Visegrad

"**Visegrad**" is an alliance of nationalist republics, later right-wing dictatorships, at central and eastern Europe during the Rinnarverse's timeline.

## Factfile

* Official name: Visegrad Federation
* National anthems: Összefogva megállunk; Deus Vult; Crusader's March
* Official mottos: United We Stand; For the European Race; God, Church, and People
	+ During the Catholic era, the unofficial war cry of Visegrad is "Deus Vult".
* Capital cities: Warsaw, Budapest, Prague, and Bratislava
	+ The enemies of Visegrad considered Budapest or Warsaw to be the de facto capital city, as these cities tended to have the most influence.
* Official languages: Hungarian, Polish, Czech, and Slovak. Later, Medieval Latin was added as a fifth official language.
* Official religion: initially secular, later Roman Catholicism
* Government: initially illiberal republics, later religious dictatorships

## Flags and symbols

TBA

The early flag of Visegrad was a blue flag with four blue stars forming an X. It was later changed with the stars forming a cross as Visegrad became more religious.

Afterwards, Visegrad used two flags. The first flag was a blue-then-red flag with a yellow cross of three bars, representing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The second flag was a green and white flag with a red cross at the middle, with the cross's design being similar to that of the Knights Templar.

At the time of the Earth Union, Visegrad used three flags. The first flag was a red flag with a lion holding a shield. The second flag was a black flag with a golden cross at the upper left. The third flag, used at the time of the Farsider siege of Earth, was a red and black flag with golden crosses similar to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

## History

TBA

Visegrad was formed in the 2200s, as its countries seceded from the European Union. During their time, the European Union was less like an alliance and more like a federal dictatorship, forcing its members to adopt its socialist regime. Initially, the Nordic State offered the Visegradian leaders to submit themselves to him as their overlord, but they refused. Russia also offered Visegrad to join its bloc, but Visegrad also refused: in spite of this, Russia's leaders sometimes sent troops to protect Visegrad as a buffer state against the Nordic State or the European Union; however, they either went back after Visegrad's stronger forces fortified Ukraine or raided Visegrad in punitive expeditions.

The Visegradians continued the racialist policies of their predecessors of the Purge of Europe during the mid-21st century, but with a less harsh approach to avoid becoming like the Nordic State. In response to Nordic invasions and attacks, and attempts by the European Union's rulers to eliminate Christianity from its members, the Visegradians became more religious. Their dedication to Christianity made them the target of Nordic invasions from the north, who sought to eradicate and punish Christianity from Europe; and raids and attacks by militarist Arabia and its allies from the south, who sought revenge for the Crusades and the Purge of Europe by imposing an Islamic theocracy in Europe.

* Some nationalist states around Visegrad focused more on building armies (the "Fortresses") to punish the European Union, the Middle East, Israel, and Africa; while other states focused on traditions and heterosexual families (the "Nests") to increase the amount of White people on Earth. Any attempts by any member state to "mobilise" the "Nests" towards a campaign of war is met with heavy resistance; and many member states disliked and shunned Whites who had mixed ancestry. Although the Visegradians' policies made them closer to the "Nests", they refused to join either the "Fortresses" or the "Nests", preferring to remain independent.
* Visegrad also had to fight rogue clone armies that plagued Europe, most of which were leftovers from the Nordic State's invasions of Europe and Africa during the 22nd century. The clone militants either attacked Visegrad and committed terrorism to punish their people for not being fascist/racialist enough, or raided the European Union and other continents to slaughter non-Whites. Some of these clones were unstable from being mass-produced in rushed efforts, to the extent that they even committed cannibalism.
* In response to the Visegrad League's militarisation, the European Union becomes a socialist bloc. Unlike the Warsaw Pact of old, it was more like a federation that housed various dissidents, but some of its people strongly disliked tradition in general for fuelling the Visegradians' zealotry.

In the 2220s, the A-Hadd chemical was invented in Iraq and exported to conservative countries, whose leaders used it to eliminate dissent and force their peoples into complete obedience. Visegrad initially took some doses of A-Hadd, but later modified it to reduce its suppressive effects on human brains, leading to disapproval from the Middle East. It also sent several colonists to space during the FTL wave of the mid-23rd century, and resisted the Global Court's attempts to subjugate it.

Visegrad also sent troops to protect Armenia and Greece from being conquered by Turkey, and to help he Kingdom of Götaland break away from Nordic tyranny. Some Visegradian countries also sent troops to defend the Jewish enclave of Negev from the Palestinian armies, while others supported the crusader state of Joppa as an outpost against the Arabian Empire.

At some point in its history, Visegrad became more radical and extreme, as its people became more militaristic to fight back against the Earth Union and leftist militants from the west. This led to a migration of pagans and atheists to India (Akhand Bharat), Africa, America, and Australia. This eventually led to a war between it and the Arabian Empire, with the Arabian conquest of Sicily and the Visegradian establishment of more crusader states at Syria.

When the Earth Union attempted to conquer all of Earth, the Visegradians built their own Great Shield. Like much of Earth, Visegrad was severely damaged during the Farsider invasion of Earth.

## Geography

### Core Four

* Hungary
* Poland
	+ A bastion of Catholicism, to the point that it also has its own Papal city. It has some Orthodox, Jewish, and Rodzimowiestwo minorities.
* Czechia
* Slovakia

### Other member states

* Armenia
	+ Armenia in this timeline has welcomed the revival of its native religion.
* Ukraine
	+ Orthodox.
	+ In the 2020s, Ukraine was invaded by Russia, who attempted to annex the country to stop it from becoming a member of America's bloc. The invasion of Ukraine was one of the factors that led to Visegrad's formation as a defensive bloc.
	+ It was notorious for its pre-war rivalry with India, as the latter's netizens who mocked it for supporting India's enemies caused the two countries to hate each other.
* Georgia
	+ Orthodox. Considered the most "modern" part of Visegrad.
* Greece
	+ Strengthened by Visegrad's reinforcements, the government of Greece prided itself in a mixture of its ancient history and the Byzantine Empire. As it and Visegrad had to work together against their enemies, it resulted in teasing banter at best complete with Byzantine flags at best, and brawls at worst.
	+ Torn between an Orthodox government and a Hellenist minority.
	+ Eventually, Greece became a monarchy, ruled by the New Byzantine Throne.
* Serbia
	+ Orthodox, with a few Rodnover parts
* Croatia
* Bosnia
	+ Orthodox, with a few Muslim parts
* Montenegro
	+ Orthodox
* Albania
	+ Orthodox
* Romania
	+ Orthodox
* Moldova
	+ Orthodox
* Slovenia
	+ By the time of the Earth Union, Slovenia was considered one of the "last true and free democracies of Europe", alongside Finland and Switzerland. It was notorious for its satires, which occasionally angered the Visegradian authorities and militaries.
* Latvia
	+ Mostly Protestant, which led to occasional conflict with the rest of Visegrad.
* Lithuania
	+ Joined Visegrad to avoid being dominated by Russia.
	+ One of several Visegrad countries that supported their native religions, specifically Romuva.
* Estonia
	+ The only Visegradian nation with an atheist majority.
* Clonerealm
	+ Founded by the remnants of King Hefnablod's invasions. As they could not be sent back to Scandinavia, they were left alone to establish their own republic.
	+ The only Visegradian country with a pagan majority, leading to violent clashes between the fanatical locals and angry Christian crusaders.
	+ Specifically, the clones of Clonerealm are staunch worshippers of Odin and Thor. Some have converted to Rodnovery, replacing Odin with Perun and Svarog.
* Joppa Sanctus
	+ Founded by European and American militants as a crusader state after the Nordic raids on Palestine. After the conquest of Joppa, the crusaders went inland in raids. Many of them hated the local Arabs for historical actions against Europe, so they either expelled or slaughtered anyone unfortunate enough to cross their path. The crusaders were later repelled and driven to their city-state by a combined army of Palestinian, Arabian, and Egyptian soldiers.
	+ While Palestine was divided between the Muslim government in the north, and the Jewish republic of Negev to the south, Joppa was the only Christian state in the region aside from Lebanon. It practiced an extreme, militant form of Christianity bent on waging war in the name of Christ, a result of indoctrination from the Purge of Europe.
	+ It later joined Visegrad to receive a continuous stream of supplies. In return for serving the Visegradians as mercenary bodyguards and drill sergeants, the Joppan crusaders received supplies to fortify their enclave. The Joppans ultimate goal was to take over all of Palestine and nearby lands as territories dedicated to Christ, and then a punitive war to annihilate the Muslim world and take over every other non-Christian civilisation.
	+ It was the Joppans who proposed Visegrad to be more Catholic: from electing its own Pope in opposition to the Westernised Pope of Italy under the European Union, to encouraging Visegrad's governments to adopt crusade-style symbols and fanaticism towards their God.
* Volksland
	+ An Afrikaner republic located at the west of South Africa. It was repopulated by other Europeans, who eventually quarrelled with the strict Afrikaner authorities over various petty differences.

## Politics

All of Visegrad's states are republics, whose presidents formed a council. Every few years, the people elect one of the presidents as the Chancellor of Visegrad. When it was taken over by fanatics, their Popes had more authority than the Chancellor, making it more or less similar to the Holy Roman Empire.

Many presidents of Visegrad began to abandon democratic policies, making themselves strongmen who do not tolerate any dissent.

## Economy

In opposition to the socialism practiced by the European Union and the disliked United States, Visegrad makes capitalism part of its national ethos. However, it practices some socialist methods to help poorer workers, even as such policies were denounced by the American Federation.

## Society

TBA

Initially, the Visegradians were quite liberal, in the sense that they preferred democracy, freedom, and Western secularism in contrast to the fanaticism of the European Union and the Nordic State. Over time, as it was taken over by fanatics, their society became more conservative, religious, and racialist.

Visegradian society has been heavily-influenced by traditionalist Catholic beliefs, to the point that its enemies compared it to Saudi Arabia for its strict laws. For example:

* On the 46 days of Lent, Visegradians cannot eat meat, dairy, or eggs; they can only eat bread or fish after 3pm; and on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday they can only eat once a day. Some countries do not follow the strict mediaeval regimen, so they permit eating fish on Fridays. Easter Sunday is then considered "The Great Breakfast", a local equivalent to Eid al-Fitri in the Middle East.

It is illegal in Visegradian countries to have people of other races act as White or European characters, or depict romantic relationships between White and non-White characters. To them, this is considered a threat against their own races.

## Religion

Most people in Visegrad practice the Catholic faith. Initially, they also tolerated Protestants, local Orthodox believers, Jews, atheists, Muslims, and neopagans; but in some of the countries of Visegrad the governments forced them to conform to the Roman Church. Exceptions include the Orthodox nations in the east; Estonia with its atheist majority; Lithuania, Cloneland, and Armenia, which have large pagan populations. The strongest bastions of the Catholic faith in Visegrad are Poland and Joffa.

Protestantism is condemned in Visegradian society due to its tolerance being seen as a "weakness" and its association with Visegrad's enemy, America. In some countries, the Protestant form of Christianity is banned, and suspected Protestants are jailed in prison camps where they are forcibly converted.

The Visegradian authorities also built two new Vatican complexes to house the Papacy in Poland and Hungary, where they selected their own Pope in opposition to the European Union-aligned pope in Rome and his "cosmopolitan" beliefs.

Shrines to various saints are everywhere in Visegrad, and many people go all over the league to pay homage to their respective saints.

## Terminology

### Official

* Visegrad Federation (English), Visegrádi Szövetség (Hungarian), Visegrádská Federace (Czech), Vyšehradská Federácia (Slovak), Federacja Wyszehradzka (Polish)

### Unofficial

#### Positive

* Lands of the Cross
* Land of Faith
* God's Children
* Shield of God, Scutum Dei
* Four Archangels
* Light of Europe
* Defenders of the Church
* Throne of Christ
* Domain of the White Race

#### Negative

* The Fourth Reich (US, European Union)
* Reactionaristan (US)
* The Papacy (US, AF, European Union, Russia)
* The Pope's Throne (US, AF)
* Farangistan (Arabia)
* Cross-worshippers (US, Nordic State)
* Enemies of Diversity (US)
* Enemies of Odin (Nordic State)
* Infidels (Arabia)
* Crusaders (Arabia, US, European Union)
* Teutons (Russia)
* Faranjistan (Arabia)
* Slaves of White-Christ (Nordic State)
* Slaves of Loki (Nordic State)
* Traitors against Perun (extremists in Cloneland)

## Trivia

* The "Visegrad" of the Rinnarverse is based on the alliance in central Europe of the same name, but with influences from right-wing populist nationalism, medieval crusaders, and the medieval Catholic church of Western Europe. Unlike the Visegrad of the Rinnarverse, the Visegrad of the real world is only a cultural and political alliance focused on cooperation.
* "Visegrad" is named after the Hungarian city of Visegrad, where the eponymous alliance was formed.

## See also

* American Federation, which it has a love-hate relationship in spite of their similar Christian/rightist values
* Nordic State, its northern enemy