Prelude and the Hadenburg Uprising
---
Prelude to the Revolution
In 1842 on behalf of Colonel Axel Münchberg, the leader of the personal body guard of Governor Wilhelm Rexhausen, the Governor's Guard became a separate institution and due to the growing Illderian nationalist sentiment, the Guard besides being a bodyguard unit became the secret police. The Guard also started to censor nationalist newspapers and politicians. In 1851 a Colonial Assembly politician, Josef Hoffmann was assassinated by an alleged plain clothes Governor's Guardsman, while Hoffmann held a strongly nationalist speech after the regular every 5 year session of the House of Electors outside Fellburg Palace. After this incident until the start of the revolution there was a growing disconnect between the Illderian people and the colonial government.
The Hadenburg Uprising
With blood on the hands of the Governor combined with the Guard's censorship efforts and the disconnect with the people during the 1856 Colonial Assembly meeting a Frundsberg nobleman known as Tristan Kellerman held a speech that split the assembly in half. The following day, revolutionaries met with Kellerman and organized a protest outside the Imperial Illderian Theater. On 17 August, the plan came into motion, with thousands showing up. Kellerman gave a passionate speech, before an attempt on his life by a plain clothes Guardsman. After discovering his identity the crowd marched towards Nikolausburg (now Könignau Palace), the residence of Governor Wilhelm Rexhausen. In the confusion and the increasingly violent protest, palace guards shot into the crowd, killing 5 and resulted in the storming of the palace, with Rexhausen barely being able to escape. In the following hours and day, Kellerman meet with several "forefathers'' of Illderia in the chambers Fellburg and declared independence from Mintoria, during the following session of the Colonial Assembly, and establishing the Kingdom of Illderia, with a Noorderveenian Aristocrat originally from Burgundy and notable nationalist Dannes Friedrich Freiherr von Schwarzburg as its Prince-Regent, for the time being. Within the following days, Hadenburg would eventually fall under the full control of the rebels, with several provincial lords, barons and even some dukes pledging their support for Kellerman's cause. In the meantime, now Chancellor Johannes Dras would approach Franz Müller von Aulich with an offer. An offer, to lead the revolutionary armies as Generalfeldmarschall. Although the experienced major general was an avid supporter of Kellerman's movement, he was cautious as he accepted Dras' offer. As the news of the the uprising in Hadenburg reached other parts of the colony, along with rumors that the top brass of the local military establishment in Hadenburg are with the revolutionaries, several smaller mutinies broke out in the northern and southern parts of Noorderveen, and the northern parts of Kassenberg. By the 3rd day of the uprising, besides the Kastell, (Hadenburg's fort, and the headquarters of the Mintorian garrison) most of Hadenburg was under the control of the revolutionaries.
