Velaheria

Republic of Velaheria Republik Velaheria (Velaherian)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Freiheit, Demokratie, Würde Freedom, Democracy, Dignity
Anthem: The Undying Lily of Freedom
Location of Velaheria
Map of Velaheria
Capital	Bastaria
Official languages	Velaherian
Recognised national languages	Dolch
Ethnic groups	Velhers 92.45% Dolchs 2.55% Stedorians 2.05% Others 2.95%
Demonym(s)	Velher
Government	Federal provisional semi-presidential republic
• President	Lilian Sagan
• Prime minister	Vacant
Legislature	Legislature
• Upper house	Council of State
• Lower house	National Assembly
Establishment
• Foundation of the Dolch Colonial Administration of Velaheria	1914
• Establishment of the Democratic People's Republic of Velaheria	1941
• Lily Revolution	19 December 2023
Area
• Total	320,600 km2 (123,800 sq mi)
Population
• 2023 estimate	33,000,000
• 2022 census	31,256,241
GDP (PPP)	2021 estimate
• Total	$82,000,000,000
• Per capita	$2,831
GDP (nominal)	2023 estimate
• Total	$85,800,000,000
• Per capita	$2,600
Gini (2023)	0.32 low
HDI (2023)	0.660 medium
Currency	Velher Wran (W)
Time zone	UTC-2
• Summer (DST)	UTC-2 (not observed)
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Driving side	left
Calling code	+91
ISO 3166 code	VFH
Internet TLD	.sta

Velaheria, formally known as the Republic of Velaheria (Velaherian: Republik Velaheria), is country located in southeastern Argis. Its neighbours are Stedoria and the partially recognised Veldoria and Elbenau to the north, and Dolchland to the south. The country is divided into 8 provinces, all of which have their own devolved governments. Velaheria has a population of 31.4 million as of 2020, the majority of whom are ethnic Velahers, with small minorities of Dolch and Stedorian communities.

Initially, the country existed as a collection of disunited warring petty city states, kingdoms, and duchies throughout most of its ancient and early mediaeval history. These polities would be largely subjugated by Dolchland throughout the Middle Ages, serving as a crucial buffer between Dolchland and Dolchland's control over Velaheria. These subjugated nations would largely be reformed as vassal states of various Dolch provinces and states. This situation would largely remain constant until the mid-1800s. Dolchland would never see these subjugated states as equal partners, viewing Velaherians as a bastardised Dolch people. A separate, unified Velaherian identity began to emerge in the mid-1800s, particularly among the Velaherian intellectual class, which desired political representation in Dolchland. This would culminate into the Great Revolt in 1876, a large-scale rebellion in Velaheria, in which the first de facto Velaherian state would be formed. This rebellion would eventually be defeated in 1878, though would leave much of Velaheria devastated and a small-scale insurgency persisting for the next decade.

Another revolt, though smaller, would break out in 1903, with the revolt being quickly suppressed. Following the suppression of this revolt, plans were made within the Dolch Government to transform Velaheria into a colony of Dolchland, in which Dolch would be resettled throughout Velaheria and the country's culture forcibly converted to Dolch. This would culminate in the official establishment of the Dolch Colonial Administration of Velaheria in 1914. Attempts at cultural suppression and conversion would be largely unsuccessful, and generated significant resentment within the population; this would finally culminate with the Velaherian War of Independence, which would break out in 1940. The Dolch would be defeated by Velaherian revolutionaries in this war, which would end in 1944, firmly establishing Velaheria's independence.

WIP:

• Socialist era paragraph and overthrow
• Very brief paragraph on international memberships.

Etymology

Velaheria originates from the name Vel-hern, meaing Vel or Wel (Anglish: “good”) and hern or herh (Anglish: “lord, master, elder”). The name Vel-hern has been mainly used by the Dolchic colonizers when referring to the region where the Velhers lived. Traditionally, it has been used to refer to the regions where the main ethnic group lived. However, as time went on, this name was used to also refer to the Kingdom of Velher which existed in the early ages.

The etymology is sometimes also used to refer to the lands which the hunter-gatherers once lived in. Though, it's rarely used for that purpose, and generally used to either refer to the lands where the kingdom of Velaheria once existed in or where the Velhers live.

The term Vel-heria was gradually replaced with Velaheria as a result of divergence from traditional Dolchic and as a result of the regime's attempts to separate Velaheria from the Dolchic culture which persists there now.

Geography

Physical geography

Bend in the River $Name near $City.

The entirety of Velaheria lies in the east Argic Plain. The flat terrain is crossed by southern-flowing watercourses such as the Sanguine Creek and the Wilshaw Creek. They are the main rivers of the region. This landmass is mainly regarded as fertile, though certain natural disasters and general lack of infrastructure has caused in lack of use of the land. Velaheria is equally blessed in its natural beauty. The area has numerous forests and mountains to visit, though few applicants ever get a chance to visit them. The nation practises a set of strict rules which allow only people regarded as ‘safe for the regime’ to enter the country. And even then, they are always monitored by mentors who keep a close watch on them. Some famous people who have visited Velaheria in the past, including some singers and actors from the socialist states. In general, about 10,000-100,000 people can visit Velaheria on an annual basis.

Wetlands and marshy conditions are found close to the coastal areas and along the Velaherian coast. These are non-arable and are generally wastelands. Some levels of land reclamation have made it suitable for collective farming, though even that faces some difficulties at times.

The lakes in the northwest were formed by flooding of the lands. This occurred in the 16th century. The lakes are collectively known as the Twilthon Expanse. They are regarded as the birthplace of the leader, Arin Von Starinburg. This is why they treated as important landmarks of the people's revolution. The lakes have entire villages made besides them. These villages are for show only. They only serve the purpose of teaching the middle class and the tourists about the beginning of the revolution, which overthrew the Dolchic colonizers and the Velaherian monarchy and established the People's Government in 1941. This revolution began in the early 1930s with several people demanding an end to the constant plunder of the Velaherian agricultural produces by the Dolchic government.

A female northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) in Götain.

Northern Velaheria is known as the ‘Barrenlands’. It features rough and somewhat patternless hilly and mountainous desert areas. Some of it was formed by ancient volcanic activity. These areas aren't at all fertile in any way. But they still provide energy to the northern provinces of Velaheria by utilising the geothermal vents formed by the eruptions. The central plains continue east and north as far as the coast and merge with the northern Mountains, also known as the Sterkan Mountain ranges, on the border with Stedoria.

Southern Velaheria's landforms are defined by various plains and swamp like areas which occupy a large part of the nation. Since the medieval era, these have been urbanised and made suitable for living. There are some areas that are notorious for their animal presence. This may cause a serious hamper in the transfer of supplies from one province to the other due to occasional animal attacks. The southern regions also have some really precious natural areas, including large areas of grasslands and pasture lands, run by the government. This also helps in constituting the large grazing areas and helps maintain the animal industries of Velaheria.

Climate

Velaheria's climate is temperate and marine, with cold, cloudy winters in the eastern parts of the nation and warm summers and in the south, occasional warm winds also are a common display in the southern coastal areas. The greater part of Velaheria lies in the temperate climatic zone, in which humid winds predominate. In the northwest and the north, the climate is dry and arid, with minimal rainfall throughout the entire year. Winters there are relatively harsh, and summers are extremely hot. In the east, the climate shows clear continental features; winters can be mild for short periods, and summers can become mostly warm. Dry periods are sometimes recorded. In the centre and the south, there is a transitional climate which may be predominantly coastal or continental, according to the general weather situation.

Winters are cool and summers warm, though maximum temperatures can exceed 30 °C for several days in a row during heat waves. The warmest regions of Velaheria can be found in the north. Here, summers can be hot, with many days exceeding 40 °C. Sometimes, minimum temperatures do not drop below -5 °C in the northern areas, which is relatively rare in other regions. Though the Velaherian climate is occasionally extreme, it is so in the north, as there are occasional spikes of cold or heat. Winter temperatures can sometimes drop to one-digit negative temperatures for a few days in a row. Conversely, summer can see periods of very high temperatures for a long time in the north.

Provinces

Map of the 8 Velaherian provinces.

The territory of Velaheria is divided into eight provinces. They are traditionally divided between the northern Hochland, the central Zentraltal, and the southern Marken. Each province features unique geographic and climatic characteristics influenced by their position within Velaheria.

Hochland

• Veldoria: Positioned in the northwest and bordering Stedoria, Veldoria lies on the scenic Morthal Bay. Its capital, Vertia, is the country's second-largest city. As a special EEZ, the city is pivotal in the industries of the north.
• Elbenau: This province borders Stedoria to the north. It is known for its rugged terrain and historical significance. The largest city, Grestin, is a key player in regional politics and economy.
• Ostwalden: Located in the northeast, this province's capital, Derserk, is an agricultural powerhouse, contributing significantly to the national economy.

Zentraltal

• Heisberg: Western Velaheria features Heisberg, which has a coastline along Morthal Bay. The capital city, Trakner, is renowned for its commercial ports and maritime commerce.
• Cornua: Central and landlocked, Cornua is the ancient heartland of Velaheria. Its largest city, Gotain, is an important cultural centre, especially noted for its preservation of traditional Velaherian lifestyles and customs.
• Hrestam: Located in the eastern part of Velaheria, along Bastaria Bay. The province is known for its significant urban centre and national capital, Bastaria, which serves as a major cultural and economic hub.

Marken

• Yaernir: This southwestern province borders Dolchland and also lies along Morthal Bay. Erfur, the largest city, is a focal point for trade and cultural exchange between Velaheria and its western neighbors.
• Siebenbürgen: On the southeastern coast, bordering Dolchland and overlooking Bastaria Bay, Siebenbürgen is essential for its strategic location. It includes the island Otterduff and its port city, Sternburg. Koinsburg, as the provincial capital, plays a crucial role in the defence and trade of the region.

Cities

Bastaria is the capital and the largest city of the country. There is also Vertia, the special city of importance, which was made into a EEZ in 2009, with the goal of encouraging direct foreign investments and joint ventures. Its development is encouraged to ensure the growth and improvement of the Velaherian state's economic conditions.

History

Prehistoric Era

Modern day Velhers arrived in the area of northern Argis in the 6,000-4,000 BCE period. While this is not clear how they survived in such an environment, some remains show that the Early Velhers were mostly hunter-gatherers and gathered fruits, nuts, and berries from the trees and bushes that they found around them. They also hunted small herbivores by using stone tools and bone blades, the latter being a speciality of the Velhers. As time moved on, the Velhers started to settle down into small communities based inside caves or in the hollow trunks of massive trees, with an average community comprising about 7–14 members, some communities even united to form larger communities which went as far as consisting of about an estimated one hundred people. The Velhers remained mostly as hunter-gatherers from the early 6,000 BCE to about 4,000 BCE, after which they slowly started to advance towards the Age of farming and domestication.

As time passed, the Velhers slowly developed their own set of small farms, where they started to farm their first set of vegetables. These typically included wheat grains, wild potatoes, etc, in the north Thuadian regions. Due to the high desertification structure of that area, the Velhers couldn't modernise their farming tactics. However, they did manage to domesticate their first range of animal life in the early 2000s-1500 BCE. The animals generally included cattle, for example, the East Argic bison and the Velaherian red cow. The animals were used for mainly ploughing and scathing the fields of the Velaherian Tribal land holdings, as well as to develop more advanced methods of separating the waste products of the wheat from the actual crops. The farming tactics of prehistoric Velhers mostly included usage of less water consuming seeds of mostly wheats and wild potatoes, and using a fairly irrigated field for their cultivation (for example the current river in northern Velaheria in the period 1000-600 BCE).

The Velhers used mostly stone-tools like stone hoe and stone scathe's for sowing and harvesting the crops, after their maturation period. Though the harvests were usually low, the Velhers managed to supplement them with the livestocks they had, for example, they used the “beef and milk” harvested and collected from the individual cows, as their main secondary food source during the prehistoric times.

City-states

The city-state of Streorsburg.

By the 5th and 4th century BCE came, the Velhers of coastal Velaheria started using carts and bullock-driven tongas as their primary means to transport necessary goods and materials, for example stone tools, bricks, hay stacks, etc. While also building temporary villages and semi towns for their survival, primarily constructed of burnt mud and bricks.

The real changes in the Velhers living in the coastal areas of Velaheria lifestyles came during the great architectural achievements in the 4th century CE. The lives of the Velher tribes in the coastal areas changed forever, when they created their first city in the coastal parts of modern day Velaheria, named Streorsburg. It could be said this the first modern city inside the entire area populated by the Velaherians at that time. Streorsburg was finely surveyed, and it was found out that the city consisted of well constructed drainage systems and pre-planned housing, which was in the 4th century BCE a marvel. For the Velhers, the city also reportedly had some large granaries, which were used to stock food materials and harvested crops. It had huge areas for cultivating crops such as wheat and barley in surplus amounts, which led to the further economic growth of Streorsburg, and later its development as the first trade city of Velaheria. Streorsburg, produced a surplus of agricultural materials which it exported to other kingdoms and tribal associations for imports of bronze ore, the smelted bronze helped the city's residents create several ornaments and daily commodities and utensils made of bronze. These bronze artefacts would then be exported to neighbouring tribes for high prices, which eventually made the city-states extremely wealthy and powerful in determining the trade routes of coastal Velaheria.

More city-states too came into existence as time went on. By the 2nd century BCE, there were about thirteen city-states across the areas covering today's Velaheria, among which great amounts of trade took place. The states had their own national cultures and traditions. They also had their forms of government and ruling styles. City-states such as Streorsburg and Gotain were direct democracies, with their first forms of ballot being held in their capital. For every major decision and every man and woman had their speech in there. Other cities like Mulsburg and Krysanthia were absolute monarchies where the leaders made all choices and decisions.

The city-states advanced rapidly in terms of monetary wealth and infrastructural capabilities. Most of the cities had proper sanitary measures and huge drainage ducts installed. According to discovered ancient city maps, the cities had planned housing. Efficient use of food and water was taught to most of the citizens present there. The total population of all these city-states by the end of the 1st century BCE is estimated to be around 400,000–650,000 people.

Medieval Era

View on the medieval castle of Gotain.

As time passed, more and more small baronies and duchies formed in the forests and swamp lands located close to the rivers. This may have been the result of the increasing amounts of trade and commerce in those areas, and the general desire of the people there to further explore and gain riches and fame from those explorations. Most of the settlers of these baronies were either bards or some other landless peasants who sought to gain land and grow their produce, rather than working for others. This meant a seemingly large number of landless labourers migrated from the city-states towards the new baronies. It would also become one of the main reasons for their collapse.

By the end of the 1st century BCE, there were several new baronies across the southern regions of Velaheria. Different houses ruled over these baronies. Most shared no common ancestral roots, because most of them had risen to power from the common grounds. This was also maybe responsible for the relatively lax taxation on the peasantry and the working class during this era.

City-states, such as Streorsburg, expanded their boundaries and settled new villages of their own. Streorsburg rebranded itself as a republic, perhaps the oldest one to ever form, whose government replicated all forms of electoral processes. This included the establishment of two bodies of government and a judiciary. Their citizens enjoyed basic rights and freedom, including owning their lands and property. Streorsburg was the first city-state to expand enough to transform into a state with enough resources to sustain itself. Its ports were major trading hubs, and its villages prospered. This led to several key road infrastructure projects, which connected Streorsburg to its settlements. All of this was achieved by the 3rd century, when the other baronies and kingdoms had just started to come into existence.

The first such kingdoms and baronies were mainly ruled by former working-class citizens of the city-states. As such, they were more understanding and lenient towards their people. This led to the increase in the agricultural harvests and prosperity across the region. People were elevated to the status of nobles or aristocracy, based on their talents and traits, and not by some ancestral means. This meant that good governing systems existed in all of these kingdoms and baronies throughout Velaheria.

As time went on, corruption and nepotism began to rise in these kingdoms and baronies. Migration to these kingdoms remained, mostly as a result of the decline of the city-states, was due to the lack of workers and political squabbling. This resulted in the fall of almost all the city-states by the 6th century CE, all while the kingdoms prospered.

The city-states became completely deserted by the 7th century CE. This was due to increasing issues with over-urbanisation and lack of resources, along with corruption and mismanagement of the revenues generated by the cities. Later on, those structures that once lit the entirety of the eastern Velaherian coast, were left completely abandoned and left to decay away with time itself.

Though when the city-states collapsed, the baronies and other kingdoms prospered, and reached prosperity, as their agricultural produces expanded and the people's living standards greatly increased. One of the most prominent kingdoms of that era was the Kingdom of Cornua, settled around the areas where Streorsburg's ruins once lay. By the 8th century CE, the Cornuan kingdom expanded to cover most of the southern Velaherian region. Several other kingdoms held several other smaller territories. The north was heavily dominated by tribal Eshe-people, who weren't deeply connected with the south. The relative peace that followed, after the rise of these kingdoms, continued until the 12th century when, the Dolch invaded Velaherian lands.

Dolch period

WIP

(Medieval castle on a hill.)

• How did Dolchland come to occupy Velaheria?
• 1100s
• 1200s
• 1300s
• 1400s
• 1500s
• 1600s
• 1700s
• 1800s
• Early 1900s

Independence

1940s-1950s

Arin Von Starinburg.

Velaheria, being liberated in the 1940s from the Dolch Landlords and administrators, was in a dire shape, as most of its infrastructural areas were damaged due to the decade's long struggle for liberation, that resulted in the total destruction of Bastaria and Vertia, and also led to the desolation of several acres of lands, and industrial areas. As a result, the VPP and Arin Von Starinburg, after much consultation with the leading economists of Velaheria, found a policy of rapid rebuilding, where Velaheria focused on heavy industries and agricultural growth, which would be centrally planned and allocated as per the needs of the areas by the 5-year-plans, this worked well and Velaheria recovered from its desolate war situation within a few years, and exceeded its pre-war production levels in the 1950s, Velaherian economy started to boom, and the people started to enjoy greater standards of living, which led to the VPP and Arin Von Starinburg to be regarded as gods and protectors of the Velaherian people, who would protect them in the face of any misery. This propaganda helped the VPP to set up its second plan, which was to remove all of its political opponents through a system of silent coups and popular resignation demands, and it surprisingly worked, leaving no opposition left in Velaheria by 1956.

1960s

By the 1960s, Velaheria was effectively ruled by the Starinburg dynasty and their closest allies, which collectively came to be known as the “Big Four” due to their immense powers over the day-to-day lives of the Velaherian citizens. They basically controlled every aspect of Velaherian society. While the political situation very much deteriorated in the favour of a totalitarian family dictatorship, the economic situation did not, as the investments done to the Velaherian industrial sectors after the end of the war, came to bear fruit, as many of the post-war production levels had far surpassed the colonial era's production quotas, though all this was achieved due to the over-investment in the industrial sector, and thus agricultural outputs suffered. This became a hard hit problem during the late 1960s and early 1970s when, the industrial growth of Velaheria stagnated due to reduced state budget, which in turn came due to the failure of overly ambitious Five-year plans. By the late 1960s, Velaheria had established itself as a highly industrialised state, with it being capable in terms of meeting its industrial requirements.

1970s

Though Velaheria had enjoyed a huge industrial boost during the 1950s and 1960s, it had all been done through concentrating the state budget on one specific sector, and thus its agricultural needs were barely fulfilled. Thus, Velaheria came through hard times, especially since the late 1970s when the entire system began to fall behind that of other socialist states, mostly due to the bureaucracy. People became more aware of the outside world, as Velaheria increased its imports of necessary items which it couldn't provide, such as meat and seafood, the latter of which was the result of the lack of imported petrol to supply the fishing boats, which led to the lack of a fishing industry for a few years, people began to fall victims to malnutrition, the elites were subjected to occasional cases of insubordination, which lead to the regime fear its collapse, the Starinburg's began to capture any suspected protestor, and would send him and his family to the re-education camps but that lead to even bigger riots, as seen in the 1979 Vertia riots, where about 2,200 people protested against the government policies of 2 generation punishments. When Arin Von Starinburg died in 1976, he was succeeded by his son Alexander Von Starinburg

1980s

The Velaherian military tried to end this protest by bringing in tanks and artillery, and eventually succeeded, but the silent opposition remained, finally in 1982, the systematic inefficiencies were somewhat rectified as the state decentralised some of its powers to the communes, and withdrew its 2-generation law in 1984, though the government still kept tight control on its people, the newer generation began to feel more aware about the things happening in the outside world, but felt too afraid to defect to other neighbouring states, for the fear of being deported and being executed or sentenced to lifetime in prison.

1980s protests in Velaheria.

For the next 4 years, stability seemed to have returned to Velaheria with the suppression of the 1984 protests. Although subversive opposition remained as a cause of extensive surveillance and jailing of political dissidents, along with reductions in the growth of the economy and the rampant corruption observed in the officials of the government, which slowly began to take hold of the people who became more conscious of the day-to-day happenings outside their nation due to illegal exports of “foreign materials” through the Stedorian borders. By 1988, the situation had come to a standstill and a group of students, protested against the rampant corruption and nepotist nature of the Velaherian state, these protests spread to other nations aligned with Velaheria as well, and soon it became a series of silent revolutions, raging all throughout the communist bloc in Argis. These popular protests in Velaheria were eventually crushed, mostly through the use of brute force and summary executions of protestors, along with the jailing and wide scale torture of political dissidents. This led to the fragmentation of the protestor's groups, and virtually any large-scale opposition to the regime vaporised by the early months of 1990.

1990s

Velaherian KNO-75 tanks in a military parade in 12 December 1991, to celebrate the 50th year since the creation of the Democratic People's Republic of Velaheria. This is one of the main MBT's of Velaheria, only c. 400-520 are in operation as of date, though most of them show chronic malfunction and have to be repaired for further service.

Though as the internal protests ended, so did the chances of any real political reforms, as the Velaherian regime understood that, to keep stability across the nation, the government must exert brutal military force and crackdowns on the civil populace, however some in the government could see that how stagnant Velaherian economy had become, with its GDP had been growing modestly, even its former communist allies had surpassed it after their revolutions, which made some desperate people to migrate to those nations, some being, Dazhdinia and Stedoria, though the former one was a kingdom, it was still in a worse situation than that of Velaheria in the 1960s to 1980s. Now that's what happened to the economy, however, in terms of social changes, there were some massive policy changes, as video gaming began to become more and more popular in Velaheria along with foreign music, which arrived in the nation through the black market, through smuggling and border crossings.

By the late 1990s, Velaheria had already starting to see its black market, getting set up in several large cities, due to the lack of basic resources and the bureaucratic mess, one had to cross to get their hands on those day-to-day materials, situation had actually worsened since the silent revolutions, as all of Velaheria's allies had practically collapsed or were in the process of collapsing. This black market mainly consisted of small-scale markets which sold food and other essentials for other goods which they would then smuggle out of Velaheria, to neighbouring nations like Delamaria and Stedoria, and in turn earn a large profit by doing so.

By March 1997, the Velaherian geopolitical situation had been deteriorating for several years. The nation had been exposed to hostile regimes from all sides and had lost almost all of its allies. The Velaherian people had also revolted against their leadership a few years ago. And now the elites were also starting to recognise the reality of their situation. However, what the government dreaded most was the removal of the Supreme leader himself.

2000s-2010s

This discontent continued until the early 2000s. When Alexander Von Starinburg passed away on 3 January 2000, he was succeeded by his second son, Ander Von Starinburg; the eldest son, Viktor Von Starinburg, was deemed too radical even by Velaherian standards. When the new regime announced its plans and later implemented it as a law, which emphasised the legalisation of small private businesses in the early years of the 21st century, this simply changed everything, as several of those small-scale markets, slowly got into legal accounts, and got subsidies from the Velaherian state, which in turn allowed more of them to slowly start being around, and eventually by the mid-early 2000s the problems plaguing Velaheria regarding lack of availability of consumer goods for the populace, was simply gone.

2020s

Lilian Sagan speaking to a crowd in Bastaria.

Due to the partial failures of the various reforms enacted during the 2000s and the 2010s, the regime slowly began to face the same difficulties it faced during the early 1980s. This triggered an era of protests, more popularly known as the ‘Silent Revolutions’. As a consequence, rules were created during the early 2020s to keep check on the people of the Velaherian state. These rules included limitations on freedom of movement. Restrictions were imposed on the provincial travel passes. Further restrictions were placed on citizens who didn't have proper connections with the regime.

This period also saw the consolidation of government resources in the hands of a few elite families. These families came to be regarded as the main business owners in the nation. Out of their ranks rose a generation of oligarchs, who gained control over several government industries and companies. This first signs of this process began in the early 2010s, when the Starinburg regime initiated privatisation and increased deregulation. The oligarchs that rose to power all owed their loyalty to the regime, from which they received their profits and share of wealth. Ander Von Starinburg created these positions to ensure regime stability. In return, Starinburg maintained the trust of and control over the influential elite classes.

In 2021, during the first months of the Grand War, the Velaherian regime chose to remain neutral. However, it provided some vocal support to the coalition fighting Great Anglia. The Starinburg regime tried fervently to maintain its neutral stance. Its neutral position became impossible when Dolchland issues an ultimatum to hand over control over Velaheria's southern provinces of Siebenbürgen and Yaernir. This was an attempt by the Dolch leadership to justify its imperialist goals. Starinburg outright rejected the demands, leading to a breakdown of talks, followed shortly after by a declaration of war.

WIP: please don't remove these prompts

• Early 2021-mid 2023: what happened? Describe war with Dolchland. How did the conflict evolve? What did Starinburg do? Was the military successful? Which units were involved? What was the outcome?
• December 2023 saw the start of a new Velaherian Revolution, marked by the Overthrow of the Starinburg regime.
• 2024: elections, new constitution, democratic government, Lilian Sagan, Peace Legion of the Assembled Nations, foreign visitors, slow path to reformation.

Politics

Main article: Politics in Velaheria

Supreme leader Ander Von Starinburg of Velaheria.

Velaheria is a federal semi-presidential republic. Its political system is built upon the principles of liberal-democracy and respect for human rights. The Velaherian Bill of Rights formally guarantees protection of human rights.

Government

The constitution defines Velaheria as “a free, indivisible, democratic and sovereign republic that adheres to principles of ideological and religious neutrality”. The country has an elected president who serves as the head of state, but also intervenes in various government affairs, making the system semi-presidential. The president is chosen through direct election, and serves a five-year term; the president is limited to two terms. The prime minister serves as the head of government and is nominated by the president and affirmed by the National Assembly.

The final Velaherian People's Party government is as follows before its overthrow.

• Supreme Leader: Mr Ander Von Starinburg.
• General Secretary: Mr Fredrick Staffenburg.
• Minister of Defence: Mr Dimitry Von Hauselhoff.
• Minister of State Security: Mr Aurehan Gurhard.
• Minister of Propaganda: Mr Heinrich Von Altenburg
• Minister of Agriculture: Mr Ludger Schumacher
• Minister of Foreign Affairs: Mrs Gisela Breitner
• Minister of Industry: Mr Karl-Heinz Eberhardt
• Minister of Finance: Mr Vultshuk Storgheim.
• Minister of Labour: Mrs Johanna Fiedler
• Ministry of State Demographics: Mr Wilhelm Von Spreti
• Minister of External Economic Relations (Foreign Trade): Ms Katarina Von Löwenstein
• Minister of Commerce: Mr Felix Neumann
• Minister of Education: Mrs Eleonore Richter
• Minister of Public Health: Mr Bernhardt Krüger
• Minister of Culture: Mrs Sophia Von Rath
• Minister of Sports: Mr Joachim Stolz

Starinburg family

Since the Democratic People's Republic of Velaheria was founded, Velaheria's leader had always been a member of the Starinburg family. It is a three-generation lineage descending from the country's first leader, Arin Von Starinburg, who developed Velaheria around socialist ideology. He remained in power until his death in 1976, establishing a cult of personality that was closely linked to socialist ideology. Power was subsequently passed on to his successors, namely his son Alexander Von Starinburg in 1976, and later his grandson Ander Von Starinburg in 2000 until his overthrow in 2024.

• Arin Von Starinburg (26 February 1906 – 13 December 1976). His full title was: The Leader of the Revolution, First Premier of Velaheria, Supreme Leader of Velaheria, Chairman of the Velaherian People's Party.
  • Maria von und zu Treppenwitz (née Von Starinburg) (14 June 1931 – 3 September 1962) + Georg Ludwig Ritter von und zu Treppenwitz (4 April 1920 – 30 May 1987)
    • Rupert Georg von und zu Treppenwitz (1 November 1951 – 22 February 2022)
    • Agathe Johanna Erwina Gobertina von und zu Treppenwitz (12 March 1953 – 28 December 2020)
    • Maria Franziska von und zu Treppenwitz (28 September 1954 – 18 February 2024)
    • Werner von und zu Treppenwitz (21 December 1955 – 11 October 2017)
      • (6) Rupert von und zu Treppenwitz
        • Sofia von und zu Treppenwitz
        • Melanie von und zu Treppenwitz
        • Amanda von und zu Treppenwitz
        • (7) Augstus von und zu Treppenwitz (formerly Justin)
      • (8) Stefan von und zu Treppenwitz
    • Hedwig von und zu Treppenwitz (28 July 1957 – 14 September 2012)
    • Johanna Karolina von und zu Treppenwitz (7 September 1959 – 25 November 2004)
    • Martina von und zu Treppenwitz (17 February 1961 – 25 February 2021)
  • Alexander Von Starinburg (19 June 1947 – 3 January 2000).
    • (2) Viktor Von Starinburg (born 11 November 1974).
    • Ander Von Starinburg (born 17 July 1979).
      • (1) Aurian Von Starinburg (born 18 August 2003). The Supreme Leader's eldest son.
      • Ava Von Starinburg (born 10 April 2005)
      • Annaliese Von Starinburg (born 27 May 2006)
    • (3) Ketriaz Von Starinburg (born 5 May 1997) + Anya Aleskandrova Von Starinburg (née Yakolev) (born 13 August 2001). Ketriaz has publicly renounced his Velaherian citizenship, but legally Velaherian law doesn't allow this.
  • Wolfgang Von Starinburg (16 July 1950 – 3 February 2001) + Helga Von Glücksburg (17 April 1959 – 15 September 2014)
    • (4) Amadeus Von Starinburg-Glücksburg (born 23 September 1983)
      • (5) Adelbert Von Starinburg-Glücksburg (born 29 February 2004)

• 

  Arin Von Starinburg.

• 

  Alexander Von Starinburg.

• 

  Viktor Von Starinburg.

• 

  Ander Von Starinburg.

• 

  Ketriaz Von Starinburg.

• 

  Aurian Von Starinburg.

Political parties

TO BE REDONE Two minor political parties also exist, but are legally bound to accept the ruling role of the VPP. They, with the VPP, comprise a popular front, known as the People's Front (PF). Elections occur only in single-candidate races where the candidate is effectively selected beforehand by the VPP. Every citizen is required to vote, although there is the freedom to not vote for the Candidate and abstain, but that has rarely ever happened. The People's Front consists of the Velaherian People's Party (VPP), the Unionist Party of Velaheria (UPV) and the Socialist Party of Velaheria (SPV). The later two parties also get to say about their opinions on certain decisions taken by the government, but in reality these parties have little to no political freedom to criticise any decision taken by the Velaheria People's Party.

Legislative

TO BE REDONE The legislative branch of the Velaherian Government is the Supreme People's Assembly, where day to day decisions are taken, the legislative building is located in the Central Venue, Bastaria. Every proposal that's announced is first read out by the speaker of the assembly. Thereafter, a brief discussion takes place discussing the issue. Subsequently, the general secretary of the Velaherian People's party addresses the issue to the Chairman of the party or the president. These then either approve or decline the proposal. Following that, the legislature votes on the issue, where it is either passed or abstained or declined. It is seen that virtually every proposal taken by the government has passed with a 100% approval, making the party nothing more than a rubber stamp done to justify every decision of the party and the executive.

Military

Main article: Velaherian People's Army

The 3rd Motorized Tank Brigade of the former Velaherian People's Army displaying their primary equipment i.e the KNO-05 Main Battle Tanks during the yearly Annual Parades of Velaheria. Currently 300-420 are operated by the VPA, more than 200 in reserves.

The Velaherian Armed Forces (VAF) is the armed forces of the Republic of Velaheria. The VAF has three major service branches: the Army (VA), Navy (VN), and Air Force (VAADF).

Economy

Main article: Economy of Velaheria

Overview

Velaheria has maintained one of the most closed and centralised economies in the wurld since the 1940s. For several decades, it followed the Central pattern of five-year plans with the ultimate goal of achieving self-sufficiency. Extensive communist support allowed Velaheria to rapidly register very high growth rates.

Systematic inefficiency began to arise around 1960, when the economy shifted from the extensive to the intensive development stage, The shortage of skilled labour, energy, and transportation significantly impeded long-term growth and resulted in consistent failure to meet planning objectives. In the 1970s, the situation worsened, when the food production absolutely plummeted. This resulted in several small riots across Velaheria, but ultimately the government decided to rectify the bureaucratic, centralised mess by giving more power and autonomy to the communes which resulted in the increase in food production again in the 1980s and 1990s, but plummeted once more in the 2000s due to the climatic disturbances experienced by Velaheria which weren't seen in the last couple of decades.

Crops growing in Velaheria.

Velaheria declared the last four-year plan unsuccessful in December 2001 and thereafter stopped announcing plans, a series of natural disasters throughout the 2000s caused severe hardships due to climatic disturbances. By 2005, the situation improved owing to a return to agricultural outputs and modern farming tactics, but the economy continues to suffer from mild food shortages and damaged infrastructure. In an attempt to recover from the collapse, the government began structural reforms in 2003 that formally legalised private ownership of assets and decentralised control over small goods production. A second round of reforms in 2011 led to an expansion of market activities, partial monetisation, flexible prices and salaries, and the introduction of incentives and accountability techniques. Despite these changes, Velaheria has largely maintained control over its companies and assets. It practices a form of state capitalism and market regulation while it advances towards a form of capitalistic market-oriented economy, where productivity and intelligence is valued by the state.

Railways

A diesel train at Bastaria Station.

The 9,910 km long railroads connects the main cities of Bastaria, Vertia and Gotain and its surrounding villages and smaller cities and has train stations and signal posts to run the trains.

• 1,772 km (2002),
• 1,138 km (1995); narrow gauge:
• 4,321 km 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge (858 km electrified)(2002)
• 1,987 km 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge (858 km electrified)(1996)
• 1,250 km 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) gauge; (2002) ev. transformed to 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge in 1980
• 1,026 km 600 mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in) gauge (2002)

Roads

Roads form an important part of transportation, as most of the economic and daily transportation occurs through the roadways. Most of Velaheria is well interconnected by the national and provincial highways, along with the minor roads in between various villages and suburban areas. Most of the roads, however, only go up to the border of Nordom. And from there only the N-4 and N-5 National highways traverse the lands, which are the most significant roads in Velaheria, due to their usage as high-speed highways for economic exchanges.

Most of the roads that traverse through the Velaherian topography, in present date, have been constructed during the Dolchic and later. During the 1st to 3rd Five years plan of the Velaherian regime, which led to the repair and extension of almost the entirety of Velaherian roadways, along with increasing interprovincial connectivity and promoting economic growth in the upcoming decades,

The roads connect almost all places which have a population of more than 100 people, with several of them traversing through one another, thus making the road infrastructure quite well. However, this is only the case for the southern provinces. The northern provinces don't have many roads going through them due to the rugged topography of the northern provinces, thus making it quite difficult to travel through those areas.

The development and the maintenance of these roads are divided according to their importance. For example, the national highways are maintained and extended by the People's Infrastructural and Construction Bureau, while the provincial highways are maintained by the provincial governments of those provinces.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Velaheria

When travelling inside the country, the Velaherian people need an internal passport.

The demographics of Velaheria are known through national censuses and international estimates. The Socialist Bureau of Statistics of Velaheria (SBSV) conducted the most recent census in 2020, where the population reached 29 million inhabitants. The population density is 90 inhabitants per square kilometre. The 2016 estimated life expectancy is 74.81 years. In 1990, the population rose at a near consistent, but low, rate (1.84% from the two censuses). Since 1979, the Velaherian birth rate has exceeded its death rate; the natural growth is positive. In terms of age structure, the population is dominated by the 15–64-year-old segment (80.09%). The median age of the population is 27.9 years, and the gender ratio is 0.97 males to 1.00 female. Since the early 1980s, the birth rate has been fairly stable, with an average of 2 children per woman, down from an average of 3 in the early 1960s.

Language

Main article: Velaherian language

Education

Kindergarten in Velaheria.

Education in the Democratic People's Republic of Velaheria is a high priority for the communist government, and is compulsory for 13–12 years from age three-four onwards.

There are state run kindergartens, polytechnic schools, extended secondary schools, vocational training and universities. Education-related issues are handled by the (Gŕensde Board) which overseas education policies and activities for the students and the teaching authorities of the particular board.

The Velaherian government spends around 3.4% of its GDP on all levels of education, 85.1 percent of Velaherians aged 25 to 60 attained some form of post-secondary education. 82.6% of Velaherian people aged 25 to 60 attained a bachelor's degree or higher. 78% of Velaherian people aged 25 to 30 attained some form of tertiary education.

There are three levels of education: the Primary education, the middle education and the higher/upper education. Full-time education begins from the age of 3–4 years until 16 years of age. This full-time education does not need to be at a school, and some parents choose to home educate. Before they reach compulsory school age, children can be educated at nursery if parents wish, though there is only limited government funding for such places. Middle school education isn't compulsory as it only includes higher skilled activities and non-essentials such as (HOTS, TTP) etc.

The Primary Curriculum of the Velaherian Gŕensde includes, General Science, Life science, Social studies, Extracurricular (optional), History, Velaherian, Dolch, Mathematics, native language (only applicable in certain cases) and life skills, with these subjects being mandatory to attend and learn until the 8th grade. The Curriculum changes somewhat and offers some choices to students who want to study a particular subject after their 8th's Exams, These include, Pure Science (includes, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Velaherian, Dolch and Physical Education), Computer science (Includes, Information Technology, Physics, mathematics, Velaherian, Dolch and Home science) also additional choices are offered in the Arts and Commerce and Financial parts.

The marking system in the Primary Education is based upon the grading system. Students are considered to be learning things at that period of their education, and are tried to be kept relatively out of pressure. There are six grades that one can get by attending an exam. Those are A+(90%+) A(80-90%) B(80-70) C(70-50) D(50-40) E(40-30) and F(30-lower) with F being the remark given to papers which fail to pass the examination. As for the Upper Education, marks are given on a numerical basis and thus are calculated in that way. A passing aggregate required to be 35% of the total marks the exam is being held on, which is mostly 100 or 50, based on the exams conducted.

Culture

Arts

A fine example of socialist realism.

All the officially approved art is required to follow the doctrine of Socialist Realism, which focuses on the utopian lifestyle of the people living in Velaheria, while portraying the Starinburg's as the “saviours” of the Revolution and the population, As it helps tremendously to enforce the ideology of Socialism, inside Velaheria.

The Velaherian People's Party decreed that all existing literary and artistic groups and organisations should be disbanded and replaced with unified associations of creative professions. Accordingly, the Bastaria and Vertia Union of Artists was established in August 1953, which brought the history of post-revolutionary art to a close. The era of Velaherian art began.

The Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture in $CityName.

In October 1956, the All-Velaherian Central People's Assembly adopted a resolution on the creation of a House of Arts. The Vertian Institute of Proletarian Fine Art was transformed into the Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. This drew a line under a 15-year period of constant change at the country's largest institution for art education. In total, over the period 1943-2012, the Institute graduated more than 4,500 artists and art historians. Among them were such major artists and sculptors of the Democratic people's Republic of Velaheria were, Rensarin Frugard, Rudolph Crondarin and others. The Party later alleged that some higher members of the people's assembly spent more time posing in the Art studios than they did attending their duties in the administrative sectors.

The Velaherian paintings, in short, show a mastery of classical representational techniques, as well as depicting a utopian vision and version of the socialist system. Art inspectors of other nations and those who defected to other countries from (1943–) approve the claims that the artistic life of the people in Velaheria was being suppressed by the ideology. They also claim that artists submitted entirely to what the party wanted them to depict and draw. A considerable number of landscapes, portraits, and studies exhibited are also mostly seen glorifying the socialist system and the people's lives under socialism. Contrarily, the capitalists and Dolchic people being their ultimate enemies, with sometimes depicting Seylosians as their enemies too, before the 1950s and 1960s. That approach is also pursued ever more consistently in the genre paintings as well, although young artists at the time still lack the experience and professional mastery to produce works of high art level devoted to the Velaherian Socialist Reality.

Literature

The notable poet Ioseb Jughashvil reciting one of his poems, c.  1930s.

The Velaherian writers developed socialist realism in their own way. Their creative method features a combination of publicistic passion, a critical view of capitalist society, and a steadfast striving to bring reality into accord with socialist ideals. All sorts of books or literary documents must go through a routine check by the Censorship Committee, and must express a sign of admiration for the policies of the Velaherian People's Party. In addition, many writers have also developed a mentality of given censorship to hide the ill-doings of the government or the military, in their literary texts and portraying the enemies as the worst committers of crime.

However, writers are provided access to otherwise prohibited “Corruptible” materials they can look and co-opt themselves with. With these materials, the writers could better propagate the myths and stories that glorify the Party, the Starinburg's, and the elite as the liberators of the nation. Texts also include odd amounts of historical details that are often not expected to be seen in similar writings. It is normal for Velaherian writers to see foreign Internet materials that ordinary Velaherians do not even have access to. The writings range from anything that denounces capitalism to detailed stories of the Velaherian Liberation war, while also writings about the individual heroes, i.e. military heroes who died for the nation. There are animated series available too, which usually use animals to display as characters rather than humans to entrench love and affection from the children.

The Modern style of Velaherian literature developed after the 1940s-1950s, while the nation was repairing from its war. The style of the current writing system was made popular by a party member who was also a writer, namely Alfred Heimer. He stated that in order for the Party to gain more respect according to the people, the party had to portray itself as the saviour of the nation, by any means possible. This led to the establishment of the Velaherian Writers Association in 1953, after which, many literary texts were released which became popular among the people, while being isolated from texts which were outright hostile towards the party's ideals. Though these texts were generally popular, many lower-class people couldn't enjoy them due to their lack of education. This in turn led to the education drive by the party in the 1960s and 1970s, where they sought to achieve a 100% literacy rate. Unfortunately, the party could only achieve a 93% literacy rate by 1996. Afterwards, the drive was cancelled due to lack of state funds, though the main aim of the Party was achieved. It proved to be a great leap for the nation, as they had, one of the most literate populaces in the entire wurld.

The Middle class, too, enjoyed the writings of the writers association and typically waited for the unveiling of the next text series, that the writer's released, these included comic series, historical novels, Character-Detailed texts, literature, etc.

Films and theatre

The Upper echelons of the Velaherian state held that film would be the most ideal propaganda tool for Velaheria because of its widespread popularity and easy to understand among the established citizenry of the region. Films could be understood even by the uneducated class, which made it easier for them to understand the propaganda. Even some party officials went so far as to state that films could be the new tools for the revolutionary teachings of the students and children in Velaheria, instead of the traditional way of learning.

Arin Von Starinburg considered film as the most important medium for educating the masses in the ways, means, and successes of the virtues and merits of Velaherian socialism. As a result, Von Starinburg issued the Directive of Worker's Recreation during the later months of 1946. It instructed the Ministry of Education to systematise the film businesses, while also recording and noting down all films shown in the Democratic People's Republic of Velaheria. He also extracted rent from all privately owned cinemas and ensured them to partial censorship based on the content that they promoted.

Andrei Litvonov, the First General Secretary of the Supreme People's assembly also later regarded cinema as of the prime importance. Though since the implication of movies in Velaherian culture by the peoples' assembly, for quite some time, the government was principally able to fund only short, educational films, the most famous of which were, The Dolchic past. Educational films were made which were intended to agitate, or energise and enthuse, the citizens to participate fully in day to day activities, while also effectively managing those who remained in opposition to the socialist regime. These short films were often simple visual aids and accompaniments to live lectures and speeches. They were carried from city to city, town to town, village to village (along with the lecturers) to educate the entire countryside, even reaching areas where film had not been previously seen.

Documentaries, were the other major form of earliest Velaherian cinema. Howard Anstren's Documentary series, “Words of the past”, the best known of these, lasted from 1949 to 1953. It had a propagandistic bend towards the utilisation of pre-Dolchic era's languages. This was considered the key step towards the creation of the modern day's Velaherian language and the re-establishment of Dolchic from an official language to that of a recognised language in the Velaherian region. 1982. Anstren's series quickly gained popularity, which was further used to promote the pre-Dolchic era's culture that Velaheria always had, while also to experiment with the effects of cinema on the larger masses. These experiments were highly successful as more and more people started growing more interests in watching films and acts which were broadcasted or shown from place to place by the central government.

Still, by 1956, there weren't any functioning cinema halls in Bastaria until later in the year. The rapid success and popularity of the growing filmography industry, by utilising Traditional Dolchic arts and theories, gave a boost to the industry's growth significantly. Especially, going so far that the government heavily started regulating what was shown to the public and gave guidelines that the film producers had to fulfil before launching a film. Though this did reduce the morale for some time, gradually by 1964 there were about 212 cinemas that had been opened across the major cities of Velaheria. Despite high taxation of ticket sales and film censors, there was an incentive for individuals to begin making film products. There were places to show the films, while they had to their subject to the Velaherian views of socialist realism, Class Unity and Worker's paradise. This provided a chance by which the directors and writers who were supporting the objectives of Velaherian Socialism assumed quick dominance in the film industry. They were the ones who could most reliably and convincingly turn out films that would satisfy government censors and would be allowed to be broadcasted to the public.

Gaming and video games

An arcade in eastern Velaheria in 2017.

Gaming, as the outside world knows it as, hasn't been popular in Velaheria, until the late 2000s. This is often attributed to the growth of the technology and digital economy of Velaheria from the early 2000s to present day. It represented a decent portion of its gross domestic product in 2019.

The evolution of the growth of video gaming in Velaheria is related to the simultaneous rise of online culture and esports, along with the growth in the popularity of the gaming genre, in the western Argic states. This led to the rise of illegal imports of gaming and other banned items inside Velaherian borders, in the 1990s. Popularity for these foreign consoles and games grew over the passing years, as the Velaherian regime thought to remedy this by launching their self-developed consoles that would decrease these illegal smuggling of goods across the Stedorian-Velaherian Borders.

As such, the Velaherian government provided subsidies to both small scale private producers and state-owned institutions to produce consoles, arcades and such. These subsidies led to record production and internal sales of those, and led to the growth in popularity of the gaming industry and video gaming in general across Velaheria. Though due to the cultural impacts, that the VPP has had in the years following the liberation of Velaheria, gaming was considered to be a social evil, especially among the older and generally conservative people. Some consider it to be similar to the intake of drugs and recreational steroids, and hampered children's education. Parents complain the children focus much of their time on gaming rather than doing academic activities. To remedy this, the Velaherian Government introduced laws to ban some sections of the gaming industry's production to regulate the activities of the children. This made the infringement of the gaming market of Velaheria by other companies, a lot harder than before, as the bans came into effect in the 2010s.

Although while it affected some sectors of the gaming industry, namely arcades, there were no such bans implied onto the other forms of gaming, such as pc's and tablets. These grew in popularity as teenagers flocked to the state-operated gaming centres in Bastaria and other large cities. The number of state operated gaming centres grew from 1,100 at the start of the 2000s, to nearly 12,000 by the end of 2018.

The ban on arcade machines was dropped in 2013, but while arcades were permitted to operate, they had to take several safeguards to prevent excessive use by youth. However, since such arcades offered a low-cost way to play games without a PC, they still became a thriving industry comparable to PC gaming at internet cafés. As a result, Velaherian gamers frequently visit the arcades to play action games, particularly fighting games, and occasionally unlicensed arcade ports of popular PC or mobile games.