History of the Great Imperial Hegemony of Morbidia

 

The history of the Unified States of Osuwa spans over four centuries, from its formation in the late 16th Century to its dissolution into the Federative Planets of Polyingffhaestia in the middle of the 21st Century. Beginning as a colony of the globe-spanning Kingdom of Kerolon at the peak of its First Age of Imperium, Morbidia successfully revolted against its mother nation over the horrific mistreatment of the Morbidia region’s native lordions on the heels of the Unified States of Osuwa’s secession. In stark contrast to Osuwa, however, Morbidia adopted a socialist economic system and a totalitarian governmental system; this led to a lengthy and bitter cold war between the two nations.

Inefficiencies in its government and economy kept Morbidia somewhat behind Osuwa and Morbidia in terms of technological and societal advancement, but the Great Imperial Hegemony nonetheless persisted as a stable superpower. Upon the discovery of the Izlondian ruins in the 18th Century, Morbidia joined its two neighbors on Uingffh in becoming interplanetary, and then interstellar superpowers - at that point still competing with Osuwa for political, social, and economic influence. At its peak, Morbidia controlled a total of 24 star systems outside of Ingffhaestia.

Origins (1578-1584)

In 1447, the Kingdom of Kerolon - a nation dominated by the spherical, cat-like tabulon species - colonized the Morbidia region of the Ulstonian supercontinent, turning its natives - the red-furred, rabbit-like lordion species - into colonial subjects. The treatment of lordions in Kerolonian society was complex. The handful of lordion families who cooperated with Kerolon and ceded their domains were exceptionally well-regarded by the nation's tabulons and went on to prosper for generations. In stark contrast, the millions of other lordions either opposing Kerolonian imperialism or part of the Morbidian lower class experienced some of the worst discrimination in Kerolon society. Kerolon did not wipe them out, viewing death as too merciful a fate for them; instead, Kerolonian tabulons subjected lordions to extremely intense and arduous slave labor on plantations and other estates. Kerolonian education would also emphasize the perceived genetic inferiority and savagery of the sentient race, with lynchings and murders of lordions by tabulons growing common. Ironically, the aforementioned affluent lordion families, viewing themselves as a separate, superior race to the lower-class lordions, would often mistreat lordion slaves the worst.

In 1576, colonists in Kerolon's Osuwa territory revolted against the Kingdom and seceded to form a new, more egalitarian nation. The Osuwan Revolution's progression inspired many lordions, whom Kerolonian colonists had largely enslaved following the Morbidia region's annexation into Kerolon, to rise up and fight for their own rights. This began as intermittent slave and servant revolts across the Morbidia colony which slaveowners quickly put down; in response to the rebellions, the Kerolonians harshened their treatment of their lordion servants in order to prevent more revolts. However, this ultimately served to not only further strengthen lordion opposition, but also encourage the lordions to revolt in more creative ways.

The lordion revolts eventually culminated in the rise of Regalius Rilna Mortimer, one of the most radical lordions at the time, to public prominence in 1578. Taking advantage of the weakened state of Kerolonian law enforcement at the time thanks to instability wrought by the Osuwan Revolution, Regalius spread strong anti-Kerolonian, Morbidian separatist sentiment across the Morbidian region, reaching many lordions and their non-lordion supporters through posters, literature, pamphlets, and other means. In these pieces of media, Regalius attacked imperial Kerolonian values such as imperialism, speciesism, capitalism, monarchism, and more while asserting the superiority and resistance of lordion culture. But more importantly, as a rather intelligent tactician and strategist, Regalius shared more sophisticated methods to revolt against Kerolonian slaveowners and disrupt Kerolonian society through his media, allowing for an increase in the effectiveness and severity of lordion revolts throughout 1578 and 1579.

Formation and Outlawing of the Anti-Imperialist Natives' Alliance (AINA)

But then, the Kerolonposium formed in 1580 - a move Regalius quickly used to his advantage by gathering himself and his supporters into a political party - the Anti-Imperialist Natives' Alliance (AINA), which advocated for the granting of independence to Kerolonian colonies like Morbidia as well as civil rights for non-Kerolonian tabulons - on April 22, 1581. Though enforcement of the Korndelia System was already beginning to fall apart at the time, the Kerolonposium's House of the Affluent initially refused to recognize the AINA due to its leadership under Regalius, a non-tabulon; however, Regalius worked around this barrier by only registering his tabulon supporters as parliamentary representatives, which allowed the party to join the parliament.

During its brief tenure as a parliamentary party, the AINA proposed various pieces of legislation aimed at improving the lives of non-Kerolonian tabulons, such as bills that would repeal the Korndelia System or guarantee basic rights for said groups. Unfortunately, both the rest of the lower house and King Rictell's House of the Affluent blocked the vast majority of the AINA's proposed bills, significantly limiting its actual political power.

Eventually, on February 10, 1584, the Kerolonposium voted to outlaw the AINA on the basis of "promoting dissent and degeneracy", with all of its tabulon representatives being not only booted from parliament, but also prosecuted under accusations of terrorism. This motivated Regalius into abandoning his earlier strategies of working within the system and instead turning to all-out rebellion, leading to the Stantain Provincial Capital Riots.

Stantain Provincial Capital Riots

During the morning hours of April 27, 1584, a mob of 9,500-11,000 Mortimer supporters and former AINA supporters launched a violent attack against the Kerolonian provincial capital at Stantain. This was part of a coordinated effort by Regalius Rilna Mortimer to expel Kerolonian colonists and colonial governor Saria rei Sancha from the Morbidia region and allow the lordions to reclaim their ancestral homeland as an independent nation free from perceived Kerolonian oppression.

In response, the provincial capital building was locked down, with Kerolonian troops blockading the building as other troops facilitated the evacuation of Sancha and the other politicians inside. However, the lordions easily took down the troops using weapons obtained by Regalius prior. Stealing the guards' weapons and adding them to their own arsenal, the protestors broke into the provincial capital building and engaged in defacement, vandalism, and looting. They burned all Kerolon flags, assaulted any Union officers and employees, and set up bombs all over the building; an estimated 12,000 rioters entered and occupied the provincial capital. Outside, Mortimer supporters erected a mock gallows and carried out the mock executions of Sancha, King Rictell, and other notable colonial officials with effigies.

At midday, the rioters caught Sancha and other politicians mid-evacuation. Shooting the Kerolonian troops on-sight, the protestors captured Sancha and the other politicians and brought them to the outside of the provincial capital building, where she and the others were broadcasted on international television in gags and handcuffs. Regalius Rilna Mortimer himself then appeared on the scene and personally tortured and executed the politicians in front of live television, with Saria rei Sancha's beheading occuring at 15:00 UTC. With the colonial governor of the Morbidia colony dead, Kerolon's control over the Morbidia region crumbled; after killing Sancha, Regalius Rilna Mortimer proclaimed the formation of the Great Imperial Hegemony of Morbidia.

"This is Empire" speech

TBA

Morbidian Revolutionary War (1584-1590)

In response to Regalius' coup d'etat against the Kerolonian authority and his formation of the Great Morbidian Empire, the remnants of Stantain's guard combined with incoming royal Kerolonian armies and moved into the city of Stantain. Their goal was to restore order to the planet and oust Regalius from power in a counter-coup.

This sparked the Morbidian Revolutionary War, during which an estimated total of 1.2 million Kerolon-affiliated troops marched into Stantain and engaged the rebel forces. Additionally, Kerolon sent a naval fleet, tank battalions, and war aircraft into the Morbidian region to aid the army as well as launch attacks on other parts of Morbidia. A rather long and lengthy war spanning roughly six years ensued, during which Morbidian troops led by Regalius worked hard to defend their cities against the Kerolonians. Due to the Osuwan Revolutionary War weakening the Kerolonian military not long before, the Morbidians saw great success in holding out against the once-mighty Kerolonian Empire, suffering fewer losses than expected.

The Revolutionary War eventually culminated with the Great Battle of Stantain in August of 1590, during which the Kerolonians, having lost all of their battles outside of Stantain, concentrated its forces on Stantain itself in one last bid to destroy the Morbidian Hegemony. However, Regalius Rilna Mortimer, having foreseen the Kerolonian military's final plan to attack the capital of Morbidia, had set up bombs all over the superstructure forming the foundation of the Kerolon-built portion of Stantain City beforehand; at 12 midnight on August 20, he detonated them after luring Kerolonians troops into said section of Stantain. This resulted in the superstructure and the city above to collapse, in turn resulting in the loss of over 99% of Kerolon's remaining troops. The city's collapse also allowed the rocket cannons installed underneath the city prior to the rise of Regalius to emerge under Regalius' control and fire at the enemy planes and ships, resulting in their quick destruction.

With the Kerolonian military in shambles and the Morbidian forces greatly emboldened with large amounts of public and military support, the remnants of Kerolon's forces and their provisional leader, General Kimaen Manthe, surrendered during the morning hours of August 21. Immediately, the Morbidian forces captured them and executed them on live television, with Regalius proclaiming the formation of a "new and pure safe haven for Lordions free from Kerolonian oppression and imperialism." The Morbidians then crowned Regalius as the first Morbidian emperor, deeming his efforts in the Great Battle of Stantain worthy of making him emperor. This marked the end of the Morbidian Revolutionary War; shortly after the end of the battle, Kerolon ceased its war efforts and officially recognized Morbidia's sovereignty.

Imperialization and Socialization of Morbidia (1590-1600)

Throughout the first few years following the end of the Morbidian Revolutionary War, Emperor Regalius and his government officials devoted their efforts to developing Morbidian society through two rigorous programs: Imperialization and Socialization. Imperialization consisted of developing the social and cultural aspects of the fledgling Morbidian Hegemony - i.e. significantly restrict the influence of imperial Kerolonian culture on Morbidian society while promoting the cultures and associated norms of pre-Kerolon lordion society, other native societies, and some of Regalius' personal ideals. Socialization consisted of developing the Morbidian economy through the creation of a robust centrally-planned, state-controlled command economy in direct contrast to imperial Kerolon's free market policies.

However, the Morbidian government and military did not initiate the aforementioned processes straight away; instead, they spent the months immediately after the war's end tending to the many Morbidian wounded during the war and assisting both individuals and communities in recovering from the war's damage. Morbidian soldiers helping families rebuild homes and medics bringing medical assistance to both injured soldiers and injured civilians became common sights during these months. Nonetheless, though these activities were not directly part of imperialization and socialization, most historians do credit the Morbidian war recovery efforts for laying the foundation for the Hegemony's robust social welfare system. Regardless, the Morbidian populace held a positive opinion towards their government's response to the war; within less than a Uingffhian year, the Great Morbidian Empire was already well on its way towards fully recovering from the war and transforming itself into a functional society.

Social imperialization

Following the end of immediate war recovery efforts, Morbidia began undergoing social imperialization: a rigorous effort to replace the invasive culture of Kerolon with a new, proud lordion culture emphasizing equality. This first began with the state-sponsored erasure of most traces of Kerolonian culture within Morbidia's borders; Regalius' Morbidian Purity Decree of September 18, 1591 outlawed the display of Kerolonian flags and any other object portraying the Kerolonian Empire in a positive light. Across the nation, Regalius' newly-formed secret police, the Morbidian Imperial Knights (MIK), raided buildings and homes once occupied by Kerolonian settlers and publicly burned any Kerolon-related objects and goods they found within. Additionally, the MIK tore down any statues of Kerolonian conquerators erected on Morbidian soil; on some occasions, they brought these torn statues into public squares and invited the Morbidian public to deface the statues however they wished, leading to the birth of a popular Morbidian pasttime.

The bulk of Morbidia's social imperialization consisted of the revival of traditional native lordion culture. For instance, the Morbidian Empire reinstated Creatorian, the native language of the lordions, as the region's official language after Kerolon had outlawed speaking of the language upon the region's conquest. Additionally, in an attempt to revive lordion culture's emphasis on family, Emperor Regalius provided a number of incentives for lordions and other Morbidians to once again raise families. In the Restoration of Family Acts of 1592-1595, Morbidia offered benefits to families such as higher-quality childcare services, increased and paid parental leave, and other assorted financial aid for new families in the post-Kerolon era. Morbidia also diverted funding to museums, concert halls, liberal arts universities, and other similar institutions related to the arts in order to revitalize pre-Kerolon Morbidian culture.

Additionally, Morbidia's imperialization included the birth of new cultural and societal ideals closely aligned with Morbidia's goals, which often intertwined with existing lordion cultural aspects in interesting ways. Emphases on equality, empathy, and helping the less fortunate in society naturally and quickly arose in Morbidian culture due to the Morbidian lordions' background as an oppressed group of people. This led to a generally socially progressive climate amongst Morbidia's populace, leading to more liberal and inclusive interpretations of Morbidian traditions. In particular, Regalius and other Morbidian government officials held a significantly liberal definition of family and did not view genetic relations as a defining factor of a family; to this end, they provided funding and better services for orphanages, foster care, and other adoption systems and offered financial incentives for Morbidians to adopt. Progress in LGBTQ+ rights was slightly slower, but still well underway; in 1596, Regalius decriminalized same-sex relationships and reduced barriers for those in non-heterosexual relationships to adopt children. As for the arts and creative fields, Regalius began cultivating a cult of personality within them as well as a greater sense of patriotism for Morbidia; the Hegemony incentivized creative media to feature pro-Regalius and pro-Morbidia messages, leading to a dominance of patriotic media. In particular, social imperialization saw the rise of numerous creative works glorifying Regalius' Rebellion and the Morbidian fight for independence.

One of the most challenging social/cultural aspects to integrate into imperial Morbidian society, however, was the morbidian nobility system that had existed prior to Kerolon's conquest due to its contradiction with newer Morbidian ideals. Feudalism played a significant role in Morbidian society before Kerolon's arrival, but conflicted with the Morbidian Hegemony's emphasis on social and economic equality. This led to heated debates amongst both the populace and the government on whether to prioritize the restoration of traditional Morbidian culture or to prioritize the development of social equality in the nation. Ultimately, in the Noble Military Act of 1597, Regalius compromised by converting Morbidia's various noble titles into military ranks that people would have to work to earn rather than inherit from birth. This decision largely satisfied the Morbidian populace, which at the time had also begun to support increased militarization as a byproduct of the increase in patriotism and nationalism that came with the era.

Hundred Year Plan (1600-1682)

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