SS Order-State of Burgundy

The **SS State of Burgundy** or **Order-State Burgundy** (**Ordensstaat Burgund**) is a country in Western Europe. The border to the west by the French State, to the north by Reichskommissariat Niederlande, and to the east by the Greater Germanic Reich, Switzerland, and the Italian Empire. *De jure*, the country is a part of the Greater Germanic Reich, but it maintains *de facto* independence from Germany. Like the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, it is a autonomous territory within the Reich, with its own laws, military and postal services.

The country itself is completely administered and operated by the Burgundian Schutzstaffel, otherwise known as the Burgundian SS branch. The head of Burgundy and the Reichsführer of the SS, known as Schutzstaffel. Heinrich Himmler, preaches his own ideological doctrine known as the Burgundian System. This ideology views the classic National Socialism practiced in Germany as increasingly decadent and inefficient and seeks to revitalize it based on extreme militarism and state spartanism.

Historically, Burgundy was settled by Germanic peoples, who established an independent Burgundian kingdom that existed before being conquered by France in the 11th and 12th centuries. During the early months of the Second World War, *Reichsführer-SS* Heinrich Himmler advocated for a semi-independent Burgundian state, which was accepted by Adolf Hitler. With the fall of France in May 1940, the country was divided into three components - the German military occupation in the north, the puppet French State in the south, and the Order-State of Burgundy in the east. Himmler was chosen by Hitler to rule over the regime as *Ordensstaatsverwalter* (Order-State Administrator).

In the administration, French people were downgraded to the status of lower class people while German people living in the Order-State were granted higher statuses in government. Himmler also declared a policy of *Entfranzisierung*, in which the plan was ultimately to restore the Burgundian peoples that had existed prior to the 6th century by Germanising the French populace and forcing French women to marry German people to create 'neo-Burgundian' children.

The population is controlled through fear and brutality. The Burgundian military is one of the best in the world and is heavily integrated into everyday life. It is said that the nation has "more work camps than houses" in which anybody who speaks out against the state is forced into. Burgundy is a member of the Einheitspakt, with its faction status being an Ordensstaat and the Industrial Bloc.

## Name

The name *Burgundy* itself is derived from the Burgundians, a Germanic tribe, who settled in and founded the Kingdom of Burgundy. A wide number of different countries and regions throughout history have been referred to by that name or controlled by a Burgundy-based state. Its name was a historical reference to the State of the Teutonic Order.

## History

The most outspoken proponent of recreating a German-controlled Burgundian state was *Reichsführer-SS* Heinrich Himmler. According to Himmler, Burgundy, which he called "an ancient economic and cultural centre", had been "reduced to nothing more than a French appendage, known only for its wine production". The plan entailed the transformation of Burgundy into a model state, which would be nominally outside of the Greater Germanic Reich but nevertheless be ruled by a Nazi government, and which would also have its own army, laws, and postal services. It was supposed to encompass Romandy, Picardy with Amiens, Champagne with Reims and Troyes, Franche-Comté with Dijon, Chalon, along with Nevers, Hainaut, Brabant, Limburg, Flanders and Luxembourg (Belgium). Some descriptions even include Upper Normandy with Rouen north of the River Seine. It was also to have a connection to both the Mediterranean Sea and the English Channel. The capital and administrative seat was tentatively proposed as Dijon (*Tischau*), Lyon (*Lienhardstadt*) or Nancy (*Nanzig*). Its official language was to become German but would initially also be French.

### Background

The country was formed to keep Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler happy. The hope was to keep Himmler from German politics and allow him to entertain his fantasies alone which he accepted. The new country was to be made up of the former area of Reichskommissariat Belgien-Nordfrankreich and most of the former French republics Territories which used to border with the reich and belgium while its capital entrenched is Nanzig.

## Politics

Burgundy is often referred to as "der Schattenstaat", or the "Shadow State," its government keeping a watchful, controlling eye on everything - information, media sources, the people, and even its own SS. Not a soul could know of Burgundian affairs from the outside.

Burgundy is a rather secretive, isolationist state, and as such, with the exceptions of the French State and certain victors of the German Civil War, will not have interactions with any other country. Gameplay wise, Burgundy instead relies heavily on manipulating other countries from the shadows. This is reflected in their focus trees - while you cannot view the text of a focus while controlling another country, for Burgundy, should one attempt to look at their focus trees while not playing as Burgundy, all focuses will be labeled as "STRENG GEHEIM" (German for "Top Secret"), to further represent the isolationist nature of Burgundy.

Within, the society of Burgundy is an unsustainable dystopia, one where even - and in many cases, especially - the Aryan citizen is forced into hard labor. Enforcing a strict policy of state-sanctioned Spartanism, the Ordensstaat seeks to perfect the "Master Race" through trial by horrendous, gruesome fire. Any person not holding up to the standard that the totalitarian regime sets is immediately sent to the death camps, a life sentence of work by the whip with no end in sight besides the unspeakable terrors used by the SS once a worker has outlived usefulness.

Internationally, Burgundy is also in possession of a series of *Globalpläne*, designated *Kondor*, *Wolf*, *Löwe*, *Bär*, *Drache*, *Sonne*, *Adler,* and *Puma*. All *Globalpläne* exist for the central purpose of destabilizing the global political climate in order to bring about a world-ending, thermonuclear war. The Burgundian leadership believes that this is the only way to wipe out all traces of non-Germanic culture and, with the help of its bunker system, leave Aryans as the sole inhabitants of planet Earth.