Northern People's Federation

The Northern People's Federation, officially the People's Federation of Nordic Republics, and formerly the Union of Maximalist Republics, also known colloquially as the Folkhemmet (Rogish: "the People's Home"); is a nation in northern Estere, bordering Roste, and ... . It is the largest country in Northern Estere, with its capital being the city of ... . The Northern People's Federation is made up of 27 million people, divided into the four main ethnic groups of Rogish, ..., Imbrish, and Vennians. Most of the population of the Federation lives within urban areas, with only a minority of the population living in rural areas.

Despite its northern latitude, the climate of the Northern People's Republic is fairly mild due to its large coastline and the North !Atlantic Current. The Federation is varied in climate, but is commonly marked with strong, snowy winters, and mild to warm summers. Much of the landscape of the Federation, especially in the north, is covered in deciduous and coniferous forests, while the landscape of much of the south has been shaped by agricultural work.

Home to ... and ... peoples since prehistory, the Federation was divided into numerous petty kingdoms and tribes during the Light Age, and the Early Medieval Period. Many of these tribes embarked on overseas raiding, becoming a sea people known as the Northmen. By the 1200s, most of these tribes, with the exception of those in Vennland, became settled, adopting technologies from the south and becoming proper kingdoms in their own right. During the Early Modern Period, many of these kingdoms, including Rogaland, became involved in overseas ventures with the discovery of the New World. A popular revolution in 1911 removed the unpopular republic in Rogaland, followed by a similar one in ..., in 1919. The two states, who became quickly dominated by communist, maximalist, popularist, and socialist groups. Maximalist groups, triumphant in both states, proposed the creation of a federative union, which became a political reality in 1923, establishing the Union of Maximalist Republics. The Union sat out the majority of the Second World War, surviving as one of the least damaged Esterian powers. This, along with industrial and economic reforms under Gustav Stål, enabled the Union to come out into the New Order as a powerful Maximalist state. The Union quickly had to adapt to modern circumstances however, with the Rosteman occupation of Imbermark and the Imbrish Intervention proving to be a diplomatic challenge for the state. As one of the last communist states in Estere following the Second World War, the Union received much military and political support by anti-fascist powers, such as ... . The economic and political reforms of the ascendant Karl Magnus Kaljurand throughout the 1960s, which also cemented vast control of a secret police, proved unpopular with the military, who deposed Kaljurand in a bloody taking of the capital, in 1969-1970, known as the Hot Winter. The military junta gave up many of its powers into the 1970s, creating an authoritarian one-party state, much to the anger of radicalised student groups who wanted a democracy.

Starting in 1986, Chairman Peder Ravn began a process of democratisation within the Union, which in 1991 resulted in the declaration of a people's federation. Years of internal struggle and dissent followed as the new Federation began to work out its place in the world, but by the late 90s, the Federation had stabilised, becoming a major player in a new democratically-aligned Estere with the collapse of the New Order.

The First Red March approaching the capital

Socialist militia march through ... Square, 1912

Communist paramilitary posing for a photo, 1916

Tanks during the Hot Winter. Columns of tanks were often opposed by students, some of whom succeeded in halting or even destroying them. Other times, encounters, such as the Battle of Folksgatan Street, ended in bloody massacres of the radicalised students.

A street scene during the Hot Winter.