Borislavian era

The Borislavian era, is a name for the current political and cultural period in the Serbian Empire. The era gets its name after the four most recent emperors of Serbia, as all of them have shared the same name of Stefan Borislav, followed by their respective numeral.

## History

### Early Borislavian era (1952-1977)

The early Borislavian era consists of the entire reign of emperor Stefan Borislav I of Serbia, otherwise known as Borislav the Great in regions such as Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Yermania, Hungary, Macedonia and Albania. The early Borislavian era would be characterized by the extreme expansion of the Serbian state through the wars of expansion that Borislav would orchestrate. The wars were supposed to bring unity to the Balkan sub-continent via uniting all of the countries into a single state against the expansionist, fascist-communist state of the Fourth Reich.

The early Borislavian era lasted for a total of 25 years. A great period of political reform would also sweep over the empire after the Great European war, uniting the provinces under the central government in Belgrade, while also giving them their own councils in the year of 1968. Borislav also appointed federalist politicians who supported his ideals, such as Duke Petar I, Dobroslav II and Dušan Pavlović.

Efforts to radicalize the population came in later years after the appointment of archchancellor Rodavan Jovanović in April of 1973. Rodavan used propaganda to radicalize the population against outside threats during the third world war (1973-1977) which led to unity but also led to strained relations between the people in the empire and the citizens of the Third German empire, Soviet union and Italy.

Borislav's expansion of the empire left the empire extremely diverse and therefore he wasn't able to expand any longer without fears of the empire fragmenting. The court of Borislav I was also unlike his successors, taking inspiration from his father Franjo. The court revolved around him and the majority of ministers lived in chateaus around the Imperial palace. Ministers and generals were made to bow before the emperor and parties and other activities were usually held in the Imperial palace.

### Libertarian sub-era (1977-1983)

The libertarian sub-era of the Borislavian era consists of the reign of Borislav II, the eldest son of emperor Borislav I. He became emperor after his father died on the 15th of October, 1977 and the libertarian era is usually attributed to his rule until around October 1983, which is when his younger brother Stefan Dragoljub Borislav became more involved in politics and began making decisions for his older brother, due to the fact that Borislav II himself could not have kids due to an infection of gonorrhea.

Borislav II's rule is characterized by liberalization of the Serbian government and the attempted federalization of it as well, giving more autonomy to Turkey, Romania and Hungary by 1982. More freedom of speech acts began being passed in the empire which allowed for the criticism of the emperor and the central government to be completely free. Borislav II demoted Rodavan Jovanović on the 5th of April, 1980, after he had advocated for use of chemical weapons on protesting Croatian civilians.

In his place, Borislav appointed Serbian Conservative Party member Milutin Živković to the position of archchancellor the very next day. Živković had similar views as Borislav, in the sense that he wanted the empire to be more federalized, albeit built on cultural and historical lines, which would've given some states more territory than they needed. Nonetheless, this didn't stop Borislav II from crushing the Croatian revolution using the army.

After Borislav started becoming weaker in 1983, his brother started taking up more of the political responsibility and eventually, after Borislav II's death in May of 1984, his brother was crowned as emperor Stefan Borislav III, starting a new era for the empire.

### Nationalistic era (1983-1990)

The nationalistic era is usually said to have started in 1984, but most historians consider it to have started around October 1983, when future emperor Borislav III had started influencing the politics of the empire. On the 19th of March, 1984, after a coup had been staged, Radovan Ratković, the head of the Serbian Nationalist Party became the prime minister. The coup was secretly funded by Borislav III himself, as he and Ratković had shown interest of similar ideals to each other in late 1982.

The two established a royal totalitarian dictatorship, which saw the empire take a step backwards in ruling of government. The federal system made by his older brother was abolished in November of 1984, freedom of the press was surpressed in December of that year and a secret police force was established on the 29th of April, 1984, using the building of the former Belgrade council, which was moved to another building. The era saw numerous human rights violations through its short 6 year time span which nearly brought the empire to complete collapse.

Muslims were heavily targeted by the government, with the police force mostly patrolling in the muslim majority regions of Bosnia, Albania and mainland Turkey. Many mosques were closed or demolished and muslims were often the target of beatings, arrests and even execution on some occasions. Ratković and his nationalists set up a system of "re-education" camps to hold muslims and force them into doing things against their religion, such as eating pork. Over 100 000 people have been confirmed to die during this era with around 80% of which being muslims, the rest being political opponents.

Borislav demoted famed war hero Draža Božidar III after a heated argument between the two on the 19th of August, 1988, which sparked outraged protests in many cities. The secret police cracked down on the protests with over 600 being injured and 9 people dying in them. The era finally came to an end after Borislav III's death in June of 1990 and the subsequent overthrow of the Ratković regime from the 2nd of July to the 6th of July, 1990.

### Reformation era (1990-2009)

The reformation era started after Ratković had been overthrown on the 2nd of July, 1990, with emperor Stefan Borislav IV beginning to set up a more liberal government, similar to his uncle Borislav II's government during the libertarian sub-era. The reformation began by appointing former prime minister Alija Stojanović to minister of the interior on the 31st of July, 1990 and the appointment of Draža Božidar III's son, Dobroslav Božidar III to prime minister of the empire the following day.

Freedom of the press was reinstated and most of Borislav III's policies had been reversed by January of 1991. Nationalistic songs such as *Oj Srbijo, mila mati!* and *Vojska smene* were banned by law on the 1st of February, 1991, due to the reputations of the songs during the nationalistic regime of 1984-1990 (*Oj Srbijo, mila mati!* was considered a second national anthem by some.) A consitutionalist coup was staged in November of 1991, where many protested against absolutism in the empire and eventually it became a fight for a new constitution of the empire, although the coup was surpressed by Dobroslav III and Petar II.

The rest of the era would see a period of stability and the re-introduction of more federal ideals, the finished product of Borislav II's prototype of a federal empire. Borislav IV's rule would face a difficult challenge however, as the Soviet union attacked the empire in April of 2004, starting the fourth world war (2004-2008). The war united the nationalities of the empire in a way that hadn't been seen since the great European war in 1965, during Borislav the great's rule.

After the war had ended, new policies would start to be drafted and the empire would change in it's rule once again, starting the most recent sub-era of the Borislavian era.

### Peacetime era (2009-present)

After the end of the fourth world war, a conference would be held in Belgrade in 2011, with diplomats from all around the world participating. The conference was established to discuss peace over the entire world which also started a new era for the army of the empire as well. The Imperial army's active personnel was reduced from around 540 000 to only 60 000 soldiers and the border security loosened, allowing people to travel through and to the country easily.

On the 7th of April, 2020, a new law was passed by parliament, drafted by Borislav IV and prime minister Draža Božidar IV which called for greater autonomy to Greece and Romania. The parliament is looking to give greater autonomy to Bulgaria as well by June of 2023. If the law passes, this would mark the start of a road to peaceful fragmentation of the empire, however, Borislav's son Zivko doesn't support his father's liberal ideas and would like more power to the central government when he gets in power.

## Culture

Culture has been heavily influenced by emperors Borislav I and Borislav III during the era, with the former passing laws to make Serbian the official language of the entire empire throughout all provinces in March of 1970. The passing of the laws made Serbian an important language to learn, as it was the only language allowed to be spoken in government buildings and the language was forced on signs throughout the empire as a second language.

Music has also been influenced during the era, with many famous folk songs directly related to Borislav I and his descendents being made. *Marsirala cara Borislava garda* has been a famous patriotic song of the empire which dates back to around 1961. The song was written for Borislav I but has been used for all of his descendants too and is a song about the Imperial army (which is referred to as Borislav's guard) marching into battle for their emperor and praying to God.

Marches were also composed for Borislav II and Borislav III, the former for his military service in the third world war and the latter for his grand coronation in 1984. Portraits of the emperors weren't common, but there were still quite a few made, which showed the emperors as strong, capable leaders. A lot of these are currently hanging inside the Imperial palace in Belgrade or other imperial residences used by the emperors during their lifetimes.