Rhienland Timeline

Timeline of Rheinland

800 AS

• The Rheinland Northern Fleet advances into the Sigmas, brushing the Gas Miner's Guild (GMG) aside and driving straight into Kusari. Meanwhile, the Western Fleet clashes with Liberty in Bering and Hudson, and the Southern Fleet with Bretonia in the Omegas.
• The Kusari Naval Forces are decisively routed in the Battle of Honshu, with Rheinland taking control of the system. The bulk of the fleet advances on New Tokyo, where Shogun Edo himself begins to draw together reinforcements for the defense.
• The Nomad-controlled Chancellor Niemann is killed in Liberty by The Order, while attempting to infect President Jacobi.
• The Rheinland Military destroys the remnants of the Kusari Naval Forces in Planet New Tokyo's orbit, and demand Edo's unconditional surrender to avoid a devastating bombardment of the capital's cities.
• The Order appears to successfully defeat the Nomads in the Omicrons, causing the collapse of their control over the Rheinland Military and governmentThe Rheinland Military's expeditionary fleets are thrown into chaos as many admirals suddenly drop dead or appear to go mad. The majority of serving crews report immediate symptoms of disorientation and amnesia. The fleets fragment with most beginning to retreat towards Rheinland.
• Kusari militias, the Blood Dragons and GMG attack retreating Rheinland units in the Second Battle of Honshu.
• The CEO of Daumann Heavy Construction, Wolfgang Daumann, goes into seclusion. His office advises this is due to health concerns. Republican CEO Klaus Schulze also disappears, in light of "threats to his security".
• The Provisional Rheinland Government (PRG) is formed from surviving, non-infected opposition politicians. They immediately recall Rheinland's forces from Kusari and all other theatres.
• The Nomad-infected Military vessels from the Second Battle of Honshu desert, disappearing into the Sigmas. Thousands of ships vanish, including all surviving battleships. These ships would later come to be known as 'The Wild' for the ferocity of their indiscriminate attacks on targets across Rheinland and the Omegas. Desertions from the Western and Southern Fleets are less pronounced, and in several cases, crew mutinies result in the death of Nomad-controlled officers.
• Liberty announces its backing for the PRG following intense negotiations, with the PRG confirming its intention to decommission the surviving elements of the Colony Wars invasion fleet in order to access interest-free Liberty state financing and avoid immediate bankruptcy. An exception is agreed for the Battleship Westfalen, which was in too poor a state to participate in the invasions and will remain in Hamburg to uphold Rheinland's security obligations in the Independent Worlds.

801 AS

• Liberty Security Force and Bretonian Intelligence Service agents are welcomed into Rheinland by the PRG to assist with "identifying and suppressing treasonous elements" associated with the Neimann regime.
• Liberty-hosted mediation between Kusari and Rheinland catastrophically fails. Kusari imposes a trade embargo on Rheinland, demanding harsh reparations and the prosecution of war criminals before normalisation of relations will be considered. The PRG commits to "restoring the faith" of its neighbors, but is unable to reach a satisfactory deal with Kusari.
• Rheinland's economy is in freefall. Pre-war estimates showing dropping unemployment and improving investment sharply reverse on Planet Hamburg. Looking to insulate themselves from the gloomy forecast, Republican Shipping shutter their local corporate headquarters and relocate a number of executives to Ingolstadt Station in Munich.
• The PRG cuts the Rheinland Military's roster by over 80%, leaving tens of thousands of pilots, crew and support staff unemployed. Hundreds of capital ships are parked in Pottsdam's orbit to await decommissioning at Rheinland shipyards. The sudden culling of the Military sparks outrage, however the PRG claim this was an absolute condition of both Bretonia and Liberty to avoid punitive action, and to access relief funding.

802 AS

• The first post-war elections are organised, with the newly seated Reichstag nominating Alfred Steller as Chancellor - a senior PRG official. His government focuses on rebuilding diplomatic and trade links with the other Houses, and continuing to purge Rheinland institutions of high-profile individuals associated with Chancellor Niemann's regime.
• The MND are formed with the objective of providing an autonomous, domestic counter-infiltration and espionage capability - the new agency is equipped with ships and materiel from the so-called "Potsdam Armory". The Chancellor instructs the MND to secretly cooperate with The Order in their mandate, while dismissing the LSF and BIS taskforces that had been stationed in Rheinland. The MND's first director is Von Claussen, a previous Rheinland Military hero.
• The MND are ordered to investigate Chancellor Neimann's activities in Thuringia, a long abandoned 80-Years War stronghold of the Rheinland Imperial Navy. Upon entering the system, the Order and MND meet heavy resistance from Nomad-controlled rearguard units of Northern Fleet. This struggle would come to be known as 'The Purge of Thuringia' and remains a state secret to this day.