The Great Letonese migration.
Although officially Neutral during the great war, The Nation of Letonna(Old Letonna) sold supplies and resources to various nations on both sides of the conflict. This would earn the nation of Letonna, and it's Emperor few friends in the international political sphere. Soon after the great war, years of bad harvests drove the price of grain up. The government hence rationed the grain, but due to corruption, resources were not evenly distributed, leading to starvation of some of the Empires more poor citizens. In the fall of 1919 a.d., revolt broke out in the capital of Letonnasburg. Soon lower class workers from neighboring town and cities flooded the city, ransacking government food warehouses.
The military could not hold back the mob as they swarmed the royal palace. The Emperor fled with many other members of government, and made for the northern coast where many of the Letonnian navy ships were docked. Word spread quickly what was happening, and many more cities and towns fell to disgruntled citizens. The Emperor ordered what military stations that were available to try to quell the rebellion. Some generals and commanders, seeing the end was near, refused, and stood down. Others, realizing it was futile, just tried to defend themselves and make their way north to the more loyalist regions of the nation. Three days after the initial uprising, any remaining military in the southern reaches had ceased to report in. The remaining government officials advised the Emperor to not pursue war. Emperor Titus stood on the bow of his flagship, and proclaimed famously:
"Let them have it. Those fools will have no idea what to do with themselves. They will freeze, they will starve, the will kill themselves. Over what? Burnt cities and failing infrastructure."
Before departing shore, messengers were sent out to many loyalist towns and cities in the northern part of the country. They urged citizens to get to the coast, and board commandeered ships, before rebels turned against more loyalist citizens. It was at this time too, that Titus's administration received telegraph from the northern nation of Neustria, that they were welcome to dock at the port of Neusburg, the capitol of Neustria. Titus and his military in exile set sail with as many refugees as they could carry to the northern hemisphere. Many more set sail on shipping and passenger vessels later on.
When Titus arrived in Neusburg, it was General Vach Klaunder of the Neustrian military that welcomed him. Klaunder welcomed the Letonese to stay, hoping that wining over these immigrants, and their resources and man power, could help prop up his eventual coup of the frail Neustrian Government. Klaunder, over the next two years, arranged employment, living conditions, and overall integration into Neusburg. By 1922, the Letonese were a powerful political force in Neusburg. The Letonese, being naturally savvy businessmen and politicians, had a strong economic presence in the city.
By 1923, Klaunder asked Titus for his support in orchestrating a coup. Titus, having motives of his own, told him he would lend what remained of his military, which had remained docked in the harbor, in taking the Neustrian capitol building. Letonese forces would approach from the east, while Klaunder men would take the west.
On April 16, 1923, at 6 a.m., before any government employees arrived, Letonese forces swarmed the capitol, 2 hours prior to the arranged time. Neustrian forces, loyal to Klaunder, arrived only to find themselves being fired upon by Titus's men. Chaos broke out in the city. Letonese fought Neustrians loyal to the fragile government and Klaunder. Letonese military ships fired on major government instillations in the city, while telegraph lines cut. Klaunder was eventually taken hostage, and his men ordered to stand down. After 3 days of intense fighting, The remainder of the Neustrian forces surrendered the city.
April 20th, 1923, Klaunder, along with members of his command and the Neustrian government, were execuited on the deck of the Letonnian battleship, The Sech. Much of the city was destroyed. Many letonnian citizens were drafted to police the city, while former Neustrian military personnel were guaranteed food for their families if they joined the Letonese.
Much of the nationside remained uncontrolled, and fell to Neustrian warlord command. Emperor Titus, determined to reestablish an Empire, sought out to claim these warlord states. Starting in the Summer of 1926, Titus, personally commanding his forces, invaded the warlord state of Brevfaulm, to the north of New Letonnasburg. Brevsfaulm is heavily agricultural region. Hence, Titus enforced scorched earth policy, burning farmland as he progressed. Surrounding the hold out of the Warlord, Titus ordered his forced to stand down and surround the city of Tempf. When asked by one of his generals why he asked them to stand down, he proclaimed.
"Research can be better than the best siege. Sharper than your bayonete, and mightier than the rifle. We burned all their food. They may have enough to last until November, but they will starve. Eventually we will send over leaflets, proclaiming we will exchange food for an unconditional surrender."
Titus's plan worked, and on November 12th, The city surrendered. Titus offered the same deal to the former soldiers under the warlord as he did the old Neustrian military: You will be provided food for your family if you swore loyalty to the Emperor., and New Letonna. Now with a sizable force, Titus conquered the remaining warlord states, one by one. By 1930 The final province was conquered, and an Empire was solidified. Titus could comfortably rule from his throne once more, if the war had not taken such a toll on him. He suffered from sleepless nights, and paranoia. Those closest to him claimed he feared an uprising again, as well as assassins and betrayal. His hunches would eventually come true. In 1943, he was assassinated in his evening meal by means of cyanide poisoning. The Public was told he died in his sleep, as not to give ideas to disgruntled political groups. His only son, Heir Apparent Ulfrum, was too young to rule. It was determined in an emergency meeting that he would be fit to rule at an age of 22, after appropriate schooling, and his ministers would govern themselves in the meantime...
