Alternative History
Register
Advertisement
  This Atlantic Islands page is a Proposal.
AIProposal
 
It has not been ratified and is therefore not yet a part of the Atlantic Islands timeline. It is also subject to change or removal, especially due to the map game.
You are welcome to correct errors and/or comment at the Talk Page.


Under contruction icon-red The following page is under construction.

Please do not edit or alter this article in any way while this template is active. All unauthorized edits may be reverted on the admin's discretion. Propose any changes to the talk page.

Cabecian Civil War
BritishAzoresCivilWar
Battle of Cabecia City, the climax of the war.
Beginning:

June 1876

End:

August 19, 1876

Place:

Cabecia, Cabecian Sea

Outcome:
  • Anti-Coleman victory
  • Treaty of King Port
  • Dissolution of the Pro-British Party
  • Cabecia becomes a government in exile
Major battles:

Burning of King Port
Battle of Nectan Harbor

Combatants

AzoresDominionFlag Pro-British Cabecian government military
Flag of the United Kingdom British backing

Anti-Coleman rebels:

  • DCRFlag Dutch Cabecian Rebels
  • RPCFlag Portuguese Cabecian Rebels
  • Jewish Cabecian Militias
  • CabeciaSeperatistFlag Cabecian Separatists

Flag of the Netherlands Flag of Portugal Dutch and Portuguese-supplied ships and ammunition

Commanders

AzoresDominionFlag Franklin Coleman
AzoresDominionFlag Hugh Cooper

DCRFlag Issac Janssen
RPCFlag Antonio Carvalho

Strength

Cabecian: 22,000+
British: 1,000+

DCR: 11,000+
PCR: 8,500+
JCM: 5,000?

Casualties and Losses

The Cabecian Civil War (also known as the Cabecian Uprising and Cabecian Coup d'état by the British) was a major armed conflict on the island of Cabecia which directly involved every major ethnicity living on the island. Lasting 2 months, the war was the most costly and destructive war on the island of Cabecia.

The civil war was an important event that lead to the independence of the island as a British dominion after the dissolution of Coleman's Pro-British Party led to the nation being a government in exile, along with the integration of the ethnicities and cultures living on the island.

History[]

Background[]

FranklinColeman

Franklin Coleman, leader of the pro-British party at the time.

Since the beginning of British colonialism, the island had always been diverse in culture, and for two centuries the immigrant populations grew closer and closer to British-born inhabitants. In 1873, Williem Smit had been chosen as Governor-General of Cabecia. In 1876, Williem was assassinated, and the island was without a Governor-General. Queen Victoria appointed Franklin Coleman, originally born in Cabecia but left for Britain to work as an army officer.

Once appointed Governor-General, he created the Pro-British Party, a party that gave inhabitants of British ancestry more say in decisions the government made and, as many historians say, segregated the British from the non-British. Many immigrant and non-British inhabitants felt like second-class citizens in their own country. Non-British inhabitants had little or no say, because, as quoted by Coleman, "this is British land, [they] are from other soil, and it's unfortunate that we have to let them into this great nation."

The first organization protesting the government was the Dutch Cabecian Rebels (Dutch: Nederlandse Cabecian Rebels), which consisted of a group of militias. The DCR influenced other ethnicities to form protesters, like the Portuguese Cabecian Rebels, and one small Jewish Cabecian Militia. All three rebel groups had formally protested the new government with no comment from Coleman.

Preparing for war, Issac Janssen requested the Netherlands and Portugal help in the war to overthrow the government, but the two nations wanted to avoided an international incident between the four nations. However, munition was secretly given to the militias through Dutch and Portuguese Azores. In June of 1876, the three groups declared war.

Events[]

The exact date of the war is disputed; however, many historians believe the war began with the Burning of King Port.

Burning of King Port[]

BurningKingPort

Artist's impression of the Burning of King Port, as seen from the harbor.

On June 14th, approximately 230 Dutch soldiers from the DCR marched into King Port, approximately 150 carrying torches and the rest with ammunition. The DCR invaded King Port around 5 a.m. to avoid being ambushed by the British Army.

The DCR arrived at the capital building of King Port, and Janssen ordered several of the men with ammunition to invade the capital building to make sure there was no one inside. Once the soldiers came out, Janssen ordered the men with torches to set the building on fire. According to Janssen, the only reason for attacking the building was because of the amount of British workers that had not allowed non-British to work in the city's government. He also believed going to the capital building of the nation would result in being ambushed with the strong military presence in the area, as well as wanting the burning to be a "warning" to Coleman.

The fire from the building had spread to the rest of the street, causing massive fires that resulted in the death of 22 people. The DCR had deserted the area and headed back to Central Cabecia. While the Burning of King Port is generally considered the date of the war, some historians believe the war began with the Battle of Cape St. Ursula.

Battle of Nectan Harbor[]

UrsulaBattle

Cabecian ships fleeing the battle

Several days after fire brigades put out the flames, Governor-General Coleman had received a letter from Janssen, explaining his reasons for burning King Port's capital building and, unless Coleman steps down, promising there will be more destruction.

On Jume 23rd, Dutch and Portuguese Azores sent battle ships, disguised as trade ships, to Cape St. Ursula, and DCR, along with their new allies the PCR, members boarded the ships. One man, Hugh Cooper, who was in the area, overheard the mention of attacking Nectan Harbor, to destroy as many ships possible to slow any water-based attacks the Cabecian navy would plan. Cooper warned Coleman of the eminent attack and prepared an ambush as quickly as he could. Coleman's ships settled east of the harbor, hidden by a large hill, waiting to attack once the rebels arrived.

Once the Dutch and Portuguese ships arrived, Cooper deployed the ships and fired at the rebellions ships before the rebels could have a chance to attack the harbor. Unaware of the situation, Janssen ordered the ships to attack the naval fleet. While the two sides were attacking each other, Janssen motioned several Portuguese ships to attack the harbor, realizing the rebel ships outnumbered the naval ships, and there was no chance the naval ships could stop the Portuguese ones.

Several battle ships that were still in the harbor tried desperately to attack the Portuguese ships, but the ships were abandoned in order to avoid the death of the crew. The Portuguese ships had destroyed 10 battle ships and 22 trade ships, killing 4 people and injuring 12. It took approximately an hour of battle until the majority of naval ships were destroyed and Cooper deployed the white flag and surrendered. 11 naval ships were destroyed, 12 people were killed and several hundred were injured.

Historians believe the battle was the official beginning of the war, when the two rebellion groups officially worked together as a rebellion union.

Battle on the Gramineo Plains[]

Because of the recent attacks from the Dutch and Portuguese Cabecian rebels without the knowledge of the perpetrator, Coleman issued a warning that if no one would step up and surrender themselves, Coleman would issue a law that would prevent Dutch and Portuguese inhabitants from working. Janssen originally wanted to turn himself in to prevent his people from their most basic rights as Cabecians, but his supporters opposed this. Many believed even more would support the rebellion if Coleman issued the law, and as was the case.

On July 13, Coleman announced he would visit Gramineo, a city in the Jewish community of Cabecia in a week, the first visit to the city since assassination of Smit. He figured if he were to announce his visit, the rebels would plan to assassinate the Governor-General. He issued that several military officers wait behind the plains, while Coleman anticipated the assassins would hide behind the forest. Coleman anticipated if the Cabecian soldiers hold off the rebels, he could get to the city and create a treaty with the Jewish to side with the Cabecian government.

GramineoPlainsBattle

Painting of the end of the battle, British and Cabecian redcoats fleeing the plains.

On July 20, Janssen, along with 50 other men, loaded their guns and hid beneath the trees near the street Coleman would use to get to Gramineo. Several hundred others spread throughout the area to the roads nearing the city, in case the attack failed at Janssen's end. Coleman arrived at 12:42, when Janssen ordered his men to attack, and soldiers beyond the Gramineo plains attacked the rebels, while Coleman's driver had continued to drive Coleman to the city. Fighting between the rebels and the military lasted several hours, and Janssen had led the rebels to victory, driving the military officers out of the city.

Coleman had used an alternate route to the city, thus the secondary rebel fighters did not have a chance to capture the leader. However, Jewish rebels had driven the leader out of town before he could reach the city hall.

Battle of Cabecia City[]

Janssen realized with the victory of the Battle on Gramineo Plains, as well as the newly formed Jewish militia rebels, lead to him realizing the only way to end the deaths and the bloodshed was to attack the capital of Cabecia, capturing the parliament building would lead to a peace treaty, putting an end to the war and to get what they wanted.

End of the war[]

CabeciaCivilWarBorderProposal

Coleman's proposal for an independent nation for the rebels to the left of the proposed border

Aftermath[]

File:CabeciaFoundingFathers.png

The founding fathers of Cabecia, all veterans of the war

Advertisement