British Spring (Napoleon's Australian Victory)

The British Spring was a series of mass-protests, civil unrest, and violent upheaval which occurred in Britain throughout 2013 and 2014. Protests against Scottish King Joseph III's refusal to ratify Scotland's entry into the Britannic Commonwealth as an observer state grew violent after brutal police repression. After several months of increasingly violent protests, small-scale insurgencies emerged, escalating the conflict to the brink of civil war. French military intervention and occupation of the Border Counties only exascerbated the conflict, and ultimately led to the landing of an Indian expeditionary force in Edinburgh in early 2014. With two superpowers involved, the FN feared further escalation, and hosted peace negotiations in Neuchatel. In July 2014, the Neuchatel Accords were signed, effecticely ending the conflict. As a result of the Spring, the Kingdom of Scotland was replaced by three entities: the Kingdom of Britain, the Kingdom of Mann, and the FN-administered Neutral and De-Militarised Zone, including the city of Birmingham. According to FN estimates, hundreds of thousands were displaced by the conflict, and thousands killed either directly or indirectly.

Background
In 1813, the French Empire under Napoleon I invaded the then United Kingdom and, during the Insular Campaign, defeated and conquered the island. After the conquest, Britain was divided into two parts: the southern portion became the French province of Angelterre Francaise, whilst the remainder was reorganised into the Kingdom of Scotland; a French pupet-kingdom under Napoleon's brother Joseph. Throughout the Nineteenth Century there was frequent anti-government unrest in Scotland. Dissatisfaction grew during the Rule of the Colonels (1957-1973), however Zenaide II's key role in Brian Blessed's "Queen's Coup" against the regime resulted in a surge in the Bonapartist's popularity. In the so-called "Liberation Period", which lasted from the coup until Zenaide II's death in 2001, there was a steady growth in "Britannism"; an movement supporting greater ties with -and eventual integration into- the Britannic Commonwealth.

The death of the much-loved Queen Zenaide II and the accession of her commensurately unpopular son Joseph III created a growth in the Brittanist cause. Political deadlock between the Brittanist-backed British People's Party (BPP) and the Bonapartist-backed Scottish Front (SF) caused frequent problems during the Noughties.

In 2012, the BPP led by Sean Connery, won the national election on a platform of Commonwealth Integration and economic revitalisation. After almost a year of delicate negotiations with the Commonwealth Council over the status of an observer Scotland, Connery introduced the Britannic Commonwealth Observer Status Acceptance Act (2013) into parliament. After tense negotiations with key crossbenchers of the Scottish National Party and the Plaid Cymru, the bill passed parliament and was sent to Holyroodhouse for Royal Assent.

After three weeks, Joseph III announced in a national press release that he would not grant assent to the bill. Connery, outraged that the king would announce his decision without first conferring with the government, issued a statement in which he denounced the king's actions as "...contrary to all the protocols of democracy..." and "...a return to the era of authoritarian rule."