Southern Romagna
| |
| Flag of Southern Romagna | |
| Motto: We Rock, End of Story | |
| Region | Romagna Wakesburg |
|---|---|
| Capital | Unity Rock |
| Official Language(s) | English |
| Leader | President Gerald Bond |
| Population | C. 600 million |
| Currency | Romagnan Bezant (B) |
| NS Sunset XML | |
Contents
Overview
The Federation of Southern Romagna is currently the other "Great Half" of the founding Nations of Romagna Wakesburg. Initially founded as the Grand Duchy of Southern Romagna under the Wakes to stabilized the region, a violent revolution ousted the Grand Duke and established the United States of Southern Romagna. A second revolution a year later destabilized the government and triggered a civil war. The surviving states created the Federation as an effort to counter the increasing influence of Wakesburg.
History
Prehistory
Southern Romagna as a region has always been rich. The country side consists of fertile land and resources aplenty. The region was settled by Roman Refugees following the fall of the Western Empire. The survivors, calling themselves "Great Romans" made their way in their new region, submitting to Justinian's forces in 550.
Middle Ages
After successive barbarian invasions, Byzantine control in the region collapsed, leaving the Romagnans to fend for themselves. The various towns and villages entered into a period of constant warfare with each other, creating a very militant culture compared with other parts of Romagna, the region. Eventually, several small principalities emerged, consolidating territory and entered a new period was bloodshed.
Renaissance
The rebirth of knowledge in the west created a pool of experienced scientists and inventors, helping the Romagnan Princes to execute more warfare. This warring continued until the late 1600s, when many principalities collapsed as a result of civil unrest. Many were absorbed into the two surviving regions: The Principality of Grand Watchtower and the Dukedom of Paige. These two powers divided up the southern portion of Romagna, forming the Grand Duchy of Watchtower-Paige under a marriage alliance.
Grand Duchy
The Grand Duchy entered into a war with the Austrian Empire in 1844, soundly defeating the Austrians at the battle of Watchtower and receiving a massive payment as restitution. This glory was short-lived as the Duchy entered a period of decline that lasted until 1899, when a massive army from the new Empire of Wakesburg entered the region. It destroyed the Ducal army on the Paigian Plains and advanced to the Grand Duke's Capital of Grand Watchtower, seizing the city and executing the Duke. The Emperor Nicholas, knowing that he could not hold the country because of the quarrelsome nature of its denizens, appointed a local noble, Alexander Riminsky, to the Ducal Throne and reformed the Duchy by giving up some of the Empire's territories in the south, creating a unified southern state: the Grand Duchy of Southern Romagna. To solidify an alliance, Alexander was married to Anastasia Wake, creating the Riminsky-Wake line.
Revolution
The Grand Duchy, using its new-found power, co-founded the region of Romagna Wakesburg with Wakesburg. The Duchy's policies echoed those of their Imperial neighbors when ever possible, but in 1951, following a massive anti-monarchy demonstration, the Grand Duke Michael granted a constitution, establishing an empowered legislative body known as the Estates-Congress. While this worked at the time, it created territorial divides. Michael created districts with respect to the ancient city-states of the Middle Ages. This created a renewed interest in city-state sovereignty. In 1966, the Estates-Congress pushed a very state-oriented agenda, curtailing the power of the Grand Duke. In response, many pro-monarchists staged riots throughout Southern Romagna, starting a civil war with the Estates-Congress and their supporters. The Grand Duke Michael was in Wakesburg at the time. Initial reports claimed that the situation was untenable and that the Grand Duke would either have to abdicate or suppress the riots with the army. The current state of the Ducal army was horribly diminished and made no secret of their support of the pro-monarchists. Many soldiers were suspected of butchery, a record that made their use against the Estates-Congress dangerous. Michael therefor requested Imperial help, and an Imperial Army was sent into the Grand Duchy to put down the rebellion. Michael congratulated himself on his quick thinking and returned to Grand Watchtower. There he found that his actions had seriously undermined the military, and the only reason the rioting had stopped was because of a universal hatred of foreign intervention. This laid the foundation for the 1994 revolution, which ousted Grand Duke Alexander III and established the United States of Southern Romagna.
Unrest and Restoration
While Alexander III was paying a symbolic visit to Wakesburg, a group of revolutionaries, dissatisfied with the near-autocratic rule of the Grand Duke, who was thought to be imitating the styles of the Emperor of Wakesburg. It was true, and the Wake-Riminsky line of Dukes had always thought that they could equal their relatives in prestige and ceremony, but had never militarily secured their own territory or worked on unifying the culture. With the Estates-Congress and the military united against Grand Ducal rule, it was only a matter of time until the revolution occurred. Alexander, hearing about the revolution, hurried back to his capital of Grand Watchtower to try to secure the situation, but was taken hostage by the revolutionaries. He escaped with the help of a corp of loyalists, but was forced into the old Watchtower Fortress. He quickly dispatched a plea for help to the Empire, but Nicholas II was refused to repeat history, but did dispatched a rescue mission to save the Grand Duke and his family. At the same time, the new United States of Southern Romagna tried to establish relations with Wakesburg. The new President, Shaun Ricardo, knew that if the Imperial Army was sent into his nation, he would loose control and Southern Romagna would spiral into anarchy. His delegation was sent to the Imperial Capital and commenced negotiations. Ricardo held out hope for a peaceful relationship, and waited to take action, holding the army away from the Wakesburg border. This alienated the military, creating the first crack in the new state. Meanwhile, helicopters from Wakesburg violated Southern Romagnan Air Space and made their way to Grand Watchtower undisturbed. Hearing this, Ricardo tried to rally forces to stop them, but it was too late. The rescue mission arrived in the old Watchtower Fortress, rescuing the Grand Ducal suite and hurried back to Wakesburg. Embarrassed and angry, Ricardo sent his army to the border and declared war on Wakesburg. As his troops began to mobilize and move toward the Empire, a leading General by the name of Gerald Bond appeared before the Estates-Congress, declaring that Ricardo had deliberately stalled to allow the Imperial Force to rescue the hated Alexander. He produced evidence, secretly planted by agents from Wakesburg, and Ricardo was stoned in the streets. Bond then tried to seize control of the United States, but the Estates-Congress objected. They tried to relieve him of his commission, but soon discovered that the army supported Bond, and had left their post to move in to the capital. The Estates-Congress was disbanded when the army arrived, and the people expected that Bond would claim the title of Grand Duke. He surprised everyone by reestablishing the Estates-Congress, now called the Federal Counsel of Southern Romagna, and filled it with less-radical politicians. He then declared the United States defunct, renaming it the Federation of Southern Romagna. He also stepped down the conflict with Wakesburg by issuing a strong protest. He knew, like Ricardo, that a war would end Southern Romagna as a state, and was determined to prevent it.
