Léon Gambetta

Léon Gambetta
14th Nohsi of the Republic of Ashkenatza
In office 1588 AN – 1591 AN
Preceded by	Szhmuel Astopov
Succeeded by	Eli Naveh
2nd President of the Free State of Arasha
Preceded by	Y'aakov ben David
Nationality	Ashkenatzi
Political party	Independent

Léon Gambetta was an Ashkenatzi politician who served as the fourteenth Nohsi of the Republic of Ashkenatza, its executive head of state, from 1588 AN to 1591 AN. He sat as an independent and was the second Nohsi of ethnic Tellian descent, after Bartolomeo Henzelli. His term fell within the Euran Cold War, and he was among the commanders on the Ashkenatzi and Alexandrian side of that conflict. He later became the second President of the Free State of Arasha.

Background

Before he entered Ashkenatzi politics, Gambetta played cricket in Alexandria. He was listed for Ibelin in the Alexandrian Emperor's XI, a side whose members included Jean Carmichael, later a fellow commander on the Alexandrian side of the Euran Cold War.

Nohsi of Ashkenatza

Gambetta took office in 1588 AN, succeeding Szhmuel Astopov of the Ashkenatzi Democratic Party. The Nohsi was appointed by the Knesset for a term of ninety days under the Ben Mavet Constitution, and Gambetta served a full term, with no recorded extension or provisional arrangement. He left office in 1591 AN and was succeeded by Eli Naveh, also an independent.

The Nohsi was the executive head of state of a republic its own constitutional literature described as presidential, resident at Ruzhin Palace in Kolmenitzkiy, empowered to appoint ministers and executive agents by executive order, and answerable to the Knesset for the use of that power. He was the second Nohsi drawn from the Tellian community rather than the Jewish majority that had supplied every holder before Henzelli.

Euran Cold War

Gambetta's ninety days fell in the sharpest phase of the Euran Cold War, the long confrontation between Ashkenatza and Babkha over the Ashkenatzi territory of Mahoz HaSephardim, in which Alexandria sided with Ashkenatza against a broad coalition supporting Babkha. The Raspur Pact was formalized during his term, consolidating Antica, Elwynn, Amokolia, and Hurmu, the Nordic Union and Ocia into a single bloc behind Babkha. Within weeks, skirmishes along the 30th Line, the defended border between Babkhan-held Alkhiva and the Mahoz, had become an almost daily occurrence, and a coup attempt against the Elwynnese government had carried the tension onto the Ashkenatzi-Elwynnese border in Benacia. He was among the commanders on the Ashkenatzi and Alexandrian side, alongside the other Nohsim of the period.

The war outlasted his term. It ended with the Babkhan Holocaust, which destroyed Babkha, and the collapse of Ashkenatza that followed in 1605 AN.

Presidency of Arasha

The republic Gambetta had led did not outlast the Euran Cold War. Years later the Free State of Arasha was proclaimed over the former Mahoz Occidental, the Sephardi territory Ashkenatza had held and over which the war had been fought, and Gambetta became its second President. He succeeded Y'aakov ben David, the founding President, who had died in office.

His administration named a Basic Law as its first legislative priority and prepared bills on defense, infrastructure and territorial organization. None of them passed. His cabinet comprised Yossi Ben David at the Interior, Binyamin Meyer at Defense and Rafiq Najara at Foreign Affairs. His last act in office was to set out a list of nations the state hoped to approach.

See also

• Ashkenatza
• Nohsi of Ashkenatza
• Euran Cold War
• Arasha

References

Preceded by: Szhmuel Astopov

Nohsi of Ashkenatza 1588 AN to 1591 AN

Succeeded by Eli Naveh