Plenipotentiary Wars

*"Those who talk in maxims of patriotism about the nobility of the Verenigde Cause for independence should remember that the republic was built off the back of a generous misunderstanding."*

-Dowager countess of the 12th rank Diao Chen.

The plenipotentiary wars, also known as the eighty years war, or the war of unification, was a period of eighty years of conflict that is colloquially acknowledged to have resolved itself with the unification of the different kingdoms and states of Verenigde in to the Verenigde Republic under Stadtholder Johann I, even though no formal peace treaty was ever signed with Volkonskia.

The conflict also ended, for many states, the investiture of plenipotentiary powers to diplomats.

## Context

By 10,330 The kingdom of Arnset, at this point one of the wealthiest of the states on the continent, had begun to feel the weight of its influence severely deteriorate diplomatic relations with the neighbouring states of the Verenigde isles. Suspicious of Arnset power, minor renegotiations of trade treaties, and small diplomatic incidents were increasingly perceived by those (especially the royal house of Arminius, and the high council of Merciae) as precursors to imperial ambitions.

In 10, 333 a series of diplomatic communiques carried by the plenipotentiary longborne diplomat of IIvan III of Volkonskia, Lavrentii Kuragin were discovered by members of the diplomatic household, somehow making their way to the high council of Merciae. Now known as the beeldenstorm papers , named after the traditional estate housing the Volkonskian embassy, the documents detailed plans for a planned invasion of the Verenigde isles, by inciting conflict between the lesser kingdoms and Arnset.

By 10,335, and with repeated requests that the Beeldenstorm papers be returned ignored, Lavrentii Kuragin issued a unilateral declaration of war on Merciae (disputedly without the consent of, and notification to the reigning royal house of Bezukhov of Volkonskia). In 10,337 Returning to the outer fringes of the burgeoning Volkonsk Empire, and utilising his plenipotentiary seal, Kuragin recruited a force of some 6000 men (some Arnset estimates placing this number as high as 11,000), began a march towards Merciae.

A meeting between the various leaders of the Five states of the Verenigde isle was tabled for 10,337, although it is likely that this meeting did not occur until early the following year. This meeting, resulting in a broad military alliance, and a number of marriages of alliance formed the basis for a collective defence treaty which would eventually evolve in to the Verenigde Republic.

## Result

In 10,343 Crossing the channel utilising a sea splitting spell, Kuragin's forces made land and laid siege to several towns, along the Lentia coast, eventually sieging the capital city of Tromse. Following the fall of Lidan in 10,350, both Merciae and Lentia was de-facto under the control of Kuragin's forces. Stopping short of pushing further west in the Arneset, Kuragin's forces began entrenching themselves, and installing a puppet government, Kuragin would successfully occupying the territory for the next 50 years, nominally under the name of the Volkonsk Empire.

Letters from the period from IIvan III to Kuragin reputedly stated:

*"Having Undertaken this ridiculous action without my consent, I am now faced with the difficult position that you have made some reasonable success of it. The compromise made at court has therefore been to suspend you from any merit, but also any sanctions for your work."*

A turning of fortunes began in the summer of 10,401 when a series of bad harvests forced Kuragin to withdraw forces from the rioting capital of Lidan, and by default, Merciae. In the following years, Johann I of Arneset, also known as Johann the silent, led an allied force, retook key strategic positions surrounding Lentia. Following the 27 year siege of Tromse, Kuragin would surrender by 10,428.

With the tide now turning in favour of unification, Johann I would deliver his famous Lidan speeches in 10,429, proclaiming the founding of the republic, and, much more quietly, the pardoning of Kuragin.

## Controversy

* There is some question as the authenticity of the Beeldenstorm papers, with the imperial house of Volkonskia denying the existence of such a diplomatic communiques being sent to Lavrentii Kuragin, claiming that Kuragin had been acting as a "rogue agent working on behalf of Arnset".