Papal States

Flag of the Papal States

The Papal State, officially the State of the Church, is a country in Southern Europe on the Italian Peninsula. It is an Elective Theocratic Monarchy located in Latium and is currently under the reign of Pope Stephenaus X since 1936. During the War of Italian unification and the Second Weltkrieg the Papal Sates have been under siege in Roma with much of the city devastated by totalist bombings and later occupation. The Papal States is the weakest out of all the Italian Sucessor States and may as well not exist in terms of military power. The Papal States are an example of a country we do not know when it was founded given it was a Medieval construct from over 1,000 years ago that still exists in some form. The Papal States is nominally on the winning side of the Second Weltkrieg however given where the frontlines where we can safely say that the Two Sicilies did most of the heavy lifting with the Swiss guard being the only Papal Unit to escape the siege of Rome along with the pope. Despite this the Papal States was given the very rich Latium region where the heartland of the long dead Roman Empire used to lay. So the Papal States may soon become a tourist state given the amount of rich history in the area. The Papal States is nominally neutral in the current Kalterkrieg but leans towards the Entente due to it practically being a puppet of Two Sicilies who align with the Entente. Time will tell the future of the Papal States.

## History

The Papal States in the last few decades have been hectic for the nation trying to regain its lost territories. When the event of the Italian Civil War rocked the peninsula the Pope who was boxed up in the Vatican was starting to worry. He did not have the military units capable of keeping himself safe should the Syndicalists take the city. The Pope tried to secure Rome and was fairly successful in doing so and it was the help of the Two Sicilies that kept the Papal States from falling. After the civil war ended the Papal States did not take part in the Italian Federation project, rather it began to make its own institutions and laws trying to establish more than a provisional government as it was clear one man could not rule the entire country. So semi-democratic institutions where established for local elections but the Theocratic nature of the executive was kept. When the Sydnicalist government in the aftermath of the British Revolution tried to take the rest of the Peninsula, the Papal States flocked to the protection of Two Sicilies who gladly took in the Pope as an ally. This was the state of the Papal States in 1936 and it would only get worse when Pius XI would die leading to another change in government needed. Stephanus X was elected for his generosity to the public as virtue was put above all else still. Stephanus would continue the democratic reforms and would make the Papal States a genually nice place to live in comparison to the north. This would make the Totalist dictator Mussolini furious at the nation and he using the causus belli of unifying Italy declared war on the Papal States and Two sicilies. The Papal States was quickly knocked out of the war by a rapid offesnive witch would start a quick siege of the City witch would lead much of it devastated. But the pope and the rest of the government along with a couple of troops had fled the city. Papal troops would be given to the Two Sicilies while the government remained in temporary Exile in Palmero where it was safe from Totalist bombings. Rome itself would be transformed into Mussolini's own vision of the city turning it into one of the most horrific examples of Totalist transformation as several well known pieces of artwork where transformed to show the revolution instead of Roman History. While many of them were restored in the aftermath this is one of the biggest war crimes committed by any side during the Second Weltkreig. When the Two Sicilies launched its counter offensive, Rome was one of the targets to be liberated and after the Italian Republic broke the back of the Totalists the counter offensive would take it. Papal troops would take place during the crushing of the Southern Army and would take the entirety of Latium at the end of the war. When the peace deal was signed for Italy the Papal States received all land it had occupied during the war. After the war the Papal States have continued their reforms and have been working hard to remove war damages and restore artifacts destroyed by the Totalist rule over the city. However some work will be needed to restore the city as only 3-4 years have passed since the liberation of Rome.

## Military

The military of the Papal States is almost non-existant as much of it was destroyed in the initial offensive by Mussolini's government. However the Papal States still does field 3 divisions, all of witch are of some of the highest quality in the world. One of these units is the famed Swiss guard known for its ability to withstand sieges and great at defensive warfare. In recent years efforts have been made to expand the Swiss guard into an actual military division.