Annexation of the Shadevan
In the year 2589, Grand Duke Stalcast Bijäl of Aurice annexed the Shadevan Provinces from the newly created Republic of Ithatia by decree. The Shadevan War with Ithatia ensued. Aurice won the conflict and the Shadevan Delta was made a new over-province in the Aurician Empire.
Historical Background
The Treaty of Tauhad (2576), which finalized the end of the Great Sky War, promised that the newly created Republic of Ithatia would have the right to rule the Shadevan Delta, but only if the human princes of the land agreed to be united to the Republic. A provisional government with representatives from the constituent municipalities was formed in Baspenot in 2577. Factions arose in municipalities and communities of the Delta, some wishing for unification with Ithatia and others for independence. The provisional government could not decide on unification and refused to give representatives of the Ithatian Republic a definitive answer. By 2583, a state of internal discord had arisen with two governments asking for recognition. In 2584, the navy of the Republic of Ithatia began to occupy the coastal towns of those Shadevan Deltans seeking independence. The Grand-Duchy of Aurice demanded that the Republic of Ithatia vacate the waters of the Delta, but the Ithatians refused. Both Aurice and Ithatia employed agents in the Shadevan Delta to support factions favorable to their cause, Aurice for independence and Ithatia for unification. The Empire of Pytharnia supported unification, while Asbardy and Aurice supported independence. By 2587, the Shadevan Delta was in effect divided into two countries with Baspenot as the capital of the unification faction and Lygdania as the capital of the independence faction. Aurice demanded the right of passage to its Agogian Provinces to the north of the Delta and escorted her merchants and navy through the waters of the Delta. Historians say that Aurice intentionally chose places of conflict with the unionists in order to have opportunity to apply military force[1].
In 2589, the Grand Duke of Aurice issued the annexation decree.[2] The decree was worded to make Aurice appear to be protecting the independence of the Shadevan Delta against the aggressions of Ithatia and promising the Shadevan Deltans an independent and self-determining form of government. The Republic of Ithatia immediately declared war on Aurice. The Shadevan War, 2589 to 2591, saw swift defeat for Ithatian naval forces in the Delta and the east Pallathantic Sea. The Republic of Ithatia sued for peace in 2591 to forestall any loss of its territory to the much more powerful navy and skyforce of Aurice. Aurice soon installed a governor and enabled the Shadevan Deltans to form a parliament to govern the new over-province of the Shadevan Delta. The appointed governor chose Kuméikë for his palace and the parliament followed suit and chose to sit in the same city as the over-provincial governor. Aurice's territorial and imperial ambitions in the Delta had been accomplished.
Consequences of the Annexation
The centaurs of Streionia found themselves surrounded on both west and the not so distant east by arms of the same expansive empire. Their former allies, Thrace and Ithatia, had waned as Aurice waxed. Pytharnia, Dúrandwor, and Medibgö were not openly able to form an alliance with Streionia without the risk of appearing sympathetic to the uhlaks and centaur hordes of Eloaria.
The Arch-Duke Asbardy stridently criticized the annexation, but the Grand Duke of Aurice had shrewdly calculated the unwillingness of other princes to go to war against him in behalf of Ithatia. The Grand Duke promised and gave the Shadevan its own parliament for internal matters, subject to his governor. Aurice effectively eliminated agents of the Republic of Ithatia.
The Empire of Magdala and the Kingdom of Dúrandwor sought closer ties with the Republic of Ithatia in opposition to the great power of Aurice. Only Dúrandwor had any sizeable navy.
Aurice used the islands to secure her military hold on her prized Agogian Provinces.
Notes
See Also
- Cession of Cisalpine Agogia, (2576)
- Shadevan Delta
- Shadevan War 2589 to 2591
- Treaty of Tauhad (2576)