A'Mi Civil War

The A'Mi Civil War was a 6 year long internal conflict within the United A'Mi Duchies. The conflict began with the expelling of the duke of Co'La'Vo from the high council chamber. While it is often the case now that disruptive or disorderly dukes will be suspended from the council for a specified period this was only really established after the civil war had ended and the government had reinforced its position as the supreme governing body over all dukes of the United Duchies.

520

In the autumn of 520, after the duke of Co'La'Vo had returned bitterly to his capital, the dukes of two other duchies, Vi'Vi'Am and Va'Von left the council chamber in protest. After the archduke sought measures in early winter for the removal of the duke of Co'La'Vo from office, a hastily drafted document detailing the illegitimacy of Archduke Van'Am was sent to every major city in the nation. By numbers, the rebels knew from the outset that they could only win by raising their troops long before the government had a chance to organise a response and immediately march on the capital to seek the Archduke's removal. This plan would soon come under difficulties.

521

Government sympathisers agitated trouble in Vi'E'To and A'Va'A'To, causing a slower coordination of troops by the southern dukes. They continued on with their plan of marching up the easthome valley to Ti'To where they could hope to suppress any resistance from the smaller, more government supporting duchies that constituted the rest of the mainland. By early spring however, luck seemed to favour the southern dukes. The duke of In'Uv'An unexpectedly changed allegiances giving the rebels control of the entire Westhome valley, leaving the country split roughly 50/50. By late spring minor skirmishes were beginning to break out across the Valley Hills though the majority of the fighting was yet to come. Summer and autumn consisted of the marching of the now assembled southern army up through the Easthome valley, forcibly capturing settlements and castles as they went.

522

The winter of 521-522 consisted of the continued capture of more government land in Mi'Na'A. Issues like the sacking of some Easthome villages cemented the alliances with no duchies switching sides until much later in the war. The Mi'Na'A local force was branded as weak for holding back until reinforcements from the remaining government supporters on the mainland. By autumn the opposing mainland armies had assembled outside the town of Do'Dan'As. The resulting battle of Do'Dan'As was one of the deadliest battles of the war and left the rebel side gravely weakend and the government forces destroyed.

523

After resting for many months to recover their strength, the rebel army was finally moving northward again in late spring of 523. Despite their still weakened state they faced no large scale resistance, captured the city of Ma'Ma'Ki and imprisoned the duke of Mi'Na'A. By the end of summer the had corralled the remaining forces of Westhome valley within the walls of Ti'To. The defenders desperately waited for a fleet of Pale Islanders to reinforce their position. With the seige of Ti'To underway, the rebellion was at its greatest extent, all but a few pockets of resistance were under the military control of the southern dukes, with interim administrations replacing the less cooperative of government supporters.

524

In the spring and summer of 524 it became clear that rebel progress had stalled. Small resistance groups were intercepting messages for the government on Pale Island, as well as disrupting supply chains and instigating riots. The government control of Black Island had meant that the supply of shadowsteel weapons was completely dried up, with more being lost every day. Due to the homing nature of shadowsteel blades, it was all but guarenteed that these lost weapons were ending up in government hands. This is not to mention the disadvantage that the rebels had when it came to both magical and naval warfare, as what the government lacked in men they made up for in mages and ships.

525

Rebel composure had firmly begun to slip. A lack of resolution to this seemingly endless war had made many, even rebel supporters weary. More and more flocked to the banner of the resistance and many more simply refused to pay further war taxes. Talk amongst the seige camp outside Ti'To, which had long since ground to a stalemate, was that it had all been a mistake and that this rebellion was a ridiculous idea. The rebel's strong leadership was also dealt a blow due to the death of the duke of Co'La'Vo, whose expulsion had led to the rebellion in the first place. Naval inferiority meant that the rebels were also unable to prevent the shipping of supplies to Ti'To, and the higher ups knew a retribution party was on its way.

526

During the spring of 526, 3 major events occured within the course of a week. Firstly, a disease outbreak swept through the besieging camp outside Ti'To, crippling their battle readyness. Then, the Duke of Vi'Vi'Am, who had been leading the siege, died, most likely through assassination. Finally, during the most opportune moment, the relief army from Pale Island landed near Ti'To and almost completely destroyed the ineffectual besiegers. The routed army was quickly crushed in follow up battles, and the Pale Island force found little resistance as it marched back through the duchies that had been seized in the original conquest. With no possible resistance left, and the rebellion itself being on the brink of reactionary revolt, the dukes capitulated in the summer of 526.

The Conflict

Prelude

For decades the seat of council power had been firmly clutched in the hands of the southern duchies, particularly Co'La'Vo and Vi'Vi'Am. Whenever the position of Archduke was given to one of the duchies of pale island, the archduke faced one of three choices: become a puppet for the southern dukes, be deposed or face complete constitutional and governmental shutdown. Many capitulated, one did not. Archduke Van'Am had originally sought to wield his power in a sensible manner, but after being verbally assaulted in the council chamber the usually kind and respectful man did something no-one expected. He expelled the agitating duke from the chamber. But alas, this did not solve his issues completely as the sense of entitlement accrued by the southern dukes had grown to such an extent that the two aforemention duchies joined two others in attempting to rule the Archduke as the illegitimate duke of his duchy and so, began the A'Mi civil war.

Historical Significance

Legacy

The civil war had taken a fat, corrupt, unequal association of multiple duchies and had burned away all but the resistant core. It the fires of conflict had transformed the state into a much more unitary one, and never again would the judgement of the Archduke be disregarded so brazenly as in the prelude to the war.

Conflict Type

War

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

520

Ending Date

526

Belligerents

Government Forces

Strength

Casualties

Objectives

Defeat the rebels and reinforce the rule of law.