Anglia

Anglia, officially The Confederated State of The Anglian Republics and the Maritime Dependencies of the Ellesmere, is a   located in Eastern Valeya. The country's 17 federated states, 2 special administrative regions, 1 integrated republic, and 1 ducal territory are home to some 68 million inhabitants, almost all of whom are native-born Anglians. The country is administered from the capital located in Yorcke, which is also the economic and cultural center of the country. Other large cities include Ellesmere, Concord, Port Albernae, Halston, Johnstown, and False Creek.

Currently, the Confederation is governed by an absolute majority defended by the Center Party, which had won a landslide victory in 2018 following a political scandal that implicated both the Orange and White Lodges, Anglia's long-standing political forces, The government is nominally headed by the President John Henry Sheffield. As a semi-presidential republic, most of the power in Anglia is vested in the president and his cabinet. The Republic of Anglia has a bicameral system, with the lower house, The Anglian Senate, creating legislature and the upper house, The Anglian House of Parliament, revising and eventually approving the legislature. Representatives of both houses are elected via a system of. This was not always the case, however. Until the constitutional reforms that took place in the latter half of the 20th century, Anglia was a true confederation.

Anglia has historical and political roots dating to the 16th century, but has ethno-linguistic roots dating to long before that. While the Confederation is relatively new, speaking in geopolitical terms, the settlement of Valeya by Anglians is not. Anglia tends to pursue a policy of specific that has led to the nation's emergence as the leader of the Ordic Non-Aligned Movement.

Etymology
Under reconstruction

Origins of Anglia
(~1550-1700) Following the collapse of the Kingdom of Anglalond and its conquest by its neighbours in the tenth century, the way that the conquerors treated the ethnic Anglians of the kingdom was so poor that it cauased a continent-wide diaspora, with Anglians forming "tribes", or communities, all across Amphia, Escar, Antar, and the Northern part of Osova, with Anglian culture surviving by these tribes maintaining their linguistic, religious, and tribal identities. By the fourteenth century, many of these tribes had found their way into modern-day Nerotysia, which at the time was controlled by the Nyrossi Tsardom. These tribes found themselves in the employ of the Tsardom as skilled sailors and navigators, who continued the trend for two or three generations.

During the Age of Exploration, the Tsardom sponsored a number of Anglian seafarers in order to go on expeditions both East towards the open ocean and West along the coastlines of Amphia and Antar in order to reach Escar, at the time rich with goods that the Nyrossi didn't have access to. When some made it to Escar, they were astonished to see extant, though not necessarily flourishing, Anglian communities in a number of Escaric coastal cities. Others simply continued on after Escar, continuing to sail West until they discovered Valeya.

It is generally accepted that the first Anglians happened upon the Ellesmeare Islands in the early 1620s, though no extant records exist of their early settlements, or if they even permanently stayed. By 1633, however, Richard "Blackfoot" Yorcke and his expedition touched down in what was then known as "Kohkominânihk" by the native people, "Grandmother's Bay". The local natives revered Kohkominânihk as a sacred site of their Mother Goddess, Grandmother, and as such they viewed it as an affront that Yorcke and his crew of six ships had disembarked in the bay and had settled there. Yorcke's refusal to move due to the fertile land of the bay set the tone of the poor relations between Yorcke's Anglians and the sparsely-populated natives around him.

Despite continual conflict between the natives and the Anglian population, the steady influx of Anglians and the introduction of Old World diseases to the natives meant that soon enough the Anglian population remained dominant in the area. What few natives survived the continual conflict and disease left the area to be subsumed into larger tribes. By 1650, the city of Yorcke, named after Richard Yorcke, was flourishing as one of the continent's largest settlements.

However, as the city grew, so too did the city's inhabitants. As they came, many found it increasingly hard to reconcile with the fact that the city and its administration, led by the aging Richard Yorcke, demanded that all Anglians shed their tribal identities in order to become fully "free" Anglos. Some, under the leadership of John the Sailor and Ædweard the Giant, left the city in what would become known to them as "The Exodus", and migrated South West, deeper into the continent's interior and would later go on to found Johnstown and, by extension, the Donlands.

Pre-Federation
(~1700-1931) As word spread throughout the Old World, especially from the Nyrossi Tsardom, droves of oppressed Anglians arrived along what would be known as the Anglian Shore, with some settling in the already-extant city of Yrocke, while others, from lands dissimilar to those that founded Yorcke, settled in communities along the Shore and further in-land. Soon enough, the Anglian immigrants outnumbered the natives, who continually retreated further from their homelands along the shore with little confrontation. Natives that survived the various plagues inflicted upon them more often than not simply left to join other tribes in-land or would integrate themselves into rural Anglian communities. To this day, many landlocked Anglian states boast at least part-Native ancestry.

But as communities grew into towns and cities, Anglian quasi-states began to rise as the larger cities projected their power over their smaller neighbouring communities. At first, these "borders" were defined by the ethnic affiliations that many new immigrants to the Anglian Shore identified with, specifically their tribal identifications and the nations that they immigrated from. However, as second and third generation Anglians gradually forgot their previous affiliations, which were replaced by a new, independent Anglian identity. Tribal connections were gradually forgotten, and instead the borders of the quasi-states were instead defined by geographic features such as rivers, mountain ranges, and the general size of the cities themselves.

Anglian society became incredibly divisive, as large states generally lacked the military power to stop secessionist movements, since almost all the states employed volunteer militias as their main form of protection. During this time, the Maritime Republic of Ellesmeare, once a small fishing community on the eponymous island, would end up growing to a power to rival Yorcke.

The nineteenth century saw a large consolidation of power in the hands of a select few Anglian states, which had grown from cities protecting smaller neighbouring communities to full-fledged nation-states. While some nations continued to employ volunteer militias, The Donlands, the Free State of Yorkce, and the Maritime Republic of Ellesmeare, along with a few smaller states had formed modern armies and navies that were able to more effectively govern their borders and project their power onto other, smaller states.

In what was called the "Anglian Enlightenment", Yorcke, Ellesmeare, and Johnstown became centers not only of economic activity, but of cultural renaissance and learning. In Ellesmeare and Yorcke especially, a revived Anglian culture saw the reproduction of old Anglalondic works and the creation of a number of plays and literary works on the basis of old Anglian mythology. Anglicanism, the ethnic religion of the Anglians, saw a great moralist revival among all classes of society, and Anglican Archbishops all vied for the patronage of the most powerful states. While in the old world, the old religious orders were being discarded for concepts like agnosticism and atheism, Church attendance reached an all-time high in the mid-1870's.

However, increased prosperity meant that the increasing competition between the triumvirate of states to become the de jure hegemon of all Anglian states soured relations between the most powerful of states. A short naval blockade and the continuing search-and-seizure of a number of Yorckaean vessels traversing the Anglian Shore by the navy of the Maritime Republic of the Ellesmeare during the late 1890's set the stage for the first half of the Anglian Wars.

The Anglian Wars
(1907-1921) The Anglian Wars, also known as the Anglian Wars of Unification, were a series of armed conflicts that involved almost all Anglian states at the time, which, counting Yorcke and the Donlands, totalled thirty-seven nations. The wars were started for a number of reasons, including the increasing militarization of the three primary powers in the region and rapid increase of weapons technology witnessed by the whole of the Anglian region. While Yorcke won the wars, subduing the Maritime Republic of Ellesmeare and stripping the Donlands of their military power, almost all of Anglia witnessed an economic depression during the 1910's as a result of the widespread destruction caused by the conflict. While some Anglian historians consider the Anglian Wars a civil war, it is generally accepted that the war was an inter-state war, rather than a war taking place within a single nation. It is also generally seen as the primary event that led to a Yorckaean-based unification of Anglia, though other factors, such as the depression affecting all the states as well as the economic and cultural importance of the city of Yorcke were also contributors.

War of the First Coalition of the Midlands
(1907-1909) The War of the First Coalition of the Midlands pitted Yorcke and her allies against Ellesmeare and hers. The war was the result of a long-standing disagreement between the two states over a number of trade rights and the taxing of Yorckaean vessels trying to leave through the Ellesmere Straights. The situation was made worse starting in 1898, when Ellesmeare began pressing Yorckaean sailors into her navy in an attempt not only to bolster her manpower, but to make the Yorckaeans look bad. After a short naval exchange in 1899, a convention was called between the two nations, and a ceasefire was signed. But two years later, in the Yorckaean ally of Petuaria, located within the Ellesmere Islands, a rigged election saw Petuaria attempt to secede from the Midlands Coalition and join Ellesmeare. The citizens of the city revolted and rejoined the Midlands Coalition, and an Ellesmeareaean blockade and land-based siege of the city caused war to break out between Ellesmeare's bloc and Yorcke's.

The first exchange was at the Battle of Bathurst Straits, where the Ellesmeare navy attempted to box Yorcke's navy in Yorcke's Bay. The result was a stalemate, as the much larger Ellesmeareaean navy was damaged by a storm immediately prior to the battle. The failure to contain Yorckaean forces at Bathurst meant that they were able to break out of Yorcke's Bay and sail towards Petuaria in order to relieve the beleaguered citizens of the city. After the successful breach of the blockade in the Battle of Petuaria, the city was relieved and a truce was set at Petuaria between Yorcke and Ellesmeare's alliances. The truce delineated an Ellesmearean and Yorckaean sphere of influence along the Anglian Shore and ensured that Petuaria remained firmly in the Coalition of the Midlands, Yorcke's Sphere of Influence.

War of the Second Coalition of the Midlands
(1909-1910)

The Western Expedition
(1910)

The Western Expedition was a preemptive, punitive expedition undertaken by Yorcke and her ally Armoured Heights against a trio of small Anglian states on the Western coast of present-day Anglia, Feathstown, Bethelia, and Janyar, the latter predominantly Mozanglian, to prevent the Donlands from exerting diplomatic control over the states and bringing them into the Donlander sphere of influence.

The expedition was primarily promulgated by the so-called Anglian War Hawks, who had considerable power within the Yorckaean government at the time. The war was seen both in the international and Anglian community as a war of unwarranted aggression, while the Yorckaean government claimed that it was a "containment measure". The Western Expedition was a resounding success for the join Yorckaean-Armoured Heights forces, and it resulted in the "pacification" of the trio of states, each one of them having governments put in place that would later join the Coalition of Petuaria, all in 1911.

The major conflict of the war was fought between a joint Bethelian-Janyari force against the army of the Armoured Heights, which resulted in the brief staunching of the Western Expedition's incursion, which shattered the idea of the army of the Armoured Heights being invincible.

Ultimately, the aftermath of the Western Expedition was a significant vilification of Yorcke among most non-aligned Anglian states, many of whom flocked to their rivals, Ellesmeare and the Donlands, for protection. For Yorcke's political rivals, Ellesmeare and the Donlands, it strengthened their resolve to resist Yorckaean

The War of the Coalition of Petuaria
(1910-1915)

The First Donlander War
(1913-1918)

The Second Donlander War
(1919-1921)

The Anglian Revolution
(1921-1923)

The Anglian Revolution was a conflict fought at the very end of the Anglian War for Unification. The conflict was fought between the governmental forces of Yorcke and her allies against a series of non-state actors, such as pan-Anglian forces, disgruntled military mutineers, rebellious farmers, and social revolutionaries. The attempted revolutions and their subsequent failures had overarching and significant consequences for Yorcke and Anglia as a whole, resulting in further internecine damage to the already-ravaged Anglian area, a wave of reactionary political figures, and the postponing of Anglian unification for a whole decade.

Following the end of the Second Donlander War, the State of Yorcke had emerged as the clear victor in the conflict. Its prior two rivals, Ellesmeare and the Donlands, had been thoroughly beaten through diplomatic, economic, and military means. However, it was important for Yorcke, which had just spent a decade and a half at war, that they win the peace as well. The Anglian region had been destroyed by years of warfare, and social upheaval was at an all-time high. Anglian Hawks, especially in Yorcke proper, were upset that the State of Yorcke had not forcefully united all the Anglian states. Many soldiers, wounded or otherwise, were discontented with military pay cuts and pension slashes, farmers were landless and starving, and the workers of Anglian factories, those that still stood, saw an increase in work required and a decrease in safety standards as Anglian firms scrambled to recoup from the war through privatized austerity measures. The State of Yorcke's prior support base, industrialists, soldiers, and reactionary warmongers, had all abandoned the government.

On top of the aforementioned issues, Yorcke had to now find a way to support all of its new dependencies, all of whom were suffering similar economic depressions and social upheavals. With military morale at an all-time low and rampant desertion becoming a serious problem, the time seemed perfect for a revolution. Cracks in the Yorckaean government began to show when armaments minister John Pelham resigned his post on March 21st, 1921 after further military cuts were announced. A brief barracks rebellion was put down on March 30th. By late April, the military was divided on government loyalists and mutineers, the latter of which had unofficially begun a low-level rebellion against the government. At the same time, a petition for relief by impoverished farmers in the State of Armoured Heights was approved by the Yorckaean government, but a second petition by Yorckaean farmers, was declined due to the fact that the government could not afford any more relief.

The denial angered the Yorckaean farmers, who had been threatened for a long time by the rapidly-increasing urbanization of the state, and began arming themselves. By June 3rd, 1921, these farmers marched upon a police office and burnt it down. Similar revolts occurred across Anglian territory as word spread that a "peasants revolution" had broken out. Yorcke could do little about the farmers, as they were in the middle of putting down military revolts.

On the 10th of June, an abortive coup attempt was made on the Yorckaean government by the militants, which resulted in open firefights in the streets of the capitol city, but the mutineers, poorly coordinated, were easily compartmentalized and defeated. However, the firefight had shattered any illusion of Yorckaean stability. As word spread of the revolts in Yorcke, revolutionary forces and mutineers rose up against governments almost everywhere. Even the Donlands suffered a severe rebellion. On June 14th, with pressure from the Yorckaean Parliament, the President of Yorcke resigned and dissolved the cabinet, leading the parliament to elect the opposition leader, Cillian King, into power. King's government immediately entered into negotiations with the farmers, who in Yorcke had coalesced into the Agrarian Front. King was able to buy time by ensuring land reforms and agrarian protection, but the negotiations resulted in factory workers and unions striking in a bid for power and rights.

By September, the mutineers had been united into a coherent force under the disgraced ex-officer Teddie Bennett, who aligned themselves politically with the now-dissenting War Hawks to form a serious military and political opposition block to Yorcke's government.

Political Stagnation and Economic Depression
(1921-1923)

Confederation of Yorcke
(1931-1949)

EW II
(1937-1947)

Modern Anglia
(1949-2017)

Constitutional Reform Period
(1949-1968) The early modern period of Anglian history is characterized by the absorption of the Donlands and the creation of a modern political state in the stead of the older confederation model that Yorcke had been governed under since its formation in the 1930's. After EW II, Yorcke saw an era of prosperity and population influx, which became known as the "second birth of Yorcke". A large portion of Anglians who had been dispersed throughout the old world, especially those in non-Ordan countries came to Yorcke as a result of the devastation of the war and increased persecution during the period.

Following the Second Endwar, the Donlands experienced a pronounced and prolonged economic depression after the failure of a number of its interventionist government policies and a severe drought, combining a depressed industrial sector with a depressed agricultural one. Unemployment in the Eaorldom reached nearly 23% and the Eaorldom's GDP fell by 7% over the period between 1947 and 1949. The Confederation of Yorcke, seeing an opportunity presented, offered to economically assist the Donlands and attempt to mitigate the disaster on the condition that the Donlands join the Confederation. While many of the natives saw it as undesirable, the truth was that nearly 60% of their exports went to Yorcke, and despite the Eaorldom's staunch independence, they were already fairly heavily reliant on the Confederation. In the end, the Eaorl, as it was still an absolute monarchy, decided to accept the offer. This would start the Donlands Bush War (1951-1969) some two years later, further worsening the economic and living conditions in the country until the late 70's.

The other hallmark of the later 20th century for Yorcke was the constitutional reform that was begun in 1974. While the confederation-style government that was formed in 1931 had served Yorcke relatively well, the central government was increasingly annoyed with its lack of power over the states of the confederation, as the federal government was responsible for bailing individual states' economies out but were not responsible for their individual economic practices. As a result, an Extraordinary Constitutional Convention was called in 1974, shortly after the Federalist Coalition won the elections in the same year. representatives from each state based on their population (excluding the Donlands, as their autonomy had been guaranteed) arrived in Yorcke in order to deliberate a new constitution. It was at this convention that not only was the confederation reformed into a federalist state, but also officially renamed from the Confederation at Yorcke to the Republic of Anglia.

The Rollicking 70's
(1968-1980)

"Social Cooling"
(1968-1980)

"The Stagnant Years"
(1980-2014)

Youthful Spring Movement
(2014-Present)