The Patrician Republic

The Patrician Republic, or First Altian Republic, was a state born of the dissolution of the Kingdom of Altia and a major player in the years before and during the Wars of May. Although a Democratic Republic by design, the First Altian Republic would be plagued by issues concerning the electorate. In spite of claims for universal suffrage during the Revolution, such policies would never actually be implemented, and the vote would remain the privilege of males belonging to the nobility. Moreover, the Patrician Republic would be plagued by infighting and corruption throughout its existence. Still, in the years leading up to the Wars of May, the Patrician Republic would command a fair degree of respect from its people, in addition to being one of the most powerful nations in the world.

History
See: The Second Altian Republic 

See: The Second Altian Republic during the Wars of May.

See: The Revolution of 307 

Like its successor, The First Altian Republic would result from a war of revolution with the intent of overturning an unsatisfactory status quo. Using the combined armies of the Patrician armies, the Kingdom of Altia's powerful nobles would defeat the royalist armies in battle before expelling or executing members of Altia's monarchy - the House of Liege. The resulting peace would be characterized by the establishment of a democratic republic with a patrician electorate, the banishment or harsh punishment of royalists remaining within the borders of the new nation and finally, a massive de-centralization of power. The Ministries of Intelligence, containing such agencies as the Royal Secret Police would be dismantled. Meanwhile, the Royal Army would be drastically reduced in size and capability in favor of a loose military command composed by troops marshalled by each of the powerful noble families and led in the field by government-appointed general-grade officers.



The central government, based in Altia, would accordingly have limited powers, especially with regards to the regulation and control of the provinces. Power during this time would be distributed across the regions of Altia, vested with her great Patrician families. Rather than the nerve center of policy-making and statecraft, the Altian National Government would exist as a coordinating body for the great factions contained within the Republic's borders. The regional interests of the most powerful Patrician Families would unsurprisingly dominate the new era, and unsound yet massive agricultural subsidies would be among the most visible manifestations of the Patrician stranglehold on government policy. The economic malaise that would appear following the expulsion of the Royals (and skilled human capital) would continue more or less unabated throughout much of the First Altian Republic.

Still, for much of its fifty-year long existence, the citizens of the First Altian Republic would afford the new state the benefit of the doubt. Seeking to give the Democratic experiment a real chance, even the most unhappy would initially be pacified by the claims that enfranchisement of the broader electorate would be instituted along with economic liberalization. In spite of minor rumblings, the First Altian Republic would manage to keep relative order and stability for the first decades of its existence.

The Experiment of 332, Seeds of Conflict
By 330 the passivity acquired by the Revolution's fervor had long died off. Even the youngest revolutionaries of the 307 uprising had grown old, with many filling positions of power. A new generation bred on the promises of the Revolution, yet unfamiliar with the world before it and the sacrifices made within it was coming of age. A bad harvest that same year would sharpen the economic difficulties facing the Republic, the hardship accordingly bringing back the discussion of enfranchisement of all Altian adult citizens. In May 332, students throughout the republic's universities would stage protests and mock governnments in an attempt to spur the government to reform.

While government officials would promised to advance the prospect of universal suffrage, the movement's popularity would ultimately be its downfall. As the populist sentiment threatened to reach the industrial workers and poor farmers, the noble families attempted to head off further unrest. October 332 would see repression, often violent, of the student protests and the imprisonment and execution of its leaders. The result would terrify conservatives from the wrath of the popular front whilst liberals would begin to see the government as a deceptive enemy. Moreover, the viability of a non-patrician government and electorate would be demonstrated on a large scale, further fueling the desire to reform. In any case, the relative stability (and popularity) that had accompanied the birth of the First Altian Republic would largely dissipate from the experiences of 332, and would foreshadow the war that would ensue in 351.

Run up to Revolution
The following decades would see stability restored to the Republic via repressive measures by the noble powers. While a broad frontw ould not be mandated by the Republican government, the individual powers of noble estates and the powers of regional governments would be strengthened to facilitate the reduction of populist sentiment. As the decades following the 'Experiment of 332' passed and the memory of the event faded, a semblance of calm would return to the Republic. Rather than maintain the hars restrictions of the 30s, the Patrician government would allow for the limited (albeit, carefully scrutinized) exchange of liberal pamphlets and media. While the liberal threat would be one acutely felt by the Patricians, more relevant for many nobles throughout the antebellum period was the fears of a royalist restoration. The death of Charles IV of Brecourt and the liberal revolution that would follow in May 351 would prove such fears sorely misplaced.

Economy
The conclusion of the First Altian Revolution would leave its new republic in a peculiar place. While in shambles from the ravages of war, vast technological improvements and Altia's rich natural resources would allow the confederation of noble domains to bound back from the chaos that followed the fall of the House of Liege. Still, in spite of Altia's vast gifts (one of the most modernized industrial powers, vast waterways, to speak nothing of enormous natural deposits of coal, iron and timber) the new Republic would be dominated by economic mismanagement. Agriculture - the traditional domain of the nobility's revenues - would be heavily subsidized. Moreover, foreign imports of grain and other food stuffs would be beset by harsh tariffs or quotas, further inflating food prices and hurting other economic sectors.



All this would contribute to a culture of smuggling from foreign nations, not to mention between the various regions, whose own economic policies would be de-centralized following the expulsion of the royals in 307. Moreover, the industrialized southern regions, whose economic reliance on trade would be damaged by the harsh tariffs and high price of domestic raw goods, would be beset by dissident movements to liberalize economic policy. This would be met with mixed results - by the democratic 'experiment of 332,' several bills intended to liberalize trade policy would be introduced. Still, of the fourteen such bills proposed from 332, only five would be adopted.

Still, in spite of the many challenges and missteps to plague the First Altian Republic's economy, the nation would still enjoy a relative level of prosperity built on the size and natural endowment of the lands within the Republic. While corruption, graft and simple economic mismanagement would beset the Patrician Republic, it's commercial and economic clout with regard to other nations of the era cannot be overstated.

Military
The army that founded the First Altian Republic was one of many combined forces procured and recruited by the Kingdom of Altia's nobles. That said, it would be these armies that would make up the military forces of the First Altian Republic. Along with Naval and Ground forces, the military of the First Altian Republic would be divided into a standing national army and the privately mustered forces of the nobles. While the former would nominally be the supreme military institution, the reality would see the smaller armies of the great patrician families holding ultimate power.

Ground Forces
The concluding peace of the First (Patrician) Revolution would effect the decentralization of power from the city of Altia and national executive authority, to the regional administration of the Republic's great families.