Greater Dienstad

Greater Dienstad is a shared-world region founded by The Macabees in 2005.

Name

Dienstad refers to a cultural and political entity focused around the northermost peninsula of the mainland territory of The Macabees, canonically known as the Golden Throne. The name was applied to the wider region after the 2005 refounding of Imperial Armies, renamed to Greater Dienstad.

In Common, Dienstad does not contain an accent mark over the i. The accent mark is native to the Dienstadi language.

Countries

Country	Primary Player	Continent	Type	Language
Adaptes Astrates	Stevid	Xipil	Puppet, Historical	Stevidian (Common)?
AHSCA	AHSCA	???	Primary	???
Arcaenia	The Technocratic Syndicalists	???	Primary	???
Barjaanistan	Potthan	???	Puppet	???
Castille	Castille de Italia	???	Primary	???
Chernova	State of Ordena	???	NPC	???
Communist Oldwitch	The Ice States	Makria	Puppet	Stevidian (Common)?
Czaslyudia	Czaslyudian Peoples	???	Primary	???
Deamonopolis	Deamonopolis	???	Primary	???
Eitoan	Eitoan	???	Primary	Dienstadi
Federal Ralkovia	Eitoan	???	Puppet	Ralkovian
Fustera	State of Ordena	???	Puppet, Originally: NPC	Istoloan, Creoloso
Imbrinium	Imbrinium	???	Primary	Stevidian (Common)?
Haishan	Haishan	???	Primary	Stevidian (Common)?
Kolechia	Free Kolechia	???	Primary	???
Holy Marsh	Holy Marsh	???	Primary	???
Independent Hitmen	Stevid	???	Puppet, Historical	Stevidian (Common)
Irat	The Macabees	???	NPC	Istoloan
Istoloa	The Macabees	???	NPC	Istoloan
Kassaran	Kassaran	???	Player	???
Killia	The Macabees	Schonhiet	NPC, Historical	Dienstadi, Stevidian (Common)
Ladero	The Macabees	???	NPC	Istoloan
Lamoni	Lamoni	???	Primary	Stevidian (Common)?
Lyras	Lyras	???	Primary	Stevidian (Common)?
McNernia	McNernia	???	Primary	???
Merica	Patrick O'Connor	???	Primary	Stevidian (Common)
Mokastana	Mokastana	???	Primary	Zarbian-Mokan
Mordent	Morrdh	???	Puppet	Mordentish, Díenstadi, Stevidian (Common)
Morrdh	Morrdh	???	Primary	Mordentish, Díenstadi, Stevidian (Common)
Nova Orontes	The Macabees	Hugen	NPC	Dienstadi
Ordena	State of Ordena	Schonhiet	Primary	Ordenite
Ordenstaat Fernostland	State of Ordena	???	Puppet, Historical	Ordenite, Krasnovan
Palmyrion	Palmyrion	???	Primary	???
Pennslyvannia	Pennslyvannia	???	Historical	Stevidian (Common)
Phibeta	Cartoonia	Phitannian Isles	Primary	Phibetan
Philotas Islands	Imbrinium	Makria	Puppet	Stevidian (Common)
Potthan	Potthan	???	Primary	???
(Regime) Ralkovia	Ralkovia	???	Primary	Ralkovian
Romandeos	Holy Marsh	Makria	Puppet, Originally: Primary	???
Safehaven	The Macabees	Hugen	Puppet, Historical	Zarbian-Mokan
Samarasta	The Macabees	???	Puppet, Originally: NPC	Creoloso, Istoloan, Dienstadi
Solisian Union	Solisian Union	???	Primary	???
Sorofi	The Macabees	???	NPC	Istoloan
Stevid	Stevid	???	Primary	Stevidian (Common)
Tarn	The Macabees	Xipil	Puppet, Originally: Owned	Dienstadi, Stevidian (Common)
The Eternal Union	The Ice States	Makria	Primary	???
The Golden Throne	The Macabees	Hugen	Primary	Dienstadi
Tnemrot	Tnemrot	???	Primary	???
Tupenga	Holy Marsh	???	Puppet, Originally: NPC	Istoloan, Creoloso
United Gordonopia	United Gordonopia	Parana	Historical	Stevidian (Common)
Wanderjar	State of Ordena	???	Puppet, Historical	Knootossian

Notable Past Countries of Greater Dienstad

Past members of Greater Dienstad include Malgrave, Santheres, and Sumer.

History

See Canonical History of Greater Dienstad

A region's history can be seen in different ways. One way is to see as a sandbox for lore through all of the individual contributions made by its active worldbuilders. This would be a long history. A frequently changing, and oftentime conflicting, one, as well. But the history of Greater Dienstad is not just its lore, it's also a history of the contribution to that lore. This is the way this history is told. It is one that tells the story of significant regional events as the region grew between 2005 and present day.

Of course, the history of Greater Dienstad is best told through its wars.

The bombing and destruction of Aurillac was a defining moment of early Greater Dienstadi history.

The Early Years, RL 2005–08

If Greater Dienstad's predecessor's history was dominated by the Panooly wars, then the war to define the first generation of Greater Dienstad was the War of Golden Succession. Fought between The Macabees, Stevid, Safehaven, Killia, and at one point or another involving almost everyone in the region, the War of Golden Succession is somewhat unique in that it was roleplayed over the Jolt forums. The war ended with large parts of northern Safehaven occupied by the The Macabees, Guffingford partitioned by The Macabees and Stevid, and the onset of a cold war between these two states.

In the immediate aftermath of the war, a number of governments that had fought in the War of Golden Succession had extended great resources to do so. Those defeated suffered the agonies of their sacrifices, including their financial debts, the anger over the war dead, and the weakness of their armies. Zarbia, Safehaven, and Monzark all whithered into institutional decay soon after the end of the war, followed soon after by New Empire, Indras, and others. Although a victorious The Macabees followed up with an invasion of Theohuanacu and the occupation of Tarn, these wars combined with the accumulated costs of the great war it had just emerged from were soon sufficient to put the nascent and mended empire into a long period of slumber. War, though, war was still very much alive.

A new power emerged further to the east, Lyras. The ascent of Lyras begins from the ashes of Dukopolious, which had conquered large parts of former New Empire. Although a significant portion of New Empire remained independent under the guise of a multi-national peacekeping force involving Stevid, Imbrinium, and Morrdh, much of the rest of the northern half of that continent was soon occupied by a rapidly expanding Lyras.

The Great Dienstadi War and the Kessler Event, RL 2009–14

Tension over conflicting imperialist aims on the continent of Sumeria led to the spiraling growth of armies garrisoned there, especially by Stevid in response to the looming Lyran threat. When Imbrinumian submarines were discovered within claimed Stevidian waters around South Greal, it was sufficient for Stevid to sink them and start a major conflageration that became the Great Dienstadi War. Like the War of Golden Sucession before it, the Great Dienstadi War was a product of entangling alliances. Imbrinium invaded Arastonia to establish a base of operations from which to later invade Stevidian South Greal. This invasion of Arastonia prompted the entry of Malgrave as an ally of Stevid and Arastonia. Wanderjar then entered the conflict as an ally of Imbrinium, via a land invasion of South Greal, prompting Lyras to join the war as well through a surprise naval attack on a major Stevidian fleet. Taking advantage of the unfolding chaos, Morrdh invaded Ibrinium-held Mordent, further expanding the war westward.

The Great Dienstadi War witnessed several extreme military actions that had lasting impact on the geopolitics of the region. Malgrave was wiped out through the use of Varathon Blood Fever, a chemical weapon that is often described as turning its victim into 'undead.' The use of chemical warfare was initiated by Imbrinium, which also caused the region's first kessler event. A massive attack on Stevidian and Stevidian-allied satellites led to such a large mass of debris orbiting the planet that most of Greater Dienstad's orbital communications network was downed. The kessler was only resolved after a major post-war clean-up effort led by The Macabees, Haishan, Lamoni, and other governments. The kessler also led to the unilateral imposition of a ban on space weapons by The Macabees.

As the Great Dienstadi War progressed, a resurgent The Macabees took advantage by occupying Zarbia, Monzark, northern Indras, and New Empire. As did countries like Lyras at the beginning of this epoch, new governments rose from the ashes of regional chaos to become the new powers of the region: Mokastana, Ordena, and others.

It was during this epoch that the colloquialism "peace invasion" was coined. The term's original use is traced back to a threat by Lyras to peace invade both Morrdh and Inbrinium, both Bredubar Covenant members, unless they resolved their conflict in Mordent peacefully.

Politics

The politics of Greater Dienstad are best seen through the prism of anarchic international relations. Although great powers have risen and fallen, the geopolitics of the region are fundamentally disjointed and disparate. It has just been recently, with the founding of the Greater Dienstad Regional Council in RL 2021, that a formal supra-national organization attempts to engender regional cooperation

Fedala Accord

An early attempt at regional geopolitical cooperation is the Fedala Accord of RL 2009, a treaty organization focused on the mutual defense of shared trade routes. It involved most of the major powers of Greater Dienstad of the time, including Lamoni, Lyras, and The Macabees. At least 19 governments became signatory nations. It's possible that more governments adhered to the accord, as there was a time when the membership roll was no longer updated. In later years, the Fedala Accord was synonymous with a mutual defense agreement to defend Greater Dienstad from extraregional aggressors.

Although never formally rescinded, the Fedala Accord became increasingly defunct over the years. Certainly, The Macabees — the founding government — lost interest in multilateral agreements as regional politics complicated in the wake of the Great Dienstadi War. The Accord was finally superceded by Resolution 8 of the GDRC.

One practical outcome of the Fedala Accord was its use to justify a Macabéan war bonds drive to financial aid Lyras' military efforts against Stevid during the Great Dienstadi War.

Greater Dienstad Regional Council

See Greater Dienstad Regional Council

The assembly chamber of the GDRC.

The Greater Dienstad Regional Council (GDRC) is a "non-binding regional assembly" founded in RL 2021. It is the first formal attempt at a supra-national organization in Greater Dienstad. Its non-binding character means that the GDRC does not have the right to impose its resolutions on member states, rather member states are encouraged to follow the resolutions on their own volition. This characteristic is considered fundamental to the GDRC's success in a divided and conflicted region.

Each primary regional government is automatically enrolled as a member of the GDRC, with a vote on each resolution proposal. Proposals require 5 other supporting governments before going to vote. Proposals at vote are determined by a simple majority.

The GDRC has so far shown an inclination toward the liberal attitudes of international finance, the end of the international slave trade, and regional medical access and aid. Also noteworthy is the resolution of mutual self defense against extraregional threats, as well as a formalization of the law of the sea. An attempt to further develop the bureaucracy of the GDRC passed, but the effort remains stale and without clear leadership.

Multilateral Alliances and Organizations

There are numerous multilateral alliances and organizations in Greater Dienstad. Noteworthy examples include:

• Romani-Marsh Union: a unique federation of sovereign states with mutual military and foreign relation pacts. It is composed of Holy Marsh, Romandeos, Palmyrion, Solisian Union, and others.
• Bredubar Convenant: although its founding leader, Lyras, lays dormant and inactive, the Bredubar Covenant is still seen as active by some of its constituents who hold the right to draw from the Lyran military in self-defense.
• Quadrumvirate: a central Greater Dienstadi military alliance between The Macabees, Arcaenia, Imbrinium, and Stevid.
• Global Aerospace Trade Association: although GATA transcends regional politics, it is founded by and headquartered in Fedala, The Macabees.

Demographics

Languages

The namesake language, Dienstadi, is native to The Macabees and widely spoken throughout the region. However, it is not necessarily the most common language. Stevidian, also known as Common or Questerian, is widely used, as are Zarbian (also known as Mokan), Knootossian, Ordenite, and Pantocratorian (known as Yanitarian in some countries). There are dozens, if not hundreds, of native languages spread throughout the vast geography of Greater Dienstad.