Anguille Colonies
Anguille Colonies | |
|---|---|
| Name | Anguille Colonies |
| Status | Chartered Viceroyalty of the Kingdom of Aréole |
| Capital | Saint Martinaise |
| Common languages |
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| Government | Colonial absolute monarcy |
| Head of Government | Viceroy Smith Jefferson, King Jean-Jacques XLII |
| Legislature | Advisory Council |
| Location | Anguille |
| Population | 10+ |
| Map of Anguille Colonies | |
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| Preceded by | Various local authorities |
The Anguille Colonies refer to the collection of settlements established by the Crown of Aréole in the Anguille continent headed by the Viceroy established by a royal charter. It does not refer to those colonial territories established by a separate contract as with the case of the New Rochefort and Territories.
History
By the early 17th century, the Kingdom of Aréole found itself in a number of wars and conflicts revolving around its southern frontiers. These wars and the tensions they caused on the continent would limit Aréole's trading capacities. In 1666, Sir Réjan-Soleil Gaillard was granted the audience of the King's Court in order to obtain funds for an expedition. This commission was granted and Gaillard set sail in the middle season of that year. Gaillard's plan was to sail eastward to reach the other side of the Meridia in order obtain trading rights and to form diplomatic relations with the known Sinfunche Empire.
Instead of reaching the empire, Gaillard landed on the Anguille continent. Confused, Gaillard quickly figured out that this was an entirely new landmass. With the return of the expedition came the news of the new continent. Jean-Jacques XLII quickly saw opportunity and sent Gaillard back but this time with a charter and mandate. The charter granted Gaillard a monopoly of trade and commerce in and around the area he established colony; the mandate was for Gaillard to establish the colony on the new continent. Gaillard with 120 men set up a small fort and post called Marinade. After less than a year, the poor management of Gaillard, who was made governor of the colony, led to widespread starvation and diseases causing the abandonment of the colony. When news of the failure of the colony in 1667 reached the Crown, Gaillard was horrifically executed. The discovered continent and the short-lived colony of Marinade sparked the imagination of many people in the kingdom, especially the landed and wealthy.
Three years after the initial discovery of the new land, members of many castes of Aréolean society went before the King's Court asking for a new expedition. Many sent funds and bribes to higher members of the court in order for the approval of an expedition be made. In 1669 the Court allowed for a new expedition; on the 23th of Floréal of 1670, after the preparations for a foothold colony was readied, an edict was decreed for the establishment of a Crown colony, 3 days later the expedition, led by Sir Aubesol de la Vigne, set sail and reached the continent in middle Prairial. The 300 men of the expedition established of the colony of Anguille.
The final expedition was the De Remuva-Ortiz Expedition which would establish a chartered corporate colony in areas not controlled by the crown.
The colonies faced many challenges from its creation; piracy became rampant as the economy was almost entirely created through trade and extraction. Various settlements were established, most notably the colonial capital of Saint Martinaise, the corporate capital of New Rochefort and the New Heavensworth settlements. The first phase of piracy, known as the First Pirate War, saw massacres and battles between the the pirate Redbanner and the Royal Navy's Lord Admiral Aloïs-Henri du Bois. The first war culminated in the Crown creating the office of the Viceroy. The Viceroy was Smith Jefferson. Tensions grew between the Royal Navy and everybody else due to the former's ruthlessness and cartel-like actions of random violence and ransom payment. These tensions only grew when piracy returned. The Viceroy quickly proved ineffectual as he was influenced by various interest groups, notably the then-weaken Navy and the New Rochefort Company led by the Marquis de Remuva. These two groups did not get along.
Increased distrust of the Royal Navy forced the Viceroy to adopt a decree which allowed subjects to form their own militia for defense against the pirates. The militias would show themselves defending against the Royal Navy and the pirates. The Royal Navy's interests in Anguille were thwarted when, due to interest unpopularity as well as renewed wars in Aréole, they were called back to the home country by the Crown. Following the navy's failure to end piracy in the continent, and following renewed conflict in Aréole that called back the navy, the Company benefited in lobbying the Viceroyalty to grant them the responsibilities and privileges of the navy in the continent under the pretext to get rid of piracy on the 27th of Pluviôse. However, many marines, who left the navy after its departure back to Aréole, remained in Saint Martinaise and did not want to relinquish the control they once had. To this end, they unilaterally declared themselves the "Saint Martinaise Civil Authority". This was followed by others questioning the legality of this. The SMCA ignored those critics and, under threat of force, coerced the Viceroy to recognize their authority in Saint Martinaise, effectively carrying out a coup.
Cocurrent to these developments, a native kingdom called Pahak in the northern region of Anguille was determined to remove the colonial authorities from its domain. This increased the tensions in colonial Anguille. As with Pahak, a group called the Anguille Settler League was formed a while before. Made up of Companymen and newly arrived settlers, they envisioned and promoted the idea of a larger settlement project across the entire continent. This was against the interest of the Company and Crown which saw their profits in the economies of extraction and trade than settlement. The ASL increased settler violence against Pahak as they wished to curb their capabilities to deter settlement.
The pirate Flameheart managed to kidnap the viceroy while he was drunk. This led to a large organization of the NRC's newly built fleet to engage the pirate in battle.