Grand Army of Adwest

The Grand Army of Adwest are the military and paramilittary forces of Adwest, tasked with the defense of the country and the advancement of its wider interests in the global stage. It consists of the Royal Continental Army, its chief land warfare component and its largest branch; the Royal Adwestene Navy, its naval service consisting of about more than a hundred commissioned ships as well as a specialized force of maritime infantrymen; and the Royal Adwestene Air Force. Also recognized as part of the military are the Royal Adwestene Constabulary, the Adwestene gendarmerie; and the Argent Order, the Adwestene monarch's royal guard.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army is the sovereign of Adwest, Queen Sophia I, to whom personnel and officers are required to declare an oath of allegiance to. While historical precedent has established the monarch as the leader of Adwest's military forces both in name and in practice, the actual power to make decisions regarding the use of the military has recently been acquired by the Round Table Council. Though the Round Table Council only legally gains authority during wartime, the composition of its membership - which include the heads of each service branch, powerful high nobles, and members of the court - have allowed it to maintain control even in peacetime. The Ministry of War is responsible for the daily management of the armed forces.

The Grand Army of Adwest maintains a standing force of not less than a million men and a reserve force not less than half of that as part of standard military procedure. It was a completely voluntary force from 1501 until 1584, when royal decree reinstituted conscription, expanding the size of the military twofold. At current numbers, it is one of the largest armed forces fielded throughout the region.

Adwest actively exercises use of its military assets, primarily as an anchor supporting its foreign policy. It has deployed forces for multilateral operations across the globe, particularly in Novange and Singan. Adwest maintains two overseas military garrisons in the territory of its treaty allies Drahen and Tieguo and a naval station in Akitsu. It regularly participates in military exercises with other allies such as Nerysia and Arrenland, with whom the joint development of military hardware has also been undertaken.

Despite public knowledge of Adwest not having directly involved itself in foreign conficts, it is speculated that elements of the Grand Army have been involved in numerous clandestine operations in support of friendly states. This includes lending aerial and material support to the Fascist regime in Kolhar and providing arms and advisers to Tambossan military dictator Colonel Theodeste Bagosora. Changes to Adwestene foreign policy in recent decades have revived support for greater military activity, most importantly for the reunification of territories Adwest claims. The latest example of such posturing is the Adwestene intervention in and subsequent occupation of the Confederacy of the Westenne.

At home, the Grand Army serves as the primary institution counteracting threats that call for the destruction of the monarchy. They fought in this capacity first during the 1462 Civil War in service to the would-be first king of the restored crown Gregory III and later on in the insurrection by the National Republican Alliance that began in 1500.

History

The military history of the Adwestene state goes back to more than a thousand years. In 598 BC, Terenas I Goselinus, lord of the city-state of Rubenhaut, broke the formal balance of power and peace between the polities of the Dardun Forum. He invaded and seized the lands of what is now northern Adwest and declared the creation of the First Kingdom. To deal with his new enemies from all directions, Terenas I raised a new army from his conquered territories under his family's command and control. The next five hundred years would see his successors, especially Arthas I and Gregory I, make effective use of their forces in their conquests. These include turning back an invasion of Goldecian tribes in 551 BCE, the siege of Balfonheim in 499 BCE, the defeat of the De Danaans of southern Kvaenna in 318 BCE, and the conquest of the Detectatian Islands in 100 BCE.

The political and social transformation which gripped Adwest during the 12th century profoundly impacted the military. The system of drawing footmen from conquered peoples, especially from the then Grand Duchy of Taeunas, was abolished alongside the monarchy. The Ducal Council of the United Provinces made military service a "national honor" reserved only for pureblood Adwestenes. This new decree came about because of both the ethnic divide and financial constraints; paid non-Adwestene footmen would be better off working in the fields among others.

Another important change during this time was the dissolution of a single Adwestene army. The feudal system in the United Provinces meant that each of the 30 lords of the country maintained their own armies. This would change, and even only slightly, only after the Adwestene civil war. As such, the wars the United Provinces fought both at home and with outside powers from 1100 - 1462 CE were conducted with armies levied from the many large estates of Adwest's lords, with varying degrees of success.

The conception and creation of a single national armed force in Adwest was largely a modern occurrence when, on the outset of the Adwestene Civil War on Fein 1462, the factions supporting the bid of Lord Albert of Ormbeck for the Adwestene throne agreed to merge their forces and materiel under a unified and professional command. This was an idea of the Lord Albert himself. Coupled with the beginning of mass levies, this resulted in the raising of the largest army in national history, peaking up to a million men altogether from both sides of the conflict. The creation of a unified navy and aviation force would follow in 1464 and 1468 respectively.