Dihganistan
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Dihganistan Ҷумҳурии Мухтори Шӯравии Социалистии Деҳқонистон | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| Motto: Пролетарҳои ҳамаи мамлакатҳо, як шавед! "Workers of the world, unite!" | |
 Dihganistan from the Air (from the Southwest, 1975) | |
| Status | Unrecognised nation |
| Capital | Turania |
| Largest largest city | Isfara |
| Official languages | Tajik |
| Recognised national languages | German, Czech, Russian |
| Ethnic groups (1975) | |
| Demonym(s) | Dihgan; Dihgani |
| Government | Unitary semi-presidential republic |
• President | Varya Firuzoda |
• Grand Secretary | Nestor Saffari |
• Speaker of the Great Divan | Fyodor Ismailevich |
| Legislature | Great Divan |
| Soviet Rump State with partial recognition | |
• Lebensborn settlement established | 4 May 1942 |
| Area | |
• Total | 23 km2 (8.9 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 1975 census | 15,361 |
| Currency | Dihgani Ruble |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Driving side | right |
Dihganistan (Tajik: Деҳқонистон; local pronunciation /de̞χɔnɪsˈtɔn/) is a breakaway state located in a valley along the Turana river between the Czech Republic and Germany. It receives diplomatic recognition largely from other breakaway states, but its independence is nonetheless guaranteed by Russia, with whom Dihganistan enjoys close economic ties. Citizens of Dihganistan enjoy unrestricted travel within the Schengen Area, as the international community considers the area to be administered by the Czech Republic, which does not claim sovereignty over it (although Germany does).
Dihganistan exists as the result of a Soviet social experiment, which initially hoped to see the synthesis of a completely new ethnic identity over the course of a generation of isolation. To this end, the Tajik language was imposed upon a multiethnic test group consisting of a combination of volunteers, political dissidents, and captives taken from the Lebensborn Aryan birth program during Soviet military action in eastern Germany at the end of World War II. As a result, the majority of the population are Dihgans — the Tajik-speaking progeny of the victims of the twenty-year long experiment.
Dihgan companies that wish to export goods through either of their European neighbours must be registered with either Czech or German customs. Most of Dihganistan's residents hold either Czech or German citizenship as well, although some hold Russian or Ukrainian citizenship.
Dighanistan is considered to be a Post-Soviet "frozen conflict" zone, with the interesting twist that the country has technically been in armed rebellion against the Russian SFSR and by extension its successor the Russian Federation since 19 December 1975. A direct Russian-gauge railway line connects Dihganistan to a research facility in the southern Ural mountains from which life- and comfort-sustaining goods were historically dispensed for the experiment; since 1970, this has simply been continuous out of the benevolence of the Russian administration to maintain a standard of living in one of its most distant oblasts. The Dihgan state cannot exist without these vital supplies, and thus is powerless to resist the free movement of Russian citizens and businesses into and out of its territory for fear of this vital lifeline being cut. As a result, the tiny Soviet rump state is rumoured to be a safe haven for Russian agents operating in central Europe.
The capital of Dihganistan is Turania, located in the Northern Viloyat, and the largest settlement is the town of Isfara.
History
The Experiment
In 1942, three Czech towns nestled in a natural enclosure of rough peaks along an eight kilometre stretch of the Turana river were chosen to be built up into a housing facility for young mothers and children born or kidnapped into the Lebensborn Aryan birth program. The facilities were improved throughout the war with amenities and security, and rumours abounded that the facility would also house SS veterans after the war in the event of a German victory. When the facility was liberated by Soviet forces in 1945, much of the documentation associated with it had already been burnt by the local SS commandant, who had anticipated the arrival of the Russian forces and sought to escape with an intact reputation.
What the Russian forces found in the compound was beyond belief — a nearly utopian community had been built up with internal government structures and public transit infrastructure in place, but the population had only been partially filled out. The compound was full of young mothers with their children born into the Lebensborn program, as well as likely some children simply kidnapped for their "aryan" features, as well as many young women who had been deemed "aryan" and had volunteered to settle in the compound. A Soviet scientist, Dr. Evgeny "Un-evgen-ethical" Dzhakov, seized on the opportunity to conduct a social experiment on ethnogenesis — the process by which new ethnic groups are formed. Dr. Dzhakov quickly applied for funding from the Soviet State Committee for Science and Technology for his research, but the Committee turned him down, citing diplomatic concerns given the current climate and frankly describing the research as "Какого хуя?".
Undeterred, Dr. Dzhakov then appealed to the man, the myth, the legendary habitual abuser of human rights himself, Mr. Ioseb Besarionis dzе Djugashvili himself directly. Stalin is quoted as having said "Похуй хахаха" and thus Dr. Dzhakov's research basically gained a blank checque from Moscow that was payable as long as old Joey Tinpot was still kicking. It wasn't much, but from 1946-1949 Dzhakov fortified his playing field and improved the settlements while the Steel Georgian funneled him volunteers and volunteers consisting of Tajik and Korean political dissidents, Japanese and German prisoners of war, Irish volunteers, and Russian volunteers. One of the Tajik political dissidents was a university student of anthropology named Ismoil Olimov. When Dr. Dzhakov found this out, he invited Olimov to join in his experiment. The Soviet state-controlled media of the time found this to be somewhat unethical, which was exactly in character for Dr. Evgeny "Un-evgen-ethical" Dzhakov, and so nobody paid any heed.
Olimov, a proud Tajik political dissident, suggested that the inhabitants of the experimental compound be made to all speak Tajik, as both a tangible insult to the Soviet authorities against he expressed open political dissent, and because, in Olimov's own words, "it'd be kind of funny, wouldn't it?" Dr. Dzhakov, famously never one to falter at a chance to commit atrocities, immediately took to the idea. Stalin wasn't immediately convinced that Dzhakov should so readily trust a political dissident — he was in fact the person against whom Olimov was expressing open political dissent. A letter dated from 5 September 1949 was sent by Olimov himself to Stalin with the following contents:
Товарищ Сталин —
блядь.
— Товарищ Олимов
The Terrible Tbilisian was so moved by the letter that he conceded to go forth with Olimov's suggestion, and the remainder of 1949 was spent renaming everything in the compound from German to Tajik on Olimov's suggestion. Schools were established to ensure children were educated in Tajik, public gatherings were strictly limited, and linguistically homogeneous marriages were initially banned in order to force integration into the monolingually Tajik society within the experimental compound. On 19 December 1950, the compound was sealed to the exterior, and only those who were involved in the experiment thereafter would have access until 1970.
Inside the compound
From 19 December 1950 to 12 March 1970, the experimental compound was sealed, and the People's Republic of Dihganistan was declared within under controlled conditions as part of the experiment. A direct 1520mm gauge railway was built connecting the experimental compound to a research facility in the southern part of Siberia, which served the extra purpose of preparing and delivering life sustainging supplies to the experimental compound, as well as adequate luxury goods to keep the residents acquainted with a modern Soviet standard of living.
Within the compound, a simulation of public life reminiscent of the outside was created by Dr. Dzhakov and his team. Despite having chosen Tajik as the language in which all communications within the compound would take place, the local culture was largely based on the immediately observable culture of Saxony across the river. This began an early round of linguistic confusion, leading to the adoption of many Russian and some German loanwords and calques for concepts indescribable in the existing Tajik vernacular. Dzhakov and Olimov were inspired by the likes of Eliezer ben-Yehuda and other Hebrew revivalists, although their work was comparatively much more rushed and imprecise, leading to the development of a simplified, creolised Tajik daughter variety in situ.
Geography
Administrative Divisions
For the duration of the experiment, the fictitious People's Republic of Dihganistan was simply divided into three oblasts or vilayets (Tajik: вилоят, plural: вилоятҳо) with ill-defined borders roughly defined as "halfway between the towns" which lie in a straight line along the river valley. These oblasts existed in name only, corresponding simply to the three towns within the experimental compound. Even during the duration of the experiment, it became clear that some delineation was needed after the councils of both Turania and Isfara began searching for real estate to build new, more private individual and single-family housing in the 1960s in response to shifts in culture. Both town councils appealed to the Premier Committee of the fictitious People's Republic for overlapping land claims to build a new sub-conurbation. In response to these competing claims, the borders of the three oblasts were defined in 1964:
| Oblast | Seat | Premier Secretary |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Oblast Вилояти Шимолӣ |
Turania | |
| Central Oblast Вилояти Марказӣ |
Isfara | |
| Southern Oblast Вилояти Ҷанубӣ |
Qal'a-ye Baland |