Donat/Rutherish Invasion of Donat

The **Rutherish Invasion of Donat** (Donatese: Ужначка агресија на донатске земље/*Uzhnachka agresiya na donatske zemlye* - translated as the *Rutherish aggression on the Donatese countries*) was a period of constant Rutherish-Donatese war in the 17th century.

## Background

The colonial trade of the Samudric was becoming more and more important in the 17th century, especially to the colonial power of Kruhasta. Kruhastan merchants had been trading with the southern realms of Donat up to that point and were the only way outside intel could pass to Donat. Kruhasta soon prioritized its colonial ventures into Kanita over trade with Donat, which led to decreased trade between Donat and Kruhasta. This stunted the technological growth of Donat, whose realms were pressured into being self-reliant. In an attempt to seize more local resources, merchants from the Republic of Pesaonik in the north of Donat sponsored the creation of new merchant republics on the islands of Beli Zem and Modrina. These republics would exploit the highlands and waters of the Rusin Isles for resources. This era was marked by the first major exodus of Donatians to the isles.

Due to the Rutherland's aspirations for conquest in Northern Ripiero, many realms in Donat feared the threat of a possible invasion. Because of this, many monarchs attempted to introduce isolationist policies that would prevent foreigners from crossing into Donat.

### Pokoskan-Princely War of Brotherhood

By the start of the 15th century, the Common Crown of Upper Karlovska, which was created by the truce agreement of 1372, had been subject to various instabilities among its electorates. The King of Pokoska and the monarchs of the United Principalities would gain interest in this unstable situation to achieve their territorial claims on the resource-rich region. Their contending influences would ultimately result in armed conflict. The **Pokoskan-Princely War of Brotherhood** was initiated in 1462 and would end in 1483. Ultimately, the United Principalities would seize most of Upper Karlovska. Seeing as Podolnan forces were weakened by the war, the clergy of Lower Karlovska declared its own independent theocracy called the Monastic State.

The first half of the 16th century would host no major conflict and was a period of relative peace and stability. A surplus of resources extracted from the Isles & Upper Karlovska along with bountiful harvests would help the Donatese realms stabilize for some time. This time period was dubbed the First Golden Age of Donat.

### Eastern Crisis

The Catherinian Realm of Bela Niza would steadily decline during the latter half of the 16th century. Following several wars of independence, the realm would retain only the core pieces of its crownland by the arrival of the 17th century. Around the same time, the Common Crown of the Upper Ends began to collapse in a similar manner. The fragmentation of these two states was, no doubt, funded by the Rumenskan crown, at whose behest the Marches of the Upper & Lower Ends were respectively established. To combat Rumenskan influence, the republics on the coast of the Lower Ends would unite into a federation. This half of the 16th century would also see the appearance of realms directly governed by the lower class, such as the Peasant Republics of Porudchka and the Davnogorian Isles and the Free Vaskvan Country.

## Summary

The Empire of the Rutherland had reached the northern frontiers of Ripiero by the 17th century and wanted to subdue all lands bordering the Samudric Ocean to monopolize on trade. This resulted in the conquest and colonization of regions ethnically populated by Norgons. The Donatese realms would soon find themselves at the borders of the Rutherland. Even though it was not too strategically important, the Rutherish elite dreamed of incorporating Donat as the 'crown jewel' of the empire.

Donat's realms had nearly all decided on a 'closed-country' policy after Kruhasta's shift in trade priority to its colonies. This meant that outsiders could rarely ever get into the peninsula and the Rutherland had to rely on medieval expeditions into Donat which incorrectly assumed that the Donatese were 'a welcoming tribe of the same complexion as the Rutherish **[*sic*]**'.

The Donatese did not make the invasion easy for the Rutherish and began implementing tactics of destroying their own land & infrastructure to halt Rutherish progress, which was dubbed the 'scorched earth' policy. The Kingdom of Rumenska would be the most efficient at repelling the invasion and brutally defeated the Rutherish forces at the Battle of Kralin where the Rutherland was forced to retreat. This allowed the realms to reorganize and try and stall the Rutherish further.

The invasion of Donat by the Rutherland started as early as April 1642 and ended in December 1663.

## Aftermath

Despite the eventual defeat of the Donatese, the Rutherish invasion of Donat was declared a tactical failure by the Rutherish elite because of how long it took to subdue disunited realms that were isolated and technologically less developed than the Rutherland. Donat was later divided into the crown territories of Donat and Pokoska and was neglected by the Rutherland in times of great famine. This would all be used as propaganda devices during the Crimson Revolution of 1956, where Rutherish rule would be broken over Donat.