Crisis of Phocaea

The Crisis of Phocaea is a major event in the history of multiple nations and marks the end of the nation the Realm of Phocaea.
== Phocaean Crisis ==
In 25 VE,
Formation of Realms of Phocaea, Cheesegorod refuses to join
The crisis began to draw to a head after Marengard's secession from Anrolya and subsequent joining of the Realms of Phocaea. The Council of the Vrijsted Confederation held an assembly at the Marengard Citadel in 26 VE, where Ellie proposed that the Realms join the Kingdom of Maecenia, the colossal state in northern Tiberia ruled by her father. Suvorov took this as a threat to Cheesegorodian sovereignty, and the discussion quickly became heated. As the argument escalated, Suvorov threatened to withdraw entirely from the Vrijsteden, while Ellie's bodyguards began to make threatening moves towards him. Suddenly, the great creaking doors of the Citadel were thrown open, and the grey-haired Mairon of Corigan, whom everyone had thought dead, appeared surrounded by a small band of loyalists, decrying Ellie as an imposter and revealing her deceptions. He had been forced into hiding in Anrolya by a series of riots and assassination attempts, and Ellie had stirred up the violence in Corigan before usurping the throne herself.
Infuriated at scale of the deception pulled over the Vrijsteden, Suvorov made an impassioned speech, today known as the Speech on the Steps, before the gathered crowd on the steps of the gargantuan Citadel. In it, he called the Realms of Phocaea an illegitimate state with no right to exist, criticized those who had spearheaded its founding, and demanded Ellie's arrest. Mairon announced that Corigan was no longer a member of any Realms, to which Xaeron readily assented. Ellie insisted that Mairon had legitimately signed over Corigan to her and designated her as his heir, and attempted to coerce Salmancer IV of Marengard into siding with her, threatening to have her father King Yasujirō attack Marengard. A physical fight nearly broke out between the Maecenian guards, Suvorov and the Corigan and Marengard forces, until a figure in Mairon's retinue revealed himself as Vozhd Michail of Vladistan, brother to Yasujirō of Maecenia and Ellie's uncle. He denied that Ellie's actions had had any official backing, and claimed she had gone rogue in an attempt to make a name for herself. Ellie attempted to flee, but was quickly apprehended by Mairon's guards and taken into captivity in Corigan.
The assembly dispersed, although not before Michail delivered an ultimatum to Marengard on behalf of Vladistan's Anrolyan vassals in the Anrolya-Marengard Cold War, threatening action by Vladistan against the Confederation if they did not resolve their dispute with Anrolya. The Treaty of Marengard was signed two years after this.
=== Treaty of Marengard ===
Salmancer IV died shortly after the Speech on the Steps, being succeeded by his more cooperative son Valencen III. Despite this, negotiations between Marengard and Anrolya still went extremely poorly, leading to another crisis in Vrijstedian leadership in Summer 27 VE when it was revealed the Cold War was on the verge of going hot any day and hardly any progress had been made in negotiations. Suvorov, terrified by the prospect of war, leaped into action, coordinating frantic discussions between both Emperor Garlic of Anrolya and Valencen, and drafting up the Treaty of Marengard in a single night to meet both of their needs. He succeeded in having the Treaty officially ratified in Summer 27 VE by the Vrijsteden, Marengard, and Anrolya. The treaty stipulated the terms of the Kingdom's disbandment, Valencen's abdication, and Marengard's annexation back into Anrólýa. Additionally, it established a non-aggression pact between the Confederation and Anrólýa.
The Kingdom of Marengard was disbanded in 28 VE as required by the Treaty, and succeeded by the Anrolya Imperium. There was significant controversy and debate over whether the terms of the Treaty of Marengard were correctly followed by Anrolya, as shortly after the annexation Emperor Garlic exiled Valencen from Marengard for alleged aggression against another noble; Valencen raised an outcry in the Confederation over this, claiming this was politically motivated and a violation of the Treaty. However, the Confederational government, despite much sympathy towards Valencen's position in the populace, chose not to press the issue. This was largely through the influence of Suvorov, who believed maintaining the hard-won NAP with Anrólýa was more important than justice for Valencen (since he believed arguing that the Treaty's terms had not been fulfilled might prompt Anrólýa to consider the NAP as illegitimate as well, and reopen the possibility of war).
Category:Abexilas