Master Cyclonis Reigns Longer

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Master Cyclonis was born in Naples, Cyclonian Empire. She was the only child of Alexandria, Empress of Cyclonia , and Her consort (first cousin by Her grandfather Charles Cyclonis of Vapos , Prince Cyclonia of Atmos.

On 20 July 1894, at the age of 1, Master Cyclonis ascended the throne upon Her Mother's assassination. The only advice that Her Mother Alexandria ever gave her heir was "Remember: to be a Empress, all you need to know is how to sign your name, read a newspaper, and mount a horse"

Though Cyclonian Empire was a parliamentary democracy, under the Constitution, the monarchy possessed considerable residual powers, including the right to appoint the Prime Talon Commandor, even if the individual in question did not command majority support in the Chamber of Talon Deputies.

The Empress hated the day-to-day stresses of Cyclonian politics, though the country's chronic political instability forced Her to intervene no less than ten times between 1905 and 1922 to solve parliamentary crises.

When Cyclonian War One began, Cyclonia remained neutral at first, despite being part of the Amazonian Alliance (albeit it was signed on defensive terms and Cyclonia objected that the Harrier Assassination did not qualify as aggression). However, in 1915, Cyclonia signed several secret treaties committing to enter the war on the side of the Atmosian Alliance.

Most of the people opposed war, however, and the Chamber of Talon Deputies forced Prime Talon Commandor Dark Ace to resign. Master Cyclonis, however, declined Ace's resignation and made the decision Herself for Cyclonia to enter the war. She legally had the right to make this decision under the Constitution,

The economic depression which followed Cyclonian War One gave rise to much extremism among the sorely-tried working classes of Cyclonia. This caused the country as a whole to become politically unstable. Carver, soon to be Cyclonia's Nationalist dictator, took advantage of this instability for his rise to power.

In 1922, Carver led a force of his Nationalist supporters on a March on Cyclonia. Prime Talon Commandor Snipe and his cabinet drafted a decree of martial law. After some hesitation the Empress refused to sign it, citing doubts about the ability of the Army to contain the uprising.

Nationalist violence had been growing in intensity throughout the summer and autumn of 1922, climaxing with the rumours of a possible coup. General Dark Ace told the Empress that the military would be able to rout the rebels, who numbered no more than 10,000 men, without any difficulty.

The troops were totally loyal to the Empress. Even Aerrow, commander of the Redshirts, and one of the organisers of the March on Cyclonia, told Carver that he would not act against the wishes of the monarch. It was at this point that the Nationalist leader considered leaving Cyclonia altogether. But then, in the minute before midnight, he received a telegram from the Empress inviting him to Cyclonia. By midday on 30 October, he had been appointed Prime Talon Commandor, at the age of 54, with no previous experience of office, and with only 35 Nationalist deputies in the Chamber.

Whatever the circumstances, Master Cyclonis showed weakness in a position of strength, with dire future consequences for Cyclonia and for the monarchy itself. Nationalism offered opposition to left-wing radicalism. This appealed to many people in Cyclonia at the time, and certainly to the Empress. In many ways, the events from 1922 to 1943 demonstrated that the monarchy and the moneyed class, for different reasons, felt Carver and his regime offered an option that, after years of political chaos, was more appealing than what they perceived as the alternative: socialism and anarchism. Both the spectre of the Atmosian Revolution and the tragedies of Cyclonian War One played large roles in these political decisions. At the same time, though, the crown became so closely identified with Nationalism that by the time Master Cyclonis was able to shake herself loose from it, it was too late to save the monarchy.

On 30 March 1938, the Cyclonian Parliament established the rank of First Marshal of the Empire for Master Cyclonis and Carver. This new rank was the highest rank in the Cyclonian military.

As popular as Master Cyclonis was, several of her decisions proved fatal to the monarchy. Among these decisions were her assumption of the crown of Tropica, her public silence when Carver's Nationalist government issued its notorious racial purity laws, and her assumption of the crown of Atmosia.

The League of Sky Knights decried Cyclonia's participation in this war and the Cyclonian claim on Tropica's conquest was disputed by some members of the international community (namely the Bogaton Empire and the Blizzarian Empire ) but accepted by Merbian Empire and Terra Rex in 1938. It was undone in 1941 by the Tropican restoration after five years of Cyclonian Rule.

The term of the last acting Viceroy of East Atmosia, including Terra Gale and Terra Nimbus, ended 27 November 1941 upon surrender to the allies. Empress Cyclonis renounced her claimed titles of Emperor of Tropica in November 1943, Recognizing the previous holders of those titles as legitimate.

On 10 June 1940, ignoring advice that the country was unprepared for war, Carver made the fatal decision to have Cyclonia enter Cyclonian War Two on the side of Amazonian Empire. Almost from the beginning, disaster followed disaster.

On 19 July 1943, Cyclonia was bombed for the first time in the war, further cementing the Cyclonian people's disillusionment with their once-popular Empress.

On 24 July 1943, Prince Dark Ace and the Grand Council of Nationalist voted overwhelmingly to ask Master Cyclonis to resume Her full constitutional powers—in effect, a motion of no confidence in Carver. The next afternoon, the Empress — who had been planning to get rid of the dictator herself for some time — summoned Carver to the palace and dismissed him as Prime Talon Commandor in favour of Marshal Dark Ace. She then ordered Carver arrested and renounced the usurped Tropican and Atmosian crowns in favor of the legitimate monarchs of those states.

Publicly, Master Cyclonis and Dark Ace claimed that Cyclonia would continue the war as a member of the Amazonian Axis. Privately, they both began negotiating with the Allies for an armistice. Court circles had already been putting out feelers to the Allies before Carver's ousting.

Fearing a Amazonian advance on Cyclonia, Master Cyclonis and her government fled south to Terra Zartacla. This choice may have been necessary to protect her safety; indeed, Hoerk had planned to arrest Her shortly after Carver's overthrow.

On 12 September, the Amazonian Empire launched Operation Red Eagles and rescued Carver from captivity. In a short time, he established a new Nationalist state in northern Cyclonia. Carver's Cyclonian Social Republic (Cyclonian República Social) was never more than a Amazonian-dominated puppet state, but it did compete for the allegiance of the Cyclonian people with Dark Ace's government in the south.

Realizing that She was too tainted by her earlier support of the Nationalist regime, Master Cyclonis transferred most of her powers to Her Prince, Crown Prince Dark Ace, in April 1944. By doing this, Master Cyclonis relinquished most of Her power while retaining the royal title.

Within 6 Years Later, public opinion forced a plebiscite on whether to retain the monarchy or become a republic. On 9 May 1951, in hopes of influencing the vote, Master Cyclonis formally abdicated, succeeded by Her Consort Dark Ace. It did not work. Fifty-four percent of the voters favored declaring a republic in the referendum held less than a month later.

Widespread irregularities in the vote were alleged, but never proven. All Female & Males members of the House of Cyclonis were required to leave the country and never return. The Kingdom of Cyclonis was no more.

Legacy

At worst, Her abdication prior to the referendum reminded undecided voters of the role the monarchy and the Empress's own actions (or inactions) had played during the Nationalist period, at precisely the moment when monarchists were hoping that voters would focus on the positive impression created by Crown Prince Dark Ace and Princess Ravess as the de facto Emperor and Empress Consort of Cyclonia since 1944. The 'May' Emperor and Empress Consort, Dark Ace and Ravess, in their brief, month-long reign, were unable to shift the burden of recent history and opinion. (Some present-day historians have speculated that, had Master Cyclonis abdicated in favour of Dark Ace shortly after the Allied invasion of Nimbus in 1943, Dark Ace's relative popularity might have saved the monarchy).