Timeline of Hartlander Independence

Centuries ago: Arvantha defeats the Ribsea League, fully asserts dominion over present day Hartland. Consensus reached with Angir, Lunglander and Torsklander inhabitants. Set up: Imperial City of Østbirk, Commandery of Nidarya, Commandery of Ronnenberg, Northern Commandery - 486 - Lunglander Prospector van Scheeld first proposes setting up lumber exploitations in the Hartlands as Angir-Lunglander lumber becomes scarce 490s-510s - First Lumber boom, mainly Lunglander and Angir immigration 510s - Walsenburg and Kjarstadt founded 530s-550s - Second Lumber Boom, immigration from Arvanthan serfs and Aporozhian slaves 547 - Founding of the Honourable Brotherhood of Wood-cutters 549 - "Blessing of the Northern Waves", first collection of Hartlander patriotic poetry published 550s - 580s - Population boom and rising nationalism 552 - Bloody Widow Strike, first large scale industrial action in the Hartlands 555 - Østbirk Exarchate (Contemplationist) created to combat influence of New Synod and Lay Church movements 571 - First Østbirk Self-Rule Crisis sparked by city tax reforms 573 - Ronnenberg Tax Riots 573 - Construction of Rathenow and Birk Bay fortresses by Arvanthan military 574 - Great Walsenburg Strike, city briefly seized by workers and anarchists 577 - Second Østbirk Self-Rule Crisis, demands for local autonomy to be extended from old Østbirk to entire Commandery 577 - Construction of several smaller forts at Honowitsch, Ronnenberg, Kjarstadt and Ertille (Gurley-Flynn) by Arvanthan military, substantial increase of Blue Banner Army garrisons 578 - Great Rathenow Strike by the Blessed Fraternity of Boatswains, Teamsters and Lumberjacks 580 - Founding of the Self-Rule Association in Østbirk 580 - Irnaic Palace first considers plans to relocate the Kerch Banner Host to the Nidarya Commandery 580s - Mosenbar Lumber Co and Oksenvald and Sons become the first 2 big industrial trusts 581 - Our Lady in the Waters, the largest new synod church in the Hartlands is completed in Østbirk 27th June 582 - Third Østbirk Crisis sparked by demands of redrawing of administrative boundaries to reflect population growth June-August 582 - Constant low scale riots grip Østbirk 3rd December 582 - Orlov Compromise, Nidarya Commandery dissolved into the 4 Imperial Territories of Birkenbruk, Nidarå, Branwall and Eidsvool. Honved land Councils granted limited advisory role to Imperial governors. December 582 - February 583 - widespread strikes and riots by lower classes in ex-Nidarya and general unrest in Ronnenberg and Northern Commanderies where feelings of betrayal over the Orlov Compromise fly high. Several high ranking Palace officials and imperial officers die in the confusion 6th March 583 - Palace Council summons Kerch Banner Host, panic in Hartland press March-May 583 - Beginning of 4th Østbirk Crisis, local self-rule associations founded in nearly every town. Labour organisers begin planning for a unified labour organisation. May 583 - Hartland Self Rule Association enters into covert contact with Torsklander E-14 and Lunglander Maachtbureau June-September 583 - additional build-up of Arvanthan forces at Rathenow Fortress 13th-24th August 583 - Rathenow Boatswain Strike, Arvanthan army has to proceed to its garrisons along the Birk river by foot. September 583 - Kerch Banner Host arrives to the Irnaic Palace October-December 583 - High intensity smuggling of small arms into the Hartlands begins, labour unions profit by proxy December 583 - Banner Host Panic, newspapers spread rumor Kerch Host could take over rule in imperial territories in as little as 15 days. 4th January 584 - Beginning of the General Estates of the Lands of the Birk and Sag in Østbirk by representatives from across the Hartlands. Independence now seen as inevitable. 5th-13th January 584 - nonlethal clashes between the Birk Bay Fortress garrison and the Østbirk constabulary under the control of city government 6th January - General Marholm, governor of Nidarå unilaterally dissolves the Honveds of the Imperial territories, proclaims Rathenow fortress as temporary capital of the territories, unilaterally dissolves the Østbirk City government, martial law declared 7th-16th January - General Congress of Hartlander Labour in Ronnenberg. Founding of the ILWU trade union, resolutions passed demanding immediate independence, immediate legalisation of trade unions, universal suffrage for land councils and immediate creation of ILWU Volunteer Battalions to defend the homeland and revolution. 8th January - Workers' demonstration in Ronnenberg degenerates into riots to protect the forming ILWU from authorities. Local constabulary and militias join the rioters, a comparatively small army garrison confined to Ronnenberg barracks. 13th January - General Rodionov of Birk Bay Fortress recognizes the orders of General Marholm, sends troops into Østbirk with orders to occupy the city. Start of the 1st Battle of Østbirk. Local constabulary, labourist militias and patriotic home guards armed with smuggled repeater rifles and fortress guns manage to stall the army advance in the suburbs. On the same day the Irnaic Palace dispatched the Kerch Host along with its Northern Blue Banners to Dzhankoye. 14th-16th January - Massive protests in Rathenow as the army fires on the crowd, local militias start forming on the outskirts of the city 16th January - Official Founding of the ILWU and Volunteer Battalions, Hartlanders of all stripes begin seizing power all up the Sag river, disarming small local garrisons. Demoralised Ronnenberg Imperial garrison commander Cpt. Rotilov officially surrenders his garrison to the ILWU in exchange for safe passage for him and his 468 men. 17th January - With Rathenow firmly under control, general Marholm begins sending troops out to establish safe corridors to Honowitsch and Dzhankoye. von Taschen's Northern Blue Banner lancers begin their advance towards Østbirk via Zirknitz while Marholm's own household hussars advance along the Sag river. Both forces are scheduled to meet at Ertile (Gurley-Flynn). Infantry and artillery are left to guard Rathenow with the Kjarstadt fort under Cpt. Turgov keeping the Sag Valley in check for now. 18th January - With events rapidly unfolding the General Estates unanimously passes the Declaration of Free and Sovereign Compact. While not as complete as much of the statesmen would've wanted due to lack of time, the declaration declares the imperial territories of Birkenbruk, Nidarå, Branwall and Eidsvool, the imperial city of Østbirk and the Ronnenberg Commandery and Northern Commandery autonomous and free to enter into any contract between themselves and any foreign powers without needing approval from Irnaic. The first decision of the thus free states being the creation of the Hartlander Union, a loose confederation composed of the aforementioned states. The Act of Union passed the same day created the offices of the presidency, the president of the presidency and the federal assembly composed of representatives from each of the states. The Union was also given the prerogatives of raising an army to defend the country, raise taxes to fund it as well as any endeavour necessary for national security and delegated all foreign affairs to the presidency. The act totals 36. articles, going further in depth about the duties and prerogatives of the union government. 18th-19th January - the General Estates now acting as the 1st Assembly elect a presidency which elects the Ule Ettersen-Marlov as the 1st president of the Union. The presidency also nominates the militia colonel Herzov as supreme commander of union forces. ////////// General Marholm's troops successfully disperse any Hartland militias between Dzhankoye and Rathenow, clearing the way for reinforcements. The two-pronged assault reaches Zirknitz and Vellenik respectively, with poorly armed militia taking to the woods rather than face the Arvanthan army in the open. ////////// General Rodionov orders a full siege of Østbirk with any access by land cut off. The Birk Bay fortress starts bombarding the city and any vessels in the bay, but fast skippers can still weave in and out of the city. ////////// Before the telegraph wires are cut general Herzov manages to send out several important orders, nominating various local commanders to begin assembling a new Hartlander Army 19th January - Arvanthan troops retreat from Østbirk proper, end of 1st Battle of Østbirk, beginning of siege. 20th January - Militia commander Tress is named in charge of all Hartland troops in the Sag Valley theatre. An HQ is set up in Ronnenberg with 3 main tasks delegated by Herzov: 1. Integrate local self-rule militias and Veebees (Volunteer Battalions) into a structured fighting force. 2. Keep lines of communication open with the East for as long as possible, with limited offensive actions around Kjarstadt allowed to achieve this objective. 3. Defend the Sag River and its associated industry at all costs. ///////// Militia commander and honved representative captain Regger is named commander of the Northern theatre with an HQ in Neusavvaerk. His tasks are to begin muster troops towards the south and secure the border with Torskland. 20'000 men are promised to march to the relief of Østbirk by March. A more modest 1500 readily available militia are promised to take positions along the rail lines overlooking Østbirk to the north-west by the 31st. /////// Militia commanders Bernhart, Levadoshev and Kurgov are named to the Eastern command council under Herzov. Their task is to delay the arrival of fresh Arvanthan troops to Østbirk and the organisation of local militias to relieve the city from the east. 800 Veebees under Kurgov immediately leave towards Fintschgar from Walsenburg with the intention of sabotaging the river bridge and telegraph in the area. Bernhart and Levadoshev decide to mass their combined 3000 troops near the strategic junction of Ertille (Gurley-Flynn). //////// Finally clipper commander Fredriksen, a Torsklander national, is nominated as commander of the Hartland navy. As Arvantha could barely scrape together a few old cogs and it would have taken them months to arrive, he is given the most freedom of all recently appointed commanders to organize his force as he pleased. His first decision is to temporarily move his HQ to Fiskhafn harbour, taking any clippers fast enough to escape the Birk Bay blockade with him. With around three dozen ships answering his initial call to arms, including a few steamers, Frederiksen quickly devised a plan to keep Østbirk, Neusavvaerk and Heiderør supplied from sea. Additional early plans for an offensive riverine force are planned. More concrete plans for 5 blockade runners and 2 steam ironclad hulls are commissioned to the Neusavvaerk shipyards by the presidency. NB, the Latvryksund is frozen until March, making any Arvanthan naval action impossible until mid April. 21st January - with the order to delay enemy progression, a small veebee militia wards off an advance party of von Taschen's lancers near the village of Wiggau on the Zirknitz-Aarau line. With barely two dozen dead on both sides the encounter could barely be called a skirmish, but Arvanthan press seizes the opportunity to publicise a victory 22nd January -