Restoration Azophin
Neritsovid Empire in Severnia | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1903–1959 | |||||||||
| Capital | Great Pestul | ||||||||
| Religion | Vaestism | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Election of Ratibor IV | 1903 | ||||||||
• Abdication of Mstislav II | 1959 | ||||||||
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The term Restoration Azophin refers to the period in Azophine history between the 1903 proclamation of former Lyubim Ratibor Malenky as Ratibor IV, Neritsy Emperor and the removal of his nephew Mstislav II under the Silver Mountain Decree of 12 Ediface 1958, so named because of the 'restoration' of the imperial title after the post-Tharamannic Lyubimist interlude. Despite an apparently propitious opening, this half-century saw Azophin slip slowly but surely from its position as Outer Joriscia's leading power and ended with the country under Terophatic occupation.
Events
Restoration and Ratibor IV (1903-1915)
The Restoration period kicked off with what seemed to be a fitting celebration of Azophin's accomplishments over the second half of the 19th century: having sidelined the unpopular Lyubim Mstivol Azorod and taken de facto power in Inetsograd following their successes in putting down the Third Anabbine Insurrection, in 1903 the clique of generals surrounding Ratibor Malenky engineered his election as Emperor of the House of Nerits, thereby putting an end to the post-Tharamannic humiliation of the Empty Throne. Although Malenky's connections to the Duodecimvir house of the same name - never mind the Neritsovid family themselves - were dubious, every effort was made to demonstrate a genealogical link with Ostrobor Neritsovid, Nerits's brother, and amid a wave of Nostalgist feeling the new Emperor was crowned as Ratibor IV in Great Pestul before sitting symbolically on a rediscovered Ivory Throne. Surrounded by a close group of powerful figures, the so-called Clique of Seven, he was to reshape the domestic politics of the country.
Most of Ratibor's twelve-year reign was given over to the so-called Glorious Reform, a far-ranging programme of domestic reconstruction intended to respond to the various fiscal and administrative problems that Azophin had been facing towards the close of the 19th century. He announced an immediate intensification of the Tempering of the Prophecy, purges of Strong Externalists that had begun several years ago and by now had largely wound down across most of Outer Joriscia, targeting politically suspicious Scholars he blamed for the Anabbine unrest; many of those detained were sent off into de facto administrative exile in remote parts of the Empire. At home he issued the controversial Antifraternal Utterance, which was intended to prevent wage slippage for craftsmen by delimiting the legitimate uses of Rabtat slaves. He also, despite interordinate protest, reorganised the single Marshalate of Anabbah into a series of smaller administrative units intended to facilitate partial absorption into Azophin itself. In accordance with the Tobkuite doctrine of Awe from Afar, he imposed the so-called Solar Ordinances on Azophine Serania, attempting to repress 'inappropriate' growth. Although in popular history these reforms are generally credited with restoring Azophin to a form of macroeconomic and political stability, scholars largely agree that in this Azophin benefited more from the fierce deflationary policy pursued by his predecessors than Ratibor's own actions; indeed, many of his policies were probably, in the long run, counterproductive. Nonetheless, during his reign he was largely popular, and even in the colonies the massive opposition that his economic regime ultimately produced was kept largely under wraps until its very end (although the first signs of the Decade of Dissent had started to appear in late 1913).
Mstislav I (1916-1925)
Ratibor's unexpected death in 1915 without making sufficient preparations for the succession offered the Scholarchate a chance to make their power felt, although ultimately the 1915-1916 Azophine Debates were persuaded to elect the sole surviving member of the Clique of Seven, Mstislav Ebdely, in the absence of compelling alternatives (a mistake they would not repeat again). Mstislav was perhaps a less confident leader than his predecessor had been, but it is unlikely that any successor could have maintained the Ratiborian system intact without facing down huge opposition. In the event, Mstislav was to pursue a cautious path at home, influenced by both surviving members of the Clique of Seven and a more pragmatic younger generation, while catastrophically mismanaging the colonies. While Ratibor's plan to annex large portions of Anabbah was shelved in the face of interordinate hostility and anti-Anabbine popular feeling, Mstislav's response to growing unrest in Serania was to accede in Andrits Neritsobor's campaign of violent repression, ultimately triggering a de facto insurgency in Serania. Indeed, most of the Mstislav regime's energies were absorbed throughout this period in suppressing a series of colonial conflicts. Perhaps most fatefully for Azophin's future, Mstislav failed to put up any serious resistance to the accession and subsequent distruptions of Vsevolod I of Terophan, who was to unleash the vast productive potential of Terophan by putting an end to the silver problems it had faced under the Tharamann monetary regime. At first, in fact, Inetsograd was happy to see political and economic stability restored to Terophan - and demand for Azophine exports rising healthily at a time of economic slowdown. Towards the end of his reign, his government had begun to roll back some elements of the Solar Ordinances, probably contributing (alongside the better-liked regime of Stanibor Stanibor in Vosdavansk) to the calming of the Decade of Dissent. But this new policy did not succeed in rehabilitating his image - in fact, it only succeeded in aggravating the grand industrialists of the Machinist faction, who were perhaps his main constituency.
Mstislav II: Peace and War (1925-1959)
Mstislav I had put in place extensive provisions for a dynastic succession, hoping to pass the imperial title on to his son Boromir. Unfortunately for Boromir, senior figures within the Scholarchate were keen not to lose what seemed increasingly to be a power of free election. At the 1925 Azophine Debates, a large faction instead proposed the respectable industrialist Androbor Boroslav. There was an immediate outcry: supporters of the late Emperor threw their weight behind Boromir, citing long imperial precedent. Over the following month and a half, the dispute only escalated, with Stanibor threatening a colonial blockade if the 'priority heir' was not allowed to ascend to the throne. Civil war was only avoided by a quickly brokered agreement between the other Joriscian powers in favour of Androbor, with Terophan leaping at the opportunity to take a leading role in Vaestic diplomacy. Although Androbor ascended to the throne (taking the regnal name Mstislav to emphasise continuity), this was a humiliating moment for Azophin, and a harbinger of more alarming moments to come. In any case, Mstislav II's lengthy reign began with the final dismantling of most of the apparatus of Solar Government; if the vast body colonial subjects did not quite enjoy equality with their counterparts in the metropole, they were no longer labouring under the deliberate impositions of Awe from Afar, and colonial elites at least were able to take their place at the imperial table.