War of the Becuvitatian Succession
| War of the Becuvitatian Succession | |
| [[Image:{{{war_pic}}}|300px|{{{city_pic}}}]] {{{image_caption}}} | |
| Date: 3 July 7426 - 11 September 7431 Location: Becuvitatia, Anisora, Medio Sea, Radhrian Outcome: Treaty of Gaaze
Major battles: Battle of X | |
| Belligerents | |
 Becuvitatia loyal to Michael Anisoran Empire |
Becuvitatia loyal to Volodymyr Peritatia Livaria |
| Commanders and Leaders | |
| Michael I Duke of Poneasca Victoria I Duke of Marra Duke of Alzana Lord Alberghi |
Volodymyr, Prince of Sorzhvene Duke of Aleșdărei King XXX Lord Kolisnyk Andriy Morechenko Count of Vovk
|
| Casualties & losses | |
| Military: Civilian: Total: |
Military: Civilian: Total: |
The War of the Becuvitatian Succession (7426-7431; Campian: Războiul Succesiunii Becuvitatiană; Anisoran: Guerra di Successione Becuvitatieno; Livarian: Війна за Бекувітську спадщину) was an Anarian conflict triggered by the death of the last Fierciocan-Curceanu King of Becuvitatia, the childless and infirm Ioan I. The issue of who would succeed him after his death had been a contentious issue and cause for concern across Anaria since the death of the king’s nephew, Prince Ferdinand the Younger, in 7419. Numerous attempts were made to solve the problem peacefully by partitioning Becuvitatia’s territories between the two primary candidates, the Anisoran claimant Michele, Duke of Torzarolo-Arese, and the Livarian claimant Volodymyr, Prince of Sorzhvene, but ultimately failed.
King Ioan had generally favoured his nephew Michele, Duke of Torzarolo-Arese, through his elder sister Princess Margarita, but no decision had been made prior to 7426. Prince Volodymyr, the king’s cousin, retained considerable support, and was seen by many as truly Becuvitatian, in contrast to the Anisoran Michele. On the king’s deathbed, however, Ioan signed a decree passing not only the throne of Becuvitatia to his nephew Michele, but the Becuvitatian empire "in its entirety". As a result of the king’s well-known dementia, there were many who claimed that the King’s sister had forced his hand in choosing her son to succeed him and rejected the decree as null and void.
Empress Victoria I of Anisora recognised Michele as Domnitor and King, and swiftly moved to help secure his position. Livaria, worried about Anisora's growing power in the Medio Sea and spurred by numerous resentments fuelled by colonial strife, formally declared war on 3 July 7426 to press the claim of Prince Volodymyr. The war would rage for six years, with fighting stretching across three continents. Battles were mostly fought in Becuvitatia itself, but other clashes on land took place in Pastana as well as Southern Altaia and D'Runia. Numerous naval actions were fought in the Medio, Settant, Ovestan, Stolvic and Kaartu Seas during the course of the war.
The Treaty of Gaaze (7431) ended the conflict by partitioning the Becuvitatian empire. Michele retained Becuvitatia proper, the Dominions of Mandruleania and Mirodenia, and ruled as Mihail I (Michael) thereafter, with all international and domestic parties recognising his rule. The Livarians received all of the remaining colonial territories of Becuvitatia in Tzeraka and D'Runia, while the Anisorans received the Duchy of Sorolata from Peritatia, as well as a favourable position in the partitioning of Radhrian Island.
Background
The conflict had its origins in the very beginning of the 75th century, in the war between Becuvitatia – at this point humbled by the exit of the Duchy of Peritatia, but still an important regional power – and Naringay – an Izhaic polity in the west of Anaria Minor that had significant connections with Anat Tahan – in which the Becuvitatian Domnitor Ioan I received a serious blow to the head during the course of the Battle of Târgu Jiu. Prior to this wound, Ioan had been a promising, capable young ruler, but the injury left him with such significant mental health issues that then-Chief Minister Traian Petrescu would later lament that, "where the Domnitor had been the best of us, he has been reduced to little more than a child".a
Ioan, whose marriages never produced any offspring, would end up naming his nephew, the dashing Prince Ferdinand the Younger, his heir-apparent, but the latter's shocking death in 7319 would suddenly bring the problem of succession into stark relief. Support eventually coalesced around two main rivals for the throne. Firstly, Ioan's surviving sibling, his elder sister Margarita, who had married into the Anisoran House of Viscona, had managed to produce multiple legitimate children, the eldest of which being her son Michele. Many within the country, however, were wary of the increased Anisoran influence Michele would undoubtedly bring into the country, and were disturbed by the fact that, after inheriting his father's Duchy of Torzarolo-Arese in 7408, Michele would technically become a vassal of the Anisoran Emperor. Those individuals that opposed such a situation rallied around the Livarian noble Volodymyr, Prince of Sorzhvene, the son of Ioan's uncle Prince Anton, a candidate generally seen as uncompromised by the region's often volatile politics.
Legally speaking, Volodymyr's supporters could turn to the first Domnitor's laws of agnatic succession, but the statute itself had never actually been invoked, and, as many would point out, it was dubious whether or not the law even still applied, as the legal code had gone through numerous revisions since the time of the first Gheorghe. Ioan himself was said to favour his sister's son, but due to his condition it was difficult to fully pin him down on the matter prior to his death.
Causes of the War
Partition attempts
Course of the War
Leadership, forces and strategies
Becuvitatia
By the outbreak of war in 7426, Becuvitatia was in a severely weakened state in comparison to her position some fifty years before. A combination of internal tensions and external pressure reduced the kingdom’s power and influence significantly. Beginning with the disastrous intervention in the Anisoro-Lusavanic War (7372-7375), Becuvitatia under Nicolae I was roundly defeated by the Anisorans at the fateful Battle of Andravan (7375), leading to the loss of the Melloria islands in the Southern Medio and the loss of most of her naval and political influence in the Medio region, as well as on the Anaria Minor subcontinent.
The defeat in 7375 has been seen as a catalyst by many historians, leading to heightened internal tensions and political instability. As Becuvitatian influence waned, the Duchy of Peritatia seceded from the union in 7398 due to increased discontent amongst the Peritatian aristocracy with their peripheral place in Becuvitatian politics. The secession weakened the nation further still and opened it up to attack from Naringay in the west, who seized their opportunity to take advantage of the reeling state. It was fighting the Naringayans at the Battle of Târgu Jiu in 7401 that would set the future succession crisis in motion, with King Ioan taking a blow to the head, preventing him from producing an heir and beginning his long decline into mental illness.
By the early 75th century, Becuvitatia was reeling from the combined military defeats against Anisora and Naringay, as well as the declining royal House of Fierciocan-Curceanu. With Anisora’s assertion of her dominance over the Medio region in the Auresio-Anisoran War (7395-97) and internal weakness plaguing the nation, Becuvitatia was at the mercy of the great powers of Anaria, with her extensive colonial empire a considerable prize for those who could seize it. With the succession crisis reaching a head after the death of Prince Ferdinand the Younger in 7419, Anisora and Livaria, the latter with her eyes set firmly over Becuvitatia's colonial possessions, set themselves up to fight over the decaying Becuvitatian Empire.
Livaria
Anisora
In the half century leading up to the war in Becuvitatia, Anisora had increased its influence in the Medio Sea and further into Anaria Minor. The Anisoro-Lusavanic War (7372-7375) had secured Anisora’s hegemony over eastern Anaria Minor at the expense of not only the Kingdom of Lusavan, but also crucially Becuvitatia. Anisora’s annexation of the Melloria islands marked the end of Becuvitatian naval power in the Medio, and her crushing victory over Becuvitatian land forces severely diminished Becuvitatia's power and influence on the subcontinent. Furthermore, Anisora’s victory over Auresia in the Auresio-Anisoran War (7395-97) confirmed her naval dominance over the southern and western Medio and increased her influence in the Shangti and the far east.
Anisoran grand strategy under Victoria I rarely diverged from the geopolitical vision set out by her grandfather Marius I, and his prime minister the Duke of Jullana, the previous century. Anisoran policy in the run up to the war was dedicated to fulfilling the ultimate goals of Anisoran grand strategy, which according to the Anisoran military historian R. Livio di Porghiano, was focused on: expanding her influence and military control over Anaria Minor; maintaining naval control of the Medio; supporting sympathetic regimes in peripheral states around the Medio and Anaria Minor; and expanding colonial power, particularly in the southern Shangti.a These strategic aims would dictate Anisora’s intervention in Becuvitatia in 7426. With an Anisoran on the throne of Becuvitatia, Anisora sought to fully secure her domination over eastern Anaria Minor at the expense of Becuvitatia, ensuring the latter discontinues its resistance to Anisoran expansion in the region and secure its southern flank so it could focus its attention on its more important enemy to the west, Anat Tahan.
Anisora's ascension to great power status during this period placed her in a threatening position to the established Anarian balance of power. With Livaria supporting their claimant Prince Volodymyr for the Becuvitatian throne, it became a vital goal of Anisoran grand strategy to ensure the Michele, the Duke of Torzarolo-Arese, became Domnitor to prevent Livaria securing a friendly state hostile to Anisoran expansion on the Empire’s doorstep. It was feared in Anisora that with Livarian military and financial support, the weakening and undermining of Becuvitatian power which Anisora had successfully affected in the region over the last fifty years could be undone. Together with the warming of relations between Livaria and Auresia, the prospect of Livarian control over Becuvitatia made many Anisoran generals and politicians extremely nervous. Consequently, after the death of Prince Ferdinand the Younger in 7419, securing the Becuvitatian throne for the Duke of Torzarolo-Arese became one of the most important foreign policy objectives for Victoria and her government.
Notes
References
a di Porghiano R.L. (7571) Ars Imperatoria Anisorana (7367-7492), Pena. 101-102. (Hallish: Anisoran Military Strategy (7367-7492)).