Northern Doctrine

The Northern Doctrine (Northern Ivili: Şungokāgo) was a period in Stonish History following the conclusion of the Stonish Wars of Unification. Starting during the reign of Stonish King Ejek Von Stone, it marks the beginning of the nations transition from an isolated, religiously-dominated archipelago to a Southern-Sunadic naval hegemon. Additionally, the Northern Doctrine includes the colonization of the Şotīgābon and Mīdlosugā archipelagos, further reinforcing the nations plans for a position as a navally-dominant superpower in the region for the short period of time that it was capable of achieving it. The Northern Doctrine also encouraged the idea of Flatstone having a right to control all trade flowing between Olivacia and Thrismari through the Southern Sunadic Ocean, as Flatstone is geographically positioned between the two continents. This plan for intercontinental domination would lead to the establishments of temporary Stonish settlements on the Strimka islands and later a political claim over the archipelago.

Construction of the Vedotī Imperial Palace (1236-1243)

Throughout the seven years that it took to construct the imperial palace, a variety of methods were used to compensate for the lack of sufficient human labour. The most notable of these methods was slavery, a practice that has been universally frowned upon within the nation of Flatstone since it's creation in the 1230's. However, this was an exception, as completing the construction of the palace was deemed urgent by Ejek Von Stone, the King of Flatstone at the time of the palace's construction, and at the time there was an abundance of Taverkny and Ou soldiers that had been captured by the Northern Ivili army during the reunification wars. Ejek Von Stone finalized the decision to use slave labour to speed up the process of construction, enlisting upwards of three-hundred prisoners of war to participate in the palace's construction in 1238, two years into the palace's construction. The sacrifice of these men is honored with a memorial that was placed outside of the entrance of the imperial palace for all to see.

Settlements in Şotīgābon (1270-1275)

The first recorded discovery of the Şotīgābon archipelago in Stonish history was in 1270, when Stonish merchants accidentally stumbled upon the island during a voyage to the Neil Canal. However, the first official settlement of the island wouldn't occur until 1273, when Ejek Von Stone funded an expedition to the island that he allowed one of his volunteering officers to supervise. Ejek himself would not arrive in Şotīgābon until 1275, when he would remain on the island for two months before returning to Vedotī. After this, Ejek Von Stone would have little to do with the development of the Stonish colony, as he was preoccupied with the economic recovery of the nation from it's two wars of reunification, as well as Ou settlement of the Mīdlosugā. The islands would be placed under the jurisdiction of Stonish admiral Gert Koch, an officer that had served during the second reunification war, who would remain as the governor until his death in 1291.

Ou Colonization of Mīdlosugā (1301-1304)

The colonization of the Midlosuga islands was an expansionist project conducted and funded by the Stonish crown. It is largely connected to the expulsion of the Ou peoples from the south of the Sotoki archipelago into what would become the remnants of the Ou clan that had taken place a little under fifty years prior. Originally, the Stonish crown was against the idea of allowing the seven islands that made up the Midlosuga to fall into the hands of the Ou clan, as anti-Ou sentiment was at an all-time high and it would not fit the narrative. However, additional land and housing space was required to sustain the thousands of Ou ethnics that were migrating south into their designated homeland, and if this crucial land was not provided to the Ou clan, it is likely that a famine would have stricken the Ou population potentially causing the deaths of thousands. A genocide was not the first impression that the relatively young nation of Flatstone wanted to portray, neither to it's own people or the people of the rest of the world. Instead, the Stonish crown invested into the development of the islands, encouraging Ou fisherman and merchants to settle on the island chain and develop the uninhabited land to their liking. Up to 1,000 Ou settlers would initially take up the opportunity, establishing a number of smaller towns and settlements. Once this had been done, more and more began to flock to the islands, it is estimated that by 1305 when the project was deemed "complete" by the Stonish crown, the archipelago had upwards of 7,000 inhabitants, almost all of which were of Ou ethnicity. Because of this, the island chain was ceded to the Ou clan and has remained apart of it since.

The Strimka Islands (1307-1318)

The Strimka islands would not be discovered until 1305, when Stonish fishermen from the Sotigabon islands stumbled upon the archipelago and it's native inhabitants. Later in 1307, efforts would be made to establish a permanent fishing settlement on the island, however because of issues with communication and little to no sponsorship from the Stonish crown, efforts made by Stonish merchants and fishermen to settle on the island and co-exist with it's inhabitants ultimately failed. The Stonish crown under the rule of Ejek Von Stone would not attempt to claim the islands for the nation, as Ejek Von Stone was already preoccupied with military preparations for an already planned invasion of Hoterallia, which was expected to take place no sooner than thirty years after this point. However, with this being said, a small contingent of Stonish soldiers would be stationed on the archipelago for a period of five years in order to map it out and prepare for the construction future settlements, however these settlements would never be made as Flatstone would go on to lose the First Stonish Invasion of Hoterallia and subsequently lacked the funding to organize an expedition to the archipelago. These logistical issues combined with the fact that the local population had shown no interest in becoming subjects of the Kingdom of Flatstone. Any plans that Flatstone had made for the archipelago would be scrapped or forgotten by 1350, and any interest in general would be forgotten until the late nineteenth and start of the twentieth century, when Stonish nationalism and "irredentism" began to surge throughout the nation, and the idea of intercontinental domination resurfaced. The Strimka islands, known to the Stonish people as the "Sztimke" islands, began appearing on irredentist maps of Flatstone in addition to the Oomoshi archipelago to the south.

The First Kopen Uprising (1320-1325)

The First Kopen Uprising is a period of political unrest in Stonish history that largely plagued the Umudin peninsula. Separatist movements had spawned out of a political opposition to the crown comprised of the regions peasantry and serfs, whom had been backed and funded by the local nobility and a coalition of disturbed landlords who had suffered from that years summertime famine, having struck after a lack of centralization combined with increased wartime taxes and expectations due to the nations failures during its invasion of Hoterallia leading to the drying up of crops in agriculturally dominant regions of Flatstone. Political loyalty had remained out of the question up to this point as loyalty to the state was dictated by the Geologist faith, which was widespread in Flatstone at the time. The Kopenists were a breakaway religion with political motives seeking economic independence from the state; what made the Kopenists different from any other separatist movement was their ability to manipulate the regions population to their viewpoint. Monopolizing on the desperation of the Southern Ivili population in Umudin, many were easily persuaded by promises of peace and prosperity to be granted by the Kopenist nobles, who had attempted to frame themselves as the father figures of the peninsula. Ultimately, the rebellion would be crushed swiftly by a Southern Ivili response, however because of the dire economic situation that had swept throughout the archipelago, the religion was allowed to remain in order to maintain national integrity. The acceptance of the Kopenist faith into the nation would allow for it's gradual growth in popularity, surging most in times of peril.

Modern Day

Today, the Northern Doctrine is ridiculed by most. However, to some, the Northern Doctrine serves as an irredentist throwback to the past and is often used to justify Stonish claims abroad, most notably on the Strimkan islands. The idea of intercontinental domination and the concept of Flatstone serving as a gateway between west and east, Thrismari and Olivacia, still has merit and is upheld by the Stonish crown even today.