Minachia

== Caero-Minachia ==
The Empire of Caero-Minachia (/kɛɹoʊ-mɪnækiə/, Latin: Caero-Minachia /kero-minakia/, Romanian: Cero-Minachia /tʃero-minakia/), officially the Empire of the Republic of Caero-Minachia (Latin: Imperium Reipublicae Caero-Minachiae, Romanian: Imperiul Republicii Cero-Minachiei), commonly called Minachia, is a constitutional monarchy in Remus. It has a large land border with Kovrenzia to the West and a small border with Greater vanya to the South-West. Minachia covers LAND AREA square kilometers and has has an estimated population of 112 million. Minachia is made up of fourteen provinces, two client kingdoms, and one autonomous episcopal territory.
Minachia is one of Elparia's three superpowers. While it holds direct influence over only a few nations, it has the world's best land army and is indisputably the cultural capital of the world, due in part to both the historical influence of the nation and its being the site of the capital of the Apostolic Church. The Empire is often called the "Mother of Democracy," and Latin political, cultural, and religious influences permeate many countries.
== Etymology ==
The name for Minachia comes from the original Greek name for the country, Μιναχήριον (Minachérion). It is unclear why the Greeks named the land that, but many speculate that it comes from the name of a local pre-Indo-European tribe, the Menaks. As for Caeria's name, it is known that it was named after Caeria's first Royal Family, the House of Kaerski, which united the warring duchies and counties of Caeria under one banner. The names were hyphenized upon the founding of the Empire in the thirteenth century.
The official name of the country, Imperium Reipublicae Caero-Minachiae is quite nuanced and is often misinterpreted by foreigners. The term Imperium - often translated simply as “Empire” - here refers to the territorial realm and political dominion of Minachia. Respublica, while often interpreted as “Republic,” more accurately is a term that simply means “State” or “Commonwealth,” without implying a strictly republican government. Thus, the official name can be taken to mean “the realm of the Caero-Minachian state.” It should be noted that “Respublica” refers to the entire state and that the top level of government is called the “Imperial” government, in contrast to provincial and municipal governments.
== History ==
=== Pre History ===
The first ancestors to Caero-Minachia began forming around the tenth century BC, when the city of Velitrae was founded by a group of Latin tribes. Velitrae was situated on a swamp along the River Eridanus (hence the name referencing swampland in Latin) and became a prominent city-state and trading center, and it adopted a pseudo-republican government, with a legislature of aristocrats known as Senators that would later become the modern Senate, an assembly of commoners, and elected magistrates, chief among them being the Consuls. Velitrae expanded, absorbing several other city states, and during this time various crises came about, resulting in temporary dictators to lead the Republic. This mechanism of national security eventually led to the “Era of Dictators” starting in the second century AD, wherein various strongmen seized powers in times of panic to assert their own political control, resulting in various coups d’état, civil wars, and the erosion of republican institutions. In the fifth century AD, after his defense of Velitrae - which at this point was the capital of the Minachian Republic - from a large invading force, the general and politician Atticus Maenius (known as “the Great” or “the Defender”) was made Dictator-for-Life of Minachia, thus starting the Regnal Period of the nation’s history, which saw the Minachian government become more monarchical and feudal as it transitioned to the middle ages; it also began the Maenius line of rulers, from which the modern emperors still claim descent. Later in the tenth century, Izydor Kaerski, the voivode of one of many warring Caerite states, managed to unite Caeria and was crowned its first king.
=== Regnal Period ===
The Regnal Period is widely considered to be a “Dark Age” in Minachia’s history. Not only were republican institutions eroded away even further than they had been in the Era of Dictators, but a feudal system was also established throughout the land, with proper citizenship being relegated only to the upper aristocracy of patricians while commoner plebeians were reduced to “slaves in all but name” in many parts of the country. Moreover, the neighboring kingdoms of Minachia and Caeria came into conflict with each other, leading to centuries of deadlock and attritional warfare on each nation’s frontier. This period also saw the slowing of Minachia’s technological and cultural progress, a lack of expansion besides the completion of border conquests along Caeria, and a general loss of touch with the previous prestige and glory the country held, even in antiquity; the city of Velitrae itself fell into disrepair as it was neglected by kings who preferred to hold an itinerant court. These issues would increase the discontent of the Minachian people, coming to a head after the unification of the kingdoms.
=== Unification ===
In 1115, after the death of her father, King Hadrian III, during a war with Caeria, Queen Anna of Minachia sought vengeance against the Caerites. After several months of planning, she came to the Caerite King with an ultimatum; abdicate to the Queen, or face total annihilation. The King, facing bankruptcy, internal conflicts, and an heir who supported bringing the two nations into a personal union, accepted it, albeit reluctantly, and brought an end to an independent Kingdom of Caeria. The two countries would be in a personal union until the death of Queen Anna and her husband, who was the Prince of Caeria, when their heir, Emperor Hadrian I, formally united the two countries under one banner: The Empire of Caero-Minachia.
The unification of the crowns sparked a new spirit in Minachia for a return of old glories and the gaining of new one. During the reign of Anna and her husband, several peasant revolts spurred the Queen to issue the Edict of the Orders, which re-gave certain rights to serfs in Caero-Minachia, restored the citizenship of non-serf plebeians, and reduced some legal privileges of the patrician class; this paved the way for the dismantling of the hated feudal system over the coming decades and centuries, which both caused and was further pushed by an intermittent civil conflict known as the “Struggle of the People.” Moreover, Queen Anna restored some republican institutions, such as the Senate (which had been reduced to an advisory council), the popular assemblies, and certain elected offices. Following the proclamation of the Empire, the country began to move away from absolutism as Hadrian renounced the title of “king” (considered synonymous with past tyrannies) and presented himself as a “protector of the Republic and the people” rather than a simple monarch, continuing his mother’s practice of restoring democracy and plebeian rights. The death of feudalism led to a new social order coming about, with slaves at the bottom, followed by “provincials” in conquered territories, then non-citizen “nationals” (mainly women, freedmen, and latinized provincials awaiting citizenship), then a core citizenry which held the right to vote, then a new class of equites or “knights,” elevated citizens who served an increasingly important role as politicians, bureaucrats, military officers, and a general upper middle class/landed gentry, and finally a class of patricians (both noble-born and ennobled by imperial decree), who were wealthy landowners and holders of high offices.
Succeeding emperors would also continue this trend, returning political power to the Senate and the people; this is not to say, however, that the monarchy began to be irrelevant, as emperors still took good care to ensure that supporters received positions of power and that the Crown remained the highest post in the state, while also establishing appointed posts in the imperial court which often superseded elected offices in power, despite the latter theoretically being more important. Somewhat contradictorily to the move away from absolutism, emperors over the coming centuries would begin to adopt more and more grandiose titulature for themselves and build grand, larger-than-life personas for themselves, asserting that their right to rule came from God Himself in addition to the consent of the people (which would be confirmed in elaborate coronation ceremonies with the Pontifex Maximus himself placing the crown on an emperor’s head in Aurelia), which was done partly out of sheer ego and partly as a propaganda tactic to distance the Throne from the scrutiny of the common man and the increasingly-common distaste for bureaucrats and politicians, making the holder of it seem like an unconquerable, infallible, and all-benevolent ruler, as opposed to the corrupt and “human” politicians which became evermore prominent; this would become even more true as the Empire came closer to its height in the 16th and 17th centuries. Furthermore, this end of the “Dark Age” would see a revitalization of both the capital of Velitrae and many other cities, as well as the re-ignition of the fires of Minachian culture, ingenuity, and - arguably most importantly - military, economic, and political power over an ever-growing sphere of influence.
==== Taming the Aesidians ====
Contemporaneous with these events was the Aesidian Viking Age. Starting circa 930, warriors from Aesidia sailed west in conducted numerous raids along the coasts of Minachia and Caeria, and the warring kingdoms were largely unable to put up much resistance. Upon the foundation of the Empire, however, more focus could be given to repelling the raiders. In 1247, the vikings rallied in their homeland and set off for a large-scale attack on Caero-Minachia; however, Imperial forces were able to mobilize quickly to halt the enemy as well as set fire to their ships. The vikings were forced to surrender, but rather than imprison or execute them, the Emperor at the time, Tiberius Alexius, offered them a deal: the vikings would enter into the Emperor’s personal service and convert to Christianity in exchange for amnesty and a chance to settle in Minachia. Most readily accepted and became known as the Sverians (a name derived from their word for “sworn”), and their elite Cohorts (including the Emperor’s personal bodyguard) persist to this day. The defeat of the Invasion of 1247 spelled the end for the Viking Age in Minachia, further solidified the Empire as a dominant power, and began the tradition of Aesidians and other foreigners seeking gold and glory through service to the Empire.
=== Golden Age ===
The Empire rapidly expanded after the unification of the kingdoms: tribes of barbarians across the continent of Remus were quickly annexed and assimilated into Caero-Minachia; in 1403 the general Rumelius subdued and conquered the Greater Vanya after decades of Vanyan resistance; and during the sixteenth century the Empire expanded overseas, establishing colonies and trade posts in many parts of the world, such as in Olympia and Sereine in the southern part of the continent of Calderia and in Zhong Han in Osho. The expansion of Minachia both on and off of Remus was motivated heavily by the desire for greater trade and the extraction of valuable goods and labor from conquered territories for the country; many imperial explorers and commanders were also driven by desires for personal glory and wealth, as well as the potential to spread Christianity through missions to foreign lands. However, not all conquests ended in success: towards the end of the fifteenth century, Minachian forces landed in what is now Corusconia, and made significant progress in northern Prussatia, but were soon stopped and then pushed back as the Araesseatic peoples of the area banded together with the neighboring Corusseatics, both ending the invasion and setting the foundation for the modern Corusconian state. Then, circa 1600, the Empire attempted a series of invasions into Treka and Chuukango; however, due to a combination of difficult-to-traverse mountains and perilous seas, most of the forces were stopped before they could even enter the foreign lands. Of those that managed to survive and press into hostile territory, most were defeated by the enemy and either killed, captured, or routed back into Olympia. Following these events, Minachia would never again attempt to expand into western Calderia, and Treka and Corusconia soon were able to rise and rival the Empire with their own expansion.
During this time, the Empire became a world hub of trade, art, and technology, dwarfing other nations by a longshot, and various reforms were made. Emperor Heraclius II 'the Builder,' in particular, made great strides with his many building projects, especially his constructions in the Empire's capital, namely the Heraclian Imperial Palace and Senate Curia, which remain the principle locations of Minachian governance to this day.
=== Sick Man of Remus ===
By the early nineteenth century, however, the Empire was on the decline. By the late 1800's, rising nationalist movements to reclaim the identities of conquered peoples lead to many revolts, including 1892 Vanyan Revolution that saw Greater vanya completely secede, by the 1920's most of its colonies had been reduced to a handful of islands and trade posts, and Minachia was now seriously competing with the rising powers of Imperialist Treka and Corusconia.
A few months after the secession of Vanya, the Emperor at that time died with no heirs. Conflicts between his relatives about who should inherit the crown spiraled into a five-year-long succession crisis that only weakened the Empire further. By 1897, no sort of resolution was in sight, which caused the Senate, under the leadership of Petrus Manius (a distant relative of the main royal line) to take control of the military and oust a number of pretenders. Afterwards, the Senate passed a near-unprecedented resolution to dismiss the claims of all who had been involved in the succession crisis and named Petrus the next Emperor. Petrus then took on the regnal name of "Nichephorus" and reigned for 34 years between 1897 and 1931, establishing the modern Nichephoran dynasty. His reign was marked by a period of relative peace and prosperity, as most revolts were quelled and the economy became mostly stable. Much of this quickly disintegrated, however, when Nichephorus was succeeded by Lucius III, who was markedly insane and enormously incompetent. The Empire descended back into revolts and chaos. It was only after the memoirs of Lucius's mother revealed in 1942 he was, in fact, a bastard inbred, followed by an coup d'état led by his brother Octavius, that the mad Emperor was deposed. Octavius, now Octavius III, then led a very fragile Caero-Minachia for nine years until the breakout of the Civil War in 1951.
During the 1930's and 40's, the Empire came into conflict with Chuukango over Caeria's northernmost coal-filled islands, which which had been settled by Chuukangans during the nineteenth century in an act of taking advantage of the Empire's decline. These settlements had been ignored by the preoccupied government until Chuukangan military forces were deployed there in the 30's, causing much tension between the two countries. When war broke out between Treka and Corusconia in the 1940's, Chuukango had to recall its troops to the homefront, and the Minachian military saw the opportunity to seize much needed resources as Communists in Caeria became increasingly militant.
Expecting a quick submission by the settlers, the Imperial Army sent a small force of new recruits to the islands to hold it down while the rest of the army was suppressing revolts. To the soldiers' surprise, the Chuukangans began fighting a guerrilla war against them, using firearms and airplanes that remained in military bases to constantly harass the Minachian force, which was undersupplied and fighting in an unfamiliar climate. In what became known as the Ice War, six years of fighting occurred between the Legion and the settlers, resulting in the mass demoralization of both the Minachian force, which was not able to obtain reinforcements from the mainland due to a wave to revolts, and the Chuukangan force, which was cut off from its home country, making the fighting last for far longer than either nation anticipated. It was only when the Imperial government was able to divert soldiers to the islands that the war was won by sheer numbers. At the end of it, many valuable resources were destroyed by Chuukangans using Scorched Earth tactics, and harsh treatment of civilians by Minachian troops led to further strained relations with foreign nations, ultimately resulting in a lack of assistance to Minachia in the upcoming Civil War.
=== Restoration ===
By 1950, the Empire was but a shadow of its former self, although it was still twice its current size. The final death blow was dealt in 1956, when after five years of civil war between the Empire and rebelling Communists in Caeria, the Caerian Socialist Republic gained independence from what remained of the Empire, the war having drawn to a stalemate. Shortly after the war, rising sentiments for complete democracy lead to the abdication of the Emperor and the reorganization of the Kingdom into a Federal Republic. The economies of both Minachia and Caeria were ruined, and both lost much of their western territories to more revolts. The Federal Republic of Minachia only slightly changed its government, combining the roles of Emperor and Prime Minister (Consul) into a new Presidency. It was during this time that Minachians became aware of the ridiculous corruption within the government, which had in part contributed to the Empire's decline. President Silviu Vasilescu, in a vastly controversial move, briefly took supreme authority in the Republic to remove every government official that was known to be corrupt in what became known as the "Silvian Purge." While this ended up costing Vasilescu's political career, it did help bring an end to rampant corruption and helped his successors govern effectively. During the last half of the twentieth century, Minachia gradually rebuilt what it had lost and became a regional power, while Caeria lagged behind, plagued by bad policies, constant revolts, and economic sanctions, until eventually, in 2015, Minachia invaded Caeria once again, and conquered it completely, resulting in the creation of the Federation of Caero-Minachia. Later that year, the Imperialist party would win the Senate and reestablish the constitutional monarchy under Emperor Octavius IV. Under Octavius's reign, the Empire has continued its goal of bringing back its old glory.
== Geography ==
Caero-Minachia has a very varied terrain. In the South, the area around the coasts is hilly, with elevation increasing to small mountains as one goes further inland. Agriculture in this area consists primarily of olive groves, vineyards, tomato farms, and other crops used to make products such as olive oil, wine, and sauces, respectively. The land in the North is a primarily flat basin, and is the Empire's so-called "Breadbasket," growing most of the grain and other essential crops, hosting most of the country's livestock. The western frontier of the country in the provinces of Galeria consists of the famous Limentine Mountains, where the highest point, Mons Jupiter, is located.
Minachia's climate is fairly moderate, with semi-tropical, Mediterranean, and oceanic climates dominating, the country receiving mild winters, apart from the northernmost areas.
== Demographics ==
=== Population ===
=== Language ===
The nation's official language is Latin, the pronunciation and spelling of which is similar to Italian and Romanian. The main day-to-day languages are dialects of Latin with simplified grammar and (especially in the northern, Slavic region) Romanian, which formed out of contact between Latin Minachians and Slavic Caerians. While Romanian remains commonly spoken in Caeria, since the Reunification pushes have been made to educate its speakers in Latin and replace it with Latin in schools, so the future of this language is uncertain.
=== Religion ===
Caero-Minachia is predominately Christian, with 84% of Minachians adhering to one denomination or another of Christianity. Of the Empire's Christians, 85% follow the Apostolic Church (the Pontifex of which is also the Patriarch in Minachia, residing in Aurelia), 11% are part of the Orthodox Church, and 4% are of various Protestant churches. 12% of Minachians claim to be irreligious, atheist, or agnostic, 2% are Jewish, and 2% are Other, including some Vanyan Gza, Muslims, and Neo-Pagans.
=== Race and ethnicity ===
47% of Minachians describe themselves as “Latin” or “ethnic Minachian,” 21% as “Slavic” or “ethnic Caerian,” 12% as “mixed” 8% as “Magyar,” 2% as “Vanyan,” and 10% as “other/unsure.”
== Government ==
The Empire of Caero-Minachia is a constitutional monarchy under the Emperor. The Emperor is both head of state and co-head of government with his prime minister (officially called the Master of Offices and President of the Council of Ministers), who is officially appointed at the Emperor’s discretion but is usually nominated and then approved by the Assembly of the People. The Imperial Government is the nation's main body for day-to-day governance, and consists of the Emperor, the prime minister, their respective support offices, and the several government ministries along with their heads, with the most important ministries being the Imperial Treasury, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Public Security, the Bureau of Justice, and the Bureau of Foreign Affairs. The heads of the various ministries collectively make up the Council of Ministers, with the prime minister as its chairman under the Emperor, which exercises the primary daily powers of government; the Council itself is also part of the Imperial Consistorium, which is the Emperor’s privy council consisting of the cabinet ministers, deputy ministers, permanent secretaries, officials of the Imperial Household, and various other advisors.
Minachia’s primary legislature is the Senate, a body consisting of 175 senators elected from constituencies and a number of ex officio and appointed senators, including government ministers, provincial governors, and a number of clergymen. The Senate holds the power to create laws, confirm appointments, set financial and foreign policy, and to administer the provinces. However, all laws must be signed by the Emperor, who holds the right to veto. There is also another legislature, the Assembly of the People (Comitia Populi), consisting of 600 elected deputies, which holds the right to veto any action by the government, Emperor, or Senate with a two-thirds majority, the right to present the Emperor with candidates for the prime ministry and to approve that and other appointments, the right to be consulted on certain acts such as treaties and declarations of war, and the right to impeach imperial officials; the presidency of the Assembly, consisting of ten Tribunes, also functions as a sort of committee of ombundsmen to protect the people’s interests.
The country is divided into fourteen provinces, which in turn are divided into civil dioceses and then into municipalities and rural districts. The provinces are granted substantial autonomy, and they are each governed by an appointed governor and an elected legislature and provincial council. In the eleven “metropolitan” provinces which make up the bulk of Minachia’s territories, the governor’s role is limited as elected officials take more precedence in administering each province, while in the three “frontier” provinces (Galeria Intermontes, St. Valentine’s Island, and the Arctic Islands), the governor (usually a military officer) takes more of an important role because of these provinces’ strategic importance.
There is also the City-State of Aurelia, Minachia's last remaining episcopal territory, which is governed (at least nominally) by the Bishop of Aurelia, who is also the Pontifex Maximus of the Apostolic Church, as well as the Isle of Pontikos and Islands of Navicalia, which are internally autonomous tributaries North of Kefalaria and Ubizieten, respectively, each governed by a local client king and a minor imperial representative. In the latter two cases, the Minachian government mostly just handles foreign relations and defense for the islands while maintaining local law and government.
Elections for the Senate occur every five years, while elections for the People’s Council and the Consul occur every two years.
There are four major political parties, the center-right & moderate Christian People’s Party, the right-wing United Empire Party, the center-left Liberal Democratic Party, and the left-wing Social Labor Party. The CPP currently holds power.
=== Foreign Relations and Military ===
Minachia’s military, the Imperial Armed Forces (Copiae Armatae Imperiales) is among the largest and best equipped in the world. The Forces are divided into three primary branches, the Imperial Army (Exercitus Imperialis), the Imperial Navy (Marina Militaris Imperialis), and the Imperial Air Force (Copia Aeronautica Imperialis or simply Aeronautica Imperialis), although formally the Air Force is part of the Army, with the Navy having its own aviation division, but it has nonetheless been elevated to act as its own branch; occasionally, the land forces of the Army are distinguished by the names “Copia Terrestria,” (Ground Force) or simply “Legio,” (Legion). The Armed Forces also administer the Civil Guard (Custodes Civiles), Minachia’s national reserve and gendarmerie force.
The defense budget makes up roughly 13% of the total government budget and 5.8% of the country’s GDP.
== Economy ==
The Minachian economy is among the largest and most developed of the world. The nation’s economy is a large part service-based, with its tourism industry being among the largest in the world (barely beaten out by Olympia, Santomare, and Treka), as millions of people the world over flock to see Minachia’s beaches, mountains, countrysides, art, and historical sites; the banking industry is also large in Minachia, particularly in the financial capital of Hevitia. The Minachian economy also has a large manufacturing sector, with an emphasis on motor vehicles, machinery, electronics, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and arms manufacturing; the country also has a relative abundance of natural resources, with iron, steel, coal, and minerals making up a portion of its exports.
Agriculturally, Minachia is the largest exporter of wine, grapes, and olives and olive oil. The Empire also produces large amounts of grains, meat, dairy products, and fruits and vegetables, as well as various seafood products, including fish, calamari, and caviar.
Some of the largest and most well-known Minachian corporations include the ENH oil company, the UniCredit banking/finance group, the Dacia automobile company, and the Leonardus defense and aerospace company.
== Culture ==
Caero-Minachia is a multicultural nation, with the three primary cultural and ethnic groups being Latins (including Romanians), Slavs, and Hungarians (Magyar). However, broader Minachian culture is best described as being Latin at its core, but with many Slavic and Magyar influences. Nowhere is this more prevalent than the country's main day-to-day language, Romanian, a Romance Language that has had many Slavic words introduced into the vocabulary.
Minachian culture is very conservative and highly religious; even among irreligious Minachians, it is still customary to respect Judeo-Christian holy days. The Apostolic Church, the largest denomination within Minachian Christendom, has a profound influence on culture, and the Pontifex Maximus's word is highly respected. Minachians are often noted for their unwavering commitment to tradition and formality; for example, while young couples are free to marry as they wish, it is still common for the potential groom to publicly and formally ask the potential bride's father for marital permission.
Minachia also has a very vibrant cuisine and drinking culture. Some traditional foods include pasta, lasagna, frigărui, ostropel, borscht, and many different salads and cheeses. Multi-course meals are a commonplace occurrence in the lives of Minachians; even among poor families, a point is made to have at least one large, formal meal a week. At such meals, the consumption of alcohol is customary, even among minors, including wine, brandy, țuică (a liquor made from plums), and - in more Slavic areas of the country - vodka. In addition, alcohol in rural areas tends to be local, with each village having at least one winery; this also applies to other products, such as cheese and olive oil.
== Infrastructure ==