Ilbon

Empire of Ilbon イルボネーゼ帝国 (Irubon Teikoku)
Flag Seal
Motto: Subete No Han'ei No Tame Ni For the Prosperity of All!
Anthem:  調和歌 (Chōwa Uta) Melody of Harmony
State Seal イルボン國璽 (Dai Ilbon kokuji) National Seal of Greater Ilbon
Map of Ilbon
Capital and largest city	Oikage
Official languages	Ilbon-eo
Recognised national languages	Kokuri-eo Kita-eo
Demonym(s)	Ilbonese (ethnic) Ilbonese (citizen)
Government	Unitary One-Party State under a Constitutional Monarch
• Empress	Princess Miyako
• Prime Minister	Ozawa Mitsuo
• Deputy Prime Minister	Kuse Shig
Legislature	Kokkai
Establishment
• The First Kingdom	551 CE
• Ruuzoji Domain	1485 CE
• Federal Republic	1815 CE
• National Republic	1910 CE
• Kingdom of Ilbon	1939 CE
• Empire of Ilbon	1996 CE
Population
• 2020 estimate	146,000,000
• 2022 census	146,998,121
Currency	Yen (YYN)
Date format	dd.mm.yyyy
Driving side	left
ISO 3166 code	DR
Internet TLD	.dr

Ilbon (Ilbonese:イルボン, Ielbon or Irubon, officially known as the Empire of Ilbon, and formally Irubonkoku) is an island nation located south of Agleia. It is situated to the south of Agleia and to the north of Sorenwey. Ilbon has no natural land borders, and therefore does not have any neighboring states on its borders, aside from Ueshima, to which it shares a small land border on Eushima's southern coast. Due to its nature as an island nation, Ilbon is surrounded on all sides by smaller island chains, with there being nearly 4,000 smaller islands surrounding the nation on all sides. The nation possesses many smaller city-states across the coasts of Sorenwey and Agleia, it also claims parts of north-western Sorenway and smaller areas of southern Kardia. Oikage is the nations largest city and capitol, followed by Osaga, Kokasa, Mie, Niinoshima, and Ar.

Ilbon is the 8th most populous country in the world, and is one of the most densly populated. Oikage itself is home to nearly 20 million people and is so large that it has become its own prefecture, and is the largest urban metropolitan region in the world. The eastern coast of the nation is the most densly populated with the population density decreasing the further west-ward one travels. Most of the primarily tropical nation's terrain is hilly or flat, with the nations only mountain range being located along the western coast of the island. Ilbon is divided into 11 regions, which are then further divided up into smaller prefectures, which are then divided further into subprefectures.

Etymology

The name "Ilbon" comes from the combination of two ancient Ilbonese words: "Il" meaning storm, and "Bon" meaning land. Ilbon, due to its geographic positioning, has historically been battered by all kinds of storms, whether they be typhoons or snowstorms. The sheer amount of stormy weather experienced by Ilbon throughout its history has had a profound effect on how the nation's people viewed weather and the seas before the development of proper meteorological methods, leading to the superstitious level of fear and admiration that some parts of Ilbonese society have towards the weather.

History

Ilbo-Genesis

The first humans to arrive in Ilbon did so around 10,000 years ago when they migrated from Sorenwey to Ilbon on small wooden vessels in waves and established a primitive hunter-gatherer, pit-dwelling culture on the island. The first wave of arrivals, which later went on to form the Kita-Tomin culture, was eventually pushed out by the second wave which was that of the ancestors of modern middle Ilbonese "Ruuzoji" people, who were later pushed out by the ancestors of the Kokuri who arrived with the third wave of settlers. Based on cave paintings and primitive inscriptions found in the mountainous regions of western Ilbon, it is assumed that early Ilbonese settlers from all 3 cultures drifted towards figures of authority and based their tribal structure around obeying these figures of authority. Early Ilbonites have been, due to the lack of found damage on ancient skeletons, theorized to have been pacifistic by nature, only resorting to combat when all other options were exhausted by their surroundings.

The First Kingdom

King Mayumi, the mythical ancient king of the Ruuzoji peoples.

Ilbon's first unified kingdom came about during the 4th century BCE and was led by King Tsuchiya Mayumi and his council of warriors. Prior to his consolidation of power in the lands of middle Ilbon, King Mayumi led a smaller tribe of warrior-gatherers named the "Omuras" or "growers", who slowly absorbed their neighboring tribes via peaceful annexation over the course of two decades to eventually form the first Ruuzoji Kingdom; every legitimate and illegitimate emperor after Mayumi's death would claim to be descended from the Tsuchiya and Omura clans. After King Mayumi's consolidation of control in the 4th century BCE, he declared himself to be the true "philosopher king of the Ruuzoji" and took it upon himself to begin expanding the intellectual capacity of his kingdom, reaching out to prominent intellectuals from across his Kingdom such as the mountain-dwelling Sugihara Moriko and his group of apprentices. Mayumi, during his reign as king, was rumored to have been a homosexual due to his lack of a male heir, but eventually married one of his female concubines and produced a male heir the year after. King Mayumi is viewed as an almost divine figure to followers of the Imperial family, and his founding of the Ruuzoji Kingdom has become an almost mythical event in Ilbonese history.

Mayumi reigned as king until the age of 50 and left his kingdom to his younger son, Tsuchiya Tsutsomu. Tsutsomu, led by his father's council of warriors, ruled much in the same way as his father and enacted policies similar to his father. At the age of 31, Tsutsomu was shot in the shoulder by an arrow from a Kokuri assassin, which prompted a retaliatory strike from the Ruuzoji army, which eventually resulted at the beginning of the first Ruuzoji-Kokuri war. The Kokuri, although largely outnumbered by the Ruuzoji, were noted to have fought with "stunning tenacity", and many captured Kokuri warriors were even sent back home to the houses of Ruuzoji noble families to serve as bodyguards and mercenaries. After nearly 8 months of on-and-off fighting, King Tsutsomu of Ruuzoji and King Beon of Kokuri met atop hill Haneul in what is now the region of Izumi to negotiate an end to the war. The terms agreed upon were deemed to be fair to both sides, and the two kings left satisfied by the negotiation, but not before reportedly bowing to each other in a show of "ancestral respect".

Warring Bastards Period (1299-1458)

The isle of Ilbon has never truly been unified. Opposing tribes, clans, kingdoms, and even empires have constantly duked it out for supremacy over the island's resources, guided by a belief that they were the only nation in the world and that beyond the sea lies nothing but endless mist. Most prominent of these clans were the Ityama, Matsui, Komura, Sawada, and Ruuzoji clans; but this all changed when the 13th century became the 14th. The Ruuzoji clan, well known for their red plated Samurai warriors, captured the northern and central capitols simultaneously from their respective clans and declared themselves to be Ilbons legitimate rulers, and that all others were illegitimate. Ruuzoji clan leader Okabe Ryo sent out his couriers to neighboring clans to demand their surrender and incorporation into what was now called the “Ruuzoji Domain"; these demands were met with wildly differing degrees of success, with some clans seeing submission as the only option and many others continuing to put up resistance. Displeased with what he saw as an “unholy betrayal” by his fellow countrymen, Okabe Ryo went on a long and brutal campaign of conquest across eastern and southern Ilbon, this campaign was later known as the “Readmission Saga”. After nearly 5 years of constant warfare with surrounding clans, the Ruuzoji Domain had united what are now recognized as the 6 central Ilbonese provinces. Numerous clans were wiped out and many more cities had been completely and utterly decimated by Okabe’s armies, but peace had finally been established and Ilbon had been unified for the first time in history. Ryo and his successors went on to found one of Ilbons most successful dynasties, lasting almost 300 years before having their powers reduced by the Ilbonese Federal Republic.

Contact with the outside world remained limited under the Ryo dynasty but it was encouraged in some ways; Okabe pioneered a semi-successful doctrine of “self-enrichment”, in which the Ruuzoji Domain would finance explorers in their mission to find unknown riches in faraway lands. Ports remained open and merchants, most of whom had suffered terribly under the conditions created by the last few centuries of warring, hoped that the period of peace established by the Ruuzoji would last indefinitely; this was also around the same time that matchlock and gunpowder weaponry made their way to Ilbons shores on the backs of Essonian merchant ships. The end of the 14th century would mark a turning point in Ilbons history as fortunate decisions and a quick recovery from the warring states period coalesced into a period of prosperity unknown to many Ilbonese at the time. Art, science, and cultural exchange were encouraged by the Ryo dynasty; Okabe himself was something of an amateur poet and saw the necessity of allowing expressive freedoms; his successors would continue this policy up until the mid 15th century. In 1481, Emperor Okabe passed away due to old age, his 3 sons would soon have to decide who would take up the mantle of Emperor.

Centuries of Strife (1481-1825)

Okabe’s death in 1481 and the crowning of his son Yamauchi as emperor changed little in the Ruuzoji Domain as Yamauchi kept many of his fathers policies in place, but to many Ilbonese it felt as though the momentum of Okabe’s rule was slowly fading. In 1531 the southern Kokuri kingdom invaded the Ruuzoji Domain, catching the Ruuzoji army off-guard; the emperor was also quite slow to respond because of his nightly drinking habits. The Kokuri army captured Karenko, Hoko, and Karafuto some weeks after their invasion began, Ilbonese citizens were reportedly baffled by just how quickly the Kokuri had managed to occupy southern Ruuzoji. Emperor Yamauchi locked himself in his quarters after being told the news of the invasion and refused to come out, instead having food delivered to his door via an intricate network of ropes and pulleys. Yamauchi’s generals traditionally relied on the emperor's leadership during military affairs as was commonplace under Emperor Okabe’s rule, but the new emperor to many of them seemed to lack an appetite for battle.

Many battles were fought during the Kokuri-Ruuzoji Struggle, but one, in particular, stands out, the Battle of Inoji bridge. A force numbering 50,000 Kokuri was held back by a battalion of Samurai at the base of Inoji bridge for nearly 3 hours; Kokuri generals later recounted the red steel-clad warriors as having seemingly belonged to clan Ruuzoji itself. Prior to this final stand, the local Ruuzoji garrison, being mostly comprised of poorly trained Ashigaru spearmen, was quickly defeated by the incoming Kokuri army.The final casualty count is estimated to be at nearly 1,200 Kokuri to 2,549 Ruuzoji. The Ruuzoji high command was eventually able to regain its composure and began to plan a series of counterattacks against the Kokuri army. While the Kokuri possessed a much more skilled and elite army, the Ruuzoji had greater numbers and knowledge of their own territory, and the generals of the Domain made it clear that they were going to use such an advantage against their enemy. By the winter of 1533, Kokuri forces had secured nearly all of South Ruuzoji and began securing their newly gained territories; while this was happening, the Ruuzoji high command acted independently of the Emperor and began training their conscripted forces for offensives planned for the spring of the same year. In March 1534, the Ruuzoji struck the uneasy Kokuri army, knocking them back towards core Kokuri territory; this string of offensives led many regular Ruuzoji soldiers to become legends among their comrades and among Ruuzoji society as a whole. The war lasted another 4 years as the Ruuzoji began a full-scale invasion of the Kokuri Kingdom; but these plans were quickly pushed aside after the Emperor, now fully out of his self-isolation, began issuing orders to the Ruuzoji high command. The Ruuzoji would beat back the Kokuri invaders, only to secure a weak peace with the southern Kingdom after nearly 6 years of continuous fighting.

Emperor Yamauchi would die in the autumn of 1555 after the carriage carrying him and his advisors slid off a cliff, the accompanying Samurai detachment later committed group ritual suicide because of the shame they felt over not having done more to save the Emperor. The imperial court was thrown into chaos over the emperor's death but was eventually able to nominate the emperor's daughter, Princess Hitomi, as the new head of the imperial family; Princess Hitomi was only able to secure this position thanks to the help of her godfather and the emperor's close friend Yoneda Orochi, who was hired by the Emperor to teach her politics, leadership, and statecraft. Traditionally, women in Ruuzoji and Yamato society as a whole were not allowed to run for any position of power or hold any public office (as part of Okage’s philosophy of "Domainism"), whether that position be a mayor or a member of the imperial court. Princess Hitomi’s nomination also secured Domainisms downfall, with its more conservative elements slowly being undone by Princess Hitomi and her successors

The Battle of Inchio Village

Empress Hitomi’s rule was fairly peaceful but did mark the end of her grandfather's expressive cultural policies, satisfying many of the conservatives who she had angered previously. Hitomi saw these expressive policies as “the politics of a bygone era”, something that she harshly moved against. The war-battered south, mostly neglected under her father's administration, was slowly rebuilt under her rule, seeing much of its old farming infrastructure replaced by new and modern agricultural structures. Women's societal development saw a small renaissance in the coastal cities and towns of the east; the first female advisor to the Empress, infamous philosopher Miyoshi Yuka, was invited to the imperial court by her majesty in 1585. While the empress was still seen by the majority of Ilbonese society as a reformer, she still angered a great many people (such as peasants) who benefited from the reforms of the two previous emperors; this climaxed in the Fuigo uprising of 1592 during which a group of peasants known as the “Lotus Sun Society", organized a revolt which swept through the neglected rural regions of northern Ruuzoji. This revolt lasted nearly a year but was eventually put down after the Battle of Inchio Village by the Ruuzoji army who pushed the insurrectionists into the hills and mountains of northern Ruuzoji. The leaders of the Lotus Sun Society were imprisoned and executed, causing the revolt to break apart; zealotry however remained high and the insurrection continued well into the 16th century.

In 1604, the Empress stepped down from her position and declared her son, Prince Shoji, to be the new emperor of the Ruuzoji Domain. Emperor Shoji’s reign was extremely chaotic compared to his mother's due to his being left with the broken carcass of Imperial politics; different factions within the imperial court threatened to break the very balance created by his grandfather and great-grandfather; although the late Empress Hitomi did attempt to control corruption and power imbalance within the court, her reforms were simply not enough. Shoji was also unable to control the displeased samurai class within Yamato society, many of these samurai would later retire from all public positions of power (including the army) in protest, leaving the army in a sorry and degraded state; these same samurai would later go on to blame the Prince and his mother for their absence. Shoji’s reign would start a long line of ineffectual and incompetent emperors, finally ending in 1825.

Auspicious Revolution (1825-1833)

In 1825, the Ruuzoji domain's rapidly deteriorating state became apparent to many Ruuzoji’s across the domain. Secret societies were formed, cliques in the military began to scheme, and many many other sects of Ruuzoji society saw an opportunity to put their beliefs and developed ideologies into power. However, this plotting was not done just for the sake of grabbing power from the weakend imperial dynasty, but so that the Domain could foster a sense of nationalism similar to the one fostered by Emperor Okabe. Armed stormed public offices, police stations, and even the imperial court; the army and its various cliques rounded up their riflemen and marched straight towards the imperial capital in Iwigi, storming it and capturing the emperor. Although the emperor was far from a beloved public figure, the revolutionaries deemed that it was far too great a risk to execute him, instead preferring to strip him and his family of their titles and reintegrating them into Republican society. The Domain's new government was extremely chaotic, with the different military cliques, societies, and revolutionary groups all vying for control over the still recovering domain. In the end however the republican revolutionaries of Oikage triumphed and became the founders of the new “Ruuzoji Federal Republic”, an extremely experimental government in a land of feudal lords and samurai.

Reform after reform was passed by the new republic as it went about tearing down the old and archaic structures of the previous imperial dynasty: suffrage was granted to all male Ruuzoji and high-class women, and a legislative assembly modeled off the Imperial Court of Emperor Okabe was created. At this point, gunpowder weaponry and technologies of the industrial era had already been in use by the Ruuzoji, Kokuri, and Kita-Tomins, but the Ruuzoji were considered the first of the three sister-peoples to have put large parts of the newly created Republic's budget was put towards funding the continued research of modern technologies to put into use in fully industrializing Ruuzoji and bringing up to pace with the rest of the world. Land reform was inacted and excess land was taken away from the large feudal lords and distributed back to smaller peasants and landholders to encourage efficiant usage of land during the nations state-enforced industrialization. Governmental roles were handed out based on merit instead of social standing like how they had been during the imperial era. Although the government was officially a republic, the president officially didn’t have term limits and could serve for as long as he wished; this issue was debated constantly by the members of the Ruuzoji diet but was never truly solved, only being remedied by unpopular bills and acts. The lack of term limits led to the first president simply refusing to resign and to accept the diet's ultimatums in 1832, resulting in the Republican army removing him from power in the following year, 1833. As the years went by, the Republican army's involvement in Ruuzoji politics increased and the involvement of the oligarchs, workers, and peasantry decreased greatly; which to some conservative citizens of Ruuzoji society felt like an improvement from the corrupt days of the early republic.

The Machinist Era (1833-1880)

The "Shirawami" Arsenal was founded in Oikage during industrialization.

With the Republican Junta's grip over Ruuzoji politics being secured, their appointed president, Tsutsui Yuu, working off orders given to him by members of the All-Ruuzoji High Military Council, began preparing the Ruuzoji Federal Republic for its first military actions since the days of Empress Hitomi and the Lotus Sun Society. The Ruuzoji Republican Army grew from 150,000 troops equipped with decades-old muskets in 1835 to a force of 450,000 troops equipped with modern muskets and cannons in 1851. Accompanying the Ruuzoji military's quickened growth was an increase in the size of Ruuzoji cities, as trends similar to the industrialized societies of Maris were beginning to be observed in Ruuzoji cities: farmers, fishermen, and other "pre-republican" professions were being slowly phased out in favor of city-dwelling, factory-working, and wage labor. Most impressive to foreign observers and to the statesmen of the Republic was the rapid growth of the city of Oikage, where the capitol was soon moved to after the old capitol, Iwiki, was deemed unfit to be the center of government. The first School of Economics in Oikage to study and map the pace of Ruuzoji's economic growth, and it was found that the economic health of the country had greatly increased since the days of the last Ruuzoji emperor. Following the establishment of the first School of Economics, the National Planning Bureau was established to help coordinate with Ruuzoji industrialists but didn't receive enough attention from the Tsutsui cabinet to begin its operations. While this Ruuzoji industrialization was still in its early stages, cliques of businessmen began to take advantage of the potential profitability of Ruuzoji industrialization, and formed the first Ruuzoji corporation; the small ore refinement company "Kaga Hagane"(literally, Kaga Steel), being a prime example of a business that took advantage of the Ruuzoji industrialization. Many other companies and corporations would form out of the implementation of partial free-market policies in the republic, but only some would manage to survive the wave of nationalizations that followed the death of President Tsutsui and the re-establishment of full military rule in the Republic.

Industrialization, despite the positive effect it had on the strength of the Ruuzoji Republic and its military as a whole, had a generally negative effect on the livelihood of its citizens, especially those who lived in the newly industrialized cities. Dwellings were typically small and could only fit 2-3 people, and those who couldn't afford dwellings were forced to sleep in small community sleeping lodges which cost them a small amount of money on an hourly basis. Large smokestacks from nearby factories spewed thick clouds of smoke which blanketed the sky for miles; some clouds of smoke traveled nearly 50 kilometers before finally dissipating. The factories themselves were worked and manned by poorly paid migrants from the rural sectors of the republic and were generally considered places of "utmost indignity" by farmers. Conditions in the factories were considered appalling and began to be slowly fixed by the cabinet of President Fukunaga after the enactment of the National Labor Standards and Fair Treatment Edict. The sprawl and filth of the cities were contrasted by the wealth and splendor of the Neo-Urban city outskirts, where the wealthy members of Ruuzoji society hosted lavish parties and balls for themselves and their neighbors.

The "Boret" Rifle, used extensively by the Ruuzoji army during the last Kokuri-Ruuzoji war.

In the year 1855, the Republic was deemed "sufficiently industrialized" by then President Iwai and began making aggressive moves towards its neighbors in the north, the Kita-Tomins. The Kita had industrialized at a slower pace than the Ruuzoji and were picked as the first target for the Republic's expansion, which resulted in a border skirmish at the eastern end of the Kita-Ruuzoji border. On May 15th, 1856, Ruuzoji skirmishers began an assault on the small Kita outpost, "Castle Abai", seeking to lure out the fort's small 5,000-strong army of defenders out from their advantageous position. The Kita never left the fort and were instead assaulted by a larger Ruuzoji force numbering 9,000. The siege of Castle Abai lasted only 3 days and was the first battle of the coming Kita-Ruuzoji War. The war lasted only a few months and the Kita were forcefully annexed into the Ruuzoji Republic, forming the Kita-Ruuzo Federal Republic. In the coming years, the KRFR began preparing for the unavoidable war with the Kokuri Beon Kingdom, and did so by expanding its policies of mass-industrialization and modernization to the conquered Kita lands.

With the coming of the 1870s, the KRFR was ready for an invasion of the Beon Kingdom but needed an excuse to do so in the eyes of the world, especially considering that the Kingdom was supported by Essone. That excuse came when on October 25th, 1872, an explosion in Oikage harbor was blamed on the presence of a Kokuri merchant ship in the harbor, giving the Ruuzoji an excuse to launch a full-scale invasion of the Beon Kingdom. The ensuing war would be the first and last major land war to happen on the Isle of Ilbon. It was also the first time in Ilbons history that two fully-industrialized armies clashed with the support of modern weapons and mass production. The last Kokuri-Ruuzoji war lasted 8 years and claimed the lives of nearly 900,000 people in total, but also resulted in the annexation of the Beon Kingdom into the Ruuzoji Republic, making it the first time in Ilbons history where a single nation managed to unite the entire island. Essone, having lost their only ally on the Isle of Ilbon, launched an invasion of the newly unified republic from the northern tip of the isle, but were pushed back into the sea after Ilbonese troops launched a harsh counter-attack; Ilbons victory in this war is still a point of national pride for much of the nation.

Decades of Renewal (1880-1930)

Scenes from Symphonist Ilbon

Students at the Mechanized Academy of Ognan

IRA troops marching towards the Imperial Palace.

Members of the Aostan "Zetticci" brigade in Osaga.

The 1880s for the newly unified Ilbonese Federal Republic are remembered as times of great trouble for the nation, as the prosperity seen during the previous decades of conquest and industrialization began to subside. Corporate dominance in the economy was nearly unmatched, workers across the nation, despite having seen a general rise in living standards, still worked long hours in factories for meager pay, and the military's grip on Ilbonese politics was still uncontestable. The war with Essone had created tensions between Ilbon and Maris, making trade ties difficult to establish, and affecting the Ilbonese economy. Left-wing political movements became popular in the cities, which was soon noticed by urban industrialists who began asking the military to isolate and hunt down socialist, anarchist, and communist figures; this culminated in the start of the first Ilbonese Red Scare. Political instability caused by mass repression, combined with economic uncertainty, led to the collapse of the decades-old military regime in 1890, creating a power vacuum in the republic. The group to come to power in this vacuum was the nationalist "Symphonist" government, a nationalist clique of industrialists, bureaucrats, military officers, and far-right ideologues who sought to stabilize the Republic and bring it back to global prominence.

During the 1890s and 1910s, the nation of Ilbon was in constant flux as the Symphonists tussled with capitalists, left-wingers, liberals, and monarchists alike to pass reforms. Some of these reforms included changes to the rights of Ilbonese workers (giving them greater leverage when negotiating with their bosses), the creation of a National Planning Bureau for economic coordination between the state and industrialists, revitalization of the country's economic sectors (especially manufacturing), the continued industrialization of Kokuri and Kita lands, and the creation of diplomatic channels between Ilbon and the nations of Ceyslle, Agleia, and Sorenwey. Living standards continued to rise, but liberties enjoyed during the first republic were slowly being chipped away at, year after year, and although the Di originally promised that a reformed version of democracy would replace their authoritarian rule when they deemed Ilbon to be stable, their aforementioned authoritarianism eventually culminated in the creation of the "Ilbonese National Republic", a fascist dictatorship with the Symphonists at its head.

Initial enthusiasm over the Symphonist rule turned into doubt in the 1910s as the momentum of reform began to slow down as time progressed. Military officers in the government saw a need for further expansion, and so targeted smaller nations across the northern and southern coasts of Sorenwey and Agleia, with Artadesia being a prime example of a nation that was ruthlessly colonized by the INSR. Ilbonese colonists from all three sister cultures were sent to the newly established colony and eventually established a large Ilbonese community in Aratdesia which still exists to this day, even after Ilbon left Artadesia. Expansionism and imperialism had a profound effect on Ilbonese society and began to find their way into Ilbonese culture as a whole, making some citizens turn to old warrior philosophies to explain why the nation was finding success through imperialism and why it wasn't prior to the Symphonists' ascent to power. The Symphonists sponsored artists, poets, and philosophers much in the same way that Emperor Okabe had in the 14th century, except this time with the explicit purpose of influencing Ilbonese culture to be more obedient, nationalistic, and modernistic. The military saw another wave of modernization and growth begin as Ilbon began producing its own tanks and airplanes, forcing the now outdated tactics of the Ilbonese military to be discarded in favor of new, advanced strategies similar to the ones seen during the latter half of the First Sueskellian Great War. These same modernized methods of warfare would serve the Ilbonese National Army well in the Second Sueskellian Great War as it fought across the world and against a diverse set of enemies, from the half-mechanized armies of Druermark to the shell-equipped armies of Nuwea.

During the 1920's the old imperial family, which had now just become another collection of nobles, began protesting against the government's dictatorial actions, which some sections of Ilbonese society, especially those which belonged to the rural and agrarian parts of the country, question the legitimacy of the Symphonists. In January 1924, the Symphonists acted against the old imperial family and attempted to capture them and execute them all in one fell swoop, but were stopped by the "IRA" (Imperial Restoration Association), a small army of rebel military officers and soldiers who became convinced that there was something rotten about the Directors rule. Most of the IRA's leaders were raised in destitute areas of the Ilbonese countryside and were utterly disgusted by the unmatched wealth and power that the affluent elites of the country had in its political scene; the Symphony of Virtue was written by soldiers of the Imperial Restoration Association during this time. The IRA, having shown up with ten tanks and nearly 5,000 men, blocked the Ilbonese National Army from entering the Imperial Palace, and negotiated with the Symphonist government for the peaceful exile of the Imperial family. For 6 days, the IRA escorted the Imperial family through the frozen plains of northern Ilbon until they were eventually able to board a boat from Ilbon to Eushima, then from Eushima to Maris; they would not return until the reformation of the Ilbonese Kingdom in 1940. The removal of the Ruuzoji royal family was seen as a triumph of Symphonist ideology and was also exclaimed to be a victory of the workers over the "hereditary reactionaries of old".

In 1925, following the expulsion of the Ruuzoji royal family from Ilbon, a series of revolts on the peninsula of Osaga erupted over the loss of "national character". The leader of these revolts was an Ilbo-Aostan immigrant named "Kasai Shimoi", who rallied nearly 10,000 soldiers from the elite naval shock trooper battalions of the peninsula to storm Osaga's largest military base and issue a series of demands to the national government. The idea of the occupation was, according to the Osagan revolutionaries, to reveal flaws in the Symphonist's ideology by challenging the Symphonist's authority across the island and eventually forcing the Symphonists to either relinquish power over to the revolutionaries or to the people who would then elect the revolutionaries into the government. On April 20th, 1925, the Osagan revolutionaries issued their ultimatum to the Symphonists, in which they demanded: an end to dictatorial rule, the establishment of a single-party republic under the control of a youth council, a return to Bushido, and the founding of an alliance with the Socialist states of the world to launch an anti-imperialist peoples war on the imperial nations of the world, among other demands. Due to the sheer size of the military force the Osagan revolutionaries possessed, the Symphonists deemed a direct attack to be a dangerous move, especially with the growing discontent observed among the nation's citizens. Instead, the Symphonists refused the ultimatum and orchestrated a false-flag attack on the revolutionaries, giving the Symphonists the moral justification needed to launch an attack on the revolutionaries. The ensuing battle would last from May 5th to June 10th, and result in the deaths of nearly 15,000 Ilbonese soldiers and the obliteration of the Osagan Revolutionaries, many of whom had committed suicide to avoid capture. The revolt of the Osagan sailors was the last organized form of resistance against the Symphonists prior to the regime's end in 1939. To this day the revolutionaries are still revered on the island of Osaga, where a statue to their valor was constructed in 2005.

Second Great War (1930-1939)

Troops of 7th Agleian Army fighting in Southern Kardia

During the Second Great War, Ilbon fought to maintain its overseas colonies, especially in northern Sorenwey and southern Agleia. Ilbon itself was not aligned with any major faction and instead fought for its own interests on the global stage. Troops from the National Army fought across the world, From Ceyslle to Agleia, Maris to Sorenwey. Prior to the onset of the war, Ilbon had spent many decades building a large modern fleet for the purpose of projecting its power abroad, this same fleet, much like the army, saw combat across the world. The Symphonists further secured their dictatorial grip over the nation as the war progressed, side-lining some of the factions which they had worked with some decades ago; the Technocratic elements of the Symphonist party had completely secured control over the Symphonist movement by the end of 1934. The technocrats of the Symphonist government sought to increase production through optimization of workflows and generally making Ilbonese industry more efficient, their model was used in Ilbons colonies to fully extract their worth prior to the war. Ilbon managed to hold onto its lands throughout the war and even expanded into some nations such as Kardia, but their gains were for naught, because in 1939, the Great Deluge occurred, resulting in a global white peace and an end to the war in its totality.

As the second great war came to a close, Ilbon was in ruins. Some years before, massive waves from the eastern ocean had washed over Ilbons eastern coast, wiping out the Grand Eastern Navy and putting the nationalist-technocratic government on edge. Cities were in ruins, refugees were fleeing further and further inland, and political tensions long thought extinguished, returned and began putting more strain on the National Government. Revolts broke out in many of Ilbons corporate cities as workers were denied their paychecks and bread, similar revolts broke out in Ilbons corporate farms. Activists and revolutionaries attacked provincial capitals and broke into armories to arm themselves in preparation for their upcoming struggle with the National Government. The army was recalled from its deployments around the world to put down the revolts. In the days, weeks, and months following its redeployment to the Ilbonese mainland, the Ilbonese National Army and its associated paramilitaries killed nearly 90,000 insurrectionists, bringing state control over regions that were declared to be in "full anarchy". It was found that the majority of these insurrections were anarchists, libertarians, and "anti-statists", this fact would linger over Ilbon for the rest of its history, as a deep-seated hatred of anarchists and libertarians. Even though the revolts may have been put down, the government's ongoing instability was an unavoidable issue, and so the long-reigning “Symphonist” government was replaced by a clique of Junior monarchist reformist officers, all of whom were proponents of preparing Ilbon for the future.

Graceful Reconstruction and Aldlocke (1939-1947)

One of the first major decisions which the newly appointed officers made after assuming power was to invite back the monarchy, whose very existence they deemed vital to the revival of Ilbons soul; Nishioka Taro, the legitimate successor to the Ruuzoji throne, was brought back to Ilbon from Maris with the remaining soldiers of the Imperial Restoration Association and crowned monarch of the Kingdom of Ilbon. After the monarchies return, the established Military Reconstruction Government began mopping up remaining insurrectionists from the wartime revolt, along with generally preparing Ilbon for the onset of democratic rule as seen during the early days of the Ruuzoji Republic. The Junior Officers established the "three purposes of government", which included: establishing and maintaining the well-being of the people, the right for the people to determine their own future through fair electoral practices, and the devotion of the state to the furthering of Ilbonese civilization, all of which were adopted into Ilbons democratic constitution in 1941. Ilbons new constitution was finally penned and officialized on September 1st, 1942, which to led the end of the Junior Officers Junta and the appointment of Goda Osamu and his "Grace Front" to government; where Goda Osamu would be declared the first Prime Minister of the Ilbonese Kingdom.

King Taro in 1945

Osamu's first move was to invite nearly every non-socialist political faction to the Grace Front, this ranged from far-right politicians to pseudo-socialist ideologues and everyone in between. He sought to, in his own words, create a "Pan-Ilbonese" coalition that transcended ethnicity, culture, and politics; "all must cooperate for Ilbons future". With the support of most legal Ilbonese political factions at his back, Osamu began implementing his 5-point plan towards Ilbons reconstruction, which began with the material reconstruction of the country. Old technocrats from the Symphonist government were rehabilitated and brought back into the government to help in coordinating and speeding up the reconstruction of Ilbon's inland infrastructure, which was declared finished in 1944. Next was the re-establishment of different societal institutions, such as education, healthcare, and welfare for the poverty-stricken rural areas of Ilbon along with refugees who had fled further inland during the destruction of Ilbons eastern cities. Rural schools in Ilbon had been historically destitute but were brought up to speed with the educational standards of the world by 1948. Ilbons first state welfare program began to distribute monthly dividens to eligible citizens. Initiatives to completely modernize Ilbons farms began afterwards to make up for the revenue that the Ilbonese government had lost during the Deluge; rural modernization was declared completed in 1949. The issues of economics, housing, and diplomacy weren't initially prioritized but eventually began to be worked upon in 1946 as Osamu implemented reforms in the aforementioned areas after the original 2 points of the 5 point plan had been fully or nearly accomplished. The prior mentioned technocrats went on to found business and economics schools across the country with government subsidies. Cities on the countries' mostly devastated eastern coast, such as Oikage, were rebuilt but still struggled to return to their former opulence until the latter half of the 20th century. To encourage further growth, Ilbon encouraged immigration through the introduction of financial incentives for coming to the island. Osamu had not fully rebuilt Ilbon, but many in modern Ilbon still consider his contributions to Ilbons resurgence to be worthy of praise.

5 years after the deluge, Ilbon once again found itself at war, this time against the Cesyllen Federation, which had acted aggressively against its neighbors. Ilbon's military government saw a chance at redemption and began preparing troops, supplies, and advisors to be sent overseas to fight the Ceysellen Federation; nearly 200,000 Ilbonese soldiers, some of whom were veterans from the Second World War, and others were newly trained draftees. Enthusiasm over the nation's supposed redemption in the war espoused by Ra Jiwoo soon died down as the Ilbonese volunteers realized just how brutal fighting in Cesylle would be. Ilbonese troops came across burned cities, mass graves, and other atrocities committed by the Federation against their enemies. In combat, they went toe-to-toe with Cesyllen infantrymen and tanks, the latter of which were often left unopposed on the battlefield until heavier vehicles, such as the Type 5 Heavy, were deployed to the battlefieldto fight them. Ra Jiwoo, after speaking to General Secretary Jad Madsen of Druermarsk, changed his initial strategy in the war almost completely and began engaging Cesyllen troops with far more vigour and bravery than before. Fire bombings, napalming, and other acts of total war were committed against the territories of Aldlocke, the initial task of redeeming Ilbon had become so blurred to the point that many Ilbonese soldiers reportedly turned to the old ways of the Samurai to find purpose in the brutality of the war. After a year of fighting, nearly 50,000 Ilbonese soldiers had died on Cesylle and the rest returned home. Many were deeply scarred by the experiences they had in Aldlocke; the term "壊れた" (Kowareta or "Broken") has since been used to describe this generation of soldiers. Stories, novels, manuscripts, and autobiographies written and shared by the veterans of the war in Aldlocke would soon be proliferated across the Kingdom in the coming years and eventually helped to form the basis for Ilbonese foreign policy in the coming decades.

The 90s and Onwards (1992-Present)

Communists and Anarchists have always been excluded from Ilbonese politics since the days of the First Republic and the subsequent National Republic. Unions in Ilbon were crushed when they began to appear, and far-left parties that sought to obliterate the status quo were banned not long after. Suppression of leftist movements was eased during the era of the National Republic, but most leftist movements were integrated into government organizations which twisted and contorted the ideology of the leftists into something befitting their agenda. Even after the National Republic collapsed and was replaced by the Kingdom of Ilbon and its "Grace Front", radical left-wing movements were forced to stay underground or find refuge within more moderate parties such as the ones part of the big-tent Grace Front party. Over time the conditions faced by radical socialists in Ilbon improved as the Grace Front granted unions more autonomy and power, but only enough to keep them content. The rights of unions fluctuated as the decades went by and as new Prime Ministers were sworn into power; the political freedoms enjoyed by unions and socialists were harshly curbed during the Age of the Tiger. The inconsistency of government policy towards the moderate and far-left reached a boiling point in the 1990s as more and more moderates became radicalized and began joining fringe movements that preferred a revolutionary approach to social reform instead of a moderate one.

Koai rioters assembling against police.

In 1994, a series of student protests began in the northern city of Koai, with the total number of active protestors being in the thousands. Police were deployed but failed to quell the protests, which soon turned into full-blown riots, leading to further militarization of police and greater radicalization among protestors. Military police were called in to crush the riots but found that the rioters had turned the streets of Koai into makeshift fortresses and were employing guerilla tactics to fight back against the police. Tanks were deployed to clear the streets, resulting in the end of the riots. 106 rioters had been injured while 6 had been killed, and the police of Koai had lost 3 officers to the mobs.

Two years after the riots in Koai, Watani Castle came under assault from a group of anarchist militants. Watani Castle, located in the inland city of Mifu, at that time, was occupied by the Shinju branch of the royal family and administered by the widely beloved Prince Yuka. The militants assaulted the castle in the dead of nights, killed any guards on the property, broke into Prince Yuka's palace, and kidnapped him along with his entire family. The ensuing days were filled with nationwide anxiety as security forces attempted to negotiate for the safe release of the entire family. Ilbonese television broadcasted the crisis to the entirety of the nation and the entire world. The militants had a list of demands, but at the top of that list was their safe extradition out of Ilbon. One by one they surrendered the members of the Shinju branch, but they refused to let go of Prince Yuka's grandchildren, both of whom were supposed to be taken with the militants in their plan to flee Ilbon. Security forces sought to remove the remaining militants by force and began a siege of Watani Castle, but were forced to stop after the militants threatened to kill the remaining hostages. Finally, after almost a week of non-stop talks and threats, the Militants holed up inside the castle and killed the two remaining hostages before committing suicide.

The deaths of the two Shinju heirs shocked Ilbon; foreign governments gave their condolences to the Shinju family abroad. A wave of retaliatory violence rocked cities across Ilbon while royalists attacked Socialists and burned down known centers of left-wing activity; numerous lynchings were reported in the weeks following the tragedy at Watani Castle. Fearing further attacks like the one at Watani castle, bureaucrats in the upper-echelons of the Ilbonese government strong-armed the diet and secured control over the state. The constitution was quickly remade so that what little power the King still had in state affairs was stripped and King Taro essentially became a powerless figurehead. Police along with members of the Keisatsu-tai were ordered into the streets to suppress the riots and bring order to the widespread disorder gripping the country, in some months the last holdouts of resistence was squashed.

Politics

Military and Defence Market

Ciheng "Falcon" being blessed by a priest at the 2023 Osaga Arms Expo.

The Ilbonese Ministry of Defence has three main branches and two sub-branches. The Empire of Ilbon maintains a standing self-defense force of 150,000 soldiers and a national reserve of 300,000 additional off-duty soldiers if the situation necessitates their mobilization. Ilbonese geo-political relations with the rest of the planet have remained relatively pragmatic with only a few exceptions such as in the case of some ASL members who've been hostile to Ilbon or non-aligned nations that've proven to act against Ilbon, meaning that the nation's overall spending on its ground forces has remained minimal (around 1.1% of its national budget) for the majority of its post-Deluge history. Whilst maintaining a small army, Ilbon maintains a much larger navy for the defense of the isle of Ilbon itself and the thousands of smaller islands surrounding it on all sides; its budget accounts for 2.5% of government spending. Finally, there is the airforce which is by far the most funded portion of the Ministry of Defence, accounting for 6.9% of national spending. The airforce itself contains 2 sub-branches, one being for upper-atmospheric operations and one being for orbital operations. More recently, reforms have been passed to even further downsize Ilbon's ground-based armies and put more importance on protecting the mainland by preventing landings from both sea and air. To achieve this end the Navy and Airforce have seen considerable increases in their budgets.

Corporate bodies in the nation account for a large portion of defence production and Ilbon boasts the world's largest arms development market. Ilbon's single largest group of defense contractors are the "Three Samurai", a loose business alliance of the Ciheng, Katakura, and Irugyo corporations. Entities such as the Three Samurai work in tandem with the Ministry of Defence and foreign defense entities to promote the sale of Ilbonese weapons to states across the world and even private individuals. Weaponry sold by the Three Samurai range from small arms such as pistols, revolvers, semi-automatic and fully automatic assault rifles, to Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Tanks, and even squadrons of Fighter Jets. In most cases, the Three Samurai do not sell weapons directly to their partners and instead prefer to sell the lisences for the weapons; in the words of the Samurai, this is done to prevent a degredation of their public image. Defense contracting in Ilbon has developed into a sort of pseudo-religion, where more pious members of the corporations like to request a priest or other religious official to bless their weapons prior to testing or sale, blessings are often done at public showcases such as the one held in the city of Osaga in 2023. Studies of the Ilbonese economy have shown that the nation's GDP see's small to moderately sized upticks in growth during times of global turmoil and downticks when there are a lack of conflicts occuring around the world. On top of this, the Three Samurai have diversified their area's of expertise as of late and have begun cooperating more and more with the state-owned Inkyoku corporation, Ciheng especially has taken up the burden of building Inkyoku's spaceplanes while Katakura has begun developing small-arms that operate in the vacuum of space.

Economy

Industry

Nighttime view of the Kakubetsu Industrial Zone

Ilbon began industrializing relatively early with its first factories designed purely for the production of specific products appearing in the 1810s and mid-1820s. After its early start, the persistent continuation of industrialization was deemed to be an important part of Ilbon's agenda as a nation for the rest of the 1800s, when Ilbon conquered its neighbors to the north and the south, it enforced its agenda on them as well. At the turn of the century, as the 19th century became the 20th, Ilbon was a thoroughly industrialized nation on par with the rest of its neighbors to its west, like Nuwea. During the reign of the Symphonists, the then-dictator of Ilbon, Okane Isamu, attempted to make the nation's industry efficient, increase the amount of light industry being created, as well as decrease its reliance on foreign resources, a task which failed with the consolidation of corporate interests in the Symphonist government. Nevertheless, the "disciplining" of industry continued in Ilbon until the end of the Symphonist regime in 1939. Following the Deluge, 2/3 of Ilbon's coastal industry - industry which was place along its developed eastern coast - had been obliterated by flooding and earthquakes, resulting in the collapse of the economy. The next two decades were spent fixing the damages caused by the deluge's direct effects as well as the widespread poverty and refugee crisis that ensued after the disaster; in 1964, the nation made a full recovery from the Deluge. The growth of heavy industry became less important to Ilbon's Prime Minister following the nation's recovery and was deemed to be of lower priority compared to the research and production of household electronics. Overall industrial growth remained stagnant until 1972 when Amano Katsuro became Prime Minister and introduced the Ilbon Industrial Development Ordinance which greatly expanded Ilbon's industrial capacity. Motor vehicles, advanced machine tools, and cheap electronics, along with simpler items like steels were produced on masse and exported across the world. Ilbon's modern industrial strength has benefited greatly from the reforms of Amano Katsuro, which broadly turned Ilbon from a balanced export-import economy into a highly export-focused economy.

Matsuhara car factory in Seohae

Ilbon has a large industrial capacity and is home to some of the world's largest industrial zones, some of which are the size of entire towns. The introduction of advanced production methods like the automation of key processes on the assembly line has given Ilbon the ability to produce advanced items in high numbers for sale across the world. Japan is one of the world's largest automobile producers and is home to corporations like Katakura and its subsidiaries Hayai, Kettei, and Jikyū. Quantitatively, Ilbon is one of the world's largest exporters of automobiles, though it competes with countries like Aldlocke and Nuwea to claim the title of the world's largest automobile exporter. Historically, Ilbon has had a massive reliance on shipbuilding to maintain its ties to the rest of the world as well as defend itself from foreign invasions, but in the modern day the Ilbonese ship-building industry has steadily grown; it is the main way by which Ilbon brings its products to the rest of the world. As of the 1970s, production of passenger planes has skyrocketed in Ilbon, especially after the creation of its national airline in 1985. Corporate interests, especially those of the Ciheng Corporation have fostered a strong Aerospace industry in the nation. The electronics industry in Ilbon has thrived, and the competitive nature of still-existing as well as defunct corporate entities has helped foster a ruthless environment of competition in Ilbon's electronics industry. In the 1960s, Ilbon was at the forefront of electronic innovations and sold transistor radios, audio players, and a slew of other household electronics to the rest of the world. In the modern day, Ilbon is no longer at the forefront like it once was, but still pioneers many electronic innovations.

Corporate Conglomerates

Katakura Headquarters, Naei, Ilbon.

Ownership of the Ilbonese Economy
Ownership			Percent
Ilbonese State			55%
Tanzō-kō			8%
Shokubai			5%
Inkyoku			5%
Ten'i			7%
Genzai			4%
Jōhō			4%
Gōka-sa			4%
Three Samurais			8%

Much of Ilbon's economy is in the hands of a small group of semi-autonomous corporate entities; there exist nearly a dozen of them. Ilbon's corporate conglomerates came into being under the leadership of Amano Katsuro upon the introduction of the "Ilbon Industrial Development Ordinance", which sought to revitalize Ilbon's declining economy through developmental policies aimed at the island's untapped resources along with its unused land. Before Katsuro's term as Prime Minister, Ilbon's corporations were still very much tied to the state but practiced much more autonomously, competing with a degree of ruthlessness that is absent in the modern-day business climate. The autonomy of the pre-Katsuro corporations allowed for greater profits to be generated and greater strides in technology to be made, a prime example being the island-spanning Shinkansen system which was built and finalized through contracts between Asa Satoshi and then Prime Minister Otani Minoru in 1964. Cooperation between the state and the corporations fostered an environment of growth, as the contracts signed between the corporates and the Ilbonese state allowed Ilbon to do feats like greatly expanding its space program in the 60's. Over time, the corporations were able to slowly secure their control of Ilbon's economy under the Hachiro and Kazuki administration and had a significant amount of input on how the Ilbonese economy was to run, using threats of moving their markets elsewhere and withdrawing funding to maintain their role in the nation. One of Prime Minister Katsuro's top priorities was to bring the corporates to heel, which was done through the introduction of strict regulations and the return of co-equal cooperation between the state and corporates.

Meeting of the Boards of the "Three Samurai", October 11th, 1933.

Since then, the corporates have remained ostensibly tied to the Ilbonese government, and still operate under the state's supervision. main entities exist, each of which had its own sector of control: Tanzō-kō, Shokubai, Inkyoku, Ten'i, Jōhō, Gōka-sa, Genzai, Katakura, Ciheng, and Irugyo, a slew of smaller groups handle the remaining portions of the economy that haven't been delegated to corporate oversight; the nine corporations are often referred to as the "Titanic Nine" or "Big Nine". Each is assigned to manage different portions of the economy, Tanzō-kō, for example, was tasked with managing the growth of Ilbonese heavy industry and furthering the century-old art of Ilbonese metallurgy. Founded during the Second Great War, Shokubai started as a military-owned company made to create chemical weapons for the war effort but was put out of business by the end of the war and the ensuing Deluge. Instead of creating weapons, Shokubai turned to creating different cosmetic chemical products, although the corporation still battles accusations of it still producing chemical weaponry in secret for foreign buyers. With the dawn of the space age came the need to bring Ilbonese interests into orbit, bringing the Ilbonese government to the negotiating table with the decades-old airplane corporation Ciheng; the meetings resulted in the creation of the state-owned "Inkyoku" aerospace corporation. Transportation issues plagued Ilbon's infrastructure in the late 1950s to early 1960s, the transportation of civilians across the country often shared rail lines with trains meant for resource transportation, creating bottlenecks. Ilbon commissioned a then-unknown engineer by the name of Asa Satoshi to create a solution to their transportation problems and gave Satoshi a massive one-time loan to finish his task. Satoshi created Ilbon's first Shinkansen line with half of the loaned money and used the remaining half to found the Ten'i corporation; he is still considered one of Ilbon's "model citizens" to this day. Jōhō and Genzai are two of the youngest corporations - being founded in 1954 and 1979 respectively - in the Big Nin, but are nevertheless profiting off of a still growing electronics market in Ilbon, Genzai especially has seen a sharp rise in profits over the last three decades as Ilbon connected itself to the World Wide Web and began providing access to the internet as a service to all its citizens. Finally, there are Ilbon's three defense corporations: Katakura, Ciheng, and Irugyo. The "Three Samurai" as they are referred to, have their roots in the Ilbonese National Republic, where they were contracted by the state to research, develop, and produce new machines for the war effort, but were forced to diversify after the end of the war. Alongside producing small arms, tanks, and fighter jets, they also produce laundry machines, civilian vehicles, and passenger planes. The Three Samurai are also the body through which the Ilbonese government signs arms deals with the rest of the world.