Erusea

**Erusea**, officially the **Kingdom of Erusea**, is a country on the Usean continent. Geographically, it is bordered to the north by the Cascade Ocean, to the east by the Amber Mountains, to the south by the Spring Sea, and to the west by the Erusean Channel. Politically, Erusea shares land borders with San Salvacion and Amber to the east and Voslage to the south, and maritime borders with the Nordlands. Erusea's capital and cultural center is officially Farbanti, however most government functions are *de facto* carried out from Anchorhead, which is the nation's economic center and largest city. Other major urban centers include Rochenoir, a major hub for Erusea's heavy industry, and Dennis, one of the most important cities in the history of Christianity.

The region encompassing modern Erusea was first settled in significant numbers by the Elcids, a Belkanic tribe, who founded the city of Farbanti and inhabited the region from the 1st century AD until their migration across the Erusean Channel in the 9th century. After the departure of the Elcids, a variety of different polities fought for control of the region before the first of the major constituent Erusean peoples, the Garonids, migrated into the region from central Usea around the 11th century, assimilating the other groups and founding the Kingdom of Garonia. During the reign of Charles the Great, Garonia rapidly conquered its rivals between 1300 and 1350 in an effort to unify the continent, culminating in the foundation of the Erusean Empire in 1351. From 1351, Erusea experienced a golden age under imperial rule, with significant developments in the arts, sciences, and humanities, most notably the synthesis of the Erusean language, as well as high levels of interethnic harmony and tolerance before rapidly collapsing at the end of the 17th century as the result of a dynastic civil war between the senior and then-ruling House of Vinsons and the junior House of Elise, which would become Erusea's lasting ruling family, a religious civil war (1661-1722) between the traditional Aneanists and Carolean Reformists led by Emperor Charles V, a debilitating plague that swept the continent, killing over a third of the population, and the 1684 eruption of Mount Neri, which devastated harvests for a decade, killing another third of the population. In 1689, the Erusean Empire was dissolved as a political entity, having lost the vast majority of its territory, and it became the rump Kingdom of Erusea.

The monarchy was overthrown in the Erusean Revolution of 1790, which established the first Republic of Erusea; the First Republic was itself overthrown following a war (1811-1830) against a coalition of nearly all Usean states, leading to the forcible re-establishment of the Kingdom of Erusea, which lasted until 1915, when the monarchy was voluntarily abolished and replaced with the authoritarian State of Erusea. During the Cold War (1946-1995) between Osea and Yuktobania, Erusea contended with the rise of the adversarial and Osean-aligned Federation of Central Usea and was forced to align with communist Yuktobania, leading to a prolonged period of diplomatic isolation. Despite the threat of war with the FCU, Erusea massively and aggressively expanded, with victories in the Voslagian War (1973), the Gunther War (1975-1976), and the Hatties War (1979) nearly doubling its size. An attempted invasion of San Salvacion led to the Good Friday War (1980) between Erusea and the FCU, which resulted in the destruction of Erusea's military, the loss of most of its new territory, and the replacement of the authoritarian State with the democratic Federal Republic. Though initially stable, the Federal Republic was ultimately subverted by an ultranationalist and fascist dictatorship led by Axel Durand following the Black August economic crisis in 1989. Ten years later, Erusea fell victim to the 1999 Ulysses impact event, which further devastated Erusea's economy and displaced a fifth of its population. Facing unrest at home, the Durand regime launched a diversionary war and invaded all of Usea in the Continental War (2003-2005), resulting in Erusea's defeat despite an initially successful military campaign. Following a period of occupation, Erusea restored its currently ruling monarchy in 2011 and, after another period of tensions caused by the construction of the International Space Elevator, invaded all of Usea again in the Lighthouse War (2019) and was again defeated, occupied, and thoroughly demilitarized. Since the end of the Lighthouse War, Erusea has been in a state of civil war and is under *de facto* occupation by the International Union.

Erusea is a semi-constitutional monarchy, with the monarch of Erusea actively exercising substantial executive powers within the framework of a democratic constitution. Actual day-to-day governance is carried out by the bicameral Parliament of Erusea, led by the Prime Minister, who is the head of government. Erusea is considered to be a upper middle-income economy, and the country is in active recovery following the devastation of Ulysses and its dual defeats in the Continental War and the Lighthouse War. Globally, Erusea's economy has the ninth-largest GDP in the world by purchasing power parity (PPP), though it is also the poorest per capita on the Usean continent. Historically, Erusea's heavy industries, especially its steel, coal, and shipbuilding industries, and its agricultural industry were of global significance until their destruction at the end of the Continental War. Erusea's economic recovery has made it among the fastest growing economies in the world, with relatively low levels of unemployment and poverty and middling but improving quality of life. Erusea is a founding member of the Assembly of Nations, the Usean Union, and the G7, and is also a member of the World Trade Organization and the International Economic Assistance Fund, of which it is a major recipient of assistance funding.