United Gordonopia: Difference between revisions
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The Empire of United Gordonopia | |
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Flag | |
| Motto: Strength, Unity, Empire | |
Royal anthem: Imperial Destiny | |
| Capital and | Gordonopia City |
| Official languages | English |
| Recognised national languages | German, Old Gordonopian |
| Recognised regional languages | Kjeldoran |
| Demonym(s) | Gordonopian |
| Government | Absolute Monarchy |
• Emperor | William Raleigh VII |
| Establishment | |
• Founding of First Empire | February 9, 1627 |
• Fall of First Empire | August 3, 1863 |
• Founding of Second Empire | July 13, 2011 |
| Population | |
• Estimate | 7.11 Billion |
| GDP (PPP) | estimate |
• Per capita | $32,150 |
| HDI | .725 high |
| Currency | Dollar (USD) |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (Gordonopian Mean Time) |
| Driving side | right |
United Gordonopia (officially The Empire of United Gordonopia, also known as Gordonopia) is a moderately sized nation located in the southwest of Greater Dienstad. In addition to its mainland, the Empire possesses a number of colonies ranging from the Inner Colonies, within approximately 1,000 km, to more distant possessions including the Thacu Islands and the Northern Beatusian Isles.
The Empire stands as the only nation on its home continent, with no land borders whatsoever. The Mainland itself is situated on the western coast of the continent, with the remainder being taken up primarily by either expansive desert or overgrown forest. These other lands, while claimed by the Empire, are essentially uninhabited with the exception of native tribes and the occasional military patrol. Until the end of the nineteenth century, the desert was controlled by the Kingdom of Kjeldor, although a rapid climatological disaster caused the collapse of this neighboring state.
Between 1863 and 2011, Gordonopia was controlled by a Republican government. For a period ranging from approximately 1990 to 2010, the Republic was considered to be in a golden age, with a highly dynamic capitalist economy that was home to some of the world's largest corporations. However, the events following the assassination of the extremely popular Prime Minister Gordon Smith that included an illegal succession by his foreign minister, a sudden collapse in the economy, terrorist attacks throughout the colonies, and other occurrences, triggered a wave of support for the Monarchist movement that ultimately led to the Second Gordonopian Civil War, known officially by the Empire as the War of Restoration.
Although it is an Absolute Monarchy, the imperial throne enjoys a large amount of support. This stems both from its restoration of the economy, albeit in a much more controlled manner, and the highly meritocratic style of its caste system. Unlike many Monarchies, titles are not inherited by children, and even a very well respected Duke will find their heir given a very low rank of nobility, whilst lower nobles will not pass on any title whatsoever. This allows for the most skilled and qualified citizens to earn ranks of nobility, doing away with the age old complaints about aristocracy.
Etymology
The first usage of the word 'Gordonopia' dates to 1604, when the first English-speaking explorers arrived on the continent. Found in a sailor's journal that read 'these peoples, which call themselves Gordonopia', the word was likely derived from the native name of the Kingdom at the time: Gorjonpa. Gorjonpa had been documented as the name of the Kingdom, and the tribe that preceded it, as far back as 110 BCE, when it was used in ancient texts. The English word 'United' was added to the name of the Empire in 1674 by Emperor William Raleigh I, following his conquest of what is now the Northern Territory. This reflected both the nationwide shift to English as a primary language, as well as the unification of the Eastern continent into what is now the Gordonopian mainland.
History
Ancient History
Historians estimate that humans first arrived on the Gordonopian continent near what is now the city of Teva around 1000 BCE. Over time, they split into what are now seen as the 16 native ethnic groups of the continent and spread throughout it. In the Western region of the continent, what is today Gordonopia, four of these groups formed large tribes that by 200 BCE had grown into powerful city-states. Gordonopia, Teva, Deska and Fusba each projected influence over roughly 4% of modern Gordonopia, and they quickly began vying for dominance. In 169 BCE, following a seven year war that culminated with the bloody Battle of Sjirm Lake, Gordonopia conquered Fusba. This caused a radical shift in the balance of power that soon lead to the fall of Teva in 165 BCE. By 159 BCE, Deska had fallen as well, leaving Gordonopia the sole power in the region. This success lead to the leader of Gordonopia, Elder Corin Dijon, being declared King by the city's council, leading to the Kingdom of Gordonopia.
Over the following decades, King Dijon and his successor, Corin II, took control of much of the land between the four city-states, establishing a kingdom comprised of roughly 40% of modern Gordonopia's mainland. Then, in 126 BCE, the two-thousand year rivalry with the Kingdom of Kjeldor abruptly began. Established a mere eight years prior, Kjeldor had become the dominant tribe in the region neighboring Gordonopia before establishing itself as a kingdom. In a surprise maneuver, Kjeldor sent a small army across the Danbar River in order to take control of several villages established along the Gordonopian side. In response, Corin II lead an army of roughly 8,000 to meet them and drive them from his land. Backed up against a river, the Kjeldorans were surrounded, and subsequently encircled after being tricked by a feigned withdrawal. Around 2,500 Kjelrodans were killed in the battle, while a further 5,000 were taken prisoner, at the cost of only 200 Gordonopians. Fearful of retribution, the Kjeldorans offered swaths of land on their own side of the river, as well as a vast amount of gold, in exchange for peace. With Kjeldor defeated, Corin II and his successors turned Southwards. Over the next 600 years, the Kingdom expanded South of Teva and Fusba into lands such as the Key Penninsula. By 500 CE, the Kingdom encompassed nearly 70% of the modern mainland.
Middle Ages
In 556 CE, a Kjeldoran diplomat murdered King Iljin III's eldest son and heir. This act sparked the Second Gordonopian-Kjeldoran war, one that would last for nearly 20 years. Although early battles ended in favor of the Kjeldorans, the majority of the war consisted of bloody stalemate. One side would send forces across the Danbar only to have it repulsed by the enemy, whose counterattack would then be repulsed. Then, in 573, a young commoner known as Tarn Perkinsgained command of a force ordered to take the Kjeldoran city of Tel-Alik. Having risen through the ranks from common soldier to general, Perkins proved to be a tactical genius. After taking Tel-Alik and a number of other cities through a decisive pincer, he managed to advance his army to within 50 kilometers of the Kjeldoran capitol, forcing Kjeldor to sue for peace.
Thanks to the animosity caused by so many years of war, far harsher terms were laid out than the those of the first war. Gold, estimated to value in the tens of billions today, was given as tribute over a ten year period. Gordonopian territorial holdings on the Kjeldoran side of the Danbar nearly quadrupled. At the same time, Kjeldor was forced to limit its military to a mere ten thousand for a full century. For the next decade, Kjeldor was essentially a puppet of Gordonopia.
With Kjeldor, the only other established nation on the continent, soundly defeated, Gordonpia entered a millennium-long golden age. Events during this period range from the establishment of the Old Gordonopian writing system, the oldest system still used in Gordonopia, in the eleventh century, to the discovery and mastery of gunpowder in the fourteenth century. Culture and science thrived, while the nation itself expanded further. The only interruption to this peace was the three-year War of Three Kings.
In 1236, King Mjinal II succumbed to sudden illness, leaving a unique succession crisis. Seventeen years prior, his wife had born him his only sons: a set of triplets. Due to medical practices at the time, the order of birth of the sons was lost. Because of this, and because Mjinal had failed to designate an heir, each of the three sons declared himself to be the new king.
Initially, there was widespread division among the aristocracy. Prince Iljin V, the only son holding a post in the Army, held support from a number of generals. Prince Corin VI owned the loyalty of the powerful nobles and merchants in the South, including those in Teva and Fusba. Finally, Prince Minos held the support of the Kingdom's intellectuals, as well as the aristocracy of Gordonopia City. With no clear successor among the three, a civil war began.
Iljin V began the conflict when he led his army South to force Corin VI into submission. Although he made rapid advances, his army stalled when winter hit. Because several of Corin's supporters had burned many of the food stores surrounding Iljin, the army was forced to retreat north. Over the next two years, similar campaigns took place, and each time Iljin was forced to pull back to his stronghold in Deska. In May of 1238, however, he scored a major victory when his forces managed to enter Gordonopia City. With his base of power lost, Prince Minos was forced to surrender, and his supporters soon joined Iljin's army. By the end of the year, Fusba had fallen as well. Seeing inevitable defeat, Corin VI sued for peace, thus ending the war.
The next four hundred years passed without major conflict, and are today seen as a continuation of the golden age began after the Second Gordonopian=Kjeldoran War. However, Kingdom's power began to wane by the seventeenth century. A long line of highly competent Kjeldoran rulers, combined with vastly more support for the arts than the military within Gordonopia, lead a group of Gordonopian aristocrats to see a potential threat. When King Ruhr Dijon III died in 1627, a coalition of noblemen, intellectuals and generals prevented his heir from assuming power. Rather, they permitted a young nobleman named William Raleigh I to become the first non-Dijon ruler of Gordonopia.
First Empire
With the help of several outside nations, Raleigh declared himself Emperor rather than King. With this, he changed the name of the nation to The Empire of Gordonopia to show his intention of expanding off the continent. While this was taking place, the foreigners spread Anglo and Germanic influences throughout the Empire, bringing a radical cultural change. Both English and German passed the more difficult to use Old Gordonopian as the dominant languages, while Christianity became the most prevalent religion. At the same time, however, Raleigh managed to limit the outsider's military and economic influence, and soon broke away from them. Other major events during his reign included the tripling of the garrison in the occupied territories in Kjeldor, and the conquering of the Northern Territories in 1674. With the latter, he once again renamed the Empire, this time calling it United Gordonopia. Following his death a year later, his son took the throne.
Gordonopian dominance of the continent continued, and finally, in 1760 under Emperor William Raleigh IV, the first Emperor's dream of a colonial empire was realized. The Latimere Islands, 450 km off the coast of the Mainland, were colonized, which set off the First Golden age of Expansion. For a period of fifteen years, six colonies were set up within a 1,000 mile radius of the coast. Among them, Latimere, Bahar, and Zuzelt are now recognized as Territories rather than mere colonies. The most obvious result of this colonialism was the spread of nationalism throughout United Gordonopia.
This nationalism, along with an influx of wealth coming in from the colonies, prompted military reforms by Emperor Daniel Raleigh, and in 1818, he invaded Kjeldor, initiating the Third Gordonopian-Kjeldoran War. Gordonopia quickly emerged victorious, and Kjeldor was forced to give up both territory as well as a massive amount of gold.
Unfortunately, Danial's successor was far weaker. Upon taking the throne in 1838, Emperor William Raleigh V effectively closed the Empire to trade with every nation save Kjeldor, and spread isolationism throughout his domain. His reign, as well as that of his successor, Daniel Raleigh II, proved to be disastrous for the Empire. Frustrated with the isolation and growing weakness of the Empire, a revolt broke out in Gordonopia City after Danial II moved the Imperial Palace away from the capitol. Although Imperial forces nearly crushed it, further unrest broke out in Deska and Teva and by 1860, the nation had entered a full scale Civil War. Although the Monarchists initially held the upper hand, the defection of the City of Tolten, a young industrial center between Fusba and Teva, shifted the balance towards the Republicans. In 1863, the Emperor was forced to abdicate, and a Republic was declared, breaking a two thousand year line of Monarchs.
Republican Era
The new Republic re-opened Gordonopia's borders, revitalizing an aging state. Although relations began to improve between Kjeldor and Gordonopia, a sudden climate disaster in Kjeldor caused its collapse. It is still unknown what triggered the fertile green lands to transform into a virtually uninhabitable desert. This had a positive affect on Gordonopia, however, and it triggered the Second Golden Age of Expansion. From 1894 to 1901, seven new colonies were established as distant as 2,500 km from the Mainland. The furthers of these mark the end of the Inner Colonies.
Until 1988, the Republic faced few threats. In that year, however, Prime Minister Martha Koser attempted to renew a number of the isolationist policies that had brought about the collapse of the Empire. Although she gained a significant amount of support in parliament, allowing her to enact these policies, the general population became disillusioned with her and voted her out of office in 1994 in favor of Gordon Smith. Although a number of threats appeared during Smith's sixteen years in office, he proved to be an extremely popular leader. The economy fully globalized, bringing an era of economic prosperity, while many reforms, such as the annexation of New Kjeldor and Urak-Natal on the far side of the continent and the creation of a universal healthcare system, also took place. Major conflicts also took place, however, ranging from the Second Communist Rebellion in 1997, to the First and Second Defese Wars. This period of prosperity came to an end, however, on August 10, 2010.
A radical Communist group succeeded in assassinating the Prime Minister to voice their anger over the annexation of New Kjeldor. Although the organization was quickly crushed, the seeds for the fall of the Republic had been sown. Jonathon Brown, Smith's Minister of Foreign Affairs, took power in a way considered by most to be completely illegal by being voted Prime Minister in a closed session of Parliament rather than by an independent assembly of representatives from each province and territory. Soon after, a collapse in the economy took place, triggering a widespread recession. To make matters worse for the Republican government, Brown attempted to purge Monarchist Junior Officers from the military after hearing rumors of a Monarchist coup attempt, but this backfired when an officer with no connection to any plot was killed during interrogation by a senior naval commander. Finally, on October 30, the Second Gordonopian Civil War broke out. Tens of millions ultimately died, while a poor decision by a carrier group commander dragged the nation of Independent Hitmen into the war on the Monarchist side, effectively guaranteeing their victory.
Second Empire
Geography
Geography
Climate
Government
Military
Demographics
United Gordonopia is, demographically speaking, a fairly homogenous nation. Ethnically, linguistically, and religiously, there are few widespread minorities. The largest difference is between the rural and urban areas, although the latter is the dominant demographic. The nation itself is relatively average in terms of factors such as income inequality, with the average salary being approximately $34,214 and the median salary being $31,118.