Meronnia

Federal Republic of Meronnia République Fédérale de Mèronie
Flag
Motto: Liberté, Solidarité, Prospérité Liberty, Solidarity, Prosperity
Anthem: Le Chant Du Depart "Song of the Departure"
Official Map of the Federal Republic and Territories
Capital	Senone
Official languages	Mèronais
Recognised regional languages	Vaalse, Cabecan, Tavitan
Demonym(s)	Mèron
Government	Federal semi-presidential republic
• Premier	Pierre-Antoine Tremblay
• First Deputy	Maximilien Sardou
Legislature	Chambre des Députés
Establishment
• Crowning of Lothair II	757
• The Philippine Proclamation	1281
• Signing of the Commune Constitution	1771
Area
• Total	646,571.4 km2 (249,642.6 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate	66,762,700
• Density	103.26/km2 (267.4/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	2020 estimate
• Total	L551 Billion
• Per capita	L8,253.10
Gini (2020)	29.2 low
HDI (2020)	0.889 very high
Currency	Livre ((L))
Date format	ddmmyyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+122
ISO 3166 code	MR
Internet TLD	.mr

Meronnia (Mèronais: Mèronie), officially the Federal Republic of Meronnia (Mèronais: République Fédérale de Mèronie), is a nation in Western Lira with several overseas territories. Metropolitan Meronnia is bordered by the Bay of Bicscay and the Inoran Ocean to the West, Lunderfrau to the North, Winst to the East, Arideo to the Southeast, Cisparrania to the South, and Produzland to the Southwest. The capital and largest city is Senone, with 2,812,000 living in the Senone Commune. The country's 47 Communes and 5 other Territories span a total of 646,571.4 km2 (249,642.6 sq mi), with a total population of 66.8 million people.

The country has a primarily mild Oceanic climate, though the metropolitan region varies from warm Mediterranean to Humid Continental. Overseas territories have an even broader climatic range. The nation is a federal semi-presidential republic, with executive authority shared between a directly elected Premier, the First Deputy of the Chamber of Deputies, and the Directory, a limply empowered holdover of the early Republican government.

Meronnia is a center for arts, sciences, and philosophy. Meronnia is a developed country with a very high standard of living and fairly low income inequality, though there have been recent concerns about rising housing prices. Meronnia is heavily involved in international affairs and participates in a number of international bodies. It is the leading member of the OIM, an organization initially founded as a post-colonial community of Mèronais-speaking nations.

Etymology

The origin of Meronnia is as a geographic term, Merona, describing the area the majority of the modern nation exists on, though the origins of this terminology are unclear (it is believed to have originated somewhere in Western Lira). The tribes, and later, kingdoms that inhabited the area became known as the Mèrons, and a gradual linguistic shift over several hundred years was confirmed in 1281 when Philip Rusét in his proclamation claimed the title of King of Mèronie. The Lorian exonym settled on Meronnia around the same time.

Both the exonym and endonym roughly mean Land of the Mèrons. As the word Mèron originally means those living in Merona or Mèronie, the cyclical nature of the meanings of these terms has drawn some attention as a source of humor for linguists.

The modern demonym for the nation of Meronnia is "Mèron" (or Meron/Meronnian in Lorian).

History

Prehistory (before the 6th century BCE)

The oldest traces of human life in what is now Meronnia date from approximately 1.5 million years ago. Over the ensuing millennia, Humans were confronted by a harsh and variable climate, marked by several glacial eras.

Early inhabitants of the region led nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Meronnia has large numbers of preserved decorated caves of the Paleolithic era, such as the famous Bourdon Caves (approximately 16,000 BC). As the climate became milder at the end of the glacial period the inhabitants of the region entered the Neolithic era and became sedentary, establishing agricultural communities as early as 6,000 BC.

Improvements in agriculture and demographic changes led to societal development throughout the 3rd Millenia BC, including the appearance of metallurgy. The earliest metals to have been worked in Meronnia were gold, copper, and bronze. Examples of worked iron date back as far as 1,200 BC.

Antiquity (6th century BCE–5th century CE)

There is little written information concerning the first civilizations that inhabited the regions of what is now Meronnia, save what can be gleaned from coins. Therefore, the early history of the region is predominantly a work in archaeology, and the relationships between material culture, genetic relationships (the study of which has been aided, in recent years, through the field of archaeogenetics) and linguistic divisions rarely coincide.

The first societies in what is now Meronnia of which much detail remains are the Collers culture who spoke similar dialects and were organized into a number of small kingdoms centered around a structure of tribes and clans. This people, and their displacement by Tabers and Lorians through the 5th and 4th centuries BC, is discussed in depth in the surviving works of Divicatus of Elusco.

The Kingdoms of Virisimi, Cacudia, Dusella, and Manduissa, all came into existence between 450 and 300 BC, and the linguistically and religiously diverse region saw regular changes in territory and prosperity through minor conflicts, and frequent changing of hands of the position of "Rix Maros" (roughly: "Great King"), the first among equals of the Kings, who was identified as the holder of the Nerto Stone. While etymologically unclear, the first use of the term Merona, to describe the region that abided by the power of the Nerto Stone, was in 285 BC by Brocchia the Taber.

In the First Century BC, Valatonius was the King of Dusella and holder of the Nerto Stone, and he gathered the armies of most or all of the Meron Kings to come to the aid of the Tabers in the campaign against encroaching armies of the Anconan Kingdom. Valatonius's army met King Salus of Ancona, who had declared himself the Orthurian Emperor, north of the Aniene River. In the Battle of Cenos the Meron army were victorious, but in the long term the growth of the Orthurian Empire proved impossible to halt.

In 62 AD, three Meron Kings threw down their swords and surrendered their lands to the Orthurian Empire as a result of the defeat of their armies. King Borso of Cacudia refused to surrender and stole the Nerto Stone. His army was met at a bridge across the Aniene and defeated, with Borso throwing himself into the river with the Stone, which was lost forever.

Merona as a province of the Orthurian Empire served as a frontier with the Kingdom of Taber and the Empire's rivals and a number of forts and walled towns were settled, including Belenora, Litu, Tallius, and Cricero. During this period the Province saw improvements in infrastructure like roads, and public works in the walled towns, leading to significant improvements in overall development. After Emperor Valerius Patisar converted to Verroist Beoin, Beoin churches and missions were established in a number of walled towns in Merona Province, leading to a partial conversion of the local population, most strongly in the south.

Throughout the 4th and 5th centuries, the migration of Gostic Tribes from East of the Kingdom of Taber destabilized the Province as well as the rest of the Empire. Merona bore the brunt of demographic shifts, with many Gostic groups settling land in the Province and intermarrying, very quickly outpopulating Orthurian settlers in the few towns they had established. Gostic groups were violently opposed to orders from Ancona, and a series of revolts saw the final withdrawal of the Orthurian garrison from forts in Merona Province in 387 AD.

Small parts of the former province, in the far south, sought direct aid of the Magi who had been installed in the Fluviatta less than a century before, but the majority of Merona swore fealty to Gostic leaders establishing a new set of tribally based minor Kingdoms.

In 470, Annamatus and Viriata, a co-leading King and Queen of the Kingdom of Licnos, took their armies Southwards after coming to the aid of Gostic forces of Almer the Great in Taber. They signed a treaty with the Magi to recognize the Fosperia territories (those lands of the Merona Province that had requested his aid) and did not loot any of the towns in that region, instead receiving payment and food as they traveled. They went as far as to attack Ancona, but their army dispersed to raid and pillage as they returned towards the North and they were unable to continue their momentum.

Early Middle Ages (6th century-10th century)

What is today Meronnia was divided between a number of small independent societies after the exit of the Orthurian Empire and the failure of early movements to unite the Gostic people who had settled in the former Merona Province. The earliest successes in unification came about with the conquests of Grimoald the Tall who succeeded in unifying the territory of the pre-Orthurian kingdom of Dusella. His dynasty, the Grimoaldings, would go on to be the first force to unify Meronnia from the inside.

Louemagne (Louel the Great) was the great grandson of Grimoald, and his successes in both war and diplomacy led to Grimoalding control over much of the core of modern-day Meronnia. In 698, Louemagne claimed the title of "King of all Merons"; though he would not unify all the Meron-speaking lands in his lifetime this was partially attributable to the origination of a national identity for the disparate people of the region.

Lothair II, the grandson of Louel the Great, announced before his court that if he was successful in his war against those forces in Meronnia refusing to recognize his authority that he would convert himself and his kingdom, formally, to a Verroist one. After his conquest of Toulers, he followed through on his promise and was ceremonially welcomed into the Verroist church. Lothair II was also responsible for a treaty with the Magi in Avelino, which returned the Fosperia territories to Lothair's realm. In 757, much of his conquests complete, Lothair was crowned by the Magi as the Meronnian Emperor.

The Meronnian Empire became one of the most powerful forces in the region, and a number of innovations in sciences and arts were made as the Empire attempted (ultimately fruitlessly) to claim the mantle that the Orthurian Empire had once held in Western Lira. The centralized and prosperous empire would ultimately last a little over two centuries. In 944 the Imperial throne passed to a bastard branch of the Grimoaldings through Louel III, and in 998 the death of Charles Louelling led to an internal conflict over the inheritance, which spiraled into war in 999. The Empire was de facto dissolved by the separation of the lands of the competing claimants to the throne, leading to the period somewhat misleadingly referred to as the Interregnum.

High and Late Middle Ages (11th century-15th century)

The Meronnian Interregnum divided the former empire into a number of independent feudal states primarily based on the borders of Imperial provinces. These included the Kingdoms of Aleamme, Nord, and Le Péninsule. Later states to emerge included the Kingdom of the Vaalsers which broke away from Nord in 1086, and the Kingdom of Blénoir based in the city of the same name which emerged in 1217 and would become the vehicle for reunification of the region.

The Rusét dynasty emerged as a powerful force during the middle stages of the interregnum, prominently due to the efforts of the Duke Louis the Fox who oversaw a number of centralizing reforms of his lands and titles, and through careful war and diplomacy expanded his realm to one of the largest in the Meronnian region, though one still in vassalage to the Kings. Throughout the 1200s, the Rusét family was the main source of power for the nascent Kingdom of Blénoir declared by the Charibertean cadet house to the Grimoaldings. The grandson of Louis, Philip Rusét, married Adelaide of Blénoir in 1279 and claimed the title of King of all Meronnia.

Following a short and decisive conflict, Philip victoriously seized the lands of his rivals and issued the Philippine Proclamation in 1281 which established the legality of the new Kingdom. The Proclamation was notably liberal for its era, for example providing protections for widows and women who did not wish to marry, and establishing new rights for landholders and free cities. These new liberties compelled the large majority of minor landholders and freedmen to support loyalty to Philip I as opposed to their former monarchs, and is largely credited for the stability of the newly united Kingdom in it's first centuries of existence.

The 14th and 15th century in Meronnia under the Rusét kings was an era of uncommon peace and prosperity, and renaissance ideals from Parthonopia were quickly adopted in the wealthy and libertine courts of Meronnian nobility and royalty, leading to an explosive growth in the development of arts and sciences. This was the era in which painters such as Raymon Gachet worked, and when Baudrain Girard pioneered astrological sciences and led the heliocentric revolution.

This was also the period which saw the birth of the first parts of the Meronnian colonial empire, settlements and trade concessions along the northern Meridiqi coast, and later valuable acquisitions in South-Eastern Nori. These colonial endeavours led to a number of minor conflicts with Produzland, the other prominent Liran colonial power of the time.

The Meronnian Renaissance period was decisively halted by the 1477 invasion by the rapidly growing Lunderfrausian Empire which had united in 1412. While the core territories of the Kingdom remained, the expanding Lunderfrau seized more than a third of the Meronnian landmass in it's continued campaigns of expansion which would ultimately push further into the Orthurian peninsula and endanger Arideo and the Parthonopian states.

Early Modern Period (16th century-1730)

The successes of Lunderfrau throughout the early 16th century led to the formation of a broad coalition of southern territories to drive them back. The Siege of Lepanto in 1529 in modern Parthonopia was the turning point at which the Lunderfrausian advance was halted, and through the relief of an intervening coalition of Parthonopian, Aridite, Produese, and Meronnian forces, Lunderfrau was turned back from Lepanto and gradually forced northwards. While the coalition was successful in driving Lunderfrau most of the way back to its historic borders, it would continue to occupy the Vaalser Country for several hundred years.

After the success of the war against Lunderfrau, a short military campaign was launched against the small Kingdom of Velarre to the West, in which the Meron king Josset II pressed a vague claim to the territory. Velarre, which occupied much of the territory today classified as Cabeca, became a vassal state of the Kingdom of Meronnia in 1534.

The formation of the coalition thawed relations with Produzland as the two Kingdoms settled a number of treaties outlining a separation of colonial interests, which secured a Produese predominance in Nori and a Meronnian predominance in Meridiq. These agreements were cemented by royal marriage which ultimately led in 1551 to the inheritance of the Produese King Philip to the Meronnian throne through his mother. Philip I and IV led a personal union of the two kingdoms and their other possessions for 32 years, becoming one of the most powerful men in history.

In 1582 on the death of Philip, differences in inheritance law led to Philip's elder daughter Ermelina inheriting the Meronnian throne, while Philip's younger son Vincent inherited Produzland, ending the personal union. Nonetheless, the Produese House of Lugo remained on the Meronnian throne for several generations, retaining a close relationship with that country.

The 1600s in Meronnia (often also including the late 1500s) were a period of extreme unrest in the Kingdom of Meronnia, primarily driven by religious tensions. Verroist Inquisitors from Produzland, brought by the Lugo monarchs, were unpopular in the less fervently devout region which was still host to a significant pagan minority in the Nosoumettron religion. Tensions were escalated significantly with the spread of Recantism, a Beoin breakaway sect which rejected much of the established doctrine of the Verroist church. In 1601, Recantism was made illegal in Meronnia, sparking the period known as the Religious Wars.

The Religious Wars period saw a large number of uprisings and rebellions motivated by religious disagreements, and several monarchs were successfully deposed. Charles X was forcefully removed in 1608 by Louis Touchard who declared himself King, and in 1613 signed the Proclamation of Primacy which recognized the new but rapidly developing Annic Church (then known as the Church of Roses) as the official church of the Kingdom, leading to Louis' excommunication by the Verroist magi. Ultimately, King Louis VI was also overthrown in 1626 by a return of the Verroist Lugo dynasty, but after Guibert II converted to Recantism and was assassinated, the Touchard dynasty was restored to the throne in 1684 with King Alain I, and the Annic Church was brought back to primacy, permanently ending the Lugo line of Meronnian kings.

The Kingdom of Velarre, which was a predominantly Verroist territory which had sworn fealty to the House of Lugo, did not return to its state of vassalage under the new monarchs and once again became an independent state, which would eventually be consumed by Produzland.

While the Touchard restoration signaled the beginning of the end for the Religious Wars, Meronnia still had many issues to face. As increased emigration from the embattled homeland had ballooned the population of several Meronnian colonies, most prominently Carelia, it had become much more difficult to enforce taxes and tariffs on these overseas holdings. Additionally, the failure of the monarchs to liberalize their rule after the end of religious violence led to the tense atmosphere being redirected, rather than dissipating. In 1730, protests over the price of bread in the city of Senone slowly devolved into a revolution.

Revolutionary Meronnia (1730-1800) Through the late months of 1730, the city of Senone (which was already the most populous city in the Kingdom at the time) fell into near-anarchy as protests over bread prices devolved into riots which grew increasingly violent, and saw the withdrawal of the King's police from the city. In early 1731 with the city effectively outside the control of the King, a new spontaneous Senone City Committee was established by locals to continue providing essential services such as fire-fighting and policing. Over the month of February, Senone's political scene graduated towards a national revolutionary bent, as opposed to their initial local focus.

In March, a call was put out to gather a Provisional Assembly for a Meronnian republic, and despite warnings by the royal government a number of participants from across the country traveled to Senone to participate. In their first official sitting on March 27th 1731, the Provisional Assembly agreed to a slim constitution, elected the radical poet Fabien Robiquet the position of Captain (head of state), and issued a unilateral declaration of the establishment of a republic, referenced by historians as the First Republic.

What followed was a brief conflict, with the republicans securing victory after many cities in the former kingdom recognized the new constitution and gathered militias to fight. King Florent II was forced to withdraw with his loyalist forces to the safety of Produzland, and the republicans titled their victory the Glorious Revolution. For the next eight years the First Republic was in control of the majority of Meronnia, though it dealt with frequent uprisings and unrest, while struggling to provide solutions to problems left unanswered by the overthrown monarchy.

Ultimately the First Republic was governed by the Provisional Assembly and Robiquet for it's entire existence, as the Captain continued to output new theory pieces on good governance and the provisional government continued to stamp out dangers that regularly cropped up. By 1739, no elections had been held to fill an official Republican Assembly. It was in this context that the Last Restoration was carried out by King Florent's loyalist army supplemented by Produese military assistance.

Returning as an invasion force, the royalists found the republicans disorganized and demoralized, and on taking and sacking Senone (and concurrently killing Fabien Robiquet outside the meeting hall of the Provisional Assembly) the First Republic was put to an end. The restored kingdom under Florent made some attempts at reform, including the establishment of a legislative Chamber of Commons, and a relocation of the official capital to Senone from historic Blénoir.

Ultimately, these reforms proved fickle, and Florent's successor Ermelina II fumbled an attempt to enforce order in the Carelian colonies, which led to the 1756-1763 Carelian War of Independence, ultimately a success for the revolutionaries and a defeat for the embattled royalists who struggled to maintain any semblance of loyalty from the Meronnian public.

In 1771, Queen Ermelina moved to close the Chamber of Commons after they attempted to hold a vote to block the introduction of a new royal tax. This was the spark that lit the Second Revolution, which spiraled into the Meronnian Civil War. Across the country a number of groups rose up initially under the banner of the Provisional Republic with the primary intent to remove the monarchy permanently, but soon this broad tent divided into a number of competing factions which fought for control of the nation.

Based in the self-declared Senone Commune, the Communards (the blacks) were the faction that was ultimately successful in reunifying the nation, subsuming several other revolutionary movements such as the National Committee and defeating both the Provisional Republic and the Royalist remnants on the battlefield. While the Communards had established control of a majority of the country by 1774, pockets of resistance throughout the country lasted several years beyond that.

The new Meronnia was now made up of a number of constituent Communes, which sent representatives to a Congress of Communes which served as the provisional legislative body. During the bulk of the civil war, the Committee of General Defense served as the collective head of state of the Communard faction. In 1774 after several successful campaigns brought much of the country under Communard control, the Congress of Communes finalized a new constitution establishing the Federal Republic of Meronnia, also creating the Meronnian Directory as a new executive and the Chamber of Senators as a new regular legislative body made up of the representatives sent by commune governments.