The First Conoilithian Revolution

The First Conoilithian Revolution was a mass popular uprising in the year 2679, which resulted in the ousting and persecution of the Conradian Line of the Conoilithian Imperial Family, and a civil war which followed shortly after. Although in the end it failed to achieve little more than overthrowing the Conradian Line of the Imperial Family, the repercussions for it were enormous and serious, with the following civil war being one of the bloodiest conflicts in Conoilithian history.

## **PARTICIPANTS**

### **The Fraternity**

The Brotherly Union of Peasants and Citizens, often shortened to 'the Fraternity', was the main revolutionary faction of the First Conoilithian Revolution. Founded in the capital city, Ankorien ān Riarond, the Fraternity had numerous cadres across the Conoilithian Empire, mainly in large cities like Einanen.

**The Peasants and Citizens' Militia:**

The Peasants and Citizen's Militia was the Fraternity's military arm. Individual units were raised in neighbourhoods, and would be funded by a revolutionary cadre in their city or town. Usually these militia units would be commanded by a single militia leader and their deputies, who were elected among members of a Fraternity cadre. In terms of weaponry, they were often poorly equipped, using repurposed tools and the few makeshift weapons they could get from local blacksmiths; to get proper weapons, they would have to seize control of a local armoury, or purchase them at expensive prices from arms merchants. The militias would also come to consist of city watchmen who sympathised with the rebels.

### **The Imperial Household and Court**

The Imperial Household and Court was a term used to refer to the incumbent imperial family at the time (the Conradian Line), their closest nobles, and indirectly by extension, their servants and guards.

### **The Imperial Conoilithian/Capital Army**

The Imperial Army was mobilised in order to suppress and destroy the revolution following the uprising in the capital, Ankorien ān Riarond. During the Second Battle of Ankorien ān Riarond, however, mass defections and desertions broke out among the city's regiment, and these troops eventually set up the Capital Army, a wild-card warlord army which fought alongside the Fraternity later on.

## **BACKGROUND**

The prestige of the Conradian Line had begun to decline in the 2600s. In the wake of the Southern Crusade, the Conoilithian Empire's golden age only grew, with the empire enjoying its new position as the soul, unquestioned superpower in Eithlith. Its wealth grew as well, and the Conoilithian nobility (also called 'magnates' during this time period) began to enjoy a period of decadent living and luxury; the first colonies were even being established overseas. Consumer goods from all across Burithien now flooded Conoilithian markets to satisfy the demands of the Conoilithian merchant and upper-classes, and the mining and timber industry was booming as the military required more metal for swords, armour, helmets, muskets and cannons, and wood for warships, to maintain their expanding sphere of influence.

However, this situation had serious problems which would plague it for the next century. Now complacent with their luxury, power and wealth, corruption began to grow among the Conoilithian magnates and the imperial government, and many began to neglect their duties. An increasing literacy rate among the citizenry also allowed the lower classes to begin learning more about the world they lived in, and many began to question the morality and legitimacy of the hierarchical system of the Conoilithian Empire. The mining and timber guilds were also discontent, as the military had imposed a tithe (also called the 'resource tax') on them which they had to give in the form of steel and wood respectively, completely unpaid; this began to put a strain on the guilds, as they were now unable to pay the many workers who tried to get job opportunities due to the demand for raw materials. Additionally, many of the soldiers who retired from service after the Southern Crusade found themselves unemployed and in poverty, desperately trying to get jobs in the mining and timber industries which were already struggling to pay the excess of workers they had.

This resulted in, despite the wealth and opulence of the upper classes during the Conoilithian Golden Age, an impoverished, disenfranchised and dissatisfied lower class, who, although there were more consumer good available on the market, increasingly found themselves unable to afford them, and were now actively questioning Conoilithian Imperial society.

### **Rise of the Fraternity**

Across the Conoilithian Empire, disenfranchised mining and timber guilds began to become, in effect, worker's unions, as they found it harder and harder to pay their labourers, and had to find a way to appease them. In the taverns, coffee houses and pubs of Conoilithian cities too, the literate middle-class began to question the power of the magnates and imperial government, and many believed that the current nobility and government had grown too decadent and corrupt to exist for any longer, and had to be replaced. Books began to be written on the matter, and soon they found their way into the hands of the lower-classes, with workers reading them aloud during breaks, attracting interest. In 2683, a meeting was held between the heads of all the mining and lumber guilds of Conoilith in Ankorien ān Riarond, following a new law proposed by the imperial government to increase the 'resource tax'. Leading intellectuals were also invited to the meeting, many of whom had written the books which called for a replacement of the imperial nobility and government. At the end of the meeting, the participants agreed to work and fight together to improve living conditions for the lower class, and remove the decadence and corruption from Conoilith's upper classes, creating the Brotherly Union of Peasants and Citizens.

Over the course of the next few years, the Fraternity would attempt to solve the problem first through reform. However, members of the Imperial Diet with sympathies or affiliations with the Fraternity were often silenced and ignored, and many were barred from sessions under charges of misconduct, and several were even assassinated, it is purported, at the command of the magnates and corrupt government officials. Increasingly losing faith in reform, the first Peasants and Citizens' militias were raised secretly in 2677, and were armed for the most part with repurposed tools and makeshift weapons such as hatchets, pickaxes, mattocks, fire-pokers tied to sticks, sharpened wooden stakes, pitchforks, scythes and clubs. Members of the Fraternity often pooled together their earnings in order to buy proper weapons like swords for the militias; however, the effect of these was minimal, as arms merchants would charge high prices for their products. However, no open actions of force were made against the Conoilithian government, although the Fraternity grew secretly in popularity and number, and the the militias continued to be expanded.

## **REVOLUTION**

### **Escalation**

In the autumn of 2679, celebrations were held throughout Conoilith to celebrate the birth of the emperor's new son, and it was announced that a parade would be held in the capital at Ankorien ān Riarond, with the imperial family touring the city. Members of the Fraternity took this as their chance to speak to the emperor, who was almost always isolated from the lower classes in his opulent palace. On the appointed day, the imperial family rode through the streets of the capital, and the emperor's carriaged was approached by a crowd of commoners, many of whom were members of the Fraternity, who tried to appeal to him directly. However, the emperor's son cried, apparently in distress at their presence, and the emperor decided to leave to calm down the baby. The Fraternity members tried to run after the carriage, but they were stopped by guards, and a quarrel ensued.

With tempers running high, push came to shove, and soon the guards drew their swords to make the Fraternity members back off. The revolutionaries quickly left, but returned with a group of militia, armed with clubs and other makeshift weapons, intending to break through and head for the imperial palace so they could appeal to the emperor. The guards would not move aside, however, and a full fight broke out between the militia and the guards. Members of the crowd soon joined in, and the guards were pushed back against a wall, attacked by the commoners. But the guards had already sent for help, and more troops, including musketeers, entered the square, and opened fire on the crowd, before chasing them away with pikes and swords. Over 37 commoners were killed, with only 3 guards losing their lives, and several more injured.

The incident was touted as a brutal mass-murder of citizens by the Fraternity, and when news of it was printed out in the pamphlets that evening, it had been dubbed the Autumn Massacre. That night, the militias were assembled, and members and sympathisers of the Fraternity protested throughout the capital, and later throughout other cities in Conoilith. Fights broke out between the militias and soldiers sent to stop them from approaching government buildings and the homes of magnates, and across the country hundreds of the poorly armed and organised protesters were killed; the Autumn Massacre now had more deaths to its name. By now too much blood had been spilt, and there would be no turning back.

### **The Second Battle of Ankorien ān Riarond and Storming the Imperial Palace**

Following the Autumn Massacre, emergency meetings were held by Fraternity cadres across Conoilith. In Ankorien ān Riarond, the Fraternity decided to take immediate action, believing that by now violence was the only way. The militias were raised once more, and almost all units, along with as many Fraternity members as possible, gathered together in Conrad I Square at noon. By the time city watchmen and Imperial Army troops had arrived, the entire square was completely filled with protesters holding a massive rally, armed and carrying burning torches. The protesters then advanced towards the Imperial Palace, and when the way there was barred by troops, they began to fight. Flaming torches were thrown into the watchmen and soldiers, and the protesters simply overran them by virtue of their numbers, crushing the guards in their stampede. The protesters had now broken out of Conrad I Square, and were now running amock throughout the capital. Many individual groups of soldiers and city watchmen defected and joined the rioters, whether out of a belief that it was far better to join the Fraternity's cause, or simply out of fear. The city soon descended into chaos, as around the same time as the fight in Conrad I Square, a few militia units had attacked an armoury and stolen weaponry while the majority of soldiers were away at the square. Soon, the capital's entire regiment was mobilised, and the Battle of Ankorien ān Riarond had now begun in earnest.

After breaking out of Conrad I Square, the majority of the mob had made a beeline for the Imperial Palace, but many of the revolutionaries had also spread out across the city at large. Shops were looted, and the market square became the sight of a bloody clash between looting rioters and soldiers. Now armed with proper weapons they had stolen from the armoury, the militia had a better fighting chance than before. Although the Imperial Army deployed musketeers, whose volleys proved to be devastating against revolutionaries, soldiers were constantly bombarded by roof tiles and bricks hurled from buildings and rooftops by the revolutionaries, who soon vastly outnumbered them as ordinary citizens joined their number with the escalating situation. Barricades were also constructed in many key streets to shield the revolutionaries from imperial forces, and when these positions were overrun, the militia made sure to set them alight in order to impede the soldiers' progress. In the city's harbour, imperial warships received news of the fighting too late, and were overrun by the revolutionaries, defecting to the Fraternity's side.

Eventually, the revolutionaries had gathered enough captured weaponry and defecting soldiers to storm the Imperial Palace. At around 5:30 pm, the revolutionaries arrived outside the Imperial Palace, and despite a valiant last stand by the guards, the revolutionaries broke open the palace gates, and stormed the building. Around the same time, the residences of government officials and magnates in Ankorien ān Riarond were also attacked. Surrounded and unable to flee, the Imperial Household was slaughtered inside, and the entire imperial family was murdered by angry revolutionaries, with only Princess Azernara escaping after a sympathetic militiaman allowed her to hide and flee through a secret passage. That night, the nobles and government officials who had been attacked were either thrown into prison, or lynched en masse.

## **Conclusion**

The remaining Imperial Army troops who opposed the revolution were holed up in the Citadel, along with the members of the Imperial Diet who were there at the time of the battle, where they would remain surrounded and besieged for the rest of the revolution and the civil war which followed. With the conclusion of the Battle of Ankorien ān Riarond, the Conradian Line and the Imperial Court had been wiped out, and leaders of the Fraternity declared the founding of the Fraternal Conoilithian Public (not to be confused with the Conoilithian Republic).

The day after the storming of the Imperial Palace, a mass uprising occured in Einanen as well, where miners seized control of the city and joined the Fraternal Conoilithian Public. The Fraternal Conoilithian Public soon spread, with more uprisings breaking out across the central length of Conoilith, with many towns joining the revolutionary cause, and even entire provinces kicking out their nobles and installing members of the Fraternity as their leaders. However, many cities still remained in firm control of the imperial government, and soon the Imperial Conoilithian Army and many nobles in non-revolutionary areas would begin the Conoilithian Pacification Campaign to stamp out the revolution, starting the Conoilithian Civil War.