government positions. Rousseau also had the Rousseauist codes re-integrated, and lowered taxes on the poor while bringing back alcohol taxes and taxing other new drugs that had emerged on the markets as well as raising excise taxes.
The Roessan-Mariranan War
On November 1st, the Second Roessan Empire officially declared war on the Kingdom of Marirana, and sent an army of 440,000 into the country. The Battle of Poussez-Orient was the first on December 8th of 1874, and saw 310,000 Roessan Army forces engage the 270,000 man Mariranan Royal Army. The result was a defeat for the Mariranan forces and soon after the Roessan Army connected with the additional 130,000 men who had been en route before marching south to take Triomphe , they only faced light resistance as the Mariranan Royal Army had pulled back to the capital. The resisting militias were crushed and the Roessan Empire sent a letter to end the peace to the King of Mariranan on March 22nd of 1875, it demanded that Kingdom of Marirana cede Poussez-Orient and Triomphe, which were the two provinces in Marirana with a substantial Roessan population. Once this was done Alain moved the capital from Liberty City back to Victory City and rebuilt the Imperial Palace that his uncle had had built so long ago. In addition to this he ended the ban on Asterians entering Roeselle.
The Golden Imperial Era
With the war in Marirana over and a resounding victory to celebrate, an era of relative prosperity began in Roeselle, and Emperor Alain declared that all of his major reforms were complete. He named his son Pierre III Rousseau heir to the throne when he was at the age of 14. The economy grew as new trading systems and industry came to Roeselle, revolutionizing their way of living as factories flooded the west coast with jobs, and consumerism grew to new heights. On May 18th of 1879, Alain reduced the military 560,000 men and used the excess money to go into funds for companies to help make the Roessan Army state of the art. The results were impressive with the Mathis Gun being built by Jean Mathis, the Perrier Model 1881 Dropping Block Rifle, and the adoption of a new military uniform for the battlefield, which abandoned ceremonial design for practicality, the old uniform became the Dress Uniform, while the new one became the Battle Uniform which came in two colors, olive, or khaki.
These innovations changed the Roessan Armed forces and prepared them for the century to come. They were slowly phased in, and by the mid 1890s, they became the most commonplace uniform. However, Military innovations weren't the only things that originated from Roeselle, out of the swampy industrial city of Cayenne emerged the first electrically powered fan and first ceiling fan, invented by Philip Moreau, and the radio was invented in 1895 by Caesanan immigrant Lorenzo Rapallino. These among other innovations by Roessan engineers and scientists contributed much to the world. And during this time period the first skyscrapers were built in Victoria City, Liberty City, and New Constantine and companies began springing up across the country.
Realizing that the world was changing, in 1896, Emperor Alain Rousseau apologized to Asterian officials about previously having lined their border with troops and shut down immigration from Asteria. To mend the wound, he eliminated several tariffs that had been placed on Asteria during his reign. This opened up new trade opportunities between Asterian and Roessan companies, and both economies prospered from the measure. On May 29th of 1876, Rousseau re-established a constitutional monarchy, creating a Consul and House of Councilors based on the government of the Second Republic. The first elections were to be held on July 18th, with future elections being held on the traditional date of January 10th, and the result was a very mixed Consul and House, the now 58 consuls (two for each region) were divided, with 20 Imperial Party members, 18 Industrial Party members, 12 Federalist Party members and 8 New Democratic Party members. The House of Councilors reflected this as well as it had a near majority from the Imperial Party, but with similar representation from the other parties.
In 1898, the Wave of the Century began, with a large surge in the number of immigrants bound for the country, this led to the establishment of Freedom Island, which was a smile island situated outside of Victory City. In addition in 1899 an immigration quota was set on immigrants from Coius and Western Euclea limiting it to 500,000 Western Eucleans, and 290,000 people from Coius. These quotas would later be expanded to allow more immigrants in, but not before a massive change in Roeselle went underway.
On November 8th of 1899, Alain Rousseau, at age 64 died of an unknown condition, it is assumed to have been due to a severe case of sleep apnea as he passed away in his sleep without any signs of distress. However, the four year elections on all Consuls and Councillors was coming up on January 10th, and his son, Pierre III was seen as less capable than his father, so the Imperial party took a major hit along with the Industrial Party as populism began to grow out of the cities forming the Populist Party. The result was a resurgence of the Federalist Party which took 21 seats in the Consul, the Populists took 17 seats, the Imperial Party took 7 seats, the New Democratic Party took 7 seats as well, and the Industrial Party took six seats.
The Fourth Roessan Republic
(1899-
On March 19th, the Fourth Roessan Republic was proclaimed by the Roessan legislature, who amended the constitution and removed Pierre III from power, allowing him to retain his estate, but moving the capital back to Liberty City. The Republic saw an early surge in populism, and in an attempt to counter this Charles Florent of the conservative wing of the Federalist Party being made the interim President until the elections of 1904. All consul term limits were also extended to be five years, though councilors term limits remained four years in duration. On August 17th of 1899, a poll tax was put in place to ensure that only taxpaying citizens could vote, however, the intentions of the tax were likely to limit populists from participating in elections, as many were part of the working poor. Immigration quotas were eliminated on February 5th in 1900, however, this led to major demonstrations throughout the urban cities of Roeselle and calls for a referendum. The referendum was proposed in the consul, but the Federalist-Imperial-Industrialist coalition managed to prevent the bill from going through. While there were several minor riots, one in Liberty City, and one in Roussillon City, which was the largest city on the frontier, and throughout minor towns in the countryside, there was no major damage done, however, the message was received.
The Consul helped to reduce the angers of the populists by proposing a bill to provide subsidies to farmers throughout the country. This act, called the Farming Subsidies Act of 1903 would be passed, with some resistance on the 9th of July, 1903, and with its passage came economic recovery for rural farms. Its success was a major win for the Federalist party, which saw some growth in farming states, however, by 1904 the populist message was resonating once again, and in 1904 Max Barre of the Populist party had gained enough support to win the election, with him came a a majority Populist Consul, with 30 Populists, 21 Federalists, 5 New Democrats and two Industrialists.
The Populist Party kicked off its first year in power by repealing the poll tax and amending the constitution to ensure that no such bill could ever be legally enacted in the future. The Populist Party vowed to isolate Roeselle from foreign conflicts, and signed a Non-Agression Pact with Asteria on September 1st, 1904 during it's Civil War, the first of what would be many. The Populists also subsidized industries, starting a National Steel Corporation, along with a National Coal Mining Corporation. This trend would be continued for the rest of the Barre Administration. In 1906 a sub-faction of the Populist Party broke off, calling itself the Roessan National Socialist Worker's Front, and basing its movement on cancelling the non-agression pact to aid the CIS in it's war against Asteria in hopes of strengthening Roeselle's position in the Asterias.
Barre would win two elections before stepping down for re-election in 1914, that year the Federalist Party ran former Governor Michael Robin against Populist Consul Charlot Fleury, who died towards close to the end of the election. Now running against, less well known Populist Bureaucrat Jean Dumont, Robin won with a slim margin of 4,000 votes, outraging many rural farmers.
President Robin was very conservative, and showed this by reducing government spending overall, cutting down on subsidies programs, and severely reducing money bound for the several social programs implemented during the Barre administration. This along with economic stagnation and eventually economic disaster following the stock market crash that led to the :NotGreatDepression: led to many strikes and protests against his administration, and in 1919, the Radical Republican Party, which had only been founded a year prior due to Barre coming out of retirement to run again for President, splitting the vote with the Populists, but also managing to overpower the Federalist vote, which had been severely weakened by five years of unpopular administration. Now back in office Barre implemented a minimum wage and set in place an eight hour work day. This made the Radical Republican Party extremely popular, especially in poor and working class areas and soon they overtook the Populist Party.
After five years Barre went back into retirement, this time with more popular Christophe Renault running the top of the ticket. Christophe won handily, winning by a margin of 8%, and maintaining the Populist programs in place. During Renault's time in office, he implemented an income tax to help manage all of the government programs that now were in existence. During this time New Nationalism was on the rise, and while Renault was a proponent of this, he also spoke out against fringe extremists that existed within the Roessan National Socialist Worker's Front, which by now was able to compete in local elections, controlling the South Point Governorship. The Front National Ouvrier Socialiste Roessan (FNOSR), led by former General Charles Moreau, was a blend of far right and far left politics, advocating for a strong, highly centralized state, and for the reinstatement of the Roessan Empire under a new regime. However, the far right was split, with some opting into the Third Imperial Front, to restore the Empire a third time. This movement would gain steam because the heir to the throne Pierre V was a powerful orator, making speeches throughout the country in favor of restoring the empire. In time, the Third Imperial Front would overtake the FNOSR in membership, and as the Federalist Party was losing popularity, would eventually absorb members of the Federalist Party as well.
Christophe would run for a second term, winning 12% of the vote, and allowing the Radical Republicans to sweep the Consul which now consisted of with 36 Radical Republicans, 15 Imperial Restorationists, 5 Fascists and two Federalists. The rise of radical factions led to high ranking Federalist Party members breaking off and creating a purely centrist party known as the Liberal Party a party that was very popular in Northern Roeselle. As tensions were on the rise, and all three major parties amassed party militias to defend their ideologies. These tensions would reach a boiling point when during the hot summer of 1922, on July 28th, a member of the FNOSR, Marc Pommier assassinated the President of Roeselle during one of his speeches in Sud Pointe. The Consul responded by establishing the National Security Commission (NSC) and putting the National Gendarmerie under it's control. The Gendarmerie swelled in numbers as the crackdown on the Fascist militias ensued, and soon the country was heading towards a Civil War. Now President, Manuel Villette pushed for legislation that would ban the FNOSR, and on August 23rd the party was officially banned. This led to the Sud Pointe Conspiracy, where Governor, and head of the Fascist Front Charles Moreau declared that the government staged the assassination to crack down on his movement.
Charles Moreau was caught colluding with radical elements in his party's militia who were attempting to organize a rebellion by the NSC and was arrested, while the leader of the radical elements, Aubrey Bauer was executed by firing squad for high treason. There was an extensive highly publicized trial on Charles Moreau, which ended with him receiving a life sentence in prison. The entire ordeal negatively impacted all involved parties, and by the next election the Liberal Party managed to win over people who formerly identified as Federalists. The result was the election of the Liberal Party in 1924 with Jacques Fournier winning a decisive victory winning 5 points more than the Radical Republicans. The Consul, while still not under their control looked considerably different, with 19 Liberals, 22 Radical Republicans, 16 Imperial Restorationists, and 1 Federalist being elected.
Jacques Fournier was a fairly well respected figure, being a former Captain in the Coast Guard and the Governor of the Red Coast. He made clear that he did not plan to crack down on workers rights in his address to the nation after he was formally confirmed as the President of the Republic, however, he vowed to ensure that wasted money that was disappearing in the extensive bureaucratic bodies would be re-allocated to other areas. He also worked to cut spending and organize the budget in a more efficient manner. By now the country had incurred massive debts to pull itself out of the depression, and he also eliminated the Central Bank, restricting authority to print and manage monetary policy to the Department of the Treasury.
During his term he also worked to improve national relations with the remaining native tribal population by establishing a National Native Reserve in Akakaze, and while he didn't push to remove the ban on the FNOSR, he reduced the crackdown on its former members to help lessen tensions in the country.
Modern History
Geography
Municipal Governments
Climate
Largest Cities
| Ranking | Name | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | New Constantine | 2,776,138 (including Greater New Constantine 13,473,670) |
| 2. | Victoria City | 1,613,211 |
| 3. | Augustin City | 1,325,090 |
| 4. | Liberty City | 1,109,104 |
| 5. | Havreville | 957,800 |
| 6. | Charlesville | 903,100 |
| 7. | Biscayne City | 710,600 |
| 8. | Kébec City | 556,400 |
| 9. | Fourcès | 524,300 |
| 10. | Roussillon City | 512,407 |
| 11. | Cayenne | 452,800 |
| 12. | Neuquén | 400,600 |
| 13. | Solairville | 397,200 |
| 14. | Croix City | 342,400 |
| 15. | Lanester | 328,980 |
| 16. | Chaumont | 310,200 |
| 17. | Frontignan | 265,249 |
| 18. | Vernon | 230,810 |
| 19. | Alençon | 212,152 |
| 20. | Sommes | 182,631 |
| 21. | Waterville | 171,200 |
Politics
For a list of political parties, see this page: Political Parties in Roeselle
Government
Foreign Relations and Military
Roessan Federal Armed Forces
For more information follow link: Roessan Federal Armed Forces