Congress of Chryse

The Congress of Chryse of 1696– was an important diplomatic conference, focused around the creation of a new Benacian political order after the Second Elwynnese Civil War (1692 AN–1696 AN 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 Archons and the Union Defence Force, and held in the city of Chryse from 20.X.1696 AN 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 – 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.

Participants

Jeremiah Avon-El, Commander in Chief of Benacia Command and Szodan of Benacia until the Declaration on the Reorganisation of Benacia and Elwynn on 8.XI.1696 AN, 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.

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.

• 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. 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 war in Eura, and the newly minted expansionist policies of Hurmu on Apollonia. Accordingly, as 1696 AN gave way to 1697 AN 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.1697 AN 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 marks, 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 1697 AN–1797 AN. 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.