Britain

**Britain**, properly known as the **United Kingdom**, is an archipelagic country located at northwestern Europe.

It is surrounded by Iceland to the north; Ireland to the west; France to the south; and Belgium and the Netherlands to the east. Norway is located to the east of its seas.

## Factfile

* Official name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
* Anthem: God Save The King
* Official motto: God and my right (in England); In my defens God me defend (in Scotland)
* Capital city: London
* Official language: English
* Official religion: Anglican Christianity
	+ Other religions in Britain include other forms of Christianity (Catholicism, Presbyterianism, Methodism, Baptists), Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Bahaism, Wicca, Druidism (native Celtic religion), and Heathenry (native British religion).
* Government: Constitutional monarchy
* Monarch: Charles III
* Prime Minister: Rishi Sunak
* Climate: Temperate in England and Wales, subpolar oceanic climate in Scotland
* Currency: Pound sterling (100 pennies)
* National Day: 23 April (St. George's Day)

## In the Collectionverse

Britain is the birthplace of Kalendrica and Wicker and Wander Flame, which got into a rivalry with Reltak ever since the latter's founding.

## In the Rinnarverse

In the years leading to World War III, Britain remained independent while the European Union was torn apart. It was later ruled by a nationalist government. When World War III broke out, Britain went on the side of Visegrad's alliance against the EU and the Nordic State. Seeking to subjugate Britain into their control, the Nordic State's fleets bombed London, but were repelled.

As the Earth Union spread throughout the Western Hemisphere, most of its impoverished inhabitants welcomed the Unionite armies as they sought their aid to rebuild, while their traditionalist opponents fled east to Hungary after being defeated. When the Unionites established their government over the rebuilt city of London, they enacted policies to promote its South Asian immigrants' cultures while imposing a total ban on spirituality and meat. They and their Visegradian opponents also built the artificial island of Doggerland to the east and split it among themselves. West Doggerland is a province of the Earth Union, complete with a total surveillance system and a high-speed rail network; while East Doggerland houses a pagan kingdom formed by Nordic and British dissidents. The Nordic State attempted to establish a fascist puppet regime at Doggerland through terrorism and invasion, but all save one of its colonies were expelled.

Centuries later, a combined Doggerlander and Visegradian force invaded/liberated a weakened Britain. After defeating the Unionite authorities and driving out its "incompatible" subjects to Atlantia, they reestablished the British crown (loyalist figureheads instead of the monarchs in West Australia, who refused their offer) under a nationalist government, the "Ednewers"; and set up separate states for Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, and a reunited Ireland with less control.

All of them are monarchies (except for Ireland as a republic) populated by Germanic and Celtic exiles from the rest of the Milky Way. At first, the new governments of the British Isles permitted only those people and any existing "ethnics" to settle on the islands, but they loosened their laws to allow Free Nordics and other Europeans to immigrate. The Ednewers promoted Anglo-Saxon and Celtic paganism as the state religions of the "New British" governments, and also welcomed other pagans from other parts of the Galaxy. Although they also tolerated Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and atheism for any residents or immigrants; in their propaganda, the Ednewers condemned their beliefs as "corrupting influences against the British folk".

Nonetheless, there are still enclaves of Unionites and "incompatibles" at parts of southern England and Manx who withstood the Ednewers' explusions. These "rebel districts" also contained dissidents who fell out of favour against the Ednewish regimes: three of them even declared fealty to the British crown in West Australia by raising the old Union Jack. Discontent with the harsh measures of the Ednewish regimes caused some nearby districts to defect to the rebels, and they were glad that they did not need to be nano-chipped or forced into the Unionite way of life. Regardless, these nationalist governments still failed to appease the Farsiders, who bombarded the country and its neighbours.

The Preservers -- the enemies of the Farsiders who defeated them -- then divided Britain between the surviving "Unionites" and the Ednewers. After a civil war, the Unionites took over most of Britain, with the Ednewers controlling only a handful of enclaves. Many of these Unionites had took off their cybernetic implants to reestablish relations with the other Galactics, and they invited the British monarchs to return to England from West Australia.

Wicker and Wander Flame -- the franchise that became the basis for the Zergonian culture of the Federal Republic of Bigton -- originated from Britain.

### Rinnarit views on Britain

Britain was sometimes reviled by the Rinnarit government over its role in the oppression of India and the Bengal Famine. In spite of this, the Rinnarit Republic uses a Hellenised form of English as one of its official languages.

The raid on Lindisfarne was celebrated by Farsiders and Vetarbroitar as a symbol of justice and revenge against the enemies of their ancestors. Paper effigies of temples, Communist buildings, and Western and Middle Eastern landmarks were raised and danced across the street, and then torn apart and burned while the dancers shout praises to Odin and other pagan gods. As it also led to violence against other groups, it was banned in the Rinnarit Republic and Bigton.

## In the Rabydosverse

Although Britain does not exist in the Rabydosverse, its closest equivalents would be Prydain and the Alban Isles. Unlike their real world counterpart, they are ruled by Celts (Goideligs) instead of Germanics.

Its "Victorian" culture (known locally as "formal Ardeschen") thrives in Bujan, Heronoja, and Pinoguni.

Bujanski people like Britain because their "Victorian" culture looks similar to British historical fashion. The British on the other hand consider the Bujanski to be bizarrely anachronistic, a "futuristic hodge-podge who pretend to be Victorian russkies". Nonetheless, both countries seem to like each other for their aesthetical value.

## Trivia

* The national dish of Britain is chicken tikka masala, a popular curry dish with rice and chicken meat.
* The author imagined that these characters would speak in these accents, if they would speak in English:
	+ Turkish or Kazakh (closest in phonology to any Vozonid language) - Vozonids, from the Sarmelonid era to the modern Josolchir and Azgovians
	+ British, Queen's English or Received Pronunciation - Bujanski, Heronoi (for being very formal), Tuxavin star angels (ditto), Norse people (like Oskar's Besotrosk people and Daleskarnia), other Slavic peoples (such as Rukania, Sevraeja, Pogimmel, and Darros)
	+ Hong Kong or Malaysian - Siangwaanians
	+ Scottish - Arnadjanai
	+ American - Marnosyns (their culture is most similar to America), Siangwaanians, Konjors and Malendors (mocking their commercialism and influences from Hasbro and Mattel)
	+ Australian - Hothrovians (although geographically similar to Turkey or Anatolia, Hothro was also inspired by Anglo Australian culture)
* Criticism of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral and King Charles III's coronation, on the backdrop of poverty in the United Kingdom, inspired the author to suggest that Bujanski people focus more on social well-being over national symbols.
	+ So in Bujan, since Wonao times, many laws restricted the monarchy from "overspending" on ceremonies, and prioritise a bigger portion of the national treasury on providing services to eliminate poverty in Bujan. Many Bujanski also bring the homeless and the very poor to shelters, helping the neglected build their savings and find a place in society. This allows more people to earn more, find better education and workplaces, and enjoy better public transport and healthcare; resulting in a very low poverty rate.
	+ It also means royal ceremonies and funerals in Bujan are simpler than in other nations. In royal funerals, the contributions of the deceased and outstanding people during his reign are shown and glorified.
	+ When another country spends more on national symbols and ceremonies, while there is a degree of poverty, the Bujanski are among the first to condemn and criticise such an attitude. They also raise funds to help poorer people in that country.
	+ It was also inspired by widespread poverty in Russia, caused by neglecting rural regions; and poverty in America. The author wanted Bujan to be the opposite of such neglect, as a country whose attitude focuses on caring for the poor over opulence.