Chapter Five: The Germanic Peoples

Inside the great hall of the former Madrid Empire assembly, several thousand leaders and mid-level organizers from rebel forces across the land stood or sat packed together. These elite figures, for the most part, had received at least a basic education and could count as the intellectual class of this age. They were also the backbone of the entire peasant uprising. Today was the congress Amashjia von William had convened to unite that power.

In order to expand his influence as quickly and as widely as possible, Amashjia von William revived the idea of the Germanic people, the ancestral nation from which the Madrid Empire had once descended centuries ago, and abandoned the feudal order that prevailed across the European continent.

On the podium, Amashjia von William stood in a crisp military uniform, straight-backed and imposing, gazing down at the men who had fought to carve out this world, and said in a ringing voice:

"The rotten rule of the Madrid Empire is no longer fit to govern our Germanic nation. The men in power in the empire have long since forgotten the former glory of the Germanic people. They have grown greedy, timid, and weak. Defeated again and again by foreign enemies, they have poured all their fury upon their own citizens.

"Today, our Germanic people have truly risen. We are not merely overthrowing an emperor; we are overthrowing the entire feudal system. From this day forward, we shall build a state that truly serves all the people. The nation itself shall be the Germanic people, and all its people shall be one. Every person shall fight for the nation, no longer shedding blood on the battlefield for the private desires of some emperor. I believe that as long as we stand united, the great Germanic nation will be invincible!

"I hereby announce the formation of a National Assembly, charged with drafting the rights of all Germanic citizens. The office of emperor shall be abolished, and the highest leader of the nation shall be the president of the National Assembly!

"The entire state shall take this Declaration as its constitution. The constitution shall be the supreme law of the Germanic nation, and all people, without exception, shall stand beneath it. All are equal before the law, and private property is sacred and inviolable.

"Disregard, forgetfulness, or contempt for human rights are the sole causes of public misfortune and of government corruption! Therefore we must set forth the natural, inalienable, and sacred rights of man in a solemn declaration, so that this declaration may be constantly before every member of society, reminding them without ceasing of their rights and duties; so that the decisions of the legislature and the determinations of the executive may at every moment be compared with the aims of the political order, and thus win greater respect; so that citizens in the future, relying on simple and undeniable principles, may ensure the preservation of the constitution and the happiness of all.

"Therefore, in the presence of the God of Light and under his protection, the National Assembly recognizes and proclaims the following rights of man and of the citizen:

"Article 1

"Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon considerations of public utility.

"Article 2

"The purpose of every political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.

"Article 3

"The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body, no individual, may exercise any authority that does not proceed directly from the nation.

"Article 4

"Liberty consists in being able to do anything that does not harm others. Thus the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those that secure to the other members of society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits may be determined only by law.

"Article 5

"Law has the right to forbid only those actions that are harmful to society. Whatever is not forbidden by law may not be prevented, and no one may be compelled to do what the law does not require.

"Article 6

"Law is the expression of the common will. All citizens have the right to take part, personally or through their representatives, in its making. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. Since all citizens are equal before the law, they are equally eligible for all offices, public positions, and employments, according to their capacity, and with no distinction other than that of virtue and talent.

"Article 7

"No man may be accused, arrested, or detained except in the cases and according to the forms prescribed by law. Those who solicit, issue, execute, or cause to be executed arbitrary orders shall be punished; but any citizen summoned or seized under the law must obey at once, and resistance constitutes an offense.

"Article 8

"The law should establish only penalties that are strictly and obviously necessary, and no one may be punished except by virtue of a law established and promulgated before the offense and lawfully applied.

"Article 9

"Every man is presumed innocent until declared guilty. Even where arrest is deemed necessary, all severity not essential to the restraint of his person shall be rigorously repressed by law.

"Article 10

"No one shall be disturbed on account of his opinions, even religious opinions, provided their manifestation does not disturb the public order established by law.

"Article 11

"The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the most precious rights of man. Every citizen may therefore speak, write, and print freely, though he must answer for any abuse of this freedom in the cases determined by law.

"Article 12

"The guarantee of the rights of man requires a public force; therefore this force is established for the benefit of all and not for the private advantage of those to whom it is entrusted.

"Article 13

"For the maintenance of the armed forces and the expenses of administration, a common contribution is indispensable. It must be shared equally among all citizens according to their means.

"Article 14

"All citizens have the right to determine, personally or through their representatives, the necessity of public contributions, to consent to them freely, to watch over their use, and to determine their amount, basis, collection, and duration.

"Article 15

"Society has the right to demand an account from every public agent of his administration.

"Article 16

"Any society in which the guarantee of rights is not assured, nor the separation of powers determined, has no constitution.

"Article 17

"Property is sacred and inviolable. No one may be deprived of it, except when public necessity, legally established, clearly requires it, and then only on condition of just and previously indemnified compensation.

"Article 18

"All citizens have the duty to defend the state and defend the nation. No young person of military age has the right to refuse service. The interests of the nation and the interests of the state stand above all else!"

Yes, after saying so much, the last article was Amashjia's true aim. The rest was only there to deceive the common people and this band of intellectuals. Once he truly held power and had defeated the invading coalition of enemy states, with the enormous prestige he would gain, would this country not end up in his hands as an outright dictatorship?

Of course, for now he still needed the people below him to risk their lives. So he might as well grant them a few rights and send them off to fight for him.