Whitting Conference
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Serving to elect the First Lord of the Second Star League, the Whitting Conference was also the Second's version of the original's Star League High Council.
Contents
Overview
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Named in remembrance of the small hamlet on Coventry where Victor Steiner-Davion offered hegira to Clan Jade Falcon during the Battle of Coventry.
First Whitting Conference
The first Whitting Conference took place in 3058 on Tharkad at the suggestion of Archon-Prince Victor Stiner-Davion for the recreation of the Star League following the success of the multi-national expeditionary force in stopping the Jade Falcon Incursion. Though it was Victor who called for the meeting, it was his sister Katherine Steiner-Davion who quickly seized on hosting the meeting within the Lyran Alliance as part of a power-play.[1] The leaders and advisers of the five Great Houses, the St. Ives Compact, the Free Rasalhague Republic and ComStar, along with Clan Wolf-in-Exile and the Arc-Royal Defense Cordon, arrived on Tharkad on 3 October, attending a formal ball held by Katherine in the Royal Palace.[2]
When the council met in full on 8 October, after much discussion and political fighting it was eventually decided that the only way to end the threat of the Clan Invasion was to totally defeat one of the Invading Clans. With information provided by Khan Phelan Kell, they chose Clan Smoke Jaguar for destruction based on a number of reasons. With Clan Wolf and Clan Jade Falcon greatly weakened by the Refusal War, the Smoke Jaguars were the strongest Invading Clan militarily and the nominal leader of the Crusader Clan political bloc. If the Smoke Jaguars were destroyed, it would not only prove that the Inner Sphere had become too strong a target to conquer, but would weaken the Crusader faction in the Grand Council and allow the Wardens to take power. Additionally, as the Smoke Jaguar's Occupation Zone encompassed worlds of the Draconis Combine, it would be easier to move units into position and maintain operational security thanks to the Combine's media censorship.[3]
As the political leadership continued to hash out the creation of a new Star League, military leaders from the attending nations set about planning what would become Operation Bulldog. This planning took on a new aspect when Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht presented new information: the Exodus Road and the location of Huntress, the Smoke Jaguar homeworld. With their base of operations now know, it was immediately decided that simultaneous strikes again both their Inner Sphere holdings and their homeworld was the only way to ensure the complete destruction of Clan Smoke Jaguar. Marshal Morgan Hasek-Davion volunteered to lead this second strike force, code-named Task Force Serpent, composed of elite House and mercenary units from across the Inner Sphere.[4] This finalized plan was adopted by the political leaders the next day.[5]
It took a few more days before a final draft of the new Star League Constitution was ready to be voted on, but the final pressing matter was determining who would serve as the new First Lord. Rather than allow the position to be determined by lot as per the Constitution, the conference members chose the alternative option of election by two-thirds majority. Katherine Stiner-Davion felt confident, thanks to the previous weeks' negotiations, that she had engineered events to allow her to be elected as the new First Lord. However, Victor frustrated her plans by successfully maneuvering Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao of the Capellan Confederation to win the resulting vote, citing the idea of letting one of the weakest Great Houses take the lead as a show of unity between the Inner Sphere powers.[6]
The signing of the new Star League Constitution was held on 21 November, annoucing the formal creation of the new Star League and Sun-Tzu Liao as the first new First Lord in over three centuries.[7]
Second Whitting Conference
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The Second Whitting Conference was also held on Tharkad in 3061. The result of the election of First Lord was a tie between Katherine Steiner-Davion and Theodore Kurita. With the result being a tie ComStar was called upon to cast the deciding vote. However Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht refused to vote and resigned, upon which his chosen replacement Victor Steiner-Davion cast his vote for Theodore Kurita of the Draconis Combine against his sister.
Third Whitting Conference
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The Third Whitting Conference was held on Marik in 3064. Christian Mansdottir of the Free Rasalhague Republic was elected. The Word of Blake Protectorate and Taurian Concordat were admitted as provisional members, under the sponsorship of the Free Worlds League and Capellan Confederation, respectively.
Fourth Whitting Conference
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The Fourth Whitting Conference was held on Tharkad in the December of 3067. Here, three of the members, Sun-Tzu Liao of the Capellan Confederation, Yvonne Steiner-Davion of the Federated Suns, and Peter Steiner-Davion of the Lyran Alliance, announced their intention to pull out of the Star League. A cornered First Lord Christian Mansdottir saw no solution but to call for a vote of no-confidence, hoping that the measure would be defeated and that this show of confidence and unity would persuade the dissenting members to change their minds.[8]
However despite the provisional membership of the Word of Blake and of the Taurian Concordat the vote of no-confidence passed and the second Star League was dissolved. The Word of Blake was in disbelief, having believed that its pending membership was the fulfilment of a centuries-old prophecy that described the way in which the quasi-mystical order would come to power. Furious it immediately started the Jihad, sparking a new age of war and massive destruction. [8]
References
- Shattered Sphere p. 15, 22