Nastanovo

Republic of Nastanovo República de Nastanovo (Isabellan) Les Respublika Dek Nastenovo (Nostu)
Flag Coat of Arms
Motto: "Por Razón o Fuerza"(Isabellan) By Reason or Force
Anthem:  ¡Adiós Isabel!(official) Goodbye Isabella!
Map of Nastanovo with Cesyllian Neighbors
Capital	Nostalta
Largest city	Esperanza
Official languages	Isabellan
Recognised national languages	Isabellan Nostu
Religion (2020)	86.2% Lumenism 6% Irreligion 5.1% Moralismo 2.7% Other
Demonym(s)	Nastan(ethnic) Nastnovian (citizen)
Government	Unitary Multiparty Presidential Republic
• President	Gabriel De León
• Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers	Alicia Garcia-Lopez
Legislature	Congreso Sereno
• Upper house	Mystoia Senatus
• Lower house	Asamblea de Portavoces
Establishment
• Viceroyalty	1560 CE
• Ferdinándia	1770 CE
• Elaklanian Secession	1777 CE
• Sovereignty	1780 CE
• People's Republic	1926 CE
• La Augustiato	1930 CE
• Restoration of Democracy	1997 CE
Population
• 2020 estimate	54,000,000
• Febuaray 2020 census	54,826,139
Currency	Mint (NVM)
Date format	mm.dd.yyyy
Driving side	right
ISO 3166 code	NSV
Internet TLD	.nv

Nastanovo, known officially as the Republic of Nastanovo (Isabellan: La República de Nastanovo), is a nation in the southern areas of Cesylle, bordered by the United States of Elaklania, the Federal Republic of Osceloa in its north and to its south bordered by the Second Republic of Solistaria and the Empire of Inoarze. Nastanovo is is a Unitary Multiparty Presidential Republic led by the Party for the Stability of the Republic (PSR) and is currently in the second administration of President Gabriel De León. With a population of 54 million its population is spread throughout the west and east coasts. 4.7 million Nastnovians live in it's capital, Nostalta, which rests on the east coast, while its most populous city, Esperanza is in the west coast. Other cities include La Joya, Percaoiva, and Isla del León. Nastanovo is also the home to the headquarters of the Defense Treaty of Independent Nations as a founding member.

Etymology

The name "Nastanovo" comes from the western coastal tribe of the Nostu which cooperated with Isabellan explorer Captain Alexander Joaquín Morales to chart their areas of the continent of Cesylle on map to allow for safe passage through the region of Ashintoka. The tribe's named developed from their term of light and skin into the term Nostu, the tribe however was later enslaved by Viceroy Saúl Franco Venegas in a show of force against the passive legacy of his rival, Captain Morales, which he then named the Viceroyalty of Nastanovo off a butchering of his pronoucement of their enslaved tribe. From the name of the Nostu came Nastan and with Nastan developed Nastanovo meaning "Land of Light" in reference to the light of traditional Nastnovian native fire dances and the Isabellan conquests of Lumenist teachings and the embracing of its God.

History

Antiquity

From the period of however small recorded history of the ancient peoples within the region they collectively reffered to as Ashintoka, the tribes of Ashintoka were numerous however small in number and referred to themselves with a number of clicks and hand gestures. Their stories have best been determined to have been written throughout the 5th century CE and ceasing in the 14th Century. In the inner regions they spoke of Mother Gaia and the mountain spirits in reference to the winds and soil. While on the coasts they spoke of the Water Father and the blinding light signaling his arrival each morning, in reference to the sunrise and to the horizon.

Artist recreation of Kunakumya and his companion (1974)

The most famous story was that of a boy named Kunakumya who marks his rise to adulthood by making a journey through the realms of life with a blonde woman he meets in his travels and meeting with the Earth mother and Sea Father, its tale has been catagorized under the name "The Achichaski" written by an unknown poet though some claim it was written by the boy himself under the name Nuna. There is not much noted on the traditions of any singular tribe as all forms have been destroyed through the process of colonization and Isbellan-ization which took place under the Viceroyalty of Nastanovo and the policies of Saúl Franco Venegas whose policies continued unempeaded by the Isabellan crown or native uprisings for nearly 200 years. Much of what is theorized of these cultures were their peaceful yet individualistic ways, if a group disagreed with the larger group they would leave and stake their own place in the valleys and mountains of the inlands. A case most particularly observed between coastal tribes and inland tribes which when they began to notice differences of skin tones from (unconfirmed) ancient Lancian migrants who settled in the region and mixed the skin tone among the native populace. This created the Nostu peoples who then chose to create fishing villages along the western coasts. This process is confirmed by the constant movement of camps in historical sites within modern day Nastanovo, though the tribes were never necessarily nomadic they did often choose to leave a place if the game wasn't bountiful or they were having issues developing their community.

There is no semblance of a greater native state outside of their communities though historians refer to the group as Ashintokans due to the lack of a shared identity and the native genocide brought about through Isabellan exploitation. Furthermore, there is no forms of weapons outside of the material necessary to practice hunting, thus historians have theorized the region of Ashintoka had a specialty to it, a sort of cultural taboo towards war and conflict which all tribes practiced.

Viceroyalty of Nastanovo

Isabellan Conquistadors exploring ancient ruins of Ashintoka (1586)

The arrival of the Isabellanese Empire and the founding of the outpost of Santo Dominco in 1532 is considered the beginning of history in consideration of the region of Ashintoka as the Conquistadors arrived on the western coasts of Ashintoka. The man leading the expedition, Alexander Joaquín Morales, arrived in late 1531 and found the lands of Ashintoka as a plentiful land of beautiful and bountiful treasures. The expeditionary force of one thousand made their camp location further inland and began to scout from the higher hillsides and mountainous regions surrounding the camp and founded Santo Dominco as the first Marisian settlement in the region of Ashintoka. Though under orders from the Isabellan King to seek treasures and rendezvous with other explorers in the north, Morales had other plans and that meant taking the thousand men under his command and exploring in the name of scientific advancement and the increase of Marisian knowledge of the region. Beginning to march westwards in late 1532 after news of Santo Dominco's founding had been confirmed to be sailing towards Isabella, Morales immediately found himself confronted by thick jungles and hostile wildlife, though he was undeterred to continue his march further inland. In early 1533 first contact with the tribes of Ashintoka had been made between the explores and tribes, the tribes then welcomed the explorers into their homes and following some time to form a connection of language, it was found that the entire region had been explored for centuries by scouts of the tribes for food and their chieftain claimed he would share the knowledge which they had at the trade of non-aggression and friendship between the explorers and the tribes. Morales agreed to the terms and together with native scouts continued to explore further into the land by the rivers until they came upon the ((OTHER)) Sea in 1548 and though only 300 of the original explorers had survived the several year journey, they founded the Isabellan outpost of Esperanza in the west coast and declared it the first official land (to their knowledge) claimed by the Isabellan crown on the continent. Throughout that time, Marisians and natives had been intermingling between one another bringing Marisian blood back into the cycle, though there were natives of lighter skin tone on the west coast than their companions inland which bewildered Morales and his exploration crew, they explained that long ago there was a group of individuals of lighter skin than even them who arrived and explained how to develop stronger tools, it moved the tribes beyond conflict and focused entirely on creating surplus, they called themselves Nostu, or "Light-Faired Ones". Together in cooperation with the Nostu tribe, Morales developed Esperanza to be a self-sustaining settlement off the coast of the ((OTHER)) Sea, Morales then determined that in order to continue brining development to these lands he had to return to Maris. In early 1550 Morales set out on a reconstructed ship from the port of Esperanza back to Isabella to deliver the news he had colonized the western coasts and was the first to do so. He left the region in late 1550 and declared that the region shall henceforth be named Morales, after himself.

Alexander Joaquín Morales returning to Isabella (1551)

A portrait of Saúl Franco Venegas, the First Viceroy of Nastanovo

Though as Morales sailed to tell the Isabellan King of the peace made between the explorers and his crew, a new explorer had been assigned his previous post in Santo Dominco, Saúl Franco Venegas, who was currently in the process of setting fires to the forests which sat near Santo Dominco to make room for his personal estate and beginning the slave trade off the coasts of eastern Ashintoka in 1541. By 1552 Morales had arrived back in Isabella after circumventing the south of the continent, he had heard of what Venegas was already doing and found himself appalled from the violence and lack of concern for human life. In 1553, during an audience with the Isabellan King, he was informed after the King was made aware that Morales had gone inland, he had sent Venegas to clear the lands of natives who were the ones blamed for the disappearance of Morales into the inland, and if Morales wanted to stop Venegas then he would have to return to to colonies and resume his post as the head of the expedition. Morales immediately set out to return to the colony in 1554 and upon his return found a bustling settlement in Santo Dominco, that was built off the backs of slave labor and imperialism, and demanded an audience with Venegas to resume his post. In 1555 during a the meeting Venegas questioned Morales' reasoning to not commit the colony towards a slave market or exploitative methods, if the homeland was to set out on wars in Maris then they should supply the manpower and continue to enrich themselves on the continent through the mining operations already proving fruitful on the coasts. After all Venegas had built himself a private mansion overseeing the whole of the colony with the riches he gained and looted, he saw absolutely no issue in using the colony to benefit themselves. Morales countered with Lumenite argument stating that as Marisians they had a duty to enlighten the native peoples and this was certainly not enlightenment, in Morales' view what Venegas was doing was a destructive push for wealth and glory and not the humanist expedition they had been sent and entrusted to do. Venegas declared that his actions were enlightenment of the highest order as the natives had only one purpose in his mind and that was to serve their colonizers, after which he told Morales to get out of the meeting. Morales walked out with a small contingent of Conquistadors who agreed with him and they set out to leave Santo Dominco. He gathered what he could and the people still left in the city who agreed with him and made haste for Esperanza where he figured he could make a rival colonial government and challenge Venegas. As Morales soon as left and began his march inland, Venegas declared Santo Dominco to be the first city of the Viceroyalty of Nastanovo, a name which had been derived from the Nostu people which had claimed to make peace with Venegas and who he had enslaved as his personal entourage. With this announcement came another which declared a campaign for Conquistadors to begin moving inland and taking more lands in the name of the King and God. Morales' band of friends continued into the jungles and as they continued they were followed by Conquistadors of Venegas and they inadvertently led them to more and more native settlements, spreading rumor among the natives that the Marisians brought with them a band of devils taking them prisoner and killing those who don't comply. When Morales met with the same tribe he had met with to learn of the lands, they denied him refuge and warned him of being followed, and as thanks he gave them gunpowder weapons, though it would be for nothing as the much more experienced Conquistadors continued to tear the lands by force of arms from the native tribes, over 30,000 natives were taken prisoner as more and more Conquistadors continued to follow their compatriots deeper and deeper inland. Eventually Morales lost his tail and the Conquistadors set up settlements further inland and began a policy of Isbellan-ization which by means of forced education, introduction of colonialists, and conversion to Lumenism and justifying the work done in hard labor provided by Isabellan linguists that the Water Father's Kingdom in the east and the material going to the protection of their lands and homes from world-ending floods. Morales arrived in Esperanza in 1559 and received word from his network in the city that the current Consul of the city was attempting to make contact with Venegas and connect Esperanza to the rest of the Viceroyalty. Though Morales attempted to stop this, he was murdered in an argument over his treatment of natives between a disgruntled Esperanzan and himself. Following Morales' death in 1560, Esperanza joined the Viceroyalty and Venegas found himself the singular leader of several pieces of the continent and set out his goal to enrich the Viceroyalty and by extension, himself.

War of Ferdinandian Independence

General Bernardo Freire discussing the declaration of La Gran República with Nastnovian and Elaklanian officers (1770)

In 1770 the colonies of Elaklania and Nastanovo had enough of Isabella’s continuous demands and punishments so they sought to free themselves from colonial rule. Nastanovo made the first move with General Bernardo Freire declaring the independence of not only Nastanovo but Elaklania as well under the name of “La Gran República de Ferdinándia” or The Grand Republic, beginning the War of Ferdinandian Independence. The rise of the Grand Republic in Nastanovo would see the beginning of what is now referred to as the “National Revolution” as well as many victories against the armies of Isabella from Freire’s “First Revolutionary Army” and initial cooperation between the peoples of Nastanovo and Elaklania, it would take three years of brutal warfare to kick the armies of Isabella off of the mainland and for the republic to finally receive recognition from other states on Isabella’s continent. Soon as the Republic had finally gained itself its independence state building had begun, while Elaklanian General Manuel Andre Osceola had attempted to build Monarchist support for him (and it worked for him in Elaklania) though the message would fall flat on Nastnovian ears as they had spent the near last 4 years fighting against a Monarch, thus the sacrifices of the National Revolution would be seen in vain by the Nastnovians. The issue would come to a head as Osceola fancied a clique of independence advocates for Elaklania and wrote a new constitution under the nose of Nastnovian officials and in 1774 declared independence from the Republic thus starting the event today known as the “Tragedy of Elaklania”. The declaration of Independence would not stand with Nastnovian Republicans who unequivocally supported the Grand Republic and thus a brother’s war broke out between Elaklania and Nastanovo. From the Elaklanian declaration of independence in 1774 to 1775 the Brother’s war raged, though it was more so considered a Brother’s Quarrel more than anything, as these once compatriots would not fight each other more often than not save for the most radical amongst them. Though the efforts of the Nastnovian Military would be in vain as Elaklania’s Emperor would best them decidedly in battle and bring an end to the war in Elaklanian Independence and a loss of land on the side of Nastanovo which would bring to birth the country of Osceola, constantly reminding Nastanovo of the breakaway of Elaklania and their defeat.

The Sovereignty of Nastanovo and the Coalition Wars

In 1777, following the secession of Elaklania from Ferdinándia, the brutal defeats and loss of northern territories to Osceola, and revolts monarchist revolts in the south which saw the secession of the Kingdom of Percivia from Nastanovo, the Republic was left in shambles as all of what Freire had fought to free and federalize dissolved around him. Though he remained undeterred and in his personal writings swore that if he could not secure and maintain the independence while delivering the strength of sovereignty to all Isabellan colonial holdings, he would maintain the independence and strength of one, his homeland of Nastanovo. By now his faction within the Republic grew to be all powerful, holding positions of power and governorships across the land which declared their support for any direction he may have taken them, thus with that in mind, he called together another Ferdinándian Congress to organize a redistribution of power and settle upon a constitution. The 7th Ferdinándian Congress took place in March of 1779 and Freire, who had just turned 34, set about for a campaign to radically reconstitute the structure of the Execuative within the Republic. Since the revolution the republic had operated under a Junta and its leadership was the President, though this powerbase would not be sufficient as now the Republic was split among rebel controlled so-called "nations" as such the conclusion Freire held was that the executive now needed a way to rule undeterred and carry out actions necessary to prevent the collapse of the Republic. With such a view presented to the congress, Freire requested at first, then demanded that he be made into head of the nation, now going beyond his original plan of being head of government. As Freire explained it, the position of Sovereign was to oversee the protection and guidance of the Republic through essentially ruling by decree due to the lack of a fully established constitution. The purpose of the Sovereignty would be to defend the remaining lands of the republic as it regained its footing and began to campaign for the reclamation of the lost territories and of the revitalization of the nation. Though, as Freire once more described, in order for the Sovereign as a position to exist within the state, the state needed to shift around to adhere towards the will of the Sovereign. As such Freire declared that with the acceptance of the cogress, he would dedicate himself fully towards the goal of restoring the Republic once the Sovereignty, as he referred to it as, had done its duty in restoring the integrity of the nation. While many moderates were against this and radical republicans pleaded with him to reconsider the proposition, it was hardline Nastnovian Nationalists and Isabellan collaborators who campaigned for his plan and won over moderates who were convinced of Freire's promise to restore the republic. By late 1779 and the conclusion of the 7th Ferdinándian Congress, Freire had been approved and declared the Sovereign of the republic which had been rechristened Sovereignty of Nastanovo to recongize that the republic needed time to rebuild and until it had, Nastanovo was all it had left. By early 1780 Freire had been crowned in his coronation on January 7th, and immediately set out to begin his reign as Sovereign.

Portrait of Sovereign Freire as he signs the Constitution of the Sovereignty

Through the next decade Freire began drafting and implementing a list of several decrees with which he planned to begin the process of nation-building his home nation, the Sovereign's first decree was to enact the implementation of his final constitutional draft in late 1780, which established the Serene Congress and the three systems of Government within Nastanovo. The Sovereign's second decree in 1782, after two years of debate, stalling and general apathy within the congress, declared an implementation of a Senate of land-owners and lords known as 'Mystics' which titled itself the 'Mystic Senate' within the Serene Congress and another decree declaring immediate expansion of several landed properties within the regions of Esperanza and La Joya which earned him the support of those who were first appointed to the Senate. For another five years Freiere continued to expand the powers of the state with decree after decree in preparation for what he called the "Vital Struggle". This rhetoric soon lead to a decree in early 1790 for general mobilization and conscription of the population into the newly organized standing army of the Sovereignty known as the Nastnovian Sovereign Army (NSA). While many of his officers assumed they would be marching to reclaim Elaklania, they would be proven wrong with orders to march eastwards. By the end of 1790 with the army well equipped with 47,000 Nastnovians answering the mobilization order, and plans drawn and moving east, Freire had a rider be sent to the Kingdom of Percivia and with it a formal declaration of war for the rights to oversee the existence of Percivia as it had been under Ferdinándia. But the initial combat wasn't seen against Percivia, instead a battalion of Nastan infantry began to bicker among one another for camp grounds until one soldier fired upon another which injured the soldier's foot. They were forced to continue on despite the incident and the soldier was sent home.

Nastan soldiers continue marching east after a friendly fire incident. (December 1790)

The first battle took place between the border regions of Percivia and Nastanovo on January 2nd 1791 where several royal militia of several thousand Percivian men met with the vanguard units of the Nastnovian Army in the Battle of Snake's Field where Freire was finding himself in a role to lead for the first time. Where many of the royal militia of Percivia were disorganized though defended their homes well, the NSA was capable of dispersing them through the fields within the day of the battle in close quarters combat. As Freire declared that the army would rest for the evening after had marched 20 miles from Nastan soil, many of the soldiers rejoiced as they felt that the they could win quickly and victory was certain within months. These celebrations however were cut short as Percivian militiamen released snakes into the Nastnovian camp as they retreated from their homes, a note also remained tied to a snake stating they would alert the King of the Nastnovian incursion. Freire disregarded this warning and in the next few weeks continued marching with his army, leaving some of his soldiers behind in small camps of hundreds to set up Nastan outposts and villages. They continued another week and 170 miles into Percivia until the Percivian King Joaquin I ambushed the NSA in the Battle of Leon's Forest which to this day remains the greatest military loss in Nastnovian history. In the morning of January 17th with a fog approaching, Freire decided he would use it as cover to move through a forest leading towards the capital of Percivia however the Percivian King had already been alerted to Freire's march upon the capital of Quecarajo, with this information he sent scouts to find them and when they analyzed their projected path the Percivians had set up camp somewhere nearby, then when the Nastan vanguard cut deeper into the forest they struck. Immediate close quarters combat began between the Nastan Vanguard and the Royal Percivian Army, which began to collapse into the main Nastan lines deeper within the forest. Fearing encirclement Freire ordered a hasty retreat, burning of the forest and defense of the gains, while he pushed the majority of his infantry out of the pocket in the forst and the vanguard set fire to the forest, of his 42,000 large army, only 12,000 escaped with Freire. With niether side willing to agree to a peace the war continued though no major battles would be fought for several years after the defeat of the Nastnovians at Leon's Forest while the Nastnovians defended their gains in the western regions of Percivia. Freire bought himself time in the field to continue rebuilding his forces and issued a royal decree to conscript peasants and women into the army raising his numbers to 90,000 by 1794. By mid 1794, Freire and his two armies began to march eastwards once more for another attempt at capturing Quecarajo but the time they had spent to organize had also allowed Percivia to garner support among (Southern Nation) and (Southern Nation) into a coalition against Nastanovo which meant now Freire was fighting a war on two fronts, one in the east and one in the south. Freire was forced to split his armies in two with armies of 45,000 to each and designated them the 1st and 2nd Army respectively. The 2nd Army was tasked with defending the southern border from (Southern Nation) and was under the command of General Román Diego Molina, under his command was a mostly peasant levy force and several engineers teams to build settlements in the south as he wasn't expected to do much fighting. But in August of 1794 a force of 134,000 coalition forces were marching through the southern regions under the command of the Percivian King Joaquin I, the coalition had planned to flank the Sovereign's army by marching south, sacking Esperanza, and then march back eastwards but they were intercepted by General Molina who decided to engage them in the Battle of Esperanza. While he sent a runner to bring news to the Sovereign and request his return to Esperanza. On August 18th the coalition met with Molina's force of 45,000 however were shocked to find how well the 2nd Army had prioritized digging in on a hill in the outskirts of the city. Joaquin's infantry held off from marching on the hill while the cavalry began a flanking maneuver however when the cavalry sank around the hill they found another set of trenches dug in for the purposes of retreating off of the hill. A number of (Southern Nation)'s forces swung around to support the coalition cavalry and found themselves getting bogged down in an advancement as Molina had ordered his men to dig in further, prioritizing the neutralizing of the cavalry and probing the advancing coalition forces.

General Molina in a Nastan trench assessing the battle from a personal perspective.(August 1794)

Eventually the main force of (Southern Nation) and Percivia were forced to begin advancing on the hill to take pressure off of the flank route and the battle continued as the Coalition's flanking maneuver failed. As the casualty reports began to arrive to Molina a startling ammount of casualties were coalition forces, the Nastnovian 2nd Army was holding well in their backline trenches and let the coalition rush into them like a brick wall. Come the end of the first day of combat the Percivians once more tried to set snakes into the Nastan encampment to no avail as Molina had every soldier's resting quarters searched for snakes, learning from Freire's mistakes. For the next week the battle continued as the coalition attempted to break through the flanks to no avail and within another several days 5,000 of the NSA's reformed vanguard cavalry of the 1st Army arrived and a day later Freire arrived with his 40,000 strong 1st Army. This forced a final confrontation between the Coalition's forces and the now reorganized 1st and 2nd Army under General Molina within the coming days. While Freire attempted to persuade Molina to begin an offensive Molina instead had both Armies concentrate around the hills and when the Coalition's unified cavalry began another flank Molina ordered a general charge against the main forces of the coalition, while the regulars of the 1st Army held the backlines, the peasantry and women who were regulated to the 2nd Army showed their valiant capability to fight and in that charge against the main line of the coalition they found that the coalition began breaking rank as the forces of (Southern nation) were routed and the rest of the Coalition's forces began to fall with them. The Nastan pesantry captured a General from (Southern Nation) and Joaquin I is quoted to have swore to leave Nastanovo in flames while his forces retreated to reorganize. Freire celebrated Molina's victory and loss of only 7,000 in the 2nd Army while the numbers were stacked almost 2:1 against Nastanovo in the battle and when they returned to Esperanza to rearm and reorganize, Freire awareded Molina with the ancient Lancian imperial tradition of a triumph. The triumph was rushed to accommodate for Freire's wish to push their advantage but the captured General of (Southern Nation) was paraded next to Molina in his march through Esperanza. With their new found advantage Freire and Molina marched eastwards to take Quecarajo and annex Percivia into the Sovereignty. After a brief time to reorganize in Esperanza, in 1795 the unified armies under Freire and Molina began to march towards Percivia once more and were for the first time able to make it beyond initial Nastnovian gains from 1790. Brief battles began as the Nastan force was able to destroy the contingent of (Southern Nation)'s army which was moving to meet with the rest of their allied forces deeper in Percivia. By 1796 the two Nastan armies split once more in Molina's pincer movement on Quecarajo, Molina's plan was for his 2nd army to distract the garrison of Quecarajo in a siege while the 1st Army fanned out into the region and looked for any sign of the coalition's forces, unfortunately for Molina the forces of the coalition approached from the North and forced him to forgo the siege and meet up with the rest of the concentrated force in the south. For another year they Freire and Molina began a campaign of hit and run tactics against the coalition and though their force of over 90,000 had the capability to go against the coalitions combined force of 100,000, Molina did not wish for such close odds. In late 1796 the coalition's forces were able to intercept the Nastan armies and began the Battle of the Lions in the savannahs of southern Percivia between the Nastan force of 90,000 and the Coalition's force of 100,000. Initially while the battle was beginning a strong storm rolled into the region causing dust to kick up from the cavalry and eventually developing into an artificial sand storm. While the infantry clashed through the blindness, the cavalry of both sides sought each other out to attempt flanking through the dust and there are several recorded incidents of Lions becoming involved in the battle as they presumed the humans were in their hunting grounds with one being killed and skinned to be worn by Freire.

Nastan (Blue) and Coalition (White) cavalry duels between the storm. (1796)

Though the infantry suffered minor casualties on both sides the cavalry of Nastanovo were able to systematically liquidate the cavalry of (Southern Nation) and began incurring on the remaining cavalry from Percivia which convinced the led General from (Southern Nation) to retreat away from the storm and battle. Sensing opportunity Freire decided to give chase with the combined force of 87,000, sending the remaining vanguard cavalry ahead to prod at the coalitions force, and for weeks they continued to march until the sights of Quecarajo was seen in the distance and Freire aimed to capture the city and end the drawn out conflict. In the ensuing Siege of Quecarajo the coalition returned for another attempt to drive the Nastan armies from the city but to no avail as Molina had ordered for his, now regular soldiers of men and women, trenches to hold the line behind the main force that Freire commanded as they continued the siege. Eventually through the happenstance of battle, the Percivian King Joaquin I was captured in a raid and skirmish between Nastan cavalry and coalition infantry on the coalition camp. In captivity Joaquin wrote to his son to prepare for the duty as King due to his certainty that the Nastnovians would kill him, with that letter he abdicated the throne to make his capture worthless and suddenly the Prince of Percivia, Joaquin II was forced onto the throne and immediately called for negotiations between himself and Freire. Freire agreed on the notion that the coalition would be dispersed and the armies would engage in a several year long white peace until negotiations could conclude. From 1796 to 1803 the then boy-king Joaquin II and Freire partied and celebrated in Quecarajo while Molina held the King's father in custody. While Freire and Joaquin II formed a friendship and came to a conclusive decision on the new order and friendship between Percivia and Nastanovo, the armed forces of Percivia attempted to liberate Joaquin I from the custody of Molina which had failed then leading to an attempted a military coup against Joaquin II which too failed thanks to the Vanguard cavalry acting quickly in the defense of Freire to secure the administrative buildings around Quecarjo. With the terms of the peace being determined as Freire being able to arrange a marriage of the sister of Joaquin II to his son Jorge, Joaquin II becoming royal governor of the province of Perciva in Nostanovo, and the royal capital being moved to Quecarjo, all parties agreed to the terms as Freire declared Percivia a client state annexed into the Sovereignty. Joaquin II, now royal governor of the province, abdicated the throne to his sister who then married Freire's son sealing the personal union between the two states. His father, Joaquin I, was furious at the betrayal of the Percivian peoples and once more attempted escape, this time succeeding as he escaped to Elaklania in another attempt to build a coalition to dismantle the Sovereignty. With the capital moved to Quecarjo, Freire immediately set about the reforms of the province as he began shifting his attention once more towards internal issues. The first of his decrees after the end of the war with Percivia was to rename Quecarjo to Nostalta and removing the powers of the communities centered around the new province to answer to his Nastan administratiors arriving from Esperanza. However in early 1804 tragedy struck Nastanovo as during a opera Sovereign Freire was assassinated in a plot against him planned and executed by loyalists to Joaquin I in the Assassination of Bernardo Freire while historical conspiracy abounds as to whether or not Osceola had a hand in the affair.

The building containing Sovereign Bernardo Freire explodes. (1804)

By mid 1804 the son of Bernardo, Jorge Freire, was crowned Sovereign and took to the example of his father by attempting to continue with the nation-building of the Sovereignty following the cessation of hostilities between Nastanovo and the members of the late coalition. His first actions were to recall the decree of conscription and allowed all peasantry and women to return home and retire with a pension while all the men could do the same but if they wished they could have stayed in the army. By the end of the NSA's disbursement 25,000 remained in the army, some men and some women in unequal balance but all loyal to the Sovereign. With his army taken care of and his rising to the throne, Jorge set himself the ambition to become a father-like figure to the nation as he aimed to expand the religiosity of the nation, the love of his people, and continue building the settlements which his father had built up during the Coalition Wars. This ambition took the form of the domestic campaign titled the "Green Fields" campaign which took place between 1805 to 1825 and contained several points of interest. Namely first and foremostly many Nastan families were encouraged to have families and take care of themselves, with tax breaks and the introduction of social programs to maintain citizen welfare in 1806. They were also encouraged to send their children to populate the rural regions of the state through promises of large estates and subsidized equipment to make due with the farming lifestyle. There were also plans to expand universities into the countryside though only a few were built in the more populous settlements, namely the University of Madrugada and the University of Sakadolne. The financing of this plan was done through the selling of much of the former Percivian royalty's personal holdings and selective market plays of investments between states in Maris and beyond. Though much of the plans were actually scaled back in their royal decrees to appease Congress who was still convening for years at this point and was still majorly dominated by Republican-sympathetic or outright Republican adjacent factions, though the Senate remained in the hands of the Sovereign and continued to be expanded as more landowners began to integrate larger and larger properties into their tax returns. While many within the Assembly wanted to tax them of their wealth, the landowner favoring senate instead voted to allow land owners to invest their own wealth into state projects to invigorate their market with dynamic investment and savvy financial decisions. Several wealthy landlords attempted to take their wealth elsewhere and began constructing settlements of their own in the countryside which aimed to appease them and keep them from the prying eyes of the Sovereign. In response Jorge formed a secret police to collect intelligence and eliminate would-be subversives to his rule. This secret police was known as the Defenders of Sovereignty were sent out as applicants for employment at these landlord's compounds, they successfully infiltrated and established a network of communication between one another and relayed their reports to the Sovereign once every other month. In 1832 an agent under the DS initially thought they had discovered a ring of landowners plotting to begin a cartel and monopolize the shrimp trade in the eastern coasts but eventually found that it was in fact a ring of Republicans masquerading as the landowners by writing under their names and imprinting hidden messages throughout the letters in singular letters. Much of Jorge's later reign is categorized in his expansion of the religiosity of his nation in what he called the "Sunlight Campaign" and... (expand later with him building churches, traveling to the grave of !Jesus/Holy City, and the invitation of many religious scholars to teach Nastan priests how to give a sermon among other things when we have that.)

Jorge Freire passed away of a stroke in March of 1841 and was given a state funeral which left his son, Carlos Freire, to rule the nation forwards from 1842 onwards in what would be referred to as the Era of Two Sovereigns.

Decline of the Sovereignty, The October Revolution, and the People's Republic

From 1841 to 1920 the time known as the age of 2 Sovereigns began with Carlos and Dario Freire. Carlos Freire would rule from 1842 after the passing of his father, Jorge Freire, in 1841 and his first project would be to construct a massive palace in Nostalta and declare it the Marble Palace. A majority of the city of Nostalta would be considered a part of the administrative region of the would be Marble Palace and in the project several issues became evident, namely time and money. Though the project would be expensive and lead to a multitude of labor problems, which included strikes and walkouts, but most of these attempts for better labor rights would be squashed and met with extreme prejudice, and eventually enough people who needed jobs would complete the Marble Palace thus earning Carlos the nickname of “The Marble Sovereign.” Most of his reign can however be described as far less of a beauty than marble, oppressing workers and building one large palace, and finally, perhaps most tarnishing of all, participation in the First Great War.

[Too many men lost for too little gain and all that stuff about ww1.]

Carlos Freire would die of a heart attack in Spring of 1900 which historians theorize to have been caused by poisoning and would be replaced by his son Dario Freire. Following the coronation of Dario Freire in Winter of 1900, much of the efforts would be placed on rebuilding Nastanovo from the horrors of the Great War, a process which would take decades in order to develop the old methods of production which were lost to Nastanovo during the First World War. Which therein led into the 1920’s where workers were striking over continuously horrible working conditions which had been the norm since the early 1800’s. The solution was consistently sending the army to crush strikes, distributing anti-union and anti-labor propaganda and speeches from the government disuading workers form organizing. This caused several incidents of labor riots and led to several anti-royalist organizations rising in popularity and the Republican Opposition of Congress becoming more and more emboldened. Throughout the early 1920's much of the domestic effort to embolden labor strikes had led constantly towards violence and Dario Freire found himself receiving the title of "The Lazy" from his populace for his disregard for the working class of Nastanovo. However after decades of government policy in the violent liquidation of striking cells and unions, it was the army who in October of 1926 would turn on their officers and lead the workers to overtake the Marble Palace and the city of Nostalta. For several days riots in Nostalta raged, street combat between socialists annd anti-socialists continued until late October where the workers had organized into a working class centered political party and council and stormed the Marble Palace and the Nostalta dockyards. The Nastnovian Worker's League as it soon announced itself to be declared on October 25th that the Freire family had already fled from Nastanovo never to be seen again and they had held a vote to abolish the office of the Lord Sovereign which was a unilateral yes to abolish the office. The representatives and orators of the NWL read the final wishes of the Sovereign to his people which declared that they should revolt against the socialists and restore him to the throne, the paper which contained those wishes was then burned in the streets to the cheering and revere of the Nastnovian working class. Thus the Marble Sovereignty had been dissolved and with it the Sovereignty of Nastanovo whcih was described to have been dissolved, "not with bang, but with a whimper."

The 1st Congress of the NWL to determine a plan. (1926)

In early November of 1926, the NWL representatives planned its 1st Congress as a unified organization while they send invitations to several hidden organizers of strikes and writers of Nastan socialist theory who began to come out of hiding in order to participate in this Party and Congress now that the Lord-Sovereign's secret police was no longer able to search for and arrest them. Since the workers and army garrison of Nostalta were the one's who initiated the coup and created the NWL to govern the nation, they offered initial presiding rights of the congress to one of their own, a man named Lorenzo Abasto, who was a popular socialist writer and soldier who had organized the spreading of the first revolutionary newspaper of Nastanovo to announce the toppling of the Sovereignty after his comrades occupied the Marble Palace. Officially the congress convened on November 10th as delegates from across Nostalta from different underground organization and repressed labor unions arrived in the Marble Palace to host the 1st Congress of the NWL.

It would seem almost as though the impossible had come but the events of October 1926 in Nostalta would prove that the Red Banner had a home in Nastanovo, if only for a little while. Following the examples of the multitude of socialist movements and revolutions previously witnessed, from Druermark and their March Revolution to the Osagan sailors Revolt in Ilbon, the People’s Republic of Nastanovo was formed following the toppling of the Monarchy and the dissolution of the Sovereignty of Nastanovo during what would be referred to worldwide as the October Revolution. This socialist state was formed on the basis of a republic led by an industrial workers class. The first of major reforms was on the economy as it was put to a national council of workers directed by a 1,000 individual large board known as the “Board for Economic Control and Equality” (BECE). A parliament of the first Trade Unions Nastanovo had ever seen known as the Trade Union Congress formed the backbone of the legislation, and with no official head of state or government, Nastanovo could theoretically be considered anarchist in nature in this period. Though debated in the TUC for 2 weeks, the position of President would be decided to be reinstated since the days of Fernándia. The First President would be elected in December, a Steelworker-Writer from the city of La Joya known as Emilo Vasquez, considered by many as the Father of Nastnovian Socialism. President Vasquez’s first acts during his term would be land reform, Provincial changes, and his final (and fatal) act being a reformation of the military. Seeing as there was only a few pieces of land owned by several estates President Vasquez ordered not only the complete dismantlement of the the properties and the confiscation of them for the state, but a complete redistribution of land across the board to working peasants and farmers, a system to prevent the complete abuse of farmers at the hands of the state was introduced, known Nationally as the Trust Act, commonly referred to as the New Economic Policy. The NEP was a means for farmers to bring their gains towards the cities, not only have fair compensation by a purchase of the state but also have a dynamic market to allow for greater gains should they so wish to engage in competition with the other farmers who too brought their yields to the city. It was a mild success as the market flowed naturally, though farmers were skeptical of the BECE’s methods. The second of President Vasquez’s first acts would be Provincial reform, from numerous unorganized provinces rose the provinces of Modern Nastanovo, chosen to represent regions, ethnicities, and most importantly the industrial and economic capabilities. For every large city and industrial based province there was an agrarian province just as strong and provided for. For every group which seemed oppressed their representatives would come along to build legislation, though this idea would never be allowed to truly flourish as the final reform would doom the People’s Republic. The Third and final act of President Vasquez’s first acts would be to reform the military, this would fail immeasurably. In an attempt to form an Army willing to form the basis of the South-Cesyllian Revolution, they were met with complete pushback from the high command of the armed forces, many of whom served under the Sovereignty who never necessarily agreed with Socialism, only with the dissolvement of the Monarchy. While the plan called for a reform of command to Soldier’s councils and a forgoing of the process of High Command, the results of this would be units and their commanding officers completely refusing to sign off, with only the younger guard willing to hand over power, this would cause a power struggle between the President and several officers which would come a head in 1930. On the precipice of a World War, President Vasquez would be sworn in once more after the election of 1930, but it would not last, as the army surrounded the city, and “In the name of Nastanovo’s Honor”, ordered President Vasquez to stand down lest Nostalta fall to a siege, President Vasquez refused and thus, the Nastnovian Civil War was sparked as another theatre of the Second Great War.

The Nastnovian Civil War, The Second Great War, and the Aldlockean Nuclear Crisis

File:¡No pasarán! Madrid.jpg

Nastnovian Red Army banners declaring the fascists would never pass. A phrase repeated often in the civil war. (1931)

In such a short period of time Nastanovo had gone across the entire political spectrum, from Monarchy to Republic to now the flames of civil war. With the outbreak of the Second World War across the world, Nastanovo’s civil war only became another theater in the great struggle between the Nationalist and Socialist powers. While the Republic burned from East to West sides were taken, the military occupied the cities while the Government continued its hold on the countryside full of peasants who were loyal to the government as a result of the land reform under President Vasquez. President Vasquez himself was assumed killed during the Battle of Nostalta, and thus the government continued to split. A back and forth routine began, the military would take a city, the leftists would run to the hills and get help from the socialists, the leftists would return, and the military would retreat and get help from the nationalists, rinse and repeat. For months into years this would continue, to the point where in 1934 there was a reported battle of medieval knights across the fields of País del León, and men who had no more rounds to fire, turned towards knives and daggers. Numerous factions between all sides would form, unite, and turn on each other, foreign influence was at its height during this time, with notable states such as Maris powers aiding the Military along with political and militaristic powers from the state of Aldlocke in the Federation of Cesylle, while Druermarsk and their socialist sphere along with Elaklania would aid the leftist Republicans. However during the Fifth battle of Nostalta, the tides changed. A New General made himself known with his complete and merciless methods, General Benicio De Augsto. De Augsto’s father was a military man during the Coalition wars and thus had the exact type of methods ready to put down the leftists, he was ruthless, he was dangerous, but most importantly, he was stupidly macho. Taking control of the War Council following the Capture of Nostalta, he waged a total war against the Communists similar to that of the 2nd world war which raged in the forefront of the world’s minds, all which would not surrender were burned or captured. By the time he reached La Joya and with it the west coast of Nastanovo in December of 1936, the Republic was dead and rotting, so he installed himself as President, dissolved the TUC and BECE, and restructured Nastanovo along his vision. There was no one to stop him as the Leftist-Republican Government had fled to Druermarsk and their Red Army was shattered in the hills and countryside. Those who were willing turned coat and were pardoned by the President joining back with the rest of Nastanovo in shame, so Newly inaugurated President Benicio De Augsto quickly wrote up a brand new Constitution for the “State of Nastanovo”, which would henceforth be known as the "Constitution of '37". This Constitution gave rise to the Serene Congress and the Supreme Court, with powers given to both as legislative and judicial respectively. Notable decrees from President De Augsto included affording Legislative power to the Supreme Court and the introduction of a 35% popularity threshold for new parties to enter the Congress. Many would later call these policies a mere shining of De Augsto’s authoritarian practices. De Augsto also founded the Party for the Stability of the State (PSS), which rapidly became the most powerful and only party in the Congress through compulsory membership. The Era of Fratricide was over. Nastanovo would never be the same with De Agusto in charge. The State of Nastanovo was born. With the end of the Civil War and the Rise of the State of Nastanovo, and the continuation of the Second World War, President Benicio De Augsto sought to modernize Nastanovo at the expense of its rivals, internal and abroad. With the leftists in retreat and guerilla’s abounding in the newly reestablished state, De Augsto’s idea was to simply burn and rebuild from the ground up and to him this constituted an invasion of Elaklania. He did away with the land reforms of President Vasquez and confiscated all properties towards the state, made the army capable of dispersing the Serene Congress, and strangely kept President Vasquez’s provincial maps of the 5 Provinces. With these initial acts, De Augsto realized he would need aid from outside sources, drafting war plans and turning to Aldlocke once more to aid in the rebuilding of the armed forces, in particular a redevelopment of the military industries, much of which had been overused or destroyed during the Era of Fratricide. The plan was to invade through Osceola in a lightning war fashion with Fernándista militia’s leading the charge against the nation and eventually reach Elaklania and fully annex the state within a year and a half’s time. This would be payback for the dissolution of the Grand Republic and would finally lead towards the place in the sun for Nastanovo, then it could finally unite Southern Cesylle and destroy communism across the continent.

Scenes from the Nastnovian Civil War

Druermarskian Tank during the Second Battle of La Joya. (1935)

Nastan civilians enlisting for the Red Army days before the First Battle of Nostalta. (1930)

Ferdinanista cavalry charging in the Battle of Isla del León. (1934)

But then, 2 years following the end of the Era of Fratricide came the Great Deluge, a meteor dubbed by Nastnovian astronomers as God’s wrath crashed into the world and caused one of the greatest catastrophes in the history of Nastanovo, De Augusto was forced to make peace with Elaklania and withdraw soldiers from the war and turned his attention towards the rest of the nation. The relief efforts of De Augsto from the military did much to increase his fringe popularity, affected by the loss of men in Elaklania and which at this point was only high as he was seen as a hero to the right for routing the communists and a hero to the center for ending the civil war. One of these projects was to build a sequence of hydroelectric dams all across the nation to provide power for the cities and areas heavily affected by the impact. The environmental concerns were second place and the 27 dams were constructed across rivers in Nastanovo. Throughout reconstruction De Augusto simply did his best to rebuild and ensure the protection of the state, being referred to as an Internalist and agreeing with the notion. These projects made him willing to establish elections, but with the PSS’ massive popularity and no other party able to cross the 35% threshold, De Augusto won his second term as President However as some rivers were heavily affected protests began to spring up against these endeavors following his election, in 1942 De Augsto used his popularity with the right to begin increasing the powers of the President and overtaking the Field Marshals in positions of military power, making the military his personal army to as he wished. In 1947 following Nastanovo’s aid towards the International coalition against the Federation of Cesylle, though reluctant to do so, a great purge occurred within the military after De Augsto won his 3rd term which ended the military’s sympathy’s towards nationalism and fascism as a whole cementing De Augsto’s place at the height of his power, Internalism had gotten a hold of Nastanovo and it would not let go.

La Augustiato

Nastnovian soldiers amassed during a military parade. (1965)

By 1952 and the election of De Augusto for the 4th time and reconstruction of Nastanovo being complete across all regards stability had returned across the nation, for the most part, while some socialist remnants continued to fight across the ends of the countryside and the border regions multitudes of rebels continued to try and enter the nation so this led to the leading diplomat of Nastanovo, Julius Modesto, to propose to President De Augsto the idea of unifying the regions of southern Cesylle, not into one nation as the President feared but into a alliance, Modesto called it the Defense Treaty of Independent Nations, a form for anti-imperialism across the continent and a way to control the borders between the nations around Nastanovo, he proposed this to be a foundation of friendship between Elaklania and Nastanovo, preposterous the President thought, but perhaps by-gones could be by-gones between the two and they could work together to form something better out of the ashes of the region. Through months of negotiation and meetings the organization had been announced to the world as a form of the nations once oppressed by Isabella to win themselves a future, Nastanovo saw it as a chance to get at the edge and finally overtake its rivals and so did De Augusto. Finally with his power secured he declared himself President for life, and though the center and right were unwilling to come into conflict over this issue, the left found itself exemplified to fight against this obvious abuse of power Following De Augusto’s rise to full power as President for life he turned his attention away from securing his position in politics and towards securing Nastanovo’s position on the world stage. For nearly over 20 years Nastanovo hadn’t involved itself heavily with the affairs of the continent at large or the world aside from the building of DTIN, with this in mind President De Augusto had been passively increasing the military budget of Nastanovo and as a result at least 2% of the national GDP had already been directed towards the military. De Augusto felt his nation was ready to rally once more for a war against its neighbors. He needed a way to test the might of the Nastnovian equipment first though, and this is when in 1965 the 1st Jaklands war broke out between Nutarra and its southern rival Cortecca in April of 1965. With Nastanovo’s foreign policy lining up towards Cortecca, President De Augusto determined it was in the best interest of the continental peace and Nastanovo’s safety that men of the 1st Guards tank division to Cortecca on the side of the Anti-Communist forces there under a DTIN peacekeeping force. The war, though costly through the amount of weapons Nastanovo provided to Cortecca, proved one thing and it was the thing the President wished to hear most, the Nastnovian tanks and soldiers were more the capable of handling a firefight, overall by the war’s end in November of 1965 a clear message had been sent by Nastanovo through its participation, the Saber of Cesylle hadn’t yet rusted away, and as a result President De Augusto and by extension Nastanovo turned its eyes southward to old enemies for centuries old grudges to be settled.

The Second Coalition Wars: In early May of 1972 the first border skirmishes began between Solistaria and Nastanovo, these clashes were of minor infantry disputes between border officers until a Solistarian infantryman was shot in the leg which prompted an angered response from the Prime Minister of Solistaria to President De Augusto, the letter demanded reparations from Nastanovo for the previously lost equipment and reimbursement for the incident. President De Augusto responded by sending the whole of the Nastnovian military to bear against Solistaria in mid May, 17 divisions of the Nastnovian Army across the border engaged in what was to be a war much in the same methods as old doctrine, a lightning war which at first worked, the tanks of Nastanovo raced to capture port cities and starve the enemy within their own borders. While the infantry moved from village to village securing placements and responses in the border regions. By late 1972 the Nastnovians were well through the occupational process throughout the border states and cities of the northwest coasts, however as they approached the Solistarian capital of Sol, the Nastnovians encountered the first real threat and this was the Solistarian 7th army. Comprised of 3 tank divisions and 6 infantry divisions the Solistarian 7th army moved to intercept the 4 tank divisions and their 3 motorized support divisions of the Nastnovian 3rd Army, in late November of 1972 they met in the suburbs of Sol and from skirmishes rose the 1st battle of Sol. For 96 days the Nastnovian 3rd Army and the Solistarian 7th army clashed in the capital inflicting heavy casualties on both sides, all the while the Solistarian military began their offensive to return into their lands by early January of 1973, throughout those 96 days the Nastnovian military had been cutting through the countryside pacifying villages and setting up “encampments” to secure the new border regions, orders from High Command designated these regions were soon to be integrated “Brotherly Republics” to the Greater Nastnovian State. By early 1973 the first battle of Sol had concluded with a decisive Nastnovian defeat heavily increasing the morale of the Solistarian forces who continued their offensive with renewed vigor, this is when the Empire of Inoarze saw its chance and joined the war on the side of the Nastnovians, with no intention of helping them but instead with the intentions of carving new lands out of Solisataria, 10 Divisions of the Empire of Inoarze invaded across the Solistarian-Inoarze border which prompted a mass resignation on the part of the Solisatian Government with their replacements being military officers and war heroes to invoke the spirit of Solistaria, to no avail. As the Inoarzans moved into their regions of the countryside closer to Nastanovo it attempted to brush the Nastnovian military with their own operations creating skirmishes and false flag attempts between the two nations. By May of 1973 with the war reaching its first year anniversary the entire situation began to deteriorate and quickly, the drywood that was southern Cesylle was about to catch flame and fast. In Solistaria, by June, the military-government had already been facing backlash from their implementation of Martial law, In Nastanovo the military lost its steam following its operations to secure its flank from Inoarze, and in Inoarze an Empire full of steam had entered ready and willing to expand in the name of its Emperor who had seemingly struck gold with his chance to expand his realm. In July of 1973 the 2nd battle of Sol began without the Solistarian 7th Army to hold out yet again. While the 7th army was in north-eastern Solistaria holding against Inoarze, the Nastnovian 3rd Army approached a protesting Sol and began Operation: Ironbars. Operation Ironbars began as merely another securement of a city across the coast but would soon turn into a triple counter-insurgency operation as the Nastnovian 3rd Army moved to secure the city against the military and paramilitaries which had grown by hundreds throughout the protests and civil disobedience. Reports of Nastnovian cruelty during the battle only intensified the fighting in the countryside as the 2nd battle for Sol continued. Civilian casualties rivaled military casualties in the 2nd battle however by the end of August Sol decidedly sat within Nastnovian hands as the 3rd Army continued further through the coast continuing their lightning war strategy. All the while the southern front along the Solistarian-Inoarze border began to collapse into disparate fighting as the Solisatrian military began to retreat en masse to further inland with new defensive line after defensive line being erected across the rivers and fields of Inner Solistaria.

Nastan Infantry responding to Solistarian advancement. (1974)

At this point in early 1974 the Inoarzans and Nastnovians continued their offensives into the heartlands of Solisataria, the further inland they got, the more insurgencies seemed to be popping up, communists, natives, rogue units the whole situation became chaos as the Imperial Army and Nastnovian Army moved through the areas, which gave Solistaria its chance to reorganize and comprise its remaining forces into a counter attack. From four different parts of the front Solistaria used the last of the steam it had to push against the oncoming wave of Inoarze and Nastanovo. In March of 1974 the operation commenced and at first was a complete success, Field Marshal Peronisa Dominguez of Solistaria commented to the press of Solistaria for the first time throughout the war that Solistaria had successfully “Broke the Saber and shot the bird” in reference to defeating Nastanovo and Inoarze across the fronts. The operation however began to suffer from mass casualties and domestic insurgents attacking the Solistarian military as well as the foreign soldiers. By late 1974 and the declared end of the operation, Solistaria had acclaimed a quarter of Nastnovian countryside gains and 15% of Inoarzian gains, the coasts however remained well within foreign occupation. In early 1975 the war was observed to have become a standstill between the three nations, no major operations had commenced and the skirmishes between the nations had little casualties, more battles between insurgents and separatists were the issue which was becoming more often than battles of sovereign nations. This changed in February of 1975 when the city of Sol began acting erratically, the Nastnovian garrison noted movement of workers and the stalling of an average work day throughout the first week of february, then it turned into multiple explosions throughout the 2nd week of february which put the garrison on edge and called for support from divisions on the front which was denied, instead a new division of recruits fresh out of basic training would be sent to Sol to aid the garrison, an easy job High Command thought, this would be no easy job. With the arrival of the 107th infantry division to Sol and changing of command, the citizens of Sol decided it was now or never and on February 27th 1975 the ‘Commune de la Sol’ was declared on open radio frequencies as the Communist party of Solistaria called for their cells across the cities to revolt against both the foreigners and government. Throughout February 27th, 28th, and into March 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, the 107th infantry division of Nastanovo would attempt to break the barricades of the city along with the ‘rat hideouts’ the Communards had throughout the city, it seemed like when you crushed one holdout, 3 more popped up. It was a revolution in the making. Sol wasn’t the only city to face this issue either, throughout Solistaria the cities faced revolt to mixed results. In the southernmost coasts, the last holdouts of the military government of Solistaria, the revolution succeeded and as a result began to reach out to its ASL allies for equipment from Aosta and Duermark, however further inland where the insurgencies had already been going on for over 4 years at this point the militaries of the foreigners cracked down hard. Nastnovian infantry, in remembrance of the 2nd World War, engaged in “housekeeping”, a doctrine of clearing homes of suspected communists systematically used by Agusto during the civil war, which resulted in thousands of unnecessary civilian deaths in the villages of the occupied heartland and occupied coastal cities. In Inoarze, its Imperial policing units, already experienced in crushing radicals both left and right, began its operations and by March’s end many of the communes throughout the nation had fallen save for the ones which overthrew the southernmost coastal garrisons, the only commune which still stood as a result of the February proclamation was Sol, which had held out for a month as the 3rd battle of Sol raged, the military of Solistaria began to act independently of high command as the Republic of Solistaria began to collapse, by mid March the Republic of Solistaria was no more and in April a successor government was declared by Inoarze in the southeast, the March of Sol.

Nastan soldiers clearing through suspected rebel forests. (1974)

The Fall of the Commune De La Sol: The March of Sol alienated the whole of Solisartia against Inoarze, the Communists immediately began their offensive, the first offensive since ‘74, into Inoarzan lines which took back most of the recently taken Inoarzan controlled coasts and some innerlands. As the Communists and Imperials battled across the southern coasts, the remnants of Solistaria and its military government turned to Nastanovo with a deal. The meeting between Nastnovian local command and Field Marshal Peronisa Dominguez of Solistaria was deciding on turning their forces against both the communists and Imperials, in exchange for territorial concession and joining DTIN, Nastanovo would aid Solistaria in reclaiming its territory from Inoarze and southern cities from the communists. What had to happen first though would be an reclaiming of Sol, however as the commanders spoke to one another, the Commune had already broken down with the final barricades being cleared close to the Palace of Justice in Sol, within hours Field Marshal Peronisa Dominguez of Solistaria was already back in Sol and prepared his proclamation, over a Nastnovian televised speech Domingez expressed his deeply felt hatred for the suffering this war had caused and blamed the previous president for the whole ordeal and expressed his willingness to cooperate with Nastanovo against the Imperials who threatened their republic, as a result the 2nd Republic of Solistaria was declared in September of 1975 after 7 months of the Commune De la Sol holding against the forces of Nastanovo. The right wing paramilitaries rallied behind the new republic as their chance to both get back at the invaders and to rally a new national identity for war in the hearts of the field. The center and many civilians, though reluctant to the agreement, were happy to see their lands back in control of their country, those not under Nastnovian occupation anyway. By 1976 the war had suddenly become an endeavor unfavorable to the Empire, many had already died and with this much dirt in their shoes, the Inoarzans were unwilling to give up their gains and their march. In the time Inoarze spent collecting itself to fight the communists, the DTIN force of Nastanovo and Solistaria gathered in the central cities of Solistaria to push from the North and central fronts against the Inoarzans, while the Imperials pushed together their focus to hold from the central and southern fronts, it was in the North where in June of 1976 a general offensive was declared from the Nastnovian 3rd Army and the Solistarian 7th Army pushing in the north. The fighting though desperate and small in comparison to the battles in the south continued to prove the way these nations saw each other. Rivals pushed to the edge from pettines unwilling to give up anything, and this mindset fuelled the battles to come. By late August of 1976 the Inoarzans had been forced to generally retreat from their Nastnovian and Solistarian gains and into the decisively held mountains between Inoarze and Nastanovo as well as the Diablo river between Inoarze and Solistaria. From September of 1976 into February of 1977 the war effectively ended, no further offensives could take place from either side as all sides dug in and prepared for a greater conflict, a greater conflict which would never come. A ceasefire order across all sides in March of 1977 would be called for peace to be discussed, in all matters Inoarze at the longest point in the conflict put aside its stiff upper lip for gaining much ground against Solistaria and losing some to Nastanovo, a joint occupation of the border regions between Solistaria and its neighbors was agreed to and all sides were accepting of peace, however the situation of communist insurrectionism was brought up by the Solistarian delegation, Inoarze and Nastanovo both agreed towards aiding the Solistarians in putting down the insurrection in the south and burning out their cells within the state itself, by the conclusion of the negotiations during the week all sides gathered their forces to put down the Commune de la Sol, which hadn’t been in Sol for at least 2 years at this point.

The Nastnovian Air Force delivering air support during Operation: Death Blow. (1977)

In April of 1977 the final offensive began into the Commune between the three powers as all moved to crush city after city, By November the whole of the Commune had fallen save for a few islands, including the island of Nevis, west of the capital of Solistaria. The island of Nevis had been fortified to a near impregnable fortress, many of the fortifications built for looking out into the sea following the Deluge, and by all means their stone and concrete fortifications held throughout the years. By the time the now built DTIN-Coalition forces arrived near its coast, from the water canons shot into the sea forts to little avail, DTIN-Coalition forces set forth Operation: Death Blow, also called The Landing, in May of 1977: a three-part strategic aerostatic bombing of Nevis. A three-nation army — including troops from the Nastnovian 3rd Army, Solistarian 107th Infantry Division, and 1st Inoarzan Tank Division — amassed a large naval fleet to complete Operation Death Blow. The operation within the island of Nevis took place on May 27th, 1977 and was called the Beachhead. A Nevisite sea fortress — originally built by Solistairan Revolutionaries in the early 1800’s then captured by the communists and equipped with an anti-aircraft gun in 1975 — failed to function during the invasion. Nevis was shelled and captured by DTIN along with its settlements of Stella Maris and La Delta to the high casualties suffered by Nastanovo during the operation. The Communist Party never officially surrendered. However, Nevis relinquished its sovereignty to the 2nd Republic of Solistaria and signed the Treaty of Santo Dominco, the treaty which officially ended the Second Coalition War, ending the Commune in December of 1977. By the end of the conflict, at least 700,000 people had died in the war; high estimates counting civilian casualties count nearly 2.5 million people. Particular casualties on the side of Nastanovo had reached over 110,000 people with at least 10,000 of those being KIA casualties.

Nastnovian infantry returning home from garrison duty. (1978)

The communists and anarchists which were captured throughout the war were massacred by DTIN led Nastnovian forces and buried in mass graves in the border regions between Nastanovo and Inoarze. Along with the Treaty of Santo Dominco outlawing the self-determination of the villages and cities of Solistaria, the treaty allowed for Nastanovo to observe the heartlands of Solistaria for communist activity and could intervene in the region if it so wished. With 1978 rolling in and all operations across all nations declared to be concluded by February, the 2nd Coalition wars had concluded without much celebration, in Inoarze military parades throughout the newly conquered states were held, in Solistaria they began to rebuild following the destruction of their country, and in Nastanovo the war which would have been considered the great victory of the Nastnovian state was instead a conflict of continuous bloodshed, but in the minds of Nastnovian high command and Augusto himself, 1807 had been avenged.

By 1979, and the rebuilding of Solistaria well underway with Inoarzan and Nastnovian support, Southern Cesylle could finally be seen as though it were finally at peace with itself, capable of self governance under DTIN’s watchful eye. However dissent was brewing at home in Nastanovo, clearly the war had upset many sides of the political spectrum. To the average citizen and center-right, De Augusto had just put the nation through a hell of conflict for nearly 6 years, it wasn’t a good look at all. To the right wing of both the PSS and the nation De Augusto could not be more popular, he restored the status of Nastanovo as the saber of Cesylle on the continent and avenged 1809. He had ended another communist experiment in its cradle and expanded DTIN, Nastanovo’s lifeboat against the red menace. Though some on the right turned to more pacifistic views to secure their political stances, overall the opinion of the right was that the Golden blood of Nastanovo paid well for the prosperity and dominance to come. While the center and right had lived with the process, the Liberal and hardline leftist portions of the population had it with the PSS, De Augusto, along with the whole status quo. As a result, by 1980 protests began the same as anti-war protests had gone on before during the 2nd Coalition Wars, however these were far more organized and oftentimes violent. Riot police were called and right wing paramilitaries were recruited from to replace wounded officers, political violence began to rise and between February of 1980 to 1982 constant riots and protests against the war and its consequences began and would be brutally repressed causing more protests as the cycle continued. All of which fueled the beginning anti-Augusto sentiment being felt by the legislative bodies of Nastanovo, select senators began to turn on him with their terms nowhere near over, and many PSS assembly men abstaining or remaining absent from meetings.

La Revolucion del ‘95 and the Declaration of the Republic

Civilian attempting to escape martial law during the Nostaltan Riots (1995)

Nastan military police reinforcements arriving into Nostalta to support Neo-Ferdinanista militias battling with 18SM infantry. (1995)

Nastan military police further maintain the martial law during the Nostaltan Riots (1995)

Comandante Nicolás Rojas walking towards the ruins of the Marble Palace following the end of the Nostaltan Riots (1995)

By 1983 a shift had occurred in the politics of Nastanovo, for the first time in the history of the Nastnovian state President Bencio De Augusto dissolved the Serene Congress, both houses were declared null and void until 1987 and any meeting between more than 30 Assembly members or 10 senators would be liable for reprimanding, this is when the Assembly members began to take things into their own hands, resigning and working with the protestors they found great allies in the intelligentsia of Nostalta as well as the student movements of the higher education fields, examples include the college students of the Royal Institute of Technology and Mathematics as well as students from even below universities such as the Students’ Assembly of Songbird High School. Nearly 40 assemblymen had resigned and began working with the students by late 1983, and together met in La Joya to discuss a following action, done in secret and the dead of night 20 of the 40 assembly persons, select student leaders, and a number of local politicians discussed a plan to reform the state and bring down the Augustiato. This plan, however universally agreed upon it was, was split into 2 camps, those unwilling to reform through violence and those willing to do whatever it took even through violence. Some assembly members and particular leaders of the student leaders were the ones to suggest violence. Throughout the evening the debates got heated and by the time a consensus had been reached, 7 of the student leaders and 3 assembly members had walked out as the majority voted in favor of electoralism. Many of those who walked out claimed the best interests of the workers, among them a one La Joyan named Nicolás Rojas at age 17, and by extension this rhetoric meant that Communism, the red ghost that it was, returned to Nastanovo in 1983. The 17 remaining assembly members filled out the positions necessary to run a political party, all present local officials signed on and the remaining students acted as the party’s first members. This party was the “Party of the People’s Justice” or the PPJ and would act as the first rival party to the PSS. By 1987 and the called upon elections occurring, the PPJ failed to win any seats in the Assembly, not for lack of trying however. For their first 4 years they had campaigned beyond any belief from Augusto’s censorship and other programs to keep the party down and with their percentage reaching 10% of the vote, by no means would it be considered a failure. For Augusto it seemed as though he had finally, perhaps unintentionally, purged the rot for the party he needed to stay in charge with and for the next 5 years there would continue to be little competition between the PSS and the PPJ until in October of 1993 a hijacked news center in Frescura broadcasted on both radio and television the formation of a new organization for the nation to look to for liberation or fear, De Augusto is said to have been watching live and as soon as he saw the symbol appear on his television, a hammer and sickle with a star above it, in the Marble Palace he began demanding that his special forces take out whoever was broadcasting the message. The message itself declared that a reckoning against the state for its abuse of the common people and throwing them into the meat grinder that was the second coalition war. This movement declared itself to the nation as “The 18th of September Movement” or the 18SM, in reference to the battle between General Bernardo Freire and his “First Revolutionary Army” against the royal army of Isabella which began the Nastnovian war for independence. By the end of the evening the broadcast had been taken down by Nastnovian military police in Frescura and as the police looked for the assailants, the building combusted as a result of an IED left behind by rebels killed 7 special forces and 10 militarized police of the city, signaling to the President that Frescura was firmly in rebel hands, which could only mean so was most of the countryside around the city in Isle de Leon. Immediately martial law was declared across the entire state and the military began slash and burn tactics against the rebels, turning not only the local populations against them but also the populations of center and liberal alike in the cities, the tactics of the fascist “Dic-tat-or” Augusto weren’t working anymore as the world grew wiser against its evils, and as a result the rebels held most of the cities in Isla de Leon by December of 1994, which constituted only one message the rebellion had dug in and would only dislodged through extermination and liquidation. Outside of Isle de Leon, the rebels’ main support base and supplying regions, the 18SM waged guerilla warfare against the Augustiato government, main tactics included mailed pipe bombs into police units across the nation and general assaults on military encampments throughout the roads and checkpoints between states, at this point there had been some desertions of the Nastnovian military to the 18SM, even some from the airforce as several fighter jets had been stolen or taken from a base in Isle De Leon, however there was still struggle between the major cells of the 18SM and the Army of Nastanovo, which culminated to the battle of Esperanza in March of 1995, a 3 infantry divisions of the Army of Nastanovo and 1 tank division along with the city’s garrison stood along the streets looking for any sign of rebels, in the early morning of March 17th the rebels began their assault on the city from all sides and even within. Bombings and attacks took place and civilians of the city itself took up arms against the regime, with many rallying to the side of 18SM defeat for the military seemed inevitable, the commanding officer ordered barricades built across the streets and lined his tanks to face the rebels, one by one the tanks exploded from AT rockets provided from outside sources and other related attacks, the barricades fell day after day as the military moved closer into the town hall and on May 20th of 1995 Esperanza fell and with it the west of Nastanovo, the historical colony of Nastanovo, fell to rebel forces all that remained in government control was the northern state of Recoto and Perciva. De Augusto believed that should he rally his forces outside of Isle De Leon and capture the leader of the rebellion he could end it in one kick. As he built his forces in Nostalta a stroke of luck came, in early June, specifically on the 7th, his soldiers had received the name and location of the leader of the 18SM and Augusto planned to read the name and reveal the leader’s face on national television. Demanding a press conference the earliest he was told he could announce it was on June 18th to which De Augusto agreed, he figured it would be then he could begin Operation: Hammered. However when De Augusto woke and got ready for his early morning press conference, he could feel something was different about that day, he claimed to have heard bells constantly. At 7 in the morning when the camera’s began rolling, and De Augusto began his speech, he read the introduction and first paragraph explaining what had happened thus far, and got to the leader of 18SM, Nicolás Rojas, announcing his name loudly and with distaste before a reporter stood up and shouted; “¡Viva Rojas! ¡Abajo el estado!” This reporter then pulled a gun from his pocket and in quick succession multiple reporters began to scramble and security attempted to move in, though it was too late. As the reporter pulled the trigger and the bullet reached Augusto, it entered his left eye and exited out through the back of his head, bleeding out on the floor, the situation descended into chaos but one truth emerged, President Bencio De Augusto was dead, the second President in the history of Nastanovo to be killed in office. The state was falling apart all around them, black thursday was coming. [MORE TO COME | THE AUTHOR IS WORKSHOPPING]

Politics

Foreign relations

Nastanovo's maintains a foreign policy doctrine of interventionism and protectionism throughout its history. Historically Nastanovo has sought to defend its borders and interests first and foremost in a policy of foreign relations and has very recently taken towards maintaining positive relations with countries it considers to be "Friends of the Republic", all of which has been the results of the foreign policy changes of Julius Modesto during the period of the Augustiato and the dictatorship of President Benicio De Augusto. As of the return to democracy and the death of De Augusto in 1995, Nastanovo has taken a firmer policy on rebuilding, maintaining and building new friendly relationships with other countries both on Cesylle and other continents. Nastanovo is also considered by many to be a foremost member of the nations who consider themselves to be Anti-Communist in policy as it has yet to drop rhetoric which dates back to the Nastnovian Civil War claiming the death count of Nastnovian citizens could have been brought down by 60% if the communist nations did not attempt to meddle in Nastan affairs, though internationally this argument is considered to be faulty and a remnant of the late De Augusto's hardline policy on anti-communism. On a case by case basis there are the national relations which Nastanovo maintains even during the Augustiato. Nastanovo prides itself on having repaired relations with Elaklania and Osceola to rebuild the dream of Fernándia in their collective founding of the Defense Treaty of Independent Nations and having embassies to all three. With its position as a leading member of the Defense Treaty of Independent Nations, Nastanovo has also sought to maintain friendly and cooperative relations with Ilbon and Isabella by (as of the 1950's) extending its embassy network to include these two states and presenting Nastanovo as a reliable trading partner for future business ventures through its protection of domestic industry and fair pricing. However in other cases Nastanovo doesn't have the best relations with states such as Druermark or Aosta both of which consider Nastanovo to still be recovering from the grips of Fascism and keep their diplomatic relations distant at best. In most cases member-states of the Alliance for Socialist Liberation only have diplomatic relations from Nastanovo in order for it to maintain its membership in the International Assembly, while those states which move closer to the Defense Treaty of Independent Nations enjoy much more active and friendly communication between themselves and Nastanovo.

Culture

Music

Miguel Jacobo peforming "So Bad!" in Esperanza (1986)

Music in Nastanovo is a source of cultural pride and distinction with consideration of several artists pioneering a renaissance of Nastan club music ranging from Salsa, Hip Hop, Disco, Blues and traditional Swing to Rock, Metal and Synth in the modern day. Several major artists are citizens of Nastanovo and take great care in incorporating their cultural ties into their music, artists such as Rico Nombre and Lucián Navarro consider their work to be in tandem with the culture of Nastanovo, which is a new wave towards unrestricted music making in Nastanovo without much oversight in either the political views of the music or the genres. Within the last fifty years the music scene in Nastanovo has seen a resurgence since the relaxation of Augustiato era restrictions on certain forms of media in the 1972 due to the Disco Revolt in Elaklania, which worked to the detriment of the Augusto government as a counter-culture formed as a result of the relaxation of restrictions. Since 1972 and the relaxation of policy centering around music, Nastnovian youth have taken to enjoying a mass selection of music which took a firm stance against the authoritarian measures of the Nastan government. Music artists such as Miguel Jacobo and bands such as Ley de la Moda led this counter-culture movement in the 70's and 80's with several of their tracks explicitly using genres which the government disfavored such as synth and hip hop to carry out civil disobedience against President Augusto with tracks such as Stranger in Esperanza and Making the Silence by both artists respectively taking on lyrics in relation to the 1982 Esperanzan Riots and the crackdown led by the city's garrison.

Jorge López (Rico Nombre) and Lucián Navarro celebrating their album "Fire Rain" (2011)

Though much of Jacobo's work from his early tours explicitly tackled government repression and themes of violence, fans of his claim he had a period of 'mellowing out' and becoming more brand aware by writing songs more in line with relationship problems than encouraging a cultural warpath against Augusto's government. Social circles close to Jacabo, including his girlfriend at the time, claim that he was threatened by the Central Intelligence Agency of Nastanovo to stop actively critizing the government of Augusto and he backed down, others claim he simply grew tired of "radical singing" and took a liking towards more calm and well mannered topics. Though bands like Ley de la Moda never shed their radical zeal, cooperating with other youth bands such as ¡Sirvenlos! to organize underground concerts to fund groups such as the 18th of September Movement, until their disbandment in 1993 due to disagreements with the payments of producers and writers respectively.

Since the fall of the Augustiato, the end of the Augusto presidency, and the election of Nicolás Rojas to the Presidency in 1997, much of Nastanovo's music artists have enjoyed less restrictions in writing and have taken to writing of the beauty of life and enjoying a life of luxury and decadence in the nightlife of La Joya or Esperanza, or talking real change in a city such as Nostalta. Among one of the most popular tracks and albums from the collaboration of Rico Nombre and Lucián Navarro, Nastanovo's two biggest artists at the time, in 2011 was titled "Let It Rain Over Me" from the album "Fire Rain" and reached global recognition nearly becoming the number one listened to song in 2011 across the globe. This earned Rico Nombre and Lucián Navarro colloquial titles of the "Kings of Nastan Clubs" as wherever you go their music is always being played. Within more modern memory Nastanovo has become a prime location for many tourists to come and enjoy music which had recently been welcoming back Disco and Synth following Salsa Hip Hop and Swing's domination of the music scene in the 90's to early 2000's. So much so much of the tourist economy in La Joya is made from many of the clubs which stay open nearly twenty four hours a day with constant shifts in trends for club music and a good meeting for university students and young adults to enjoy their time. Though several up and coming artists do threaten the "Kings of Nastan Clubs" with one in particular being Vicente Martínez with his 2020 released album "¡Aquí! ¡Hoy!" which steadily rises to similar places as Lucián Navarro's similar albums, Martínez's success is attributed to his use of Hip Hop and Salsa brings together the common themes of both eras of Nastan music, combining the counter-culture Hip Hop with more modern use of traditional Salsa.

Sports

Due to historical associations from Isabella and other Cesyllian nations, Nastnovian sports have always been within three categories for the most popular sports in Nastanovo by profit and survey. Those catagories for the sports are Baseball, Basketball, and Marisian Football which range away from other traditional sports on Cesylle, particularly Nastnovian primary schools often form Baseball teams and compete among one another through tournaments. The most popular events for the sports, all organized or participated in by the Nastnovian Sports and Recreation Association, are the World Cup for Marisian Football which Nastanovo has recently won in 2022 during the 2022 World Cup under the Nastnovian National Football Association, the World Series for Nastan Baseball which has multiple teams competing under it for the title of Champion which recently the Los Amuor Dodgers won in 2022, and there is no widely recognized tournament for basketball however many associate a tournament within the Nastnovian Sports and Recreation Association to be the deciding tournament for professional basketball teams and the team which most recently recognized as the most wins was the Esperanza Lakers in 2020 as the terms are 4 years in length.