North Ottonia
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Federation of Ottonian Republics | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| Motto: "Liberty, Equality, Solidarity." | |
| Anthem: "Onward, Ottonia!" | |
 Location of North Ottonia (dark green) – in Belisaria (dark grey) – claimed territory (light green) | |
| Capital | Innsboro |
| Largest city | Dunnmaar |
| Official languages | Allamunnic, Eonese |
| Recognised national languages | Allamunnic, Eonese, Kamryker, Corvaik |
| Ethnic groups | Allamunnae, Eoni, Kamrykers, Corvae |
| Demonym(s) | North Ottonian, Ottonian |
| Government | Federal Democratic Republic |
• Premier | Junn Andrsunn |
• Chancellor | Eleonur Hendrsunn III |
| Establishment | |
| September 21st, 1872 (ratified) | |
| January 1st, 1922 (went into effect) | |
| July 1st, 1947 (went into effect) | |
| Population | |
• 2020 estimate | 79,768,590 |
| GDP (PPP) | estimate |
• Total | USD$2.037 trillion |
• Per capita | USD$21,050 |
| Gini (2018) | 21.4 low |
| HDI (2018) | .704 high |
| Currency | Oto (NOØ) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +414 |
North Ottonia, officially the Federation of Ottonian Republics, is a nation on the northwestern edge of the continent of Belisaria. It is bordered to the south by South Ottonia, Sudmark, and Orcot, to the east by Erishland, and is neighbored across the North Thalassian Ocean by Ghant. The country was formed as a result of the Ottonian Civil War, arising in the zone controlled by the Republican government of the Ottonian Federation when the Partitioning of Ottonia took effect in 1922. In 1946, the existing Federal government was dissolved and the current government system was established in the New Foundation.
North Ottonia is a federalized democratic presidential republic, with some technocratic elements. Economically, North Ottonia adheres to a model of market socialism, which utilizes a mix of public and state ownership of enterprises alongside employee-owned and cooperatively-owned enterprises within a market system used to allocate goods and services. Although classification varies among political scientists throughout the world, those within the OFR typically categorize it as a democratic socialist state.
Geography
History
See also: History of Ottonia
Post-Civil War
North Ottonia's history as a distinct nation begins in 1918 with the outbreak of the Ottonian Civil War. The existing republican national government of The Ottonian Federation found itself under attack in an attempted coup by [royalist] forces seeking to create a national monarchy in imitation of the ancient Ottonian Empire. The civil war ended in the Partitioning of Ottonia in 1922 between the United Kingdom of Ottonia and the north, continuing now as the Ottonian Federal Republic (OFR).
The OFR was essentially a continuation of the federal government of the Ottonian Federation, and this meant that it also inherited most of the Federation's problems. Chief among these was the continued social and political dominance of the Allamunnic-speaking elite, a general inclination to prioritize the desires of industrialists and merchants, and overly-rigid attempts at central governance that had already aided the Royalist cause. As a result, the years following the Partition were hardly tranquil, as the OFR was increasingly racked by both regional separatist groups in Eona, Cantia, Kamryk, and Corvaea, as well as labor agitation in its larger cities. Dunnmaar in particular became a hotbed for the nascent Universal Labor Front, and blood was often spilled in confrontations between organized labor and police forces, most notably in Dunnmaar, Torsfeld, Abiles, Ubyeu, Spaal, Corvik, and Udunsfurd, but with smaller confrontations occurring in other cities and towns. The Federal Army began to develop a serious problem with desertion and morale plummeted.
The Great Ottonian War
Perhaps sensing an opportunity, in 1935 South Ottonia invaded the North, in conjunction with their Ghantish allies, sparking the Great Ottonian War. The initial invasion was quite successful, with the federal leadership in the imperial capital of Ottonia being largely captured in short order and with coalition troops rolling through most of the western half of the country. In the sudden leadership and power vacuum created by the decapitation of the OFR's government, North Ottonia functionally fragmented into multiple self-governing republics, with Cantia, Kamryk, the Bluwaalds, Ostmark, and Skraelingia managing to coordinate with the remains of the Federal Army well enough to grind the Royalist advance to a halt. Meanwhile, regional authorities in Jormundea and Eona were forced to organize more discretely, helming resistance efforts against the invaders. Through most of 1936, these disparate forces were able to coordinate adequately to prevent significant further advances by the Royalists and Ghantish, but it became increasingly clear that the disparate North Ottonian Republics could not separately drive out the invaders.
In September of 1936, a meeting of regional governments convened in Skarrsboro, and those present signed the Skarrsboro Accord, in which the eight republics (Jormundea, Eona, Dunnmaar, Skraelingia, Cantia, Kamryk, Bluwaald, and Ostmark) agreed to subordinate their war efforts to a central authority once more, under the overall leadership of Federal Army General Otto Kraag. Over the next three years, Kraag would oversee the new United Front forces as they pushed the Southerners back to their original borders, relegated the Ghantish to an increasingly small beachhead on the country's western coast, and finally began their own counterinvasion that saw them seize a significant tract of Staalmark from the Royalists, as well as attempting their own push towards the Royalist capital of San Mikel. Although timely intervention by Latin and Arthuristan forces compelled the Northerners to withdraw to the territory they were already in the process of consolidating in 1941. After seeing off a counterinvasion attempt, the fighting largely quieted down, both sides largely exhausted. Although there would be intermittant skirmishes until the [[Treaty of [City] (1943)]], the worst of the fighting had concluded by the end of 1941, with most of Belisaria largely accepting that the partitioning of Ottonia would be the state of affairs for the foreseeable future.
The Recovery and Reorganization
With the formal end of hostilities in 1943, Kraag issued orders disbanding the United Front Army and resigned his position as Commander-in-Chief of the North Ottonian forces. However, this left the North in limbo; with the destruction of the imperial city government, all that really remained of the Federation's government was the eight republic governments, coordinating through the Skarrsboro Accord. Though the North had maintained its independence and even pushed back against the Royalist Southerners, it had been a close-fought thing and it was clear that the North would not survive divided into eight independent states.
To address this, Kraag used his last act as commander-in-chief of the UFA to petition the Moet in Skarrsboro for a conference to be held in order to draw up a new governing charter for, hopefully, all of Ottonia (eventually). This was granted, and held as the Conference of Innsboro, beginning late in 1943 and running well into 1944. Presided over by the wartime leader of the Dunnmaar Autonomous Republic, Harald Baaltrsunn, the conference succeeded in drafting and, in early 1945, ratifying the New Foundation of Ottonia. The eight republics would only need a few months to ratify the document themselves, mostly satisfied with the compromises made to a central authority balanced by extensive self-governance permitted to the Republics themselves. More controversial, although ultimately not enough to significantly delay passage, was a key provision of the New Foundation: a declaration that the concentration of wealth in the hands of private individuals was antithetical to the democratic ideals of the Eight Republics, accompanied by an explicit ban on individual private ownership of economic apparatus. In practice, this meant that all businesses and ventures would have to be either small, family affairs, cooperatively owned, or enterprises organized through a government entity of the appropriate level, effectively constitutionally-locking North Ottonia into being a democratic socialist state.
Politics
Overall Structure
The FOR is a federalized democratic republic. The country is divided into the nine Constituent Republics. In addition, there is also the Federal Capital District, colloquially referred to as Innia. In most matters of daily administration, the Republics and FCD are de facto autonomous; most taxation, infrastructure, and general domestic policy is handled by the Republics, with the Federal government mostly acting to coordinate between the republics and serve as a standardizing and stabilizing influence.
Foreign policy is the exclusive domain of the Federal government. The Ottonian Federal Defense Service is under the overall command of the Premier, who is also required to sign bills passed through the Folksmoot. The Folksmoot is the national legislature, directly elected by the inhabitants of each constituent republic, proportionally-allocated by population.
The bounds, rights, and responsabilities of both the federal government in Innsboro and the Constituent Republics are laid out in the New Foundation of Ottonia, passed and ratified in 1949 in the wake of the Ottonian Revolution and the Great Northern War.