Ardalia

The Republic of Ardalia Republika Ardaska
Flag
Anthem: Dramasc Vuszt Ardaska
Status	Independent
Capital and largest city	Hran
Official languages	Ardalian
Recognised national languages	Standard Caropsyne, Loslakian
Religion	Orthodox Church
Demonym(s)	Ardalian
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic
• President	Leno Frikasz
• Premier	Ardor Raszan
• Deputy Premier	Lenar Orvos
Legislature	Skupstina
History
• Kingdom	1000
• First Republic	1913
• Letzek Regime	1947
• Second Republic	1989
• Third Republic	2016
Area
• Total	238,421 km2 (92,055 sq mi)
• Water (%)	1.80
Population
• 2020 census	35,910,337
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$342.22 billion
• Per capita	$9,530.00
Gini	33.7 medium
HDI	0.620 medium
Currency	Ardalian Kupon (ARK)
Time zone	UTC +2
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+14
ISO 3166 code	AR
Internet TLD	.ar

Ardalia (Ardalian: Ardaska), officially the Republic of Ardalia (Ardalian: Republika Ardaska) is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic in Southern Thearea. It borders the Caropsyne Pontanore to the northwest, Rygaria to the east, Loslakia to the northeast, and Prassia to the southeast, and shares maritime borders with the Pontanore and Prassia. Its capital and largest city is Hran. The country has a population of 35.9 million. In total, Ardalia covers an area of 238,421 square kilometers organized into fifteen districts.

For over eight hundred years, the country was ruled by a unbroken line of monarchs from the House of Mazga. At the start they were seen as benvolent leaders but with each successive century, they had turned into cruel autocrats. The monarchy was overthrown in a popular uprising in 1912 which brought about the establishment of the First Republic the following year. Unfortuately, the young republic was mired by political instability where governments constantly rose and fell, shaking the public's confidence. By the beginning of the 1920's, the country was able to find its footing and saw rapid growth. With the outbreak of the Great War in 1940, Ardalia joined forces with the Caropsyne Pontanore and her allies against Loslakia's bloc. After the war, General Frelno Letzek a staged a military coup and toppled the First Republic. He would go on to rule Ardalia with an iron fist for forty-two years before being removed from power in 1989 following the disastrous loss in the Ardalian-Caropsyne War. The Second Republic was formed in the aftermath, marking a high point for the country but collapsed in 2012 due to the start of the devasting Ardalian Civil War. Four long years of bloodshed and destruction later brought about the current Third Republic.

Due to Ardalia's geographic location, it has long been considered a crossroads between eastern and western Thearea enabling it to create a unique and vibrant culture. It is a land of rich fertile plains, snow-capped mountains, and illydic scenic coastlines. While the Republic has witnessed economic gains following the Civil War, it is still a developing country, and classified as a middle-income country. Despite that, it is one of the more developed countries due to the sizable amount of foreign assistance provided by the Loslakians during Letzek's regime and the Caropsyne Pontanore following the signing of the Treaty of Taerisz. Ardalia's economy is highly dependent on industry and agriculture, particularly grains, livestock, minerals, and timber. Tourism has earned an important space in the long-term economic prospects of the nation due to its beaches, mountains, and old cities. While known for its relatively high gender equality, Ardalia suffers from a high crime rate (attributed mostly to drug usage, drug trafficking and corruption). It's a member of the United Nations, the Thearean Union and the Thearean Common Market.

History

The people of modern-day Ardalia originally organized themselves around dozens of small territories led by a chieftain. Each of these focused around a river valley or basin with the villages in it, bound by the surrounding elevated terrain. They farmed and herded animals on the rich plains and fished along the coast. Several chiefdoms formed a principality with the four most powerful being Hran, Taerisz, Kanryk, and Greszin. Through a combination of shrewd diplomacy and fights against his rivals spanning a five year period, the Prince of Hran Elek Mezga, had secured the entirety of the country. He would be crowned on the first day of 1000, formally creating the Kingdom of Ardalia. The House of Mezga would go on to rule for over eight hundred years. Four years into his reign, the entire Ardalian people were converted to the Orthodox faith.

As the centuries passed, the monarchy kept the Ardalian people safe, protecting her from the ambitions of neighboring Caropsynes and Loslakians. Though the borders of the Kingdom remained unchanged, the Ardalian kings could not ignore the growing Empire to their west. The Lindites of Carops in the span of three decades took possession of the island of Casona, established colonies in Polythia, and subjugated the Jaj. King Nandor V decided that Ardalia could not afford to stand by. In 1749, he claimed the Forlæan Islands in the Thearean Sea as soverign Ardalian territory. He also attempted to compete for colonies in Polythia but none of them were successful.

By 1843, the last Caropsyne King, Olimand the Great, agreed to the downgrading of the monarchy from a Royal Family to merely a Royal House, enabling a democratic government to manage the country's affairs. Ardalians observed the progress being made across the border and calls for a elected Assembly (which would transition Ardalia into a constitutional monarchy) grew rapidly. The Megzas would not give in and their once benevolent leadership turned to one of outright cruelty. Throughout the remainder of the 1800's the Kings would put down riots with lethal force. One of the most horrendous acts by the monarchy occured in 1901 where three-thousand individuals were massacred in Hran, peacefully requesting the right to participate in the governance of their country. Up to that point, the people did not want to get rid of their King. The events on that dark day would seal the fate of the monarchy. In the wake of the Hran Massacre, pro-democracy movements (including one such cell led by Erec Letzo) secretly acquired military resources and support from the public. Recognizing the importance of having a foreign ally in the early days of their expected Republic, leaders of the largest movement made contact with the Caropsyne Premier.

Once they had all their pieces assembled, they set off the uprising they had planned for several years. On a bright sunny morning in the spring of 1912, hundred-thousand individuals marched upon the Royal Palace, backed by sympathetic elements of the military to remove the King once and for all. There was no reaction from the guards who maintained their positions at the gates and along the walls. Inside, the King's advisors urged him to concede to the demands of the people, but he still would not budge. He attempted to call in military forces from outside the capital to disperse the crowd but his commanders simply replied that their men had defected to the protesters and any more would just join them. Night was beginning to fall when he gave up: completely surrounded and no military support, he had no choice but to abdicate the throne.

With the stroke of a pen, eight hundred years of monarchical rule by the Mezgas had ended. He walked out of the Palace and waved for the guards to open the gates. He expected the crowd to rush in and kill him, but only one man approched him: the leader of the Democracy Now Movement Erec Letzo. They did not exchange any words - the King handed him his declaration and stood there. The gentlemen walked back and read what it had said. Before he could finish, cheering ensued. The soldiers present then escorted the King and his family away from the capital and took them to one of their country estates along the Dracian Coast to await their fate. Mere days after the abdication, a constitutional committee was convened to outline their new Republic's fundamental principles and define its structure. The nation's first-ever election to both approve the 1912 Constitution and allocate which political parties would be seated in the Assembly's first session took place at the end of that year. The Democrats won a solid majority within the legislature. As the sun rose on the first day of 1913, Premier Letzo officially proclaimed the establishment of the First Republic. The fate of the last King and his family remain unknown to this day though some suspect that Premier Letzo secretly ordered their execution.

Under Erec Letzo's Premiership (1913-1922) the nation grew by leaps and bounds and experienced a cultural and economic golden age. Hran saw a wave of intellectuals and artists move in, sparking a period of abstract painting and notable philosophical treaties being written. Further north mines were expanded deeper into the Canthasian Mountains and industrial factories were constructed in Taerisz. The rich fertile plains of Central Ardalia would yield farmers several years of the best harvests of wheat and rye they had reaped in three decades. Despite the prosperity occuring across much of the country, Dracia was ignored and a crisis that had been brewing for two years erupted in 1915. Local Dracian leaders, led by the Mayor of Kanryk, demanded greater political autonomy and increased investment in their communities or face secession. Regular protests erupted from north to south. After six months of negotiations, legislation was passed to provide regions like Dracia some devolved powers and the right to maintain their own regional government.

The Governments over the remainder of the twenties and early thirties continued to see Ardalia develop. Everything changed in 1935: in one night, the entire world entered into an economic recession. Political instability plagued the Republic as seven different governments attempted to mitigate the worst effects. The constant elections shook public confidence but even at its worst, there was no desire to abandon their democratic process. The world largely emerged from the other side of the depression in 1940 but soon a global conflict bringing in nations in Thearea like the Caropsyne Pontanore and Loslakia, and others beyond. To ensure the nation survived, the major political parties formed a unity government (one of only two coalition governments in the nation's history). Loslakian aggression on Ardalia's borders prompted the Republic to join the neighboring Pontanore and her allies. Five years later, the war concluded and instability returned to the halls of the Assembly. General Frelno Letzek of the 5th Ardalian Army and hero of the Battle of Bolokovo watched the political paralysis consume the country from his base in the Canthasian Mountains. He feared that the Republic was on the verge of collapsing and needed strong leadership. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he rallied his soldiers and other friendly units to march on Hran. Having staged a coup against the Government, Letzek toppled the First Republic by dissolved the Assembly and became the sole leader in 1947.

Ordinary Ardalians at first were worried about their future when the General took control of the country but he soon convinced them otherwise. He scored a major diplomatic victory when he and his Loslakian counterpart formally settled their differences from the previous war in 1952. The Ardalian-Loslakian border was reopened for the first time since 1940 enabling trade to resume and a stabling economic footing for the country. The Loslakian Secretary-General provided Letzek billions in foreign assistance that were invested in critical infrastructure; the construction of new industrial factory and mines; and hundreds of thousands of new housing across Ardalia's major urban areas. For the next twenty-five years, Letzek experienced no threats to his rule (his secret police made sure of, having sent tens of thousands to forced labor camps far north in the mountains). Ardalian-Loslakian relations dissolved once more in 1977 after a small disagreement during a shared dinner turned into a fist fight. The aid stopped and Ardalia became an isolated country and Ardalia once again began slipping backwards.

Following the Great War in 1945, relations between the Caropsyne Pontanore and Ardalia had fallen drastically in the wake of the coup. There would be limited diplomatic overtures by either side for the majority of the General's regime but things turned for the worst in 1988 when a series of senseless killings by Ardalians from the Forlæan Islands killed 61 and injured hundreds more in the Caropsyne city of Ariatra. The Fostana claimed General Letzek was responsible for orchestrating the attacks. His honor insulted, he refused. Caropsyne forces gathered at the border and threatened war. Days later the Ardalian-Caropsyne War broke out. Over six months, Pontanore and Loslakian forces had devasted Northern Ardalia and encircled Hran while the nation's small navy was at the bottom of the Thearean Sea. The once-brilliant general had been categorically defeated and was forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Hran which required Ardalia surrender the Forlæan Islands to the Pontanore.

Throughout the country, Ardalians were shocked and angered by the General's loss in the war. It was the first time Ardalia had ever lost territory. Resistance forces who had managed to evade his secret police for years saw Letzek weak enough to openly challenge his regime. Prior to the war between the two countries, the Fostana had been secretly supporting liberation forces within Ardalia with weapons and money to remove Letzek without them having to do it themselves. From the Caropsyne capital, it was clear that their investment (despite some losses in the war) was worth it and the dictator was overthrown and executed in the center of Hran the following year with support from military units who defected from the regime. General Frenlo Letzek had ruled over Ardalia for forty-two years. The Second Republic was formed in the wake of his removal and a new Assembly was elected.

The Governments of the Second Republic made it a strategic priority to rebuild relations with the Pontanore. Progress was limited until 1994 when a socialist uprising broke out in Carops. The Ardalian Government offered to send soldiers in to assist which the Fostana accepted. A year later, Ardalia and Carops had finally resolved the last issue remaining from the previous war between them when the latter committed to compensate Ardalians who were evicted from the islands for their losses. The signing of the Treaty of Taerisz in 2004 marked the full restoration of economic cooperation and military alliance between Hran and Fornænda. The treaty also formally gave the two nations joint control over the Forlæan Islands. Ardalia would go on to experience the greatest economic boom in its entire existence. Tourism to Ardalia by Caropsynes grew by double-digit percentages year over year following the treaty with millions crossing the border to enjoy the beaches of Dracia, ski the slopes of the South Canthasians, take in the beauty of Hran, or soak in the thermal baths of Belhas.

Politics and Government

The Ardalian Republic is a democracy which consists of a unicameral legislature known as the Skupstina which sits in Hran. According to the 1990 Constitution, the President of Ardalia is the ceremonial Head of State but holds no executive power. They are elected in a secret ballot at the start of each five-year term of the legislature by a two-thirds vote of the Assembly. The Premier is the Head of Government and the vested chief executive. They are almost always the leader of the largest single block in the Assembly or it can be the individual who has managed to form a stable coalition government (across all three Republics, there has only been 2 coalitions).

The Skupstina consists of 195 deputies who are elected by party-list proportional representation based on the results of a general election that occurs no later than every five years. Early elections can be called either at the urging of the Premier or in the instance in which the Government in power loses a vote of confidence. All Ardalians over the age of 18 have the right to vote.

The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary. The Constitutional Court acts as the interpreter and guardian the nation's fundamental principles. Ardalia's legal system follows the principles of civil law.