Arnen IV of Risevne

Arnen IV, born Arnen Nesari Pragan Nimya (11 May 1889 - 28 December 1964), was the King of Risevne from 16 January 1938, when he succeeded Nesari II, to his death.

Arnen IV's rule was by far one of the most eventful of any Risevani monarch since the Restoration. During his reign Risevne entered the Fourth Global War, during which it would lose nearly 3 million dead out of a population of 54 million; throughout the course of this war the King was famous as a symbol of national resistance, especially by his refusal to move out of Rasami Palace even after he was wounded by shrapnel when the palace was bombed. After the war he became an outspoken advocate of international cooperation to enforce peace, and helped turn public opinion in favour of Risevne's participation in the International League. In 1954 he set up the Risevne Royal Award for Peace, and in 1956 the League awarded him the International Achievement Prize for Peace.

War Years

War broke out just two years into the King's rule, in June 1940, and though he had spoken out in concern over the peace of the country since even before his reign he would prove to be a moving force behind the nation's entry into the war. Immediately after the war broke out he ordered a conference of generals and politicians to discuss joining the war; during this, the Conference of Melimaye, he made clear his pro-war stance:

"It cannot be the desire of any ruler who loves his country to lead a people into war. But it cannot be the duty of any human to stand by as the world suffers the aggression of its nations who dream of worldwide hegemony. Do we fight as the allies of the downtrodden, or wait until our potential allies have all been put down and fight alone?"

The conference eventually concluded that while Risevne should join the war it would not do so initially at first; it would only be the Golkate Island Incident of September 1940 that prompted the Assembly and Cabinet to approve the declaration of war.