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Council Republic of Pergia Perjas Padomes Republika
Flag Cockade
Motto: "Turies, Virzies uz Priekšu" "Hold fast, move forward"
Capital and largest city	Klepjaka
Official languages	Pergian
Ethnic groups	Pergian, Sorabian
Demonym(s)	Pergian
Government	Council republic
• Presidium	Janis Juris Kalnins (chair)
• Premier	Andris Edgars Ozols
Legislature	Padome
Independence from Gaullica
• Granted	1935
Area
• Total	60,000 km2 (23,000 sq mi)
Population
• 2020 estimate	6,900,000
• 2018 census	6,726,161
• Density	111/km2 (287.5/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2018 estimate
• Total	$100.6 billion
• Per capita	€14,959
GDP (nominal)	2018 estimate
• Total	$89.4 billion
• Per capita	€13,287
Gini (2018)	41.5 medium
HDI (2018)	0.798 high
Currency	(D) Denārijs

Pergosarabia, officially the Council Republic of Pergia, is a nation in central Euclea bordered by Gaullica, Kirenia, and East Miersa, the latter two also comprising MASSOR along with Pergosarabia.

Etymology

The common name for the nation, Pergosarabia, emerged in the immediate post-war period because, at that time, the Allies planned to annex the Sarabian portions of Miersa into the new Pergian state, but the advent of the Godfredson Plan ultimately split Miersa in a different way. Even after the revolutionary period, the Councilist government believed that the Sarabians would be better served by their own, independent state, but this did relatively little to influence international recognition for Sarabian separatists.

The official name is stated in the 19xx constitution as "Perjas" from "Pergian" the Verliquioan designation for the Ruttish tribes who lived south of the Neeves. It could be a corruption from the Sotirian peregrinus (foreigner) or perhaps from pāreja (Pergian n. "transitional"), referring to those who had crossed the Neeves.

History

The modern territory of Pergosarabia was inhabited at least four thousand years before present by unorganized groups of Proto-Ruttish speakers from which the modern languages of Ruttland and Pergosarabia emerged. The first cities were, however, constructed by Tenic traders who ported goods out of Lake Sirone and into tributaries of the Zwartwater River or to Lake Swate. The territory between the lakes was commercially active during the Solarian Empire, but they did not rule directly over Pergosarabia, instead the city of Occasium (now Soleil Couchant in Gaullica) was established as the primary entrepot for Kirenian amber. After the colloquial end of the Solarian Empire, Occasium briefly became the capital of a regional kingdom. Claude I overthrew the local king and replaced him with a Christian client, forming the Kingdom of Serm in ~600. Without the stability of imperial markets, however, Serm could not maintain its large urban population and Ocassium shrunk drastically while its lords tried to bring more land under cultivation. As the population dwindled, Serm was unable to and uninterested in preventing the immigration of thousands of Pergians who were being displaced from the Kiire River region by Kirenians. Tokaji-style wine was a product of Serm and became a favorite of Emperor Francois who overlooked some unfavorable aspects of the kingdom as a consequence.

Middle Ages

Kingdom of Dovinė

During the reign of Louis II, the northern border states of Verliquois became more hostile towards the Emperor and he launched a campaign to pacify Clallac and Gallenmark. Although Serm's king was also Weranic and sympathized with the efforts of his neighbors, he was unable to join the war as expected because Louis II orchestrated a rebellion in Serm by offering the Pergian chieftain Prigora Serm's crown if he could take control of Occasium. After his victory and, having received recognition from the Emperor, Prigora immediately launched an invasion of the Kiire valley, but he and most of his soldiers died attempting to cross the Saro River. Louis II, having completed his campaign in the north and, not wanting another war to break out, sent a detachment of his veterans to protect the chaotic Pergian state and make good on his promise for their independence. These troops became known as the Saro Guard and their recognition of a new king allowed him to more easily take control of the fledgling nation. The new Kingdom of Dovinė did eventually face threats from Kirenians, but was ultimately able to resist incursions.

Dovinė's aristocracy was partly Gaullicized due to the natural predominant influence of their neighbor, but also because the Saro Guard was provided with various lands for their upkeep. The presence of this Gaullican element helped introduce Christianity to the general population although there are also several prominent missionaries who aided in the establishment of churches. The general population remained largely pagan for several generations. The Dovinė royal line failed in 8XX after several male family members died in a battle with the forces of the Duke of Vercingot, who had been aggressively pursuing claims in the north. Lord d'Asper arranged for a marriage between his ward Charles II and the daughter of the previous king, ending the war and making Dovinė part of the royal estate. Part of the agreement required Charles to promise not incorporate Dovinė into the empire, but a few years after his marriage, Charles granted half of the Dovinė lands to Lord d'Asper as a birthday present. This angered the Dovinė nobles who felt that this was a betrayal of the agreement, but by that time Charles had already produced several children. The remains of the Kingdom of Dovinė passed to Charles' nephew, Martin, who remained a close ally of his older cousin Philippe. Martin spent much of his time away from his kingdom, but when he was in Dovinė, he promoted Gaullicization and Christianization against the wishes of most of the nobles. Martin eventually died at the Battle of Sessonis, but the crown continued to pass through his male line descendants in spite of an attempted coup. Martin's two oldest sons fought over the crown and, ultimately, orchestrated one another's assassination, leaving Martin's youngest son to inherit the crown.

Marc was 4 at the time of his fathers death and was living in Verlois alongside his uncle, who feared for his ward's life after the death of his other nephews. Although initially concerned, the nobles quickly acclimatized to their new, more absent liege, especially once Marc's mother began living in the household of Sir Maris of Dzelmi, which substantially reduced the upkeep of the royal family. Although Charles II became regent, it was Marc's mother Doroteja who was the de facto agent of the crown. A lack of central authority and Doroteja's general preference for her own countrymen over dictates from Verlois eroded some of the reforms sought by Martin. A return to traditional Pergian values ensued as the kingdom's nobles began to rely on customary law, notably lapsing in tithes and the maintenance of druzhina. Marc's regency also prompted the Kingdom of Wybrzeże to invade, following conflicts over cattle-stealing on both sides of the border, a move unanswered by Verliquois due to their Coian Wars. Wybrzeże occupied the city of Lapestonim and a fortress at Radopil, but were mostly intent on looting the individual fortresses of the highly independent nobility. Eventually Doroteja, by then in her late sixties, rallied a group of nobles and offered a token resistance which was enough to force a retreat, but they were not equipped to attempt a siege.

Zjazdykraj and Saint-Thomas

Although Marc, coming of age, did propose several times that Verliquois launch a counter-invasion, but his cousins were disinclined. Marc later formed an alliance with the Comte de Xville by marriage and returned to his kingdom, but died in the attempt to retake Radopil. The renewed conflict with Wybrzeże brought about a retaliatory occupation of more of Dovinė; most of the territory was annexed by Wybrzeże, except for a few settlements around Lake Sirone. The Wybrzeżean side was reorganized into the March of Zjazdykraj while the the Verliquoian side became the March of Saint-Thomas under the Comte de Xville's nephew. Ivarpils, formerly the capital of Dovinė was controlled by Wybrzeże, but they did not claim the associated title, which became defunct. The marches raided one another incessantly and it was at this time that the Saro Guard returned to prominence as they became a a large part of the army of Saint-Thomas. Raiding between the marches was generally acceptable to Verlois, but when Soleil Couchant was partly burned by a raiding party, the Marquis of Saint-Thomas was summoned to the capital and allegedly beaten by the Emperor, acquiring the cognomen "the Bruised".

Constantine II and Annabelle's wars in Coius produced a wave of religious fervor in some parts of the empire, especially in the northern marches where paganism was still extremely prominent, even in the households of the nobility. At first this new zealotry took the form of tithing and the construction of new monasteries, but in Saint-Thomas it soon took on a more violent bent in the Purge of the Deniers. During Annabelle's reign, while many knights were absent from their estates, hundreds of serfs were evicted from their lands and many killed. Administrators left in charge (commonly monks) sought to bring about the kingdom of heaven in their little villages and towns. Thousands converted, even among the evicted, and iterant preachers spread rapidly through the countryside. Zjazdykraj and Soleil Couchant also felt the sting of revival; the former seeing its own population rapidly convert and the latter a pogrom of the Pergian pagans still present in the city. In the city of Murani in Zjazdykraj, which already had a church, the bishop found himself at the head of an army composed of some of the retainers of the local knight and a large number of townsfolk. They made a circuit of the countryside, converting or killing several knights before the King of Wybrzeże (similar to Verliquois, neglectful of his buffer zone) was even aware there was an ongoing revolt. It was also called the Revolt of the Doormen because almost all of the castles were betrayed by at least some of the defenders.

Bishopric of Murani

The newly formed Bishopric of Murani insisted that the King of Wybrzeże convert to Christianity, which he refused in the form of an army to besiege the city. A force of peasants and former druzhina, in the grip of religious ecstasy, repelled the assault, although they suffered extremely disproportionate losses. The King of Wybrzeże withdrew unsatisfied, but facing incursions to the east, could ill afford a protracted campaign against the peasantry. The Prince-Bishop refused to pay taxes or provide men to a pagan king and thus proffered fealty to the Emperor of Verliquois. The Bishop of Tomeni, however, lobbied against this effort since he feared that his own diocese would be subordinated to the new Archbishopric and its potently compelling leader. This left the southern third of modern Pergosarabia in an awkward position, exposed on every side by future conquerors. Eventually, the Prince-Bishop claimed independence from any kingdom and, in his later years, began to style himself as Pope, which brought about his rapid demise. Fortunately for the inhabitants of the hinterland, this finally attracted the attention of the church and in 985, the Pope recognized Otto of Kesselbourg as Prince in exchange for his protection of the Bishopric of Zalmauri (later Zelmary).

The Concordant of Zelmary temporarily solved the problem of suzerainty, but the King of Wybrzeże never recognized the of the city of Murani's independence and eventually ordered the Voivode of Zjazdykraj to independently restore the March's borders. Prince Otto dutifully marched to defend his vassal, slaying the Voivode and going on to finally retake the fortress of Radopil which had so consistently stymied the Verliquioan armies previously. Charles IV, recently liberated from the Seyresian Regency, foresaw a renewal of Gallenmark under Prince Otto and, in order to end such ambitions before they emerged, deigned to marry one of his daughters' to one of Otto's sons on the condition that his realm be partitioned on his death. When Otto died, the Zjazdykrajian exclave passed down to his grandson (the second son already being dead) who in turn swore fealty to the Emperor.

Rallying of the Marcher Lords

The formation of the Rudolphine Confederation in 1027 permanently changed the status of the northern marches from underdeveloped backwaters into prominent military outposts headed by some of the emperor's favorite lieutenants.

Great War and Independence

Judicature

In the aftermath of the 1913 April Revolution in Kirenia, there were sympathetic movements across Northern Euclea, but political organization expressing "Avriline" objectives were quickly banned by the national government. Counter-revolutionary organizations emerged in tandem, specifically the Marquis Saint-Thomas Society, which was later absorbed into the Motherland Party of the People. Riots, protests, and strikes were not uncommon in this period, but the brutal crackdown of the Parti Populaire's paramilitary and, eventually, government forced many early councilist figures to flee to Kirenia, primarily Ravajaerv. Proximity to this unfavorable strain also led to a more comprehensive police state emerging in the area as the Functionalists attempted to prevent the transmission of goods and ideas to their detractors.

When Pergosabaria was proposed as a Gaullican cession, many revolutionaries were able to to return to their homeland and, with the support of Kirenia, formed a new republic. The Councilist Party was, however, still under the close supervision of the secret police. In 1937, some elements of the secret police (notably not the Gaullican officers who had remained) came to an agreement with Zerars Ievasons, a member of the national judicial panel responsible for prosecuting war criminals and adjudicating other transitional issues. Zerars and his allies systematically pardoned select members of the military and secret police, mostly Pergian nationals, and even went so far as to actively convict members of resistance cells for their actions in the war. Confusion in the ranks of the party and jockeying among party leaders left them vulnerable to Zerars regime, which had the power to ban political opponents from holding office. By 1943, Zerars (technically an independent) and the nationalist Reconstruction Party (Atjaunošana) had complete control of the government. The explicit objective of this group was to create a new nation without the need for retributive campaigns against Gaullicans or members of the Parti Populaire. After 1943, Councilists who demanded accountability for wartime actions were labelled "counter-revolutionary" and thrown out of local councils or disappeared entirely. Zerars reigned by consent, overruling any policies that went against his agenda and typically punishing those who proposed them in a series of purges of counter-revolutionaries.

By 1956, however, Zerars and the secret police were at odds over political appointments. Zerars wanted to take a more direct role in the government, to resign his position on the judicial panel and join the Presidium, but the secret police still wanted to maintain their current relationship in which their own appointees served on the Presidium would be in a position to siphon resources from public projects or run national corporations themselves. Zerars himself lived in a modest flat with his wife, wore a civil service uniform, and collected only his normal wages for service on the judicial panel. This simple façade helped to disguise the kleptomaniacal regime to the public, a large part of which saw Zerars as an earnest proponent of moving the nation forward instead of staying in the painful past of the Functionalist regime. Kirenian officials were also becoming frustrated by a lack of progress in their sister republic, which was able to mysteriously shrink monetary aid packages into pitifully incomplete public projects.

During the general congress of 1956, Zerars, who always spoke at that event, announced that he would be standing for the Presidium during the coming election along with a slew of attacks on his former allies, especially those in the Presidium who had embezzled public funds. As he revealed more and more details, the congress became agitated and several members of the Vecmurani council (one of the most heavily damaged cities), climbed onto the platform and attacked the Presidium members. This triggered a brawl, but Zerars continued to speak for half an hour before members of the local fire brigade intervened in the meeting after an electrical fire started. The police were conspicuously absent from this event, but afterwards, Zerars and other detractors were systematically rounded up and forced to resign or killed. This coup was branded as necessary following the violence at the general congress and many citizens accepted a need for a cooling off period before reconvening the congress.

Zerars resigned his post and was under de facto house arrest for the rest of his life. It is unclear who assassinated him, the most likely culprit being the secret police, but records from the period show that Kirenia had a plan in place to have him killed.

Komercvalsts

The elimination of Zerars from public life led to an immediate crackdown on democratic institutions. Mass arrests were made and several prisons were designated for political prisoners. Janis Dumpjāts, sitting member of the Presidium, emerged as the new face of the regime during his televised speech ordering disbandment of the judicial panel in which he stated "we are a nation of laws" and condemned the mob violence of councilst radicals. The Dumpjāts regime accelerated the process of transforming the young republic into an oligarchy by consolidating several national industries into national political bureaus. Export heavy businesses such as mining, textiles, and viticulture were previously managed by local councils, but were reorganized into top-down districts in which regime members could extract fortunes by selling goods below market rates in exchange for bribes from foreign corporations.

Dumpjāts, formerly a member of the Klepjaka police force, became de facto leader of the Presidium in 1952

After the completion of the Kirenian nuclear program in 1950, military intervention seemed impossible and many within the governing faction believed that Dumpjāts's willingness to continue trade with Kirenia and to adhere to the Councilist label was enough. The syndicalists, however, under the leadership of Ronald McDonald, embarked on a separate project to rebuild Councilism in Pergosarabia from the ground up. This effort began with international exchange students in the late 1960s with university students forming criticism committees to analyze the faults in the Dumpjāts regime, although this often focused on the complicity of the Kirenian government, which did not earn them favorable attention from the government. These groups are the origin of the term "Komercvalsts", or "commercial state" as a critique of the regime. Consistent international scrutiny and lack of support from Kirenia brought about a series of crises that weakened the Dumpjāts regime over the next decade.

1963 Gallery Crisis

In 1963, groups of Kirenian students attended the meeting of the interim national security committee, which had taken over the role of the general congress under Dumpjāts, in order to protest the lack of normal Councilst procedures. They were allowed into the gallery, since the proceedings were public, but were arrested for protesting later. The 17 students present were accused of being foreign agents, which was partly true since they had formed a formal student council before departure to secure visas, but they were not operating under Kirenian intelligence or any other national body. This triggered an international incident with protests and resolutions sparking across Kirenia, many of whom were shocked to learn about the state of affairs in Pergosarabia and wanted the immediate release of the students. All of the students were quickly released, some of which were forced to sign apologies to the people of Pergosarabia, but all quickly recanted once back in Kirenia.

One of the points that captured public attention in the international councilist community was the use of the reconstruction era name "Pergosarabia", which had never been accepted by InterCon, although Gaullica continued to promote the name as a way of undermining East Miersa. In 1965, observers from InterCon were dispatched to assess the status of Sarabian citizens of Pergia. The commission members landed in Klepjaka, but were prevented from reaching their destination due to a number of contrivances including auto failures and false bomb threats. Eventually the commissioners left, but flew to Kirenia and then to the Miersan border city of Rylin, which also had a large Sarabian population, where they received reports of widespread abuses across the border. Under cover of night, the commissioners crossed the Verine River and met with Sarabians who confirmed mass surveillance of Sarabian citizens, sweatshop conditions, malnutrition, and inadequate healthcare throughout Sarabian majority districts. This report was released at the 1966 Workers' International, which condemned the Dumpjāts in a resolution and called for the citizens of Pergia to form a general congress to replace the Presidium. The Pergian Presidium had not been elected by a general congress for eleven years since the 1956 congress was disbanded by firemen.

1976-79 Freight Crisis

In 1976, freight drivers in Karpuka and Ravajaerv defied the Pergian Presidium and refused to transport goods they had identified as part of the regime's exploitation scheme. Since the Presidium controlled the vehicles, they brought in new drivers and began to continue shipments, but the Kirenian syndicalists provided the drivers with new vehicles, with which they collected shipments on their own and worked with individual workers to sell their products in Kirenia at reasonable prices. The Presidium accused them of profit-seeking and counter-revolutionary behavior, arrested 300 drivers, and seized hundreds of the Kirenian vehicles. In 1977, however, the Kirenian auto factories again provided dozens of vehicles to striking drivers, who again circumvented the national price fixing scheme. Police officers were deployed again to make arrests and seize vehicles, but by this time impound lots were already overflowing with brand new trucks. Other citizens began running goods in light vehicles, carrying garden produce, timber, and even factory goods across the border to Kirenia where import officials would buy almost anything, including loose leaf paper and used screws in some cases. This laid the original groundwork for the Mutual Assistance Organization. The 1976-77 freight protests did relatively little to interrupt the overall function of the oligarchy at that time, but it did trigger a collapse of faith in the domestic market for goods, which had already been eroded by price-fixing schemes and national corporatism over the last decade.

A row of burning trucks received as a gift from the Ravajaerv manufacturing syndicate in 1978

Kirenia again provided free vehicles to Pergian drivers in 1978, but they also flooded other independently organized groups with support including university students, small-scale independent farmers who had been cut off from advance machinery for refusing the communalize property, boutique craftsman banned from trading goods internationally, and even Sarabian pensioners lacking medical care. The Kirenian syndicalist faction issued the "Promissory of Sirone" which declared uncritical support for self-organized and spontaneous democratic behavior in Pergia. Police were deployed to seize vehicles and otherwise nationalize anything that crossed the border, but without anywhere to store the goods pouring in, commanders resorted to burning them. Images of these waste were shocking to the relatively poor working class of Pergia, many of whom had been told by the government that a lack of vehicles was slowing their access to basic consumer goods. Several independent news syndicates formed with Kirenian support to distribute coverage of these events popped up around Northern Pergia and, despite police suppression, reached millions of citizens.

In 1979, a group of protestors broke into a police impound lot and commandeered hundreds of thousands of tons of heavy vehicles, mostly empty semi trucks, and formed a convoy towards the capital. Once alerted to the convoy, the capital was put under quarantine and major roads were closed with barricades. When the convoy reached the capital, many of the barricades proved insufficient to halt the advance. One famous example was a Senrian Komatsu D575A nicknamed the "Yellow Bear", which pushed through concrete barriers on the Cena Expressway and allowed hundreds of semis into the capital. An unintended side effect of the city's shutdown was that the roads were free of commuters and the convoy headed towards Dumpjāts' personal residence, stopping along the way to ask directions from locals. Dumpjāts was not at home, but in an emergency meeting of the Presidium, which opted to deploy tanks to intimidate and halt the advance. The Klepjaka Armored Regiment was ordered to deploy their Great War Era Gaullican Chumparrois T3s around the wealthy neighborhood where Dumpjāts lived and stop the advance. When the convoy reached the tanks, they stopped for approximately one hour, afraid of being fired on, while crowds of onlookers emerged on rooftops and in adjacent streets. After not being fired on, several members of the convoy charged the line of tanks and crashed into them or ramped over them. In confusion, the regimental officers ordered their men to move away from the wreckage and the crowds. Thousands of protestors entered the neighborhood where they looted and burned several large houses including Dumpjāts's 30 bedroom "conference center" mansion.

Dumpjāts Trials

Dumpjāts stepped down from his position on the Presidium and attempted to flee to Gaullica. He was able to flee the city during the protests, but was apprehended by a freight driver after he had to abandon his government car at a barricade. Several other members of the Presidium were arrested during the uprising, although three did escape to Gaullica by flying in a private plane. The nation ground to a halt with a lack of direction from the capital and, although there was some sporadic fighting with police and military units, there was no unified strategy to quell the uprising after Dumpjāts fled. Dumpjāts and the rest of the Presidium were very quickly sentenced to life imprisonment by an impromptu judicial panel composed of unnamed persons (as many as 400 people have retrospectively claimed to have passed the sentence), a sentence which was later vacated when they agreed to surrender assets hidden overseas to the new government.

From 1980 to 1985, further inquiries were launched to determine the extent of Dumpjāts's regime. Sentences were initially very harsh, with life imprisonment ordered for around 2,000 top-level bureaucrats, police officers, and military commanders, although only 47 of those sentences were confirmed by later judicial panels. Each city and district was ordered to form its own inquiry to prevent the recreation of the Judicature years.

General Congress of 1982

Once adequate time had passed for municipal and then district elections to take place, a general congress was convened in 1982 with the express aim of establishing a better system of safeguards and protections for the council system. Kirenian President Albus Severus Potter and Champanois Premier Jeremies Dior were both invited to proceedings, which had a very festive atmosphere. Ultimately, no written constitution was decided upon, but instead a number of "Promissories" were issued in the vein of Kirenian Syndicalist Ronald McDonald, which enumerated priorities of the national government and limited its power over inferior councils. The right for district councils to vet orders from the Presidium became a key promissory of the new government.

The meeting ended with the raising of a statue of "Yellow Bear", which was in fact the vehicle itself, on the site of the Dumpjāts residence.

Geography