Champanians
Xampânèsces Champaniens | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| ~17,000,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Champania | 11,764,562 |
| Languages | |
| Amathian, Champanian, Gaullican | |
Champanians (Barro-Liguersien: Campenèsces; Gaullican: champaniens) is a sociopolitical identification designed to refer to a united Aurengian and Bregalian people. It is used in two connotations: the first in a supraethnic connotation, and the second referring to any citizen of Champania. Advocates of the term have ascribed the identity to peoples of Aurengian or Bregalian heritage, but also historically to Selorzans and ethnic Gaullicans who reside in Champania.
The language "Barro-Liguersien," also sometimes incorrectly referred to as "Champanois," is the standard language spoken by "Champanians" and itself is another political sociolinguistic concept used to describe an attempted standardized form of the pluricentric language Champanian. Barro-Liguersien is, alongside Gaullican, one of official languages of the Champania.
Domestically, the official designation for those who fall under the definition of Champanian is "Champanian." The quotation marks is used to distinguish the Champanian ethnicity from Champanian citizenship, which is written without quotation marks. Internationally, usage of "Champanian" is used mostly by immigrants who are of mixed heritage, while others still use their traditional ethnic or national identity, i.e Aurengian, Bregalian, or Gaullican.
History
Beginning with the Euclean Spring, Aurengian intellectuals began to revitalize Aurengian culture through a national revival and cultural renaissance. Aurengian thinkers, such as Honorè Cavaillès, Théophile Gautier, and Fénelon Marot, began to promote the concept of a united nation made of Gaullican Champania and Amathian Champania. It quickly entered the broader Aurengian nationalist movement that Bregalians were merely Aurengians who speak a dialect of the Prouvençal language. In 1856, the term "Champanian nation" was used for the first time in correspondence.
Ongoing Gaullicanization and Amathofication policies in Gaullican and Amathian Champania further solidified nationalism and the Champanian movement. By the eve of the Great War, the idea of a unified "Champanian nation" began to be openly advocated, particularly by Aurengian intellectuals. In the 1910s and 20s, contacts between Aurengian and Bregalian intellectuals intensified with key Aurengian nationalist leaders like Frédéric Montagn and Cir Vilhà arising as strong poroponents of a united Champanian nation. The outbreak of the war itself was used to further advance the notion of a Champanian identity. Montagn travelled to Werania in 1927, where he was joined by other prominent Aurengian and Bregalian intellectuals, and formed the Champanian National Council in 1931. In 1933, the National Council issued the Wiesstadt Declaration, which laid the foundation for the post-national Champanian state. The preamble stated that the Aurengians and Bregalians were "the same by blood, by language, by the feelings of their unity, by the continuity and integrity of the territory which they inhabit undivided, and by the common vital interests of their national survival and manifold development of their moral and material life."
The conclusion of the war saw the independence of Champania. The 1935 Champanian constitution explicitly mentioned the unity of the Champanian nation in its preamble, stating "Champania is a single nation made up of two tribes." The constitution also made "Barro-Liguersien" the official language.
The communist take over of the country in 1938 saw the adoption of a people's democratic constitution. While not as explicit as the 1935 constitution, it still maintained the concept of "Champanian." However, the wording was altered to instead read Champania was a "union of two fraternal nations." While "Champanian" was still used in official censuses, there was no longer any penalties for identifying as either Aurengian or Bregalian. During the existence of the South Euclean People's Republic, attempts were made by the SEPR government to promote a united "South Euclean" identity and the usage of "Champanian" dropped immensely in official usage. It was not until the post-SEPR 1990 census where "Champanian" once again emerged as an ethnic and national identification in place of Aurengian and Bregalian.