Fall of Wrythe

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The Fall of Wrythe was the pre-planned surrender of the capital of the Empire of Austenasia on 19 December 2010 to Midget Fuhrer Thomas by the then Crown Prince Jonathan in the face of a possible attack by the Midget Army. Ending the orchestrated War of the Orlian Reunification, the Fall of Wrythe resulted in Declan I, II & V becoming joint Emperor of Austenasia. For a year after the event, the Crown Prince and residents of Wrythe had concealed the fact that the surrender had been pre-planned, and claimed that Wrythe had been forcibly taken by Thomas.

Background

On 8 December 2010, Emperor Esmond III privately informed Crown Prince Jonathan that he wished to work towards transforming Austenasia into a "communist dictatorship". To prevent this, Crown Prince Jonathan put into effect an emergency contingency plan for the removal of Esmond III from power, by abdicating from the position of Lord Regent of the Grove, eventually resulting in the War of the Orlian Reunification. By 16 December 2010, the Empire of Austenasia (and, symbolically, the ceremonial nation of Rushymia) was in a state of war with the Tsardom of Orly and Midget Nation-in-Exile, the two latter of which were both led by Declan I, II & V, the intended replacement for Esmond III.

Surrender

On 19 December, Midget Fuhrer Thomas - local leader of the Midget Nation under Declan I - had planned with the Crown Prince to invade Wrythe and so appear to force the government to appoint Declan I joint Emperor. It was then thought that Esmond III could be persuaded to abdicate, or at least would have a "counterweight" of sorts to stop him from abusing his power. However, due to illness, Midget Fuhrer Thomas was not able to organise an attack.

Due to the high chance of the Midget Fuhrer being unavailable for the next few days, and the growing need to end the war as soon as possible due to the damaging effect that it was having on the international reputation of the Empire, Crown Prince Jonathan decided to go ahead with the proclamation of a joint Monarch, and surrendered Wrythe to the threat of a Midget attack at 15:59. At 16:15, supposedly by order of the Midget Fuhrer, the Crown Prince passed an Act of Parliament ascending Declan I to the office of Monarch, to be shared with Esmond III. This was then signed by himself, Princess Caroline and Vicereine Margaret, who as three appointed Counsellors of State under the state of emergency Austenasia was in at the time thereby entered it into law.

Aftermath

The Crown Prince, concerned that the numerous supporters of Esmond III in the Austenasian Army would start another civil war if they knew that he had collaborated with Declan I to put him on the Throne, decided that it would be best if all outside Wrythe were not made aware of the true story. For the following year, the official version of events was that Midget Fuhrer Thomas had invaded and forced the Austenasian government to surrender and make Declan I joint Monarch.

This was the story which the Crown Prince gave to Zephyria, the Austenasian Army, and the international community. Lord Marshal William criticised the Crown Prince's handling of the situation, noting that Wrythe was easily defended but not appearing to express any doubt over the truth of the story given. Esmond III was furious that Declan I had been appointed joint Emperor with him, and declared live over Skype in the Micropolitan Lounge that he was making himself premier of a communist Austenasia, but was persuaded by Crown Prince Jonathan and Lord Marshal William to retract his declaration, and accepted that any change to the Constitution would need the overt consent of the population. Despite an attempted coup the following month, Esmond III was not removed from power until March, and stayed titular Monarch until September - however, he was unable to abuse the powers of the Throne to any great extent due to it also being held by Declan I.

December Confession

On 19 December 2011, four days before the December 2011 Austenasian General Election, Crown Prince Jonathan publicly released a confession revealing his deception to the Empire and the international community.

International response

  • Reylan Imperial Triumvirate: Taeglan I Nihilus stated that Crown Prince Jonathan's actions had been done "for the good of Austenasia, and it's [sic] micronational allies and friends", but said that it "does raise questions" about the joint monarchy and the Crown Prince's position.
  • Pristinia: Sebastian Linden said "I don't see anything wrong with what [the Crown Prince] did."
  • Republic of Ultamiya: President David said to the Crown Prince "I'm duly impressed. Your double agentry pretty much saved Austenasia. I salute you."
  • Community of Landashir: James von Puchow stated that "The confession demonstrates transparency, which is worthy of my applause. But we must consider the state of Austenasia's monarchy. In my opinion, it is too complex and so widely dispersed, that what the Monarch does is no longer a single-state issue" ... "Frankly, measures must be in place to stop this from happening again."
  • Republic of Secundomia: Parker I commented that the way in which the Crown Prince "was able to manipulate all the forces involved to the ultimate deposition of Esmond" was "impressive", "complicated" and "brilliant".
  • St. Peters Republic: Richard Cunningham said that Crown Prince Jonathan had done "the right thing", and that the deception involved had been "necessary for the nation, and that, my friends, is the most important thing of all. Austenasia has become quite the role model nation for us, with the levels of formality, working politics and interesting events."
  • Freihetia: Markus II stated that what Crown Prince Jonathan "did was absolutely right, and... probably saved... [the] country from a major setback".
  • Domanglian Federation: Darkovar I said that "the War of the Orlian Reunification was secretly a plan to knock Esmond off the throne. Like the Clone Wars in Star Wars", and stated the Crown Prince "[reminded him] of Palpatine."
  • Burkland: Matthew Burklandssen said that the Confession showed "a high level of transparency", but that he "would have never done the same."
  • Harleck: Phillip Stone, former Prime Minister of Harleck, called the Crown Prince's plan a "clever stunt, bringing excitement into the world of micronationalism."