Chapter Text
The year is 103 After the Walls, a day in late summer when the event that shocked a sedated nation into action. The Fall of Wall Maria.
The collapse, literally and figuratively, of the protections that the Walls offered was forever broken as the Colossal and Armoured Titan broke the Outer Wall. In the span of a day, a third of what they thought was left of humanity was forced to abandon their homes and flee to Rose. The Walls, the physical representation of their three Godess were no longer the invincible defense they rested their life on for at any moment the Colossal Titan may appear again and break Rose. The cosmology of the Kingdom was shaken to its very foundations. The scared populous demanded answers from the priests who struggled to give a satisfactory response because they were just as surprised or they couldn't say what they knew. As unrest and questions on how this tragedy was allowed to happen spread, the old system was put into question from the lowest of beggars to the highest spheres of power.
The population at large wasn't aware, but the sudden and mysterious death of much of the real royal family and the inaction of the remaining Lord Reiss alarmed the high nobility too. Most didn't care about the lives of the Subjects of Ymir, but they felt that the Fritz weren't keeping their end of the bargain. They lived opulently and safely, and in return, they supported the official history and the regime. So it came as a surprise for them that no attempts were made by the supposedly all-powerful Founder to intervene or help in the Fall of Maria, or take measures to prevent the same Bearers from doing the same. Of course, they didn't know that the Founder Titan was stolen by Grisha Yaeger and the royal family was reduced to just one member, but their worries remained. What if the Bearers were to breach Rose? Their Wall would be flooded with mere Subjects of Ymir and they would lose the critical Industrial City, and if they then breach Senna? Where they would go?
If the nobility's reaction was one of worry and uneasiness, the military was one of rage and contempt towards the Senna elites. Their grievances are best exemplified by the thoughts of Commander-in-Chief Darius Zackly, who in a private military meeting discussed with the Branch Commanders what could have been done better in case of another attack. According to testimony, all branches and major military commanders concurred that the many restrictions imposed by the Faith and the Assembly all but assured that they wouldn't be able to protect Rose if the Colossal Titan struck. Cannons, reinforcements of the inner Gates... all measures that if not prevent, at least give them a chance to prevent or limit the damage. Even the Military Brigade, nominally and for now, agreed that not only these restrictions must be waived, but a program of military expansion and modernization is imperative if Paradis was to survive.
The nobility for their part was as obstructive as ever, especially in lessening their grip on the Industrial City and modern technology, which would be necessary for any kind of troop enlargement. Despite this, they were too paralyzed by the Fall and Lord Reiss's seclusion to properly put down the discontent. As talks broke down and rumors of a military coup, and the removal of rebellious commanders, the march on Senna spread a third faction made its move.
The industrialists were somewhat of a wildcard, a new power bloc that had gradually evolved since the inception of the Kingdom, but whose power and leverage had grown rapidly in the last thirty years before. Unbothered by the very Mitras-centric government, what once was an undeveloped burglary was now a class of capitalist barons who monopolized much of the economy outside the capital between them. Led by the disgraced son of the late Lord Rückzahlung, they inserted in the chaotic informal negotiations pointing out their role and part in the evacuation of Maria and how they controlled much of the necessary infrastructure, money, and civil manufactury needed for any kind of military expansion. Most importantly, as hundreds of thousands of people languish in Rose hungry and disposed of, the fact that they owned 70% of the surviving grain storage gave them massive leverage. Using their connections in the nobility they manage to convince the critical amount that the best course of action is a compromise with the military, and of course, themselves. With the gridlock broken, a settlement was arranged and what would be known as the "Soft Coup" concluded with no blood spilled and the Assembly stripped of much of its powers.
There were many concessions and changes forced in the Soft Coup of 845, but the most relevant were the following two;
The creation of a new administrative structure to coordinate the economic response to the Fall of Maria was not beholden to the Assembly but jointly led by the industrialists and like-minded nobility. Thus the Office of Economic Restructuring or OER was created, with Rückzahlung as Director. Firstly envisioned just as the administrative node to harmonize the kingdom-wide rationing measures and the settlement of refugees, it quickly expanded its mandate. By the end of the same year, it took charge of the foodstuffs logistics, food production, farm allocations...
Complete access for the Army to the technology and production of the Industrial City, with assurance of economic and logistic support on the expansion and modernization program. Of note is the fact that only the Garrison and Survey Corps expanded their numbers, unlike the Military Brigade which for the most part took no part in the initiatives taking place.
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