The Hanseatic Civil War
| The Hanseatic Civil War | |||||||
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| Part of Hanseatic Empire | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Hanseatic Empire | Andersonian Hansa | ||||||
The Hanseatic Revolution Was a period of civil unrest and political instability between the traditional Hanseatic Empire, and the liberal Andersonians (liberal faction in Hansa). The war was fought in several phases from 1831-1855. It started with the death of James III in 1835 and culminated in the Taunsburg convetion of 1845. It causes are generally agreed to be a combination of social, political and economic facors which would test the might of the Hanseatic Empire.
Backround/Causes
The Revolution resulted from multiple factors culminating with a clash of enlightenment ideals and the shifting ideology of the Doore dynasty. In the late 1700s monarch Raymond II, founder of the Doore dynasty, ruled as a liberal modern ruler, embracing the ideals of the Hanseatic enlightenment. However, his main ideals now called the Manzanarek Laws were deemed too radical by the senate and upon Raymonds death in 1805 they were cast aside, though a group of senators held on to these laws and would keep trying to pass them.
Raymonds sucessor John VII was much more conservative and worried about the reforms that Raymond passed. John did everything he could to dimish the power of the senate and consolidated the power back to the royal family. Despite this he kept a few key reforms and turned Hansa into an industrial power. However he frequently fought with Hanseatic corporations and kept the government heavily involved in corporate affairs.
Since the end of the Second Trans Meridian War, Hansas national debt was rising but the economy overall remained good. However the Wurgellian strikes and rebellion throughout the 1810s caused a large recession in the economy, however John VIII used his authoritatrian powers to stop the worst effects of the recession. However John died in 1816 leaving his son Robert in charge.
Senate Crisis of 1817
Robert III quickly proved unable to keep corporate interests out of the senate and Hansa was effectivley turned into a plutocracy. The royal family was rapidly losing control as the senate was essentially being bought out by the corporations that ruled the colonies. This culminated in the Second Tussian War of Independence (1818-1820) in which Hansa rapidly put down the Meridian company. However for the common folk, all this did was rapidly raise taxes and prices while the elite pocketed the money. Eventually the senate issued the banking act of 1819 which privatised the national bank. In response to this Robert III took out all of the royal families funds into his own new bank which utterly tanked the economy.
Meanwhile in the senate two distinct groups started to rise. One group represented the interests of the corporations of Hansa (including the shadowy HHC), the leader and present of the senate as of 1820 was Edward Stately, (the Stately family owned the Meridian Company). From 1816-1820 Stately was essentially the leader of Hansa having straight up ignored Roberts orders. Throughout the end of the 1810s the senate and royal family clashed so much that an elaborate scheme of laws were put in place to prevent the other party from doing anything. (This was a cycle that was a bureaucratic disaster). Since he was the monarch Robert III was blamed for every problem that the senate had been causing which resulted in his mysterious death in December 1820.
James III
Prior to his ascension James III (the nephew of Raymond II) James had gotten himself involved with the arts and cared more for art then ruling the nation. This translated into his rule where at the start, James cared more for painting and partying then fixing the crisis at hand. However at first he still ruled himself. During the first portion of his rule (1820-1823) James made amends with the senate and befriended Edward Stately. Through this friendship, James was able to work with the senate to restore the financial crisis. He also allowed the colonies an even greater sense of autonomy (which would later be taken advantage of by the Tussians).
By 1823, the state of the nation was in recovery, the bank had been restored (under join royal and senate control) and relations between the monarchy were returning. However in early 1824 James' wife died in childbirth leaving James in a fragile state. (Prior to this James struggled with mental health issues and addiction). The death of his wife started the deterioration of senate relations and James became paranoid.
Throughout the mid 1820s James routinely stole money from the national bank and hosted large elaborate parties, funding a variety of new arts academies^1. However he started a trend of doing actual governance to the senate.Though the senate was initially united, James III inadvertently started a rift in the senate from his spending habits. By 1826 the new financial crisis became apparent to the common folk when the senate approved of record tax raises on grain.
Throughout the summer of 1826 there was a bad harvest causing what would normally be a minor famine negated by price cuts of grain. However, prices were increased, culminating in the Murresburg massacre in which the local armory was raided for food. Rather then stop this, James III continued to host elaborate parties and fell further into addiction. Though the crisis worsened over the winter and spring, James did nothing about it and succumbed to liver failure in March 1827. He died without children or close relatives.
Sucession Crisis of 1827
Shortly after the death of James III a crisis emerged. Due to the fact James had no legitimate children, Hanseatic law required it went to a cousin or next closest family member, however he had no family members. To prevent a struggle, the senate took over temporary executive powers led by Edward Stately. Stately was chosen due to his friendship with the Doore dynasty and his pragmaticism. His term as temporary president was then signed by the senate to last until 1830 or until a new executive could be found. However, there was no effort to find one as the senate had made the executive essentially a figurehead. However the people of Hansa wanted a leader and a movement to convert it into an elected position quickly started, led by senator from Tollerland Dutch Anderson.
Over the period from 1827-1830, there were more and more protests about the presidency and a raid on the former royal palace happened on October 7th 1829.
Notes
1: Though this was nice, spending all your money on the arts during a financial crisis is not smart.