Platacia

The United Empire of Platacia
Flag
Motto: Potenza a Patria!
Anthem: Ever Vigilant
The location of Platacia (green) within Moneylania (light green).
Capital	Gravida
Official languages	Platacian
Recognised national languages	English
Ethnic groups (2031)	Platacian, Seabersian.
Demonym(s)	Platacian
Government	Unitarya parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Emperor	Espodito Siciliano
• Prime Minister	Vikoren
Legislature	Senate
Unification
• First Empire	321
• Second Empire	931
• Third Empire	2026
Area
•	2,395,451 km2 (924,889 sq mi)
Population
• 2031 estimate	102,388,073
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	3.631 trillion
• Per capita	35,460.86
Currency	Moneta (MNT)
Time zone	EMST
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+43
Internet TLD	.pla

The United Empire of Platacia, commonly known as the Empire of Platacia or simply Platacia, is a soverign country in north-western Moneylania. It consists of the Platacian Peninsula and the areas of Nordhjem and Kysten. It has a population of 102 million, making it the third most populous nation in Moneylania. Its land area of 2,201,076 square kilometers additionally makes it the third largest nation in Moneylania by land area.

The nation is ruled by a constitutional monarchy, with Emperor Espodito IV Siciliano as its head of state, and Prime Minister Vikǿren as its head of government, who have both been in power since the Empire's reunification in 2026. The country's largest city and capital is Gravida, which has historically been the capital of both the Kingdom of Ritalgia and the State of Ritalgia.

History

Prehistory and Ancient History

It is widely accepted by historians that the Platacian peninsula was first inhabited by humans as early as 200,000BC, with the first recognisable state being formed in circa 3,000BC. The name of this state has been lost to history, so it is often simply called the Peninsula Civilisation. By 1,000BC, this organised state had collapsed, and in its place had risen many semi-organised tribes that later evolved into what are known as the Platacian Kingdoms.

Late Antiquity and the First Empire

In AD 321, the first Platacian Empire was formed by the Tribe of Tenebrisia under Emperor Thargston. This Empire spanned virtually all of modern-day Tenebris and most of Ritalgia. This empire collapsed in 347 with the death of Thargston, and subsequent civil war that tore the nation apart. The peninsula would not see another organised society for over six hundred more years.

Viking Age

In the winter of 789, a small fleet of longboats set sail from the Platacian Peninsula, planning to raid and loot the nearby Lucklondish Tribes and petty Moorals of the Mallow Region. It was the beginning of the Platacian Viking Age. For nearly 200 years, countries as far as the Simon Isles were raided by Vikings of the Platacian peninsula. This severely weakened those near Platacia, and strengthened the Vikings greatly. There was also significant cultural influence from the Vikings throughout the region, due to their common settling of colonies from which to gather resources and pillage neighbors.

Christianisation

In 918, a new king came to power in the tribal kingdom of Ritalgia, Ragnar the Oathbreaker. This king was a devout follower of the Norse faith, and wished to remove all influence of Christianity within his realm. He raised an army of Vikings, tribesmen and mercenaries numbering between twenty and fifty thousand strong, and set out to forcefully convert or kill all adherents of any religion other than Norse. His rampage continued for several months until his forces reached the Tribal Duchy of Fjellret. The Duke there, Thorvald the Great, refused the army access to his lands, and as a result the king laid siege to his stronghold. Ragnar was unaware, however, that Thorvald had secretly fled the fortress the night before the siege began, and twelve days later, he returned with an army numbering between five and eleven thousand. The Duke had ordered his men to paint crosses on their shields the night before the battle, and when King Ragnar saw this at the opening of hostilities, he was sent into a blind rage. He ordered his entire centre to charge Thorvald's lines, with no planning whatsoever, resulting in the near complete destruction of the king's force. The remaining troops either fled or were killed or captured once the besieged garrison sallied out from their stronghold. This battle marked the beginning of what is known as the Grand Civil War of Ritalgia, in which Duke Thorvald seized the throne from Ragnar in 921, famously ordering him to not be killed after he was captured. Still more famous was Thorvald's open conversion to Roman Catholicism upon his seizing of power. This ascension of the first Christian King in the Platacian Peninsula marked the beginning of the end of the Viking Age, as well as the start of the Second Platacian Empire.

Founding of the Second Empire

On Christmas Day of 923, the recently coronated King Thorvald the Great announced his ambitions to unite all of Platacia, famously saying, "If our people are to survive, they must be united under one banner. One bearing a cross." It was mere weeks afterwards that he gathered his army and began the Peninsular Crusade in which all of the Peninsula was united in a series of wars and diplomatic maneuvers spanning nine years. Despite some unrest caused by mass conversions to Christianity under Thorvald, the stability of the empire was ensured when Thorvald oversaw his own succession in 962, after abdicating from the throne at the age of eighty two. As Thorvald left the throne for a monastery, his successors cemented feudal Christian rule over the peninsula and expanded Platacian rule into Osthjem and Kysten.

Medieval Age

The Medieval Age saw Platacia emerge as a regional power, becoming the main rival of Organeuit and the main defense against the eastern hordes. It also saw a continuation of the hostilities between Sibaria and Platacia that began in the Viking Age despite the large distance between the two empires. The elective monarchy established by Thorvald in 962 continued until 1257 when Emperor Torbjørn II Næss reformed the succession laws, instituting agnatic gavelkind succession within the empire. This prompted an invasion from the claimant Haakon Cavalcante, styling himself Haakon I Cavalcante. Haakon had been in exile in Organeuit-controlled Mallowmooral since being accused of treason by the previous emperor Johannes I Næss. Organeuit supported Haakon's claim in exchange for the return of land lost to Platacia two decades prior in the modern-day Platacian Mooral. This began what is known as the War of the Platacian Succession. The war ended with Haakon claiming victory shortly after the sudden death of Torbjørn and subsequent collapse of the Næss dynasty. Haakon re-instituted the elective succession after his coronation in May of 1265, which was maintained in various forms until the collapse of the Second Empire in 1919.

Platacia formed a temporary alliance with Organeuit and Lucklond in 1302 when the Grey Horde invaded eastern Moneylania from their newly united homeland in the Great Wastes. This alliance halted the Horde's expansion and reclaimed some land lost by Organeuit in the years prior, as well as cementing cultural and political divisions in the east for more than three centuries.

In 1322, Platacia declared a holy war against the Lothinese Caliphate that lasted for two years, in which they conquered modern day Scuro. This is the earliest instance of colonialism in Moneylania, however its costly nature meant that it would not be continued for 150 years. Volunteers from the Ironian city states who joined the Scuroian Crusade brought long-lost knowledge from Lothinese-controlled lands back to southern Moneylania, contributing to the beginning of the Moneylanian Renaissance.

Platacia maintained control of Scuro for over 100 years. However, the economic and military strain began to prove too taxing over time, and in 1425, Emperor Thorsten II decreed that the empire should be split upon his death. Following his death two years later in 1427 the former Viceroyalty of Scuro was granted independence as the Kingdom of Scuro, however, upon the election of a new emperor, Espodito IV, a brief war began between Platacia and Scuro, which saw Scuro claim victory after an Organeutish intervention. The new monarchy in Scuro was to prove short-lived, however, as it was quickly reformed into a merchant republic by the king, largely due to influence from the burghers of Scurose and the Ironian city-states.

Early Modern Age

The early modern age saw Platacia reach the height of its power. Despite losing control of Scuro in 1427, successive emperors saw to the conquests of southern Mallowmooral from Organeuit in two wars in 1433 and 1439, followed by a costly war in 1451 that saw Platacia gain overlordship over several eastern Lucklondish tribes. Despite two failed attempts at conquering the remainder of Lucklond in 1488 and 1512, as well as a partially successful one in 1555 and smaller conflicts with Organeuit, Imperial borders remained largely the same until religious conflicts re-ignited as a result of the Protestant reformation.

The Platacian Inquisition was first established in 1435 to maintain religious unity in the recently converted pagan populations of Mallowmooral, but gained considerably more influence in 1583, when the Council of Kirkeby declared all forms of Protestantism heretical, and tasked the Inquisition from rooting them out from Platacian territories. By the beginning of the 17th century, the majority of northern Mallowmooral and Organeuit had become Protestant under the reign of Protestant monarchs. In 1601, Organeuit, Ardapel and several petty Mallow Moorals, all Protestant nations, formed the Evangelical League. The following year, the League invaded the Platacian Mooral, citing unjust treatment of Protestant minorities there. The Platacian army was defeated in January of 1603, and after the fall of the fortress of Fjelslott one month later, Platacia was forced to cede control of the Mooral to Organeuit. This, in turn made it difficult for Platacia to maintain control over its Lucklondish vassal states, who gradually gained their independence between 1603 and 1615.

Between 1605 and 1611, Platacia suffered a series of Protestant uprisings, most likely funded by the Evangelical Union. Tensions between the Empire and the League began to flare again after another rebellion in 1617, and the following year a large Evangelical army marched on Kysten and began what would become the Twenty Years’ War. The League made quick progress through northern Kysten, but was delayed for three years in the heavily fortified mountains of southern Kysten. This allowed Platacia time to mobilise its army and open a new front in Mallowmooral after achieving naval supremacy in the White Sea. More importantly, however, many Lucklondish city-states began began to feel threatened by the growing power of Organeuit and her allies, and as such the majority of Catholic states and even some Miaphysite ones formed the Catholic Union for mutual defense.

In Autumn of 1622, Evangelical forces broke through the defenses of Southern Kysten and defeated the Platacian army in northern Tenebris. Minor Platacian victories in Mallowmooral were not enough to cut the Evangelical supply lines, and by 1624, the Platacian army had been defeated again and the Organeuitish army had laid siege to Gravida. This prompted the Catholic Union to declare war on Organeuit and link up with Platacian troops in Mallowmooral. One month later, Seabersia invaded Organeuit shortly after separatist uprisings began in Organeuitish-controlled northern Seabersia. Platacia and Seabersia joined the Catholic Union soon afterwards, and the combined Lucklondish-Platacian forces managed to win several key battles in Mallowmooral, while a small Seabersian army began disrupting Evangelical supply lines in Kysten. The Protestants were forced to break off the siege of Gravida and retreat into Kysten, allowing Platacia to retake most of its lost territory by 1625.

Despite Organeuit managing to defeat the Seabersian arm in Kysten, the League was now on the back foot, as the northern Moorals proved unable to stop the Union’s advance and a new Platacian army, some 100,000 men strong was marching on Kysten. Over the course of the next six years, Platacia and Seabersia managed to reconquer all of their lost territory, and Catholic forces were pushing further into Ardapel and Mallowmooral. In 1632, Catholic armies forced the surrender of Ardapel, and began capturing territory in eastern Organeuit. However, that same year, Freivia joined the Evangelical League, alongside several Carulalan Princedoms, and reinforced the Organeuitish army.

The war continued until 1638, seeing Ironcastle and Scuro siding with the Catholics in 1633, Cassio joining the Protestants in 1634, and the Lothinese Caliphate supporting the League from 1635 onwards. The war ended with the Treaty of Eastaafingar, which saw Organeuit lose territory to Platacia, Ironcastle and Seabersia, but more importantly ensured that every independent state may hold its own state religion, which is generally seen as the beginning of the concept of national sovereignty. The war was the third deadliest conflict in Moneylanian history, seeing over five million dead by its end. It established Ironcastle as a great power in the eyes of the region, and was the beginning of Organeuit’s slow decline, as well as Platacia’s golden age.

After the war, Platacia began competing with its other rival, Sibaria, in colonising the islands of the Moneylanic and Uzmorr Seas. The Sibarian colony in Daminy had been rapidly expanding since the 1530s, while Platacia’s conquest of the East Uzmorrial Islands in 1520 was the only overseas possession the Empire had to its name. In 1639, Platacia sent a delegation to the High Chief of Morke, who agreed to allow refugees displaced by the Twenty Years’ War to settle in his lands. This gradually allowed Platacia more influence over the islands, eventually making them into a vassal state, and later incorporating them into an overseas province. In 1684, Platacia sent its first colonisation fleet to the island of Plantaña, which would eventually become known as the “Jewel of the Empire”.

19th Century

In 1807, Ironcastle, Organeuit and Scuro formed a coalition opposing slavery in Platacia, and began intercepting Platacian vessels suspected to be transporting slaves. This led to a growth of tensions that led to war in 1809, when the Platacian navy began raiding the ports of Ironcastle and Organeuit. This war was proclaimed "The Great Crusade" by the leaders of the coalition, who proceeded to launch an invasion of Platacia. The war dragged on for eight years, being one of the bloodiest wars in Moneylanian history, particularly when insurrectionist movements in Platacia began to rise up and side with the Grand Alliance. These insurrectionists were comprised mainly of abolitionists, rebellious slaves and nobles, and those loyal to the clergy, who still held significant influence in Platacian politics. The war ended with Platacian defeat when Ironian and Scuroian forces captured Gravida through a naval assault, capturing Emperor Robert I Ostberg and forcing him to surrender. In the terms of peace, Platacia was made to outlaw slavery, cede territory in modern-day Mallowmooral to Organeuit, pay war reparations and grant their Lucklondish holdings autonomy. Shortly after the war, Robert I was killed in a hunting accident, leading to a succession struggle that saw the legally elected successor, Emperor Torkild IV Ostberg, maintain power, as well as seeing an increase in the influence of the Church in Platacian politics.