Louisian Decree
(WIP) The Louisian Decree (Cibolan-Saxon: Louisenerlass), officially titled as the Erlass zur Behebung der Rechtsstatus der Louisen und Louisesprachig Volk in den Vereinigte Fürstentümer (Common Tongue: Decree to Remedy the Legal Status of the Louisians and Louisian-Speaking People in the United Principalities) is a royal decree passed by Kaiser Ludwig I in order to grant citizenship and citizenship rights to the Louisian population of the United Principalities. It was passed at the height of the Louisian crisis, where the Imperial Senate found itself at odds with itself over whether or not to grant citizenship to the several thousand Louisian people residing in the UPC. Although unpopular among the Imperial Senators, Ludwig made it clear that any criticisms of the edict should be kept private unless the offending members be outed as disobeying royal orders.
Provisions
The Decree was made up of 6 provisions, which included:
- 1. Granting of citizenship and associated rights to all Louisians and Louisian-speaking people.
- 2. Abolition of discriminatory language and culture laws targeted towards Louisians nationwide.
- 3. Abolition of language tests in Universities.
- 4. Louisian language granted status as special status in Bezirk Neudemmin.
- 5. Bilingual town names recognized.
- 6. Special funding allocated by the Royal Treasury to open Louisian Cultural Association centers within the United Principalities.
The decree however did not dismiss the charges of blasphemy against author Wolfgang Arnholtz, author of The Plight of the Louisians., due to anti-royal statements espoused in the book. However, upon Theodor von Ertling's arrest, the case was immediately ruled a mistrial, as was the protocol with a plaintiff being arrested during a trial.
Reception
Within a few weeks of the decree's promulgation, most District Governors quickly implemented the decree into law in their respective jurisdictions. However the District Governor of Neudemmin (where the majority of the Louisian population of the UPC resided), Theodor von Ertling, lambasted the decree and stated his refusal for its implementation in the district, citing the measure of granting the Louisian language a special status in his district as an "infraction of [his] authority." Upon an offhanded comment of Ertling potentially blocking the decree's implementation, Ludwig stated to Chancellor Konstantin Tiedemann, "It is not his decision whether or not the decree is implemented. I authorize you to use whatever means necessary to ensure his compliance."
In 1736.5 AN, von Ertling made a public declaration on Radio Neudemmin, stating that he would refuse the implementation of the Louisian Decree in his district. Pleads from Tiedemann to give in went unheard by the Governor, and he sent in members of the Heimwehr units to blockade roads to Louisian villages. This angered Ludwig, and he ordered Staatsschutzbehörde Cheif Julian Strauss to "Take care of this rat infestation in Neudemmin." Strauss would delegate the task of arresting von Ertling to the SSB Generalinspekteur Rhätia, Stephanus von Eisenwitz.
At roughly 07:20 local time, as von Ertling left his house for his usual morning walk, he was surrounded by SSB agents that had been camped out in a box lorry down the road. The arrest was filmed by a teenager who lived two houses over from von Ertling from inside of his parent's car, with his recording being leaked to the media some days later. In the video, von Ertling became hysteric very quickly, shrieking "You fools have no clue who you're arresting!" and "At your command I will call off the Heimwehr!" These pleads went unresponded too by the arresting officers, however they were seen smirking at eachother while they were cuffing the governor. Von Ertling would be sent to the Gödelitz Men's Prison to await his trial on the charges of Sedition. The District of Neudemmin was placed under the temporary governace of Crown Prince Paul, but this was seen by the general public as Ludwig taking direct control over the District to ensure the Decree's implementation there.
