Vilcasuamanas
 | This article is incomplete because it is pending further input from participants, or it is a work-in-progress by one author. Please comment on this article's talk page to share your input, comments and questions. Note: To contribute to this article, you may need to seek help from the author(s) of this page. |
Republic of Vilcasuamanas Vilkashuamanos Respublika (Ruttish) | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
Motto: "Stiprybė, Teisingumas, Atkaklumas" (Ruttish) "Strength, Justice, Perseverance" | |
Anthem: "Kajapas Giesmė" "Hymn of the Kajapas" | |
 Vilcasuamanas (dark green) in Asteria and in the Joint Defense Force (light green). | |
| Capital | Biržuventis |
| Largest city | Vandžiogalas |
| Official languages | Ruttish |
| Recognised national languages | Ouncai, Amaru |
| Demonym(s) | Vilcasuamanian |
| Government | Unitary semi-presidential republic |
| Vytautas Kaparauskas | |
| Marija Matijošaite | |
| Independence From Ruttland | |
• Declared | 15 September 1762 |
| 1 May 1767 | |
• Recognized | 1 June 1781 |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,098,581 km2 (424,164 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2018 estimate | 20,220,000 |
• 2015 census | 20,184,964 |
| GDP (PPP) | 2015 estimate |
• Total | $204.8 billion |
• Per capita | $14,437 |
| Gini (2016) |  48.1high |
| HDI (2017) |  0.752high |
| Currency | Talonas (TVI) |
• Summer (DST) | UTCNot observed |
| Date format | dd-mm-yyyy |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +90 |
| Internet TLD | .vi |
Vilcasuamanas, officially the Republic of Vilcasuamanas (Ruttish: Vilkashuamanos Respublika) is a sovereign state located in the south west of Asteria Inferior. It is bordered by Satucin to the north, Nimear to the east, and Cialdinia to the west, as well as being bounded by the Sublustrian Sea to the south. It is a unitary, constitutional republic under a presidential system, made up of thirteen voivodeships and one special territory. Geographically it encompasses natural features such as tropical grassland, coastal lowlands, the Irca Mountains, and interior rainforests.
Prior to the Euclean discovery of the Asterias, the area known as modern day Vilcasuamanas was dominated by numerous Asterindian tribes and civilizations. These civilizations developed extensive agricultural societies, the largest of which grew into the Ounca Empire, which dominated the high plains of the interior in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Despite previous limited contact with Eucleans, the foundation of the country was set with the establishment of a Ruttish Asterian Company fort at the mouth of the Kajapas River in 1587. The Ruttish eventually organized a plantation system, worked by natives initially and later by imported Bahian slave labor; by the mid-1600s, largely-inflated gold discoveries had spurred immigration en masse to the colony. Vilcasuamanas (renamed from New Ruttland in 1656) changed boundaries multiple times during its early history, largely due to competing settler claims and Euclean conflicts. By the Pereramonic Wars, it had become clear that Ruttland's hold on it's colony was tenuous at best. Tensions between the colony and the mother country grew steadily throughout the 18th century, with native planters vying with overseas merchants and administrators for control. By the 1760s, tensions had reached a boiling point; spark was set off by the retreat of much of the Ruttish aristocracy to Vilcasuamanas during the Weranian Revolution. The new Euclean administration, viewed as out of touch with the realities of Asteria Inferior, cracked down on dissent, leading the planters overthrowing the colonial administration and declaring a republic. This led to a long and bloody independence war, which was only ended with the withdrawal of Ruttish troops after the culmination of the revolution in Werania.
Despite victory, the newly-independent republic maintained many of the colonial social structures and racial laws, which caused strife between the more-conservative federalists (who preferred devolution to the voivodeships and retention of the agricultural system) and the more socially-liberal unitarians (who wanted to concentrate power in the urbanized capital and abolish slavery). This led to several coups d'etat and eventually full-on civil war, which ended with the creation of the Vilcasuamine Confederation in 1868. A second civil war definitively returned the country to a unitary structure, though this did not prevent further instability throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This contributed to a string of foreign interventions in the early 20th century that further undermined the government, culminating in the country's occupation by Entente forces during the Great War. Eventually this culminated in the rise of strongman General Mauricijus Sprogys to power in the 1960s. Though Sprogys was credited with revitalizing a faltering economy and moving from an agricultural to a more industrialized economy, he was also accused of numerous human rights abuses committed to keep himself in power; this led to the rise of several low-intensity insurgencies primarily made up of radicalized functionalists. However, after his death, Vilcasuamanas saw an era of rollback of military rule that culminated in full democratization in the 1980s.
The country is considered one of the few megadiverse countries in the world, boasting thousands of species of animal and plant life. In addition to this, after relaxation of strict protectionist economic regulations in the 1980s, Vilcasuamanas has emerged as one of Asteria Inferior's fastest-growing economies. Despite the economic growth, however, systemic inequality remains a serious issue, with consequent insurgency and drug-related violence remaining problematic. It holds active membership in the Community of Nations, the JDF, ITO, GIFA, as well as the Asterian Development Council.
Etymology
The name Vilcasuamanas is generally believed to be derived from the Ouncai language phrase Willka Waman meaning "sacred hawk"; this is in reference to the Ircan kontors that populate the Irca Mountains.
The first known reference to the name (appearing as "Vilcas Uamanas") is from maps detailed by the fourth expedition of Juozapas Leikauskas in 1602, the first Ruttish expedition penetrating the interior of the country. Urban legend posits that Leikauskas recorded the name based off of a misunderstanding with his Asterindian guide, who meant to describe the peaks of the Ircas, but whose gestures were understood to be referring to the interior of the country as a whole.
Regardless, the land past the grasslands of the Kajapas Coast quickly became known as Vilcasuamanas, and the official name of the New Ruttland Colony was changed to its present name in 1656.
History
Ancient Vilcasuamanas
According to archeological evidence, modern-day Vilcasuamanas has been inhabited for at least 12,000 years. The first groups of indigenous groups, journeying from Asteria Superior and south by land through modern-day Nimear, settled the northern Kajapas coastline, largely remaining bound by the formidable Irca Mountains. It was only several thousand years later (around 10,000 AD) that the interior of the country was populated via the tributaries of the vast Sythe River. Although both the indigenous peoples of the Kajapas coast and of the Sythian interior had little contact with each other, with largely different languages and religious practices, they developed similar hunter-gatherer cultures primarily subsisting on hunting, fishing and (in the case of the interior peoples) semi-nomadic migrant agriculture.
Inter-tribal cooperation would eventually lead to the formation of tribal confederations, of varying sizes, in the course of the period leading up to Euclean contact. Eventually, the arrival of the Ouncai in the 1300s would lead to the formation of one of the largest confederations in Asteria Inferior: the Ouncai Empire. The Ouncai, who had previously been forced to migrate east along the Irca Mountains, brought with them a wealth unseen before in the region. With both the coastal peoples and those of the interior, the Ouncai formed—first through skilled negotiation and later through warfare—a vast trade network between the different regions, eventually forging the Ouncai Empire in 1370. Despite their nominal domination, many of the Sythian peoples would effectively maintain their own language and culture whilst paying tribute to the Ouncai capital in Džapipaltas (Chawpi P'allta, or "central plain"). While the indigenous tribes under their rule largely preserved their own cultures, the Ouncai developed an extensive sedentary high-altitude agriculture system, as well as building large centrally-planned cities in the mountains that served as administrative centers for the confederation.
Despite their status as the economic center of the region, the Ouncai began to feel threatened by the growing Amaru Empire to the north, which had already incorporated many of the tribes on the Kajapas coast and threatened incursions into the Irca mountains, the Ouncai heartland. Furthermore, unrest had increased in the Sythian tribes following a poor harvest and a consequent increase in tribute rates, with some even breaking out into open resistance. This made for a fragile situation ripe to be exploited by Euclean colonizers.
Conquest and colonial period
It is suggested that the first Euclean to land on the shores of modern-day Vilcasuamanas was Sijbrand Kroese in 1511; however, while much of the northwest and coastal regions were claimed by the Hennish crown, no significant attempts at trade or contact with the natives would occur for several decades. In 1562, however, Kęstutis III Algirdas, Archduke of Ruttland, sought to take advantage of this seemingly-unexploited area and commissioned the Ruttish Asterian Company with an exclusive patent for trade between the 11th and the 14th parallels south. Limited trading expeditions would commence from 1564, although there was no large-scale attempts at habitation until the Company sent Juozapas Leikauskas, a soldier of the Crown, to lead a settlement at the mouth of the Kajapas River. In 1587, Leikauskas constructed Fort Tauragė, named after his hometown in Ruttland, from which they were able to pursue trade with the Mantanias coastal civilization.
The Mantanias, who chafed under the tributary rule of the Ouncai, joined a mass revolt of tribes against the Ouncai rulers in 1591 that greatly destabilized the region. Enticed by reports of an empire rich in gold and silver, Leikauskas took 200 soldiers (or užkariautojai) and embarked on an expedition into the interior, seeking to make direct contact with the Ouncai. The expedition was harried by both Ouncai warriors and their enemies, who both believed the Eucleans to support the other side, and Leikauskas was forced to return to Tauragė after losing nearly half of his force. Undeterred, however, he requested additional support from Ruttland, and by 1593, had amassed a combined force of 400 ''užkariautojai and thousands of indigenous warriors, set to march to Džapipaltas and capture the Ouncai Emperor, Atėvalipas. The expedition was successful and Leikauskas executed Atėvalipas, usurping the position of King of Džapipaltas (and thus, the Ouncai Emperor). Almost immediately, Leikauskas reformed the social structure of the empire, executing many nobles and forcibly converting the rest to Sotirianity. While retaining the allegiance of many of the coastal tribes that the Ruttish had first made contact with, there were prolonged revolts of both rebel Ouncai (loyal to the deposed dynasty) and the interior tribes, which feared abuses by the colonizers. From his new power base in Džapipaltas, Leikauskas would embark on three more expeditions into the interior, subjugating dozens of tribes; the indigenous peoples were additionally ravaged by epidemic diseases such as smallpox, to which they had no immunity. The last remnants of the Ouncai rebellion would fall in 1612.
While Leikauskas was consolidating his control over the Ouncai in the interior, the coastal settlements continued to grow. Of note, coastal trading forts were constructed in 1598 and 1613 that would respectively grow into the modern cities of Vandžiogalas and Biržuventis. The Ruttish Seimas in Lipliškės consolidated the holdings of the Ruttish Asterian Company into New Ruttland in 1615, encouraged by Leikauskas' success and hoping that a strong colonial presence would allow them disproportionate power among its neighbors in Euclea. To encourage immigration into the interior, they issued the Charter of Grants, which provided dvaras, or manorial grants, to new settlers. These dvaras were largely ruled through the patikėtinis system, which allowed the settlers to use their indigenous tenants (provided through cooperation from local vassal rulers) as feudal hard laborers, while "educating" them in the Sotirian religion. Although these dvaras became notorious for their abuses against workers, they were successful in spreading the Ruttish language and culture to the natives. Historian Jonas Bubnys argues that, by as early as 1650, the pre-Euclean native social structures had faded away completely. With this, the need for an Ouncai puppet state had disappeared, and in 1656, the Ouncai Empire of the interior (now a Ruttish colony in all but name) and the coastal settlements of New Ruttland were consolidated into the Viceduchy of Vilcasuamanas; Juozapas Leikauskas' grandson, Motiejus Leikauskas, was appointed Viceduke despite having been born in Džapipaltas.
Throughout the late 1600s, the economy of the Viceduchy thrived. The coastal towns of Tauragė, Biržuventis, and Vandžiogalas became some of the preeminent ports on the southwestern coast of Asteria Inferior, with their riverine access making it easy to ship sugar, banana, and tobacco crops produced in the interior. Due to desires to expand the lucative patikėtinis system that produced these crops, the Viceduchy began importing Bahian slave labor in the 1660s, while freeing some of the natives employed on the dvaras. In an effort to prevent the resurgence of a potentially-hostile native identity, the Viceduchy tacitly encouraged intermarriage between the white settlers and the indigenous women, which led to the Mišrus, a mixed-race ethnic group that had grown exponentially by the early 1700s. The rapid population growth in the Viceduchy led to growing tensions between the dvaras landowners and the central government in Tauragė, which was seafaring mercantile economy rather than an agricultural one. The Viceduchy itself began to struggle to maintain its control over the belligerent landowners, as support from Ruttland decreased, largely due to the Pereramonic Wars that were engulfed Euclea. The unstable situation in Euclea led to Viceduke Silvestras Žukauskas to offer concessions to the landowners, namely allowing them representation in local government of the colony with the creation of the Vilcasuamanas Seimas in 1702; although this placated the landowners for the time being, it would prove to be a major factor in the coming unrest in the colony over the next few decades.
Independence
The Pereramonic Wars, in which Ruttland and the Ahnemunde Confederation sided with the Floren Empire brought conflict to the Viceduchy, and several coastal cities were attacked by foreign fleets; Gaullican ships bombarded Tauragė in 1721 and an expeditionary force burned Vandžiogalas and Uosto Karališkoji in 1722. They besieged and captured Biržuventis, although were force to vacate it after the Treaty of Demora temporarily ended hostilities. The recommencement of the war in 1724 saw Tauragė, Biržuventis, and Uosto Ruttųija targeted, this time primarily by Estmerish forces seeking to gain territory in Asteria Inferior. The fall of the coastal cities was prevented by the raising of widespread colonial militias, primarily made up of Iškeltos, or Ruttish citizens born in Asteria. The fact that much of the success in maintaining the colony's integrity was creditable not to regular Ruttish troops, but to colonists, served to encourage a burgeoning sense of pride and national identity in the Iškeltos that was separate from that of Ruttland.
In the immediate aftermath of the Pereramonic Wars, the Viceduchy was allowed considerable autonomy from metropolitan Ruttland. This would not last, however, as domestic instability in Euclea toppled the Algirdas dynasty in 1752, instituting a revolutionary republic in Ruttland. The Ruttish monarchy and nobility fled to their Asterian colony, setting up the royal court in Tauragė. King Kristupas IV Algirdas continued to claim the Ruttish throne, but de facto controlled only Vilcasuamanas; he dismissed the Viceduke and immediately began centralizing power over the colony, much to the consternation of Iškeltos merchants and landowners, who resented the rollback of their autonomy. The court, in an attempt to finance a return to Euclea, increased taxes exponentially and began to enforce strict mercantilist policies, severely punishing trade with foreign adversaries; Iškeltos protests led to the disbanding of the Seimas in 1756. The annexation of Ruttland into Vredlandia in 1760 fueled the tensions between Eucleans and Iškeltos, as the former feared that Eucleans would never leave. In the early 1760s, several riots broke out in the cities; the harsh response from the Ruttish regulars only worsened the situation. In February 1762, mountain landowners in the Juodopė Voivodeship organized a militia to resist the encroachment of Royalist troops. News of successful engagements of these militias reached the urban centers and caused a popular fervor; the ensuing riots caused King Kristupas and the nobility to flee Tauragė for Biržuventis. Soon after, the revolutionaries formed the Directory of Tauragė, followed by revolutionary governments in several other cities of the country.
The revolutionaries met in Tauragė, and the Assembly of the Year LXII, despite being fractured between centralists and federalists, declared the colony's independence from the Ruttish monarchy as the Republic of Vilcasuamanas. Antanas Kupliauskas, a non-partisan retired soldier, was named Grand Marshal of the Revolutionary Armies (made up of all of the militias as well as new formations); in 1763 he assumed the position of Director of the Republic, which he later renamed to the modern office of President. Though they were generally outmatched by the Royalist Army, the revolutionaries had a material advantage after the riots in Vandžiogalas forced the abandonment of the Royal Arsenal there. Furthermore, they were able to use their native knowledge of the terrain with primitive guerilla tactics. This, combined with the support indigenous peoples, rapidly forced the royalists to withdraw to the coastal grasslands, where asymmetric warfare was less effective. Although a string of military defeats was compounded by infighting in the Provisional Seimas that threatened to tear the Republic apart, Kupliauskas decisively defeated the Royalist Army at the Battle of Boulingas Žalia, and moved to march Biržuventis in 1766. King Kristupas, fearing a repeat of the Weranic Revolution where half his family was killed, reluctantly set sail for Euclea, implicitly abandoning the royalist cause. By 1767, the last royalist formations had either defected or surrendered.
Unitarism vs. Confederalism
Early 20th century and Great War
Dictatorship and Democratization
Geography
Climate
Biodiversity
Government and politics
.jpg)
The Vilcasuamanian government is under the framework of a semi-presidential republic, which has existed in the country in various forms since independence in 1766, being codified by Teodoras Valančius' Constitution of 1816. In the early 19th century, Vilcasuamanas was torn between the Unitarians and the Federalists; the latter argued for a federal parliamentary system with power rooted in the Seimas, while the former preferred a centralized presidential system based on the Asterian model (which was implemented between 1786-1816 and 1868-1891). The system was devised as part of the Compromise of Nemenčinė between these two factions, and ultimately brought the First Vilcasuamanian Civil War to an end in 1816.
Executive power is rooted in the position of the President, who is directly elected to a four-year term, with a two term limit. The president is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, having the power to sign legislation into law (or to {{wpl|veto)) it) and to dissolve the Seimas, causing a snap election. The president has the power to appoint and dismiss his cabinet ministers, including the Chancellor (equivalent to the office of prime minister), who are (with the exception of the Foreign Minister, exclusively appointed by the President) dually accountable to the executive and to the Seimas. The President can also appoint other top civil servants and nominate members to the Supreme Court.
The Seimas, a unicameral body, is the base of the country's legislative branch, and is lead by the Chancellor. Composed of 140 members serving four year terms, ordinary elections for the Seimas take place every two years (junior deputies are elected concurrent with the presidential election) The Seimas has the authority to pass legislation through presidential vetoes with a two thirds majority. It can also dissolve the Chancellor's government through motions of no confidence, thus forcing the President to appoint a new Chancellor and cabinet representative of the majority in the Seimas. This can result in a period of cohabitation, where the executive's powers are limited to foreign affairs and Chancellor (and the Seimas) effectively controls domestic politics.
The Supreme Court of Vilcasuamas is the highest court in the country, subjecting laws and executive orders to judicial review. Its membership of 23 justices is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Seimas.