Archive of Slekomania's factbook

Hi Slekomania! Hope you don't mind but your factbook was quite nice and you looked like you might collapse from inactivity so I opted to archive it because it's quite a nice page. Just say the word and I'll take it down.

Slekomania, officially the The Imperial Reich of Slekomania (IRS), is a sovereign state located in Northern Europe. It is one of the most populous countries in The Greater German Reich. Slekomania is a single-party state governed by Corporate party, a political party that is strictly devoted syndicalist militarism.

The country ranks high in GDP. The reason for Slekomania's high gross domestic product is its high level of corporatism. The Slekomanian government annually uses large amounts of money in different kinds of corporate subsidies. Slekomania's dedication to corporatism has lead to large monopolies having incredible amounts of political power in the nation. INRS ranks very low in HDI, which is the result of Slekomania's budget being mostly dedicated to defense. Most people get their only education in the army.

IRS is divided into 4 administrative regions, simply named Area 0-4. All regions hold a specific purpose in the Reich; Production, defense, and living space. Area 0 is a huge sprawling complex of connected, and heavily industrialized cities spread out over Southern Finland and Baltia. Area 0 in physical size, is the second smallest region in the nation, but it is most populous of the four regions, housing approximately 65% of Slekomania's population in only 5% of the nation's surface area. The population of Area 0 is strictly segregated based on age and sex. Most of the people living there work in the many government owned factories that are spread out over the region, while the rest work in low-level administrative jobs, dealing with commerce, accounting etc. Area 2 is an immense network of fortresses, military bases, airports, and other military buildings scattered across eastern Slekomania. The area is dedicated to defense, and it is where the Slekomanian military is trained, and where most of the soldiers reside. Area 2 is a very dynamic place, and the many legions of men often move from fortress to fortress and base to base on an almost weekly basis, often completely abandoning the their posts in the region, as they leave to fight the empire's wars. Approximately 8% of the nation's population reside in Area 2. Area 3 is colossal in surface, and is by far the largest of the regions, extending over all of Scandinavia and northern Finland. Only those in the very lowest social status live in Area 3. The residents of Area 3 are forced to work in sub-zero temperatures, in the thousands of mines and refineries, until they work themselves to death. Some 27% of the nation's population live in Area 3. Although many of them only temporarily, as they are often deported to foreign countries to harvest resources. Area 4 is the smallest of the regions, laying on a heavily fortified artificial island built around the medieval Slekomanian castle "Palace of Hokan" which was built in the white sea. The Slekomanian government is very secretive of the fortification's defenses, and thus not much is know about the military aspects of the location. The massive Slekomanian government, including the Supreme Chancellor reside in the fortified island, many of them living in the large underground complexes below the castle.

The climate of Slekomania is very cold, and somewhat humid. Extremely cold temperatures ranging anywhere from -20°C to -30°C, and snowfall are very common during Slekomania's fall and winter. However, sub-zero temperatures and snowfall are rarely seen during Slekomania's spring and summer, as temperatures rarely go below 10°C. Slekomania is filled with tens of thousands of lakes, as well as many tall mountains and fells.

The first documented and organized Slekomanian country was the Slekish empire, which was formed in 862 by western slekomanian tribes and city-states. The Empire fell after a civil war between the westerners and the easterners, which lead to the country being split into two entities, the western Slekomanian Kingdom, and the eastern Slekomanian Tsardom. After nearly 500 years, the two nations were united as the United kingdoms of Slekomania. The shortlived United kingdoms of Slekomania became the Imperial Reich of Slekomania, after a revolution that began soon after the Tsardom and Kingdom of Slekomania were united.

Etymology

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Slekomania means Bearland. The name Slekomania is derived from two ancient Slekish words, sleko and mania. Sleko translates to bear. Bears are a very common animal in Slekomania, and have always been a part of their culture. In the ancient times, bears were seen as minor divine beings, and it was believed that wearing their furs would make one as strong as a bear. The word Sleko was adopted by the slekish, because people believed that bearing bears on the banners, and calling themselves the Bear's people would make them even stronger. The word mania was added into the name of the country, after the split. Both sides chose to name their country Bearland, in hope of getting power from the gods. In modern Slekish, sleko and mania can no longer be translated to bear and land.

History

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The Slekish Empire
Before the formation of the Slekish empire, the majority of the Slekomanian people lived in sparsely located towns on the coast of the Baltic sea. However, there were small groups of tribes living in the north, as well as the east. Over hundreds of years, the towns grew more united through defense pacts, trade, and royal weddings, and eventually the western towns of Slekomania became one land, populated by one people. The process was finalized, when Yrjö the first was crowned as the emperor of the Slekish Empire in 862.

In 871 a war broke out in central Europe, devastating the Slekish empire's economy, as it was very dependent on maritime trade with European countries. This motivated the emperor to expand to the east and north, in hopes of more riches, farmland, and people. The invasion of the east and north began with the invasion of small tribal villages in Lapland. At first, the people of Lapland were very aggressive towards the Slekish people, but they soon realized the benefits of being a part of the empire, when caravans began arriving into the villages. The same happened in the east. After four years, the armies of Yrjö stopped when they reached the Ural mountains. The east and the north flourished from trade with the west. After the central European war ended in 922, the Slekish Empire could once again begin trading with the countries of Europe.

However, while the coastal cities benefited from this, the eastern and northern did not. Their status as trade companions slowly disappeared, and most of them turned into large farms owned by western nobles. Some villages and towns in the east began revolting against the western royals in 1013. The royal armies responded to this by burning every city that revolted. However, the burning of villages only caused more anger among the easterners. The first Eastern revolution began in 1020. The west responded to the revolution slowly, as they believed that the east would be too weak to pose a threat to the west. The revolution spread quickly, and soon the easterners had taken and razed many major cities in central Slekomania. The king, Yrjö the fourth responded quickly, and sent the royal army to destroy the revolution. The westerners were well armed, while the easterners were mostly poor farmers. Because of that, the easterners had to quickly pull back from the west, and soon they had been pushed back to the Ural mountains. There happened the last battle of the revolution, where the west emerged victorious. The peace was made official by the agreement of Yrjö, which was signed in 1046.

The agreement allowed the east to appoint their own leaders to their largest cities, on the condition that they continue to supply the west with grain. The Agreement of Yrjö kept peace in the Slekish Empire for over 50 years, until a large war once again broke out in Europe. The loss of trading companions caused widespread famine and poverty in the west. The poverty and famine made the people revolt against the emperor, and a civil war began in the west. Meanwhile, the east saw an opportunity to get away from the grasp of the west, and declared
independence. The west could not stop them, as they were already fighting a losing war against the people. The east became an independent nation, lead by the Tsar Etvart. A week later, the western rebels overthrew what remained of Yrjö's government, and the Slekish Empire became the Kingdom of Slekomania.

The Tsardom of Slekomania
The Tsardom of Slekomania was established, when the eastern Slekish Empire declared itself an independent nation in 1353. As the west was struggling with a civil war at the time, they were unable to stop the Tsardom's establishment. The formation of the Tsardom's government was swift, and only weeks after its establishment, Etvart Otso, the Earl of Grokovia, a large mining city near the Ural mountains, was officially crowned the Tsar of Slekomania.

The Tsar's first order of action was to begin expanding the army, in order to have the country ready for any possible attacks by the Kingdom of Slekomania. At the time, the Kingdom of Slekomania had a powerful, but unorganized army. Tsarist soldiers were offered social benefits, and land, if they showed excellence. To support the army, the Tsardom began to mine the Ural mountains, and trading the minerals they found with southern countries, as well as tribes beyond the Ural mountains. The plan worked very well, and the Tsardom's economy thrived, allowing the many cities of the country to expand. However, while the soldiers lived in riches, most of the citizens did not. Most normal people were incredibly poor, as the wealth of the country was mostly distributed among those the Tsar's government deemed useful. Only six years after the nation's establishment, the poor began to revolt. The were quickly suppressed by the Tsardom's army. The Tsar saw that the nation could not thrive, if the citizens weren't happy, and so he gave free land from the mostly unpopulated north to poor slekomanian farmers.

The Tsardom continued to prosper for hundreds of years through the means of peace, a capable military, and trade. This lasted until 1567, when the tribes beyond the Ural mountains united against the east, and attempted to claim the Ural mountains, with the riches that laid in them, and beyond them. The tribal men outnumbered the Tsardom's soldiers, but they lacked training and proper equipment. Thus, the tribesmen were held back, and soon lost the war. However, the Tsardom did not push into the east, and made peace with the condition the Tribesmen send 10,000 workers to the Tsardom. This agreement kept peace in the Tsardom for fifty years, until the tribes beyond the Urals began to economically boycott the Tsardom of Slekomania. This had an impact on the country's economy, as it strongly relied on trade with the tribes. The country's military began to slowly weaken, as the economy weakened. At the same time, famine began to torment the people of the country, and many began to rob northern farms, and the many mines of the Ural mountains. while the military was weakened, it was still able to keep the people in control at the time. And so, the robberies were mostly suppressed. However, as the country's economy continued to deteriorate, the army grew weaker, and the people grew more angry. In 1647, after 30 years of economic chaos, a revolution began.

The weak military fought against the revolutionists, but was eventually defeated, and many of the soldiers joined the revolutionists. The tribesmen of the east saw this as an opportunity, and joined forces with the revolutionists, in an attempt to claim the Tsardom as theirs. As the revolution spread from the poorer cities to the richer cities, and even the capital, the Tsar had to beg for peace. The Ural agreement, which promised the children of the Tribesmen who had once been taken from the tribes be returned to them, as well as large amounts of land from the eastern Tsardom was signed in 1670.

The war and the peace agreement left the Tsardom as a poor, weak, and damaged country. The country began to slowly rebuild, through trade and farming. The country however did not have my trade companions. The eastern tribals were very guarded towards the Tsardom, and the Kingdom of Slekomania was outright hostile, and declined any trade agreements with the Tsardom. Thus, the only countries the Tsardom could trade with were in the deep south. Through them, the Tsardom's economy survived.

In 1806, the Tsardom still remained a poor and weak country, until the Kingdom of Slekomania suddenly proposed uniting the two countries. While the government disliked the idea of the Tsardom losing its absolute independence, the people begged for it. They were in awe of the Kingdom's strong military, and economy. The Tsar chose to listen to his people, and the agreement of 1806 was written, and signed by the king and the Tsar on the 5th day of December 1806.

The Kingdom of Slekomania

The Kingdom of Slekomania was established, after a revolution overthrew the leadership of The Slekish Empire, and crowned Kaarlo as the first, and true king of Slekomania. The Slekish Empire was a weak, and politically split nation, which lead to The Kingdom having many economical problems in its beginning. However, Kaarlo used large amounts of money to improve the country's navy, which allowed the country to trade with tribes and city-states on the Scandinavian peninsula. He also improved the country's fishing industry, by giving small subsidies to local fishing companies, as well as establishing a national fishing company, owned by the crown. Kaarlo dedicated his time as the king of Slekomania to improve the country's economy, and in that he succeeded. The Kingdom's economy flourished, and soon even the old enemies of the crown were praising Kaarlo. However, Kaarlo's life ended when he was struck by disease in 1393.

Kaarlo hadn't had any children, which caused a fight for the crown to erupt amongst his highest ranking generals, and advisors. This fight lasted for three years, and the country was left without a true leader, and the land was ruled by a senate. However, eventually General Varis rose to power, by using his immense wealth to buy himself allies. As a former general of the army, Varis favored the military, and greatly increased its funding. This caused a golden age for the armies of Slekomania. Knights were some of the wealthiest people in the Kingdom. Varis also reformed the whole senate of the country, replacing all officials with military leaders. While the military thrived, the economy did not. Most of Varis' government were inexperienced in politics and finance. While the Kingdom's economy remained strong, it's time had ended. The government of Varis has been called the first step the nation took towards becoming the Imperial Northern Reich of Slekomania.

Varis died of natural causes in 1431, and the crown was passed on to his son, Varis the Second. At the time of his crowning, Varis II was 29 years old. Unlike his father, Varis II was very educated. He had studied economics, politics, as well as military strategy throughout his entire life. Although, once he turned 21 he became a naval officer. The king's first order of action was to expand the country into the uninhabited north, in search of natural resources. The many sources of gold and silver the nation found in the north enriched the kingdom, and trade become a more prominent part of the country's economy than ever before. Slekomania's wealth increased significantly, which made Varis II a very popular king. Throughout all of Varis the second's rule, the kingdom thrived through peace and economic strength. Varis II's rule ended in 1492, when he died of an infection from an accidentally self-inflicted wound on his hand.

The crown was passed on to his son, Eerik. When he was crowned king, Eerik was only a young boy. His exact age is disputed, as many historical documents were destroyed during the militarist revolution. However, it is generally agreed upon that he was some 6 years old. Because of his young age, the country was ruled by a regency council during the first 10 years of his life. The regency council continued to rule the country through mass-commerce like Varis II had before them. Once Eerik rose to power, the administration of the country changed drastically. Eerik continued trading with many nearby nations, however he also worked to strengthen their diplomatic relations. That was accomplished through vassalizing certain micronations, as well as establishing royal marriages with with many foreign kings. Eerik was also a noted pacifist, and he decreased the size of the royal army significantly. This also allowed him to decrease the taxation of the kingdom. Eerik lived a long life, dying in 1588 of stomach cancer.

After Eerik's death, the Kingdom had a queen for the first time, as leadership of the kingdom was passed on to Eerik's wife, princess Laakso. Laakso was 20 years old at the time of her inauguration. Laakso's reign is remembered for the massive religious reforms that took place in Slekomania under her leadership. Eerik's diplomacy had brought the Slekomanian kingdom closer to eastern countries, which were formerly almost unknown to the Kingdom. Unlike the kings that reigned in Slekomania before Laakso, she did not wish to hold on to traditional Slekomanian religious beliefs, which allowed Muscovy, which bordered Slekomania to spread Orthodox Christianity to Slekomania. Christendom spread through Slekomania quickly, as ancient Slekomanian beliefs were very unorganized. Laakso herself converted to Christianity, and officially reformed Slekomania as a christian state in 1614. She used a significant amount of the state treasury to build churches and monasteries around the entire country, in order to strengthen the position of Christianity in Slekomania. Like her husband, Laakso lived a very long life, dying in 1660 at the age of 92. The Slekomanian orthodox church canonized her seven years later, in 1667.

Like queens often do, Laakso remained childless. After Laakso's death her advisers had to find a king from the same dynasty as Laakso before any pretenders rose. It didn't take long, until a Muscovite royal, Tarmo who had close family connections to Laakso was found. Tarmo was a fairly young and ambitious man, and immediately accepted the crown. Due to his Muscovite nationality, he was very educated, but spoke little Slekish. The language barrier did not, however prove to be a problem. Tarmo was a formidable king, and began reforming the country upon his arrival. He started by abolishing Slekomania's serdfom, which earned him the nickname "The fair" and made him one of the most liked kings in the history of Slekomania. Along with freedom, Tarmo valued education. He began admitting children who had proven their intelligence into schools free of charge. This significantly increased the level of education in Slekomania. While his choice to educate and free Slekomania's people brought the Kingdom into a golden age of science, it also brought the country into debt. Many aristocrats began to despise Tarmo, and conspired to assassinate him. On the 20th of October 1697, a large group of lords, aristtcrats and hired mercenaries staged a coup in the kingdom and installed Hokan of the house Tammer, a low-level lord to the throne of the kingdom.

Unlike the kings before him, Hokan hadn't been formally educated in administration and was otherwise inexperienced. This proved to be somewhat of a problem for him during his reign. In order to bring the kingdom back to its former glory, Hokan re-established the serfdom. However, he offered freedom to any serfs if they joined the royal army. This helped bring to make the Kingdom's military one of the strongest in Europe. The nation's strengthened army proved to be very useful, as many serfs began revolting against Hokan's administration. Hokan answered the revolts with force. The royal army started capturing rebels, and executing them in public places. His cruel methods helped end the revolts, because the serfs feared the same punishment many of their allies had suffered. This earned Hokan the nickname "The Cruel" and his reign is remembered as one of the worst the kingdom ever had. Hokan continued to rule over Slekomania with an iron fist, oppressing many and granting privileges to a few.

Hokan had a vision of Slekomania as a global empire, and he wouldn't let anything stop him from bringing his vision into reality. Once the revolts had been extinguished, Hokan declared war on Crimean tartars to the south, citing the unification of all Slekomanian peoples as his cause for the war. In fear of the Kingdom's army, no foreign nations attempted to stop the nation's expansion. Hokan personally led his armies in massive skirmishes against the southern tartars, relying on massive cavalries during his attacks. The nomadic and highly unorganized tartars were no match for Slekomania's massive forces. Within two months, Hokan had occupied all of the Crimean state. However, in the peace negotiations he only annexed a small part of Crimea into the Kingdom, as he had no desire to assimilate nomadic peoples into the Kingdom.
After the war Hokan began to live a very lavishing life, and he would use massive amounts of money to make the most extravagant court in all of Europe. The balls held in his palace some of the largest in Europe, and would often have visitors from many exotic and powerful countries. However, his extravagant lifestyle proved to be his demise, and Hokan choked on piece of turkey on his 60th birthday, in 1769.

After Hokan's death, the oldest of his sons, Hokan The Second was inaugurated as the king of Slekomania. Unlike his father, he was very educated in administration. He was a paranoid man and his first order of action as king was to break all royal ties with foreign countries in order to stop any pretenders from rising. He also executed all royals he felt were untrustworthy, and installed many of his brothers to high-level positions in the kingdom. Once he had ensured his position as king of Slekomania, he began to strengthen the position of Christendom in Slekomania. He began taxing anyone who didn't belong to the church, and using much of the state treasury on re-decorating churches with the most expensive arts in the kingdom. This earned him the trust of the church, and many devoutly christian states around the world. However, this angered many nomadic Sunni states to the south, and they started raiding many Slekomanian villages near the border. In order to protect Slekomanians from the Sunni raiders, Hokan II began to fortify and heavily militarize Slekomania's borders. Some of those fortifications still remain. However, the militarization of Slekomania's borders was useless and the raids continued. Hokan believed that he had to do something to strengthen Slekomania's military. And so, in 1805 he sent a short message to the Tsardom, proposing the unification of the two states. The Tsar quickly responded, and the states were officially unified on the 5th of October 1806.

The United Kingdoms of Slekomania

The shortlived United Kingdoms of Slekomania (UKS) was born after the Tsardom and Kingdom of Slekomania agreed on uniting the two nations. As the initiator of the unification progress, the Hokan II the king of the Kingdom of Slekomania became the rightful leader of UKS. The former Tsar of Slekomania was made the duke of the Scandes.

The United Kingdoms continued to be the target of Sunni raids, like the Kingdom of Slekomania had been before. Slekomania responded by building a massive wall in the country's southern border. The ambitious project was incredibly expensive, and quickly bankrupted the country. The workers who were building the wall started revolting, due to the of the lack of building materials and constant Sunni raids. The revolts began to quickly spread throughout Slekomania, and many soldiers rose up against the leadership of the Kingdom. The revolt was lead by a military General, Etvart Kerenski, who styled himself as "Father of Slekomanians." Soon after the revolts began, the rebel armies outnumbered those who stayed on the Kingdom's side.

On the 20th of may, Kerenski and his men marched to the Palace of Hokan, and captured the king. The attack was swift, and all royal guards were either killed, or apprehended within an hour. Kerenski declared himself the Autocrat of the North, and established The Imperial Reich of Slekomania. Kerenski shortly after executed both the Tsar and King of Slekomania.

The Imperial Reich of Slekomania

The Imperial Reich of Slekomania (IRS) was formed by a Coup D'etat lead by Etvart Kerenski, a man who had formerly lead the Nordlegion of The United Kingdoms Slekomania, a paramilitary organization, tasked with guarding Lapland, the northernmost point of Slekomania. Upon formation, Kerenski declared himself the Chancellor of Slekomania, and Father of Slekomanians.

The birth of the Reich is remembered for the massive amounts of reformation that took place during the first years of its existence. As chancellor, Kerenski nationalized all military organizations in the nation, and began to modernize the way the nation's military is assembled. Before, the military had heavily relied on cavalry units, which Kerenski felt was too ineffective for a modern military, and so he redirected much of the nation's funds to researching military technology. Unlike before. The military of Slekomania began to rely not on just quantity, but quality; All melee weapons were replaced with rifles. While Kerenski believed in modernization,he continued to hold on to the Slekomanian tradition of massive conscription-based militaries. Kerenski also added massive amounts of artillery into the nation's military. Along with military reformation, Kerenski also worked to separate the church from the government of Slekomania, and to otherwise minimize the authority of the Orthodox church in the nation. His choice to secularize the state was met with initial criticism, however releasing the nation from the strict moral code of the church earned him the support of the people.

While Kerenski believed in modernizing the military, he wasn't a very imperialist person. During his reign the nation expanded slightly into the uninhabited North and north-west, but the expansion of the nation was minimal. Kerenski valued discipline, and authoritarianism, which he maintained through the use of massive military forces. And so, the military worked as the official police of the nation during his rule of Slekomania. Kerenski eventually died of natural causes in 1868. He was given a a state funeral with full imperial honours. His death was followed by 10 days of mandatory mourning.

Unlike before, the leadership of the nation was no longer hereditary. A prominent member of the Imperial party, Kursk Gagarin was elected as leader of Slekomania by the senate. Gagarin continue to lead the nation like Kerenski had before. Stability and discipline continued to be held in value, and the nation's borders continued growing larger through colonization of formerly uninhabited areas. In 1875 Gagarin ordered the abolition of Slekomania's federal states. All state affairs would be handled from the capital city of Slekomania, Tammer. In addition to reforming the configuration of the nation, Gagarin also began to allow more economical freedoms to the people of Slekomania. Taxes were low, the economy thrived, and most of the state budget was directed to defense. The pay gap grew larger, which caused distress among the poorer of Slekomania. However the large military forces were able to quickly suppress any growing revolts before they became a statewide problem. Slekomania was ruled by a strong government, which allowed people many civil- and economical freedoms. However, criticism of the state was illegal, and political freedoms were minimal. While certain reforms took place during Gagarin's rule of the nation, his time as Chancellor of Slekomania has been noted as one of the quietest eras the Slekomanian people had ever seen.

In the 20th century, Slekomania's rule began to gradually move over from scholars and politicians to prominent members of the nation's military. Often seizing power through abusing the corruption of the state senate, or by staging secret coups. With the military strengthening its grasp on the nation, war became a prominent aspect of the nation's politics. Eventually, war grew into a Slekomanian tradition, and a constant state of war became the norm. 3/4 of the state's budget was redirected into the military, while almost all else was ignored. /WIP
/WIP I wonder if anyone's even going to read this