The Empire Of The Wolf
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| Flag of The Empire Of The Wolf | |
| Motto: In His Pawprints We March!! | |
| [ ] | |
| Region | Iron Curtain |
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| Capital | Skgorria City |
| Official Language(s) | Skgorrian, Atopian, Russian, German |
| Government | |
| Population | circa 6 billion |
| Currency | Workscrip |
| NS Sunset XML | |
Following the One-Day War between Axis Nova and Atopiana, the Pact of Iron - consisting of the Balkan states Skgorria, Atopiana and Grossetape - underwent a period of violent social and political change driven by the economic catastrophe precipitated by the One-Day War. As a direct result of this, a group of Skgorrian officers and secret service personnel met with Atopian and Grossetapen sympathisers to attempt to recreate an orderly society from the ashes of the old. In due course, the coup plotters instigated their revolt and, after several months of bloody fighting, succeeded. Dr Ianovich, then head of the Committee for Skgorrian Security, as the most prominent of the plotters, was installed as the God-Wolf; while Primo Frank, as the leader of the surviving Atopians, was made his Paw. The new empire, incorporating all the territories of the Pact of Iron, stamped down hard on dissidence and over the course of several decades created a thriving culture from the ruins of the Pact.
Contents
Skgorria - Imperial Province and Capital
Once a proud bastion of National Socialism, Skgorria now serves as the Capital Province of the Empire Of The Wolf. Relatively undamaged by the initial strike by Axis Nova, the real effects came later when the Nemesis plague drifted into Skgorria. Due to excessively harsh quarantine measures, including the utilisation of napalm upon infected areas and total segregation of Atopian refugees, Skgorria was able to survive the infection far better than others would have predicted.
Thanks to this, the vast majority of Skgorrian infrastructure and population survived both the Containment and the Instigation Of The Wolf. Skgorrian factories worked harder than ever to produce the goods needed to rebuild Atopiana, and it is thanks to this dramatic expansion of the Skgorrian industrial sector that Skgorria has seen a massive output in raw materials and finished goods production.
The Skgorrian people have rejected the racist attitudes of the National Socialist movement, but fully recognise that there were good aspects to it. As one former Army officer puts it, certainly there were despicable aspects to the reign of the Nazis. We all had one choice: be with the regime or against it, and if you did side with the regime then chances are you'd have to do something at some point that would make you want to be sick. But what choice did we have? There had been no effective resistance to the Iron Rule since the War of Seperation, and with the formation of the Pact of Iron anti-Nazi sentiment calmed down a little, especially with the new influx of Atopian and Grosstapean trade. Our living standards improved immensely and the world knew of us. They respected our strength, made us proud to be Skgorrians.
Whilst National Socialism no longer guides the rulers of Skgorria, there can be no doubt as to its influence upon the Doctrine Of The Wolf or Skgorrian culture. Many of the current officials in the government are former members of the Fuhrer's regime and the staff of the beaurcracy remains virtually unchanged. Whilst more extreme aspects of the National Socialists have been banned and removed from Skgorrian society, such as the infamous Special Action Division, many have been retained. For example, the Skgorrian Youth Legion remains in existence and serves as the model for the planned Pan-Imperial Youth Legion, the Nazi salute and "heil" remains a standard greeting and over half of the Skgorrians in the Imperial Armed Forces are veterans of the SS up until its formal dissolution by the God-Wolf. These soldiers are often grouped together into exclusive SS units and all SS veterans not involved in the Einsatzgruppen are allowed to wear a special SS patch to show their service as a member of an elite military formation.
Life has changed much for the Skgorrian populace, as the Empire permits far greater personal freedoms than those under the Iron Rule. No longer are people hauled away and killed in the middle of the night for the crime of being 'racially impure' as all issues of race have been removed from the Skgorrian penal code. Like Atopiana, the maxim "once your duties are performed, you may be whoever you wish" holds mostly true. Skgorria maintains a quota of two children per couple and offers welfare incentives to keep traditional families together whilst refusing to let homosexual couples adopt children. Citizens are free to move to any part of the Empire they wish and can even apply for a relocation bursary, although such money is limited.
The terrain of Skgorria remains mostly unchanged, endless plains and forests with the occasional mountain range, though the rapid expansion of the industrial sector is beginning to take its toll on the natural beauty of the Skgorrian landscape. Dinosaurs continue to thrive on the plains of Skgorria and the hunting ban remains in force, only being lifted for a brief period of three weeks in order to provide food for the Atopian refugees and alleviate the disaster situation until aid arrived from the colonies.
The Imperial Province of Atopiana
The Atopian flag - note the Flash of Action in the Circle of Unity which belonged to the AUF
A large and militaristic province, with a long and honourable martial tradition, Atopiana is nowadays characterised by the giant supercity of Megalopolis Primary. This huge structure contains several billion people and climbs over two miles into the sky at its peak. Surrounding the gigantic city are rolling hills, the remnants of the orbital barrage of the One-Day War. These hills are thickly forested, with swamps, rivers, and lakes being common. Few people live here, apart from bandits, rebels, and other malcontents. For the most part, the Imperial Governor is content to leave them be, as they cannot get into Megalopolis Primary and they do not threaten the stability of the Empire. Even so, sweeps are periodically carried out with the aim of reminding the inhabitants of the Wilderness who is in charge.
Atopian wastelands that have not yet been reclaimed under one of the Empire's extensive reconstruction projects. Note the few trees struggling for life in an otherwise barren landscape.
It is a multi-ethnic population, which has never discriminated on religious or racial grounds. After the war, many settlers arrived from Colombia, Haiti, Airstrip One, Stakhanograd, Imperial Eurasia and Imperial China, with the result that whilst many languages are spoken, Russian remains the lingua franca. By and large, the province is very liberal; it has been said that "once your duties are performed, you may be whoever you wish". These duties vary from the social - every man must father, and every woman must bear, at least two children - to the economic - unemployment for longer than six months is a crime - but all are born equally. There is little difference between the rich and poor, the economic divide having stabilised at around 10,000 workscrips (US$20,000) per annum between the richest and poorest sections of society.
Education, healthcare, and all public services are provided free of charge by the state; private enterprise is heavily regulated although not banned. Few, however, work for anyone other than the state. With the military recruiting actively from schools and universities, and more people being turned away than accepted, for example, most end up working in the vast factories that provide the basic amenites of life for all. Housing, and basic necessities, are all provided free of charge by the state. Prostitution, again, is state-run, with pleasure houses being commonplace and entirely accepted. Sexuality is not proscribed in any way, with almost every peccadillo being legal - as long as you can show that you have born the requisite legal minimum of children.
Crime is kept down by the Atopian Social Security Services (OSO - Обслуживания Сочиального обеспечения - the police force), the Imperial Judges (IS - Имперские Судьи) and the Provincial Internal Security (ZVO - Захолустная Внутренне Обеспеченность - the feared secret police). For defence, Atopiana relies on the Imperial Ground Forces (ICV - Имперские Сухопутныа войска) and their own City Defence Militia (OOG - Ополчение Обороны Города)
The One-Day War
In reality, the One-Day War was in fact two wars which took place within days of each other. The first was a military action by the Atopians against Hataria's military capability. Hataria, a dangerously imperialistic nation which had only recently been brought to its knees by an international coalition, had begun to rearm its military. The core of this rearmament program was the construction of several large ships for the new Hatarian Navy, which sent shivers down the spine of many Atopian commanders. After a series of failed meetings during which Atopian diplomats tried to avert military action, no alternative but a massive strike against Hataria could be found. Right up to the last moment, Atopian diplomats were - in the face of obstinate refusals and outright insults - attempting to find a peaceful solution, but it was not to be. Instead, at 07:45 Atopian Central Time on July 15th 2307, an assault was launched from air, land and space. Bombers, nuclear missiles, and kinetic-kill weapons were deployed.
A major Hatarian coastal city lies in ashes after being struck by the Atopians.
After just half an hour of bombardment, Hataria's ability to construct and deploy military assets on any scale had been obliterated. 12 million Hatarians were dead, but the region had been made safe for the forseeable future. Indeed, the immediate response of the Hatarian government was to declare a new policy of total isolation; and many foreign powers congratulated the Atopian government on their decisive action.
However, some disagreed with the Atopian assessment, principally as they did not have access to the same intelligence reports as the Atopian military. Others did not know the full facts of the matter, and two days later, following a period of international condemnation which was being dealt with at the diplomatic level in a peaceful manner, the forces of Axis Nova struck at 00:09 ACT. With Atopian Military Command stood down and at peacetime readiness both in space and Atopiana, nothing could be done about the genocidal assault launched by the Axis Novans. Lunar Base Victory was destroyed, the FASCES satellite network swept from the skies, and the UNITY series of space stations and construction yards vapourised - all in moments. Then, the Axis Novans proceeded to drop tungsten spheres onto Atopiana, levelling it completely, and killing over two billion men, women, and children. The much-vaunted Grand Line and Air and Nuclear Defence Systems were both utterly obliterated, and the few survivors within Atopiana who were not mad, dying, or maimed were then exterminated by the deployment of Nemesis 9X; a highly contagious and extremely lethal weaponised virus.
Above: The tallest surviving piece of wreckage in Kurskograd, taken by one of the few Skgorrian DeCon units to enter Atopiana in the aftermath of the attack
Bellow: A Blackshirt column moves through the remains of an Atopian town near the Atopian-Skgorrian border
As a direct result of the One-Day War, however, the Empire of the Wolf was founded. For that reason, many Atopians thank the Axis Novans for their actions - although many more nurse a deep and abiding hatred of the Axis Novans. Popular works of fiction often feature a future Atopiana meteing the same violence out upon Axis Nova in the name of blood and vengance.
Reconstruction and Megalopolis Primary
With over a hundred million people made homeless in the aftermath of the One-Day War, it was obvious that the Pact of Iron nations could not support the survivors of Atopiana on their own. As a result, reconstruction and reclamation work began as soon as the last of the Nemesis 9X had been rendered safe. Aided by teams and money from many other nations, work at clearing the shattered ruins progressed quickly. However, it was not for another 20 years that work could begin on the ‘City of the Future’ as it was called by the architect who designed it. A dedicated Futurist, Sakisheveli Androva had studied at the Kurskograd University under Atopiana’s greatest civic architects. Her vision for the Phoenix that Atopiana’s irradiated ruins would become was at first ridiculed, then slowly accepted. It was to be the worlds’ first mega-city, home not to millions but billions of people; rising miles into the sky and made from the latest materials.
Habitation blocks, known as habs, were to be self-contained towns; housing everything from creches to reclamation plants with green spaces and corner shops intermingled with the apartments. Huge factories sprawled at city bottom, while the Palace of Progress soared into the sky, a three-mile-high column of government offices marking the very centre of Atopiana and Megalopolis. Parks, gardens, and running water were all intrinsic to the design – as were the spaceports, airports, and military bases. The city would be ringed by a half-mile high wall, studded along the top with defensive systems ranging from complex anti-missile lasers to the much simpler anti-aircraft artillery batteries.
Such a huge undertaking, of course, would not be completed quickly. Estimates argued that it would be over a century before the Megalopolis would be finished, and that it would continue to grow – both upwards and downwards – as the population increased. Androva did not care. She knew that Atopiana needed this masterwork of civic construction, this first of the super-cities, to survive and thrive. And her leaders agreed. As soon as they could, they launched into construction. Foreign money and labour camp inmates worked together to rebuild Atopiana, catapulting the nation and the Empire into the forefront of progress as they did so.
Notable donors included the World Soviet Party ... [to be continued]
The Imperial Province of Grossetape
The provincial flag of Grossetape. Again note the yoke and arrows of the pre-war Grossetapen Phalanx
Coming Soon...
Minor Provinces
Coming Soon...
Imperial Colombia
Airstrip One
The Imperial Territory of Airstrip One lies on the site of the former nation of Die Boerstaat that had been occupied and annexed by the Pact of Iron and the Red Islands Mafia. The native population has been exterminated or driven out after a vicious counter-insurgency campaign led by Storm-General Beckenbauer. The rebel cause was dealt a vicious blow by the indiscriminate use of biological weapons by the Skgorrian in the battle for the capital and over the next year the natives would be hunted down and killed. Victory was declared and the process of converting the Skgorrian occupied zone into Airstrip One by tarmacing the entire landscape apart from areas for metal and diamond mining and some limited agriculture, thus destroying most native life. Huge factory and shipyard complexes were established, and it is said by many Imperial citizens that an Airstrip One bullet is a special bullet.
Above: a machinist inspects his handiwork. If he performs well then his foreman might release him an hour early but if he peforms badly, another hour of work will be added onto his schedule
