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History

Prehistory

Interior paintings of the caves near Laskauen, approximately up to 20,000 years old

The oldest traces of human life in what is now Mascylla date from approximately 1.8 million years ago. Humans were then confronted by a harsh and variable climate, marked by several glacial eras. Early hominids led a nomadic hunter-gatherer life. The oldest discovered complete set of tools, majorly hunting weapons, were discovered dating back around 22,000 BCE, indicating the presence of intelligent hunters that early. Mascylla has a large number of decorated caves from the upper Palaeolithic era, including one of the most famous and best preserved in Erdara and abroad, the caves near the city of Laskauen (approximately 18,000 BCE). Most of interior Mascylla was until that time defined by the presence of an enourmous freshwater lake, the Lendyra Sea. However, the Lendyra holocene impact event destroyed the lake and devastated large areas in central Mascylla, leading to a temporary halt in human development in the region for another millenium.

At the end of the last glacial period (9,000 BCE), the climate became milder; from approximately 5,000 BCE, this part of Erdara entered the Neolithic era and its inhabitants became sedentary. Evidence suggests the first real city was built near the coast of the White Sea in today Warnowen, with the discovery of fire places, rough architectural outlines, and even a primitive version of a sewer system put in place.

After strong demographic, cultural and agricultural development between the 4th and 3rd millennia, forming bigger societies and ethnicities, metallurgy appeared at the end of the 2rd millennium, initially working gold, copper and bronze, and later iron. Musical instruments and depictions of animals and humans as figures were also found being manufactured at that time. Mascylla has numerous megalithic sites from the Neolithic period, including the exceptionally dense Tholstein stones site (approximately 3,300 BCE). At the same time, first astrological tools, like the famous Alterst sky disk made as an artifact out of granite and gold, were presumably created.

Antiquity

A dated depiction of a Mascyllary family, c. 300

In 600 BCE, Terunder people, originating from the southern lands of today Krumlau, founded the colony of Kolceylla (present-day Koltburg), on the shores of Warne river, which they passed on an adventurous expedition north, thus making it Mascylla's oldest, still inhabited city. At the same time, some Finstrian tribes penetrated parts of the current territory of Mascylla, either by landbased expeditions or over the White Sea and this occupation spread to the rest of Mascylla between the 5th and 3rd century BCE. The concept of Hesurian Erdara emerged at that time; it corresponds to the territories of ethnic Hesurian settlement ranging between the Blaugold, the Lanne, the Delchsesee and Lake Sigismund. The borders of modern Mascylla are roughly the same as those of the spread of ancient Hesurian tribes, which was inhabited by said peoples. Today Mascylla was then a for agricultural purposes prosperous land, of which the central and eastern part was heavily subject to various indigenous and recently created cultural and economic influences. The enriched soil and dense forests established various cultures, as most where cut off from one another by geographical subjects.

Model of Folksche (today Falkenhall) in 100 BCE

Around 125 BCE, the south of Mascylla was largely brought under the control of the Adwhin, ending much tribal dispute in the region. Mascylla was then finally divided by chiefs of their tribes in the first diplomatic meeting of this sort, the so-called Council of the First, into political provinces. Many cities were founded during this period, including Folksche (present-day Falkenhall), which is considered the largest city of the area of Mascylla at that time. These cities were built in traditional Hesurian style, with a central marketplace, a wedding house, a holy church, a house for the chief and small cooking places, all made out of timber, animal skin or grass. The Hesurians mixed with other distinct settlers and eventually adopted their own culture and their own variated speech (High Hesurian, from which the Mascyllary language evolved). The unique polytheism merged with the Hesurian paganism into the same syncretism.

From the 250s to the 280s CE, Mascyllary, now duchies and kingdoms, suffered a serious crisis when its fortified borders were being attacked on several occasions by foreign hordes, mostly originating from Finstria and Rotsir. Nonethless, the situation improved in the first half of the 4th century, which was a period of revival and prosperity for the Mascyllary Hesurian people. In 312, King Wolfgang II of Fahnicht, converted to a version of Mascyllary paganism, making this an appearance for following centuries. Subsequently, paganists, who had been persecuted until then, increased rapidly across the entire basin. But, from the beginning of the 5th century on, foreign invasion resumed again, and Alriikan tribes, such as the Jusnes, Tranwhens and Alans crossed the channel and settled in today Jusland and other parts of the most northern shorelines.

Until then, contact from most of the world was very limited, until new trade routes through the waterways of Lake Sigismund enabled travelers to reach the White Sea.

Early Middle Ages

Depiction of Loudwigh I of Aldia (469-511) and his court

At the end of antiquity, ancient Mascylla was divided into several dozens of smaller Hesurian kingdoms and duchies, decentralising and deviding cultural groups, which would hinder the creation of Mascylla as a nation state for centuries later. Simultaneously, distant hordes settled the western part of Warnowen's coastlands for its agricultural value. As a result, the Skeilla peninsula was renamed Warnowen, its micro-culture was mostly revived and numerous independent petty duchies arose in this region, a trend for all of Mascylla's prolonging cultural distanciation.

The pagan Mascyllary originally settled the mid-eastern part of Mascylla, but under Loudwigh I of Aldia spread its cultural and liguistic, standardised versions of the already most prominent Hesurian cultures, into most of the other kingdoms in northern and southern Mascylla. In 498, Loudwigh I was the first Hesurian, so said, "king", as he gathered his followers and inspired admiration and submission. He was then forced to convert to Cathartic Ditanery in order to maintain his legitimacy as ruler; by now Ditanery has grown as a leading religious faction in Mascylla and it quickly converted to its beliefs.

The Aldian Crown, one of the oldest ensignias of Ditanery and symbol of Mascylla

The Mascyllary mostly embraced the Ditanist culture and ancient Mascylla was eventually replaced with a set of disperse cultural identities. The Mascyllary Hesurian people adopted standardized Low Hesurian, except in northern Mascylla where Low Hesurian settlements were less dense and where Higher languages emerged.

The Mascyllary treated land purely as a private possession and divided it among their heirs, so around two-hundred principalities emerged, all in small skirmishes with one another. The various kings lost prestige over time, which led to a growing hatred towards the ever-growing oppression and taxation of the lowest social grade, in order to finance the militaries needed for territorial integrity. In 920, reports suggest various protests of enfuriated subjects, which was brutally put down by depopulating entire regions and dismantling whole communities. Though this war seemed successful at first, it only seized further disarray with the nobility and the peasantry. In Terunder for example, during what was known as the Peasant's Revolt, dispersed soldiers and farmers rose up and defenestrated their liege lords in a quick siege of Weidbach castle. Other examples of extreme brutality were observed all over the countryside.

Ragucin control and late Middle Ages (1297–1404)

Further reading: Ragucin Empire, Dilisme

The Mascyllary states after the end of the Dilisme's War and the Peace of Westmarke in 1297

In the early 13th century there was much discontent occasioned by abuses such as indulgences in the Ditanist Church, caused by the noticable and threatening expansion of the nearby Ragucin Empire and its historic predecessors, and a general desire for reform. This sparked various riots and larger civil unrest, sincerely demanding its return to a more formal policy, which divided those of stornger faith and opposing people, ending in harrasments, riots, and civil wars among many small states.

The Battle of Elsterwitz, the last decisive battle in Dilisme's War between the Ragucin and Mascyllary armies

From 1291 to 1297 Dilisme's War raged in Mascylla. Its causes were the personal conflicts between states, the efforts by the various states within to increase their power, and the Ragucin Empire's attempt to achieve the administrative and political unity of the realm. The immediate occasion for the war was the raid of the Ragucin cavalry of Juznia against the current duke, but the conflict was widened into a Mascyllary war by the intervention of King Christian II of Benschmark (1258-1295) and Gustaf Thelm of Burhurdt (1266-1320). Central Mascylla became the main theatre of war and the scene of the final conflict between Ragucin and several states for predominance in Mascylla. The fighting often was out of control, with marauding bands of hundreds or thousands of starving soldiers spreading plague, plunder, and murder. The armies that were under control moved back and forth across the countryside year after year, sacking cities, and seizing the animals and food stocks of the peasants without payment. The enormous social disruption over two decades caused a dramatic decline in population because of killings, disease, crop failures, declining birth rates and random destruction, and the out-migration of terrified people. One estimate shows a 38% drop from 6 million people in 1321 to 3.7 million by 1350, while another shows "only" a 20% drop from 7 million to 5.6 million. The Altmark and Lehpold regions were especially hard hit. It took generations for Mascylla to fully recover.

The war ended in 1297 with the Peace of Westmarke. Most of Mascylla's leading states submitted to Ragucin administration and rule, thus being integrated into the rising larger empire. While it grew vastly in size, the kings and dukes retained much of their authority and autonomy, but were held under control by large payments of tribute to the Ragucin kings. Much of the power of the countries declined further as the states' military, population, and economical strength were decreased.

After the death of Dilisme in 1323 and the formal dissolution of the Ragucin Empire, Mascylla again lost authority and thus plunged back into independence. Of the former armies that remained, man of those either sacked other cities or fled back to Juznia.

Early modern period

The Battle of Gessbach (1661) in the Adwhinish Wars (painting by J. S. Grächen)
The Peace in Hubertsburg after the end of the Adwhinish Wars in 1663, though the first one of its kind in Mascylla, started the century-long rivalry between the Great Powers for hegemony in Mascylla

From 1400 onward, Adwhin had started to rise under the "Great Regnant," Karl Wilhelm. The Peace of Langquaid in 1409 strengthened it even further, through the acquisition of East Pholroyne. From 1413 to 1450, King Karl Wilhelm II, also known as the "Sword King", established a highly centralized, militarized state with a heavily rural population of about two million (compared to the other eight million in the rest of Mascylla). In terms of the boundaries of 1793, Mascylla in 1500 had a population of 10 million, increasing slightly to 12 million by 1600, and growing more rapidly to 15 million by 1800. Wars continued, but they were no longer so devastating to the civilian population; famines and major epidemics did not occur, but increased agricultural productivity led to a higher birth rate, and a lower death rate.

Ludwig II of Welsbach conquered parts of Elsatz and Lorauen (1578–1581), and had invaded and devastated the Electorate of Kalaphay (1588–1597) in the War of Kalaphay Succession. Ludwig II benefited from Adwhin's problems with the Finstrians, which were menacing Adwhin. Ludwig II ultimately annexed the Electorate of Kalaphay howver, which led to Adwhin joining the war. Afterwards Gehstroh was reconquered from the Welsbacher; Adwhin, developed into a great power, quickly reconquered the annexed land held by the Welsbacher, and even gained the city of Kanritz, sacking it and raising it to the ground in 1599, turning the war on Adwhin's side. As Welsbach was not prepared for a sudden retaliation, they were quickly overturned, and eventually surrendered a few weeks later. The ever-growing strength of the Adwhin-Hohner alliance disturbed a power balance and rendered fear in a large portion of southern Mascylla.

Albert II "the Great" (1606-1694), influential statesman and renowned military general

Albert II "the Great" is best known for his military genius, his reorganization of Adwhinish armies, his battlefield successes, his enlightened absolutism, and especially his making of Adwhin being one of the great powers, as well as escaping from almost certain national disaster at the last minute. He was especially a role model for an aggressively expanding Mascylla down to 1793, and even today retains his heroic image in Mascylla. In the War of Terunder Succession (1640–1648) Julia I fought successfully for recognition of her succession to the throne. But in the Adwhinish Wars and in the Warnow War she had to cede a big portion of Amretz to Albert the Great. After the Peace in Hubertsburg in 1663 between Terunder, Adwhin, Amretz, and the Lehpold States, Adwhin won recognition as a great power, thus triggering a century-long rivalry with Terunder and other countries, all in soured relations to Adwhin, about the leadership of the Mascyllary peoples in a future nation-state.

From 1663, against resistance from the nobility and citizenry, an "enlightened absolutism" was established in all Great Powers, according to which the ruler governed according to the best precepts of the philosophers. The economies developed and legal reforms were undertaken, including the abolition of torture and the improvement in the status of Disitru practicers. Emancipation of the peasants slowly began. Compulsory education was instituted. In 1672 Adwhin took the lead in the politcal partitions of Dorathea, with the Kingdom of Hohnern and the Republic of Konreid splitting the rest. This action devastated relations with the other powers even more, shifting political climate to a bioling point. Adwhin occupied the eastern territories of the former Lehpold States that surrounded existing Adwhinish holdings. Lehpold again became independent in 1790.

Augusthal Palace, a typical baroque-esque residence and symbol of the time's lavishing extravagance

Completely overshadowed by Adwhin and the Great Powers, the smaller Mascyllary states were generally characterized by political lethargy and administrative inefficiency, often compounded by rulers who were more concerned with their mistresses and their hunting dogs than with the affairs of state. Jusland was especially unfortunate in this regard; it was a rural land with very heavy debts and few growth centers. Lensrau was in economically good shape, although its government was seriously mismanaged, and numerous wars had taken their toll. During the time when Adwhin rose rapidly within Mascylla, Lensrau was distracted by interior affairs. The house of Wettinger concentrated on acquiring and then holding on to the Krumlavian throne which was ultimately unsuccessful. In Rothenau the duke lavished funds on palaces, mistresses, great celebration, and hunting expeditions. Many of the city-states of Mascylla were run by bishops, who in reality were from powerful noble families and showed scant interest in religion. None developed a significant reputation for good government. Most governments also signed pacts and agreements with one of the Great Powers, as they were mostly not able to represent their own statute, largely splitting Mascylla into factions over time, promoting further escalation.

Mascyllary unification

Main article: War of the Five Kings, Mascyllary Kingdom

The Mascyllary states on the eve of the War of the Five Kings on January 3 1784
The meeting of the Kings of Aldia and Ahnern after the decisive battle of Auserburg in Eladia in 1786
Lukas I and Wilhelm Stenreck, leading figures in the Mascyllary unification, became respectively the first King and Prime Minister of Mascylla.

The birth of the Mascyllary Kingdom was the result of efforts by Mascyllary nationalists and monarchists loyal to the houses in the north to establish a united kingdom encompassing the entire Mascyllary peninsula. Following the Congress of Rehnern in 1715, the political and social Mascyllary unification movement, or Gemeinsamer Bund, emerged to unite Mascyllary consolidating the different states of the peninsula and liberate it from foreign control. A prominent radical figure was the patriotic journalist Rudolph Meiner, member of the secret revolutionary society Eichenbaum and founder of the influential political movement Junges Maskillien in the early 1730s, who favoured a unitary republic and advocated a broad nationalist movement. His prolific output of propaganda helped the unification movement stay active. The most famous member of Junges Maskillien was the revolutionary and general Franz Kolnher, renowned for his extremely loyal followers, who led the Mascyllary republican drive for unification in Adwhin. However, the Northern monarchies in the north, of the Houses of Fahnicht, Ahnern, Therunder, and Schwesen, also intended to establish means to form a united alliance, whose governments was led by King Lukas, King of Ahnern, also had ambitions of establishing a united Mascyllary state.

In the context of the 1748 liberal revolutions that swept through Iraia, an unsuccessful first war of unification was declared on Adwhin. The Kingdom of Terunder again attacked the Kingdom of Adwhin in the Second Mascyllary War of Unification of 1759, with the aid of Terunder, resulting in liberating Welsbach at last. For now, ideas of a unitary Mascylla got quieter, even fully devastated, as new political tension resulting from those wars led to a tense situation in Mascylla.

In 1783, the heir to the House of Phalya, Robert Leopold, suddenly passed away mere days before his coronation, which sparked suspicion at first. It was quickly theorized Adwhin had murdered him in order to claim the vacant throne. Those soured relations even more, and with the attack on the duchy of Rehnert by Adwhinish forces it sparked the fire, while alliances and reactionary states prompted the whole realm into conflict. Finally, the Kingdom of Aldia declared war on Adwhin, engulfing Mascylla into its last war, the War of the Five Kings. Meanwhile Kolnher led the drive for unification in Adwhin and Hohnern (the Expedition of the Thousand), while the Houses of the north, bound together in the newly formed "Elbgau Confederacy" occupied the central territories of the Mascyllary peninsula, except Karlsweil and Lensrau. Lehpold was the site of the famous meeting of 26 October 1787 between Franz Kolnhern and King Lukas I, in which Kolnher bowed before Lukas and hailed him as King of Mascylla; thus, Kolnher sacrificed republican hopes for the sake of Mascyllary unity under a liberalized monarch. Lukas agreed to include Kolnher's Southern Mascylla allowing it to join the union with the Elbgau Confederacy in 1789.

Facing various battles and the slow disintigration of its monarchial power, Adwhin slowly lost its grip, until a famine in 1792 led to the collapse of its military. Pressured by its enemies, it finally dissolved when nationalists assasinated King Theodor IV. This allowed the governments to declare a united Mascyllary kingdom on 23 May 1793. Lukas I and Linda I then became the first king and queen of a united Mascylla respectively, and the capital was moved to Langquaid temporarily. Mascyllary unification was completed and shortly afterward the new nation's capital was moved to newly built Königsreh. After the unification, Lukas I, Linda I, Kolnher and Stenreck have been hailed as Mascylla's Parents.

Founding Years (1810–1900s)

Industrialisation and transformation

"The Emigrants' Turn" (1829, by K. L. Maylach), an emblemic and encapsulating painting of Mascyllary emigration and expansionism

In the earliest years after its unification, Mascylla largely concentrated its resources and attention on improving living standards and general infrastructure in the more rural north and west, while first beginnings of the Industrial Revolution took place in Iraia. Areas were tried to be given a proper road and rail network, as it would unlock yet untouched natural resources in the vast moutain ranges of the southern west. Quickly new cities and administrative regions were established, witnessing a wake of national migration across the new country, with most finding new luck in the mountains, while farmers of the central and east enveloped cities, growing city population between 1811 and 1815 as fast as in the previous hundred years. Economic reformation saw a fluctuation of first small manufacturers, and with the introduction to the steam engine, factory businesses.

In the mindset of many Mascyllary, the epoch is intrinsically linked with King Lukas I and Chancellor Stenreck, but it did not end with them (in 1839) but continued well into the reign of King Lukas II. It was a "Golden Age for Mascylla" in which the disasters of the War of the Five Kings and the previous internal wars were remedied, and the country competed internationally on a continent-class level in the domains of science, technology, industry and commerce. This was the time when particularly the Mascyllary middle class rapidly increased their standard of living, buying modern furniture, kitchen fittings and household machines.

Steam engines assembled in a Flussmund AGA factory (1884)

The social effects of Industrialization were the same as in other Erdaran and Iraian nations: Increased agricultural efficiency and introduction of new agricultural machines led to a polarized distribution of income in the countryside. The landowners won out to the disadvantage of the agrarian unpropertied workforce. Emigration, most of all to Cardia, and urbanization were a consequence. An unexpected population explosion boosted the nation's population from around 10 million in 1790 to 14 million in 1820, most notably experienced in major cities such as Langquaid, Flussmund, Ankstedt and foremost Königsreh, where construction of new living quartiers couldn't manage the huge number of its citizens. In the rapidly growing industrial cities, new workers' dwellings were erected, lacking in comfort by today's standards but also criticized as unhealthy by physicians of the time: "without light, air and sun", quite contrary to the then prevailing ideas on town planning. The dark, cramped flats took a large part of the blame for the marked increase in tuberculosis, which spread also to wealthier neighborhoods.

Nevertheless, the working class also saw improvements of living standards and other conditions, such as social security through laws on workers' health insurance and accident insurance introduced by Stenreck in 1827, and in the long run also through the foundation of a social democracy that would remain the model for the Erdaran sister parties. Even today the model of social care developed by Stenreck in 1827 (Reichsversicherungsordnung) remains the contractual basis for health insurance in Mascylla. During that time, citizens increasingly influenced cultural development, such as beginning of the classical liberal epoch, even when the political demands of the time were only partially met. The Industrialisation also posed aesthetic and artistic challenges, above all in the field of architecture and craftsmanship, through developing of existing forms, rather than innovation as such. Art was heavily influenced by this time, mainly due to the rather grim daily life of the worker class and the pollution, which seemingly engulfed the cities. Paintings were given a more darker colour shading, and were more realistic in every aspect, from shadowing to proportions of bodies and faces.

Clashes with Hytekojuznia

Further reading: Saarow War, Hytekojuznia, Hytekojuznik–Mascyllary enmity

Hytek cavalry charge the Mascyllary during the Battle of Köhrburg in the Saarow War (1854-55)
Hytekojuznik land gains in Mascylla and border shifts between 1855 and 1885

Since the inception of a Mascyllary nation-state, political relations with other Erdaran nations have been more or less strained in fear of a new power rising. Specifically the nations of Visnevas and especially Hytekia had common interest in securing local strategic location in Mascylla and attempting to prohibit loosing their power in the Lake Sigismund region and throughout Erdara. Though attempts were made to achieve that hegemony through more diplomatic ways in the decades before, relations reached a tipping point, which resulted in the subsequent Saarow War (1854-55). A military responde was made vehemently, as Lukas II rushed to defend the cities under attack, afraid of loosing the war and assertation of power to Hytekia.

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King Lukas II (1799-1874) before the Saarow War

The rushed mobilisation of Mascyllary forces as well as outstanding Hytek strategic achievements under Patrik Lehr and Hans II culminated in a crushing defeat for the Mascyllary forces, surrendering in the Treaty of Karonau. Under these circumstances, Mascylla had no choice but to cede Mögtland, Saarow, and Bad Ülerst, as well as face monetary reparation.

Though the conflict seemed over at first, it only prompted further wars, in 1875 with the Elpsland War, which saw another huge blow to Mascyllary forces and culminated in the ceding of huge swaps of land, most notably the entire Elpsland region, and in 1885 with the Konreid Campaign, a small military conflict which saw the secession of Konreid and various borderlands to the newly-founded Kingdom of Hytekojuznia in 1884. The legacies of Hans II and his successor Adelaide were largely based on these successful campaigns. Despite the infuriating losses and worsening image of Hytekojuznik, resulting in the Mascyllary mindset of Erbfeindschaft, Hytekojuznik prime minister Fabian Katz was still quite popular among leftists and socialists, and his political theories worked upon in the Mascyllary Revolution. The more neutral and liberalised Johannes I also enjoyed affection in Mascylla during his reign. Yet the Lindenau Accords of 1904 completely eradicated Mascyllary-Hytekojuznik relations, when the Mascyllary government under Paul Martinsen admitted its concessions and canceled any claim on the lost territories under pressure of Hytekojuznia respectively, being a foremost reason of the latter confrontation in the Continental War by 1910.

Early contemporary Mascylla

Intervention in the Continental War (1910–1916)

Main article: Continental War
Further reading: Treaty of Lehpold

Soldiers with a Kettenkampfpanzer approach a trench during the Battle of the Rohrn, 1914

Following the outbreak of war in September 1910, the Hytekojuznik army opened the Northern Front by first invading Anlaufhafen and then Lilienburg, which prompted the Mascyllary Kingdom to enter the war against Hytekojuznia. However, Hytekojuznik was able to penetrate Mascyllary defences at their border, sweeping into their territory, gaining military control of important industrial regions in Mascylla, decively proved by the First Battle of Augusthal. With too little forces set up in time and a chaotic retreat as a result, Mascylla suffered heavy territorial losses and only managed to partake a victory randomly through the events of the Battle of Lückwalde and Marienfelde. With Mascylla beginning to hold ground against Hytekojuznia, the front now established between the North Sea and Lake Sigismund began to solidify, adding a new dimension to the theatre: trench warfare.

Through means of enourmous mobilization and total war, advancements could be achieved in the latter stage of the war, for example through the Battle of the Rohrn which saw the first large-scale shift of the front and invasion of Hytekojuznia. Afterwards, the unstoppable advance of the Mascyllary armies during the Three Months Offensive in 1915 and 1916 caused a graduating collapse of the Hytekojuznik armies and finally persuaded the Hytekojuznik commanders that defeat was inevitable. The Hytekojuznik government surrendered in the armistice of 29 May 1916, and the terms of peace were settled by the Treaty of Lehpold in March 1917 in Mascylla.

Interwar period (1916–1923)

Theodor Rähner, Mascyllary Prime Minister in 1914–1923

Mascylla saw a radical transformation of its society resulting from the Continental War, often associated with the introduction to a more equilatarian social structure. Energised self-consciousness among workers quickly built up higher participation in political affairs and a higher voting population. Furthermore, the consequences of the war led to an acceleration of social reform and state control of the economy. Individual moral behavior improved, and many historians argue, that the Mascyllary society became less traditional and more evenly distributed. The Ministry of Health introduced the Haus- und Stadtplannungsakt (Housing and Town Planning Act), which reduced urban slums and built houses. The low rents were also implemented to make the act more attractive to parliament and less costly, which succeeded in the passing in 1918. Up to 88,000 houses were built in 1921, which further reduced the number of homeless people and improved living conditions. The Arbeitslosenversicherungsakt (Unemplyment Insurance Act) passed at a time of very little unemployment. It set up a system that provided 39 weeks of unemployment benefits to practically the entire civilan working population except domestic service, fam workers, and civil servants. Funded in part by weekly contributions from both employers and employed, it provided weekly payments for unemployed men and women equally.

Reichswehr militia forces barricading a street after an escalating protest of steel workers in Flussmund (1919)

Taxes rose sharply during the war and never returned to their old levels. A rich man paid 8% of his income in taxes before the war, and about a third afterwards. Much of the money went for the weekly unemployment benefits. About 5% of the national income every year was transferred from the rich to the poor. Many experts argue most people "were enjoying a richer life than any previously known in the history of the world: longer holidays, shorter hours, higher real wages." The Mascyllary economy was lackluster in the 1910s, with sharp declines and high unemployment in heavy industry and coal, especially in Weißern and Warnowen. Exports of coal and steel fell in half by 1920 and the business community was slow to adopt the new labour and management principles. For over a century the shipping industry had dominated world trade, but it remained in the doldrums despite various stimulus efforts by the government. With the very sharp decline in world trade after 1920, its condition became critical. Minister of Finances Niklas Bulgau put Mascylla back on the gold standard in 1917, which many economists blame for the mediocre performance of the economy.

Others point to a variety of factors, including the inflationary effects of the Great War and supply-side shocks caused by reduced working hours after the war. By the mid-1920s, economic performance had stabilised, but the overall situation was disappointing. There also remained a strong economic divide between the east and west of Mascylla during this period, with the east of Mascylla fairly prosperous by the 1920s, while parts of southern Weißern and the industrial west of Mascylla became known as "distressed areas" due to particularly high rates of unemployment and poverty, as well as large-scale destruction caused by the previous war.

Thousands of coal miners and other workers gather for a violent general strike and mob in front of the Reichsrat (1920)

Coal was a sick industry; the best seams were being exhausted, raising the cost. Demand fell as oil began replacing coal for fuel, but the consumption of coal couldn't be covered by its production. General hopes had been set for the AN mandate of Višnevas due to its rich coal industry, but the ensuing Crimson Revolution under Artjoms Viliks in Hytekojuznia faded chances of getting the reparations paid. The 1920 general strike was a nine-day nationwide walkout of 800 thousand railwaymen, transport workers, printers, dockers, iron workers and steelworkers supporting the 500 thousand coal miners who had been locked out by the owners. The miners had rejected the owners' demands for longer hours and reduced pay in the face of falling prices. The conservative government had provided a nine-month subsidy in 1921 but that was not enough to turn around a sick industry. To support the miners the Trades Union Congress (TUC), an umbrella organization of all trades unions, called out certain critical unions. The hope was the government would intervene to reorganize and rationalize the industry, and raise the subsidy. The conservative government had stockpiled supplies and essential services continued with middle class volunteers. All three major parties opposed the strike. The general strike itself was largely non-violent, but the miners' lockout continued and there was violence in Adwhin.

It was the only general strike in Mascyllary history, for TUC leaders such as Ernst Benig considered it a mistake. Most historians treat it as a singular event with few long-term consequences, but Martin Puck says it accelerated the movement of working-class voters to the Social Democratic Party, later contributing to the victory in the Mascyllary Revolution. The Handelsunion- und Handelsumgangsakt (Trade Union and Trade Treatment Act) made general strikes illegal and ended the automatic payment of union members to the SDP. That act was largely repealed in 1924. The coal industry, used up the more accessible coal as costs rose output fell from 367 million tons in 1922 to 83 million in 1930. The social democratic government nationalised the mines in 1926 later on.

Mascyllary Revolution (1923–24)

Main article: Mascyllary Revolution

Communist partisans gather for a speech in Königsreh-Köpenick (June 1923)

The first acts of revolution were triggered by the incompetent handling of post-war Mascylla by the Mascyllary Supreme Military Command and the government. Instead of obeying their orders to further secure and help rebuild the devastated areas, tired Mascyllary soldiers led a revolt in the army bases of Birchau on 12 May 1923, followed by the Wilhelmshagen mutiny in the first days of June. These events spread the fires of civil unrest across Mascylla and ultimately led to the proclamation of a republic on 23 May 1923. Shortly after, King Lukas III abdicated his throne and tried to flee the country, but was caught and publicly executed in Königsreh.

Freiheitskorps involved in a street battle during the Proletar uprising

The revolutionaries, inspired by socialist ideals and values, did not adapt the Hytekojuznik system of a communist government, as the Social Democratic Party of Mascylla (SDP) opposed their structure. The SDP, in compliance with the Centre Party, favoured a national assembly as the basis for a parliamentary democracy instead. Fearing a fully escalated civil war in Mascylla between militant workers and reactionary conservatives, the newly founded SDP-Centre government did not plan to strip the old upper classes and monarchy completely of their powers and privileges. Instead, it opted to integrate them into a new social democratic system. Under this manner, SDP-Centre officials sought contact to the Mascyllary Supreme Military Command. This enabled the opportunity to use the army and nationalist militias such as the Freiheitskorps and the Bund der Maitruppen to quell the communist Proletar uprising by force. This new alliance succeeded in suppressing further uprisings of the left and right in major parts of Mascylla, with the result that the entire country was brought under control by December 1923. Subsequent elections for the Reichsrat were held on 21 January 1924. The revolution ended with the formal introduction of a government and the adoption of the Great Constitution of the Realm on 26 January 1924. The new monarchy was introduced with the coronation of Maximilian I on 5 March.

Post-revolution

Maximilian I, liberal monarch and one of the founding fathers of the Crowned Republic

The post-revolutionary years were a time of hardship, shortages and social instability. This was followed by large-scale public works programmes, economic recovery, Erdaran integration and the gradual re-introduction of a welfare state. Leadership of the new republic was taken by newly inaugurated Maximilian I, who instituted large-scale reforms of the monarchy and helped estbalish a stable democracy. He recovered the royal houses and re-established the constitution, government departments, and household. His actions and efforts gave him the nickname "the People King".

Immediately after the war, rationing was imposed on many goods, including: cigarettes, textiles, washing powder and coffee. There was severe housing shortages in Mascylla as a result of the war. In the later 1940s, there was mass emigration, especially to Krumlau and Lilienburg. Government-encouraged emigration efforts to reduce population density prompted some 500,000 Mascyllary people to leave the urban areas or the country after the war. Post-war politics saw shifting coalition governments. The 1924 parliamentary elections saw the Social Democratic Party (SDP) emerge as the largest party, just ahead of the Centre Party. The National Democrats experienced a devastating low participation, as nationalistic beliefs were seen as "poisonous" after the turbulent revolution was experienced. Peter Zeschtemann formed a new coalition cabinet. The Erdaran states began providing economic assistance as part of the Zeschtemann Plan in 1926 that injected valuable funds into the economy, fostered modernisation of business, and encouraged economic cooperation. He led four successive cabinets until 1940. His tenure in office of the Prime Minister saw three major political developments: economic reconstruction, the re-establishment of the Mascyllary welfare state, and international integration and co-operation, especially against the People's State of Hytekojuznia.

Economic reconstruction and development

Peter Zeschtemann, seen as one of the key figures to Mascylla's successful reconstruction

Despite the socio-economic problems, this was a period of optimism for many. A baby boom followed the war, as young Mascyllary couples started the families they couldn't previously due to the conflict. They had little taste for a strictly imposed rule-oriented traditional system with its rigid hierarchies, sharp pillarised boundaries and strictly orthodox religious doctrines. The translation of The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care (1927), by Juznik pediatrician Tomas Tijke was a best-seller. His vision of family life as companionate, permissive, enjoyable and even as being fun took hold, and seemed the best way to achieve family happiness in a dawning age of freedom and prosperity.

Wages were kept low and the recovery of consumption to pre-war levels was delayed to permit rapid rebuilding of the infrastructure. In the years after the war, unemployment fell and the economy grew at an astonishing pace, despite the high birth rate. The shattered infrastructure and destroyed cities were rebuilt. A key contribution to the recovery in post-revolution Mascylla came from the Zeschtemann Plan, which provided the country with funds, goods, raw materials and produce. Mascyllary became internationally active again. Mascyllary corporations, particularly Magnall and AGA, became internationally prominent. Business people, scientists, engineers and artists from Mascylla made important international contributions.

Across Erdara the period from 1971-80 marked the end of the booming economy of the 1960s. Mascylla also experienced years of negative growth after that. Unemployment increased steadily, causing rapid growth in social-security expenditures. Inflation reached double digits; government surpluses disappeared. On the positive side, rich iron, copper, and aluminium deposits were developed, providing a current account trade surplus during most of the period. Public deficits were high. According to the long-term economic analysis of Horling and Schmidt, the major gains in the Mascyllary economy were concentrated between 1870-1910 and between 1950–70. Rates were much lower in 1910–1930 and after 1990.

Great Game (1924–1981)

Further reading: Worldfire, Great Game

Dytika nuclear test detonation on 5 March 1950
Mascyllary combat operations test at the Hytekojuznik border, July 1965
Ernst Lehmann and Ronald Würther, then leader of the SDP, in a socialist fraternal kiss (dubbed Brudervölkerkuss; "fraternal peoples kiss", one of the most historically famous and controversial photographs ever taken) during Lehmann's first visit to Königsreh in May 1962

Following the Mascyllary Revolution, most Iraian nations, especially Mascylla itself, regarded the communist states of Arlyon, Dulebia, and People's State of Hytekojuznia seemingly as a potential threat to their sovereignty and democratic values, which were undermined by the communist police state of their opponents. Mascylla, still weakened by economic recession and the recent political overthrows, spearheaded an international pact to achieve long-term sovereignity and protection from the three countries. Military alliances and extensive diplomatic relations were begun to be forged with Iraia's original victors of the Continental War, mainly Lavaria and Krumlau, which refitted Mascylla's economy due to their cooperation, and enabled its military to boost capacities and manpower.

Ernst Lehmann of Hytekojuznia underwhent efforts to re-conciliate relations with Mascylla during his tenure in 1962-1964. These steps culminated in the Langquaid Summit, which intended to establish new trade relations and the opening of the national border, normalizing political affairs at large. Though Lehmann's initial visions weren't fulfilled, they served a symbolic purpose of the yearn for international peace and unity , which, being blocked by the mistrusting nature of the Behrest government in the 60s and its seemingly repressive nature on topics of de-escalating tensions, caused the 1964 Mascyllary student and civil movement.

With the foundation of the Erdaran Union in 1964, a common democratic faction solidified through the Treaty of Lilienburg, the by many politicians referred "Iron Curtain" had already divided the communist nations from those of the original Dreibund. Large defensive installations such as concrete walls, fences, minefields, army stations, and other measurements of border security, aswell as seamines near naval borders between the states had manifested the Iron Curtain as a real construct. Families, which lived on the opposite side of the border, economical ties, traffic connections, trade routes, and other were now separated for decades, contact with people across the Iron Curtain remained virtually impossible, and escape attempts while crossing the border from East to West and retrospectively was largely surpressed by the governments involved. Through the inclusion of nuclear weapons, the conflict now immersed a new dimension of global annihilation through nuclear war, and political relations remained extraordinarly tense. Asymmetrical warfare such as espionage, most prominently Operation Clearsight in the 1950s and the foundation of the DSA, also achieved significant contributions to military intelligence and national security needs.

Contemporary Mascylla (1981–present)

Mascyllary Prime Minister David Gehlgen (left) and Hytekojuznia Chairman Aivars Muceniece (right) signing the Birchau Treaty of Non-Proliferation in 1981, thus ending the Great Game

After the signing of the Birchau Treaty of Non-Proliferation in 1981 and the approach to Hytekojuznia, potential menaces to mainland Mascylla appeared considerably reduced. Mascylla began reducing its nuclear capacities, such as ending nuclear weapons research and further construction of nuclear power plants was slowed down, and conscription was abolished following no further need and lack of participation in 2005. Mascyllary intervention in wars and other conflicts decreased in the years following the Great Game, and diplomatic actions were merely cut down to peace negotiations and political representation. However it persued closer relations with the members of the Erdaran Union and the Hallanic Commonwealth in this regard. Cooperation in manners of diplomatic association, a common economy, and joint-military actions in the turn of the century remained an integral part to Mascyllary foreign policy.

The remnants of the Martinsen Center in Königsreh after the July 20 terrorist attack by the far-left militant Revolutionary Garrison in 1991

The nation has also been rocked by bombings, assassinations, and kidnappings conducted by the Revolutionary Garrison (RG) throughout its activity from 1968 to 1992. Its engagement peaked in summer of 1991, informally known as the "Summer of Knifes", where multiple political figures and businessmen were either murdered or taken hostage. The attacks of July 20 were the deadliest and worst terrorist attacks in Mascyllary history with more than 500 dead. Most notably the Martinsen Center in central Königsreh was bombed, killing 182 members of state parliaments, other politicians, and civilians, effectively crippling the nation's government in a constitutional crisis in August 1991. Mascylla responded by declaring the "War on Mad Dogs" to combat the RG; the subsequent police investigation from 1991 to 2000 was the largest to-date. On 19 March 2000, Prime Minister Michael Meilke was assassinated by a right-wing extremist, having been the second time a Prime Minister had died in office and had fallen victim to an assassination. The rise of extremist terrorism in Mascylla prompted a nation-wide initiative for surveillance and safety measures, with programs for the DSA and the Imperial Police implemented; significant criticism has been raised about its effectiveness and legitimacy however.

Following the end of the Great Game, Mascylla sought to keep the political status quo in Erdaran affairs mainly for ensuring stability. Beginning in January 1986, Mascylla, in coalition with Krumlau and Lavaria as an AN mission, commenced Operation Torchbearer in the worsening political situation in Finstria under the Eisenring regime in order to maintain social coherence. While the offensive was quick in penetrating light resistance, guerilla separatist groups combated the forces until 1988. A new government was established with Mascyllary and AN guidance as soon as national stability was restored.

Although formal disputes ended in 1981, Mascylla did support Juznik forces in the subsequent Hytekojuznik Civil War, and led a joint military campaign in Hytekojuznia. The new republic thus encroached further towards Mascylla and became a member of the Erdaran Union thereafter. Mascylla at the turn of the millenium remained staggering in economic wealth and thus gained long-term political representation in global affairs. More recently, Mascylla took a larger stead in more global affairs, as one of the Permanent Members of the AN Security Council and leading voices of the organization.