Clashonia (Pacifica)

Kingdom of Clashonia Känygstûm Klyšonyê
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Êninge ar Mäakté Unity creates strength
Anthem: "Hytté öbyr Klyšonyê" "Today over Clashonia"
Capital and	Käarylsbode
Official languages	Clashonian
Demonym(s)	Clahsonian
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• King of the Clashonians	Eckehard
• President-Minister	Pankraz Busch
• Upper house	Fêrsaamlyn
• Lower house	Läantâg
Area
•	188,519 km2 (72,788 sq mi)
Currency	Grošën

The Kingdom of Clashonia is an independent state located in eastern Cordilia. It borders Weisserstein to the north and west, Valkyria to the southwest, and Stoinia to the south. Its capital and most populous city is Carlsbad (Clashonian: Käarylsbode), with other major cities including Öostfyrt, Neystaadte, Freyböorge, Göoldynehäaben, and Williemsbode. The country has a territory of 188,519 square kilometers, making it among the 20 largest countries in the South Pacific.

History

Arrival of the Kalashonis

The Kalashonis ("Kalash" meaning "All" and "Ni(ke)" meaning "people", both coming from the old Kalashoni language) first arrived sometime in the year 4000 BCE. While their origins remain unclear and shrouded in mistery, what is known is that they most likely inhabited the areas around the Clarve river. The Kalashonis were hunter-gatherers and nomadic, moving up and down the Clarve river. They were divided into no less than 32 different clans according to the Neymannsbode Inscription, discovered in 1992.

The Merik Confederation

Sometime in 2000 BCE, 28 clans of the Kalashonis united under the leadership of an Aspar known as Voivo and created a loose, semi-nomadic confederation, known as the Merik Confederation. This loose confederation is designed to stop the bloodshed between the clans and promote peace amongst the Kalashonis. Many clans that were not a part of the Merik Confederation formed an alliance to defeat and overthrow Voivo. This started the Merik Wars, which were a series of military campaigns led by Voivo and other subsequent Aspars of the Confederation, expanding Kalashoni culture to modern-day Rhineland, Lowenia, Past, and southern Sugovia.

The Confederation flourished under the leadership of Raika the Great, which saw it reach its peak borders under his reign in the year 1200 BCE. But subsequent Aspars lost many of the territory the Confederation has gained during these periods of relatively swift expansions, and by 800 BCE, the Merik Confederation had lost large swathes of land and was thrown into the Merik Civil War, where 12 of the original 28 clans decided to rebel against Raika II. The death of Raika II in 782 BCE saw the Merik Confederation dissolved and the clans entered into a state of total anarchy. Many clans began attacking other clans, and any agreements and alliances formed were quickly terminated as the clans reenter a period of infighting and instability, which was used by the peoples in their conquered lands to rebel and liberate themselves from the Merik Confederation and its clans.

The Hitsaati Empire

The untannable situation saw one of the clans, the Hitsaati, rise into becoming a powerful player. Using cunning tactics and clever diplomacy, the Hitsaati would rose to become one of the most powerful clans of the Kalashoni under the leadership of Voika the Bravehearted in 623 BCE. Voika would unite the different clans through diplomatic and military means, uniting the clans under his leadership.

Hitsaatis plundering Ponicia

The Hitsaati would soon unite nearly the entirety of modern day Clashonia, and it would set its eyes on the breakaway states to its north. It conquered through the Celtig, Luuzo, and Nuro peoples. Following their conquest, the Hitsaatis would wage war against the Kingdom of Ponicia (modern day Waldland), turning the kingdom into a tributary state sometime in 598 BCE. The Sugovic peoples, namely the Pegathians and the Ozahians, as well as the Alan clan of the Kalashonis, viewed the Hitsaati as a threat and formed a military alliance to defend against its expansions.They would succeed in halting their advance during the Battle of Terit (in Terit, modern day Schellenburg) in 582 BCE.

The defeat in Terit marked the pint where the Hitsaatis entered a period of a slow, relative decline. It lost its territories in Pastrala to the Triangulars and saw the Ponicians declare their independence in 453 BCE.

Almannic migrations

The Bannarsi tribe of the Almans came and settled in the northern parts of Clashonia in 800 CE

General Falk's coup and civil war

Valentin Falk

General Schumacher's coup and the creation of the Second Clashonian Republic

Baldewin Schumacher

Politics

Clashonia is a constitutional, popular monarchy and a unitary parliamentary democracy. The bicameral federal parliament is composed of the Assembly and the Landtag. The former is made up of 105 assemblymen appointed by the parliaments of the provinces. Prior to reforms in 2008, most of the Assembly's members were directly elected. The Landtag's 322 representatives are elected under a proportional voting system from multiple electoral districts. Clashonia has compulsory voting.

The King (currently Eckehard) is the head of state, though with limited prerogatives. He appoints ministers, including the President-Minister, who has the confidence of the Landtag to form the federal government. The Council of Ministers is composed of no more than fifteen members. The judicial system is based on civil law and originates from the Klein era of the Second Republic, which was seen as the most judicially progressive period of Clashonia's judicial history.

Political culture and factionalism

Due to its tumultuous history in the post-1943 coup, Clashonian political culture has been dominated by different political factions that could trace their origins to the period. Factionalism is considered a large part of Clashonia's political culture, and has played a key role since the rise of Reiner Klein. The major parties are usually split into four main groups: the Christian Democrats, the Republicans, the Royalists, and the Social Democrats.

As Clashonia began democratizing in the early 1900s, the government was mostly split between the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats. Both groups supported maintaining the monarchy, however certain factions within these two groups began calling for the overthrow of the monarchy. Two important groups would emerge as the new leading Republican force, that being the Falke Movement, which came from the Christian Democrats, and the Redshirts, which came from the Social Democrats. These two groups would eventually merge into a single political party, the National Republican Party in 1938, with an armed paramilitary wing formed one month later, known as the Republican Guard.

In 1943, with Weisserstein embroiled in a civil war and unable to help the Clashonian monarchy, the NRP and the Republican Guard launched a peaceful coup d'état against the government, dissolving the Kingdom of Clashonia and replacing it with the (First) Clashonian Republic. At this time, the NRP was led by Anton Krämer, who immediately began pushing for the removal of old symbols of the monarchy. Things remain calm until the coup by General Valentin Falk, which sparked a civil war in 1948.

The civil war ended in 1952 with the rise of General Baldewin Schumacher and his Sovereign Clashonia Party, which became the new face of Republicanism in Clashonia. He would begin to cultivate a cult of personality and slowly became more authoritarian in his leadership. This caused the rise of reformist members of the SCP, which was then led by Reiner Klein. Klein would rise to power in 1961 and served for 2 terms until 1970, when he was replaced by Ulfric Sauer as the presidential candidate for the SCP. After his defeat, Klein and his supporters left the SCP in order to form a new party, the Independent Democrats.

In the 1980s, the economy began declining. Economic stagnation during the late-Klein era and the Sauer era grew discontent among the population. The military, which was already purged of any Schumacherists during the rule of both President Klein and President Sauer, had essentially become the hand of the royalist movement. With this, in 1984, a royalist-backed coup abolished the (Second) Clashonian Republic and reestablishing the monarchy. Since then, the Republicans have lost significant ground to the Royalist, Christian Democrats, and Social Democrats.

In the aftermath of the 1984 coup, a series of policies was enacted by the ruling coalition government, made up of Royalists, Christian Democrats, and Social Democrats, as well as Reiner Klein's Independent Democrats, which was targeted at the SCP to curb the party's influence in government and the wider population. Statues and monuments dedicated to the SCP were torn down, the most famous of which was the removal of the statue of General Schumacher in Carlsbad in 1988. This alienated the SCP from the other parties which pushed it to becoming an anti-establishment party before the party eventually split along faction lines, with the Schumacherists creating the Sovereign Clashonia Party- Future of Clashonia and the Sauerists creating the Sovereign Clashonia Party of the People.

Republicans

The Republican factions were formed during the tenure of the three presidents of the Second Republic. Republican supporters of General/President Schumacher, President Klein, and President Sauer constantly clash over their respective ideals. This leaves the republican factions within Clashonia's politics to be heavily divided, with internal splinters within the factions also existing. There also exists a smaller faction, supporting the ideals of the first president Krämer, known as Krämerists. Though his ideals were similar to that of Schumacher and Klein with minimal support from the Republican voter base and therefore not considered an important player within the Republican arena

Schumacherists

The Schumacherists are supporters of General/President Baldewin Schumacher. They are considered nationalists conservatives and are proponents of isolationism, a planned economy, and a large government. They also supported the integration of both the Armed Forces and the judiciary into the hands of the government, then dominated by the Sovereign Clashonia Party. Due to this, they have also been considered as far-right and proponents of a one-party state, which was tacitly supported by the SCP until the fall of Schumacher. The largest party in the Schumacherist faction is the Sovereign Clashonian Party - Future of Clashonia.

Kleinists

The Kleinists are supporters of President Reiner Klein and they are considered moderates or liberal conservatives. The Kleinists are proponents of a market economy, medium government, the separation of power between the three branches of government, limiting the power of the Armed Forces in the country's politics, modernization, de-Schumacherification, and pushed for more global integration. Under his administration, the SCP lost considerable influence in the judiciary and the military, but Klein's reforms brought economic prosperity and pushed the SCP's popularity with the public to an all-time high. Despite being proponents for global integration, the Kleinists do not support joining any power blocs during the Cold War, preferring to stay neutral in the matter. Though, due to their policies, the Kleinist period of the Second Republic is much more closely aligned with the democratic bloc. After the fall of Reiner Klein from the SCP, his supporters left the party and formed their own, known as the Independent Democrats, which is now the largest Kleinist party in politics.

Sauerists

The Sauerists are supporters of President Ulfric Sauer. While rising through the ranks of the SCP as a staunch Schumacherist, he began to drift away from the General once he was in power. Schumacherists are politically liberal and are considered left-winged nationalists. They supported a planned economy, large government, and pushed for closer relations with the socialist bloc. Policies such as free healthcare and education were enacted during this period, though both became heavily politicized in support of the SCP. Eventually, Sauer and his supporters broke off from the Schumacherists, though still remaining as members of the SCP. De-Schumacherification was pushed harder with plans to eventually have the cult of personality surrounding General Schumacher was purged from the SCP. However, before this could be achieved, President Sauer was overthrown by a royalist coup which ended the Second Republic. The largest Sauerist party is the Sovereign Clashonian Party of the People.

Royalists

Supporters of the monarchy are fairly unified under the royalist faction of government, which had been able to unite unlike the republicans. The largest split between the royalists is the issue of the role of the monarch in governance.