Retalicus

The Dominating Imperium Of Retalicus

1. History

2. Geography

3. Culture

4. Government

5. Military capabilities

6. Technological advances

7. UN status

History

The first signs of a Retalican History are from Roman times. About 360 B.C. "Retalicvs" is clearly labelled as a Roman province in approximately the same region as it is today. It is shown that the province-from more maps throughout the Byzantine Empire's history-survived as part of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire until around 800 A.D. At this time the records of the province dissapear, most likely because it, like so many other provinces of the time, was sacked and absorbed by the Mongul hordes of the far east.Also like its counterparts though, Retalicvs's culture appears to have been incorporated into that of the raiders, forming part of the later "Holy Roman Empire" by around 1300. Many historians refute this, as the actual Holy Roman Empire was on the other side of Europe at that time, saying that it would be impossible to retain a Romanesque culture so close to the Ottoman Empire during that period. However, from the (plentiful) archeological evidence of the time, it appears that the Retalicans, as they now had become, were a hardy, Nationalistic people who truly believed they were Romans. As will be mentioned later, they have retained a lot of this culture to this day, most notably in the military. The Retalicans appear to have remained independant from the newly emergant Muscovites, and the Ottoman Turks, throughout the early 18th century by which time they had militarily leapt forward, harking back to their barbarian ancestors in the use of light, sabre-armed combat cavalry. In fact it appears that the Retalican army was using something similar to the European basket-hilted sabre before it even seems to have been invented in Europe. They were not ignorant of the modern nuances of war, however, and Retalicus also used Artillery batteries extensively throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, carving themselves out a good portion of land within the constraints of the "Ancien Reigime". It is during the 19th century that Retalicus began to collapse. they stayed relatively peaceful throughout the tumultouous Napoleonic wars, the French attempting an invasion only once, and being viciously repulsed, but their greatest mistake was taking the side of the Russian Tsar in the Crimean War, Retalican Legionaries joining Russians at Sevastapol, and later on fighting for Russia in the Russo-Turkish war 1877-1878. by 1900 Retalicus was an economic and political Cypher, their Imperial bloodline being watered down over the centuries in a bid to find those of pure blood, a principle readily appreciated by the Nazi party in Germany during the 1930's and 1940's. After the surrender of the Russian Empire in 1917 and its takeover by the Bolsheviks, it was not long before Retalicus's own crumbling Empire gave way to a Proletarian Revolution. After a brief civil war, in which thousands of civilian lives were lost, in march 1922 Retalicus was officialy a communist state, and fought against the German army during an attempted invasion during Operation Barbossa. Retalicus was one of the nations offered Marshall aid after the war, but their General Secretary took his lead from Stalin and proudly refused. This would cripple Retalicus economically for some time, but as they quickly joined the Warsaw Pact in defiance of NATO, their security did not suffer. During the 1970's a charismatic leader began preaching a system of agressive militarism without discrimination. At the time he was known as the 'Voice of Retalicus' but by now he has assumed the title of Imperiator. His uniformed, disciplined Militia allowed him to pursue his goals without interference by government enforcers, and soon he had a cult following. In 1987 the Voice attempted a coup against the Communist government, Triggering the country's second civil war. despite all the Retalican government and the Soviet Union could do, the Voice was soon in office and had soon ordered a communist purging. Recently Retalicus returned to the world stage again as president nation of the "Evil Axis of Evil" organisation, uniting a group of disparate nations to create an Iron Curtain of themselves.

Geography

Retalicus's climate is unusually cold considering its equatorial proximity. Folklore has put it down to the fact that its numurous mountain ranges are in fact the bones of a great dead Ice Giant, Scientists put it down to a concentration of electromagnetic feilds that keep down the heat generated by radioactive rocks that usually warm equatorial countries. Whatever the reason, Retalican pine forests and snowy plains and icy steppes are home to many a creature, including the Quangaroo, (a tailless, furrier relation of the desert-dwelling Kangaroo Rat) and the Imperial Golden Eagle, which legend tells has feathers of the finest gold filigree. The landscape of Retalicus is, as is evident, mountainous, peaks reaching 5000 metres. these peaks are lttered with frozen lakes and Tarns, the terrain is a challenge for even the most well-trained climber-so the government has no problems keeping its secret opreations under wraps. Wide, chill plains cover much of the remaining landspace, which is usually coated with powder snow. the Cities of Retalicus are vast, but few and far between, so they have little impact on the ecology. towards the south of the country, the montains and steppes are left behind as the land sweeps down to warmer, more verdant feilds-oceans of grass, a poor compensation for the fact that Retalicus is landlocked. The entire nation is plagued by erratic weather (perhaps another effect of the concentrated EM feilds) with thunder and lighning simply flashing out of the clear sky without warning. Retalicus has several vast cities-each fully twice the size of the USA's New York City, this is balanced out by the fact that there are few other major settlements, and much of the land is uninhabited. Talecum is the nation's capital. Tourists have likened its centre and the Imperial palace therein to Vatican City in Rome. This is because almost all Retalican high architecture draws from its Roman past, and Saint Peter's Basilica and The Imperial palace are thought to date from the same time-it has been rumoured that the Emperor Constantine comissioned the same architect.