Uprising of Cantonova
The uprising of Cantonova was a rebellion in the latter years of the War of Great Sorrow that lasted from Y358-361, in which Cantonova attempted to break free from Dreibachan occupation.
The Conflict
Prelude
Though Cantonova (long an independent city-state) had been under the control of the Kingdom of Dreibach since near the beginning of the Age of Complexity, it began to pull away from control during the Ferhauss Era due to Dreibach's weak central government and was functionally a self-governing entity by the Y330s. During King Felix I's push to reunite the kingdom in the late Y330s, he put the city under military occupation and reasserted Dreibach's control. Public resentment of this control grew during the middle years of the War of Great Sorrow. Though the city did not see active battle during these years, Dreibach steadily raised taxes in the city, diverted funds from infrastructure projects, and instituted rations of many agricultural products as the war raged on. In Y356, King Sophus IV—the newly-crowned king after his father Felix I's death—instituted a draft within the city of Cantonova for the first time. All men and childless women over the age of majority who proved physically fit to fight were to be entered into a draft lottery, with a portion of them periodically sent to the northern front. The general in charge of their training, João Cesar Almaviva, strongly disagreed with this practice. He immediately began excusing soldiers against royal orders.
"I don't need a medic's signature. I will declare soldiers fit and unfit as I please, dammit. An unwillingness to fight and die in a foreign war is reason enough alone."General Almaviva had a close relationship with the diplomat Melpoména, a consul to the city representing Filia. Melpoména bargained with the Filian government for food and arms to be sent to Cantonova, and helped Almaviva stash the contraband in the back rooms of the city's theaters. At the same time, Almaviva began accepting more drafted military recruits for training, then striking them from the rosters on the basis of an "injury" in the last days before deployment, creating a trained fighting force of Cantonovans unwilling to fight for the king. Near the start of Y358, paramilitary pirate gangs loyal to Dreibach began patrolling the Aegirrán Sea off the Cantonovan coast. They press ganged sailors from merchant ships' crews and forced them into military service. One such gang boarded Melpoména's ship during one of her smuggling missions, killing her in the ensuing struggle. Upon learning of her death, General Almaviva and his sergeants staged a coup, overtaking Fort Felixhia and declaring Cantonovan independence.
—General João Cesar Almaviva, on the forced conscription of Cantonovan citizens
Deployment
King Sophus IV initially sent very few troops to defend Cantonova, leaving the job primarily to his paramilitary forces in the nearby seas and those officers already there. Several nearby nations in the Aquatic Kingdoms began attacking these paramilitary ships and exerting control over their ocean territories bordering the Cantonovan coast. The occupying officers within the city of Cantonova were largely either rooted out and killed by the rebels or fled the city in the first years of the war, and the supplementary troops sent by the King were unable to breach the southern gates.
After the fall of Bjália at the start of Y361, Dreibach was able to safely retreat from the largely-ceded northern front of the war and focus on subduing the rebels. They sent nearly twice as many troops as had previously fought on the Cantonovan front, including their most elite convocations of war mages. This sudden influx of forces was enough to breach the walls in the Virgoan Advance of 361. They razed much of the city, blazing a path northwards to the rebels' stronghold at Fort Felixhia. Just as General Almaviva was nearly cornered on the parapets of the crumbling fort, a silvery dragon is said to have appeared from the sea to drive out the Dreibachan forces.
Battlefield
The first few months of the war took place largely on the streets of Cantonova and in the waters just outside the city. The naval-based press gangs were cornered by blockades from nearby countries of the Aquatic Kingdoms and ill-equipped to fight on land. The smaller armies sent by Dreibach in the early war had difficulties getting through the Gaeno Woods; when they did arrive in the Borderlands, they were largely unable to get past the guards of the villages and the gates of the city proper.
Once the Kingdom's war mages began arriving at the Cantonovan front, breaches of the city's southern defenses became more common, and fighting erupted on the Cantonovan streets. The native Cantonovans were able to hold back the army for a while through their knowledge of their home territory, but the fighting eventually spread throughout Cantonova and all the way to Fort Felixhia—the rebels' home base on the northeastern edge of the city.
Outcome
With both sides having now suffered devastating casualties, King Sophus called all parties in the ongoing global war to a peace meeting, held on a ship from the Near Isles anchored at the Cantonovan harbor. There, the Treaty of Cantonova was written by General Almaviva's shieldmaiden Xersei Calliópa over the course of the next week and signed by all parties, putting an end to both the Uprising of Cantonova and the entire War of Great Sorrow on 1 September Y1111.
Aftermath
The diplomatic relationship between Cantonova and Dreibach flourished in the early years after the end of the war, particularly after the building of the Vía Titania. The newly-christened Count Almaviva focused his efforts on reconstructing the city, but remained cordial with the Dreibachan government, as per the treaty's conditions.
The strong diplomatic ties Cantonova forged as a result of the uprising—both between various members of the Aquatic Kingdoms at its start, and with Dreibach after its end—ultimately resulted in the diverse metropolitan hub of culture and industry Cantonova is today. However, the long assurance of independence allowed Cantonovans to develop completely different economic and sociopolitical values to the Kingdom of Dreibach (later the Dreibach Empire). Combined with the various territorial skirmishes and shifts in power Dreibach has seen over the years, this led Cantonovans to consider themselves increasingly separate from Dreibach over the years, with many eventually arguing that the Treaty of Cantonova was void and the Free City had earned independence by default. Emperor Amadeus refused to negotiate an extension at the treaty's end in Y1111, demanding total submission to Empire rule. This eventually resulted in the Triple Defense of Cantonova on 1 September Y1111 and the various skirmishes between the Free City and the Dreibach Empire that have raged since.
Historical Significance
Legacy
The 1 September Y361 ratification of the Treaty of Cantonova is considered the founding date of the modern city-state of Free Cantonova. The descendants of Almaviva I still serve as its head of state, with current Conte Drago Florian Almaviva (Almaviva XVI) as its latest heir and his mother Countess Rosina Almaviva as his regent.
Included under Conflict
Conflict Type
Rebellion
Battlefield Type
Urban
Start Date
4 March, Y358
Ending Date
1 September, Y1111
Conflict Result
Free City of Cantonova granted de facto independence for 750 years while remaining an official protectorate of Dreibach
Location
Belligerents
Strength
358: 5,500 (approx.)
361: 9,000 (approx.), including 200 war mages
361: 9,000 (approx.), including 200 war mages
8,000 combatants (approx.)
Casualties
2,000 (approx.)
3,500 combatants (approx.)
2,500 civilians (approx.)
2,500 civilians (approx.)
Objectives
Regain control of Cantonova
Independence of Cantonova
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