Gwazzaria

Gwazzaria

Flag of Gwazzaria
Motto: Ad Astra Per Robota
[1]
Region	Hyper Nordica
Capital	Cauthaqua
Official Language(s)	Gwazzarian Dialect
Leader	Indrik Vandegraff
Population	Nearing 600,000,000
Currency	Ducal Mark
NS Sunset XML

Gwazzaria is situated on two of the southernmost islands of the Hyper Nordica region (Bjurnralm and Helgader). It is a small (land-wise), extremely densely populated, and heavily urban nation that relies on the ocean for most of its food. The temperate rainforests surrounding it have remained relatively well preserved, due to an avoidance of the use of wood and hydroponics-based farming. Its economy is manufacturing based, and uses robots extensively.

History

Gwazzaria's earliest inhabitants were likely related to the pre-Celtic Irish, and their cultures shared many things and traded extensively. When Ireland became Celtic, Gwazzaria began to absorb that culture as well. Both nations were also subject to Viking raid and conquest (though Gwazzaria significantly moreso, with portions of it having been part of Scandinavian kingdoms at times).

Originally, the Duchy of Gwazzaria encompassed what is now Cauthaqua's Old Town, and was part of the Kingdom of Thulaich (which disintegrated in 1613, following the Great Uncivil War). The name 'Gwazzaria' comes from the name of the first Duke, granted the land after putting down the warlords that had ruled the area. By the time of Duke Gwazz II, the Duchy encompassed most of Helgader, and by the death of Duke Gwazz III it encompassed all of what is modern-day Gwazzaria save a few islands.

During the Reformation, a flood of ousted Catholic German nobility sought sanctuary in Gwazzaria. They found it, many were married to Duke Actraqua's several dozen children, and soon Germanic influences were trickling into Gwazzarian culture. This, along with intermarriage with ousted Irish, Scottish, and Nordican nobility prevented the Gwazzarian ducal family from suffering the inbreeding so common on mainland Europe.

Tensions within the Kingdom of Thulaich had been growing as its Puritan king passed harsh vice laws and anti-Catholic restrictions meant to try and drive out the German Catholic nobles in Gwazzaria. In addition, other landed gentry of the Kingdom had been getting fed up with the ludicrously high taxes which, impossible for their serfs to pay, fell to them to fulfill. Things exploded in 1587, when due to what is assumed to have been either a last laugh or extreme senility, the 103 year old Duke Actraqua I died leaving his bastard peasant son Nack Mack as Duke.

Nack Mack proved to be a hedonist with a very, very bad temper. When the King's vice police tried to shut down his favorite brothel, he reportedly beat the half-dozen to death with his shillelagh and declared Gwazzaria independent. Other nobles in Thulaich followed suit, and the Great Uncivil War began. By the end of his reign (and the end of the Great Uncivil War for Gwazzaria, though it took until 1613 for the Kingdom to fully disintegrate) he had driven the Loyalists from Gwazzaria and, in a scene often depicted by Gwazzarian artists, stood pantless on the northern coast bidding the last boatload exiled Loyalists goodbye while waving a wine bottle.

His heir, Duke Franz I, reigned for about a month before reportedly falling down a flight of stairs (mysteriously shaped like fists) and breaking his skull. The next king, Duke Actraqua II, began a reign of raiding terror upon the high seas. Offering safe harbor in Cauthaqua, Breistonn, and Thimqua in exchange for tribute, pirates from the world round would flock to Gwazzaria. Raids were conducted mainly upon Spanish and British vessels returning from colonial expeditions in the Americas. While it was common knowledge that Gwazzaria provided safe harbor to pirates, no one really wanted to bring the issue up due to a surprisingly well-funded navy that had just been created. This pro-piracy policy was kept in place until the reign of King Samant III, and was briefly brought back by Duke Sean.

The Duchy's own colonial ambitions were realized by Duke Samant I, the Conqueror (or the Absent), who led a large portion of the navy on a venture to Southeast Asia. This left the country in the hands of the Ducal Magistrate, a reformer and friend (by mail) of John Locke. Under his rule, the country turned progressively more liberal and modern. Meanwhile, Duke Samant I carved out a small extension of the Duchy in Burma. The populace, led by the Duke's bastard son (declared, by default, Duke Samant II) drove them out in 1700, after Samant I died of numerous venereal diseases. Upon the fleet's arrival home, the Ducal Magistrate's crossdressing sister was declared Duke Samant III. She reigned for the rest of her life, carrying on her elder brother's liberal policy's, until her death in 1767.

In 1767, the Heir Apparent died from spontaneous liver failure after taking a drink of wine. He pointed wildly at the servant who had given him the wine (who was reportedly whistling), and declared "Him!" when asked by a worried Viscount who should be made Duke in his stead. Thus began the reign of Sean the Irish Bastard.

Through the 19th Century, Gwazzaria's connections with Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire only increased. Gwazzarian soldiers served in the Franco-Prussian War, and the numerous alliances and secret treaties made by Gwazzaria helped to lay the groundwork for the First World War - during which it fought on the side of the Central Powers.

Its operations during the First World War were mostly directed against their English neighbors, and included inciting the Irish to revolt. A major portion of its working-age population perished in it, which caused it to later adopt a pacifistic foreign policy (the Treaty of Versailles also helped, making it incapable of waging war). Its only other major interaction with the outside world until recently was opening its doors to Jewish refugees during the Second World War.

During the Cold War, Gwazzaria remained tenatively neutral, while developing its own technology and economy. By the 1990s, it had made major advances in the field of robotics, resulting in a heavy reliance on automatons for its manufacturing.

Gwazzaria recently underwent a major coup, instigated by the current ruler and a small faction of supporters. This coup was carried off by control of the factory robots of the nation, seizing control of production. This caused numerous factory robots to develop serious programming malfunctions, and runn off. The past ducal family went into exile, and Indrik Vandegraff took control.

Recently, Gwazzaria was embroiled in the civil war of Danteri. At first favoring the rebels and providing medical aid, in light of atrocities comitted on either side they shifted their position to simply helping Danteri civillians indiscriminately.

At one point, Fascist rebels imprisoned and abused a group of Gwazzarian aid workers, and held them for ransom. Bertling Special Ops attempted to liberate them, but they had been transferred into Loyalist control shortly before the end of the Fascist rebellion. Gwazzaria is currently constructing a memorial to the fallen of the Special Ops group. The assault on Freiburg cost the lives of all of the 4th Expeditionary Medical Company, and the nuclear suicide of Danteri City killed all of the 3rd Expeditionary (bringing the death total to 813).

Gwazzaria made its largest troop movement since WWI, and its farthest, by sending seven battalions of soldiers and three companies of military police to the Haraki Safe-Zones for defensive purposes. Cauthaqua was currently being host to a conference between all involved parties in hopes of finding a peaceful resolution. These talks broke down when Zukariaa, now controlled by the Kraven Corporation, took over Western (Loyalist) Danteri. Gwazzaria now cooperated with Haraki and Bertlingian forces to protect civillians, and moved in even more soldiers and ships.

The recent finding of Tacualteu and implementation of a 'cooperative colonialism' policy, hoping to lighten Gwazzaria's population load and help the aboriginals simulataneously, caused a major economic boom. Tacualtic construction briefly surpassed gambling as the biggest industry. New technologies, mainly in the fields of robotics, transportation, and construction, also came forth to further bolster the economy. It was brought to a controlled end to avoid any economic crash, and has rested steadily since while Tacualteu develops.

With the simmering down of the Danteri Conflict, and warfare in The Vert Archipelago, Gwazzarian forces have withdrawn to Tacualteu for defensive purposes.

A major change in Gwazzaria came with the construction of the artificially intelligent supercomputer Athena. It has allowed Gwazzaria to sustain a powerful economy without risk of the natural boom/bust cycle, and prompted the official change of Gwazzaria from Grand Duchy to Technocratic Duchy (in light of a technocratic economy).

Dukes of the Past

Pre-Sovereignity

• 1337-1372 Duke Gwazz I, the Great
• 1372-1442 Duke Gwazz II, the Mighty
• 1442-1464 Duke Gwazz III, the Strange
• 1465-1465 Duke Cernt I, the Black
• 1465-1477 Duke Cernt II, the Red
• 1477-1500 Duchess Brigid, the Wise
• 1500-1587 Duke Actraqua I, the Elder

Sovereignity

• 1587-1611 Duke Nack Mack, the Riotous
• 1612-1612 Duke Franz I, the Accident-Prone
• 1613-1664 Duke Actraqua II, the Pirate
• 1664-1700 Duke Samant I, the Conqueror
• 1700-1702 Duke Samant II, the Deconqueror
• 1703-1767 Duke Samant III, the Consistent
• 1767-1789 Duke Sean, the Irish Bastard
• 1789-1822 Duke Bairn, the Mad
• 1822-1870 Duke Otto I, the Very German
• 1870-1902 Duke Franz II, the Even More German
• 1902-1920 Duke Nordheim, the Warlike
• 1920-1932 Duke Nordheim II, the Significantly Less Warlike
• 1932-1955 Duke Franz III, the Compassionate
• 1955-1977 Duke Otto II, the Technocrat
• 1977-1993 Duke Otto III, the Soldier
• 1993-2001 Duke Otto IV, the Reputation-Still-Disputable
• 2001- Duke Indrik Vandegraff

Politics

Gwazzaria is firmly and unabashedly a dictatorship. The status as Grand Duchy and title of Duke have been kept simply for traditional purposes, and to avoid changing the stationary design. One quirk of the Grand Duchy is that the ruler is still called Duke, rather than Grand Duke, and has traditionally been styled as His/Her Grace. Recently this has been changed, and the Duke is now His Royal Superiority. Ships of the Gwazzarian Navy have changed from H.G.S. (His Grace's Ship) to H.R.S. (His Royal Ship). Tabloids, after witnessing the loss of several glasses and vases to his gracefulness, have postulated this might be because of his own actual manual dexterity.

The government operates on a philosophy of "Never do yourself what can be delegated to someone else." The result has been a relatively inefficient, sprawling bureaucracy, full of numerous ministries, sub-ministries, over-ministries, and departments. Because of this, the government has become the largest employer in the country.

In order to keep with U.N. rulings, citizens are allowed to elect heads of minor departments in their local area. These elections are always subject to change by the administration, however.

Industries

Private enterprise was originally made illegal in Gwazzaria, though many corporation owners maintined their position as government employees overseeing their industry. Recently, however, small-scale capitalism in non-essential areas is being introduced, especially in the burgeoning casino industry. Major industries include gambling (one of the few privatized industries), construction, arms manufacture, automobile manufacture (the term "automobile" referring to any self-moving vehicle, speficially helicopters for Gwazzaria), information technology, dairy production, medical technology, fishing, and hydroponic farming.

Gwazzaria is a supporter of the free trade agreement for the Hyper Nordica region.

The nation has begun to pour large amounts of money into its space program, and is cooperating with Hordapolis to create a binational space station.

The Gwazzarian economic boom, which caused it to surpass even Bertling, was brought to a controlled end.

Police

Gwazzaria's police force is the second largest in the region, and one of the most well-funded. In addition to keeping civil order, small "Grey Regiments" will fabricate or dig up charges against powerful opponents of the Duke.

Everyone in Gwazzaria has the right to a trial by jury, but with permission from the Minister of Justice (or higher) the judge can overturn a jury's ruling. Punishments are distributed on a sliding scale of severity of crime, evidence of guilt, and how much a convict annoys or offends the judge. Most punishments for lower crimes are easily reversible, such as fines and confiscation of property. Irreversible ones (such as imprisonment or execution) are reserved for serious crimes or guilty pleas.

Gwazzarian police normally carry stun batons and a 7.65mm Bernardelli P-018, and wear a light bulletproof vest. For operations where resistance is expected, they wear full tactical armor (similar to, but significantly lighter than, the military issue), and carry a variety of weapons ranging from SMGs (including the distinctive domestically made Mk. 115 PDW) to long arms.

Gwazzarian police uniform is generally a dark green, with brass buttons or pips. They normally wear a beret (many districts have their own iconic headwear) with the badge on the front, and shoes designed to allow for the best running as well as comfortable strolling.

Existing outside of military and police are the Ducal Enforcers. Traditionally a secret police, their duties now center around security for the Cloudspine and Duke. They're easily recognizable by their large red, white and black coats with brass fittings.

At the time of the coup, Gwazzaria was near crimeless. As the population has grown, however, this has changed. Recently, organized crime has been becoming a major problem. Ethnicity- or family-based gangs have been cropping up in cities. In response the police has bolstered its personnel count, though to little effect.

Military

The majority of the Gwazzarian military left or was exiled when the current Duke seized power. While military service is compulsory, what is legally defined as military service is very loose. Anyone in a position within the Ministry of War (or a related department) is considered to be participating in military service. As such, most people spend this mandatory duty doing various bureaucratic or technical jobs.

When it comes to actual, ready-for-combat military personnel, Gwazzaria has somewhere around 0.5% of the population. The majority of the military is concentrated in the navy and airforce, and a large portion of the budget goes towards maintaining the country's abnormally large fleet of ships. Some of its more recognizable ships are the amphibious assault ships Vorpality and Jabberwock, and the aircraft carrier Ozymandias.

The Gwazzarian military recently introduced the Bertling's BDT Ag-1 Gw (which chambers the new 6.5mm Grendel) as its standard assault rifle, phasing out the old IMBEL MD-2 and -3s. The Turkish ZIGANA T pistols remain its favored side-arm.

A trademark of the Gwazzarian infantry is heavy body armor. The army comprises the second smallest of Gwazzaria's four military branches, and is considered a mainly defensive force. Gwazzarian battledress is bulky, but capable of reliably taking up to a 5.56mm NATO round without fatal wounding to the wearer. Gwazzarian infantry also makes extensive use of various kinds of gas grenades, and filter masks are a standard accessory with the helmet.

Gwazzarian artillery is minimal, reserved almost entirely to heavy coastal guns and anti-aircraft weapons. Recent funding has gone towards development of tanks, APCs (to replace the surplus Soviet BTR-60PAs), and self-propelled cannons.

The recent economic boom has translating into a funding boom for all government agencies, including the military. Having more money than they know what to do with, the military has begun developing many types of experimental (and likely very impractical) vehicles, including airborne aircraft carriers.

Cauthaqua

The capital city of Gwazzaria is a sprawling metropolis dominating the isle of Helgader, with a burgeoning population of over half of Gwazzaria's population. Because of this, Gwazzaria might be considered a city-state, much like Hordapolis.

Cauthaqua's architecture is a mixture of refined 18th century buildings and the heavy industrialization of the early 20th century. Most of the newer areas have a strong, bolted-together feel, being comprised of a good deal of iron. One example of this is the neighborhood of Woardetin, historically a blacksmithing and iron smelting district, where the dirt is like that of Mars - red from the amount of iron oxide in it.

While Gwazzaria is uncharacteristically temperate for its location, it is still quite cold. This has prompted for Gwazzarians to build their cities in an insular manner, and Cauthaqua is no exception. Thanks to skywalks and subwalks, one can traverse the city on foot without once stepping outdoors.

Built at the height of Gwazzaria's industrial boom in the late 1970s is the Cloudspine, the tallest tower in the nation which has recently been converted into its capitol building. It reaches a 1,114 feet into the air, situated atop one of the higher points of the already hilly Cauthaquan landscape.