History of Latveria
Latveria is
the youngest kingdom in Europe . Following the Truce of Androsovo in1667 (which
ended the Russo-Polish war, and resolved the continuing conflicts of the Great
Northern War and Second Northern War between Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth) the Swedes and Russians wished to keep the Commonwealth from
re-emerging as a power in Eastern Europe
The Commonwealth was broken up into a diminished Poland and other
successor kingdoms. One of these was
Latveria.
The kingdom
was founded under the rule of Augustus Von Dhoom, a former Knight of Greater
Poland and included much of the land of the southern commonwealth along the
border of Austria and Moldavia with the capital in Krakow ,
one of the few cities not ravaged during the Swedish “Deluge.” Augustus (at the direction of the Russian
crown) formed the kingdom around feudal patterns. Latveria was not allowed a formal standing
national army. Instead each dukedom
within Latveria would maintain its own regiment of infantry responsible to the
Duke or Duchess. It was thought that
this would keep enough in-fighting within the kingdom that it would never again
pose a threat to Russia .
To the
south, The Austrian empire, while welcoming a buffer state between itself and
the Russian Empire, needed Latveria to be stronger. With quiet backing, the Austrian crown let
funds flow into the Latverian foundries known for the production of ordnance
and firearms.
With the
influx of Austrian funding and the bond of dislike for the Russian and Russian
backed neighbors King Augustus was able to consolidate his power through use of
persuasion and coercion in equal measure.
This lasted until 1699 when a Litharusian assassin ended his reign. He was succeeded by his son, Pietro who
ascended to the throne on New Year’s day 1700 and declared war on
Litharus.
Pietro’s
war, as it became known, was a disaster.
Only by Austrian intervention was Latveria maintained as a sovereign
nation. With the threat of war with Austria ,
Litharus demanded reparations but left Latverian territory largely
unchanged. The young king returned to
Latveria in disgrace losing much of the clout his father had gained with the
Dukes. He spent the next fifteen years
rebuilding his control over his own kingdom culminating in the replacement and
execution of the Duke of Alten with a loyal retainer in 1715. In the same year, King Pietro welcomed his
first son Alfred.
In 1733 King Pietro of Latveria died suddenly
of natural causes. The eighteen year old
Alfred was left to take the throne as war with Litharus loomed once again. In the wake of the growing conflicts between
Germania and Austria ,
the Litharusians again looked to the south thinking that Latveria may be ripe
for the plucking. Alfred made alliances
with Germania and took Victoria of Edinburgh as his wife gaining an alliance
with Scotland
in their war with the English.
The
Litharusians hesitated, taking stock of the new situation and instituting
instead a series of small border raids. Alfred used the time to build a true Latverian
army for the first time, and delayed the oncoming war. This lasted until 1754 when the Litharusians
crossed the border and the invasion began.
