History of Vegno
The history of Vegno covers a fairly large period, conventionally divided in two by Vegnese historians: before and after the declaration of independence of the Vegno constituent assembly and the consequent formation of the Republic of Vegno.
The territories currently belonging to the Republic of Vegno, are located in the north-east area of Apollonia and have seen, in the course of the history of Micras, a succession of very heterogeneous domains over time, with even large periods of small independent settlements without a government central.
The city that most of all, throughout history, has played a fundamental role in the territory is certainly the city of Port of Sails (Vegnian: "Porto di Vele"), which for years represented a key port of the Kingdom of Toketi, one of the most important kingdoms in the panorama of Apollonia, except then falling into disrepair with the fall of the same, and only recently being re-evaluated in the Vegnese landscape thanks to its history.
History before the Vegnese Republic
The first domains
From 1477 AN until about 1527 AN, the data found by the Vegnese historians are too few and lacking to be able to establish a truly sure storyline of the dominions over the Vegnese territories.
What is currently assumed is that in these early years a series of independent kingdoms and republics followed one another, headed above all by the Crandan Republic, later annexed to the Duchy of Arminy.
The Crandan Republic is thought to have been able to unify the territories north of Apollonia with the present Vegnean territories in the northeast, resulting in a major territorial expansion on the continent.
Later the Crandan Republic was annexed into the duchy of Arminy, which was actually a confederation created as a result of a merger between several Germanic-themed nations, including Cranda, Northworthy, Hurmu and Slobovia. After the country collapsed, probably in the early 1500s, its lands were gifted to several nations, including Lac Glacei, Stormark, Shireroth, Gotzborg, the Grand Commonwealth, Alexandria and the Anglo-Saxon Commonwealth. Much of these land claims were abandoned by their respective heirs soon after succession, and the Vegnese territories were merged into the High Realm of Stormark until the 1520s.
Under Stormark's reign, some cities in the northeast grew and developed as never before, forming part of a large kingdom that also included territories on the Keltian continent. In particular, the city of Port of Sails began, precisely in these years, its development which will then lead it to be one of the most important in the panorama; in fact, thanks to its strategic position, together with the Keltian Datret, it was a fundamental stop in the maritime routes through the Strait of Pearls.
However, the domain of the Stormark ceased around 1530, when they were abandoned by the rulers, to instead see the subsequent birth of perhaps the most important domain in the history of the Vegnese territories: the Kingdom of Toketi.
From the Toketi conquest to the Gralan Empire
The domain that has undoubtedly represented the most important piece of history is that of the Kingdom of Toketi, which settled in these areas around the years 1530-1534 AN, making it officially one of the most important on the continent.
Some Tokish artifacts found by Vegnese historians affirm the foundation of the city in 1537 AN by the Kingdom of Toketi and its King Liam conToketi I; other previous finds, however, already demonstrate its existence under the rule of Stormark, failing to date the actual birth of the city so precisely. However, the fact is certain that under the Toketi dominion the city experienced one of its moments of maximum splendour, also acquiring a notable religious importance given by the construction in 1545 AN of the Temple of Reynardine.
Later in 1544 AN, the kingdom of Toketi united with Novatainia and Relaram, to form the Confederacy of Gralus, which later became, in 1551 AN, officially the Gralan Empire, one of the largest and most important nations on Micras.
Under the Gralan Empire, the territories that would later become Vegnese territory would know their period of maximum importance. The empire continued to exert its influence on these territories for a very long time, however still belonging, both culturally and politically, to the province of Toketi.
However, the fall of the Gralan Empire occurred in 1615 AN, and after more than 70 years of rule first as a confederation and then as an Empire, the Tokish territories became independent again and again under the Tokish Kingdom, which then resumed its independence and full control over these areas.
The final fall of the Tokish influence and the Republic of Freeland
However, the new independence of the Kingdom of Toketi was not long-lasting because, in 1627 AN, the kingdom underwent the last sharp political shock, which led to the definitive fall of the sovereign, without the establishment of a new government. The territories, currently Vegnese, in the north-east of Apollonia were thus left to themselves, where each city individually organized its own way of living and self-governing.
However, Port of Sails was re-conquered by the High Realm of Stormark, which had already held this area between 1500 and 1520 AN, returning to govern this city until its definitive fall. The areas to the north were not reconquered by the kingdom, only to be subsequently occupied by the Republic of Freeland in 1654 AN.
It placed its capital in Viten (later "Sancrus"), on the island of Falange, and gave birth to what are still today the largest Vegnese cities: especially Glavat (now "Mhazar") and Klomina ( now "Agropl"). The Polish influence still remains today in some areas of the Vegnese territory, however confined above all to the island of Falange, where the capital Viten was located, and to that of Falangetta, where the city of Extremum is located today.
During 1685 and 1687 AN however both respectively the High Realm of Stormark, leaving the once prosperous and important city of Port of Sails semi-abandoned, and also the Republic of Freeland fell. The territories of Vegno were then abandoned to individual settlements by any central government for a good 19 years when, in 1706 AN, the declaration of independence of the Republic of Vegno was officially made.
Wars of Independence
Background
Soon after the collapse of the Republic of Freeland in 1687 AN, ideologies of a possible re-unification of the country by individual city initiatives began to spread across the territory. The feeling of feeling part of the same country was common to all the inhabitants, having always been united under a single flag throughout their history. However, what was changing during the last years of the 1600s was the desire to take over the dominion and the upper hand by the individual communities in the respective settlements that had arisen following the fall of the central government.
The cities that had organized themselves better autonomously with their own mini-government were certainly those that had already had their relevance in the past: the former capital Viten, Glavat and the smaller Klomina. A minority of Gaian origins (the future Vegnesi), however, had quickly organized themselves well in a settlement on the sea, not far from Glavat: Cossa. This gaian minority, however, soon began to attract the attention of many ex-polishes from nearby cities, who asked for many years to be able to move and settle there, due to the considerable growth of the city in a short time. The remarkable growth of Cossa in the last years of the 1600s had been made possible by a very stable restricted council, made up of 7 members, and by a population that had always been in the minority eager for revenge and independence from the old, now decayed government. Especially the maritime activity and the considerable arrivals of population from nearby cities made the city of Cossa, in a short time, the most populous and important city in the area.
With the growth of the population, the desire for a new unification of the country also grew in the city, at the dawn of the 1700s, this time under the leadership of the old Gaian minority, by now autonomously defined as Vegnese, a term deriving from the ancient stories of Gaian settlers who founded a kingdom on these shores (cf. Etymology)
At the beginning of 1700 AN the economic resources of Cossa were thus diverted to the constitution of an important army, with the aim of unifying the country under the same vegnese flag.
First War of Independence
The three-year period 1700-1703 AN was decisive for the unification of Vegno. In the first months of 1700 An the 7 members of the council of Cossa entered into an alliance with the government of Glavat, the second largest city in the continental area of the country, thanks to which both now had the largest military force and population in the territory . However, the stipulated agreements, from subsequent testimonies and finds, are said to have been in reality a real blackmail by the city of Cossa, with the governor of Glavat forced to accept what in reality was a real surrender in order not to create damage to its citizens and thus guarantee them an important weight in the subsequent unitary state. In fact, through these agreements the governor of Glavat undertook to give unconditional support to Cossa and the 7 members of the council, to change the name of the city to the Vegnian "Mhazar" and to renounce any claim to power over the subsequent state.
Thus began the first Vegnese war of independence, also called Operation Cormorant or Securing of the Nation by the Vegnese government, where the cities of Cossa and Mhazar waged war on the cities of the continent to unify and annex them to a single central state.The minor settlements gave in without a fight and many of them were even happy to declare themselves again a truly independent state; in most cases, in fact, this first war of independence was nothing more than a peaceful occupation of the territory and small settlements in the nation.
The only real battles were actually only two: the battle of South Coast and the one of Klomina. In fact, these only two cities tried to offer a poor resistance to the Vegnese troops advancing on the territory, without however succeeding and declaring their surrender after 3 days for Klomina and after 4 for the newborn Murgione.
The first Vegnese war of independence thus saw its end in 1703 AN, with the conquest, both peaceful and not, by the troops of Cossa and Mhazar of the continental territories of the ex-republic of Freeland.
Second War of Independence
The second war of independence takes place in the course of the year 1704 AN, very close to the end of the first one, so much so that many Vegnese historians tend to define it as a single war of independence, although officially they are still defined as distinct one on the other.
The forces at play by the governments of the continental cities of Vegno are in fact always the same leftovers from the first war and this time the objective was to conquer and secure the city of Viten, on the island of Falange.
The former capital of the Republic of Freeland was clearly the most powerful and populous city of the former republic but, thanks to the fact of being located on an island compared to the other continental territories or also due to wrong decisions, it had remained totally foreign in the first war of independence and had absolutely no interest either in participating in it, or in presenting itself as a real alternative to the Vegnese conquest. This failure to intervene is, for many historians and experts, the real misstep of the city of Viten during the Vegnese independence, since, if it had intervened from the beginning, many believe that it alone would have had the strength to reunify the whole country under the old Polish majority.
The real beginning of the war came with the landing of the Vegnese troops on the island of Falange and the assault on the former capital, totally unexpected by the local leaders. This mistake on the part of the local governors, of considering themselves outsiders and totally ignoring what was happening on the continent, was their condemnation: the city was in fact completely conquered in just two days, with a single strong resistance near the former palace government of the Republic of Freeland.
The conquest of the city was carried out as peacefully as possible, with the few firefights limited to the Polish guard militias present at the entrances; the only strong act of the vegnese army was the total destruction of the government building of the capital, which was razed to the ground by the army, as a signal of the definitive fall of what little remained of the previous republic of Freeland.
With the subsequent landing and the peaceful occupation of the islands of Falangina and Falangetta, the second war of independence ended at the end of 1704 AN, which now saw the definitively decided territory of Vegno re-unified under the flag of the Cormorant.
