Osterlich-Zubrowka

**Osterlich-Zubrowka**

**Notable Leaders:**

**Axphain:** Prince Lorenz

**Freedonia:** Queen Margaret(c.1547)

**Florin:** Prince Humperdinck(c.1723)

**Genovia:** Princess Rosagunde,

**Grand Fenwick:** Sir Roger Fenwick(1370-XXXX)

**Graustark:** Prince Ganlook, Princess Yetive,

**Holy Roman Empire:** Frederick III of Bomburst(1452-1492), Maximillian of Bomburst(1492-1519)

**Latveria:** King Rudolfo I, Baron Karl Hassen(XXXX-1447), Baron Karl Haasen III, Count Sabbat,King Stefan I, Otto Von Doom(1588-16XX)

**Mendorra:** King Rubinoff(c.1547)

**Osterlich:** Maria Theresa(1717-1780),

**Ruritania:** Rupert V,

**Syldavia:** Hveghi/Muskar(11XX-1168), King Muskar II(1168-1195), King Ottokar I(1275-1XXX), King Ottokar IV(1360-1XXX), Baron Staszrvitch(1360),

**Transylvania:** Vlad Dracula Tepes

The Osterlich-Zubrowka Empire was a patchwork nation made of dozens of small pockets of ethnic groups centered in and around the Balkan peninsula as well as Middle Europe. Believing in the rule of strength in numbers, the empire was a diverse country which played upon the strengths of many nations like Ostrich, Zubrowka, Freedonia, Moronika, Latveria, Ruritania, Syldavia, Borduria, Vulgaria, Grand Fenwick and many more. While the actual state would come into existence as Osterlich-Zubrowka in the mid 19th century, its people consider the idea of their nation to be over thousand years old with Cimmeria going back to the Hyborean age. Following World War I, the alliance collapsed.

## History

### The Hyperborean Age

The oldest nation to be a part of the Osterlich-Zubrowka pact was Cimmeria, which dated back to the Hiborian Age.

### 5th Century

Most historians agree that the recorded history of the Osterlich Zubrowkan people begins in the middle of the 5th century. The Asian warlord Etzel the Hun led the united tribes of the East Asian steppes to an invasion of Eastern Europe triggering a period called the Great Migration as the peoples encountering the maruading Huns became refugees migrating westwards. These peoples included the Germanic tribes who pushed into the Roman Empire which would soon lead to its collapse while two completely new ethical groups arrived in Eastern Europe and the Balkan - the Slavs and the Osterlich-Zubrowkan people. Similar to the Finno-Ugric peoples, the Osterlich-Zubrowkan tribes are a mystery for modern day linguists and ethnologists: descending from somewhere in Central Asia the Osterlich-Zubrowkan peoples brought unique languages, mythology and culture. In the following centuries these peoples quickly connected with the local Germanic and Slavic tribes as well as the Romans and thus the Osterlich-Zubrowkan heritage deteriorated and soon it was assimilated nearly completely leading to the languages and cultures of the Balkan becoming a mishmash of Osterlich-Zubrowkan, Slavic and Germanic elements. In the centuries following the decline of the Roman empire, the descendants of the Ostrich-Zubrowkans settled down developing into many different nations.

### 6th Century

The future region of Syldavia was inhabited by nomadic tribes of unknown origin until the 6th century, when it was overrun by Slavs.

In the year 568 Alboin, a Visigoth warlord, killed the king of Italy and made himself king. He decided to marry Rosagunde, the daughter of one of the former king's generals. Alboin forced Rosagunde to drink wine out of her deceased father's skull, so on their wedding night she strangled him to death with her braids. With Alboin dead the original king's son took up the throne of Italy and as a reward to Rosagunde he made her the princess of a region now known as Genovia. Rosagunde implemented a highly sophisticated (for the time) system of checks and balances and did away with the death penalty.

### 10th Century

In the 10th century, the Turks invaded and Syldavia was conquered. Syldavia's Turkish invaders occupied the plains, forcing the Slavs into the mountains.

### 12th Century

Syldavia as it is known now was formed in 1127 when a tribal chief called Hveghi drove away Turkish conquerors, by defeating them at the battle of Zileheroum and took the name Muskar, ruling until 1168. Although he was a successful ruler, his son Muskar II was an inferior king as ruler.

The Turks attempted to once more invade Syldavia but were repelled. Sometime around 1150, The independent kingdom Orsinia came into existence.

In 1195, Syldavia was annexed by neighbouring Borduria due to the weakness of King Muskar II, and was under its rule until 1275, when Baron Almaszout drove the Bordurians away and established himself as King Ottokar I(his real name and title being Baron Almaszout). This ancient rivalry continued for centuries with the Bordurians continually trying to invade or humiliate the Syldavians. Meanwhile in the west, the Moronikan people settled a region called Bohemia and established the Kingdom of Moronika with the rise of the Premysl dynasty which made Moronika join the Holy Roman Empire. Meanwhile, the small Germanic realm of Ostarrîchi evolved under the rule of the Babenbergs to the Margraviate of Osterlich, another territory of the Holy Roman Empire.

While the future lands of Molvania existed as a desolate wasteland, similar to Russia. The lands were torn by civil war and ethnic unrest. Eventually Molvanîa's various warring factions were united as a single kingdom, ruled by a series of cruel despotic kings.

### 13th Century

King Ferdinand of Castile and Leon installed Manuel as count of Poictesme in the year 1234.

Following the extinction of the Babenbergs in the 13th century, the House of Bomburst seized power over Osterlich. The Bombursts were an aristocratic dynasty with its seat and its base of power in and around Neuschwanstein Castle in a region known as Vulgaria, which then was a part of Osterlich and which would later become an independent nation. Under the rule of the Bombursts, Osterlich's power increased drastically.

### 14th Century

During the 14th century, along with Rudolfo Haasen, Karl Haasen captured territory from Transylvania and founded Latveria. Rudolfo became its first king, King Rudolfo I, and Karl became royalty Baron Karl Hassen.

King Ottokar IV became King of Syldavia in 1360. He took away the power of many upstart nobles. When an enemy, Baron Staszrvitch, claimed the Throne and attacked him with his sword, Ottokar struck him to the ground with his sceptre. The King then said the Syldavian motto and decreed that the ruler of Syldavia must have hold on the sceptre, otherwise he would lose his authority, as it had saved his life. This custom had the power of law as late as 1939.

The Duchy of Gran Fenwick was founded. It took its name from its founder, the English knight Sir Roger Fenwick who, while employed by France, settled there with his followers in 1370. Thanks to Sir Roger, the national language was English.

### 15th Century

After the death of Baron Karl Haasen III in 1447, Vlad Draasen ascended to the throne of Latveria, and his difficult rule divided the country (until 1544, when the Bolgorad Treaties restored the Haasen bloodline to the throne).

Samavia formed as a small kingdom with a pastoral economy during the Middle Ages, ruled by kings from the House of Fedorovitch. The Fedorovitch were overthrown in the early fifteenth century after a rebellion ended in the regicide of the reigning king and the disappearance of his son, Ivor Fedorovitch, the Lost Prince. During the next five centuries in Samavia, two great Houses (the Iarovitch and the Maranovitch) fought for control of the kingdom in civil wars similar to the Wars of the Roses.

In 1452, Frederick III of Bomburst was declared the new Holy Roman Emperor. At that time nobody would have expected that the rule of the Bombursts over the Holy Roman Empire would last for over 300 years. Within only two or three generations, the Bombursts had managed to secure an initially intermittent grasp on the imperial throne that would last for centuries. In 1492 Frederick was succeeded by his son Maxmilian who expanded the influence of the House of Bomburst through both war and marriage effectively establishing the Bomburst Dynasty by extending their territories outside Osterlich and by laying the foundations for the famous Bomburst politicy of marriage. A prominent saying from this time reads: "Bella gerant alii, tu felix Osterlichia nube. Nam quae Mars aliis, dat tibi diva Venus." ("Let others wage war, but thou, O happy Osterlich, marry; for those kingdoms which Mars gives to others, Venus gives to thee.").

### 16th Century

The publication of Martin Luther's 95 Theses in 1517 initiated the Protestant Reformation leading to the separation of the Lutheran Church from the Roman Catholic Church and the birth of religious critics like Johann Faust.

Nomadic Slavs returned to the regions of Borduria and Syldavia during the days of the Byzantine Empire until the return of the Ottoman Turks during the 16th century under Suleiman the Magnificent(1522-1566). The Turks retook Syldavia,reclaiming it. Although the Turks allowed the Bordurians to retain their own Slavic identity, the Turkish language, Ottoman architecture, and culture quickly assimilated into the Bordurian Slavic culture, and created an identity strikingly Turko-Slavic.

The Fall of Syldavia and Borduria greatly worried the other nations and they began to form alliances with one another with the intent of forming an army to repel a possible invasion of the Turks. This alliance stretched from Freedonia to Mendorra and was cemented by a marriage between King Rubinoff of Mendorra and Queen Margaret of Freedonia. The Royal palace of Mendorra was erected in 1547 in celebration of the Marriage.

In 1588 A.D., Count Sabbat and King Stefan I of Latveria were killed by Otto Von Doom, who took over the country. Doom began the construction of a castle (who would become the Castle Doom) and a second was constructed in 1593 (now the Citadel of Doom).

### 17th Century

In 1603, Otto Von Doom assassinated Queen Gloriana of England, sparking a war with Britain. Doom was also disfigured by the Norse God Thor and would be assassinated himself and the Royal family returning to power.

Religious conflict led to the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) between the conservative catholic Empire of Osterlich and the Lutheran parts of the Holy Roman Empire allied with France.

### 18th Century

The Bomburst Dynasty evolved - thanks to marriage - to the House of Bomburst-Lorraine expanding their influence in all directions: in the South Osterlich claimed the South Tyrolean duchies of Florin and Guilder and with the integration of Laurania into the realm, Osterlich finally gained access to the sea. In the North, Moronika and Ruritania bowed to the will of the Holy Roman Emperor. In the West, the Kingdom of Rubovia agreed to fall under the supremacy of the Bombursts while remaining semi-independent. But the greatest territorial gains were conquered in the East: dozens of Slavic duchies and kingdoms and even more different peoples were incorporated by the fast growing empire reaching as far east as Novistrana, Brutopia, Syldavia, Carpathia and Transcarpathia and Transia. Officially, Transylvania was conquered by Imperial troops,too. However, this cursed land of the living dead would be ruled in fact by Count Vlad Dracula, the immortal evil, who proofed to be a powerful bulwark against the invading Ottomans who conquered Greece as well as most of the Balkan peninsula south of the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1723, Prince Humperdinck of Florin attempted to spark a war with Gulder. This attempt was fortunately averted, Humperdinck would be forced from the throne, though he would go on to form the Kingdom of Humperstein.

The golden age of Osterlich would come to an end. This downfall began in 1740 when Maria Theresa of Osterlich was ineligible to succeed to the Bomburst thrones, because the law precluded royal inheritance by a woman. This was a convenient excuse put forward by Prussia and France to challenge Bomburst power, leading to the War of the Vulgarian Succession which would last until 1748 and which would involved nearly all the powers of Europe. Osterlich survived the war supported by Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, Sardinia and Saxony with only the sacrificing only the territory of Silesia to Prussia, but it wasn't the territorial loss but the loss of reputation that weakened Osterlich. Following the war, the Bomburst's power outside of the German parts of Osterlich existed only on paper. In reality, other royal houses like the Ruritanian Elphbergs, the Freedonian Teasdales, Mendorra's Hohensteins, the Vlatavanian Vertigos, the Markovian Markovs and the Samavian Fedorovitchs challenged the absolute rule of the emperor. The end of the war also sparked the beginning of German dualism between Prussia and Osterlich, which would ultimately fuel German nationalism and the drive to unify Germany as a single entity.

### 19th Century

Following the disastrous ending of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) the Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist. It was succeeded by the Empire of Osterlich. A period of national unification followed, damaging the already weakened Osterlich even further. In 1815 the Italian battle for unification (Risorgimento) began following the Congress of Vienna. With the loss of Laurania and thus access to the sea and the Lauranian Africa colonies to the newly formed nation of Italy and with German nationalists planning to form a German national state, the Empire of Osterlich collapsed only some decades after its creation with the remaining Bombursts seeking refuge in Vulgaria. But from the ruins of this former empire sprang dozens of new fiefdoms and duchies

In Samavia, In the 1830s a secret organisation of Fedorovitch supporters was formed.

Lola Montez of Demark and Otto Von Bludiron of Germany both threatened Strackenz with invasion. One of the main reasons Strackenz joined the pact was for protection.

### The Osterlich-Zubrowkan Pact

Formed from the remnants of the monarchies, the Osterlich-Zubrowkan Pact of 1867 was an attempt to consolidate power amongst the weaker nations of Middle and Eastern Europe in the face of the rising powers of a united Italy to the south and a newly nationalist Germany to the northwest. Its primary cosigners, Osterlich and Zubrowka, originally united only the northern parts of the former Empire of Osterlich creating a new empire stretching from Moronika in the west to Syldavia in the east. But soon this idea of a unified nation without one absolute monarch like the previous empire found many followers. Soon, the borders of the former Empire of Osterlich were not only restored but extended, as many previously independent nations like Bosnia, Latveria, Grand Fenwick, Pokolistan and Borduria joined this coalition. Osterlich-Zubrowka attracted even nations not bordering the empire to agree to the pact and soon the first exclaves joined Osterlich-Zubrowka. Situated far away from the Ostelrich-Zubrowkan mainland, these exclaves included San Marino, Andorra, the French microstates of Monaco, Groland and Poictesme, the island nation of Latkovia in the Black Sea, Strackenz which borders Germany and Denmark, Cagliostro and Genovia, both bordering France, the Russian exclave of Krakozhia, the Caspian nation of Absurdsvani and even Cimmeria, a state located at the Finnish coast claiming succession to the ancient Hyperborean realm of the same name. The founders of the Osterlich-Zubrowkan Empire believed in the rule of strength in numbers and the many nations brought into this pact created a diverse country which played upon the strengths of many nations. Among these peoples were the Roma of Latveria, the dreaded vampires of Transylvania, the decadent Vulgarians, the tyrannical Meccanians, the athletic Klopstokians, the hedonistic people of Groland, the cursed werewolves of Transia, the estranged Sevo and Svani of Absurdsvani and the people of Boloxnia, whose main industry and source of income is sausages.

But this union was never a harmonious one. There was a brief time when the Empire was stable and prosperous, but the first signs of collapse came within the first decade of its founding. In the late 1870's and early 1880's, the monarchy of Ruritania saw a series of attempts on King Rupert V's life, which were only avoided thanks to a royal decoy. The attempted coups were mainly done out of a desire for power, but it nonetheless weakened the idea of a coherent state in the eyes of the Empire's citizens. Whispers of a new nationalism grew in the following decades.

### 1870s

The Osterlich-Zubrowka pact did not prevent a war as intended. During the 1870s, Graustark's ruler, Prince Ganlook of Graustark, was killed in a war with neighboring Axphain. As part of the ensuing peace treaty, Graustark agreed to pay a large indemnity to Axphain, to be due, with interest, in fifteen years.

Graustark found itself without the resources to pay the indemnity when it was due, and in desperation, Princess Yetive—Ganlook's daughter, who now occupied Graustark's throne—was on the verge of contracting a state marriage to Prince Lorenz of Axphain in exchange for more favorable payment terms. But before the marriage could take place, Lorenz was murdered. The princess's true love, the American Grenfall Lorry, whom she had met while travelling in the United States appeared to be the murderer. Lorenz's father insisted on the murderer's punishment, but the execution was prevented by the revelation of the true murderer: Prince Gabriel, ruler of Dawsbergen, who was another of Yetive's suitors. With Lorenz dead and Gabriel imprisoned, Yetive married her true love.

During Gabriel's imprisonment, Dawsbergen was ruled by his younger half-brother, Prince Dantan, a popular figure among his own people and a staunch friend of Graustark as well. But after two years, Gabriel escaped from prison and, supported by the Dawsbergen army, returned to the throne. Dantan was forced to go into hiding in disguise in Graustark. For a time it appeared that Graustark might be forced into war with both Dawsbergen and Axphain, but this was averted when Gabriel was recaptured. The disguised Prince Dantan had fallen in love with Beverly Calhoun, an American guest of the Lorrys; they were married upon his restoration to the throne of Dawsbergen.

Yetive and her husband were tragically killed in a railway accident near Brussels, leaving their young son Prince Robin as ruler of Graustark. While still a child, Robin was the target of an assassination plot by anarchists acting under the direction of the exiled Count Marlanx, whose ultimate goal was to establish himself as sole dictator of Graustark. But the assassination attempt was foiled by the intervention of the American Truxton King, and Marlanx was killed in the ensuing attack on the royal palace.

Graustark was still in financial difficulties by the time Prince Robin reached adulthood. William W. Blithers, a very rich and very vulgar American, offered to finance the country in the hopes of arranging a marriage between Robin and his own daughter. The two principals, however, had very different ideas of their own about marriage. Robin eventually married Bevra, the Crown Princess of Dawsbergen, daughter of Dantan and Beverly.

The Molvanian monarchy was overthrown, but the royal family retreated to other parts of Osterlich-Zubrowka and remained popular in exile. This did however spread the fear that the nations making up the Pact, almost all of which were Monarchies, began to fear for their way of life.

### Pre-World War One

Osterlich-Zubrowka launched an invasion of the Balkan nations not part of it, during a phase of weakness in its old enemy, the Ottoman Empire. Following a wake of extreme national self-determination against the Osterlich-Zubrowkans, Borduria's position in the crossfire between the Osterlich-Zubrowka and Serbian conflict in 1914 severely unsettled its economy and still emerging democracy. Over-extending their power, the Bordurian government supported a movement to overthrow King Ottokar of Syldavia, and establish themselves as a hegemonial power in the Balkans in order to create a unified Southern Slavic kingdom.

When the Ottoman Empire fell and while the Osterlich-Zubrowkan Empire was in a shambles, a group of European filibusters, sponsored by interests (that ranged from business corporations, conglomerates of smaller nations looking to gain a few more fellow states in the world, the troubled Russian Empire looking to block a Turkish resurgence)  seized land and carved out small to tiny nation states in Albania, Yugoslavia, Romania and Bulgaria.

A small cadre of French Foreign Legionnaires on a leave of absence, among whom was Bon Chance Louis, (which would seem to indicate French support for the effort) American Mercenaries and soldiers of fortune from the world over visited the broken Osterlich-Zubrowkan Empire. The man leading this effort was a swart man in his early forties named Johann Sylvanus. He claimed to be Montenegran by birth but spoke with a faint French accent. Sylvanus claimed that he was seizing power in this fashion for two reasons. He was sick of the despotism of Europe, especially Eastern Europe and was tired of waiting for them to evolve into an American type democracy, which he claimed was the best form of government in the world.

He also felt that the Balkans were a key area in that time period. He thought what happened there would  determine the course of European history for the next century. If he could establish a true democratic foothold in the Balkans, albeit in a minuscule fashion, Russian, Osterlich-Zubrowka and the others would be influenced and a radical change might sweep the area.

Sylvanus established himself as President Pro-tem of the Balkan Republic and brought in several advisors, many of whom were American, British or Caribbean. He put in place the workings of a democratic nation that withstood the test of a brutal World War. His refusal to step down until the war had ended however angered many of his native citizens and some of his immigrants as well. They formed a break away republic that moved to Freedonia in 1919. Rather than lose international support and destroy his infant nation with a civil war, Sylvanus immediately pledged support to Freedonia.

Horace P. Firefly was elected first President of Freedonia once it became a Constitutional monarchy. Sylvanus calls for general elections, bequeaths his large holdings in the nations coal and Chromium mines and suddenly disappeared. Only his bloody monogrammed shirt was found. The Balkan Republic's Congress declared that the Balkan Republic shall henceforth be known as Sylvania as a memorial to the great efforts of the martyred Johann Sylvanus, whom Congressman Trentino suggested was murdered by Freedonian agents.

Early in the twentieth century in Samavia, the reigning monarch, King Michael Maranovitch of the House of Maranovitch was assassinated together with his family, and civil war broke out as the Iarovitch tried to crown Nicola Iarovitch king. The Secret Party was, though, capable of rising up and sweeping aside the feuding dynasties and proclaim Stefan Loristan, descendant of the Lost Prince, king.

### The First World War

Feelings of hostilities simmered until 1914, when a young nationalist assassinated Archduke Ferdinand, starting a domino effect of nations coming to each other's aid and plegding the defeat of either side. Thus WWI was ignited. Osterlich-Zubrowka allied with Germany to form the Central Powers, but even then it remained unstable.

Several nations including Slovetzia,Freedonia, Novistrana,Syldavia and Graustark fell to Russia. Graustark's debts eventually ended up being held by Russia. In exchange for entering World War I as Russia's ally, Graustark negotiated cancellation of this debt. Later, with Russia out of the war, Graustark also negotiated a separate peace. There followed a period of prosperity in the country.

Groland remained neutral during World War I, and was famous for being a haven for soldiers on leave, with its cheap alcohol and prostitutes.

With the continent drowned in a bloodbath and the Empire wracked by war and strained national unity, the Freedo-Moronikan Empire would not survive the First World War and would collapse in defeat.

### Post World War I

After the war, each of the nations that made up the fallen Empire went its separate ways, giving rise to the term "Balkanization". While large areas like the whole nation of Bandrika turned into uncivilised wilderness, in the decades of the interwar years, two new philosophies split up the nations of Middle and Eastern Europe: At first, communism spread through Eastern Europe originating from the newly formed Soviet Union and expanding outward from the newly formed Balkan state of Pottsylvania, and many nations turned into Soviet satellite states including Axphain, Elbonia, Borduria, Vlatava, Krakozhia, Slovetzia, Pokolistan, Kasnia, a now independent Orsinia, Novistrana and Molvanîa.

Fascist parties were also rising to power across Europe, and the nations of the former Pact were no exception. The nation of Meccania is said to by the "inventor" of fascism. Mere days after the ending of WW I, Meccania turned into a totalitarian dictatorship which inspired the Tomanian soldier Adenoid Hynkel who was stationed at Meccania's border to become an ambitious politician who would soon become the Fooey of Tomania.

Others like Samavia were absorbed into one of the East and Central Europe nations formed after World War I.

Axphain was in a state of much distress and unrest. Its ruler, Prince Hedrik (brother of Lorenz), and his elder son were murdered in the communist revolution, leaving the younger son Prince Hubert in exile in Graustark and an illegitimate son Gregory who lived with his mother in Italy. Hubert was hoping to marry Princess Virginia of Dawsbergen—Bevra's younger sister—but she had previously contracted a marriage of convenience to Pendennis Yorke, an American journalist, and much to the surprise of everyone it became a genuine love match. The communist regime in Axphain was defeated after an unsuccessful attempt to invade Graustark, and the monarchy in that country was restored with Gregory on the throne rather than the unpopular Hubert, who was himself assassinated in the aftermath.

### The 1920s

**1922-** Angelo Trentino, an Italian immigrant became the first elected President of Sylvania.
British Immigrant Alexander Teasdale acquired much of the mineral and oil rights in Freedonia.

**1923-**Angelo Trentino was declared President for Life of Sylvania. He made an immediate alliance with Italy. Sylvania took on many fascist elements

**1924-** Freedonia's beloved leader, Horace P. Firefly is found drowned in bowl of duck soup.

**1925-** Sylvania begins covert military build up. Angelo Trentino resigns the Presidency in order to go into private business. Enrico Ciccolini, an Italian immigrant with strong ties to the Black Shirts was selected President for Life in Sylvania. His cousin was the most skilled intelligence agent that Italy ever produced.

Alexander Teasdale dies in a bizarre hunting accident, impaling himself on an deer's antlers. Amanda was there to the end, holding him in her arms and kissing him with his last breath. His widow is left the wealthiest woman in Sylvania and Freedonia. His hunting companion Angelo Trentino, Sylvanian businessman said he turned his back one second and Teasdale had managed to impale himself. Mrs. Teasdale was resting comfortably in the hunting lodge at the exact moment of the accident so she also was not a witness to the bizarre event.

**1926-** Ludovic Zandor was elected President of Freedonia.

Trentino, now the second wealthiest person in the two nations of Freedonia and Sylvania, gets himself appointed Amabassador to Freedonia. There he plans to marry Mrs. Teasdale and add her fortune to his own, he also plans to annex Freedonia and make it once more a part of Sylvania.

**1927-**President Zandor succumbed to bribes of loose women and property, he looted the treasury to keep his women happy. They were actually Sylvanian agents directed to make him deplete the treasury.  With Trentino's help, Zandor created a banking scandal that makes it appear that the stolen funds have disappeared this way. Trentino hopes to use this as blackmail against Zandor.

        To Trentino's great disappointment Mrs. Teasdale not only spurned his advances she calls for the removal of President Zandor, wishing to place Horace Firefly's ne'er-do-well younger brother in Presidency, believing as a symbol he will restore Freedonia's greatness.

**1928-**Rufus T. Firefly is appointed President with emergency Powers. Trentino immediately pulled out all the stops, asking Italy and Sylvania for full support. Italy sent its greatest intelligence operative, who has the wonderful attribute of acting like an idiot. He was accompanied by the most ruthless assassin in Europe, code name: Pinky. Although Pinky also appeared to be an idiot and dressed like a mute clown he is in fact entirely without mercy. On one of his first jobs, he overlooked killing someone he should have, it cost him his tongue. He severed his ties with Krafthaus and became a freelance agent.

Rufus T. Firefly charmed Pinky and Ciccolini into becoming double agents, bribing them with the governance of Sylvania when it is conquered.

Sylvanian War. Ciccolini and Pinky captured Trentino and also Firefly received last minute aid from the U.S. Cavalry. Some unknown benefactor urged the U.S. government to divert some of the U.S. Tanks still in France to the Balkans. Sylvania became a satellite state of Freedonia. Ciccolini and Pinky were made honorary citizens of Freedonia.

 Firefly was impeached  for malfeasance of Public funds. (Public treasury apparently looted for fancy new cars and the company of a vivacious Spanish Dancer).

**June 1928-**Freedonian Supreme Court sentences Firefly to life imprisonment. He escapes aided by Ciccolini and Pinky. President Pro-tem Trentino charges them with high treason to be shot on sight. As it would turn out Trentino had been the one that had looted the treasury to pay off Napaloni to cover up his crime. Word in the underworld was that he had taken out a contract with Krafthaus to have the three exterminated. This necessitates the three fugitves to constantly move about and change their names. Although they were seemingly ineffectual bumblers they manage to elude the trained assassins of the Krafthaus. Unknown to Krafthaus they are also accompanied by Firefly's younger brother.

**July 1928**Freedonian Supreme Court rescinds imprisonment of Firefly and declares his legal record expunged of all wrong doing. (All the Justices)

### The 1930s

The 1930s saw several Nations collapse without the Osterlich-Zubrowkan pact, including Cimmeria. Oddly enough, it was only after the Empire's glory days that its most colorful figures emerged. In the 1930's fascist parties were rising to power across Europe, and the nations of the former empire were no exception.

When Hynkel seized power many former Freedo-Moronikan nations joined his conquest of Europe, including Ixania, Groland, Meccania and Molvanîa. While others were invaded such as Osterlich.

While the outbreak of World War II was becoming apparent, war had already broken in the Balkans. In 1933 the incompetent Rufus T. Firefly became the president of Freedonia provoking a war against its neighboring nation Syldavia. Only a year later Ixanian scientists invented the Kassen secret, a formula to construct the world's first atomic bomb. Intending to sell the Kassen secret to Nazi Germany, the Ixanian monarch was luckily overthrown by a bloodless peasant revolution.

The other nations began to fear Nazi invasion. Kasnia, in particular attempted to bypass a trade embargo placed on their country. They attempted to accomplish this by working with the company Lexcorp. This failed as a result of Superman's intervention.

1939 saw anunsuccessful Bordurian attempt at staging a *coup d'état* against Syldavia led by the Taschist-communistic dictatorship led by Kûrvi-Tasch, trying to remove King Muskar XII and invade the country with the support from Syldavian sympathizers. The King's sceptre was stolen, which would force the King to abdicate. Tintin had a hand in defusing the situation by returning the sceptre just before St Vladmir's day. The Bordurians then announced they were withdrawing troops 15 miles from the borders to prove their peaceful intentions. This was an attempt by the Bordurians to join the Nazis to overthrow their old enemy.

Prince Artur Renaldo of Genovia made a historic pledge after Napaloni’s forces invaded in 1939 to exercise the rights of the sovereignty in accordance with the political and economic interests of neighboring France in exchange for military and naval protection in the event of war. Prince Phillipe has worked around that agreement. Nazi and Italian troops entered Genovia between the invasions of France in 1940 and later invaded Genovia itself in 1942. Genovia survived, but Florin and Gulder were absorbed into Italy by Napaloni.

At the beginning of World War II, three Moronikan munitions manufacturer ousted the king and installed Moe Hailstone as a figurehead leader along with Curly Gallstone, and Larry Pebble. A coup led to the three fleeing into a Lion's cage. Where they were able to fake their deaths when it was discovered Larry Pebble had been feeding the Lions and they did not attack him. The three took advantage of this to ditch their clothes and put them on the Lions. They escaped and gathered an army to retake Moronika until another assassination attempt succeeded.

### World War II

Groland's leadership collaborated with the Nazi occupiers; the government engaged in policies of persecution and deportation of Jews and homosexuals. After American troops liberated the country, a sudden change of mood happened, and alleged former collaborators were murdered.

**1941-** Germany invaded Sylvania and Freedonia. Angelo Trentino declared the Greater Sylv-Aryan Reich.

Hynkel would be replaced by a Jewish Barber who was identical to him. While the ruse would be discovered, The Barber would also flee to the United States.

The Latverian Fortunov Family retained control of the throne. The latest king was Vladimir Vassily Gonereo Tristian Mangegi Fortunov, Baron of Sabbat, Baron of Haasen, Baron of Krozi. Even then, the country was a technological leader and Nazi Leader Baron Wolfgang von Strucker solicited their help in exchange for not overrunning the country with Nazis. However, Victor Von Doom would usurp contort of the country with the aid of General Quercus "Carnage Onred" Alba. The Nazi troops had considerable difficulty invading the nations of Latveria and Symkaria as the Latverian monarch Victor von Doom allied himself with the Wild Pack, a Symkarian mercenary group focusing on Nazi-hunting missions, and the two nations resisted Strucker's invading forces.

**1945-**Russia invaded Sylvania and Freedonia. Angelo Trentino's son turned the old man over to the Soviets. Angelo Trentino jr. adopted the name Tito Trentino.

### Post World War II

**1946-1990-** Sylvania and Freedonia and all of the other formerly free states in the Balkans under communist rule. Slyvanian Socialist Republic and Free Peoples Socialist Republic are formed. Tito Trentino rules Sylvania. Freedonia is ruled in absentia by the Politboro.

After the war, many Freedo-Moronikan nations were permanently erased from the map. For instance, Cimmeria became part of Finnland, Tomania was granted to Osterlich and Moronika, Slovakia, Ruritania and Vlatava were merged into the Czech Republic only for Ruritania and Valatava to be restored later. Although the nations of the former Empire lost much of their power some of them remained important regarding science.

The Iron Curtain fell hard on the Freedo-Moronikan nations. From 1946 to 1947, Orsinia became a satellite state in the East bloc, being placed directly in the middle until being moved to the West Bloc. Other nations such as Vlatava were taken over by the Soviet Union.

### The 1950s

In the 1950s Syldavia had a secret but successful space program in the area of Sbrodj. Their rocketship carried reporter, Tintin, and Captain Archibald Haddock and his colleagues to the Moon in 1954.

In 1955, Grand Fenwick's economic was ruined as an American winery makes a knockoff version of the Pinot Grand Fenwick wine - Grand Fenwick's only source of income. Thus the Prime Minister declared war on the USA and send the entire army (consisting of about twenty longbowmen) to America expecting a quick and total defeat followed by the generous largesse that the United States bestows on all its vanquished enemies. Instead, the Duchy defeated the US purely by accident by unintentionally capturing a prototype doomsday device that could destroy the world if triggered: the Q-Bomb. Thus Grand Fenwick once more proofed that a tiny nation can be quite dangerous, too. Grand Fenwick reformed the Freedo-Moronika alliance out of the small nations surrounding it, the Tiny Twenty as it was now called, a new superpower of 20 of the world's smallest nations headed by Grand Fenwick. The United States and the other world powers accepted these humiliating terms, leading to hope for world peace. However, the bomb was discovered to a dud in secret, a fact which Grand Fenwick concealed. The Q Bomb was stolen by American Agents. Revealed to have been previously an experiment designed by Iranian Scientist Dr.Merkwürdigeliebe. The "Strangelove" Missile Crisis occurred between the US and the Soviet Union with the Dommsday device threatening to be used, only to explode, with the damage being minimized rather than the far more catastrophic destruction expected.

In 1956, Borduria became an Eastern Bloc country with its own secret police (ZEP) (led by Colonel Sponsz) and a military dictator, Marshal Kûrvi-Tasch. A statue of Kûrvi-Tasch was built in front of the government building, in which he wore a moustache similar to Joseph Stalin's and gave a Nazi-like salute. The Bordurian military of this period was technologically inept—unable to stop a stolen tank commandeered by Tintin and his companions as a result of defective mines and anti-tank guns. Professor Calculus was kidnapped by the Bordurians after developing an ultrasonic weapon but was rescued.

In Orsinia, A revolt was attempted but was crushed and followed by reprisals, and Orsinia remained a repressive police state for several decades.

### The 1960s

Kasnia became the vehicle for a plot by Vandal Savage. He manipulated Kasnia's substantial contribution to an attempt to launch an International Space Station between America and Kasnia to mount an orbital weapon. After becoming affianced to Princess Audrey, the heir to the throne, Savage had the current incumbent, King Gustav, poisoned and took the throne in Audrey's name. After the Justice League foiled Savage's plot, their marriage was ended, either through divorce or annulment, and Audrey, as Queen, resolved to be a more conscientious ruler than her father.

A North-South civil war erupted between the Capitalist and Communist backed sides, and was further exacerbated when the overwhelmed Northern Kasnians were given a mobile battlesuit by the Greek god Ares. Though the Northerners and Southerners stopped fighting when they realized they were being manipulated by the god, it was clear that they intended to resume hostilities later. Supergirl visited the country and brought back a bottle of Vodke which she handed to the President of the United States.

The various countries saw dictators rise during the Cold War, among them was the Supervillian Count Werner Vertigo in Vlatava.

In 1963, Grand Fenwick faced a crisis in when most of its main export of wine had a defect. Prime Minister Mountjoy requested a large loan from its Capitalist ally, the United States, claiming it was for a Lunar expedition. The Soviets offered a prototype rocket as a gift and Grand Fenwick organized a Lunar expedition to make it appear as though they had used the money given to them. The Grand Fenwick ship landed just prior to an American and Soviet ship. All three ships ended up being delayed in returning, with the American and Soviet pilots being forced to take the Grand Fenwick ship back to earth. Upon returning to earth all three claimed to had arrived on the Moon first.

The hostile artificial intelligence Ultron threatened to cause a near extinction event by lifting the nation of Sokovia and dropping it as a Meteorite. While the Avengers prevented this, and many were saved, many were also killed and Sokovia destroyed, the dropping of the country also devastated several surrounding Countries, mostly Transylvania and Latveria.

In 1964, inventor Caractacus Potts and his family lead an overthrow of the Bomburst family and freed the children they had captured, ending the Bumbhurst grip of terror over the land.

In 1969, the Duchy of Grand Fenwick. disrupted the world's finances. In an attempt to dispose of a sizable royalty payment from an American chewing gum company by investing it in failing companies, Duchess Gloriana found she had the Midas touch for the stock market, and in a flurry of rumor and assumption, the Duchy became a financial superpower.

### The 1970s

Beginning in 1970 the Chinese historian Ming Yuen-hwuy visited several nations of the former Freedo-Moronikan Empire and documented his impressions. He began his travels in Meccania where he experienced a daily life consisting of an odd mixture of arrogance, xenophobia, over-punctiliousness, over-organization, chauvinism, rigidity and perpetual propaganda. Later he visited the small but prosperous nation Latveria, located in the north of Serbia. Ruled by the absolute monarch Victor von Doom, Latveria was controlled by Doom's armies of high-tech robots, called the Doombots. In the following years Ming Yuen-hwuy entered many other remaining nations like the war-torn Novistrana and the bordering nations of Carpathia and Transcarpathia. After a brief visit of the Republic of Pescenica which is located inside the Croation capital of Zagreb, the historian ended his travels in 1999 by visiting Soviet Unterzögersdorf a little commune located inside of the Republic of Osterlich which would collapse with the decline of the Soviet Union.

In 1976, the South American banana republic of San Theodoros, ruled by General Tapioca, formed an alliance with the Bordurian government, which had sent him military advisors, including Colonel Sponsz. Eventually, Tapioca was deposed by General Alcazar, and Sponsz was exiled.

### The 1980s

In 1987, United States Ambassador Charles Sanders romanced Dorian Lord, seeking access to her money. Discovering the ruse, a vindictive Dorian revealed Charles' past affair with a member of Mendorra's royal family. Charles was removed as Ambassador; distraught to discover that her daughter Cassie was having an affair with Dorian's boyfriend Jon Russell, Dorian secured the post for herself, and left Llanview for Mendorra. Geoffrey McGrath was soon revealed to be Charles' son, the product of his royal affair.

In 1989, Tina Lord was nearly killed in Atlantic City seeking to get her hands on the stolen Crown Jewels of Mendorra when she faced many past enemies that abducted her and planned to execute her in an electric chair. Tina's niece Megan Gordon was saved from a fire by her new boyfriend Raymond Hohenstein following an explosion; seriously injured, Raymond admitted that he was the Crown Prince of Mendorra.

In November 1989, following a series of non-violent protests, the Orsinian government fell, to be replaced by a transitional régime promising free elections.

### The 1990s

**1990-**Freedonia and Sylvania throw off their communist yokes.

**1991-** Freedonia and Sylvania add their conflict with one another to the troubles of the Balkan wars.

The Eugenics Wars devastated the lands.Vlatava, however would be destroyed by the Supernatural entity, the Spectre. Others like Elbonia continued to exist passed the weakening of the Soviet Union.

Raymond Hohenstein lost his eyesight, Megan Gordon travelled to Mendorra with her physical therapist sister Sarah to aid him in 1990. Dorian and Cassie appeared just as the sinister intentions of Raymond's younger brother Roland Hohenstein were revealed. Hoping to secure the throne for himself, Roland first tried to use Raymond's blindness to replace him as heir; when that did not work, he kidnapped Megan and Sarah. Knowing Raymond could not ascend the throne should he marry a commoner, Roland vowed to kill Megan unless Raymond wed Sarah. Sarah's boyfriend Bo Buchanan and his nephew Cord Robert infiltrated the place with the help of Dorian, Cassie and Debra Medina, a dancer in the Mendorran Ballet. Bo managed to switch places with Raymond, and in this disguise married Sarah himself. Bo, Raymond, Megan and Sarah—Raymond with his sight restored and Sarah still in her wedding dress—all donned skis and escaped down the mountainside. Roland catched up to them, and in a final confrontation was killed by Raymond in self-defense.

After the fall of European Communism in the 1990s, Molvania became a dictatorship run by a corrupt government with heavy ties to the Mafia.

### The 2000s

**2000-**Freedonia and Sylvania have splintered into many ethnic communities, each rules approximately a 1 mile square area.

There was a slight controversy when US President Josiah Bartlet and other World Leaders ignored Freedonia as a potential NATO member.

Genovia joined the European Union by 2001. Kasnia reunified after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 2001 and joined the European Union by 2006, adopting the Euro as its official currency.

 Tensions between Ruritania and Australia and Indonesia escalated to a possible war. Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer discussed a security treaty between Australia and Indonesia signed on 8 November 2006: "We do not need to have a security agreement with Indonesia so both of us will fight off the Ruritanians. That's not what the relationship is about," he said. "It is all about working together on the threats that we have to deal with, which are different types of threats". A British Court contemplating a publication ban relating to a childhood sexual assault case, referred to the country of origin of the child as Ruritania, further explaining "The boy was described in the judgment as having 'dual British and Ruritanian nationality'."

The Crown Jewels of Mendorra were stolen on May 2008 upon their arrival in Llanview, Pennsylvania for display, and Tina Lord reappeared in town on June 11, 2008 as the Crown Princess of Mendorra. She acquired the jewels which she had arranged to have stolen, but was soon on the run with them from the sinister U.S. Ambassador to Mendorra Jonas Chamberlain, who apparently wanted them for himself. Tina found refuge with her estranged daughter Sarah Roberts and Sarah's boyfriend Cristian Vega but Sarah's roommate, Llanview police officer Talia Sahid, inexplicably aided Jonas in kidnapping Sarah. Tina, Cristian and his brother Antonio Vega—a Llanview Police Detective and Talia's lover—agreed to accompany Jonas back to Mendorra in order to make an exchange: the women for the Crown Jewels.

In Mendorra, Tina got the royal treatment from her palace staff and was reunited with her husband, Crown Prince Helmut Krakoff—really her longtime cohort, con man Cain Rogan, in yet another disguise. He had been accepted as the Crown Prince even though he cannot seem to prove a relationship to any member of the royal family. Meanwhile, the real mastermind behind the kidnappings revealrf himself to his daughter Talia: villain Carlo Hesser. Talia despised Carlo, a longtime enemy of both Tina and the Vega brothers; Cain was anxious to keep the jewels they have worked so hard for, but Tina was desperate to exchange them for Sarah.

Carlo, bent on revenge for Tina's part in the death of his son Johnny Dee in 1990, exposed Tina and Cain's fraud publicly and revealed Jonas as the true heir to the throne; he added that, per Mendorran law, Cain and Tina would be beheaded for their treason. Arlo and his minions first dragged Tina, Sarah and Cristian to the river above the treacherous Hohenstein Falls. Tina was horrified as Carlo revealed his intent to send Sarah over the Falls to her death, deliberately echoing Tina's own nearly-fatal plunge over the Iguazu Falls in 1987. Cristian managed to escape Carlo's guards and swim to Sarah's raft; Tina watched history repeat itself as Sarah and Cristian went over the Falls on July 22, 2008.

Carlo intended to marry Talia to Jonas, the new ruler of Mendorra; she protested and stalled, but went through with the royal wedding on July 31, 2008 to save Antonio and her friends from harm—not knowing that Jonas had already stabbed Antonio and left him for dead. The Vega brothers turned up alive, Cristian saving Tina and Cain from the executioner's axe and Antonio overpowering Jonas and leading a newly married Talia to safety. When Carlo, Jonas and their men catch up, Talia brokered a deal with Carlo: she will stay if the others are allowed to leave. A presumed-dead Sarah reappeared, and with several people's lives at stake, a furious Antonio is forced to leave Talia behind. The rest of the group escaped, but duplicitous Cain later parachuted from the plane with the Crown Jewels—not knowing that Tina has already switched the gems with fakes.

### The 2010s

The Supervillain Felonius Dru established his headquarters in Freedonia.

Archeologist and Henry Jones´s descendant Dr.Bikini Jones stole a golden idol which happened to be the key to a mysterious place called the Temple of Eros. Legend had it that anyone who discovered the Tiara of Ayesha in that temple became the supreme ruler of Moronica.

### The 2020s

Kasnia continued to trade in Weapons, primarily from the Wayne-Powers company. The "Princess Audrey collection" now travels through Museums.

### 2099

various power struggles over the fate of Latveria ended with most of the country's population destroyed by chemical weapons known as "necrotoxins". Megacorporations now ran the country like other areas of the world. At this point, Doom seemingly returned without explanation, and began to retake his homeland, eventually even briefly taking over the United States before his defeat.

### 22nd Century

What used to be Kasnia is largely utopian, with apparently no crime, pollution, or poverty, but does feature a heavily advance police of A.T.O.M. robots. The young boy Per Degaton became instrumental to Vandal Savage's takeover of the world; he was groomed by Savage to become a dictator who wad ultimately blamed for unleashing a virus designed to kill most of the world population, leaving it smaller and weakened enough for Savage to later conquer the planet. Degaton killed his father and unleashed the virus.

## Geography

**-Axphain:** located north of Graustark in the Carpathian Mountains

**-Bandrika:** (sometimes spelled *Vandreka*): Eastern European Alpine country, the setting of the first part of the film *The Lady Vanishes*. The language spoken in this country is an amalgamation of several European languages.

**-Beltrazo:** said to be south of Samavia

**-Borduria:** shares borders with Syldavia. A totalitarian state located in the Balkans, based on the province of Bukovina.

**-Borsovia:** A kingdom in Eastern Europe. borders Rubovia

**-Bosnia(replaces Baronia):** From the Secret Series

**-Carnolitz:** said to be east of Samavia

**-Cimmeria:** somewhere on the Gulf of Bothnia (i.e. Finland). Cimmeria is the oldest, dating back to the Hiborian Age. Collapsed between the first and second World War.

**-Croatia(Balkistan)**: From *The Prince of Balkistan.*

**-Dawsbergen:** located south of Graustark in the Carpathian Mountains

**-Elbonia:** A fourth-world post-communist Eastern European countrybased on the K.u.K province of Silesia. The entire country wears the same clothing and hats, and all men have full beards. They are occasionally bitter towards their wealthier western neighbors, but are quite happy to trade with them. The whole country is covered in mud, and has limited technology.

**-Florin:** Florin is also the name of a silver coin minted in Florence, thus I located Florin and Guilder in the south of Tyrol bordering Italy

**-Freedonia(Fredonia):** based on the K.u.K province of Galicia

**-Genovia:** exclave bordering France and Italy. Based on Monaco and to a lesser extent Andorra.

**-Grand Fenwick:** bordering Rubovia, France and Switzerland. A tiny nation (15 square miles/39 square kilometres).

**-Graustark:** located somewhere in the Carpathian Mountains, near Romania(Ruritania), a mountainous country with an area of approximately 800 square miles (2,100 km2)

**-Groland:** French exclave of Freedo-Moronika. A Parody of France and European Microstates. The capital is Groville, the main river is the Gro, and the main prefectures are Grugny, Mufflins, Maroufle and Vichumes.

**-Guilder:** Florin is also the name of a silver coin minted in Florence, thus I located Florin and Guilder in the south of Tyrol bordering Italy.

**-Humperstein:** borders Rubovia, German name and thus located in South Germany.

**-Zubrowka:** replaces Hungary

**-Ixania:** bordering Romania

**-Jiardasia:** west of Samavia

**-Kasnia:** located in Vojvodina (north of Serbia).

**-Kneebonia:** borduring Elbonia

**-Krakozhia:** probably somewhere in Belarus (the Krakozhian passport is actually from Belarus)

**-Latkovia:** island nation near Romania

**-Latveria:** Located in the Banat region. It is surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains, and also borders Symkaria to the south. Its capital is Doomstadt.

**-Laurania:** Italian flair, the capital is (as far as I know) never given so I assume it's Trieste and base it on the K.u.K province of Küstenland

**-Markovia:** sadly, I had to guess the position of this one, I located it in Bosnia because previously the area was pretty empty

**-Meccania:** no clue, had to guess

**-Mendorra:** replaces Liechtenstein

**-Modora:** bordering Pokolistan

**-Molvanîa:** said to border Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, and Romania; as this is impossible I had to improvise, Molvanîa's form is based on the one given in the book

**-Moronika(also Moronica):** based on the K.u.K province of Bohemia

**-Novistrana:** no clue, had to guess but it seems to be far in the East. A former Soviet Union state.

**-Orsinia:** said to have some features of Hungary and Czech lands: similar countryside, located in Central Europe, landlocked, under Habsburg rule

**-Osterlich:** Duh, replaces Austria...

**-Pescenica:** located near Zagreb

**-Poictesme:** French exclave of Freedo-Moronika, name suggests the two real French cities of Poitiers (medieval Poictiers) and Angoulême (medieval Angoulesme) --> lies between them

**-Pokolistan:** consists of annexed land of Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic

**-Rubovia:** historically important and thus quite large, based on the location of the Habsburg, borders Grand Fenwick

**-Ruritania:** located between Saxony and Bohemia, note that the country was relocated in later novels but I stay with the original location

**-Samavia:** no clue, had to guess

**-Slovetzia:** sounds like Slovakia to me...

**-Syldavia:** the name derives from TranSYLvania and MolDAVIA, thus it borders these two nations

**-Strackenz:** exclave between Germany and Denmark

**-Sokovia(Transia):** part of Wallachia, located between Transylvania and Serbia

-**Symkaria:** can be seen on the Wikipedia map showing Latveria

**-Transylvania:**Real Nation

**-Trieste:** Real Nation

**-Tomainia:** based on the Innviertel (the part of Upper Austria where Hitler was born)

**-Unterzögersdorf:** based on the real Austrian city with the same name

**-Vienna:** Real Nation

**-Vlatava:** located at the river with the same name

**-Vulgaria:** located at the position of Neuschwanstein Castle which was shown to be the seat of the Bombursts in the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang