First Civil War

From Iscoun

Revision as of 12:06, 25 March 2011

The first civil war of Iscoun was a conflict between Wemberley and the English colonies of Georgeland, Octavia and Brunswick from 1890 through to 1895.

Handover of Braganza

As part of the 1890 British Ultimatum in Africa, the British government also requested that King of Portugal, Carlos I hand Braganza to the United Kingdom. King Carlos I, not wishing to damage the alliance between Portugal and Britain agreed to the demand and on 1 October 1890, Braganza became Wemberley under British rule. The British sent nationalist Michael Thirlmire to be the new colony's governor and he immediately began a policy of "Englishisation" as called by the Portuguese settlers.

Thirlmire's first move as governor was to rename the colony Wemberley as it was a more "English" sounding name. He also renamed the towns of São Cristóvão, Migueles, Belem and Palmela.

The town hall massacre

At the time the English took over the Colony of Braganza, about ninety percent of its population were of Portuguese descent. These citizens were not concerned about becoming subjects of the United Kingdom but were concerned about the erasure of the colony's history. A group of concerned citizens called the Braganza Citizens for Preservation (BCP), led by José Eduardo Tavares Silva formed with the intention of reversing the "Englishisation" of the Colony.

Newpapers in Wemberley soon began publishing articles about the BCP which angered Governor Thirlmire. On 6 June 1891, Tavares Silva presented Governor Thirlmire with a petition, signed by 25,000 citizens demanding that the "erasure of Braganza's history" be ended.

In 1892, Thirlmire had Queen Victoria grant self-government to Wemberley. Thirlmire's government consisted of a 40 member elected Legislative Assembly with male British subjects over the age of 21 allowed to vote and a 20 member Legislative Council which was appointed by the Governor. When the first elections were held on 26 May 1892, less than 5% of Wemberley's residents were eligible to vote. Thirlmire had determined that British subjects would only include those born in the United Kingdom or in Wemberley since its handover.

The parliament was scheduled to meet on 20 June 1892 in Barrios but the Barrios Town Hall in which it was supposed to meet was barricaded by members of the BCP. Over 20,000 people convened on the hall in protest of what they called an "Imperialist invasion" and refused to allow for the members of the assembly and council to enter the building. Governor Thirlmire ordered for the Wemberley Corps to break up the blockade.

100 members of the Wemberley Corps, armed with muskets approached the building and opened fire on the unarmed protestors. After mowing down a line of protestors, some protestors fled and those which stood their ground picked up anything they could to disarm the militia. In all, 564 protestors were killed and a further 300 injured. Just 30 of the militia were killed with a further 51 injured.

Most of the newspapers in the Colony reported on the incident with the Braganza Post calling it the "Town Hall Massacre". The Braganza Post charged that the Wemberley Corps had murdered hundreds of protestors in the streets of Barrios and called for the immediate resignation of Governor Thirlmire.

Governor Thirlmire acted against the Braganza Post, ordering his corps to shut it down. On 22 June 1892, the newspaper's headquarters were raided with it's chief editor Juan Arcos Pecador killed.

Declaration of war

Following the killing of Juan Arcos Pecador, on 24 June 1892, Tavares Silva declared war on the Wemberley government and ordered citizens to take up arms against what he called the imperial government.

Governor Thirlmire failed to take the threat seriously and largely ignored the BCP's activities. On the evening of 29 June 1892, the Barrios Town Hall was destroyed by a fire which the BCP claimed to have started. The following day, a 1,500 man strong BCP army stormed the Wemberley Corps barracks and killed 78 soldiers.

Following these incidents, Governor Thirlmire declared that the Colony was involved in a civil war against the BCP. Knowing that it would take several months to send a message to the United Kingdom for assistance and for help to arrive, Thirlmire called on the Colonies of Georgeland, Octavia and Brunswick to send forces to defend the Colony.

Battle of Michaelstown

Tavares Silva, knowing that the port town of Michaelstown could be crucial in the war ordered that the BCP capture the town. On 1 July 1892 around 6,500 joined an already exisiting 2,500 man strong militia in the town and began attacking the Corps' strongholds. Citizens in the town were sympathetic to the BCP cause with many residents having BCP militia in their houses.

The first building to be attacked was the Michaelstown Barracks where around 3,000 BCP militia fought the Wemberley Corps for 26 hours. In the fight, 397 of the 560 men at the barracks were killed with the rest deserting. Just 114 BCP militia were killed in the firefight. With the Michaelstown Barracks captured, the BCP used it as the headquarters for its campaign.

Within hours of the Barracks being captured, a contingent of 2,500 BCP militia attacked the Michaelstown Docks, another strategic target. Tavares Silva ordered that the docks were to be captured with as little damage as possible as he wished to control the 25 battleships which were docked there. The militia were battered with gunfire from many of the ships, losing around 500 men while the ships were boarded. Once boarded, the BCP militia fought hand-to-hand with the now dwindling Wemberley Corps. Within just 8 hours, the 410 Wemberley Corps at the docks were killed with a massive number of BCP militia - 1,034 also killed.

On the morning of 3 July 1892, a BCP council of war was formed and had its first meeting at the Michaelstown Barracks. The council decided that it would begin formally organising the militia and would seek recruits throughout the Colony. The Council appointed ten of the men who were regarded as the best combatants of the battle for the barracks and docks to be Colonel's of the Braganza National Army (BNA). The council believed it would be able to assemble a 10,000 man strong army which it could use to hold Michaelstown and attack Stewart and Prosperia in Georgeland, which would seriously cripple the gold mining industry and the major source of income for the British colony.

By 12 July 1892, a further 26,000 men signed up for the BNA with the army having a significant presence in most parts of the colony. Many men were taken to Michaelstown where they prepared for the Georgeland invasion. Thirlmire, aware of the groundswell of support for the BCP warned that any person caught fighting for the BNA or supporting the BCP would be declared a traitor and sentenced to death. This announcement led to more men joining the BCP, with it becoming around 50,000 men strong by 18 July 1892, around 4 percent of the Colony's population.

The Battle for the Grey Alps

By early August, the BCP had managed to assemble an intelligence network throughout Iscoun with spies in each of the Colonies governments. The BCP learned that reinforcements would be arriving by land in Wemberley at the request of Governor Thirlmire. A contingent of 5,000 men were ordered to the Grey Alps to ready for the arrival of soldiers from other colonies.

On 12 August 1892 the first soldiers from Georgeland were on the Franler Road by BNA soldiers. BNA soldiers, holed up in the mountains attacked the Georgeland soldiers as they entered Wemberley. The Georgeland soldiers stood their ground, resulting in a bloody firefight lasting almost a month.

The Georgeland invasion

Once news of the Georgeland soldiers arrival in Wemberley reached Michaelstown, the plan to invade Georgeland from the sea was put into effect. 3,000 men boarded 11 ships with a number of heavy artillery and set off for Oak Bay, East of Stewart which would be the soldiers landing point. On 17 August 1892, 2,800 men landed in Georgeland and headed for the unprepared and poorly defended city of Stewart. The remaining 200 returned to Wemberley waiting for their next orders.

Within a day the Wemberley soldiers arrived on the outskirts of Stewart, completely undetected. 10 howitzers set up to the East of the city were used to shell the town's police station and the Colonial Bank. As the shelling ended and the soldiers moved into the city, the BNA was met with little resistance apart from the odd resident who attacked them in the streets. The howitzers were moved into the central part of the city where they then shelled the town hall, court house and post office.

Upon hearing of the attack on Stewart, Georgeland's Premier Wayne Hurlstone denounced the attack in parliament while being