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Republic of Sylvakia Sylvenská republika Республика Сильвакия Republik Sylvakei Sylvakia | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Emblem
| |
| Motto: Síla, Svoboda, Solidarita "Strength, Freedom, Unity" | |
| Anthem: Farewell of Slavianka | |
 Topographical relief map with major cities. | |
| Capital and largest city | Kralovice |
| Ethnic groups (2020) | Sylvan 49.7% Grenzarian 21.1% |
| Demonym(s) | Sylvan |
| Government | Unitary parliamentary republic (1979–2009) Unitary presidential constitutional republic (2009–Present) |
| Vaclav Cernik | |
| Sovereign State | |
• Great Sylvenska | 830 |
• First Kingdom | 1464 |
• Second Kingdom | 1835 |
• Panlarova | 1925 de facto 1939 de jure |
• Independent republic | 1979 |
• Constitutional reform | 2009 |
| Area | |
• Total Land | 265,171.42 km2 (102,383.26 sq mi)does not include inland lakes |
• Water (%) | 13.41% |
| Population | |
• 2020 census | 24,861,348 |
• Density | [convert: invalid number] |
| GDP (PPP) | 2020 estimate |
• Total | $788.465 billion |
• Per capita | $37,599 |
| Currency | Koruna (KOR) |
| Time zone | UTC-1 (Menghean Southwestern Time) |
| Date format | yyyy-mm-dd; CE(AD) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +25 |
Sylvakia /sjləvækiə, 
listen), officially the Republic of Sylvakia, is a landlocked country situated at the center of Lira near lake Sivash and the central Larovans. It borders Boaga to the north, Vlachavia to the east, Illyntheria to the south, and Grenzaria to the west. The country also claims a border with Ackesia through the disputed territory of Karpatya. Sylvakia's population numbers approximately fourteen point eight million. Its capital, Kralovice, is the largest and oldest city in the Larovans.
Continuously inhabited since the Paleolithic Age, the territory of modern-day Sylvakia faced Slavic migrations to the Larovans in the 6th century, establishing several regional states in the early Middle Ages at times recognised as tributaries to the Ackesian, Grenzarian and Lunder kingdoms. Sylvakia's predecessor state, Sylvenska, arose as an empire at around 830, but was relatively short lived. By the mid-16th century, the Lunder Empire had annexed the entirety of modern-day Sylvakia. In the early 19th century, the Sylvan Revolution established the nation-state as the region's first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory. Following disastrous casualties in the First Olympic War, and the subsequent unification of the former Lunder crownlands of Grenzaria (and other lands) with Sylvakia, the country co-founded Panlarova with other nations, which would exist in various political formations until the Rozpad Wars of the 1990s. During the breakup of Panlarova, Sylvakia formed a union with Karpatya, but this was interrupted by the 2008 Karpat War in which the region was seized by Vlachavia.
Sylvakia has since undergone political upheaval, with its unitary parliamentary constitutional republic being replaced by an authoritarian executive republic. It has been described by some as a quasi-military dictatorship. President Vaclav Cernik took control of the country in 2009, and has since more than doubled the nation's military expenditure, with the help of foreign aid from Boaga and Parthonopia. Despite this, Sylvakia hosted the first Pan-Liran Congress in 2020, which greatly improved the nation's standing internationally.
Eytomology
Sylvakia's name in theory means the "Land of the Sylvans" (Sylvensko in the Sylvan language, stemming from the older form Sylvak). As such, it is a cognate of the words Sylvenska and Sylvania. In medieval Latin, German sources and even some Slavic sources, the same name has often been used for both Sylvans and Larovan Slavs in general.
According to one of the theories, between 13th and 14th century a new form of national name formed for the ancestors of the Sylvans, possibly due to foreign influence – the word Sylvák (in medieval sources from 1291 onward). This form slowly replaced the name for the male members of the community, but the female name (Sylva), reference to the lands inhabited and the name of the language (Sylvan) all remained the same, with their base in the older form. Most foreign translations tends to stem from this newer form (Sylvakia in English, Sylwakei in German, Sylvaquie in French, etc.).
History
Prehistory and antiquity
The oldest surviving human artifacts from Sylvakia are dated at 270,000 BCE, in the Early Paleolithic era. These ancient tools, made by the Clactonian technique, bear witness to the ancient habitation of Sylvakia.
Other stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic era (200,000–80,000 BCE) come from the Prévôt (Prepoštská) cave in Bojnice and from other nearby sites.[18] The most important discovery from that era is a Neanderthal cranium (c. 200,000 BCE), discovered near the city of Gánovce in northern Sylvakia.
Settlement in the area called Sylvakia for the last 1,000 years started by the end of the Glacial Stage, some 13,000 years ago. Archeological traces have been found of various cultures during the Stone and Bronze Age, Baltic peoples, Germanic peoples during the Iron Age and, in the Dark Ages, West Slavic tribes and Vikings. Starting in the 10th century, early Sylvan rulers united the region.
During the Bronze Age, the geographical territory of modern-day Slovakia went through three stages of development, stretching from 2000 to 800BCE. Major cultural, economic, and political development can be attributed to the significant growth in production of copper, especially in northeastern and northwest Sylvakia. Copper became a stable source of prosperity for the local population.
During this era the region's peoples expanded building of strong and complex fortifications, with the large permanent buildings and administrative centers. Excavations of oppiva, or as they are more commonly known, hill forts, document the substantial development of trade and agriculture at that period. The richness and diversity of tombs increased considerably. The inhabitants of the area manufactured arms, shields, jewelry, dishes, and statues.
Great Sylvenska
Sylvenska arose around 830 when XXX unified the Sylvan tribes settled north of the Vlatava river and extended supremacy over them. When Mojmír I endeavored to secede from the supremacy of the king of Grenzaria in 846, King XXX deposed him and assisted XXX's nephew Rastislav (846–870) in acquiring the throne. The new monarch pursued an independent policy: after stopping a Frankish attack in 855, he also sought to weaken the influence of Frankish priests preaching in his realm. Duke Rastislav asked the XXX empire to send teachers who would interpret Christianity in the Slavic vernacular.
Upon Rastislav's request, two brothers, the missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius came in 863. Cyril developed the first Slavic alphabet and translated the Gospel into the Old Church Slavonic language. Rastislav was also preoccupied with the security and administration of his state. Numerous fortified castles built throughout the country are dated to his reign and some of them (e.g., Dowina, sometimes identified with Devín Castle) are also mentioned in connection with Rastislav by foreign chronicles.
During Rastislav's reign, Zagoria was given to his nephew Svätopluk as an appanage. The rebellious prince allied himself with the Franks and overthrew his uncle in 870. Similarly to his predecessor, Svätopluk I (871–894) assumed the title of the king (rex). During his reign, the Great Sylvenskan Empire reached its greatest territorial extent, when not only present-day Sylvakia and western Grenzaria but also present-day northern and central Vlachavia, Zagoria, and Karpatya belonged to the empire, but the exact borders of his domains are still disputed by modern authors. Svatopluk also withstood attacks of the Karpat tribes and the First Lund Empire.
After the death of Prince Svatopluk in 894, his sons Mojmir (894–906?) and Svatopluk succeeded him as the Prince of Sylvenska and the Prince of Zagoria respectively. However, they started to quarrel for domination of the whole empire. Weakened by an internal conflict as well as by constant warfare with the First Lund Empire, Sylvenska lost most of its peripheral territories.
In the meantime, the semi-nomadic Karpat tribes, possibly having suffered defeat from the similarly nomadic Ackesians, left their territories east of Vlachavia, invaded Karpatya and started to occupy the territory gradually around 896. Their armies' advance may have been promoted by continuous wars among the countries of the region whose rulers still hired them occasionally to intervene in their struggles. Though the change was gradual, Karpatya was de-facto independent by the death of Prince Svatopluk in 894.
It is not known what happened with both Mojmír II and Svatopluk II because they are not mentioned in written sources after 906. In three battles (4–5 July and 9 August 907) near Karlovice, the Karpats routed Sylvenskan armies. Some historians put this year as the date of the break-up of the Great Sylvenskan Empire, due to the Karpat conquest; other historians take the date a little bit earlier (to 902).
Great Sylvenska left behind a lasting legacy in Central and Eastern Lira. The Glagolitic script and its successor Cyrillic were disseminated to other Larovan countries, charting a new path in their sociocultural development. The administrative system of Sylvenska may have influenced the development of the administration of the Kingdom of Karpatya.
Ackesian Occupation
NEEDS EXPANDING
Kapilist Wars
The Kapilist movement (1402–85) was primarily a religious, as well as national, manifestation. As a religious reform movement (the so-called Sylvan Reformation), it represented a challenge to papal authority and an assertion of national autonomy in ecclesiastical affairs. The Kapilists defeated four crusades from Lunderfrau and Lira, and the movement is viewed by many as a part of the (worldwide) Protestant Reformation. Because many of warriors of the crusades were Lunds and Grenzarians, although many were also Ostian and Vlachavian, the Kapilist movement is seen as a Sylvan national movement. In modern times it acquired anti-imperial and anti-Grenzarian associations and has sometimes been identified as a manifestation of a long-term ethnic conflict.
Starting around 1385, priest and scholar Hynek Kapil denounced what he judged as the corruption of the Orthodox Church. Most controversially, Kapil declared that the worship of icons against the will of God, and that man should worship God alone, and not images or iconography of him. His preaching was widely heeded in Kashubia, and provoked suppression by the church, which had declared many of Kapil's ideas heretical. Kapil's teaching was distinguished by its rejection of what he saw as the wealth, corruption, and hierarchical tendencies of the Catholic Church. He advocated a doctrine of clerical purity and poverty, and insisted on the laity receiving communion under both kinds, bread and wine.
In XXX, Ecumenical Patriarch Alexander III convened a cardinal council to resolve other religious controversies. Kapil went to the Council, under a safe-conduct from Alexander, but was imprisoned, tried, and burned alive as a heretic on 6 July 1408. This greatly enraged the nobility and local population of Sylvakia, who were largely in favor of church reform.
Kapil's death sparked the Kapilist Wars, decades of religious warfare. Sigismund, the pro-papal king of Hungary and successor to the Bohemian throne after the death of Wenceslas in 1419, failed repeatedly to gain control of the kingdom despite aid by Hungarian and German armies. Riots broke out in Prague. Led by a Sylvan yeoman, Timotej Surový, the Kapilists streamed into the capital and dethroned the appointed ruler. Religious strife pervaded the entire kingdom and was particularly intense in the German-dominated towns. Kapilist Sylvans and Catholic Grenzarians turned on each other; many were massacred, and many Grenzarian survivors fled or were exiled to the rest of Lira. Lunderfrau led or instigated various crusades against Sylvakia in response.
The Kapilist Wars followed a pattern. When a crusade was launched against Sylvakia, moderate and radical Kapilists would unite and defeat it. Once the threat was over, the Sylvan armies would focus on raiding the land of Catholic sympathizers. Many historians have painted the Kapilists religious fanatics; they fought in part for a nationalist purpose: to protect their land from a King and a Pope who did not recognize the right of the Kapilists. Kríž led armies to storm castles, monasteries, churches, and villages, expelling the Catholic clergy, expropriating ecclesiastical lands, or accepting conversions.
Timotej Surový, later to become the "national" king of Sylvakia, was elected "King of the Sylvans" after driving back two successive crusades. Timotej installed another Kapilist, John of Rokycan, as archbishop of Kralovice and succeeded in uniting the more radical Kapilists with the Sylvan Reformed Church, as well as driving the counter-reformists out of the country. Although George was noble-born, he was not a successor of royal dynasty; his election to the monarchy was not recognized by the Pope, or any other Liran monarchs.
Timotej sought to establish a "Charter of a Universal Peace and Union." He believed that all monarchs should work for a sustainable peace on the principle of national sovereignty of states, principles of non-interference, and solving problems and disputes before an International Tribunal. Kings would have one vote each, with two votes being assigned to Emperors. Timotej did not see a specific role for Papal authority.
Sylvan Catholic nobles joined in the League of Zelena Hora in 1465, challenging the authority of Timotej Surový; the next year, the Pope excommunicated Timotej. The Sylvan War (1468-1478) pitted Sylvakia against Lunderfrau and Grenzaria, and the Grenzarian forces, despite early defeats, occupied most of Sylvakia. Timotej Surový died in 1471, during the Battle of Vlatava. The battle proved a decisive one for the crusaders, as the Kapilist movement, as well as Sylvan national aspirations, were crushed.
As Part of the Lunder Empire
Upon the death of Timotej, the Sylvakian estates elected (under duress) the Lunderfrausian prince and heir-apparent XXX as king of Sylvakia. In 1435, upon the death of his father, XXX was also crowned Archduke of Lunderfrau, which he made his primary title. From then on, Sylvakia was relegated as a nominal part of the Lunderfrausian Empire.
Though legally required to consult the Sylvan estates, the Lunderfrausian Matriarch did not do so for almost a century, and despite Sylvakia’s status as a kingdom under the empire, and the Lunderfrausians ruled it as little more than an auxiliary province. The overlords rarely, if ever, consulted local nobles, and as a result put down a number of minor insurrections between 1600 and 1800.
The Sylvakian Diet was reconvened in 1825 to handle the dire financial needs of the Lunderfrausian Empire. This allowed for the legal formation of political parties, of which a number formed. The most prominent was a liberal party that emerged and focused on Sylvakian autonomy, Obrana Naroda (National Party), which grew to also aspire for the end of serfdom within the Lunderfrausian Empire. Though the Matriarch made declarations promising reform and national autonomy, these promises were soon reneged once Lunderfrau recovered from her financial woes, and they quickly banned Obrana Naroda’s official activities. Despite the imprisonment of its leaders and the banning of its publications, the party remained active underground, and proved a crucial force in the 1832 revolution.
Sylvan Revolution
On 29 January 1832, mass demonstrations in Kralovice enabled Sylvan reformists to push through a list of 9 demands, called to history as the Nine Points Delcaration. Under governor Jan Szyechenyi, the Lund royal viceroy in Sylvakia was dethroned, and a new kingdom was proclaimed.
In April of 1832 the Sylvan Parliament proclaimed and enacted a constitution, which promised equal citizenship to anyone living in Sylvakia regardless of ethnicity. Many non-Sylvan ethnics gained the coveted highest positions within the Army, like General Alatz Dendaluce, an ethnic Boagan who becamme a national hero through his command of the Sylvan armies.
Lunderfrau responded to the demands and subsequent dethronement by mobilizing their armed forces. The Sylvans were met with early defeats, being crushed in early battles due to a chronic shortage of artillery, training, and officers.
International aid from Ostia, Boaga, and Vlachavia turned the tide, with Alatz Dendaluce, a Sylvan noble of Boagan descent, taking command of the Sylvan army. Dendaluce, who had served in the Lunderfrausian army, reorganized his forces under modern Liran standards and using foreign weaponry - in open battle in March 1833, he defeated the Lunderfrausians and routed their host at the Siege of Kralovice.
Following the Sylvan victory at Kralovice, peace was signed, and Sylvakia was granted independence.
Kingdom of Sylvakia
The formal independence of the country was internationally recognised in 1835 during the Treaty of XXX which ended the Boagan-Lunder War and Sylvan Revolution. The new kingdom controlled much of the ancestral Sylvan homeland, but, crucially, Sylvans living in Grenzaria were kept as part of the Lunder empire. The sub-citizen status of these Sylvans and their mistreatment would prove a constant source of tension in years to come.
The Kingdom's early years saw foreign investment, combined with wise economic policies, dratically improve the standard of living for many citizens. Industrial investments, especially in the coal and iron rich regions of the Viery highlands, formed the foundation of Sylvakia's domestic industry.
Under the direction of Chancellor XXX in the 1870s, a number of social and political reforms made Sylvakia a beacon of liberalization among absolutist regimes.
The Olympic War
When the Olympic War sparked on Feburary 2nd, 1913 Sylvakia was invaded by the Lunder Imperial Army. While the Lunder Army outnumbered the Sylvans, and had a much larger industrial base to draw from, unfamiliarity with modern strategy crippled Lunderfrau's early offensives. The Sylvans successfully held the border regions against the Lunders until 1914, when Vlachavia joined the war on the side of Lunderfrau. The Sylvans found themselves unable to defeat their enemies on two fronts, and with the fall of Karlovice in October of that year, nearly all of Sylvakia was occupied.
However, Sylvakia fought on. Its main field army escaped destruction. Refusing to capitulate, the Sylvan army, with hundreds of thousands of civilians in tow, retreated across the mountains into neighboring Boaga in a harrowing event known as the Great Retreat.
Upon reaching Boaga, the Sylvan Army (renamed the Sylvan Liberation Corps fought on the Boagan front against Lunderfrau. In the 1924 offensive that ended the war, the Sylvan Corps played a decisive role, forcing back and Lunder counterattack that could have stopped the offensive.
Sylvakia's casulties in the Great War amounted to a staggering 800,000, almost 15% of Sylvakia's pre-war size. 52% of its male population perished in the conflict, a casualty rate per capita matched by no other Entente belligerent in The Olympic War.
In the subsequent treaty, the Sylvans were granted massive territorial concessions for their contribution to the war effort. Vlachavia was fully annexed by Sylvakia, the Grenzarian provinces of Lunderfrau were annexed; and massive war reparations were paid to Sylvakia to aid its postwar recovery.
Larovan unification
As part of the Olympic War's peace accords, Sylvakia's territory nearly doubled. With this came rule over nearly twenty million new citizens, most of which were hostile to Sylvan rule. This, coupled with the staggering losses taken by the Sylvans during the war and the harsh depopulation measures taken by Lunderfrau during its occupation, meant that the Sylvans represented only thirty percent of the Kingdom's population.
To combat this, the Sylvan King Stefan II retitled his nation as the Kingdom of Sylvans, Vlachavians, and Grenzarians, known colloqiualy as Panlarova. King Stefan was succeeded by his son, Alexander, in August 1931. Sylvan centralists and Vlachavian autonomists clashed in the parliament, and most governments were fragile and short-lived. King Alexander established a number of reforms in 1939 with the aim of establishing the Panlarovan ideology and single Panlarovan nation, and changed the internal divisions from the 33 oblasts to nine new banovinas. The effect of Alexander's reforms, however, was to further alienate the non-Sylvans living in the region from the idea of unity.
Alexander sufferred a heart attack and died before most of his reforms could pass through. He was succeeded by his eleven-year-old son Petyr III and a regency council was headed by his cousin, Prince Wencelasas. In August 1946, an autonomous Duchy of Grenzaria was established as a solution to minority concerns.
When Petyr III succeding to the thone, the political situation in Panlarova changed drastically. Petyr was not the reformer his father was, and decided instead to enact a royal dictatorship. All opposition was suppressed and people deemed to be promoting opposition or promoting separatism were imprisoned or executed for sedition. Petyr attempted to assuage fears by marrying a Grenzarian noblewoman in 1958, Elizabeta of Grenzaria.
Upon her ascension to royal station, Elizabeta and her husband pushed through a number of reforms, which elevated Grenzaria's position in Panlarova to that equal of the Sylvans. This, of course, was highly unpopular with the Sylvans. A punlic narrative of the "Lunder deep state" pervased among much of the public, and conspiracy theroies ran abound. Petyr did not help matters by insiting he be called "Peter" in the Lunder fashion, and by warming up to Lunderfrau diplomatically at the cost of ties with Boaga.
In 1969, Petyr was assassinated by Sylvan far-right extremists. A crisis of government ensued, with Sylvakia claiming authority rested in the hands of Chancellor Vadislav Jankovič, and Queen Elizabeta claiming authority as queen regent through an extension of her deceased husband's absolutist powers. This ignited nationalist ideas that would lead to the collapse of Panlarova.
The Rozpad Wars
Fueled by ethnic tensions, the Rozpad Wars erupted when the Dowager Queen ordered troops to restore order in Karlovice in Feburary of 1970. In what became known as the Feburary Days, units of the military defected to the Sylvan Provisional Government (SPG) which declared its independence following the military's large scale defections and desertions. The Panlarovan Army, which was still largely staffed by Sylvan officers, defected en-masse to the SPG. With the fracturing of the Panlarovan army by ethnic lines, both the Grenzerians and the Sylvans began a policy of en-masse conscription.
The Dowager Queen, however, remained the legal head of the Panlarovan nation, and troops under her direction clashed with those who had joined the SPG. Large partisan militias began forming along nationalist lines as the war escalated into a protracted conflict, in which the laws of war and the lines between civilian and combatant became increasingly blurred.
In alliance with the SPG, the Vlachavian Freedom Front seceded from the Panlarovan Kingdom, and declared indepdence in 1971. Originally, the VFF and SPG were allies against Grenzarian authority, but this soon collapsed as the VFF claimed authority over the region of Karpatya, which was ruled by Sylvakia. Small-scale skirmishes erupted between the two until at 1972 offensive annexed the territory to Vlachavian control.
The Rozpad Wars were the sight of many instances of culturization, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. In particular, the Grenzarian treatment of ethnic Sylvans and the Sylvan treatment of ethnic Lunders and the Vlachavian cleansing of Karpats stained the struggle with the blood of many civilian casulties. In addition, various paramilitary units operated during the Rozpad War: the Sylvan "White Eagles" (bílí orli brigada) and "Sylvan Volunteer Guard" (sylvenská dobrovolnická stráž); the Lunder "Patriotic Front" (Patriotenfront) and "Green Berets" (Grüne Baskenmütze). The war attracted foreign fighters and mercenaries from various countries. Volunteers came to fight for a variety of reasons, including religious or ethnic loyalties and in some cases for money. As a general rule, Grenzerians received support from Baoist countries, Sylvans from Orthodox countries, and Vlachavians from XXX countries. The presence of foreign fighters is well documented, however none of these groups comprised more than 5 percent of any of the respective armies' total manpower strength.
In 1972, Lunderfrau, Ackesia, and Boaga dictated terms in the XXX Accords and forced a resolution to the first conflict. Sylvakia and Vlachavia were recognized as independent, but Panlarova was able to keep the largely-Sylvan populated regions of eastern Grenzaria known as Viery.
Though official peace had been signed, border skirmishes and small scale attacks became a common feature of living in the region. Sylva underwent a period of economic growth and national revitilization throughout the 1970s, and covertly smuggled arms, equipment, and fighters to the Sylva Republika partisan movement in Panlarova. In 1984, the Second Rozpad War, also known as the Grenzarian Civil War, erupted in Panlarova. Though the newly-throned King Ludwig of Panlarova was able to defeat the Sylvan insurgency that caused the war, he abandoned the nomenclature of Panlarova, becoming King of Grenzaria instead.
In 1988, tensions between Vlachavia and Sylvakia erupted into open war, and Sylvan troops were able to occupy Karpatya, siezing it from Vlachavia in the 1988 Karpat Border Conflict.
Post Rozpad Sylvakia
Following the Rozpad Wars and renewed Sylvan independence, Sylvakia adopted a liberal and democratic constitution in 1995. International investment, especially by democratic Liran states such as Illynetheria and Winst were a major boom to Sylvakia's economy, ranking it as the #1 post-Panlarovan economic growth state.
Sylvakia enjoyed a period of economic growth and stable internal politics until the 2008 Recession. Relying heavily on foreign capital and investment, the sudden freeze of investment forced Sylvakia to default on loan payments; without economic bailout, the nation was thrown into economic chaos.
Capitlizing on the chaos, Vlachavia and Grenzaria launched a joint invasion of Sylvakia in September 2008. The surprise attack caught the Sylvan army unprepared, and the invaders were able to make significant headway into the country. Though the Vlachavian offensive was stopped by a Sylvan counterattack, they were unable to drive the invaders out.
One week into the invasion, the government fell to a vote of no confidence. Allied intervention failed to materialize, and served to only ratify Grenzarian and Vlachavian claims as fait accompli.
The invasion, economic recession, and failure on behalf of her allies led to major political upheavel inside of Sylvakia. Obrana Naroda, a centrist neo-nationalist party, gained immense popularity.
2009 Referendum and Special Election
Brigadier General Vaclav Cernik, Sylvakia's only successful military commander during the conflict, spoke out publicly against the incumbent Social Republican Party and President Antonin Jaskowski. He stated government incompetence and poor leadership as the cause for both the recession and the military disaster.
Cernik was immediately dismissed as an officer by the Minister of Defense; as a result, a day later on October 15 men of his brigade mutinied, demanding his reinstatement. Public support for Cernik turned into riots and protests all over the country, and some military forces refused to leave barracks.
The standoff was resolved by President Jaskowski, who stepped down and agreed to a special election. Cernik announced his candidacy at the head of the Obrana Naroda Party, a namesake from the original Sylvan Revolution.
The referendum's results were 45% in favor of Jaskowki, 37% in favor of Cernik and 18% in favor of the opposition leader, Jan Kyzumen. With no clear majority achieved, Kyzumen agreed to back Cernik in the runoff, which he won handidly.
Following Cernik's ascension to power, the new president refused to annull the state of emergency issued by his predecessor. Instead, Cernik used the declaration to make massive changes to the constitution and government structure of Sylvakia, most notably the abolishment of the role of Prime Minister and its duties being absorbed by his own office.
In addition, Cernik doubled military expenditure and began the rearming effort of Sylvakia in earnest.
Geography
Viery Highlands
The Viery Highlands
Zelenayan Plain
Black Mountains
The Black Mountains dominate Sylvakia's northern frontiers. The mountains, named for the slate and obsidian that dominate their slopes, are both naturally hazardous and resource rich. The primary range forms an arc throughout northern Lira. The highest range within the range is known as the Black Mountains in northern Sylvakia, where the highest peaks exceed 2,600 m (8,530 ft).
Climate
The Sylvan climate lies between the temperate and continental climate zones with relatively warm summers and cold, cloudy and humid winters. Temperature extremes are between −41 to 40.3 °C (−41.8 to 104.5 °F) although temperatures below −30 °C (−22 °F) are rare. The weather differs from the mountainous north to the plains in the south.
The warmest region is Kralovice and Southern Sylvakia where the temperatures may reach 30 °C (86 °F) in summer, occasionally to 39 °C (102 °F) in certain areas. During night, the temperatures drop to 20 °C (68 °F). The daily temperatures in winter average in the range of −5 °C (23 °F) to 10 °C (50 °F). During night it may be freezing, but usually not below −10 °C (14 °F).
In Sylvakia, there are four seasons, each season (spring, summer, autumn and winter) lasts three months. The dry continental air brings in the summer heat and winter frosts. In contrast, oceanic air brings rainfalls and reduces summer temperatures. In the lowlands and valleys, there is often fog, especially in winter.
The average yearly rainfall is approximately 600 mm (23.6 in).
National Parks
There are 9 national parks in Sylvakia, covering 6.5% of the land area.
| Name | Established | Area (km2) |
|---|---|---|
| Orlovets National Park | 1949 | 738 |
| Kumyrna National Park | 1978 | 728 |
| Veľká Fatra National Park | 2002 | 404 |
| Staroye National Park | 2002 | 346 |
| Kamyshovo National Park | 1997 | 298 |
| Prigorodki National Park | 1988 | 226 |
| Muránska Dubovo National Park | 1998 | 203 |
| Nizhnoye Polana National Park | 1988 | 197 |
| Msta National Park | 1967 | 38 |
Politics
Between 1995 and 2010, Kashubia was a parliamentary representative democracy. A presidential system was adopted by referendum in 2013; the new system came into effect with the special presidential election in 2009 and gives the President complete control of the executive, including the power to issue decrees, appoint his own cabinet, draw up the budget, dissolve parliament by calling early elections, and make appointments to the bureaucracy and the courts. The office of Prime Minister has been abolished and its powers (together with those of the Cabinet) have been transferred to the President, who is the head of state and is elected for a five-year term by direct elections. Vaclav Cernik is the first president elected by direct voting. Sylvakia's constitution governs the legal framework of the country and sets out the main principles of government and establishes Sylvakia as a unitary centralized state.
Executive power is exercised by the President, while the legislative power is vested in the unicameral parliament, called the National Assembly. The judiciary is nominally independent from the executive and the legislature, but the constitutional changes that came into effect with the referendums in 2009 gave larger powers to the President and the ruling party for appointing or dismissing judges and prosecutors. The Constitutional Court is charged with ruling on the conformity of laws and decrees with the constitution. The Council of State is the tribunal of last resort for administrative cases, and the High Court of Appeals for all others.
Law and Enforcement
According to Article XXX of the Sylvakian Constitution, the organisation, duties and jurisdiction of the courts, their functions and the trial procedures are regulated by law. In line with the aforementioned article of the Constitution and related laws, the court system in Sylvakia can be classified under three main categories; which are the Judicial Courts, Administrative Courts and Military Courts. Each category includes first instance courts and high courts. In addition, the Court of Jurisdictional Disputes rules on cases that cannot be classified readily as falling within the purview of one court system.
Law enforcement in Sylvaki is carried out by General Directorate of Internal Security (commonly abbreviated as InSec) and other agencies, all acting under the command of the President of Kashubia or mostly the Minister of Internal Affairs. According to figures released by the Justice Ministry, there are 62,000 people in Sylvan prisons as of November 2020, a doubling since 2014.
In the years of government by Obrana Naroda and Cernik, particularly since 2013, the independence and integrity of the Sylvan judiciary has increasingly been said to be in doubt by institutions, parliamentarians and journalists both within and outside of Sylvakia; due to political interference in the promotion of judges and prosecutors, and in their pursuit of public duty.
Administrative divisions
| Map | Province | Capitol | Population | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viery Province | Visegrád | 4,456,867 | Central | |
| Karlovice Capital Region | Karlovice | 2,758,314 | Central | |
| Mezdev Province | Prigorodki | 1,358,901 | Central | |
| Liberec Province | Litomyšl | 812,571 | North | |
| Człuchów Province | Chomutov | 658,978 | North | |
| Zagoria Province | Vybor | 1,558,978 | North | |
| Lábatlan Province | Berezino | 1,458,555 | East | |
| Eposz Province | Svetlográd | 1,058,978 | East | |
| Jálháva Province | Karvina | 1,101,321 | East |
Foreign Relations
Sylvakia's relations with its direct neighbors are strained; the disputed borders with Vlachavia and Grenzaria lead to tensions both diplomatically and militarily. Conversely, however, Sylvakia enjoys cordial relations with nearly every other nation on the continent, and has recently been asserting itself as a regional power through soft power diplomacy.
In 2020, Sylvakia hosted the Pan-Liran Congress in Kralovice to address, among other things, nuclear proliferation.
Military
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The Vojenská služba (meaning literally: [the] Military Service), known colloquially as the Vojenska, are broken up into three branches: Land Forces, Maritime Forces, and Air Forces. There are also two independent arms of service: the Cyber Forces and Aerospace Defense Forces. As of 2020, the Vojenska numbers 159,638 active-duty personnel, with an annual spending of 20.423 billion koruna, or 5% of its GDP. Sylvakia’s 2020 expenditure is more than double what Sylvakia spent prior to the elevation of Valcav Cernik as President of the Republic. The Vojenska have been involved in several major wars and border conflicts in its short history, making it one of the most battle-trained armed forces in the world.
In 2011, Sylvakia re-introduced limited conscription for all citizens at age 18. Men serve two years and eight months and women two years. Following mandatory service, Sylvan men join the reserve forces and usually do up to several weeks of reserve duty every year until their forties. Most women are exempt from reserve duty. An alternative for those who receive exemptions on various grounds is the Civil Service, which involves a program of service in hospitals, schools and other social welfare frameworks. As a result of its conscription program, the Vojenska maintains approximately 160,000 active troops and an additional 450,000 reservists, giving Sylvakia one of the world's highest percentage of citizens with military training.
The mission of the armed forces is the defense of Sylvakia's territorial integrity and Sylvan interests abroad. After the 2008 war with Grenzaria and Vlachavia, Sylvan military maneuvers and posturing has been increasingly offensive, drawing ire from the international community abroad and special-interest groups at home. In 2010, Sylvakia signed an arms deal with Parthanopia. The scope of the two nations' bilateral military cooperation has since grown exponentially: From 2012 onward, Sylvakia began receiving military aid, which accounted for 3.9 billion koruna in 2021; in addition, Parthanopia has made loan gurantees for up to 9 billion koruna. In 2014, Parthanopia established military liaisons through its embassy, and in 2018, Parthanopian troops participated in Sylvakia's annual Remembrance Day military parade.
One of the most visible traditions of the modern Sylvan military is the Servisní tetování; this is a form of military tattoo that has its origins in the medieval era. The Vojenska has honored the tradition since its founding in 1833, during the Sylvan Revolution. Today it is performed by a military band with 4 fanfare trumpeters and timpani, a corps of drums, up to two escort companies of the Vojenska's Pochodeňhlídat (Torch Guards). The Servisní tetování is only performed during national celebrations or solemn public commemorations. It can honor distinguished persons present such as the Sylvan president or provide the conclusion to large military exercises.
Economy
The Sylvan economy is a developed, high income economy, with the GDP per capita equalling 78% of the average in 2020. The country has difficulties addressing regional imbalances in wealth and employment. GDP per capita ranges from 188% of EC average in Kralovice to 54% in the north. Although regional income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their own homes.
The Sylvan economy is one of the fastest-growing economies in Lira, achieving a GDP growth of more than 3% consecutively for the last decade. Unemployment, peaking at 19% at the end of 1999, decreased to 4.9% in 2019, lowest recorded rate in modern Sylvan history.
Foreign investment flow grew more than 600% from 2000 and cumulatively reached an all-time high of $17.3 billion in 2006, or around $22,000 per capita by the end of 2007.
The Sylvan government encourages foreign investment since it is one of the driving forces of the economy. Some regions, mostly in the east of the country, have failed to attract major investment, which has aggravated regional disparities in many economic and social areas.
However, due to the regime change in 2009, foreign investment has dropped to 10.6 billion, or just $9,800 per capita.
2008 Recession and recovery
In the second decade of the 21st century, the Sylvan economy suffered its most severe recession since the 1970s. No bailout from the Liran community came, and neighboring nations capitilized on the instability to seize disputed territory. At the time of the recession, the economy had contracted by 12.7% in the second quarter of 2013 and 16.4% in total, though much of this is attributed to territory lost in the 2008 Sylvan Conflict.
The bailout, which came after President Vaclav Cernik's ascension to power, provided Sylvakia with a liquidity influx of 108 billion koruna. In May 2015, the country exited the bailout and reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining its economic reformist momentum.
Energy
The electricity generation sector in Sylvakia is largely fossil-fuel based. Many power plants nationwide use Sylvakia’s position as a major exporter of coal to their advantage by continuing to use coal as the primary raw material in the production of their energy. The three largest Sylvan coal mining firms extract around 100 million tonnes of coal annually.
Renewable energy production accounts for a smaller proportion of Sylvakia’s full energy generation capacity (12%). However, a joint tidal energy project with Illynetherian engineers led to the construction of the world's first artifical tidal lagoon and adjoining turbine complex. Opened in 2012, the Lake Syrov Tidal Power Complex generates 119 MW of electricity.
Sylvakia has around 164,800,000,000 m3 of proven natural gas reserves and around 96,380,000 barrels of proven oil reserves, though most of these lie offshore in Lake Syrov. However, the amount of fossil fuels naturally occurring in Sylvakia are insufficient to satisfy the full energy consumption needs of the population. Consequently the country is a net importer of oil and natural gas.
Culture
The culture of Sylvakia is closely connected with its intricate 1,000-year history forms an important constituent in Liran and Slavic civilization. The Sylvan take great pride their national identity which is often associated with the colours black and gold, and exuded by the expression černé zlato ("Blackgolds"). National symbols, chiefly the crowned lion, are often visible on clothing, insignia and emblems. The appreciation of Sylvakia’s traditions, history, and cultural heritage is commonly known as Sylvaphilia and shared by a number of enclaves around the world.
Folk tradition
Folk tradition has rooted strongly in Sylvakia and is reflected in literature, music, dance and architecture. The prime example is a Sylvan national motto, **Sila, Svoboda, Solidarita** which is based on a children’s folk story that has been passed down for generations.
The manifestation of Sylvan folklore culture is the Východná Folklore Festival. It is the oldest and largest nationwide festival with international participation, which takes place in Vychodna annually. Kashubia is usually represented by many groups but mainly by SĽUK (Sylvaka ľudový umelecký kolektív—Kashubian folk art collective). SĽUK is the largest Sylvan folk art group, trying to preserve the folklore tradition.
Music
The wealth of musical culture lies in the classical music tradition during all historical periods, especially in the Baroque, Classicism, Romantic, modern classical music and in the traditional folk music of the nation. Since the early era of artificial music, Sylvan musicians and composers have been influenced by the folk music of the region.
Sylvan music can be considered to have been a cornerstone in both the Euclean and Slavic spheres, several times co-determined or even determined a newly arriving era in musical art, above all of Classical as well as by original attitudes in Baroque and Romanticism.
A famous music festival, Sylvan Spring, is hosted every year for classical music, a permanent showcase for performing artists, symphony orchestras and chamber music ensembles of the world.
Art
As of 2016, the refurbished National Gallery manages the largest collection of art in the Kashubia. It displays 20th century avant-garde revolutionary art, expressionist, realist and cubist styles. The Gallery also displays Art photography, which has become a new field, especially following the founding of the Second Republic. Though the Gallery is undoubtedly a collection of some of the nation’s finest art, many commentators have expressed concerns over the nationalist undertones that the display portfolios present.
Architecture
History has not been kind to Kashubia’s architectural monuments. Nonetheless, a number of ancient structures have survived: castles, churches, and stately homes, often unique in the Larovan context. Some of them have been painstakingly restored, like Pagtruh Castle, or completely reconstructed, including the Old Town and Royal Castle of Kralovice, which were destroyed during the Olympic War.
Public holidays
There are 13 government-approved annual public holidays – New Years Day on 1 January, Nation (Kashubia) Day on 29 January, Easter on the first Sunday and Monday of April, Labor Day on 1 May, Rememberance Day on 5 July, Chrristmastide on 25 and 26 December.
Particular traditions and superstitious customs observed in Poland are not found elsewhere in Europe. Though Christmas Eve is not a public holiday, it remains the most memorable day in the entire year. An empty plate and seat are symbolically left at the table for an unexpected guest. On occasion, carolers parade around smaller towns until the Lent period.
Rememberance Day is the most solemn non-religious holiday in Kashubia. Signed into law by President Valcav Cernik, it is observed annually on the day of Kashubian capitulation against Tengaria and XXX in the 2013 War, which coincided with the Soravian capture of the capitol during the Great War (Kylaris). The holiday calls for civilians to dress in mourning, flags to be flown upside down (the signal for distress), and is accompanied by a veteran’s march through urban streets.
A widely-popular kolache and sweet pastry feast occurs on Easter. The week following Easter is celebrated with pagan festivities, where the youth engage in water fights and some girls are gently spanked by colleagues with pussy willows to stimulate fertility.
Cemeteries and graves of the deceased are annually visited by family members on All Saints' Day; tombstones are cleaned as a sign of respect and candles are lit to honour the dead on an unprecedented scale.