Fracture of the Stofonian Empire

The Fracture is the name given to the massive civil war in which the Stofonian Empire tore itself apart. In a mere six years, 1902 to 1908, an empire that took a thousand years to build was broken into dozens of small states.

Origins
In the days after the Ristkon, several main factors began to strain the Imperial system.

First, not only the Last War but also the nearly constant smaller wars of the previous century, had drained the treasuries. Unlike in some of the empire's earlier wars, where the cost of the war was somewhat offset by plundering the conquered nations, the countries defated in the Last War (mainly, Juturia and Badingo Empire) were so devastated by the war that there was very little left to plunder.

The empire first tried to squeeze money out of the victory by reducing the conquered populations to conditions of servitude not seen for hundreds of years, hoping to get free labor out of them. What actually happened was that the cost of keeping these people pacified turned out to be greater than any profits produced by them.

Meanwhile, the enslaved grew to hate the Stofonians with a passion not normally seen. Rebellions were rare in earlier eras, when the Stofonians often came as liberators from even more severe governments. Now they were seen as loathsome invaders to be cast out at any opportunity. Guerilla campaigns were nearly constant between the Last War and the Fracture. The Stofonians responded to these, eventually, by completely exterminating the Et-Er who were seen as the ringleaders of trouble in Juturia; and by slaughtering so much of population of Badingola that entire provinces such as Dostofia came to consist entirely of settlers from older parts of the empire. All this, of course, cost even more money.

The failure to get any real spoils from the war, and indeed the continued pouring of money into sinkhole, meant that the government had to levy higher and higher taxes on the productive parts of the empire. This was greatly resented, especially in some of the more developed provinces which began to feel that the Imperial government did nothing but drain money from them while providing little benefit. At least some were also horrified by the carnage in Juturia and Badingola, and began to wonder aloud about the legitimacy of a government that could afflict such horrors, and the possibility of such treatment being visited on their own provinces in the future.

Another important factor was an enormous growth of interest in democracy and self-determination. During the Last War, Juturian propaganda had reached many parts of the empire, and republican uprisings had to be put down even in Stofstans itself. Although the would-be revolution was promptly crushed, the empire after the Last War was never without an underground of republican schemers. Any form of representative government was inimical the empire, the whole institution being based on complete domination of civilian government by warriors.

The economic and political problems were combined in the grievances of the newly-powerful industrial and business interests. Both the new rich, the owners of factories and banks, and the growing middle class employed by these places, resented both the new taxes, and the fact that they were shut out of influence in the government. The military caste, they felt, had outlived its time at the top of the social and political pyramid, and should move over and make room for the captains of industry.

Finally, and probably the most urgent cause of the war, the government and military system had problems of its own. The Elikalns of Dostofia and Juturia operated nearly independent of central control. No effective civilian government was ever set up in either of these Elikalns, not even a military-dominated one as was normal in the empire. Everything remained under direct control of fighting units, as in a never-ending war. All of this was originally intended to give the local commanders free reign to deal with rebellions, but soon in their increased power they began to think of themselves as kings and emperors in their own right. This was the spark which was to ignite all of the aforementioned powder-kegs.

Pelthorstan's "Empire"
In 1902, Nomnor Pelthorstan, Elikalnstan of Juturia, decided that they way to enrich his Elikaln was to conquer Knarr. Knarr had not been part of the empire for hundreds of years, and no emperor had ever shown much interest in trying to get it back, including current emperor Dostof III.

Pelthorstan could not be stopped, and sent a large fleet and army to take the islands. In an uncommon display of military ferocity, the Knarrians killed most of the armies who tried to invade their land, and sent the fleet limping home in ruins. Knarr was to remain unmolested for the duration of the Fracture.

Dostof was furious with Pelthorstan, removed him from his office, and demanded his arrest. Pelthorstand responded by declaring an independent Empire of Juturia, with himself at the head. In an attempt to co-opt the support of the Juturians and the minority of bourgeoisie who had settled there from abroad, Pelthorstan set up a semblance of the old Juturian parliament, meeting again in the same hall where it had met until the end of the Last War. It was of course, a mere mockery of a republic, because the members were hand-picked by the Elikalnstan rather than elected, but Pelthorstan hoped that this fact would be overlooked and win him the support of the people he ruled.

Before the effectiveness of this ploy could be seen one way or the other, Juturia was invaders from all directions by forces from several other Elikalns.

... more to come... so much more...