War of Chin the Conqueror

"earth"

- In my day, Chin the Conqueror threatened to throw the world out of balance.

The War of Chin the Conqueror was a major hostile takeover of the Earth Kingdom by the tyrannical warlord Chin, whose goal was to overthrow the 46th Earth King and to end his authoritarian rule. Almost the entirety of the Earth Kingdom was invaded in the campaign. The only territories to remain in the last stages of the war were Ba Sing Se, and a small peninsula which was the home of Avatar Kyoshi. The war was ended when Chin was killed by Avatar Kyoshi as she separated her home from the mainland, creating Kyoshi Island.

Chin's civil war had a massive impact on history, since it caused a series of events that eventually led to the decline of the Earth King's power. This development resulted in a 350 year long period of weakness, conspiracy and corruption for the Earth Kingdom that ended with Earth King Kuei's return to power in 100 ASC.

Prelude
The 46th Earth King was a strong-willed and imperious ruler, determined to establish an absolute monarchy with himself as total and god-like King. He did not care about his subjects, and his unpopular rule could thus count on little support from his people and the local authorities.

War
The resistance against his authoritarian rule soon culminated in an open revolt. Chin, a tyrannical warlord, raised a large army in order to gain power over the Earth Kingdom. Seizing the King's unpopularity as advantage, Chin began expanding his army to all corners of the continent.

Chin's campaign proved to be a success: commencing from a small island in the northwestern part of the kingdom, his armies steadily conquered every city, every country and every fortress on their way. The Earth King, however, was seemingly incapable of handling the war properly and barricaded himself in Ba Sing Se, leaving most of the kingdom to the enemy. After an unknown period of time, only the capital Ba Sing Se and Avatar Kyoshi's home peninsula remained unconquered.



Chin decided to face the Avatar instead of the impenetrable walls of Ba Sing Se and lead his armies out to the neck of the peninsula where he met the Avatar. In a standoff, Chin confronted Kyoshi and demanded her immediate surrender. Kyoshi, in turn, warned him that she would not sit passively while he took her home, but Chin did not back down and challenged her.

Kyoshi, however, did not fight Chin, but unleashed a display of powers in the Avatar State instead by creating a large fissure across the width of the neck of the peninsula to sever it from the mainland. Bending lava, she deepened the crack, and utilized airbending to completely separate her homeland. The ground shook as the newly formed Kyoshi Island slowly made its way toward the middle of the ocean, leaving Chin standing on an unstable cliff. Although the cliff started to crumble away underneath his feet, Chin, screaming in anger over Kyoshi's actions, refused to move. As a result, he plummeted to his death in the depths below, ending the war.

Immediate


Although the land was now free from the threat of Chin the Conqueror, the Earth Kingdom was not at peace. Chin's army was disbanded, but his followers, still loyal to him, founded a settlement in the southern Earth Kingdom and fueled the secessionism in the Earth Kingdom. At the same time civil unrest spread on the continent. Many citizens were furious at the actions of the King during the war, especially his military incompetence and tyranny.

Uprisings occurred, like the Peasant Uprising in Ba Sing Se, nearly plunging the kingdom back into civil war. It was thanks to Avatar Kyoshi that the problems were solved peacefully. Kyoshi had forced the Earth King to listen to the peasants grievances, turning his authoritarian tyranny into a constitutional monarchy. In return, she created the Dai Li in order to protect the city's cultural heritage. Overall, the position of the Earth King was massively weakened, both in power and reputation, and the Earth Kingdom would never again become an absolute monarchy. Instead, the kingdom further decentralized, ultimately making all ambitions of the 46th Earth King to change it into a centralized empire futile.

Later


During the next 270 years, the development started by Chin's war continued. Over time, the monarchy became stagnant and corrupt, and its power declined. At the same time, the power of local rulers and bureaucrats increased, dividing the Earth Kingdom into independent provinces, local kingdoms, and city-states with their own armies and laws. This territorial division eventually increased to the point where the Earth Kingdom's monarchy had almost no control over its rural and peripheral regions.

Around 20 BSC, Fire Lord Sozin took advantage of this weakness, establishing several colonies in the western kingdom, occupying former Earth Kingdom land. Notably, the Earth Kingdom government did not protect their western provinces or declared war to the Fire Nation for their aggressive imperialism, unable to stop the mighty Fire Nation military. Only Avatar Roku prevented the widespread of the colonies and stopped Sozin's ambitions. Nevertheless, after his death, the Hundred Year War began, and most of the weakened Earth Kingdom was conquered by the Fire Nation. By this time, the Earth King had become a mere figurehead, while the Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se was the true ruler of the Earth Kingdom.



However, in 100 ASC, 370 years after Chin's death, very few commoners remembered Chin's war, and the details of Chin's death became unclear despite his impact on the history.

The citizens of Chin Village were the only known people around that time that still commemorate Chin's death. For this occasion, they created Avatar Day, a festival that celebrated their hatred for the Avatar for killing their great and beloved leader. However, the accuracy of the grounds for the event were biased at best, leaving out several important details.



The village had already celebrated this holiday on those grounds for 370 years, when Team Avatar arrived at the village in 100 ASC. Upon their arrival, Avatar Aang was jailed for Chin the Conqueror's "murder", so Katara and Sokka set out to discover the truth behind it all. With the help of Avatar Kyoshi's spirit, the exact facts of Chin's demise were revealed. During the following invasion of Chin Village by the Rough Rhinos, Aang was able to clear the Avatar's name. From that day on, Avatar Day became a day to commemorate Aang saving the village.

Before the Battle at Wulong Forest, Aang summoned Kyoshi for guidance on how to defeat the Fire Lord. She reminded him that her forceful ending of Chin the Conqueror's war for dominance brought a great era of peace. Aang pointed out that she did not actually kill him, but that Chin's own arrogance had led to his downfall. Kyoshi replied that she saw no difference in this, and told Aang that she would have done anything necessary to stop Chin. After hearing this, Aang regretted consulting Kyoshi on this complex moral matter.