Eisenreich

Größeres Eisenreich Eisenland
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Suum cuique To each, his own
Anthem: [1] "Glory to the Empire"
Location of the Eisenreich Location of the Eisenreich
Capital	Eisenwald
Largest city	Salzstreif
Official languages	Ermanic and Sorbian
Demonym(s)	Eisener
Government
• Kaiser	Kaiser Conrad IX
• Chancellor	Chancellor Josefine von Ritter
• Heir Apparent	Felix von Hohenhoff
Legislature	Lantag
• Upper house	Reichsrat
• Lower house	Kaiserliche Versammlung
Establishment
• Ermanic Unification	238
• Mirror War	677
• Imperial Coronation	917
• Great Revolution	1623
• Imperial Reformation	1843
Population
• 2020 census	120,000,000
GDP (nominal)	2020 estimate
• Total	$5.1 Trillion
• Per capita	$40,800
Gini (2020)	30.7 medium
HDI (2020)	.880 very high
Currency	E Eisener Imperial Mark (EIM)
Date format	yyyy-mm-dd (official) dd-mm-yyyy (common use)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+05
Internet TLD	.er

Eisenreich, officially the Greater Iron Empire, is a large Hebrian nation of 120 million people located on a TBD land area along with overseas Imperial Dominions. To the nation's immediate south is the Twin Duchies with whom the Empire has enjoyed relative peace for nearly seven centuries and to the north-west is the allied state of Roste with whom the Empire shares a long and storied history. Currently the Empire is considered a major power in Regnum politics and serves as the leader of the Eisenpakt bloc of monarchist and nationalist governing nations. The Eisenreich is a successor state to the Lion Empire Löwenreich which was technically the third empire to make up the area that is the Eisenreich today.

History

Tiberian Empire and the Confederation

Following the rise of the Tiberian peoples in !Italy, their maritime trade and overland expansions led to contact with the southern Piscii tribe in the area that would be modern day Pentar. Eventually the Tiberian Empire would conquer a large southern third of the entirety of what is the modern Eisenreich. That third at the time came to be known as the Terminus Silvae (Frontier Forests) due to the ever expansive forests that reign across the heart of the Reich. Most of the major settlements established by the Tiberians were along the southern coast or along one of the major rivers coming from the Alps.

Beyond Tiberian controlled territory were the various Ermanic tribes. Beyond a few larger tribal settlements there were no significant population centers. Through their contact and trade with the Tiberian peoples, the Ermanic people were able to advance their own society. Some began to migrate south into the Terminus Silvae province of, eventually leading to a series of revolts known as the Ermani Revolts which would culiminate in the defeat of the revolt but at a high cost to the Empire following it's defeat at the Battle of Rote Blätter where a Legion was massacred by the Ermani. Following their defeat the Tiberians issued an ultimatum to the tribal confederation that had been created by the Ermani Leader, Alboin the Ermani who had successively united the 20 largest tribes in the area known as Ermania; the Confederation would pay tribute to the Empire or would face the wrath of its Legions. Debate raged but Alboin ruled that tribute would be paid to avoid the extinction of their people.

The next three centuries marked a period known in the area as Pax Magna Ermania which saw the developing Ermanic culture benefit from such close contact with the Tiberian Empire. Systems of governance, taxation and even examples of codes of laws could be seen to develop among the Ermani. When the Empire withdrew in the 4th Century CE, the Confederation moved south and took several of the prominent territorial cities and the capital of the Terminus Silvae province.

First Volkish Empire

The First Volkish Empire as it is known today has its roots in the northern tribelands and the southern territories which belonged to the !NotRomanEmpire for several centuries. During the First and Second Centuries of the Common Era, the lands of the Ermani tribes along the northern plains and coasts began to feel great changes as cultural innovations bled into their lands through trade with the !NotRomanEmpire. The loose tribal confederation that had sprung up to resist !Roman occupation and ultimately succeeded in keeping Greater Volkland out of the !NotRomanEmpire morphed into a group of petty realms as imperial influence receded. In their absence the Sorbian tribe embarked on a great campaign of unification of the Ermani peoples under their banner. King Leutpold I Batavin was able to bring the majority of the Volkish peoples under his banner in a series of conflicts in the Third Century and by 238 had succeeded in his initial goal. The First Volkish Empire was proclaimed and King Leutpold established the Batavine Dynasty which would rule until the time of the Dark Centuries in which an interregnum would see them unseated and succeeded eventually by the Anhauser Dynasty.

The First Empire was centered on the small village turned city Halle and during the First Empire's reign the village went from 5,000 people to a prosperous 90,000. The city today boasts its lineage back to the First Empire and is the place at which all Kaisers of the Eisenreich pay homage in the form of a pilgrimage after the death of their predecessor. The First Empire's Golden Age is attributed to its vast mineral and agricultural wealth that was traded with neighboring states. During the Fifth Century a succession dispute known only as the Scorned Interregnum erupted after the death of Kaiser Leopold II which saw the city of Halle completely burned and the records kept there carted off and the vast majority of which were never recovered. A series of three Emperors claimed to reign in this Interregnum but it would be Conrad I Anhauser who would emerge successfully from his seat of power at Altenburg and would restore authority to the ailing empire. Unfortunately internal and external pressures had mounted in the Interregnum and would come to a head when Conrad died just ten years later without having been able to fully achieve reunification. The Empire formally was dissolved by the Diet of Altenburg in 580.

Dark Centuries

Following the Interregnum and the general collapse of Imperial Authority under the Batavin dynasty, the First Ermanic Empire was dissolved by majority vote of the Regnal Electors at the Diet of Altenburg in 580 of the Common Era. Between 580 and 917 of the Common Era, the territories of the Ermanic Peoples were disunited and constant warfare was commonplace. The absence of a strong central authority had led to great strife and a seemingly never ending dark cloud hung over the identity of the people. The general life expectancy, local economies and the orderly society that had been established under the Batavine was gone and a wandering era had begun. Adding salt to the wound a major conflict known as the Mirror War broke out between two of the strongest Kingdoms in 677 and would last as an off again, on again conflict for thirty years until 707.

The Mirror War

In 677 the King Markus von Einhalle of the Kingdom of Batavia had betrothed his daughter to his arch-rival the King Arnulf von Meer of the Kingdom of Louvain but on her way to Louvstadt her entourage was attacked and killed. The Princess Josephine was beheaded and her father immediately assumed the worst and thus ordered an attack against King Arnulf. Within just weeks the entirety of the old Ermanic Empire was consumed in the conflagration that had erupted. Though historians today debate whether Markus or Arnulf were behind the death of the Princess, the truth was never discovered as both men died before the end of the conflict and none close to them ever confirmed if either had been behind the event that had started the conflict.

Both the Kingdom of Batavia and the Kingdom of Louvain were leaders of alliances that had formed for mutual protection. The economic and military might both Kingdoms enjoyed allowed them to flex their muscle and influence the smaller Kingdoms and Petty States around them. Batavia struck first and was able to take several border cities and castles in the months after the Princess' death. Fearing that mobilization of his allies would take too long King Arnulf of Louvain challenged King Markus to single combat as was an ancient custom from the First Empire. The two met in the neutral Free City of Iserlohn where they dueled. Unfortunately King Arnulf had tricks up his sleeve and though he was able to strike down King Markus, the latter's heir and successor, Prince Wilhelm refused to accept the terms and continued the war on the grounds that Arnulf had poisoned Markus through the wine they shared before the battle. Though a weak and relatively unsupported claim, an attendant dropped dead from poison within an hour seemingly confirming the now King Wilhelm von Einhalle's thoughts.

The War would heat up and major battles would be fought most notably at Marl, Lünen and Rothenburg. Joining Batavia were the Kingdoms of Perlen, Speerhalten and the Duchies of Bernstein, Würze and Fluss der Glätte. Joining Louvain was the Kingdom of Toussaint, Duchies of Aster and Bergmeer and the Freie Städte Republik (Free Cities Republic). The powers outside the conflict had varied influence on the matter and some would lend mercenaries, supplies or finances to the warring factions which certainly prolonged the war. King Arnulf of Louvain would be killed in the Battle of Marl in 685 and his successor Arnulf II would be slain at the hands of assassins sent by King Wilhelm of Batavia in 691. King Wilhelm was killed by his wife after the death of their son at the Battle of Rothenburg in 700. It would be in 705 that King Wilhelm Louis I von Einhalle and King Rudolf I von Meer at the behest of the !PopeName would finally sit down and begin the arduous task of ending the war and what had become a blood feud between the Kingdoms. Finally in 707 the two agreed that King Wilhelm Louis' son Geoffrey and King Rudolf's daughter Hildegarde would be wed and the two Kingdoms would be united through their offspring.

Adlerreich

The two centuries between the formal proclamation of the Second Empire also known as The Eagle Empire (Adlerreich) and the Mirror War (677-707CE) saw the Salt Union (Salzverbindung) which was made up of the Former Kingdoms of Batavia and Louvain expand and consolidate it's possessions along the Northern Coast and Heartlands. Under the von Salz dynasty the Union was able to bring in the formerly allied territories that had sided with Batavia and Louvain against one another in the Mirror War. Dynastic unions by the von Salz dynasty allowed them to expand their influence in neighboring realms until such a time came that those realms were inherited into the new Empire.

A great time of change came in 902 when the crown prince of the Empire died unexpectedly while on a hunting excursion which thrust the control of House von Salz into confusion as the ailing Emperor Conrad V had grown sickly and frail in his advanced age. Without other legitimate issue the throne would be destined to pass to the young Princess Joanna von Wiessen who was at the time married to the Duke of Hochland. A Diet was held in the Imperial capital of Adlerhoff in 903 in the hopes of finding a solution. Many of the old aristocratic families preferred the Princess as the next Kaiserin and that her children with the Duke would become heirs to the Eagle Throne. Notably the old Royal Houses of Batavia and Louvain supported the Princess' claims and that of her children but when the votes were cast in secret the results shocked the Empire. With 128 Electors in favor of the Princess and 130 in favor of a new dynasty taking the helm the von Salz were dethroned when the Emperor Conrad died in 904. A brief Interregnum ensued when the Crown Council of the Empire reigned in Regency while the matter was further discussed. Multiple attempts were made to restore the Princess and her heirs to the line of succession and the Princess went so far as to say that her third child the young Count Maximilian could succeed rather than her did little to win support among the hold out electors. By 905 calls for the Council to just choose someone else began to grow and the nation was beginning to face pressure from both external and internal factors as a series of small scale rebellions by rogue electors who wanted independence were crushed but still gathered general support.

Finally in the later half of 905 the Crown Council abolished the Adlerreich and established the short lived Ermanic Confederation in which the Electors would oversee six constituent realms each with a King or Queen who would appoint one member to the new Council and through consensus they would lead the Empire. The reconstitution of the Empire into the Confederation was bloody and unfortunate. The Kingdoms of Batavia and Louvain along with the newly formed Kingdom of Hochland supported the Confederation. The Kingdoms of Ardenen, Rinde and Merovia were dissenters of the new Confederation and resisted through their combined military might the calls to join. The year 906 witnessed the hostilities finally erupt into outright warfare when the Confederal Armies marched into Rinde and detained the King until he signed away his throne which passed to his son and heir who fearing the same chose to join the Confederation. Citing the gross actions of the Confederal forces, the King Siegfried I von Heisen of Merovia declared war upon the Confederation and sought allies both within the Confederation and outside.

The remainder of 906 saw limited battles but in 907 the Confederal Forces were drawn into a protracted siege of Merovia's capital of Tränen des Himmels. King Siegfried was able to escape the city and rally allied forces before finally challenging the Confederal Forces and relieving the city by the end of the year. Another decisive battle in early 908 saw the Confederation's navy nearly wiped out at the Battle of the White Cliffs. Finally in 909 the Confederal Council conceded the war was too costly in both finances and lives to continue and sent a missive to King Siegfried to begin drawing up terms. Seeing the opportunity to empower his family King Siegfried opted to forgo the Imperial throne for himself and instead chose his nephew by his sister to become the new Kaiser of a new Empire. Thus the Empire of Lions was born, the name taken from the new Imperial House Löwen and their sigil which was a lion.

Early Löwenreich

!!Note that this section is heavily dependent on an !Italy being present in the region so that I can work out this shared cannon. !!Figuring out the Crusades, Neighboring conflicts, Expansion into !NorthAfrica

Newly proclaimed Emperor Charles von Löwen of the Löwenreich had the arduous task of bringing the old Confederal Kingdoms of Batavia, Louvain and Hochland in line with the new throne and capital of Löwenberg. Batavia in particular proved to be an issue as they resisted all calls by the other realms and even a personal offer from the Emperor to retain all sovereign authority with their realm. The matter was finally setted when the Batavian King died childless and the Diet of Halle decided to promote a junior aristocratic family to the vacant throne. House von Arlo swore fealty to the new Empire and the Emperor showing their gratitude for the appointment. The von Arlo dynasty still reigns in Batavia to this day and have had several notable figures throughout Imperial History. Louvain and Hochland saw less resistance and would become some of the more economically productive realms in the empire.

The Löwenreich was seen as a relative golden age for the Ermanic peoples and would see them reach their greatest heights. The 900s were mostly considered to be a consolidation period within the Empire as House von Löwen continued to show the rest of the Empire that it was important to lead by example as Emperor after Emperor was of scholarly pursuit and culture thrived in what is now referred to as the High Ermanic Period. Architecture, writings and cuisine that are indicative of the Eisenreich of the modern era would begin to take a distinctly familiar appearance as precursors.

In 917 Emperor Charles sought an audience with !Pope and after deliberation, charity and acceptance of !Papal Primacy he was crowned as Holy Emperor. Tacked onto the growing list of titles used and owned by the Löwen monarchs, the title of "His Holy Majesty" was not uncommon. Following the coronation the Emperor Charles chose not to advance into !Italy and thus not threaten any temporal realms of the !Pope but his successors would not carry on the same hesitancy. Charles died in 931 and was succeeded by his son Bertold I von Löwen who would oversee the Empire marching to the southern coast through the acquisition of the Kingdoms of Sommerland and Wollhafen. After the annexation of the last Ermanic peoples in 971 then Emperor Charles II von Löwen proclaimed that all of !Italy would be brought into the Empire which was met with disdain by the !Pope. The !Italian Wars would consume the Empire for nearly two centuries with progress being steady before finally being completed in 1118 CE.

Late Löwenreich

!!Note the Late Löwenreich is when most of the colonial ventures are done as well as a consolidation of power behind the throne. Also going on in this time is the effort to have dynastic succession abroad so there was a general push for cooperation with major neighboring powers will attempting to hold on to our extent of territory. Most notable is the loss of !Italy in this period of the Empire's history.

Great Revolution of 1623

!!Note a !France or other sizeable long term rival would be desired to help tip the Empire into a civil war following a catastrophic defeat in a battle somewhere. Going to use this to liberalize during the Enlightenment before the Reformative War makes the nation more militaristic and authoritarian in nature.

Imperial Reformative War

!!Note makes the Empire far more authoritarian and militaristic. Civil War lasting from 1833-1841 seeing the end of the Löwenreich and the establishment of the Eisenreich. House von Hohenhoff comes to the Imperial throne at this time. Would like outside involvement in the civil war to prolong the matter. Should see some moves against our colonies in this period as well as we are substantially weakened by the internal fighting.

Great Wars

Second Great War

!!Note I believe the Eisenpakt was created following this war and sets the world up for our Cold War today. The Empire likely was considered to be the primary victor in the conflict and would certainly lead to the authoritarian bloc having some major clout and muscle to flex in the 1940s-1960s before Arcadia awakens too much.

The Modern Empire

!!Note since the 1950s the Empire has trended more conservative and more authoritarian in politics though the national mood has stayed relatively centrist overall. The ruling elite tend towards a nationalistic approach and have tried to push that abroad through force if necessary but soft diplomacy has been the Empire's go to method since the Millennium Crash severely hampered the economy in the early 2000s. The ailing Emperor of the Modern Empire wishes for change and his heir apparent seems keen to see a liberalization of the Empire. Forces within the Empire are keen to prevent such a thing thus setting up some interesting internal politicking