Florantian Republic

Firavanti accepts the Estadorian surrender in Coliari, 1371. Though eschewing monarchism, the Florantian Republic was rooted in ancient traditions of nobility and opulence all the same.

### Languages

Florantian
Sudbalveren

Vallaci

### Government

Federal Republic headed by a President, governed by noble and common houses

### Era

1368 - 1370 PA (As the Florantian Confederation)1370 PA - (As the Florantian Republic)

The **Florantian Republic**, officially the **Federal Republic of the Florantians**, was a young state in southern Teceria encompassing the entirety of the Florantian Peninsula and many of its surrounding islands. The newest Great Power of Vaurithius, the Floranitan Republic was formed out of war and bloodshed during the early years of the Age of Sail. For centuries, the Peninsula had been home to dozens of small Florantian kingdoms, republics and principalities, some wielding more power than others but all fiercely independent. Though northern Florantia had long been in the Estadorian sphere of influence, the Sovereignty had never sought to expand militarily onto the peninsula, its sights set to the east. This changed in the 14th century PA, when several Florantian states led by the Kingdom of Helmfeld allied against Estadorian encroachment and expelled the Sovereignty's diplomats from the North. Enraged by this blatant rejection, Sovereign Filip II Krondauer ordered the invasion and subjugation of northern Florantia in 1365 PA. Many of the northern states fell, and the Estadorians' victory seemed assured. In 1368, however, the Florantians found a leader to rally behind. Generale Alessio Firavanti, a hero of wars in the rebellious kingdoms of the Balverian south, was able to convince the leaders of four strong states in central Florantia to rally under his banner against the invaders, forming the Florantian Confederation. Firavanti quickly set about organizing a powerful united military, which he used to sieze control of the rest of central Florantia and much of the south while ceding ground in the north. By 1369, Firavanti's Federal Army was pushing the Estadorians back into the hilly regions of the north, blunting the Sovereignty's counterattacks against fervent defensive lines until the war ground to a stalemate. After months of brutal skirmishes and attritional warfare, Firavanti finally fully engaged the Estadorian army in the field at the Battle of Arteicante in 1370. A decisive and triumphant Florantian victory, the battle crippled the Sovereignty's invasion force and forced them into a headlong retreat back to the pre-war peninsular borders. Despite his great victory over Estadoria, however, Firavanti's work was unfinished.

Following the ousting of the Sovereignty from Florantian lands, the Generale Supremo declared the First Florantian Republic, his loyal troops securing the south and marching to bring the north under Republican control. It would not be so easy, however. The Kingdom of Helmfeld, former leader of the monarchist coalition and bitter survivor of the Estadorian invasion, refused Firavanti's demand for unification, mobilizing its veteran armies to defend against the Republican Guard. Border skirmishes between the two Florantian states rapidly devolved into all-out warfare, and Firavanti was forced to commit his full attention to Helmfeld. An Estadorian bid for peace was accepted in 1371, and with his eastern borders secure, the newly-instated President of the Republic launched his armies against the staunch defenses of the western Kingdom. Though the initial weeks of the Generale Presidente's renewed northern campaign saw great success, the advancing Republican armies quickly became bogged down in the foothills of the northwest, slowed to a near halt by the ferocious resistance of Helmfeld's rapidly expanding army. Breech-loading firearms and heavy guns, a recent Valenrosian invention adopted by Firavanti's Federal Army, were employed by both Helmfeld and Florantia in large numbers, marking a milestone in the history of Tecerian warfare. These technological advancements would come to the forefront as Firavanti's armies met Helmfeld's at the Battle of the Santarro Valley, by far the largest and bloodiest of the war. While technically a Republican victory, as the Helmfeldians were forced to withdraw from the Valley, the Florantian forces were unable to exploit their gains and suffered enormous losses in the weeks-long slog of the Battle. Following several more unsuccesful and costly offensives against the quickly fortifying Helmfeldian lines, Firavanti was forced to sue for peace in 1372 under heavy pressure from the war-weary populace. Though the Generale Supremo kept control of what portion of Helmfeld he had succesfully conquered, the last independent Florantian state outside the Republic would remain so, leaving Firavanti's dream tantalizingly close to completion yet unfulfilled.

Regardless of the bitter truce with Helmfeld, the Florantian Republic emerged from the turbulent decades of the middle 14th century as a newborn powerhouse of Tecerian politics. Having united lands spanning the entirety of the vast peninsula, and with a war-forged modern army rivalling several of the Great Powers', Firavanti's young nation immediately rose to central prominence in the great continetal games of the Powers. While the conservative monarchs of Valenros and Eblia regarded the emergence of the Republic warily, clinging tightly to their spheres of influence, the more liberal regime in Ardonia sought to forge close ties with the Florantians as a balance against their rivals in the region.