View source for Congress of Chryse/1696-1698 Session

{{Benacian Union article}}
{{ESB article}} {{N&H article}} {{House of Osman article}} {{SANE article}}

The '''Congress of Chryse''' of 1696&ndash;1698 was an important diplomatic conference, focused around the creation of a new Benacian political order after the [[Second Elwynnese Civil War]] ({{AN|1692}}&ndash;{{AN|1696}} which saw the final and irrevocable defeat of democratic forces in [[Elwynn]]. As a "congress of the victors" it was a meeting of representatives of [[Benacia Command]], the [[Black Legions]], the Honourable Company of the [[ESB Group]], the [[House of Osman]], the Benacian [[Council of Archons (N&H)|Archons]] and the [[Union Defence Force]], and held in the city of [[Chryse]] from 20.X.{{AN|1696}} until its conclusion.

The objective of the Congress was to map out a long-term plan for the vast swathe of Central and Northern Benacia which had now been cleansed of democratic and feudal forces. While Benacia Command remained committed to the global coalition of the [[Raspur Pact]] it was obliged to begin the process of reconstituting itself within the context of a separate political entity with ultimate authority over the conquered territories of the UGB and Elwynn. These steps being undertaken following a cleft in the Benacian membership of the Pact wherein several member-states, particularly [[Ransenar]], [[Sanama]], and [[Shireroth]], had proven themselves either unwilling or unable to commit to the principles of [[Endsieg]] ("Final Victory"), which had been applied in ''the Scouring'' &ndash; a limited orbital bombardment and nuclear exchange which had broken the back of entrenched rebel resistance in [[Upper Elwynn]]. 

The Greater Elwynnese Realm and the Unified Governorates of Benacia would be reconstituted as one-party states under the control of the respective national sector parties of the N&H movement. While both polities would retain their nominal sovereignty over domestic political affairs, the functions of defence and security, economic, and foreign policy would be vested in a higher coordinating body - that of the Benacian Union where Benacia Command of the Raspur Pact, the Benacian Directorate of the Honourable Company, and the Benacian Archons of the Nationalist and Humanist Movement would provide a delegate apiece to sit upon the High Presidium of the Union. 

==Preliminaries==

==Participants==

[[Jeremiah Avon-El]], Commander in Chief of [[Benacia Command]] and [[Szodan of Benacia]] until the [[Declaration for the Reorganisation of Benacia and Elwynn (1696)|Declaration on the Reorganisation of Benacia and Elwynn]] on 8.XI.{{AN|1696}}, did not attend the Congress as he was subject to a formal enquiry by the Permanent Commission of the [[Raspur Pact]] for his conduct of the [[Second Elwynnese Civil War]]. Accordingly his place was taken by suitably empowered deputies.

===Benacia Command of the Raspur Pact===
*[[Jeremiah Avon-El]], High Commissioner of the [[Raspur Pact]] & Commander-in-Chief of the [[Benacia Command|Benacian Continental Theatre Command]];
*Herlot bi Merensk, Chief of the General Staff;
*Aryo Barzan, Head of the Political Directorate.

===Benacian Directorate of the Honourable Company===

===Black Legions of the UGB===

*Sepp Käser, Commander of the 11<sup>th</sup> Army 
*Rofolo Nur Pinito Kasha, Commander of the 16<sup>th</sup> Army and the Sovereign's Corps
*Felix Lenz, Commander of IV Corps
*Akbar Jalal Alinejad, Commander of VI Corps

===N&H Movement===

*[[Fridwald Peter]], [[Hierophant (N&H)|Hierophant]] of the [[Nationalist & Humanist Party]] and [[Council of Archons (N&H)|Archon]] of the National Sector Party in [[Ransenar]];
*[[Adam al-Osman]], de-facto [[Conducator]] in [[Elluenuueq]], [[Council of Archons (N&H)|Archon]] of the National Sector Party in [[Elluenuueq]];
*[[Constantine Loup]], [[Szodan of Benacia]] and [[Council of Archons (N&H)|Archon]] of the National Sector Party in the [[Unified Governorates]];
*[[Jasmina Hosseini]], [[Council of Archons (N&H)|Archon]] of the Democratic Humanist Party, an affiliate National Sector Party in [[Sanama]]. (Arrived {{AN|1698}}).

===House of Osman===
*[[Aurangzeb Tokaraizadeh al-Osman]], Principal Secretary of State of the [[Council of Sathrati]];
*[[Ayesha al-Osman]], Ruler of [[Chryse]].

===Union Defence Force of Elwynn===

*Abolfazl Shahzad Khoroushi, Chief of Staff of the UDF;
*Wilhelm Wartensleben, Commander of UDF maritime forces;
*Jonathan Maersk, Commander of the 1<sup>st</sup> Panzer Army;
*Hamilcar von Sehestedt, Commander of the 2<sup>nd</sup> Panzer Army.

===Invited observers===

All Benacian states, multinational bodies, and corporations were invited to send observers to the Congress as was the Secretary General of the Micras Treaty Organisation.

* [[Friedrich Hans Hemmelsworth]], Executive Director, [[Green Micras Initiative]]
* [[Samira al-Osman]], President, [[Transegale Trading Company|Transegale Trading Company of Elluenuueq, Inc.]]
* [[Royston Anders]], Vice Chairman, [[Oranjesion Private Equity Capital]]

==Venues==

The island of [[Botha]], a private resort set in the Bay of Chryse and normally reserved for the pleasures of the ruler of the city, was chosen as an amenable venue in which to conduct the top level negotiations between the various parties in an environment of safety, comfort, and discretion, removed from prying eyes. At their leisure the principal negotiators were free to conduct their discussions under ''Bothan Island Rules'', that is to say without the cant and hypocrisy that burdens politics and diplomacy when it is carried on in a more public forum.

==Course of the negotiations==

Negotiations began productively enough, resulting in the [[Declaration for the Reorganisation of Benacia and Elwynn (1696)|Declaration for the Reorganisation of Benacia and Elwynn]]. But as the work was divided into constitutional, diplomatic, and procedural workstreams for the attention of specialist negotiators, ensconced in hotels on the mainland, the pace of proceedings was slowed down by the calling away of key interlocutors to attend to various other matters; the troubles in [[Jingdao]] and the Humanist cause there, the perennial problem of recalcitrant [[Zeed]] and its futile [[Third Euran War|war]] in [[Eura]], and the newly minted expansionist policies of [[Hurmu]] on [[Apollonia]]. Accordingly, as {{AN|1696}} gave way to {{AN|1697}} many of the principals found themselves called away to other theatres, leaving matters in the hands of their negotiating teams, to make sense of the redacted notes that they had been left as best they could.

The Agreement on War Reparations (5.VI.{{AN|1697}}) between the Unified Governorates and Elwynn, set the final debt burden for the rebel bailiwicks of [[Amokolia]] and [[Upper Elwynn]]  at 3.9 trillion [[Elwynnese mark]]s, of which 995 billion was to be set aside for the compensation of [[Alalehzamin]], the [[Sovereign Confederation]], and [[Ransenar]], for reconstruction and the remediation of the effects of the ''Scouring''. The burden of reparation payments was initially divided equally between each reconquered bailiwick, irrespective of size and ability to pay. Eventually exactions were scaled to taking forty-percent of a bailiwick's pre-war economic output. The [[UDF]]-supervised authorities of Amokolia and Upper Elwynn were accordingly mandated to collect a total amount of 39.8 billion marks per annum for the duration of the duration of the period {{AN|1697}}&ndash;{{AN|1797}}. Only with the fulfilment of the last payment would the war guilt of the Elw and Amokolian races be considered expunged and the restoration of a constitutional democratic form of government even to be essayed as conceivable. Perhaps seemingly petty at the time, the Imperial State of Constancia demanded restitution of 20 million Natopos to compensate for the building and untimely deaths of staff of the Imperial Embassy in Eliria, and repayment of restitution advanced by the Imperial State for their families. The claim was held to be dubious as the loyalist government had issued warnings for international missions to remove their staff from Eliria as their safety could no longer be guaranteed. The final warning to the diplomatic corps had been given well in advance of the date of the Scouring, as such it was contended that any who, by that stage, had remained in a city at war did so at their own risk. Accordingly clarification was sought before funds would be disbursed from the reparation payments gathered in.

The Agreement on Restitution for Losses Incurred by Allied Shipping (6.VI.{{AN|1697}}) empowered the municipal corporations of ports in the Sovereign Confederation and the Unified Governorates to apply for letters of marque from the Congress, and subsequently from the Benacian Union, to outfit ships to serve as [[Sea-Reavers]] thereby to seek and take as prizes vessels sailing under the flags of [[Calbion]], [[Cimmeria and Raikoth]], [[Jingdao]], and [[Nova England]]. Each port would be permitted to take prizes up until the value of wartime losses incurred by the ports had been reached. Prizes taken were to be sailed to [[Chryse]] for the purpose of valuation and auction, to be conducted by an Admiralty Court convened for the purpose there.

[[Jasmina Hosseini]], leader of the Democratic Humanist Party in [[Sanama]] joined the Congress on 5.I.{{AN|1698}}, in the aftermath of the [[Rice Riots of 1697]], and failed coup attempt. She briefed the delegates on the deteriorating situation in the country and the risks facing the [[Alliance for Prosperity|ruling coalition]] of which she was a part. She subsequently chose to remain at the Congress throughout 1698.

==Final act==
{{WIP}}

The final act of the Congress of Chryse read as follows:

#A Benacian Union shall be formed from the ashes of this continent. It shall uphold the Human Supremacy and Obedience of the Highest Divinity;
##The functions of defence and security, economic, and foreign policy are vested in a higher coordinating body - that of the Benacian Union where Benacia Command of the Raspur Pact, the Benacian Directorate of the Honourable Company, and the Benacian Archons of the Nationalist and Humanist Movement provide a delegate apiece to sit upon the High Presidium of the Union;
#There is no law except the will of the victors, bound only by the Covenant and the Commandments of the Righteous;
##This law shall be expressed in the form of edicts;
#The victorious in the late war endorse the unification of Cedrozurvanism and Humanism as the expression of the system of guiding principles under which the conquered lands shall be ruled;
#Any challenge to this authority shall be met by the Force of Arms so as to decide the right to rule;
#This Congress, constituted in the Free City of Chryse, shall remain in permanent session for so long as the verdict of the Force of Arms shall endure;
#A Chamber of Guilds and Corporations, subordinate to this Congress and comprised of four guilds and four corporate bodies, together in unity constituting the Benacian perfection of the Eight, shall be responsible for all matters of public administration beneath the notice or interest of this Congress. The constituent entities of the Chamber shall each have broad areas of responsibility over which their authority is absolute, subject to the pleasure of this Congress; 
##This Congress shall determine which entities shall constitute the permitted guilds and corporations invited to attend the Chamber;
##Each entity thus invited shall be permitted to dispatch one delegate to attend the sessions of the Chamber;
##The Chamber shall be organised on the basis of one member, one vote, and the principle of majority decision making;
##This Congress may veto any decision of the Chamber and dispense punishments if deemed appropriate;
##In order to operate in any lawful fashion, any body of persons intending to undertake any activity or enterprise whatsoever, must receive a charter and livery, bestowed for a fee, from one of the entities represented at the Chamber;
#There shall be no separation of executive, legislative, and judicial powers. There shall instead be a hierarchy of obedience, to which all are subject;
#To practice the study of law without permission of authority shall be a capital crime;
#Legacy institutions shall be permitted to continue in operation insomuch and for so long as they do not contradict this Congress;
#It shall be a capital offence to accuse this Congress of contradiction, error, or failings of any sort.

==Domestic responses==

==International reaction==

{{unbulleted list|[[Category:Chryse]]|[[Category:Elwynn]]|[[Category:Unified Governorates of Benacia]]}}

{{unbulleted list|[[Category:Benacian Union]]|[[Category:Diplomacy]]|[[Category:Second Elwynnese Civil War]]}}