Scandavian States
22-12-2005, 17:41
Tryne was an odd Protectorate of the Imperium in that it had not come under the aegis of New Copenhagen through military action, but from the private ventures of several shipping houses. All of those houses were small to medium in size and either were run by families of Dutch stock or had such families with a significant interest in the running thereof. In the tradition of Imperial colonies everywhere, three major hubs had been set up, all of them ports, though not with the great deal of forthought typified by those cities set up by military engineers. The immigration had started with the families of ship crews assigned to Trynian ports for a significant period of time, as well as those who were related to administrators who did not put to sea and couldn't hope to see home for some time. Then entire extended families had drifted towards the growing cities, which had caused the shipping houses to contact firms in the business of building the massive housing skyscrapers so common within the mainland and colonies of the Imperium, these also run by Dutch families. The same immigration process had started all over again for those associated with the skycraper crews and the managers of the firms. By necessity other businesses had come to Tryne, not known as such at the time, because of the growing need for services and the likewise growing amount of money available to pay for those services. In a matter of a few years three port cities existed where none had before, with tens of millions of people populating them.
At first the ports had been governed as properties of the shipping houses, then as families moved in it had been necessary to form city governments. As those cities had grown sufficiently that the advantages of such had become apparent, the three cities formed a quasi-Duchy. Even though none of the citizens in those cities had repudiated their claims of citizenship, nor had the new entity declared itself to be a nation in its own right, the Imperium had made no move to assert governerment over the new land; as far as the Imperium was concerned the people in the entity of Tryne were citizens of the Duchies their papers said they were. Territory was staked out according to the putative rules of the region governing such things and divided into five governing zones, which was to that point in time the only concession to the necessities of defense. This continued for the first few years, until one fine December day a Governer of Tryne, one Sofie van der Berg, contacted Her Imperial Highness to request the official recognition of the Imperial Protectorate of Tryne. The Empress, having kept close watch on the affairs of Tryne, accepted almost immediately and forwarded both the request and her acceptance to the Imperial Senate. Technically the Empress could her shove acceptance down the throat of the Senators, but forms and traditions had to be followed, and one was that they would be given a chance to accede to the Empresses demands before Her Majesty became sufficiently irked to make them regret it. The Imperial Senate, being mainly populated by wise souls, neither wanted to set off the Empress' sometimes volatile temper nor disown the citizens living in Tryne that they represented. So, it came to be that one Sofie van der Berg became Marchess Sofie van der Berg, Lord Protector of Tryne and Her Royal Highness' senior representative thereof.
Of course, the problem that immediately presented itself upon official recognition both by Her Royal Highness and the Imperial Senate was that the Imperium now needed to send military units to protect the new territory and organize the raising of a local Guard; especially in light of the potential powderkeg the area represented with Woodstock Pact colonies bordering Doomingland and allied-held territory. In the event that the perverbial 16 ton shoe dropped and the two opposing sides decided to really go at it, the Imperium knew which side it would lean towards, although the recent cooling of relations with Sarzonia over the Pacitalian trade situation would prevent active participation unless the Omzian or Mekugian became involved. With the stance of armed neutrality for the region adopted by the Imperium, it was decided that the heaviest concentration of forces had to be with the Imperial Navy and Imperial Aerospace Force. To that end, an entire Expeditionary Fleet and two Air Forces, stripped from New Copenhagen and Alexandria Duchies, were sent to Tryne to defend the most vulnerable aspects of the colony. 16 divisions of Imperial Marines were also sent in the transport ships of the 1st Assault Fleet, although those were a stopgap until the Imperium could afford to raise another ten field armies to properly defend the ground of Tryne. Nobody was quite sure if such forces were overkill, but it was better to risk the possiblity of signalling aggressive intent and being prepared than to be placating and not prepared to ward off any true aggressors.
So is the abreviated version of how the Duchy of Tryne came to be. What role it would play within this new region and the Imperium itself is a story for several nights, but not tonight.
At first the ports had been governed as properties of the shipping houses, then as families moved in it had been necessary to form city governments. As those cities had grown sufficiently that the advantages of such had become apparent, the three cities formed a quasi-Duchy. Even though none of the citizens in those cities had repudiated their claims of citizenship, nor had the new entity declared itself to be a nation in its own right, the Imperium had made no move to assert governerment over the new land; as far as the Imperium was concerned the people in the entity of Tryne were citizens of the Duchies their papers said they were. Territory was staked out according to the putative rules of the region governing such things and divided into five governing zones, which was to that point in time the only concession to the necessities of defense. This continued for the first few years, until one fine December day a Governer of Tryne, one Sofie van der Berg, contacted Her Imperial Highness to request the official recognition of the Imperial Protectorate of Tryne. The Empress, having kept close watch on the affairs of Tryne, accepted almost immediately and forwarded both the request and her acceptance to the Imperial Senate. Technically the Empress could her shove acceptance down the throat of the Senators, but forms and traditions had to be followed, and one was that they would be given a chance to accede to the Empresses demands before Her Majesty became sufficiently irked to make them regret it. The Imperial Senate, being mainly populated by wise souls, neither wanted to set off the Empress' sometimes volatile temper nor disown the citizens living in Tryne that they represented. So, it came to be that one Sofie van der Berg became Marchess Sofie van der Berg, Lord Protector of Tryne and Her Royal Highness' senior representative thereof.
Of course, the problem that immediately presented itself upon official recognition both by Her Royal Highness and the Imperial Senate was that the Imperium now needed to send military units to protect the new territory and organize the raising of a local Guard; especially in light of the potential powderkeg the area represented with Woodstock Pact colonies bordering Doomingland and allied-held territory. In the event that the perverbial 16 ton shoe dropped and the two opposing sides decided to really go at it, the Imperium knew which side it would lean towards, although the recent cooling of relations with Sarzonia over the Pacitalian trade situation would prevent active participation unless the Omzian or Mekugian became involved. With the stance of armed neutrality for the region adopted by the Imperium, it was decided that the heaviest concentration of forces had to be with the Imperial Navy and Imperial Aerospace Force. To that end, an entire Expeditionary Fleet and two Air Forces, stripped from New Copenhagen and Alexandria Duchies, were sent to Tryne to defend the most vulnerable aspects of the colony. 16 divisions of Imperial Marines were also sent in the transport ships of the 1st Assault Fleet, although those were a stopgap until the Imperium could afford to raise another ten field armies to properly defend the ground of Tryne. Nobody was quite sure if such forces were overkill, but it was better to risk the possiblity of signalling aggressive intent and being prepared than to be placating and not prepared to ward off any true aggressors.
So is the abreviated version of how the Duchy of Tryne came to be. What role it would play within this new region and the Imperium itself is a story for several nights, but not tonight.