Cattalian War of Independence

The Cattalian War of Independence (1917-1918), also called the Winter Uprising and the Cattalian Revolution, was a guerilla war fought by the army of the Principality of Celestine alongside pro-monarchist and nationalist militias in Cattala against the Italian Government and its forces in Cattala.

Background
Cattala had been ruled as a colony by the British between 1815 and 1861, until it was attacked and occupied by a surprise Italian invasion, from the sea and by nationalists landing in the north. Cattala had been fiercely independent of Italy for centuries, and the population did not support Italian rule.

An insurrection by Crown Prince Amadeus, heir to the Cattalian throne, led to a compromise and he was granted the Principality of Celestine in return for ending the guerilla conflict against Italy in 1861. His government was controlled by Italy and he had little control over matters of state.

Amadeus and his son, Prince Roger both used their own private wealth to invest and construct plans for the reunification of their lost kingdom, the rest of which was ruled by a President in Calora, a puppet of the Italian state. It was Prince William who used this extensive personal wealth to militarise a private army for the Principality between 1910 and 1914. He persuaded the President that it was simply for his protection as the threat of war intensified in Europe.

Around 100,000 Cattalian soldiers were killed or disappeared during the First World War. This placed severe pressure on the island's farming communities and saw food prices and labour costs rise extraordinarily throughout the war, peaking in June 1917. Crowned Radicals encouraged Prince William to use the chaos to create a revolution in Jennai and Fieranti, akin to that ongoing in Russia, which would allow the principality to sweep eastwards and restore full control. Crowned Nationalists opposed this, claiming it could risk the toppling of the monarchy altogether, as would eventually happen in Russia.

The Conservative Party of Cattala was born out of the political strife in Celestine and began backing armed insurgency against Italian rule. Sir Walter Crawton, a landowning baron from the edges of the principality, financed both the political party and the Proel Army, a militia named after the Latin for "Fight".

Wheat Riots
On the 12th December 1917, rioting broke out in Cape Point and Almae, two towns in the rural, agricultural Lessito Province of Italian-ruled Cattala. Farmers and merchants clashed over the price of wheat and the Carabinieri were called in. 13 people were killed during the clashes.

Rioting spread to Jennai and Calora once news of the violent police reaction reached the cities. Wheat prices spiralled and bread at one point cost more than a bottle of champagne. The army were called onto the street and 32 people died during violence in both cities.

In Celeste, wheat had been stored and additional supplies imported during the crisis to ensure prices remained stable. Refugees began arriving from the border regions, where looting and police brutality by Italian officers was reported.

Calora Insurrection
The rioting continued until the 16th December, when a general strike was called by the City Council of Calora, which was anti-Italian. Police and Army operations in the city ground to a near halt as city officials and citizens began actively blocking roads and refusing to serve or assist the Italian military and the puppet government.

Crawton's Proel Army had been heavily armed over the summer and was ordered onto the streets of Calora by their leadership in Celeste. Calora quickly descended into urban, guerilla warfare and the Italian forces were overwhelmed by the Proel Army and untrained civilian militias as well. By Christmas Day, the city was captured by nationalist forces and the President of Cattala was forced to flee to Jennai.

Italian Counter-offensive
Despite the Principality of Celestine declaring it played no role in the insurrection, Italy accused it of arming the rebels, which it had done indirectly. Italy began border skirmishes, breaking the rules of the Celestine Treaty, and Italian troops were spotted nearing Celestine by the Prince's military plane.

The Principality declared its support for the Calora Insurrection and pledged to openly arm the rebel militias. Fighting broke out in all major towns and cities, and the Proel Army was relieved of duty in Calora by the Celestinian army. By the 1st January 1918, two of Cattala's major cities were under royalist control and the war was going well for the nationalists.

Italian forces launched a counter attack, sweeping south from its strongholds in the north of the country. Naval skirmishes took place off the coast of Celestine and Calora between loyalist Italian Navy vessels and a number of ships where the Cattalian crew had mutinied. Celeste was attacked by Italian Army units over a three week period, and Calora once again descended into urban warfare as the balance of power continued to shift.

Rebellions in other towns and villages increased, as Italian Carabinieri began skirmishes and razings of rebel-held communes. Dissent amongst Cattalian soldiers in the Italian Army grew and defections became a daily occurrence.

By the 25 January, heavy military presence in Celestine meant skirmishes stopped, although in Fieranti the Italian counter offensive had been more successful, restoring loyalist rule over the city. Jennai was experiencing more unrest and bombings for the first time, but remained firmly in the hands of the Italians.

Assault on Calora


On the 30 January 1918, the Proel Army launched a dawn raid on Calora and began simultaneous attacks across the city. Fifteen bombs went off through the morning, and attacks on army units outside of the city became constant. Supply lines were cut off by the guerilla forces and fighting continued throughout the day.

At midday, Italian riders entered the city and reported the sighting of a slow-moving battalion of Principality infantry heading towards Calora. Reports at dusk said they had changed direction and were heading towards Jennai. Riders were sent to overtake the battalion and warn the High Command in Jennai of the approaching force.

Overnight, a cavalry brigade launched a surprise attack on the city, which had already been weakened by the continuous fighting inside the city. The battalion doubled back and arrived at Calora in the morning, by which time the cavalry had attacked outposts throughout the city and secured the south of the city for the Principality.

The forces, commanded by Prince William, began progressing through the city and overwhelmed the depleted Italian Army, which had gone almost 24 hours without supplies. Calora surrendered unconditionally on the 31 January 1918.

Provincial Civil War


After the fall of the city, the Archbishop of Calora crowned Prince William as King of Cattala amongst the ruins of the city's main square. The newly-declared Kingdom forces controlled Celestine and much of the western coastline, whilst sporadic enclaves of royalist territory were spread across the rest of the Italian-controlled Province of Cattala.

Following the fall of Calora, the state of Fieranti declared its loyalty to the Crown and denounced the "Italian occupation" of sovereign Cattala. The states of Hellas and Jennai were controlled by Italian leaders and declared war against Fieranti and all other states that would "disturb the peace of the unified Italian Kingdom".

The war between the monarchist forces of King William and the Italian loyalists continued in the south, where fighting moved closer to Jennai. A new front was opened up by the provincial wars between the Italian League, consisting of Hellas and Jennai, and the Agrarian League, consisting of Monte Calida and Lessito. The civil war between the provinces included both pro-Italian and pro-independence groups, as well as Cattalian royalists, republicans and small groups of revolutionary communists.

Fighting between the provinces was fiercest between the 2 February and the 15 February 1918. For that two week period, forces from both the Agrarian League and the Italian League met in guerilla conflict in Jennai, Almae, Ionia and Seina and were involved in skirmishes across the country. Neither side had any particular success besides causing confusion and sparking a Red Scare amongst the Italian commanders in Jennai.

Fall of Jennai
The monarchist forces of King William advanced on Jennai at a slow pace through the final days of January. After a series of skirmishes and ambushes along the Damego border region, the vanguard was slowed. However, an outflanking of Italian forces by cavalry from Monte Calida allowed the royalist army to advance more quickly and by the 5 February, they were in full retreat towards Jennai.

The city came under light artillery assault on the 11 February and was attacked by William's army the following day. Incursions into the city became more frequent hour by hour, and Italian forces began an uncoordinated evacuation by sea. The Proel Army and Cattalian nationalists within the city began attacking checkpoints and indiscriminate attacks on military barricades and suspected pro-Italian districts.

The city's beleaguered defences were broken on the 13 February and William's troops began storming it for the first time. As it became clear that the city was capitulating, citizens began rioting and the Presidential Palace came under siege from pro-Cattalian militia and rioters. The President was abandoned by his guards and the Italian Army retreated fully from the city, without leadership.

President Arietta, a puppet ruler for the Italian state, was captured by rioters and forced into the street, as King William and his mounted regiment entered the city. Accounts from soldiers, rioters and an official investigation afterwards show that Arietta was beaten violently and tied to a flag pole outside the palace, where the Italian flag was flying. He was burnt alive.

Recognition of Independence
King William denounced the execution of Arietta but went on to claim Jennai for the Kingdom of Cattala regardless. His forces surrounded the city and began killing known Italian nationalists. After the fall of Calora and Jennai, the Italian Army went into full retreat and the Italian League collapsed, as state governments in Hellas and Jennai were overthrown.

On the 14 February, full sovereignty was declared and Italy withdrew from the Cattalian islands entirely. The independent country was recognised by Great Britain and the Entente, and ambassadors were sent to Celestine to encourage the new country to not side with the Central Powers and to reject communism.

Aftermath


King William extended the remit of the appointed Celestine Assembly to the rest of the country. In order to appease the other states, he pledged to call democratic elections and rule as a constitutional monarch. Lord Frano, the leader of the Conservative Party, became Lord Chancellor of Cattala and a Constitution was created reinforcing the role of the monarch and the establishment of democratic government. The first elections were held in August 1918, and were comfortably won by the incumbent Conservative Party. The party's first term in office was characterised by authoritarianism, and an inbuilt paranoia of an Italian invasion or rival insurgency from communists.

The Proel Army and other militias signed a peace settlement with the government in September 1918 and were quickly disbanded. The Proel Army was controlled by the Conservative Party's financier, Sir Walton Crawton, and were therefore quick to submit to the government. A national army was created from the combination of the state militias, the private royal army and the Army of Celestine.

For the next twenty years, Cattala remained an independent nation with its own democratic government. Celestine was restored as the capital city of the unified island and the crown was firmly back in the hands of the royal dynasty. The interwar years were characterised by a slow return to prosperity, that was cut short by the Wall Street Crash and Great Depression that followed. Peace was short, though, as war and Italian occupation returned to haunt the country in 1940.