The Midget Master was the absolute monarch and supreme military leader of the Midget Empire and Midget Nation-in-Exile until April 2011, when the Nation-in-Exile was annexed by Austenasia and the title was united with the Throne of Austenasia.
| ||
| Declan V | ||
| 16 December 2010 | ||
| Residence | None official | |
| Term length | No set term | |
| Inaugural holder | Midget Master Daniel (I) | |
| Formation | September 2002 | |
| Website | None | |
Powers and Duties[]
The Midget Master was the supreme executive, legislative, and military head of the Midget Army. The domestic and national policies, executive governance, and foreign affairs of the Empire and Nation-in-Exile were all carried out by the Midget Master, supreme head of the Midget Army, and the only Midget lawmaker. No Decree (law) or order of the Midget Master may be lawfully disobeyed.
List of Midget Masters[]
- Midget Master Daniel (I): 9 September 2002 - 6 September 2004
- "Midget Master" Charlie (claimant): March 2003
- Midget Master Jonathan (II): 6 September 2004 - 31 July 2006
- Commander Thomas (de facto joint): June 2005 - 31 July 2006
- Commander Gregory (de facto joint): 20 August 2005, September 2005 - 31 July 2006
- Midget Master Caroline III (pretender - de jure only): 31 July 2006 - 4 February 2010
- Midget Fuhrer Thomas IV (pretender - de jure only): 4 February 2010 - 16 December 2010
- Midget Master Declan V (pretender - de jure only): 16 December 2010 - present
History[]
The First Midget Master[]
The First Midget Master was Midget Master Daniel (I), who founded the Midget Empire in September 2002. Under his reign, the office of Midget Master held absolute power - no orders from the Midget Master could be questioned and he was answerable to nobody.
The first time that the supreme authority of the Midget Master was questioned was during the Midget Civil War, when Charlie declared himself the new Midget Master, of the New and Improved Midgets. The New and Improved Midgets were defeated by Midget Master Daniel's forces and his absolute authority was reasserted.
Under the harsh but effective rule of Midget Master Daniel, the Midget Empire got through a civil war, repelled the numerous Invader attacks and emerged victorious from many battles over territory during its first two years. However, in September 2004 Midget Master Daniel abdicated, and passed the throne to a senior military commander, Jonathan.
The Second Midget Master[]
After the abdication of Midget Master Daniel in September 2004, Midget Master Jonathan (II) became the new monarch. While he was far from a weak leader, the absolute authority of the Midget Master significantly crumbled under his reign due to his less forceful personality and his willingness to involve others in decision making. With Midget Master Jonathan allowing senior commanders to be involved in decision making, some of his less thought through orders were inevitably questioned. This ultimately led to actual arguments sometimes taking place between the Midget Master and his generals, something that would never have happened under Midget Master Daniel.
Although under the reign of Midget Master Jonathan the Midget Empire expanded enormously, some commanders became disgruntled with his style of ruling, prefering the militaristic rule of Midget Master Daniel to the comparatively democratic and therefore slightly more beurocratic rule of Midget Master Jonathan. This came to a head in late June 2005, when the charismatic and militarily successful commander of the Patioed and Quiet Area Pathways, Thomas, encouraged most of the Midget Empire's commanders to switch allegiance to him in overthrowing the Midget Master. Although the most powerful commander, Gregory, stayed loyal to the Midget Master he was one of the only ones.
Once Midget Master Jonathan heard of the threat to his authority he ordered Thomas to stand down from his position of commander, and ordered the rest of the rebels to the Midget Base to explain themselves. They all refused, and the Midget Empire prepared for imminent civil war. The former Midget Master Daniel noticed the massing of armies in the Playground, and went to the Midget Base to see what was happening. Daniel helped Midget Master Jonathan and Commander Thomas to come to a peaceful compromise, thus averting a repeat of the Midget Civil War. From then on, Jonathan and Thomas shared equal power, although only Jonathan had the title of Midget Master and the right to choose a successor.
The fact that the authority of the Midget Master could be "shared" between two people significantly reduced the opinion in the Midget Army of their titular supreme commander. This showed itself during the events of 20 August 2005, the Second Boys vs. Girls War. Midget Master Jonathan attempted to stop an invasion by Midget Army soldiers of his sister's bedroom during a large party at his house, but ultimately failed. Thomas was not present, and the invasion was led by Gregory, who the soldiers listened to more than the actual Midget Master. Eventually Midget Master Jonathan reasserted his control over the unruly Midget Army soldiers, but by that time Gregory's unstrategic war plans had lost the Midget Army the war. Under the Midget Master's control, the soldiers managed to get the situation to a draw, but the war was still seen as a military failure, popularly blamed on the intervention of Midget Master Jonathan even though he had managed to salvage a stalemate from what under Gregory's control would have been a defeat.
These events led to the Second Coup, in September 2005, when Commander Gregory, already displeased with the lack of a reward for his loyalist support during the First Coup, and now extremely popular due to the Second Boys vs Girls War, conspired with Thomas to overthrow Midget Master Jonathan and rule the Midget Empire between themselves. Midget Master Jonathan's unexperienced "Elite Guard" of Yr. 5s immediately fled when Gregory and Thomas entered the Midget Base with some Yr. 6s and held Midget Master Jonathan hostage. They demanded that he step down and appoint them both Midget Masters, but he refused. Just before the conspirators' threats became reality, the Midget Master was rescued by some Yr. 5s more loyal than his first bodyguards in a daring rescue attempt. Midget Master Jonathan set up base in the Rebel Side, but before civil war could properly break out went back to the Midget Base and made a compromise.
From then on, the absolute power of the Midget Master had decreased by two thirds, as a triumvirate governed the Midget Empire. Jonathan, Thomas and Gregory now had equal power, although as before only Jonathan held the title of Midget Master and could choose a successor.
The Third Midget Master[]
In July 2006, Midget Master Jonathan as well as Thomas, Gregory, and most other senior commanders of the Midget Empire, left the school for the summer holidays - they would not be returning, but would go on to high school. This led to the problem of who would succeed as Midget Master, which was Jonathan's decision. Gregory wanted his younger brother, a senior commander, to become the Third Midget Master. He would stay at the school for another year yet, meaning that Gregory could still influence the Playground even while at high school. Jonathan however decided to appoint his sister, Caroline, as the next Midget Master, on the basis that as an absolute hereditary monarchy there could be no dispute about the legal Midget Master, whereas if the title was given to the most senior military official, civil war would inevitably break out in an inherently unstable stratocracy.
Midget Master Jonathan officially abdicated on 31 July 2006, on which date the throne passed to Midget Master Caroline III. Unfortunately, upon her return to the school after the holidays, in September 2006, the Midget Empire fell apart. Having been governed by a triumverate for nearly a year, a return to absolute power being vested in a single person meant the the Midget Empire's now complex (having conquered the Playground) government became extremely centralised. With Midget Master Caroline being unwilling to rule, the Midget Master's authority collapsed. There were no rebellions by remaining Midget commanders, since as the Midget Empire was crumbling around them the remaining members of the Midget Army (now wishing in vain for Midget Master Jonathan to return) desperately enforced whatever decrees of their former supreme leader that they could remember - such as the one that his sister was now Midget Master.
Although some garrisons of the Midget Empire survived the complete power vacuum after Midget Master Jonathan's departure, according to Midget Master Caroline they gradually became less and less "Midget" until one day they were simply playing war games, and the next day, they decided to do something else. What is known is that Midget Master Caroline only started to run the Midget Empire six months after she had left the school herself, by founding the Midget Nation-in-Exile on 30 December 2009. After only a month of rule as Midget Master, she abdicated in favour of Thomas.
The Fourth Midget Master[]
Destroying Jonathan's plans for the Midget Master to be a hereditary monarch, Thomas became the ruler of the Midget Nation-in-Exile on 4 February 2010, after he met up with Jonathan after school and they both decided that the reformed Midget nation needed a real leader. Thomas actually changed the title of the Midgets' ruler, titling himself Midget Fuhrer Thomas IV. The title "Fuhrer" was not chosen to indicate Nazi or fascist beliefs, but because he wanted to return to the supreme dictatorial power of Daniel's Midget Master.
Caroline was told that she should abdicate for the good of the Midget Nation-in-Exile, and that if she didn't a coup may be an option. She willingly abdicated, passing the throne on to Midget Fuhrer Thomas IV at 18:00, 4 February 2010.
Midget Fuhrer Thomas started his reign by regulating the ranking hierarchy of the Midget Army, and before long had entered the Nation-in-Exile into the Austenasian Civil War on the side of the legitimate government. From that point onwards, the Midget Master became a practical vassal monarch of Emperor Esmond III, until the War of the Orlian Reunification, when the Midget Nation went to war against Austenasia.
When Midget Fuhrer Thomas rallied the Midget Army for this latter war, they learned that Declan I of Wilcsland was overall head of the forces opposing Esmond III - not wanting to be seen as subserviant to the Orlians with whom they were fighting alongside, the Midget Army declared Declan I to be the Fifth Midget Master, since Thomas IV had accepted Declan I as holding a higher military rank than him, something no Midget Master had done in the past.
The Fifth Midget Master[]
When Declan I, II & V was declared Midget Master on 16 December 2010, the Midget Army immediately encountered the problem of him living over seventy miles away from Carshalton - therefore, Midget Fuhrer Thomas kept his title (though without the ordinals of IV) and became the Midget Master's viceroy. The war ended in victory for the forces of Declan I over those of Esmond III, and the title of Midget Master became overshadowed by the new titles of Declan I & V: Emperor of Austenasia, Tsar of Orly, etc.
Nearly all powers of government except for military command had been taken away from Thomas IV and assumed by Declan V. With the Midgets no longer at war, the Nation-in-Exile started to become inactive - although nominally still the government-in-exile of the once mighty Midget Empire, the Nation-in-Exile was by this point merely a small band of soldiers under Thomas' command and respecting Declan V as their supreme leader.
On 9 April 2011, Declan V (in his capacity as Emperor of Austenasia) gave consent to an Austenasian Act of Parliament that dissolved the independent government of the Nation-in-Exile, transitioned the Midget Army into a unit of the Austenasian Army, and united the title and office of Midget Master with the Throne of Austenasia.
Declan I, II & V therefore became the last Midget Master to rule over an independent nation - from then on, the Midget Masters would be his successors as Emperor/Empress of Austenasia.