Foreign relations of Themiclesia

The foreign relations of Themiclesia are the affairs that the government of Themiclesia undertakes with foreign governments as counterparty, under the political purview and responsibility of the Minister of the Left and the Ministry of Diplomacy in his portfolio. Such affairs may take place between governments directly or through an international organization. While the foreign policy of Themiclesia has changed under successive administrations, since the mid-19th Century, it has primarily been focused on the avoidance of armed conflict and the promotion of trade. Most political parties in Themiclesia consider these objectives beneficial for Themiclesia, and as such the broader direction and end of foreign affairs is not usually the most controversial policy area.

The historical experience of Themiclesian in dealing with foreign powers has profoundly shaped the dominant philosophy in foreign affairs today. In general, Themiclesia has experienced more losses than victories in warfare since the 14th Century, and an emphasis on commercial presence has been conceived by some schools of thought as the "response measure" to military defeat. They cite transcripts of discussions at the imperial court, some of which did contain at least fleeting references to a conscious effort to increase volume of trade, through which government revenue could be secured after losses in territory. Treaties with polities in Dzhungestan, Maverica, and pre-modern Columbia have been connected to this effort. Military conquest, on the other hand, was deemed sub-optimal, if not unethical, under traditional philosophies, and the court never saw a lack of officials blaming fiscal shortfalls on expenditures on the military.

Currently, the Themiclesian government has stated that it follows "an old policy adjusted to face new challenges"; in line with the government's stipulations, most experts agree that the government has cautiously followed the "old path" of "conciliation and compromise". The Opposition has derided the policy as "the policy that never changes". The principal objectives are, as identified by the government, to maintain the pre-2017 status quo of relations with the Organized States (which has recently been afflicted with a coup against its president-elect), to preserve and improve existing agreements with the GA powers, and to mediate differences between Menghe and Maverica when necessary.

Casaterra

Eisenmaat

Eisenmaat has shared comparatively few relationships with Themiclesia until the Pan-Septentrion War, during which Themiclesia frequently operated convoys from the Organized States to Casaterra, and Eisenmaat was a recipient of them. Even though Eisenmaat tends towards neutrality in recent years, Themiclesia finds in it an "ally in spirit" on the common grounds of a non-confrontational, non-provocative foreign policy. In 2004, the Themiclesian Army procured a large order of the HK-416 rifle, from an Eisenmaat manufacturer, for its infantry units.

Tyran

Tyran has had mixed relations with Themiclesia in the past, but currently they are on good terms with each other. The early interactions between the two states mainly occurred in the modern-day Organized States, when Tyrannian colonists arrived on the east coast of the region and attempted to refuse remittance of taxation to the Themiclesian crown. The colonists were generally successful in remaining independent of the influence of Themiclesia in the 17th and early 18th centuries. When the colonists rebelled in the late 1700s, Themiclesia abetted the rebels and prevented the Tyrannian Royal Navy from enforcing a blockade on them; nevertheless, Themiclesia lost her entire ocean-going fleet in the ensuring Raid on Rad. Relations between the two states quickly re-normalized through frequent commercial interaction afterwards.

In the Pan-Septentrion War, Tyran has deployed a considerable number of soldiers to aid in Themiclesia's defences against the Menghean and Dayashinese incursion. Today, Themiclesia's continued commercial partnership with Tyran continues to be fruitful for both parties, and a great quantity of arms and other goods are traded between the two states. Tyran is the fourth-largest trading partner of Themiclesia. The 2016 state visit by the Tyrannian monarch, King Richard, to Themiclesia, meeting the (late) Emperor Shljaps-tsung, has been seen as an affirmation of the positive, amiable, and mutual feelings that the two countries share towards each other.

Ostland

Ostland has had mixed relations with Themiclesia in the past, but currently they are on good terms with each other, as members of the Grand Alliance.

Rajamaan Yhdysvallat

Rajamaa has had mixed relations with Themiclesia in the past, but currently they are on good terms with each other, as members of the Grand Alliance.

Yugoslovenski

Contact between Yugoslovenski and Themiclesia has been minimal prior to the Pan-Septentrion War. Since then, Yugoslovenski's close alignment with the FSR has placed it opposite the GA bloc, of which Themiclesia is part. After the end of FSR's dominion over Yugoslovenski, the two states have since made remarkable progress in their friendship, largely through Yugoslovenski's entry into the GA. In 2017, the Themiclesian Ministry of Defence placed an order for the M09 rifle, which otherwise is known in Eisenmaat as the HK-417; this order was publicly announced by the respective defence ministers as a major success.

Hemithea

Dayashina

Themiclesia's relationship with Dayashina has been complex. The two countries knew about each other in antiquity, but few interactions occurred until Dayashina opened itself to the world in the 1850s. Themiclesia's policy of reducing defence expenditure and focusing on commerce contrasts with Dayashina's state-first policy that emphasized military strength and conquest. While the two countries would take diametrically opposite paths towards modernity, a surprising degree of comparison has been discovered in their respective policies, including encouragement to learning in foreign states and exports. In the early 1900s, Dayashinese Imperial Army cadets studied in Themiclesia's regionally-renowned Army Academy (Themiclesia), where they received degrees in foreign relations and military science. Dayashina, having made Menghe its ideological and strategic ally, came into conflict with Themiclesia in the Pan-Septentrion War. Both pre- and post-war, a large number of Dayashinese people, for their political and economic views, have emigrated and settled in Themiclesia. This community thrives to this day and has fostered a connection between the two countries that exists beyond the diplomatic level.

As allies through the Grand Alliance, Themiclesia is strategically aligned with Dayashina, sharing common obligations within that framework. Both countries possess significant commercial interests in each other's stability and co-operation. In 2018, the nominal GDP/capita figure of Dayashina-proper exceeded that of Themiclesia; it is notable that the figure based on purchasing-power parity is already ahead of Themiclesia as early as 2007. Though this did not initially come as a surprise in Themiclesia, whose economy has been stagnating for the past ten years or so, Dayashinese PM Noru's positing it as an achievement of his government has generated some distaste in Themiclesian tabloids. There is also a considerable amount of rather-toxic banter on the Internet over the validity of this surpassing; some Themiclesian netizens consider this announcement "is to economics what gerrymandering is to politics".

Menghe

Ideological difference has, to an unparallelled extent, shaped the relationship of Menghe with Themiclesia prior to the modern era. After the Meng Dynasty ruling house migrated to Themiclesia in 542, all subsequent Themiclesian dynasties claimed and legitimized their rule on the basis of heritage from the Meng Dynasty, which fell in 287 but remained as a regional polity until 542. This necessarily cast Menghean dynasties as politically illegitimate and culturally barbarous, a source of bitterness in Menghe that eventually culminated in its invasion and subjugation of Themiclesia in 1385. While Menghe under the Yi Dynasty exacted tribute from Themiclesia, the latter described it merely as exchanging of embassies. While that no longer remains the dynamic between them, Menghean glorification of the invasion has periodically drawn criticism from the Themiclesian public, which sees it as bait to an escelation of tenseness with ulterior motives. In particular, the canonization and construction of a Chŏndoism shrine towards Cho Myŏng-wŏn (趙命元, drjawh-mrjangs-nhwjan), the general leading the 1385 invasion, has been questioned by many Themiclesians.

Nevertheless, Themiclesia has, since the reforms of 1988 in Menghe, actively sought to build a positive relationship with it. To the Themiclesian government, Menghe serves as a counterweight to the implicit threat that Maverica, through its large armed forces and sometimes aggressive policies, poses. This construction existed since the late 1960s, when Menghe and Maverica quickly cooled towards each other, despite being socialist states. Despite ideological similarity, hostility existed in no small part as a continuation of the Pan-Septentrion War. When a widespread famine destroyed the communist regime in 1988, Themiclesia was amongst the first states to send relief in victuals and medicine to the emaciated Menghean populace. Somewhat more controversially, it was quickly followed by the gift of an entire railway train (valued at more than OSD$60,100,000) to the Menghean leader. Some described it as blatant bribery. It has been posited that the inclusion of a salon car, typically reserved for heads of state, was a strategic indication of "particular confidence" to Choe Sŭng-min, when he was yet nominally subordinate to Marshal Baek (Prak in Themiclesia).

Nukkumaa

Formal diplomatic relations with Nukkumaa only commenced into the 20th Century, as before then the crown of Rajamaa held dominion over the boreal state, though it enjoyed a degree of autonomy on domestic affairs prior to confederation. The administrative region of Sngrak-tshiu (朔州), now known as Lahjamaa, inhabited mostly by ethnic Rajian settlers, was transferred to Nukkumaa on the fulfilment of the Compromise of Sngrak-tju. In the modern day, bilateral relations between Nukkumaa and Themiclesia is founded on their common membership in the GA and commercial links. As founding members of the Central Hemithean Economic Alliance (CHE), Nukkumaa is a key exporter of minerals to Themiclesia since well before the 20th Century

Organized States of Columbia

Within Hemithea, the most important ally that Themiclesia has has been identified by political figures and analysts as Organized States. The OS being a leading world power and the largest economy by volume, Themiclesia's economy is highly integrated with it. To preserve this mutual relationship, the government has generally sought to co-operate with the demands of the Columbian government as much as practically possible, and to some extent this is also true in the opposite direction. Themiclesia's history of colonial activities in western Hemithea brought it into contact and, sometimes, conflict with the polities whose emigrants formed the Organized States. In an effort to reduce Tyrannian naval influence in the Halu'an Sea, the Themiclesian government heavily abetted in the OS' independence. As the latter gradually grew to assert itself internationally, Themiclesia's relative influence steadily waned in Hemithea, but not without growing commercial reciprocity from the OS.

After the establishment of OS, Themiclesia exported its tea, porcelain, and fabrics to the OS and the Casaterran states, in which Themiclesian finery were in vogue. These markets encouraged Themiclesia's economy to develop beyond subsistence agriculture and cottage industry. During the OS Civil War, Themiclesia maintained diplomatic relations with the Union but did not prevent the rebels from using its ports or purchasing its goods. In the 1890s, Themiclesia suffered a serious flood in the industrial town of Gep-bow, which was followed by agricultural depression, a chain of bankruptcies, and economic stagnation; Themiclesian acquired preferential investment from the OS, while permitting the stationing of OS forces in its territories for the next 30 years, via the Treaty of Mutual Friendship (1897). Some historians describe relations in this period and particularly under that treaty as unequal, in view of the influence of the OS government in Themiclesia and the presence of its troops.

Regardless of the political ramifications of the Treaty, OS investment revived and extended the Themiclesian manufacturing sector, even paving its way for diversification with the settlement of new, OS companies in industries previously absent in Themiclesia. In consequence of a revision of the 1897 Treaty, permitting OS Marines to go beyond their garrisons in Themiclesia without permission from the latter's government, numerous fatal incidents resulted; in both the 1921 and 1926 case, the Themiclesian government defended OS interests and caused most of the casualties in its citizens. These two events inspired the Themiclesian Nationalist Party to gain public sympathy; a demonstration-turned-uprising by this party, calling for re-aligning the nation with Menghe and Dayashina, was suppressed by the government under the legally-dubious pretext of sedition in 1932, this time with over 400 fatalies, albeit in no small part due to miscommunication. Yet at the same time, Themiclesian industrialists and diplomats also amassed an influential lobby at the OS Congress; they remain active. They negotiated the OS' supplying of weapons to Themiclesia in the late 30s, when the former was officially neutral towards Menghe.

In Jun. 1941, the OS deployed to assist Themiclesia in defending against Menghean and Dayashinese invaders. They far-outnumbered Themiclesians, who could stall but not completely repulse their combined advance. OS participation prevented the capital city Kien-k'ang from falling into Dayashinese hands, which would have been a major blow to morale. Allied forces in Themiclesia quickly routed the Mengheans and Dayashinese, repelling them beyond the border in Dec. 13, 1943. After the war, Themiclesia joined the Grand Alliance, as a founding member. The first aid remittance the OS granted (1945) was towards Themiclesia's reconstruction after almost 20 years of semi-continuous warfare; some sources note that the Themiclesian Lobby in the OS Congress popularized the idea Themiclesia's resistance towards Menghe and Dayashina deserved recognition from the OS, because if Themiclesia surrendered, OS itself could have been invaded before it was ready for war.

See also

• Themiclesia