Gersbachia
Gersbachia
Geography and History of Gersbachia 650AD to 1751AD
Present day Gersbachia is comprised of two very ancient kingdoms, Gersbach and Hoff.
Hoff was the northern most of the two kingdoms and it bordered Aiur. It was a mainly arid kingdom with the rugged Ionian mountain range and the Painted Desert along its northern border. The Painted Desert comprised half of the kingdom. What fertile land it had was located in the southern 1/3 of the kingdom along the border with Gersbach. The one main river flowing through Hoff was the Grand River. It’s source was in Aiur and it flowed through the desert south to Gersbach and em ptied into the Algonquin Sea. Streams coming out of the Ionian Mountains fed the Grand River and helped keep the flow fairly swift in Hoff. The capital city of Hoff was Eaton Rapids, so named because it was situated next to the largest and most treacherous rapids of the river.
The Kingdom was ruled by the Hoffman dynasty from 610AD to 1695AD. The early Kings of the Hoffman dynasty were visionaries that worked hard to unite the tribes of Hoff into one cohesive Kingdom. Once the Kingdom was secure they set about trying ot improve the day to day existence of their subjects. Around 1250AD the population of Hoff began to outgrow it meager food production capacity and the enlightened rule of the early Hoffman Kings gave way to more ruthless rulers. They attempted to gain more fertile land for Hoff through a series of disasterous wars, first with Aiur to the north and then Gersbach to the south. The latter Hoff rulers were supremely arrogant and confident. They began a series of raids into the southern regions of Aiur to try and split off some of the fertile land in the south of Aiur. This was crushed by the Aiurian Empire, and in fact the only thing that save Hoff from invasion by Aiur was the rugged terrain along the border. Aiur had no need for the lands to the south so rather than invade to take land they simply sent a military force to pillage the northern half of Hoff lands as a message to stay away from Aiur. This force remained in Hoff for 15 years after which they withdrew back to Aiur. During the Aiurian occupation the Hoff kings moved the capital to the southern city of Grand Rapids along the border with Gersbach. Since they were unable to aquire any lands to the north they turned their attention to the south and Gersbach. For the next 420 years Hoff and Gersbach fought a number of wars. At first the Hoff armies were victorius, mainly due to the unpreparedness of the Gersbachians. However over time the Gersbachians became stronger and eventually defeated the Hoff armies at the battle of Eaton Rapids.
Gersbach was made up of two distinct regions. The Gers were in the north along the border with Hoff and the Abels were in the south. The two regions were united by marriage in 1010AD when Princess Gottleib of Abel married King Michael I of Gers. The new kindom became known as Gersbachia from that time on. Gersbachia was a mainly agrarian kingdom with a flourishing arts culture. The Capitol was moved to Grand Rapids after the defeat of the Hoff. It has the oldest university in the region, The University of Ionia. Gersbachia was an independant kingdom unitl 1751 when the Saxons invaded.
1751AD to 1956AD
The Saxons originally sent emissaries to Gersbachia in the early 1700's shortly after the war with Hoff ended. They initially claimed to want to expand trade with Gersbachia. The Gersbachian military at that time had been allowed to become a shadow of what it had been during the wars with Hoff. Once the Saxons realized the natural resources Gersbachia had, and how unprepared their military was they invaded and remained in power until 1956.
Early in the 1940's the Saxons imposed a number of taxes on Gersbachia to help pay for Saxons military adventures elsewhere around the globe. In 1944 a professor at the University of Ionia formed an underground movement named the Front for a Free Gersbachia or FFG. At first the Saxons paid little attention to the FFG since it was small and was only asking for some measure of autonomy not outright independance. However at a rally in Grand Rapids in 1946 the Saxon internal security service fired on the participants killing 55.
Shortly after what became known as the Grand Rapids massacre the FFG changed tactics and became a true guerilla movement. The FFG got financial support weapons from the Kiwi Alps. They based their training camps in the Kiwi Alps along the Gersbachian border. The FFG grew stronger as the Saxons clamped down on all signs of dissent inside Gersbachia. Eventually in January 1956 the Saxons weary of the war with the FFG and wars it was fighting in other areas of its empire asked the FFG to negotiate an end to the conflict. The FFG insisted it would accept nothing short of full independance. At first the Saxons refused to even consider it, but after an attack on Saxon navy ships in the port of LaJolla, which sank 3 cruisers and 2 destroyers and took the lives of thousands of Saxon sailors, the Saxon government agreed to the FFG's demands and left the country by the end of 1956.
1956AD to Present
The newly independant state of Gersbachia adopted a democratic form of Government after the Saxons withdrew. The nation is governed by a Prime Minister who is chosen by the lower house of Parliment. Parliment is comprised up of two houses, the Senate and House. The Senate is made up of the heads of the 55 provinces in Gersbachia. The House members are elected by the citizens of Gersbachia who are over the age of 18. The Prime Minister is the leader of the party with a majority in the House.
Since 1956 there have been 4 major political parties in Gersbachia. The Gersbachian Freedom Party or GFP (the political wing of the FFG), The Gersbachian Peoples Party or GPP, The Social Democrat Party of Gersbachia or SDPG, and the Alliance Party or AP. The GFP is center right and currently holds a majority in the House. The GFP platform has from the inception of the modern Gersbachian state been based on creating a strong nation capable of defending itself and maintaining few restrictions on the business community. The GPP is a socialist party which has as its main platform a reduction in the Gersbachian military and a tightly controled commercial sector. The SDPG is a center left coalition that wants to see Gersbachia remain strong militarily but would reign in the business community by imposing a number of regulations. The AP was formed 10 years ago and has as its only platform a unification with other Tosev nations to create on nation known as the Democratic Alliance. Results of the last election 4 years ago were GFP 60%; SDPG 35%; GPP 3%; AP 2%. The current Prime Minister is Nathan Karl. Elections for the House are held every 6 years unless there is a no confidence vote before that time.
Gersbachians have never forgotten the assistance the Kiwi Alps provided during the war for independance as it is now known. As a result ever since Gersbachia became an indpepndant nation in 1956 they have maintained very friendly and close relations with Kiwi Alps.
