Royal Confederate Army
| Royal Confederate Army | |
|---|---|
| Karaļa Konfederācijas Armija | |
 Insignia of the RCA | |
| Founded | 4 September 1843 |
| Disbanded | 16 June 1954 |
| Service branches | RCA Land Forces RCA Aerial Corps |
| Headquarters | Taurach |
| Leadership | |
| Archon of Kolodoria | Raido Puhvel (last) |
| Senior Defense Committee Member | Zāmuels Miķelsons (last) |
| Senior Commander of the General Staff | Bernārs Vītiņš (last) |
| Personnel | |
| Military age | 18–45 |
| Conscription | Yes, during wartime |
| Active personnel | 4,000,000 (1942) 350,000 (1954) |
| Industry | |
| Foreign suppliers |  Hallia  Federated Fire Territories |
| Related articles | |
| History | Northern War |
The Royal Confederate Army was the air and ground forces of the Confederation of Kolodoria from 1843 to 1954, when it was dissolved and replaced by the Kolodorian People's Defense Forces.
Foundation
Legally speaking, the Kolodorian Confederation had no military. The Treaty of Taurach stated that each State was responsible for providing for the common defense of the Confederation, but no actual organization was founded to serve as the combined military forces of Kolodoria. The Defense Committee of the High Council oversaw national defense and related matters, but until the reforms of 1927 it held little sway over military affairs, which were largely left to the States themselves. In 1927 a series of reforms allowed for the creation of a General Staff and centralized military command, which in effect combined the existing armies of the Kolodorian States into a single organization under the authority of the High Council, but not official "Kolodorian Army" was established. Despite not officially existing, the Kolodorian armies effectively operated as one, maintaining it's own rank structure, developing it's own doctrine, and organizing a system of recruitment, training, and deployment.
The term "Royal Confederate Army" was not used by contemporary officials and was invented by historians following the Kolodorian Constitutional Crisis of 2005. The "Royal" designation was added to indicate the origin of many RCA units as the royal guards of Kolodoria's many historical kingdoms.
History
Although founded in 1843, the RCA did not exist as a singular organization until 1927 when a series of reforms centralized power within Kolodoria and allowed for the creation of a centralized military authority that would become the General Staff. In 1930 the RCA was organized into three military districts, North, South, and West, with a field army of four divisions each assigned to each district. The RCA's total size amounted to 300,000 men under arms. Equipment was lacking and supplied largely by Kolodoria's fledgling armaments industry, which produced only a few small arms and artillery pieces. Aircraft were in short supply, and armored vehicles consisted of a handful of domestic designs.
Prior to 1927 the only experience the RCA had was against each other, with the 1888 Radstadt War being the only major action before the outbreak of the Northern War. Minor border skirmishes in the 1930s prompted concerns regarding the stability of northern Vinya, which was answered by enlisting an additional 50,000 troops in 1937. Negotiations with the Federated Fire Territories and Halloa resulted in purchases of armored vehicle designs for the RCA, but these were still developing when the Northern War unfolded in 1940. The RCA began the war severely outnumbered, but benefited from a well educated officer corps and a refined logistical system. Early Letnian invasion efforts were repulsed within three months, after which the RCA invaded Letnia and Cherniya itself. Four years of intense combat depleted Kolodoria's ability to finance and wage the war, resulting in the destruction of much of the RCA's field armies in 1944. The RCA was expelled from Letnian territory that year, and Kolodoria surrendered not long after.
The heavy cost of the war saw much of the funding of the RCA cut, resulting in the force shrinking from 2 million to just 300,000 by 1947. Growing unrest in Kolodoria further undermined the RCA as Communist militia's began organizing, many of them composed of former members of the RCA. With much of it's leadership concentrated in Bessarabia, the RCA was dealt a crippling blow when the State government was overthrown in 1954, marking the Kolodorian Revolution. The southern States mobilized what was left of the RCA to quell the revolution, but poor planning and motivation meant the RCA was barely able to contest the communists, and after a few brief engagements the RCA collapsed. It was later dissolved and replaced with the Kolodorian People's Defense Forces.
Organization and Composition
Although decreed a volunteer force in 1927, the RCA made regular use of conscription to fill it's ranks. At the top of the organization was the General Staff, who subordinated specific tasks, such as operations planning, logistics, and training, to departments. Chief departments were the Operations Department, Logistics Department, Recruitment and Training Department,and the Procurement and Production Department. The RCA consisted of two main branches, the Ground Forces and the Aerial Corps, although both were ultimately subordinate to the RCA General Staff. The ground forces at their peak were organized into 12 armies of 75 divisions total.