Chokashia

Chokash Solidarist Republic Чокаська Солiдаристська Республіка
Flag of Chokashia Flag Coat of arms of Chokashia Coat of arms
Anthem: Oi u luzi chervona kalyna
Location of Chokashia within the Asuran continent Location of Chokashia within the Asuran continent
Capital and largest city	Vorsha
Official languages	Chokash
Recognised regional languages	Lyshak
Ethnic groups (2013)	93% Chokash 6% Lyshatsi 4% Allemanic
Demonym(s)	Chokashian, Chokash, Chok
Government	Unitary one party constitutional republic
• Vozhd	Andriy Svyatoslavchuk
• First Minister	Inokentiy Bolbotun
Legislature	Sobir
• Upper house	Council of the State
• Lower house	Council of Trade Unions
Formation
Population
• 2012 estimate	20.821.971
Currency	Zolotiy (CZT)
Time zone	ST+3
	ST+4 (DST)
Date format	dd.mm.yyyy
Driving side	right
ISO 3166 code	CH
Internet TLD	.ch

Chokashia (Chokash: Чокащина/Czokaszczina [t͡ʃɔkɑʃt͡ʃɪnɑ]), officially the Chokash Solidarist Republic (Chokash: Чокаська Солiдаристська Республіка) is a sovereign state in eastern Asura, located within Aeia. Chokashia is a one-party state, with 4 governorates and 14 oblasts. The capital of Chokashia capital located in Vorsha, the largest city located in central Chokashia. Chokash is the official language using the cyrillc alphabet. The dominant religion in the country is Přvdanism.

Etymology

The origin of the name "Chokashia" is unclear. Various authors mentioned the name of Choks (Chotsi/Чоцi) in different variants. These authors used these names to refer to Choks in areas where their historical (or current) presence was/is not disputed. The meaning or the root of the name itself is unclear. There are theories that the name itself was the old name of the tribe that Old Choks belonged to. According to legend, when Chokashians settled in their present territory their leader was Bohdan Chokesha, who led them to their present homeland hence they named the country in his honour.

History

Prehistory

A clay figure of the Hrishivka culture c. 4500BCE

The oldest know archeological traces of human civilisations found in what is now known as Chokashia are as old as 6000 BCE. Archeological evidence of Paleolithic era settlements on the territory of present-day Chokashia are scarce. A fragment of a human skull was found near Lemberg believed to be up to 525,000—397,000 years old. Approximately around 6,500 years BCE, during the Neolithic, the Hrishivka and Alar lake cultures existed in or near modern-day Hrishivka and Mykolino. Most people in Hrishivka and Alar lake settlements would have been occupied with the provision of food. They practised a mixed subsistence economy where agriculture, animal husbandry and hunting and foraging all contributed to the diet of the growing Hrishivka and Alar lake populations.

Alar lake culture ceramics c. 5000 BCE

Compared to earlier cultures of the First Temperate Neolithic (FTN) these practices were intensified, with increasing specialisation on high-yield cereal crops and the secondary products of domesticated animals, consistent with the increased population density. Hrishivka and Alar lake agriculture introduced common wheat, oat and flax to temperate North-Eastern Asura, and made greater use of barley than the cultures of the FTN. These innovations increased crop yields and allowed the manufacture of clothes made from plant textiles as well as animal products (i.e. leather and wool). There is indirect evidence that Alar lake farmers made use of the cattle-driven plough, which would have had a major effect on the amount of human labour required for agriculture as well as opening up new area of land for farming. Many of the largest Hrishivka and Alar lake sites occupy regions dominated by soil types that would have required ploughing.

Areas with less arable potential were exploited through transhumant pastoralism, where groups from the lowland villages moved their livestock to nearby upland areas on a seasonal basis. Cattle were more important than sheep and goats in Hrishivka and Alar lake herds and, in comparison to the cultures of the FTN, livestock was increasingly kept for milk, leather and as draft animals, rather than solely for meat. Seasonal movement to upland areas was also motivated by the exploitation of stone and mineral resources. Where these were especially rich permanent upland settlements were established, which would have relied more heavily on pastoralism for subsistence.

Although increasingly focused on domesticated plants and animals, the Hrishivka and Alar lake subsistence economies still made use of wild food resources. The hunting of deer, boar and aurochs, fishing of carp and catfish, shell-collecting, fowling and foraging of wild cereals, forest fruits and nuts made up a significant part of the diet at some Hrishivka and Alar lake sites. These, however, were in the minority; settlements were invariably located with agricultural rather than wild food potential in mind, and wild resources were usually underexploited unless the area was low in arable productivity.

Antiquity

Before the Sclavonic migrations, the Svislach river valley was part of the Neman Realms, located within part of later Chokashia's territory. Around 1000 BCE, Nemans created the settlement of Vormumaa. A civil city grew gradually and in AD 900BCE Vormumaa became the focal point of the commercial life of this area and the capital city of the Neman Realms. This area now corresponds to the capital city of Chokashia, Vorsha, with the Neman ruins now forming part of the modern Vormumaa museum.

Recession and Civil War

After the First Great war Chokashian politicians persuaded a policy of neutrality. Afther the formation the ASU, liberal and conservative politicians of Chokashia didn't believe that western countries would help Chokashia in an event of a war with the ASU. The fear of an invasion was soon amplified when in 1915 mass strikes broke out in Chokashia resulting in a small rebellion which was quelled by the Chokashian army.

The political situation in Chokashia was divided between three camps, all of which had different visions of Chokashian future and the foreign policy of the country. The biggest question up until 1921 was the Chokashian recognition of the ASU government. The conservative-liberal government advocated a steady and a careful approach to the newly founded state to the east. Both of the parties in power, Chokashian National Party and the Radical Assembly of Chokashia refused to recognize the legitimacy of the socialist government that took power in Vynozhia in 1910. The National-Solidarist Union (NSU) was the second strongest political force in Chokashia at the time and advocated a radical approach to the question of the ASU. The party even proposed an invasion of the ASU in order to support the counter-revolutionary forces in the country. The third camp in Chokashian politics was represented by the Union of Chokashian Worker Syndicalist Fronts (UCWSF), a syndicalist party which advocated an immediate recognition of the socialist government of Vynozhia.

Due to deteriorating political conditions in Chokashia and with a recession hitting the country, the Syndicalists started a massive strike on the 2nd of April 1924. The UCWSF sent a list of 12 demands to the government. One of the demands were the formation of workers councils all around the country which would have almost the same powers as the Chokashian Parliament, and immediate elections in the country. The demands of the strikers were deemed too radical even for the government which wanted to find a compromise for all sides. On April 26th one of the government representatives, Ivan Konstantinov, made a statement that the Workers demand a council where they would take part in decision making, and the government deems this as a legitimate question which will be accepted. This sparked rage among revolutionary and anti-communist nationalists which organized a massive rally in the Chokashian capital of Vorsha, demanding the imprisonment of the communist spy and traitor as one of the paroles said. On April 28th Ivan Konstantinov was killed by a bomb which was thrown at his car. The perpetrators, which were arrested, were found to be members of the NSU. The NSU organized a rally one day later demanding the release of the heroes of Chokashian fatherland. This murder sparked a wave of violence in Chokashian cities between radical leftists and radical nationalists. The NSU members attacked the local hedquarters of the UCWSF in Mykolino on the eve of May 7th, when they have thrown petrol bombs at the building igniting a fire which claimed 10 lives. This incident sparked an another wave of violence in cities. During this violence the government of Chokashia fell apart with many members resigning in just a few days which caused the Hetman of Chokashia to disband the parliament and introduce martial law on May 10th. The Royal Chokashian Army was sent to the streets to quell the violence and bring order back to the streets of Chokashia. The NSU supported this decision and withdrew its members from the streets while Syndicalists now directed their violence on the army which opened fire on protesters on May 15th which was remembered as Bloody Monday. Subsequently, on May 17th the Supreme Workers Council of Chokashia declared the formation of The Chokashian Workers Syndicalist Republic which sparked the start of the Chokashian Civil War.

The Red Guards, a militia formed by the newly formed republic, quickly started taking major settlements in Chokashia. An anti-syndicalist bloc quickly formed and organized paramilitaries to fight with the army against the syndicalist rebels. One of the paramilitary units became notorious for it ferocity when dealing with the rebels. The militia of the NSU, the Blue Division as they called themselves, was known to take no prisoners and execute all rebels which surrendered to them. The ASU protested the war crimes committed by the nationalist forces and demanded the violence to stop while sending supplies to the rebel republic. At the end of May a stabilized front was formed and a stalemate began which lasted up until the August offensive of the Chokashian nationalist forces. The nationalist forces took major parts of the territory previously held by the rebel forces and pushed them further east.

Due to an ideological split, the ASU stopped supplying the Red Guards along with placing an embargo on the republic in early September and effectively sealed the fate of the rebels. The Supreme Workers Council of Chokashia tried to hide the severed ties with the ASU but failed as the Chokashian nationalist forces went on yet another offensive on September 27th. The September offensive split the territory of the rebels in half creating a pocket better know as the Slavomirivtsi cauldron. The nationalist forces advanced further eastwards while simultaneously tightened the Slavomirivtsi cauldron and narrowed it to just 30 kilometers in diameter while trapping a force of 10.000 Red Guards. The government issued an amnesty order, even after the protests from the NSU which advocated a more radical approach, and caused a massive surrender of Red Guards from the Slavomirivtsi cauldron. This had a great effect on the morale of the rest of the Red Guards which slowly started giving up smaller settlements. On October 21st the nationalist forces started the Operation Sunset which aimed to end the War. In just a few days the Army successfully took major portions of the remaining territories of the Republic and encircled the city of Pidhora on the 4th of November, the capital of the Republic and the last stronghold of the Red Guards. In his last speech on the 5th of November, the General Secretary of the Republic Mykhailo Bondarchuk called for a fight to the death against the nationalist forces. The nationalist forces decimated the city with a 48 hour long bombardment after which they started an all out assault on the city. The street to street fighting lasted for three days after which the last remaining rebel forces surrendered and that marked the end of the rebellion. Mykhailo Bondarchuk along with most members of his cabinet was arrested a week later by Chokashian nationalist troops.

Second Great War

After the conflict that happened in Chokashia a new government was chosen by Taras V, the Hetman of Chokashia, who continued his authoritarian rule over the country. In the aftermath of the Chokashian Civil War, many of the syndicalist rebels were put on trial. The most anticipated one was of the leaders of the rebellion. Mykhailo Bondarchuk, Mykola Oleksandrovskiy, Georg Steiner and other important figures of the Chokashian Workers Syndicalist Republic were accused of high treason and put on trial. The ASU protested, even after the ideological split, asking for an immediate release of the rebel leaders. After a month long trial all of the leaders were sentenced to death including Oleksandr Bondarchuk, Ivan Sviatovski, Artur Mykolaichuk and Evhen Kolomoiskiy who have been tried and sentenced in absentia. The imprisoned rebel leaders were executed by hanging in secret on the eve of February 24th 1925. Upon hearing the news of this, the ASU Secretary of Foreign affairs protested this act. The situation quickly escalated into a crisis. On March 27th 1925 the ASU ambassador to Chokashia handed over an ultimatum to the Chokashian government. The response deadline was on 29th of March, two days later. The ASU demanded free elections sanctioned by ASU observers , the immediate release and amnesty for all the rebels and their leaders and pointed out in the ultimatum that the rights of workers are endangered and the ASU will do everything to protect them. This has raised concern among Chokashian officials with many fears that the ASU will try to interfere in legitimate elections. The government and the Hetman knew that the utlimatum has been written to humiliate and subdue Chokashia, but they acknowledged that Chokashia was not prepared for a war with the ASU. Hetman even said on one occasion during the meeting i fear that this ultimatum has purposely been written for us to decline. At 17.30, 29th of March, Chokashian Prime Minister Viktor Vsevolodov delivered the ultimatum to the ambassador of the ASU. The answer of Chokashia was positive to all the points of the ultimatum except one - the ASU sanctioned elections in Chokashia. When the ASU ceased its diplomatic relations with Chokashia on the same day, the Chokashian government issued a mobilization order, and put most of its standing army forces on the border. Villages on the ASU-Chokashian border were ordered to be evacuated. Around midday, on April the 1st, an unusual declaration of war was recieved - a simple telegram. There are historians who claim that the ASU bureaucracy contributed to the war being announced only on April 1st, as the telegraph service did not work the previous two days.