Joel,
and a good set of two cents, thanks for the critique. : )
You're right, a mercantile republicanism (say of the renaissance Italian
variety) would make much more sense, and fit into a merchant elite
response to the Taltherani king's attempts at centralising power.
Such republicanism would not be democratic, or even of the French
variety, rather a government of the rich and commercial elites.
I have imagined the current Republic to be only a few years old, and
still dealing with the ramifications of a republican revolution. Strong
political, family and commercial ties between the merchant elites of
Taltheran and Kaeir also promise further conflict (especially given the
private armies all the major families maintain), as Taltheran is split
between royalism and republicanism.
Realistically though, the Burcancy and East Torphan would not be in a
position to respond with a long distance expeditionary force for at
least several years, especially given the naval strength of Kaeir.
--
So how's this - the republican revolution was the culmination of a
conspiracy between many of the branches of Taltherani merchant families
established in Kaeir, and factions of the Taltherani military, in
particular the Navy, both of whom were influenced by the development of
a nascent republicanism thanks to the intermingling of domestic and
foreign ideas.
The merchant families, angered by royal attempts to take away their
traditional powers and positions, and create a centralised absolute
monarchy, decided that a king was not essential to the success of
Taltherani commerce, and began looking for opportunities through which
they could achieve this.
The revival of Port Kaeir and consequential flourishment (reaching its
pre-conquest population of 30000, and then quickly doubling that to
60000), created social, economic and political problems that Kaeir and
indeed Taltheran had never faced before. Into this picture comes
migrants from other Midsea lands to thriving Kaeir, and with them new
ideas. Utilising the situation, and the new culture that is still
developing in Kaeir, the Taltherani merchant families secretly preach a
primitive form of republicanism as the "cure-all" to the ills
experienced in Kaeirean society.
Meanwhile, the commanders of the Kaeirean Guard, are too powerful
already for the Prince of Kaeir's good, yet not powerful enough by
themselves to seize control of the Principality. They join with the
merchant families, supporting their populist republicanism, thereby
being able to "legitimately" (in the eyes of the masses) gain a measure
of power in Kaeir, and possibly even Taltheran. Thus, the might of the
Kaeirean Guard and the power, wealth and influence of the merchant
families are combined, and together prove capable of overthrowing the
Principality, crushing any loyalist military units, seizing control of
the eastern Taltherani Fleet, and proclaiming the Kaeirean Republic.
Executive power was then shared between the Kaeirean Guard and the
merchant families by equal representation in the government, on the new
Council of the Republic.
Obviously, the Taltherani King must respond militarily, but the
long-term outcome of the conflict is very uncertain, as the Kaeirean
merchant families are but migrant branches of many of the major merchant
families on the mainland, many of whom are known to have observers and
advisors attending the Republican Council in Kaeir.
In either version (the original, or this revised one), the Kaeirean
Republic would have been inevitably drawn into conflict with Taltheran
anyway, as Taltheran, even with the loss of much of its navy, would be
unlikely to tolerate the existence of a state that both threatens its
trade and its very political order. Finally, combined with belief in
spreading Kaeirean republicanism, conflict between Taltheran and the
Republic of Kaeir is inevitable.
Well, thats the short version of the revision. : )
cheers,
Ibrahim Underwood
----- Original Message -----
From: Joel Elfman
Date: Saturday, March 22, 2003 10:56 am
Subject: Re: [Qai] Republic of Kaeir
> My 2 cents. :-)
> Nicely written and thoughtout. And, I have a few questions.
> There is no history for the type of overthrow in Taltheran history
> to my knowledge. There is no previous record of these islands.
> Why would so much of the navy jump ship? Most of Taltheran I
> believe is controlled by merchant families, Why was there no
> response by the Taltherans or the merchant families?
> I believe there are other societies where this concept might prove
> more viable. And unless we are jumping ahead many years in
> history, this outcome should be played out through several years
> of action at the least. This sounds like a great history to
> playout. Now that you have done all this, what are you going to
> do? The following years could be much more boring!
> I would like to also point out that the Burcancy/East Torphan does
> lots of trade in the Midsea as do others and there is lots of
> likelihood of interference by other societies in some of these
> actions leading up to this revolt.
> In addition the following excerpted statements below have lots and
> lots of inherent conflicts:
> large, cosmopolitan city with residents from all the lands of the
> Midsea. ....a very clear laissez-faire economic policy, ....mighty
> fleet that the
> Kaeirean Republic possesses, which was formerly the glory of the
> Taltherani Navy. ....clear populist and
> anti-magic, anti-clerical and anti-aristocratic messages
> though....two small isles.
>
> 2 small islands are not likely to either have a large cosmopolitan
> city. Such a limited ideology might not attract either a
> cosmopolitan society or peoples from all of the Midsea or have
> such a laissez-faire economic policy. And if they do have such a
> policy how does this differ from what the merchant families
> wanted, so why would such a revolt be supported.
> A takeover of these islands never mentioned in Taltherean history
> before would be by some of the merchant families, or at least have
> some interbreeding w/ them. And the king who has been trying to
> vest some of the merchant families control out of his hands has
> been trying to build a stronger military and would surely have
> some inkling something is wrong on his islands before a revolt
> came about.
> Joel
> Ibrahim Dughlas-gani wrote:The
> Kaeirean Republic (Player: Ibrahim Underwood
> (ibrahim_dughlas-gani@moe.edu.sg)
> General description: Kaeir has only recently “won†its
> independence
> from Taltheran, the elite Kaeirean Guard established by the
> Taltherani
> Prince of Kaeir, from Taltherani, Kaeirean and mercenary troops,
> executed the Prince of Kaeir and the newly established Kaeirean
> aristocracy, overthrew Taltherani rule, and sold the remaining
> members
> of the Taltherani elite in Kaeir to the slave merchants of the
> eastern
> Midsea. The majority of Taltherani troops, including the pride of
> the
> Taltherani fleet, stationed in Kaeir switched allegiances,
> swearing
> fealty to the central council of the Kaeirean Guard, who promptly
> declared Kaeir to be free and independent, as the Kaeirean
> Republic.
> Kaeirean Republicanism would now be the creed of Kaeir, and
> royalism,
> magicalism and clericalism the enemy of republican liberty.
>
> Society concept: Once the most infamous den of corruption,
> thievery, and
> piracy on the Midsea, the Kaeirean islands of Celtehar and
> Celtalath
> have re-emerged from decades of Taltherani domination as a
> Republic.
> Now as a major nexus of western Midsea trade, the capital of Port
> Celtehar has become a large, cosmopolitan city with residents from
> all
> the lands of the Midsea. The new Kaeirean Republic is essentially
> an
> oligarchy, where power resides in the hands of the Council of the
> Kaeirean Guard, the officers that overthrew the old Taltherani
> prince.
> The Kaeirean Guard seems to possess a very clear laissez-faire
> economic
> policy, with many Council members being very strong free-trade
> proponents. Politically, however, the Republic’s policies are
> unclear. This becomes particularly worrying for geopolitical
> watchers
> on the western Midsea when one considers the mighty fleet that the
> Kaeirean Republic possesses, which was formerly the glory of the
> Taltherani Navy. The semi-ideo
> logy of Kaeirean republicanism though, with its clear populist and
> anti-magic, anti-clerical and anti-aristocratic messages though,
> seems
> poised to spread beyond these two small isles.
>
> I have a more comprehensive .doc, to whom do i send that?
>
>
>
>
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