Ottonia

Ottonia Eona
Establishment
• Establishment of the Ottonian Empire	792 CE
• Panallamunnic Alliance	April 17th, 1811
• Treaty of Ottonia	September 21st, 1872
• Partition of Ottonia	January 1st, 1950
Population
• 2020 estimate	125 million

Ottonia, known by many inhabitants as Eona is an area in the region of Ajax on the northwestern edge of the continent of Belisaria. Depending on where one considers the boundaries of the region to be, the area is divided between either three or four nations: the Union of Ottonia, the Ottonian Federal Republic, the Kingdom of Sudmark, Erishland, and, more controversially, the Blessed Republic of Valgtea (formerly Ostmark). All five nations have ties to the historical Ottonian Empire from which the common exonym for the region takes its name.

History

Main article: History of the Ottonia

During the centuries immediately before and after the turn of the Common Era, the area was inhabited by Celtic-speaking peoples (Corvae in the north and east, Eoni in the south and west). In the late first century of the common era, forces of the Latin Empire encroached into the area, reaching Sudmark, the modern Union of Ottonia, and parts of Torrslynd, incorporated as the provinces of Eona Superior and Eona Inferior. The Latin presence in the area grew weaker in the 4th Century CE as the Germanic-speaking Allamunnae migrated into the area, partially subjugating and partially displacing the Latin and Celtic-speaking peoples. By the dawn of the 6th Century CE, Latin authority in the area had evaporated, and the area was ruled by an assortment of Allamunnic, Corvaik, and Eoni-speaking petty states.

Christian missionaries in the south of modern Ottonia were fairly effective in converting a large share of the population entering the 8th century CE, and a local ruler named Otto, who had established a hegemony over much of what is now the state of Onneria in the Union of Ottonia, began a series of conquests aimed at spreading Christianity to the pagan inhabitants of the area. By the time Otto died in 831 CE, the modern areas of all five modern states were within his empire. Although Otto's eldest son Theodurik and his direct descendents attempted to continue to rule the massive realm, territory to the east began to break away almost immediately. By the time Theodurik's last direct heir died in 1159 CE, the empire had functionally ceased to exist. The area would be dominated by a large number of states over the next several centuries.

In the 1700's, seeking safety against outside threats, several of these states began to ally with one another, culminating in 1811 with the foundation of the Pan-Ottonian Alliance. In addition, the alliance as well as a general revival of the arts and history of the Empire caused a swell of pan-Ottonian nationalism over the course of the century. Key in this trend was the development of Over the ensuing half-century following the establishment of the POA, the central body of the Alliance grew in power, causing fear of several of the sovereign members of the alliance that a take-over might be attempted.

In an attempt to head off this threat, constituent states dispatched forces to the central city of Ottonia to disperse a proposed multinational force being formed to serve the entire alliance. The Siege of Ottonia kicked off the Ottonian Wars of Unification which would finally conclude in 1872 with the signing of the Treaty of Ottonia which established the Ottonian Federation under a central republican government over the various constituent states. This state of affairs would last until 1915, when an alliance of the ruling families of Ottonia's constituent monarchies attempted a coup to overthrow the central government and replace it with a pan-Ottonian dynasty. This resulted in the First Ottonian Civil War, which lasted from 1915 to 1918, ending in the overthrow of the Republican government (which went into exile in Ostrozava) and its replacement with a military dictatorship serving at the pleasure of the monarchs of the Ottonian component states.

Although the country rebuilt and experienced a small economic boom in the following decade and a half, that would come to an end when Ghant invaded in 1935. Although the invaders were repelled by 1939, it was not before the country's industrialized and prosperous western coast was devastated. The economic fallout, as well as a corrupt recovery effort led by Premier Kaarlus Klaussunn, resulted in growing unrest and the formation of the Popular Front in 1943, and a general strike in 1945. Attempts to quash the strikes and protests with violence led to mutinies and further violence, and the Second Ottonian Civil War began. The Popular Front was nearly crushed at the outset, but between its popular support and outside support rallied by the exiled republican government, it survived, reorganized, and began to push back. By 1948, Popular Front and Republican forces held 3/4 of the country and were moving to crush the remaining Royalists. Foreign intervention pushed the Republican forces back and stabilized a front in late 1948 and early 1949, and negotiations began to bring the war, rapidly devolving into a bloody stalemate, to an end.

The resulting Partition of Ottonia, which took effect on the first of the year 1950, set the final front lines as the border between the Republican & Popular Front-led "North Ottonia" and the Royalist-led "South Ottonia".