Second Alliance–Imperial War

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Revision as of 11:38, 28 March 2015

The Second Alliance–Imperial War was the military conflict between the Free Planets Alliance and the Galactic Empire. The war began in November 799 UC (1 NIC / 490 IC / 3599 CE) and ended on 20 February 800 UC (2 NIC / 491 IC / 3600 CE).

History

Rebellion on Heinessen

Following the defeat of the Free Planets Alliance in the first Alliance–Imperial War, and the cessation of hostilities formalized by the Treaty of Ba‘alat, the Galactic Empire absorbed the territory of the Free Planets Alliance into itself and, with the crowning of Reinhard von Lohengramm as its first emperor, became the New Galactic Empire. Contrary to the expectations of the Alliance citizenry, Reinhard allowed the Alliance territories (now dubbed the Neue Land) to maintain a high level of autonomy. The Alliance would still be able to govern itself, but Imperial admiral Lennenkampf was assigned to Heinessen as Imperial High Commissioner in order to supervise the affairs of state. João Rebelo, a former friend and ally of Alliance war hero Yang Wen-li became the first Surpreme Chairman of the Free Planets Alliance in the post-war era.

The increasing stress of office coupled with the anger of the people quickly proved too much for João Rebelo to bear, and his mental state became increasingly unstable as his time in office wore on: Rebelo forced himself to make hard, morally ambiguous decisions, believing that he had to do whatever necessary in order to preserve the autonomy of the Alliance. In late July 799, following the theft of several Alliance warships that had been marked for decommissioning in accordance with the Treaty of Ba‘alat by admiral Merkatz, Rebelo ordered the arrest and, soon-after, the execution of Alliance war hero Yang Wen-li. However, before the execution could be carried out, the Alliance special forces regiment, the Rosen Ritter, rescued Yang from captivity, kidnapping both Rebelo and Lennenkampf to secure safe passage for Yang out of Heinessen.

A Last Stand

When news of the incident reached the Empire, Reinhard saw this an an opportunity to complete the annexation of the Alliance into the Empire, and declared hostilities on November 799 UC, sparking off the Second Alliance–Imperial War.

From very early on, the soldiers and citizens of the Alliance displayed pitifully low morale. This was not because of a lack of character or belief in democratic ideals, but because of set-back after set-back endured by the nation for years culminating in humiliating defeats at the hands of Reinhard von Lohengramm. Not only was their military drastically weakened, but their greatest hero, Yang Wen-li had been imprisoned by their own government, and because it was Reinhard who told the people the truth of the matter, many Alliance citizens lost their conviction of hate for autocracy and at the very least became indifferent to the idea of being under Imperial rule. It should be mentioned however, that there were certain elements in the population that did not abandon their beliefs so easily after their defeat at the Battle of Marr-Adetta. Along with some protests against Imperial rule, a number of idealistic and patriotic government officials in relatively minor government positions of the now former Free Planets Alliance refused to comply with Imperial demands, while others practised forms of civil disobedience. Examples of these officials included Busias Adoula, Claude Monteil, and Graham Eberd Noel-Baker. The Kaiser noted that if these public service minded men had been able to shape major policy decisions, the Free Planets Alliance would have still existed, further adding to his disdain for democracy as a form of government that promoted mediocrity and hindered the talented.