Amandine

Federal Republic of Amandine République Fédérale d'Amandine
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Déclaration de la République ("Declaration of the Republic")
Location of Amandine
Capital	Colette
Largest city	Anne-Marie
Official languages	Principean, Blaykish
Demonym(s)	Amand
Government	Federal semi-presidential constitutional republic
• President	Simone Lachance
• Prime Minister	César Perrault
Legislature	National Legislature
• Upper house	High Chamber
• Lower house	Assembly Chamber
Independence from Blayk
• Belmont Revolution	30 September 1796
• Declaration	12 May 1802
• Treaty of Priscille	2 November 1807
• Confederal Articles	17 January 1819
• Current constitution	9 September 1835
• Treaty of Anne-Marie	26 July 1836
Area
• Total	3,318,987 km2 (1,281,468 sq mi) (1st)
Population
• 2020 census	97,810,727
• Density	29.5/km2 (76.4/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2020 estimate
• Total	$4.150 trillion (2nd)
• Per capita	$42,429
GDP (nominal)	2020 estimate
• Total	$2.200 trillion (5th)
• Per capita	$22,495
Gini (2020)	41.9 medium
HDI (2020)	0.882 very high
Currency	Amand Federal Livre (£) (AFL)
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+24
ISO 3166 code	AMD
Internet TLD	.ad

Amandine (Principean: Amandine, pronounced /æmɛndiːn/), officially the Federal Republic of Amandine (Principean: République Fédérale d'Amandine), and also known as the Third Republic of Amandine is a sovereign state located in Marceaunia Minor. It is bordered to the east by Rocia, to the south by Sainte-Mélitine, to the north by the Adrienne Sea, and to the west by the Rum Gulf. The nation shares a maritime border with Audonia. Amandine has an area of 3,318,987 square kilometres, divided into twenty provinces and subdivided into 63 departments, with a population of 97.8 million people. Its capital is Colette, but St. Laurine and Anne-Marie possess larger populations. Other large cities in Amandine include Corneille, Ville de Belmont, Piaget, Nouvelle Marbonne, Nouvelle Valden, and St. Georges.

Amandine was originally inhabited by numerous indigenous nations since the fourth millennium BCE, prior to Auressian exploration in the 1500s. In 1510, the Imperial Port of Colette was proclaimed for the Kingdom of Vervillia by explorer Jean-Baptiste Amand II. While the territory's early population was staunchly Vervillian in its identity, the Blaco-Vervillian Union's formation in 1530 sparked a debate over its formal administration which lasted until the late 18th century. The Blaco-Vervillian Union financially benefitted from the Imperial Port of Colette, which eventually had grown its territorial boundaries well beyond the initial founding site as the Low Crown Colonies. Between the 17th and 18th centuries, the Low Crown Colonies became a vital trade and economic hub, but restrictive mercantilist policies and a gradual loss of autonomy corroded the previously strong relationship between the territory and the motherland. Following the War of Tyrnican Succession and the defeat of Vervillia, the colonies were formally transferred to the Blaykish Chaudoir Monarchy without any colonial representation in the matter. The Blaco-Vervillian Union's dissolution entirely severed the colonies' governmental connection to Vervillia, worsening sentiments against the Kingdom of Blayk. Relations further spiraled under the succeeding Sarbeliard Monarchy as punitive acts were passed to suppress rebellions. The most notable and disruptive rebellion was the Belmont Revolution in 1796.

Independence was declared in 1802 and achieved in 1807. The Republic of the Amands, a directorial republic, took control of the former colonial holdings. From 1806 to 1809, internal violence between Blaykish and Vervillian citizens erupted into the culturally and politically transformative National Consensus, otherwise known as the "Great Purge." Following a coup against the Legislative National Body in 1809, the Republic of Amandine was established. In 1819, the Confederation of Southern Marceaunia replaced the Republic's government, eventually leading to the Continental War. During the war, the Second Republic of Amandine was temporarily established, leading to the Constitution of 1835 that chartered the Federal Republic of Amandine. Since then, the country has maintained the same governmental structure as a semi-presidential republic. While Amandine was intertwined in regional affairs for the majority of its history, the nation became a global power from the Second Great War in 1938.

Amandine is a federal semi-presidential constitutional republic. It is involved in numerous bilateral economic and diplomatic agreements with foreign governments around the world. Amandine has cultural, ideological, and economic spheres of influence (SOI) around the continent of Marceaunia Minor, southern Marceaunia Major, as well as the Rum Gulf. It has a high military expenditure that is primarily allocated to the Federal Naval Division and Aviation Division. Amandine is a founding member of the Assembly of Marceaunian States and Marceaunia Minor Common Market. It partners with numerous intergovernmental organizations dedicated to the development of global security and prosperity. Even though Amandine is not nuclear weapons state, the national government has expressed interest in introducing a program alongside its equipped allies.

Amandine is a developed country with the world's fifth largest economy by nominal GDP ($2.2 trillion) and the second largest by purchasing power parity ($4.15 trillion). It is a high-income mixed economy that is one of the world's largest breadbaskets, with a focus on agriculture, petroleum extraction, manufacturing (including technology manufacturing), and service, among other industries. Amandine has a very high Human Development Index (HDI) rating of 0.822, with concerning income disparity rankings. Amandine is a staunch protector of civil rights and conducts significant work towards the achievement of a high quality of life, both domestically and abroad. Additionally, the nation is well-regarded in terms of its education and economic freedoms.

Etymology

The Vervillian colonial territory extending beyond the Imperial Port of Colette was formally titled the Low Crown Colonies, referencing their geographic location in relation to the mother country. However, colonial subjects, mostly from the agrarian and working classes, colloquially referred to the territory as the Land of Amand (Principean: Pays d'Amand). "Land of Amand" originates from early Auressian western hemisphere explorer Jean-Baptiste Amand II. Amand, a wealthy cartographer and philosopher who received a royal contract by the Vervillian Crown under Marianne II to explore the southern Hesperian Ocean and later survey the newfound coast of Marceaunia Minor. While historians have questioned his birthplace between Vervillia and Blayk, Amand's proclamation of the Port of Colette has enshrined him as the founder of Amandine and much of Marceaunia Minor society, as a whole.

Following 1785, The Vervillian-turned-Blaykish territory maintained the "Low Crown Colonies" title. However, as anti-Blaykish sentiment and a growing demand for autonomy grew, the commoner "Land of Amand" name became increasingly ubiquitous. During the Belmont Revolution in 1796, rebels' flags often had the word "AMAND" scrawled onto them. Upon founding father Charles Belmont's refuge in Rythene to avoid charges of treason, he and his followers picked up the Rythenean name for the colonies: "Amand Country." Once Belmont returned to the colonies in 1800, he remained inspired by the Rytheneans, using "Amand" as a point of solidarity with the peasantry to create a more widespread revolutionary identity. By the Body of War and Correspondence's declaration of an independent state in 1802, the Republic of the Amands was unanimously adopted to both craft a national identity separate from Auressian allegiances and to reference the Vervillian explorer in opposition to Blaykish rule.

History

Indigenous & Pre-Auressian History

Dating back to the fourth millennium BCE and possibly even further, Marceaunia Minor has been home to a diverse array of native civilizations. Humans likely migrated to the continent via passage from southern regions of Marceaunia Major, or what is now controlled by Audonia. While still a theory, researchers also believe that early sea faring groups from Demontean Ocean islands also entered the land. The multitude of native societies in modern day Amandine contributed to the well-documented interactions between them, largely contributing to river-based trade, cultural mixing, and conflict in the region. Chiefly among them, the Tainã-Kan Empire was the first to control a substantial territory, subjugating the minor native societies that fell within its domain. Lasting for centuries, the empire eventually broke apart into warring dominions that competed against one another. Historians categorized the Tainã-Kan Empire's collapse and subsequent period the Post-Tainã-Kan Shift. Lasting for over one hundred years, the Post-Tatankan Shift saw the rise of the Iara, Jacira, Ubirajara, and Waman Empires. These four civilizations, categorized as the Four Grand Dominions, existed in a near constant state of warfare, barring sporadic periods of peace. Eventually, the Jacira and Waman people culturally and genetically merged into the Maiarans. As the final great empire to predate Auressian colonial rule, the Maiaran Empire exerted control over vast swaths of northern Marceaunian Minor, even reaching into portions of the rainforests. The expansion of the Maiarans lasted around 150 years until the empire's dissolution in 1653.

A number of smaller civilizations simultaneously existed and flourished under and around the Maiaran Empire. In modern day Sainte-Melitine, a number of indigenous societies derived from the Tainã-Kan Empire, especially sharing a genetic and cultural heritage with the Waman people before breaking off into distinct groups. As they developed, these civilizations thrived and existed outside the realm of the the Maiaran Empire. Notably, the Tchatcha kingdom of Calquouin grew into an influential power.

Vervillian Contact

Jean-Baptiste Amand II was born into a wealthy, royally connected family with long ties to the merchant profession. His informative years were spent in individualized education from regal, secular, and religious instructors that provided him with an extensive understanding of geography and mathematics. He eventually followed in his father's footsteps as a court-appointed courtier and merchant for a number of royal families. While he spent majority of his early work with royals from Blayk, Fortaine, and Vervillia, he became most financially associated with the Vervillians. His sharing of a humanist point of view in line with reigning queen Marianne II allowed for a blossoming relationship. Amand II gained greater insight into the court, which he leveraged when Marianne was succeeded by Thomas I who was far more critical of him. Using his accrued family and commercial wealth, Amand II rose to prominence after drawing the most accurate map of the eastern Galene Sea in 1501 and discovered the Archipelago of Hearts (Principean: Archipel des Coeurs) in the Hesperian Ocean near Sortenza in 1505. The island was named after the native red, pink, and white flowers that resembled hearts, with the wind gusts making the petals appear to beat.

After landing on the previously unknown island chain, Amand II became particularly interested in oceanic travel to the south. Like many of his contemporaries, he had spent the majority of his profession in the Galene Sea trading between coastal cities. Sea travel northward toward Rythene and Tyrnica was also preferred, due to the proximinity of the financially powerful Crowns. While others had traveled to southern parts of the Hesperian Ocean, Amand II believed that the Ocean promised more islands and resources than previously thought, along with gentler oceanic routes. Rather than through the rockier, icy, and volatile Breuvician Ocean that most Blaykish and Vervillian seafarers traversed, Amand II began to petition to his former Courts to chart out the southernmost areas of the Hesperian Ocean. While initially facing unanimous rejection, he finally received an agreement in 1509 with the Marianne II of Vervillia after presenting his map of the Archipelago of Hearts and drawings of other islands that he discovered in subsequent visits to the island chain. He also fabricated the size of many of the islands to increase their worth to the Crown. Marianne was pleased, and agreed with Amand's assessment that Vervillia's potential discovery of new lands would keep the country competitive in the burgeoning race to the western hemisphere. He eventually reached the New World after months of journeying, making landfall on small islands thousands of kilometers around the still undiscovered Marbon Island. On his first voyage, he and his men first reached an island he called "Promise" (Principean: Promesse). There, he discovered his first band of indigenous Marceaunians. He continued to island hop before returning to announce his discovery. He led four more explorations, each funded by Thomas I of Vervillia, with his second journey in 1510 most famously reaching the eastern coast of continental Marceaunia Minor. He would rise to even greater prominence after surveying for natural bays or ports, of which the continent was plentiful, while also coming into conflict with indigenous populations. He then established the Port of Colette for Vervillia. Thomas I made Amand II a viceregal representative of the territory for his contributions. His fifth voyage in 1526 was also notable for the charting of Conouco, modern day Saint Baptiste. Illness prevented him from stepping foot onto the island. His notes to the Crown mentioned that he, in fact, did, but the historical record gives such credit to explorer Fidélias Tétreault in 1551. Amand II's health became grave on his voyage back to Vervillia, passing away two weeks before reaching the kingdom.

The discovery of eastern Marceaunia Minor, the Adrienne Sea, and parts of the Rum Gulf became widespread news over the early 16th century. Vervillia became the earliest and most financially dominant colonial empire during this period, but Blayk, Rythene, and Tyrnica would all fund successful explorations in the western hemisphere. In 1530, the Blaco-Vervillian Union formed, de factoconsolidating the colonial possessions under the Union, but in reality each colony remained under the administration of its respective monarchy. The Port of Colette, renamed the Imperial Port of Colette, transformed into a hub of economic activity as the region was developed by the Auressians.

The Maiaran Empire was seen as the most dominant indigenous power against the Vervillians on Marceaunia Minor. However, the combination of advanced weaponry, alliance networking with rival civilizations, and most impactfully, Auressian pathogens, led to the Empire's collapse in 1563. The disintegration of Maiaran regional power allowed for rapid expansion of colonies. Eventually, the Low Crown Colonies, with Colette as its seat of local governance, stretched into the more pastoral interior of Marceaunia Minor, before eventually touching the southern tip. The devastation of indigenous life underscored much of the 16th century, but pockets of heavy resistance held firm across the colonies. By the 17th century, forms of organized rebellion consolidated as remaining civilizations and tribes attempted to reclaim their lands. The 1716 War of Remembrance was the most violent eruption of violence, leading to early victories and the establishment of a collective known as the Kingdom of Caçapava. This small territory in the interior of the Vervillian colony of Maiara was burned to the ground in retribution, leading to the subsequent 1717 War of Remembrance that quashed the indigenous resistance and enforced strict colonial administration. Control over the indigenous civilizations in southern regions of the Low Crown Colonies was far more difficult at times, with a tradition of resistance never fully disappearing despite armed efforts by Vervillian and Blaykish farmers and soldiers to impose their will.

By the mid-18th century, Vervillia claimed the majority of claimed land on Marceaunia Minor, with Palia ruling much of the east.

Low Crown Colonies

The Low Crown Colonies were the collection of Vervillian–and later Blaykish–colonial possessions on Marceaunia Minor. Early under the Vervillian Crown and the Blaco-Vervillian Union before 1785, the colonial administrations enjoyed relative autonomy to pursue commerce and agricultural policies. The period of economic freedom allowed the colonies, especially on the coast, like Sainte-Marianne, Beaufort, and Nouveau Brençon to flourish in the developing region. The relaxed nature of colonization attracted private merchant companies to participate in the efforts. The Vervillian-based Far West Hesperian Company and recently established Adrienne Sea Company sought to expand their markets in the growing region, as well as become involved directly in the resource extraction process to maximize control of trade. The colonies of Beaufort, Sainte-Marianne, and Terre de Thomas were all privately chartered and approved by the Crown, under ultimate authority of the monarchy. The greater independence experienced by the private colonies attracted political and religious refugees. Others were attracted to the ongoing resource extraction boom, namely in cutting highly desired Pernambuco wood for dyes, minerals and silver, and crops. Exploitation of indigenous people became commonplace to undergo the process, oftentimes leading to conflicts with surrounding societies and tribes. The search for more resources also drove the colonial administrators to push their boundaries beyond the royal agreements. Border conflicts increased. The 1532 Clément and Sainte-Mélitine War broke out after Sainte-Mélitine Chief Administrator Fernand De Villepin issued maps that encroached on valuable salt mines in Clément. Clément intendant René Caillat, a second cousin of Vervillian ruler Thomas I, contested the claims by revealing his royal charter and deeming it to be superior to the private corporation's fabricated claims. Sainte-Mélitine colonists ignored the warning and began entering the mines, leading to open conflict. These inflammatory episodes were additionally facing scrutiny by Blaykish advisors in the Union; hence, the 1535 Acts of Consolidation passed, converting all Marceaunia Minor colonies into formal colonies of the Crown.

A depiction of pirates bombarding a Blaco-Vervillian colonial fort near Nouvelle Marbonne, c. 1680.

Now formally under complete Crown authority, each of the Low Crown Colonies received an increase in monetary investment. The colonies soon garnered the status of being the "jewel" of Vervillia's overseas empire. Oversight by the mother country gradually increased to ensure that valuable raw resources were being sent directly to Vervillia for the monarchy's benefit. Mercantilist policies were enforced to limit the loss of any potential wealth to rival Auressian powers, like Tyrnica and Rythene. Piracy was frequent in the Adrienne Sea and Rum Gulf, but the Crown's more involved actions targeted the practice. Regardless, pirates took refuge in northern Marceaunia Minor small port towns, Audonia, and Saint-Baptiste. The colonial administrators, the intendants, frequently organized naval forces to protect merchant vessels. Land forces were simultaneously raised to secure farmers' plantations. Even with the royal policing, a tradition of military self-sufficiency was rooted in the colonies.

Each colony was run by a monarch-appointed intendant. Many had familial ties or had done a service to the Vervillian Crown to gain such a prestigious position in the overseas empire. Each intendant also had a council of advisors: some colonies gave the intendant direct power to select his advisors, while majority were chosen through the colonial legislatures. The colonial legislatures held a wide range of powers that mostly focused on the purse, while the intendant represented the colony and helped make armed decisions when necessary. While tensions occassionally rose between the two entities, the legislature's economic controls gave them an advantage. In times of extreme imbalance, however, the intendants could request permissions from the Crown itself. Some issues were raised directly to the Crown, but many were vested in the colonial royal judiciaries. The royal judiciaries representated the Crown's stances in each colony. Having the final word, they mediated disputes between the legislature and intendants, but typically being an extension of the latter due to their familial relationships to the monarch. Although they had sweeping authority, they were rarely used unless in dire situations, or the legislatures ignored the rulings. Alongside the royal judiciaries were the civil and criminal judiciaries that focused on interpreting the laws applied to subjects. The legislature appointed the judges as a means of creating representative forms of justice. On the local level, the colonies were subdivided into regions (later called counties) and further divided into communities. Departments overlaid the regions based on geography. The Departments operated as both region dispute mediators, facilitators of the law to ensure interregional compliance, and symbolically to connect subjects in public forums. The web of administration created a diversely run colonial regime that underwent continual change. Taxation codes were an area of complaint for system, with not each department levying taxes; yet, neighboring departments would raise taxes alongside the colony-wide, regional, and community levels. The ever-shifting borders of the departments and regions exacerbated the issue. Reforms were attempted, but intransigence by the colonial legislatures, intendants, and royal judiciaries prevented any lasting change.

By the 19th century, the colonies of Beaufort, Clément, Maiara-Jaci, Nouvelle Montingné, Nouvelle Avilême, Terre de Gaultiere (renamed from Terre de Thomas), Nouveau Brençon, Haut Matthieu, Baissi-Matthieu, Nanuq, Sainte-Marianne, Saint-Mélitine, and the Imperial Port of Colette were all developed polities in Marceaunia Minor. The centuries of colonial rule by Vervillia promoted an old-stock elitism from the Vervillian aristocrats who were the first generations of settlers since the early 16th century. They held many de facto privileges over the Blaykish colonial subjects, who made up the majority of the peasantry and working class. The middle and late 1700s saw a growing trend in Blaykish immigration and population explosions within the colonies that created new opportunities for social mobilization.

An example of Philippean Colonial architecture, c. 1745. The architectural style's implementation over the 18th century reflected the growing cultural and administrative Blaykish influence over the Low Crown Colonies.

Classical Perendism was already widely practiced in the colonies from years of religious persecutees escaping to the colonies. The peasant and upper classes both worshipped under the faith, but the latter used their local churches' influence to crystalize social status. The wave of Blaykish settlers further solifidied the religion's role in colonial life as more continued to flee from the Dicerate's ecclesiastical authority; conversely, Apolostic Perendism did exist among smaller communities of individuals who largely sought fortune in the colonies rather than finding refuge from religious persecution. The colonies remained very diverse culturally, ethnically, and religiously, so minor religions existed alongside the dominating presence of Classical Perendism. The newer waves of Blaykish colonists became entrenched in the merchant profession while those who became successful demanded titles and government appointments due to newfound wealth. The population demographic shift appeared to threaten the Vervillian colonial elite order, so tensions between the groups rose. In the 1785 War of Tyrnican Succession, Blayk and Tyrnica's victory over Vervillia led to the dissolution of the Blaco-Vervillian Union. In the New World, the Low Crown Colonies were transferred to Blayk as part of the treaty demands. Such a shift to Chaudoir rule became an immediate threat to the colonial Vervillian elite, advancing their beliefs that the Blaykish planned to overtake their positions of power. Vervillian farmers similarly feared that the newly wealthy Blaykish classes would overtake their farms and plantations, or outright steal the land without any ability to object.

Centuries of the colonial system were beginning to come undone. The competing factors of outdated mercantilist policies, unprecedented demographic shifts, regressive taxation models, and the dissolution of the Blaco-Vervillian Union radicalized portions of the population into vocal protest. The disseminating knowledge of liberal ideals from Auressia trickled through the Blaykish immigration waves, catalyzing the mounting frustrations toward the House of Chaudoir, succeeded by the House of Sarbeliard.

The War of Tyrnican Succession and Great Upheaval

During and after the Rythenean Revolution (1790-1793), stories from the veteran revolutionaries largely found refuge in the Low Crown Colonies. The conditions for ideological radicalization became more pronounced by the late 18th century, so the stirring of these attitudes was advanced by the success of the liberal republican revolution in Rythene. Ambitious revolutionaries traveled to the Low Crown Colonies to manipulate the mounting societal frustrations to stir a subsequent movement in the New World. Charles Belmont, a Beaufort-born aristocrat, lawyer, polymath, and sympathizer of the Rythenean republicans, joined academic circles related to the Rythenean Revolution while becoming friends with veterans who entered the colonies. He became a leading figure in the anti-Blaykish movement. Though, there existed grassroots rebellious activity. These locally organized riots helped inspire his call to action for greater rights as a royal subject. The educated elite who were overwhelmingly descendants of old stock Vervillians were largely disgruntled by the results of the 1785 War of Tyrnican Succession: Blayk gained formal control over the Low Crown Colonies, previously under Vervillian administration in the Blaco-Vervillian Union. The Belmont Revolution kickstarted in 1796 after support continually grew across the territory for a show of defiance against the alleged injustices of the Blaykish authority since the Blaco-Vervillian Union's collapse. The Vervillian aristocrats who feared Blaykish administration overrepresented support for the Belmont Revolution. The Chaudoir Monarchy gradually introduced privileges and immunities for Blaykish colonists, while antagonizing the Vervillians. The Low Crown Colonial Judiciary Act of 1789 was particularly egregious to the Vervillian aristocratic class. The legislation reshaped the royal courts for greater monarchical oversight. Now, the monarchy would grant direct lifetime appointments over the royal courts that would oftentimes be filled disproportionately by Blaykish mainlanders and colonial subjects alike. The shift in the courts' demographic makeup simultaneously restricted the colonies' prior right to select the judges and severed the historical intimate relationship between intendant and the royal court. Blaykish troop counts also multiplied to ensure the enforcement of Blaykish authority. The animosity worsened after the Sarbliard Monarchy introduced property reclamation practices that allowed Blaykish administrators to co-opt or, at times, transfer ownership of Vervillian shops, taverns, and inns. While Gilbert II initially planned to reduce the shipment and conscription of troops in the Low Crown Colonies, his advisers convinced him to maintain them. These policies seemingly vindicated the conspiracy of the Blaykish to upend the Vervillian way of life. Thus, the Belmont Revolution became a justified form of rebellion in the eyes of the once-non-violent and moderate leaning Vervillian elites.

While largely disconnected across the northern and central territories, the Belmont Revolution was the first semi-organized network of revolutionary activity among the colonists. More of a rebellion to defend the rights of the Vervillian subjects more so than a proper revolution, it has been classified as such due to its size and its being a critical first step in the New World's Great Upheaval. Rebellions preceding the Belmont Revolution were usually clustered among small agricultural towns. The revolution was initially damaging to the Sarbeliard Monarchy and their financial security after a few major ports were occupied by the rebels. Though, because it was largely disconnected via the sheer geographic size of the colonies and lacked widespread popular support due to its aristocratic nature, it only took approximately one year for the violence to be firmly suppressed. Many of the revolutionaries were hanged for their contributions to the effort while Charles Belmont and a group of other instrumental leaders successfully escaped to the Rythenean Republic and across Marceaunia. In Rythene, Belmont wrote extensively of his experiences that shaped his radicalizing political beliefs. Namely, he drew upon republican models from Auressia, antiquity, and indigenous democratic governing models to inform his own theory of liberal government. It was in Rythene that he and other revolutionaries called themselves Les Guillaumes, a reference to the famed first elected president of the Rythenean Republic. The Belmont Revolution originally sought to affirm the colonists’ rights that the Blaykish transfer of power undermined. With virulent opposition to the Sarbeliard Monarchy mounting, the concept of a distinct Amand identity would soon take formal shape. The colonial administrations were divided from the revolution. Some saw an opportunity to gain more political power against the Crown's authority through the movement, or were the very Vervillian elites who opposed Blaykish rule. The majority of administrators by this point denounced the violence in favor of petitions.

In the following years, the Sarbeliard Monarchy attempted to quell riots and civil unrest by instituting economic, social, and legal reforms: chiefly, the Immunity Act of 1799. The Act sought to give colonial leaders greater control over foreign trade, allowing them to cooperate with other national powers in Auressia beyond just Blayk. Many hoped that this would reintroduce cooperation with Vervillia. In reality, though, the Immunity Act of 1799 was never properly implemented and only benefited the Blaykish and merchant class, generating a deeper divide with Vervillian colonists, as well as further alienating farmers from commercial self-sufficiency. The Agricultural Privileges and Means Act of 1799 would further antagonize the peasantry and farming populations by placing quotas on cash crop production and bolstered the authority of regional administrators over access to farmland and trade. A series of anonymously published texts, titled “A New Ancient System” (Principean: Un nouveau ancien système) attacked the policy as an antiquated and punitive feudal system imposed on already-struggling farmers. Plantation owners in the Sainte-Mélitine colony were particularly impacted, along with farmers in the interior. A poor agricultural season in early 1800 accentuated their frustrations, causing the Act to be reformed in late 1801. Instead of these reforms quelling unrest, increasingly anti-Sarbeliardists saw them as failed, backhanded bandages over the greater societal fabric of a collapsing colony split between long-time Vervillian landed aristocrats and more recent Blaykish elites. Finally, the Marceaunian Emigration Acts of 1800 incentivized more Blaykish subjects to migrate and settle in the Low Crown Colonies. The Vervillian elites and merchants accused Blayk of attempting to replace the population with sympathetic Blaykish subjects and to drown the market with new, staunchly loyal Blaykish merchants. Blaykish-Vervillian relations in the colonies continued to spiral.

The reforms eventually became penal, when known anti-Sarbeliardists were imprisoned and indefinitely held without a fair or impartial trial. Colonial administrators became increasingly anxious, paranoid, and authoritarian. The Blaykish Civil War of 1801 finally severed relations. Charles Belmont and his Les Guillaumes also returned in 1800, where they saw an opportunity to inspire a second, more effective revolution that could bridge the Blaykish and Vervillian divide into a common national identity. During his four year refuge in Rythene, Belmont learned from revolutionary groups how to organize institutions that could effectively unite the people under a common cause. It also became common legend that the blue-white-yellow flag was inspired by the sight he described when returning to the Low Crowned Colonies’ northern coast, later painted and designed by fellow radical Frédéric Arthur: “Our great father Belmont entered the Port of Colette to a sea of magnificent blue waters with color as deep as his commitment to a free land. The sun above ignited the sky in a yellow reminiscent of the torch of liberty. This brightness reflected off of the port’s buildings, creating a white as pure as the people’s will. He knew, then, that Providence ordained the Amand nation.”

The collapse of the Blaco-Vervillian Union and the Rythenenean Revolution were the primary macro-drivers of Amand independence; they highlighted the distancing relationship between the Marceaunian colonies and the seemingly collapsing Auressian order driven apart by radical anti-monarchical movements. Increasing class disparities, tensions between Vervillians and perceived unrepresentative Blaykish rule, the lack of security through transitional borders, and depletive mercantilist policies that drained the Low Crown Colonies of their financial & natural resources with little in return also pushed the colonists toward independence.

Amand War of Independence and National Consensus

Upon the Blaykish Civil War’s outbreak in 1801, the Necessary Conscription Act of 1801 and the Royal Proclamation of 1801 came into law in the colonies. The former enforced a conscription policy where healthy men of age were required to serve in defense of the Sarbeliard monarchy against the proclaimed Blaykish Republic. Months later, the Royal Proclamation of 1801 asserted that King Gilbert II of Blayk held complete rule over the colonies, supplanting centuries of relative autonomy enjoyed by the colonists. Despite the proclamation claiming to "equate the rights of the colonial subject to his fellow man in the mother country," the colonial had fallen under martial law. Belmont and other outraged Vervillian aristocrats, as well as Blaykish colonists aligned with the Blaykish Republic, alongside the radicalizing farming class, rejected the augmentation in authority which they saw as a violation of their natural right to self-governance and association. Mass demonstrations against the Acts sparked bloodshed in the populated port city of Nouvelle Valden, where a public hanging was taking place for a serial draft dodger. After the crowd grew tenfold and became rowdy, one of the protestors, a female named Orianne Tremblay, threw a punch at an officer. Infuriated by the public humiliation and growing anxious by the intensity of the crowd, he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the gallows. The crowd then stormed the armed officers, leading to them opening fire. This incident inspired the popular Amand symbol of a woman martyr being hanged for the cause of liberty, despite the reality that she was never actually hanged. In the criminal trial for the soldiers, the offending officer stated that he had no intention of hanging Tremblay but rather to use her as a threat to subdue the protestors. The news of the Nouvelle Valden incident spread around the colonies, kickstarting the revolt.

Members of the Body of War and Correspondence debating over the decision to declare independence from the Blaykish monarchy, 1802.

Organized fighting began in 1801. The temporarily established Body of War and Correspondence declared the Republic of the Amands an independent sovereign state in 1802. The blue-white-yellow tricolor was unfurled and was to be used by all Amand revolutionaries in the National Symbol Standardization Act of 1802, the second official act passed by the Body. The Amand War of Independence lasted until 1807. The war was characterized by both expelling royal Blaykish forces entering the nation and subduing the loyalist territories. The bloodiest battle of the war occurred in 1802 at the Battle of Piaget. In 1803, the entry of the Free Audonian Army into the war strengthened the Republic of the Amands' wartime capabilities. The Kingdom of Blayk had one final, major success in the 1804 Battle of Mathide, but the remainder of the war was spent by the Republic of the Amands exerting its occupation over the territories. As Blayk’s monarchy had been in exile in Tyrnica–its military stretched across the globe–the loyal regions in the Marceaunian Minor territory would eventually be snuffed out. Eventually by the later years of the war, fighting would quiet but little movement occurred diplomatically to bring about a conclusive treaty.Most large scale fighting had concluded by late 1805. The Treaty of Priscille (1807) formally resolved the war and resulted in the Blaykish Republic, Vervillia, and other Auressian powers recognizing the new nation’s sovereignty. It ended the House of Sarbeliard’s claims to the former Low Crown Colonies. The 1807 Treaty of Priscille was deliberately signed in the historic Amand city to assert the legitimacy of the new nation. The nation would sign a bilateral Treaty of Rue Blanc with the Rythene Republic three days later.

Amand and Blaykish representatives signing the Treaty of Priscille, formally ending the war of independence, 1807.

One year prior to the signing of the Treaty of Priscille, anti-Blaykish paranoia sparked an internal revolution. The National Consensus would spark a campaign of mob and state-sponsored violence against designated “irrepublicans,” “pro-Sarbeliardists,” and “counter-revolutionaries.” While in 1806, revolutionaries primarily purged Blaykish soldiers and public officials, a notable number of the Blaykish population would be imprisoned, surveilled, tried, or executed for alleged actions subversive to the Republic of the Amands in subsequent years. Occupied cities faced heavy surveillance by the Amand army, but the postwar years involved nearly every major urban center. Sainte-Marianne Politician Aymeric Bettencourt would famously write, “There does not exist a Republic of the Amands. We have created a Republic of the Vervillians, cut from the cloth of Marceaunia, to oppress the Blaykish.” The National Consensus continued beyond the War of Independence to 1809.

Ordered under Directive 18, read aloud by Body Member Grégoire Delaplace: "The Body of War and Correspondence hereby demands firm loyalty to the spirit of our Republic, to her sustained vitality among a unified collection of citizens, each endowed with sacred liberty and justice, that shall only remain existent with her enemies foreign and abroad extinguished. As the war against rebellious territories commences, in their existence contrary to nature, the People shall persecute any and all irrepublicans, counterrevolutionaries, and elements opposed to the Republic within her boundaries."

The National Consensus swiftly transformed into a nationwide panic defined by heightened radicalism, mob rule, and state-sponsored violence to maintain the spirit of the War of Independence. Les matelots, L’Accord, and Les guêpes, the most radical political groups, advocated most openly for sweeping societal transformation. The first year of the National Consensus largely focused on combating Blaykish officials and soldiers, but began to spread to Blaykish loyalists by the end of the year. By the Consensus’ apex, anyone with Blaykish sympathies–whether legitimate or fabricated–faced criminal charges, deportation, and physical and psychological harassment. Most members of the Les Guillaumes were removed from power, many being executed or jailed. A number of cases of treason led to state-mandated executions.

The National Consensus channeled into a campaign against the Blaykish identity more so than the Blaykish Monarchy itself. By its most radical point in 1807 and 1808, any ties whatsoever to Auressian countries came under heavy surveillance; Vervillia was included. The hyper-nationalist ideology of “Sardouism” (Sardouisme) placed the newly developed Amand national identity above any and all past allegiances. Loyalty pledges became a standard requirement of citizenship. By late 1808, the Treaty of Faith and Friendship with Rythene would be severed as the nation declared itself totally independent of Auressian interests. The Acts of Consolidation significantly curtailed immigration for most communities. Meanwhile, the National Consensus saw a continued support–at times near veneration–for indigenous people, who some considered the most pure Amands if they swore allegiance to the Republic and its ideals. The sentiment was not universal, with planters in Sainte-Mélitine encroaching on indigenous lands to expand plantations. However, the more philosophically driven members of government desired to uphold the rights, agency, and social structures of indigenous people.

In 1807, the Body of War and Correspondence established a co-equal branch, The Collaborative. This governmental branch was entrusted with designing ways to best assert an “ordered revolutionary fervor.” This translated to a near complete control of military logistics through a Commander-in-Chief, with the Body of War and Correspondence having ultimate approval. The increasingly paranoid national government intended to channel the National Consensus against its perceived domestic enemies while simultaneously hoping that a continued wartime effort would consolidate a united Amand identity to bridge the nation’s geographic and demographic diversity. Both branches undertook a cultural redevelopment of the nation. The Amand Calendar with “holidays of significance to the Amand People” was implemented; streets were renamed from Blaykish and, at times, Vervillian figures, to heroes from the War of Independence, colonial settlers, and other vital figures. A modification of Principean was attempted but never realized. Most prominently featured was the “Organization for the Republican Spirit,” a Perendist-styled faith that infused elements of the widely followed religion with Amand-specific canon, mythology, and holidays. Some members of the Body of War and Correspondence (renamed the National Legislative Body in 1808) debated about establishing an atheistic or Deist organized religion, but Perendism was deemed too vital to the identity of the Amand. Hence, a compromise was made to create a civic religion semi-operated by the state.

Artwork commissioned for the Organization for the Republican Spirit, the state-mandated civic religion established during the National Consensus, 1808. The piece was created by Thibault Pomeroy (1780-1811), a famed artist, political philosopher, and member of the radical political party, the Mariners

The National Consensus eventually lost its energy by late 1808 and into 1809, further accelerated by some of its greatest proponents eventually becoming victims. Much of its downfall is credited to collapse in popular support, the Legislative National Body’s eventual attempts to dispel the Revolution’s mobs, The Collaborative’s encroaching military control, and deteriorating economic conditions. In 1809, seeing the National Legislative Body as ineffectual and ideologically dangerous, The Collaborative undertook a successful coup. This action was deemed necessary after the sympathetic Piagetists and L’Océan members were all formally charged with treason to consolidate power among Les matelots and Les guêpes. The Collaborative hoped to establish lasting order through a more centralized, uniformly structured state. Many cultural revolutionary reforms would be abandoned, excluding the Republican Calendar and the Organization for the Republican Spirit. The National Consensus ended in November of 1809, marked by the ascendance of the Republic of Amandine. Maintaining a semblance of order not previously seen since the turn of the 19th century, the Republic of Amandine underwent an interim period of repair to undo the revolutionary destruction.

Economically, the nation maintained its uniform tax system and regulation through the central government, but the Panic of 1815 from poor agricultural yields and lost faith on Amand credit stunted economic development. The Republic weathered the conditions but took years to recover, creating the financial impetus for reform from the liberal wing of the National Legislature, a renamed successor to The Collaborative under the Republic. The Republic maintained a more secure, albeit dictatorial rule for a decade before a liberal intellectual wave within the National Legislature sought to transform the government once more into one echoing the ideology of Upheaval liberalism. Mixing an industrial-agriculturally balanced economy and modern governmental structure with the liberal tradition of the War of Independence and Consensus, a Confederation replaced the Republic.

Confederation & the Continental War

Largely devised by the Committee on Charters, a subgroup of the Legislative Collaborative, and spearheaded by statesman and polymath Augustin Olivier III, the Confederation of Southern Marceaunia formed on 17 January, 1819. Through the Confederal Charter, the Republic of Amandine was dissolved to component states within the larger framework, with boundaries reflecting the historical colonial and republican borders. The Confederation of Southern Marceaunia was comprised of the State of Armelle, State of Sainte-Marianne, State of Beaufort, State of Clément, State of Maiara-et-Jaci, State of Tecumseh, State of Nouvelle Montigné, Nouvelle Avilême, Nouveau Brençon, Gaultiere, Matthieu, Nanuq, and the State of Sainte-Mélitine. The Capital District of Colette remained the designated national capital, although legislators debated over moving the capital to other cities. Candidates included a return to St. Laurine and St. Georges. The national name, “Confederation of Southern Marceaunia,” was intended to dissociate from the increasingly violent Sardouism that emphasized a strict Amand identity. Instead, citizens would officially be named “Southern Marceaunians.” The vast majority of people either continued to refer to themselves as Amand or as their regional polity.

Sectionalism gradually strengthened during this period. Other reforms were implemented, such as the Amand Calendar being temporarily abolished (before being reintroduced in 1824), the Republican Organization completely severing from the national government to be administered by local authorities (or, in same municipalities, not at all), and a non-uniform economic and tax system respective of the states. As states developed their own economic interests and policies, local leaders inevitably questioned the purpose of the Confederation.

The Crisis of 1829 saw the State of Armelle pass legislation to raise a “territory-encompassing army, in perpetuity for the moral and secure needs of Our Country.” The Crisis set off a chain reaction of internal problems: a state raised a standing army in an illegal manner in violation of the Confederal Articles. The neighboring State of Saint-Mélitine and Amandine responded with temporary militia formations on their own borders and jointly requested the Confederation to force Armelle to stand down. The Confederation, slow to respond, refused to send in the national guard after assessing the situation. Violence began to break out along the border as tensions rose with Armelle who was accused of raiding border towns for supplies. The Confederation eventually brought down the national guard, diffusing the situation. The Crisis of 1829 has been considered the nexus point of the coming Continental War.

As the incongruous nation’s condition worsened on economic, social, and political levels, the component states became disparate entities with few reasons to stay in a floundering pan-continental nation. Public calls for separatism became an advocated issue, particularly in the south and western regions. On 3 May 1831, the secession of Sainte-Mélitine propelled the Confederation–and Marceaunia Minor–into war. In 17 years, a liberal solution to an economically and governmentally rudimentary republic crumbled under its own self-imposed constraints. Without a strong national identity or the infrastructure to prevent states from accruing unreasonable autonomy, the Confederation collapsed under its own weight.

Depiction of the Battle of Saunier, 1831. It was the first major victory for the Mélitinian Republican Army against the Confederation of Southern Marceaunia, critically boosting morale for the secessionist movement.

The first major transnational war fought between modern Marceaunia Minor nations, the Continental War, also known locally as the Separatist War or War of 1831, was a large-scale conflict involving nearly every nation on the continent. The Continental War was an indirect culmination of the independence movements decades following the Great Upheaval. It followed the Confederation of Southern Marceaunia’s decline in authority as an ineffective government.

The Continental War was sparked in 1831 with the secession of Sainte-Mélitine, followed by the secession of Armelle and later into the conflict Lorena. With the Confederation of Southern Marceaunia’s military largely supported by the collective input of its member states, the separatists capitalized on the national military’s fracture. The Confederation of Southern Marceaunia maintained a widely spread national armed forces over its vast boundaries, but each state contributed significantly to its numbers for collective protection via quotas. Armelle and Sainte-Mélitine withdrew their military members and raised their own defense ministries. The CSM responded with force, leading to direct conflict.

As the war increasingly favored the separatists, even as they at times fought between one another, the Confederation passed the unprecedented Emergency Conscription Act, greatly expanding the individual states’ conscripts, as well as expanding an already existent national draft; the states also lost defensive autonomy in order to make the war effort more consolidated. Armelle, having largely avoided direct conflict, was disproportionately impacted by the law due to the determined untapped number of soldiers available to fight and its strategic naval position. Armelle objected and froze all armed movements, causing the national government to respond with a temporary martial law. The forces from Armelle were ordered to return to the state, eventually causing a skirmish between the national forces and the returning state soldiers. Armelle’s legislators effectively declared independence “in reaction to motions only considered contrary to the ideals of Our Confederation…To extinguish the flame of a dictator’s rule, One People must unite for the cause of liberty…We, the People of Armelle, hereby declare Her free and independent of any and all responsibilities formally aligned to the Confederation.”

Only two years into the war, the CSM was effectively defunct. An internal faction of National Legislature assemblymen from the State of Beaufort formed, calling themselves the Order of the Statesmen. They sought to reestablish a more centralist Republic, akin to the period of relative stability of 1809 to 1819. The Order grew in influence among other legislators, gaining majority support from and within Sainte-Marianne, Clémente, Maiara-et-Tessouat, and Tecumseh. In 1833, the Republic of Amandine was declared and a coup followed, with a majority of states still within the Confederation pledging allegiance. Legislators from the State of Lorena were the only ones to object, refusing to recognize the coup. The Republic consolidated many of the dependent interior states much in the way Sainte-Mélitine was influential in the south. For Lorena, its legislators were removed from power but a provisional Lorena Republic, free from any military alliances or from raising a standing army, was allowed to exist. Doing so prevented a new front of the war, allowing the Republic to concentrate its focus on the southern and western secessionists.

Armelle, unable to stay competitive in a multi-state war, would capitulate to the re-established Republic of Amandine (historically categorized as the Second Republic) and Sainte-Mélitine. In 1835, the Republic of Amandine restructured its government into the Federal Republic of Amandine, where it largely abandoned the prospect of maintaining a continent-wide confederation for a more consolidated federal, semi-presidential structure. The First Continental War officially ceased with the signing of the Treaty of Anne-Marie and the Treaty of Fort Dumont in 1836. Most notably, the Confederation of Southern Marceaunia was formally dissolved and the Federal Republic of Amandine was to recognize the independence of the freely declared governments: Sainte-Mélitine and Lorena. Lorena would only be allowed to arm itself in five years, and only under a restrictive limit of conscripts. The occupied State of Armelle would receive temporary special designation in the Federal Republic as an Autonomous Federal State. All other former states of the Confederation would be retitled as provinces. Each province would be further split into local administrative departments. Financial burdens of the war, repayment for damaged and taken property, and the need to rebuild destroyed infrastructure would take precedence, alongside permanently outlining the scope of the new federal government. The Order of the Statesmen, colloquially called the Statesmen, renamed themselves the Parti du Marchand (Marchand Party) in 1836, named after the War of Independence fighter of the same name who informed the political thought of many of the Order. The name would again change to the Unionist Party (Parti unioniste) by the 1840s. A prominent rival political faction named the Constitutionalist Party (Parti constitutionnaliste), alongside other congressional parties, would vie for power, laying the foundation for modern coalition politics.

The Continental War established the political, military, and economic framework for Marceaunia Minor’s nations until the War of the Adrienne Sea in the 1860s. Amandine would spend the coming years inwardly focused, with a sweeping program of infrastructural reform paving the way for eventual stability. The Continental War was also a jumping off point for many independent countries, including Sainte-Mélitine, now free to determine its foreign and domestic policy, and Lorena, whose independence was guaranteed by Amandine. While Amandine would not be in a position to pose a challenge for some time, it would maintain relations–ranging from passive to tense– with the breakaway governments through the 19th century.

Revival Period

Under Unionist leadership from Jeannot Pascal and Christophe Tasse, Amandine began serious efforts to industrialize and modernize. Railroad projects were underway by the late 1840s and early 1850s.

Amandine spent three postwar decades recovering from the devastation of the Continental War. Under the early leadership of Edgar Germain, Arthur Laurence, and Christophe Tasse, Amandine's federal government became more economically interventionist to encourage domestic revitalization. While Amandine was historically agriculturally-focused on account of its optimal climate and available arable land, the Unionist Party emphasized industrialization to modernize the nation's economy to compete with peer nations, promote employment, improve infrastructure that was destroyed during the war, and raise a sense of national pride through public works projects. Agriculture remained the dominant sector of the economy, but the substantial loss of land from the aggressive expansion of Sainte-Mélitine caused plantations to be reorganized by owners, largely to the detriment of indigenous populations. The period of relative peace between indigenous people and the government would deteriorate as the government increasingly appropriated respected autonomous territory. Consequently, military conflicts became more commonplace than in prior decades. No major war was conducted against a foreign state, allowing for a time of relative peace and internal and external stability that fostered economic redevelopment.

Edgar Germain, Arthur Laurence, and Christophe Tasse were the architects of the Federal Republic. They shaped the Executive Body with an emphasis on Prime Ministerial authority over domestic affaits alongside an active legislature and the presidency dominating foreign policy. The Constitution of 1836 became solidified in subsequent administrations, not facing a challenge until the assassination of President Jacques Bellegarde in 1861, leading to a brief crisis of succession. Beyond the federal government's authority, the Constitution also outlined the powers of the component provinces to avoid the tensions characteristic of the Confederation of Southern Marceaunia.

As Amandine gradually regained its confidence, its leadership transitioned to a more aggressive foreign policy by the 1850s. The successful Campaign of 1855 was met with popular support as military swiftly recovered lost western territory. The campaign's victory provided a pathway to a larger coordinated effort in the Adrienne Sea to finally combat Audonian regional supremacy. To do so, building relations with Albrennia was prioritized. In Marceaunia Minor, Amandine respected its territorial cessions to the Ailaca-Rocian Union so as to not aggrevate their more powerful neighbor. Amandine held neutral, although largely cold relations with Sainte-Mélitine, refusing to seriously establish formal relations. Amandine upheld its guarantee of the Republic of Lorena's independence with Sainte-Mélitine, but its proximity to the flegling nation made it subject to immense financial and political influence. The Maxine Beauchêne regime was notorious for its corrupt dealings with the Lorena government, causing it to align with Amandine's axis of diplomacy. In the Jégout-Layhaye Affair of 1867, Lorena agreed to significantly subordinate its navy to Amandine's, increasing Amandine's military capacity during the War of the Adrienne Sea. Sainte-Mélitine and Ailaca-Rocia would object to the efforts of integration, creating points of contention between the three nations.

Portrait of Maxime Beauchêne, 1853. Twice Prime Minister, Minister of State, and diplomat, Beauchêne was famous for his active role in foreign policy alongside the president, overseeing his government's interventionist policies toward Lorena and war against Audonia in 1865.

By the 1860s, Amandine became a functional governing republic, although with highly limited enfranchisement. The dominant political party was the Unionist Party, who controlled the presidency and the governnment for most of the 1840s and 1850s. The Contractarian and Reformist Parties mounted substantial oppositional support to counter the high taxes levied by Unionist projects. In an early form of coalition, the Reformist Party grew as a key electoral ally to the Contractarians before transforming into a swing party with the Farmers of Amandine.

The Revival Period allowed Amandine to consolidate around a stable federal system. Investment in infrastructure and industrialization, political stability, and prolonged peace with neighbors provided the necessary conditions for Amandine to enter the latter half of the 19th century with a sense of promise. The nation positioned itself as a burgeoning competitor to Audonia, who had gained hegemony over the Adrienne Sea and the eastern Rum Gulf.

War of the Adrienne Sea

The War of the Adrienne Sea marked the first significant shift in Marceania Minor geopolitics since the Continental War (1831-1836). A product of growing developments across the region, the war was a culmination of Amandine’s regained economic and military stability, Albrennia’s encroaching commercial interests in the Adrienne Sea and Rum Gulf, and Audonia’s stagnation. The war lasted four years and was primarily fought on the water, with an early form of island-hopping strategy adopted by the Amand Navy.

Amandine had spent the three decade interim period between 1836 and 1865 rebuilding its internal infrastructure, diversifying its domestic economy, consolidating its defense capabilities, and seeking legitimization from neighboring states after the collapse of the Confederation of Southern Marceaunia. Most prominently, Amandine largely avoided large-scale conflict on its border (barring the brief six month Campaign of 1855. This period of prolonged peace prevented lasting economic disruption on the continent, allowing Amand industry to strengthen; efforts by a united National Legislature under the Contractarian Party advanced expansive reforms to the nation’s infrastructure, including modernized railways, safer waterways, paved roads in the interior, and a strengthened postal system. With such infrastructure, the economy flourished in agriculture and manufacturing as goods and crops could be transported at a previously unseen efficiency. By the late 1850s and 1860s, rival political parties–notably the Unionist Party and Reformist Party–gained a stronger foothold in Congress to introduce a plurality of legislative alternatives to Contractarian Party policies.

Diplomatically, Amandine made real efforts to normalize relations with surrounding governments. Amandine and Aillaca-Rocia stood on relatively peaceful terms with a ceremonial “Treaty of the Unions" in 1860 reaffirming the late 1834 Treaty of Verbo Divino that ended Aillaca-Rocia’s participation in the Continental War that recognized the Republic of Amandine and ceded the Eastern Ubirajara Plains. While Amandine had always sought to regain the territory, its leaders equally recognized the need to preserve national security through lasting foreign relations. Similarly, Amandine pursued efforts with the Republic of Sainte-Mélitine, attempting on a number of occasions to smooth the uneasy relationship. Even with such difficulties, Sainte-Mélitine’s prime position for international trade in southern Marceaunia Minor became an object of interest for Amandine as it saw an increasing trend in foreign powers shifting their activities southward post-Continental War. One long term aim of the Ministry of Commerce and Exchange was to make transoceanic trade through the Adrienne Sea the primary channel. To do so, Amandine needed to eventually regain economic authority over the southern horn of Marceaunia Minor, controlled by Sainte-Mélitine, with eventually enough soft power to reduce its utility in favor of the northern routes. Most importantly, however, was the need to dethrone Audonia’s economic dominance of the Adrienne Sea. Disputed maritime borders and fishing rights were frequent between the two governments. Audonian forts along Marceaunia Minor’s coast, another remnant of the Continental War, became sights of military pressure by Amandine's military who saw them as encroachments on Amand sovereignty. By the late 1850s and 1860s, Amand nationalism was simultaneously reviving, creating an environment ripe for intervention.

In 1864, Amandine and Albrennia signed the Pact of Oceanic Security. Aillaca-Rocia would eventually sign it in 1867 and Nilasia in 1868. While opponents to war feared that prolonged maritime conflict in the Adrienne Sea would only bolster trade through Sainte-Mélitine, warhawks eventually won the argument, seeing the pressing need to supplant Audonia’s holdings.

Photo of the remains of the Audonian-operated Palitzsch Jail, raided and liberated by the Amand Army Division in 1865.

The 1864 Pact of Oceanic Security was scrutinized by Audonia, whose leaders saw Amandine and Albrennia’s developing alliance as an evident threat. Albrennia’s regional presence was becoming clear, and Amandine’s search for allies only further proved to Audonia that a conflict was nearing. In 1865, Fort Heldt, one of the largest Audonian outposts on Amandine’s northern coast and a symbol of national humiliation and foreign oppression, was shelled repeatedly to the ground. While it was truly only used for ship docking and repairs (with Amandine also having legal rights to it, in theory), propagandists alleged it to be a fully stocked armory that posed a real national security risk. At roughly the same time, the Palitzsch Jail in the minor Fort Diederich was also “liberated,” being raided and razed to the ground. Just as with Fort Heldt, the identity of Palitzsch Jail was exaggerated. The Jail was small and rarely used, only temporarily holding individuals who violated minor maritime laws before oftentimes being released; some were tried in Audonia, the vast majority whom were were already Audonian nationals. Though, the story of Gäel Haillet, a criminal Amand merchant who was well known for theft and fraud across the Adrienne waterways, wherein he was convicted in Audonian courts for repeatedly targeting Audonian commercial vessels, transformed him into a national martyr. The jail came to be seen as another symbol of oppression. Audonia was preparing for war but did not expect these two attacks to happen so suddenly, giving the early advantage to Amandine. The successful propaganda efforts and years of naval development allowed Amandine to quickly mobilize, leading to Audonia declaring war on Amandine in 1865.

The War of the Adrienne Sea would last four years. The combined force of Amandine and Albrennia thwarted Audonia, but the naval nature of the war prolonged it. Audonia continued to fight, with losses on both sides mounting. The war represented the nexus between traditional and modern naval warfare, with new technologies being implemented. It was best characterized by ship battles, but occasionally amphibious forces from Amandine landed on islands controlled by Audonia for strategic docking. Forts along Marceaunia Minor’s coast faced bombardment until submission, with most conceding and being co-opted by the Amand military. In the realm of foreign affairs, Amandine’s Ministry of State had an interest in the 1868 independence of Nova Kovaria from Audonia. Amand diplomats were sent to the island chain republic to court officials, establishing an early friendship.

The War of the Adrienne Sea concluded in 1869 with the Treaty of St. Laurine. Amandine and Albrennia emerged as decisive victors. Amandine would replace Audonia as the pre-eminent naval authority in the region; meanwhile, Albrennia used its leverage in the favorable peace talks and its warm ties to Amandine to become involved in Marceaunia Minor for years to come, especially in Aillaca-Rocia. Not only gaining control of the Adrienne Sea, Amandine also asserted authority over all ports ceded to Audonia from 1836, capped Audonia’s navy, and demanded stringent reparations. Though, the sea-turned-battleground would take some years before foreign powers in Auressia would widely use it again, instead favoring Sainte-Mélitine’s route due to the absence of violence. Eventually, however, trust rebuilt under Amandine and Albrennia’s solidifying presence, and the Auressian powers returned to the Adrienne as it was ultimately more convenient than circumventing the south of Marceaunia Minor.

Laurence Harbor in 1876, site of the Colette Conference.

The Amandine Ministry of State proposed a treaty to codify the 1864 Pact of Oceanic Security in 1873. In 1876, the Colette Conference convened to address the economic demands of participants and to ensure that the Adrienne Sea and Rum Gulf stay stable hubs of trade. Amandine used the conference to further its hegemonic influence. Participants namely included Amandine, Albrennia, Aillaca-Rocia, Sainte-Mélitine, Nilasia, and [Mi5 Plot]. Despite objecting, Amandine eventually acquiesced to Blayk and Rythene having a presence. Ties would strengthen between the three nations, with trade agreements being secured that had lasting impacts into the Great War. The Conference excluded Audonia and the Republic of Lorena: Audonia’s absence was to cement their lasting defeat, Lorena’s was to prove that it had no meaningful position on the international stage. A number of treaties would be signed between the involved states, and although an all-encompassing agreement was not signed, the Pact of Oceanic Security was renewed on postwar terms and conditions.

In 1881, having been virtually excluded from all international conversation, having provided military assistance to Amandine in the War of the Adrienne Sea, and recovering from a depressed economy, the Republic of Lorena re-incorporated into Amandine. The reintegration was largely considered inevitable as the government had firm pro-Amand leanings after years of influence. In 1882, Audonia was finally included in the 1876 Pact of Oceanic Security on an amendment.

In the late 1890s and early 1900s, oil was widely discovered. This extraction boom ignited the economy to new heights. Debates raged on over if the federal government should nationalize the industry, which it eventually did in the 1910s. Amand domination of the Adrienne Sea further proved vital, as more was eventually discovered off the northern coast of Marceaunia Minor in the 1920s and 1930s.

The War of the Adrienne Sea set the balance of power for decades until the Port Crisis of 1909. It propelled Amandine to new military and economic heights after years of internal infrastructural development and governmental reform. It gave Albrennia a foothold in Marceaunia Minor, a legacy that it holds onto. It saw the decline in Audonia’s power; Nova Kovaria became a closely aligned commercial and diplomatic partner of Amandine from 1900 to the 1920s. The war also gave Sainte-Mélitine a period of peace and prosperity. Most famously, Amand Minister of War Joseph Barbero affirmatively stated, “The 1831 War is over. We have won.” Historian Sarah Reverdin concurred in her 1990s analysis, writing, “The War of the Adrienne Sea complimented the Continental War. The 1865 war was a direct consequence of 1836, where Amandine had grown from a nascent government to a mature regional power. This is one of the great long arks of history.”

Great Wars

Amandine exited the War of the Adrienne Sea as a Marceaunian power, strengthening a popular regionalist political movement that emphasized Amand involvement in continental and Rum Gulf under its immediate influence. Simultaneously, isolation remained a considerable presence in the National Legislature as a holdover from the Revival Period's inward focus on infrastructural development. While the successive government Boniface Louis, Samuel, and (Honoré) Beauchêne governments publicly opposed Auressian imperialism, Amandine's regionalist and isolationist leaders refused to enter a war without a direct attack on or threat to its sovereignty. The sudden rise of the regionalist The New Fathers political party, in combination with the Contractarians, Reformists, and the Liberal Perendist Party, expressed the commitment to regional stability short of becoming entrenched in Auressian affairs. Consolidating authority in the Adrienne Sea became the primary interest.

Yet, Amandine was also a burgeoning major trade partner with Auressia. From 1908, it was commercial partners with and a crude oil exporter to both the Coalition and the Galene League. It was formally neutral in the erupting Great War, but aligned more ideologically and economically with the Coalition nations. Blayk and Rythene typically received Amand exports in higher quantities than Tyrnica. Blayk and Rythene had a sustained economic relationship with Amandine for decades prior that was not afforded to Tyrnica, in addition to Amandine's alignment with Albrennia influencing pro-Coalition policies. Having a proximate relationship with Rum Gulf rival Audonia, Tyrnica was regarded with suspicion in Amand intelligence circles.

President Honoré Beauchêne signing the National Legislature's declaration of war on Tyrnica, 1909.

Amandine maintained neutrality in the Great War until 1909, especially. Both repeated attacks on Amand supply shipments to Auressia and increasingly restrictive patrols by the Galene League in the lower Hesperian Ocean would shift the Federal Republic into the column of the Coalition Powers. The Audonian Port Crisis effectively brought the conflict to Marceaunia, thrusting Amandine into the war. In 1909, the Tyrnican battleship Särpelgard bombarded an Amand three vessel convoy in the Hesperian Ocean, with two of the vessels sinking. The Amand Naval Division responded with its own nearby battleships critically damaging the Särpelgard. The crew retreated to a friendly port in Audonia. Amandine soon after declared war on Tyrnica for the open act of aggression. As tensions escalated from the international incident due to Audonia's refusal to release the crew to Amandine, Amandine and Audonia prepared troops for combat in a likely Marceaunia Theater. However, Amandine withheld a secondary declaration of war on Audonia after diplomatic negotiations over the fate of the Särpelgard deescalated the situation. Amandine and Albrennia remained skeptical of Audonia over the course of the war and heavily surveiled the Adrienne Sea, but Audonian neutrality was respected.

Most of Amandine’s wartime efforts consisted of funneling arms, crude oil, and funds exclusively to these Coalition while engaging in minor naval campaigns in the Hesperian Ocean. Amandine’s dominance in the War of the Adrienne Sea derived largely from a modernized naval force; in the Great War, the navy stayed competitive with the Auressians but continuously underwent technological advancements through scientific collaboration with Albrennia, Blayk, and Rythene. Amandine largely took on a support role by combining its navy with allied forces. In other instances, the Amand navy operated alone to prevent any Galene League presence in southern Marceaunian waters. Amandine successfulled helped secure the Hesperian Ocean for its Coalition allies. This allowed the Coalition to focus more of its energy on the Auressian Theater in its push against Tyrnica, Palia, and Sulatia. Amandine engaged in one amphibious battle, although in a relatively minor capacity as it occurred in the twilight of the war in 1914 already after Tyrnica’s capitulation. Diplomatically, the Ministry of State convinced other Rum Gulf and nearby Marceaunian governments to side with the Coalition or remain neutral in the war.

In Marceaunia Minor, the turmoil and eventual overthrow of the Republic of Sainte-Mélitine for the United Phalansteries in 1910 marked the first significant regional geo-political shift since the War of the Adrienne Sea. As civil conflict plagued Sainte-Mélitine with the tide turning in favor of the revolutionaries, isolationist-minded legislators from the Unionist Party and Reformist Party opposed serious continued involvement in the Great War to the mounting interventionist wings of the Contractarian Party and the Liberal Perendist Party, who embraced the war with Tyrnica as a nation security necessity. A resurgent regionalist faction saw the ascendent revolutionary regime in the Sainte-Mélitine as an impetus to focus on continental affairs and limit involvement with the Coalition. Army divisions were sent to the border to prevent a spillover of violence.

Upon the Great War’s conclusion, Amandine increased its global profile. Without conflict on its borders and the United Phalenstries deemed under control as land forces were largely kept from seeing overseas battle during the Great War, Amandine’s stability and wartime profits from industrial production allowed it to lead Auressian rebuilding initiatives with Albrennia. Meanwhile, the Sacha government endorsed the newly created Vervillian Confederation based on historic cultural ties. Amandine thus began to expand its foreign economic interests to political and cultural interests outside of Marceaunia Minor.

A rising power on the world stage, Amandine initially sought to keep the postwar world order intact in the 1920s. The newly volatile wave of fascistic government in Auressia incited anxiety across Amand leadership circles. The Vervillian Confederation’s failure was also alarming for Amandine, who saw significant financial losses after attempting to keep it alive. Throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s, Amandine's financial interests took a turn toward Isuan, with the former Great War ally Songhese Empire becoming a stakeholder a substantial trade partner to the threat of the Amand-Albrennian economic relationship.

Amandine again broke its neutrality a couple years into the Second Great War. After Vervillia’s fall to the Alliance under Lanzist authoritarians, Amandine's National Legislature was split between interventionists who wanted to come to the Coalition’s aid as an ally and regionalists and isolationists who sought to constrict foreign involvement to the western hemisphere. Regionalists saw the Vervillian Confederation project as a great misstep and that Auressia needed to become less of a political concern for Amandine. While in gridlock over the decision, an anonymous report from the Executive Branch’s nonpartisan Committee of Ethical Assessment released a previously classified report exposing documents that outlined foreign collaboration between the Unionist Party and the Songhese Empire to promote anti-Coalition agendas and to secure lucrative oil import agreements. Two weeks after the damaging paper was released, Prime Minister Sylvestre Garnier–the initiator of the Committee's investigation–was severely poisoned, hospitalized, and died days later. A dedicated investigation was underway. The assassin, Dimitri Monteil, was soon after captured, arrested, and sentenced to death after admitting to the crime. He admitted to being hired by Songhese officials to eliminate the most vocal opponent to regionalism that threatened Amandine and Songha’s relationship. Conspiracies allege that the government forced Monteil into a confession to justify entry into the war. Amandine formally declared war on Songha on October 21st, 1938, with President Henri Philippe stating over radio broadcast:

"Our Federal Republic has suffered the tragic loss of a great man, a decorated leader whom spoke to us not as politicians nor voters, but as three-dimensional people…The disturbing nature of the Prime Minister Garnier’s demise has proven to me and my congressional colleagues that Songha has no interest in a safe, democratic future. Rather, they are a parasite destroying us from within our body. The only cure is removal of all associations that have plagued our institutions….We shall have a day of mourning, and we shall have equally our day of retribution, for the Federal Republic of Amandine has declared war on the Empire of Songha.” The other members of the Alliance proceeded to declare war, with Amandine responding and officially declaring its allegiance to the Coalition. The mobilization effort swiftly took place, with a national draft instated."

photo of the Renée-class battleship AMS Nanuq, deployed during the Battle of Blaykish Mesonesia, 1941.

The Second Great War engaged Amandine’s economy by way of rapid military production and trade. The Federal Naval Division, stagnating technologically in the following its peak during the First Great War, was progressively rejuvenated during the the Second Great War after cooperating closely with Albrennian engineers and scientists. Upon the rapid industrialization, the navy led many successful campaigns across the Demontean Ocean. Namely, as Songha’s maritime power encroached into the Rum Gulf and deeply threatened its borders, Amandine participated greatly in the Battle of Saint-Baptiste. In another successful campaign, Amandine led the campaign against Songha in the Battle of Blaykish Mesonesia. Finally, it made the final push against Songha in the Battle of the Straits, the largest naval battle in history. Unlike the previous Great War, Amandine also sent approximately 150,000 soldiers overseas to combat the Auressian threat. In addition to the armed efforts, Amandine focused its diplomatic attention on rallying other Marceaunian nations to join the Coalition.

Amandine, in combination with Audonia and Albrennia, secured the Demontean Front for the Coalition Powers. Songha capitulated and fell subject to Albrennian punishment. Amandine spent resources rebuilding the Rum Gulf and surrounding regions, specifically aiding Saint-Baptiste’s recovery (indirectly paving the way for independence in 1947) and Nova Kovaria. The Second Great War also saw the first time in Marceaunian history where Amandine, Audonia, and Albrennia all worked in tandem for a common cause. This alliance would stay relatively consistent into the 21st century, although Albrennian meddling in Aiyacan and Rocian affairs would lead to standoffs with Amandine. While Amandine would never see an international military presence as expansive as the Second Great War, it would maintain a strong military to enforce its own defense and spheres of influence.

Culture

Cuisine

Geneviève bouillabaisse, an internationally recognized and national cuisine of Amandine.

Amandine's culinary profile reflects its ethnic and national diversity. Mainstream Amand cuisine follows from Blaykish and Vervillian tradition carried over from the colonial period; although, it has been largely augmented with locally available spices and regionally accessible proteins. The beef and fishing industries make significant profits, with heavy subsidizations coming from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Commerce and Exchange. Popular beef dishes include grilled and fried steaks, stews, and sausages. Meanwhile, access to the Adrienne Sea, Demontean Ocean, Hesperian Ocean, and Rum Gulf has provided for a robust seafood market. Amandine's national dish is the bouillabaise, a fish and crustacean soup that has become a symbol of the cultural bridge between the Auressian, indigenous, and Idican populations that make up the population. While each coastal department has its own variation, the most internationally beloved Amand bouillabaise comes from the department of Geneviève, part of the province of Nouvelle Brençon. Other popular seafood dishes include escargot, shrimp risotto, and grilled grouper and snapper. Vegan meals have recently sharply risen in popularity among younger generations as the beef industry has faced mounting criticism for unsustainable practices. Poultry is incorporated into a number of dishes, with roasted chicken and chicken and okra being widely consumed.

As one of the world's largest breadbaskets, Amandine utilizes grain products in many of its dishes. Amaranth, barley, maize, quinoa, rice, and wheat are all grown in Amandine across its interior provinces. It is a leading exporter of grains across the globe, as well, contributing to a significant portion of its agricultural exporting profits. Other significant cultivated components of the Amand diet include legumes, citrus fruits, and sugarcane, all of which are grown on largescale plantations and vineyards across the nation.

Amandine's proximity to Aiyaca, Audonia, and Rocia is evident in their foods' presence in Amand diets. Rocian empanadas have become a staple in most households and places of work due to their vibrant taste, portability, and lower price. Meanwhile, Audonian gumbo has gained a rivalry status to the bouillabaisse. A 2021 poll from the newspaper L'Ouest controversially revealed that Audonian gumbo was more popular in the department of Fleuve de Grâce. Beyond its direct reach, Amandine has a great amount of international gastronomic influence within its borders. Immigrant communities from Albrennia, Amarata, Elessia, Nilasia, Nova Kovaria, Shang Fa, Songha, Sainte-Baptiste, and the Rasmi have brought their own culinary tastes to Amandine. Albrennian and Blaykish restaurants are typically viewed as fine-dining establishments, just as Amand restaurants are in those nations. Rum Gulf-based restaurants, especially popular Sainte-Baptiste barbecue joints, and those from Idican communities are more accessible and are found throughout Amandine. The Albrennian company Reynolds Midland & Co. has maintained a strong position in the Amand economy: its low-priced, high volumed products are common on Amand shelves and in households. As a manufacturing power, Amand food companies have simultaneously become commonplace in foreign markets: for example, Approvisionnement du Sud ("ApSud"), a high quality rice and quinoa seller, has a wide reach across Marceaunia and Auressia.

Amandine's culinary identity is directly consequent of its historical relationship to slavery, especially in the exploitation of Saint-Baptiste. Sugar labor since the colonial period has made Amand desserts and pastries an accustomed part of post-dinner meals, and a symbol of Amandine. Saint-Bapitois rum is present throughout Amandine: Les Portiellers is a national favorite, alongside the domestically brewed rum from the companies Le libéral raffiné and Statut républicain. Although Amandine has an expansive domestic sugarcane industry, it imports large amounts of sugar and rum from Saint-Baptiste due to their popularity. Civil rights watchdogs have long criticized the sugarcane industry in Amandine due to the lack of stringent regulations on work conditions and labor hours to meet consumers' demands.

Sports

Players from the historic 1964 Amandine national football team, having beaten Saint-Baptiste 3-to-1 in the International Cup.

Amandine has a vibrant sports culture. The two most popular sports are rugby union and association football, competing in the highest level in both domestic and international tournaments. Amandine's national football team (Équipe nationale de football d'Amandine) has consistently competed in the International Cup of Nations. The team, nicknamed the Condors, has won twice: 1966 and 2018. Amandine was the host nation in 1964 and 1990, but has openly pushed for another bid in recent years. Association football generates millions of livres annually, making it one of the most vibrant and economically crucial sports. Hall of Fame players, such as André Lucy, Thibaud Jaccoud, and Roland Bouhier are revered across Amandine for their philanthropic and patriotic contributions. Dominique Martel, the 22nd prime minister of Amandine, played for Jaci FC before making an appearance in the Olympics for the national team. Other players have held positions in local government, the Executive Ministry, and in the foreign service. Within Amandine, the Federal League of Association Football draws millions of viewers annually since its inception in 1916. It formed as a response to the period of good feelings following the First Great War as a means of channeling surging nationalistic sentiment, promoting a postwar economy, and providing funding for Auressian rebuilding efforts. Due to early involvement of the public sector in association football, the federal government and provincial governments hold ownership over teams and their stadiums, alongside private contributions through public ownership compacts. In the Federal League, the most dominant teams have been Baissi-Matthieu FC, Colette FC, Jaci FC, Kawisenhawe FC, and Sainte-Marianne FC. Football is also the most played sport at the university level, with the University of Beaufort and the University of Georges and Marianne having the oldest rivalry.

Union rugby plays a similarly impactful role in Amand daily life. Amandine competes in the Four Nations Championship against longtime opponents Audonia, Albrennia, and Nilasia, sharing an extensive rivalry with Audonia since the Second Great War. Amandine has a successful record, having won three championships in 1954, 1980, and 1995. Amandine nearly claimed a sixth title in 2021 against Albrennia, but lost by one score. In a similar model to that of Audonia, teams are largely "fan-owned," but wealthy donors have the most influence over the team organizations' decisions. Much like association football, the federal and provincial governments have a stake in their operations.

Other popular and sports in Amandine are crew, rifle and other shooting sports, competitive swimming, and squash. Amandine has won a number of times in the Olympics in these events, especially with crew. While not an Olympic sport, Amandine has dominated in the Squash Association of Marceaunia and the All-Hesperia Squash Championship.