Doge Wonderland

Areas claimed and controlled by Doge Wonderland are highlighted in dark green; regions claimed but not controlled by Doge Wonderland are highlighted in light green

## Official information

### Ethnic groups

* 99.7% Dogeis
* 0.3% other

### Religion

* 99.8% Dogeism (official)

   ├ 85% Unitary Dogeism
   ├ 10% Loyalist Dogeism
   ├ 3% Mandator Dogeism
   └ 2% Protescheems

* 0.2% other

### Formation

* 0 AD (Kingdom of Doge)
* 597 AD (Reorganization into the Holy Empire of Doge Wonderland)

### Internet TLD

.dw

**Doge Wonderland**, officially the **Holy Empire of Doge Wonderland**, is a country located in Forsenan. Officially, it consists of 21 provinces, two dominions, three vassal states and two colonies; it de facto consists only of 21 provinces. With a population of 305 million people and a de facto land area of 1.7 million square kilometers (678,648 square miles), it is the fourth most-populous country and third-largest country by land area. It is bounded by the Doge Gulf to the west, the Dheeze-Knutts to the east, the Grarante Ocean to the south and the Aesland River, Orasa River and Corpar Mountains to the north. It shares land borders with Ibarkla to the west, Aesland to the north and Keurig Machines to the east.

Modern humans first arrived in southern Doge Wonderland about 12,000 years ago during the Cenozoic Ice Age, crossing the Ribe Land Bridge from Dystavia. The long period of human habitation in Doge Wonderland led to astounding genetic diversity within the population, though modern Doge Wonderlandian inhabitants are almost wholly of the Dogeis race due to centuries of persecution against other races. Settled life emerged, especially along the banks of the Dheeze-Knutts, about 5,000 years ago. By 1500 BD, an archaic written form of DoggoLingo developed in Doge Wonderland, and was used to record the Doge Old Teachings, the ancestor of modern Dogeism. In the 1st century BD, modern Dogeism developed in Woofertown and quickly surpassed other religions within the city and its surrounding regions in popularity. In 0 AD, the Dogeist prophet Otto von Longdawg unified the population of Woofertown and its surrounding communities, creating a single Dogeist polity with him as head of state and head of church. Following his unexpected death in 2 AD, his son Otto von Longdawg the Son took control of the newly-christened Doge Kingdom and continued expansion of the Doge Kingdom along the Dheeze-Knutts.

The Protescheems Secession in 864 AD sparked the Reformation Wars, ending in 957 AD when the continental holdings of the Protescheems Republic were conquered. Following this, it was reorganized into the Holy Empire of Doge Wonderland and established colonies in northern Dystavia in the 11th century and in southern Ibarkla by the 12th century after fighting wars against North Dystavia and various states of the Seven Dynasties, respectively. In the early 14th century, a military coup sparked the War of the Doge Wonderladian Succession, sparking almost half a century of conflict. Ultimately, it resulted in a Doge Wonderlandian strategic victory, severly weakening the Ibarklan Yang dynasty and allowing them to establish more colonies in the Ibarklan subcontinent. It fought another war in Ibarkla after the collapse of the Yang dynasty in the late 15th century, resulting in the takeover of large swaths of Ibarklan land and forcing the successor Tsang dynasty to retreat to northwest Ibarkla.

In 1542 AD, Doge Wonderlandian forces captured Aethian City, capital of the Confederation of the Aer, marking the collapse of the only other major power of Forsenan and leaving Doge Wonderland as the continent's superpower. The next two centuries of the Empire saw a period of economic prosperity and relative stability known as the Pax Doge Wonderlandia. Beginning in the late 18th century, a series of popular revolutions led to the decline of the Holy Empire as many independent countries were formed or regained their independence from former Doge Wonderlandian holdings.

uhh something about ww1 and ww2 we haven't fleshed that out yet (￣ ￣||)

Doge Wonderland is a unitary theocratic absolute monarchy with no legislature; the government is under direct control of the emperor. It does not recognize the sovereignty of any other nations on the Forsenanian continent, and continues to claim the territory of all nations on the Forsenanian continent as its own, as well as various nations of North and South Dystavia. The nation pursues a policy of autarky, and the means of production are owned and directly controlled by the state via collectivized farms and publicly owned enterprises. Dogeism is the official state religion; the religion guides much of the nation's policy making.

The nation's military is the largest in the world in terms of military personnel, with a total of nearly 20 million active, reserve and paramilitary personnel combined; it is known to possess nuclear weapons. It spends 9.43% of its GDP on the military, the highest proportion in the world. Crime is endemic in Doge Wonderland; Depressione is the largest criminal organization and has major influence on the country's economy, law enforcement and politics.

The state has attracted international criticism for many reasons, including its state-sponsored human sacrifice and cannibalism, alleged and confirmed sponsorship of Dogeist terrorism, and its human rights abuses, which include state-sponsored discrimination against atheists and religious minorities, excessive use of capital punishment, and state censorship of media publications and the Internet. The nation ranks highly in measures of the rights of women and racial, gender and sexual minorities so long as they follow an orthodox branch of Dogeism; nevertheless, the international community and many human rights organizations demand reform in regards to its extremist religious policies. It is subject to embargoes and sanctions by a vast majority of nations of Cerstenum, with only a handful of nations maintaining diplomatic relations with the empire.

## History

### Prehistory

Most prevailing theories regarding human settlement in Doge Wonderlandian territories consider modern humans to have first migrated to the continent from Dystavia about 17,000 years ago, via the Ribe Land Bridge, now submerged due to natural warming of Cerstenum. Recent archaeological evidence suggest that, while modern human settlement occurred relatively recently, other hominids may have lived in the region earlier. Hominid fossils of *Homo erectus* have been found on some islands in the North Dystavian Strait; requests for archaeological excavations in Doge Wonderland proper have been denied permission by the Doge Wonderlandian government.

Archaeological digs sponsored by the Doge Wonderlandian government claim to have discovered *Homo sapiens* remains from over 300,000 years ago mainly centered in Woofertown, claims that are hotly contested by the international archaeological community. The Doge Wonderlandian government's refusal to invite non-Dogeist archaeological parties to verify or inspect their claims have led to much skepticism and distrust regarding them, and most international research groups consider their claims to be counterfactual in nature.

### Early kingdoms

According to Dogeist dogma, the first kingdom to arise was the ancient Kingdom of Doge Wonderland over 300,000 years ago. This empire was considered mythical by most historians until the late 1970s when Doge Wonderlandian archaeologists claimed to unearth early Bronze Age artifacts. These claims have since been disputed, and Doge Wonderlandian refusal to allow international scientists to analyze the artifacts casts further doubt upon their authenticity.

The earliest internationally verified written records of civilization in Doge Wonderland date back to the 12th century BD. Ancient inscriptions in stone tablets in an early form of DoggoLingo have been found dating back to this time, describing the political situation of the time. By this point, modern-day Doge Wonderland consisted of over 100 small city-states, with no centralized leadership unifying the cities, nor did any state hold a decisive advantage over the other.

### Imperial rule

Doge Wonderland was founded in 0 AD as the Kingdom of Doge by Otto von Longdawg. It originally consisted only of Woofertown and its surrounding communities

### Protescheems Reformation

#### Religious schism and Protescheems secession

In 847 AD, Martin Cheemstar launched a movement that would later be known as the Protescheems Reformation. The empire quickly became divided along religious lines, with Protescheemsism spreading widely among the rural eastern provinces while urban centers and the more centralized western region continued to follow mainstream Dogeism. Though Protescheemsism was initially tolerated, later emperors objected to its tenets and began a slow process of persecution against Protescheemsists. The region also fell under heavy economic and political influence from the Axocha Empire.

#### Reformation Wars

From 864 AD after the official Protescheems secession to 877 AD, Doge Wonderland fought a military campaign against the nascent Protescheems Republic. The Protescheems Republic received heavy foreign aid in the form of both money and materiel from Axocha, aiding it in the war and allowing it to effectively defend the Keurig Peninsula against the much larger Doge Wonderlandian army. By 877 AD, the war had mostly degenerated into sporadic low-level conflicts, and a ceasefire was signed, setting up a marchland along the Doge-Protescheems border, though hostilities were never officially ceased. The Protescheems Republic entered a period of economic growth after it achieved independence and also settled the Smoldog Islands to its east, while entering into a economic and military alliance with the Axocha Empire.

In 951 AD, following a population boom in Doge Wonderland and a political crisis gripping the Axocha Empire after the 950 Tlochtlan earthquake, Doge Wonderland invaded the mainland Protescheems Republic, forcing the government to evacuate to the Smoldog Islands. The victory served as a great morale and propaganda victory for Doge Wonderland, which was rechristened by Otto von Longdawg the Reconquerer as the Holy Empire of Doge Wonderland.

### Pax Doge Wonderlandia

Following the 1542 fall of Aethian City and the ensuing conquest of the Confederation of the Aer began a period of 250 years known as the *Pax Doge Wonderlandia* ("Doge Wonderlandian Peace"). This period was marked by social stability, economic prosperity and reduced domestic levels of crime and violence; though sporadic uprisings and rebellions did occur, they were defeated quickly. During this time, supported by forced labor and colonialism, Doge Wonderland was able to make swift technological advancements, including the extensive use of water power in industry, early experimentation with electricity and steam power, and the invention of the telescope, among myriad other developments. It began to transition into an industrial economy towards the end of the Pax Doge Wonderlandia, marked by the 1792 development of the Bessemer process for the mass production of steel, though it was unable to make much progress in this transition before the partial collapse of the empire.

### Decline and Century of Freedom

Beginning in the early 18th century, Doge Wonderland gradually underwent a series of political changes that contributed to its decline. In 1711, frustrated with the over-centralization of power under the emperor, Otto von Longdawg the Delegator began a series of reforms transferring power away from the imperial throne and allowing limited self-government among the ruling Dogeis population in the Imperial Dominions. His successor Otto von Longdawg the Entruster continued the process, allowing the individual dominions limited independence in selecting their leaders and government, though the mainland Doge Wonderlandian government retained final authority in leader selection. This process led to economic growth and reduced the stress of leadership on the emperor and central bureaucracy (many of the Delegator's predecessors had died of diseases exhibiting symptoms similar to diseases caused by excessive stress) but ultimately led to the downfall of the Empire.

In the early 19th century began a period known as the Century of Freedom, due to many conquered peoples regaining their independence from Doge Wonderland. It began with the Spring Revolution in the Dominion of Aerland, culminating in the First Aeslandic War of Independence which became de facto independent as the Federal Republic of Aesland, though the 1817 Treaty of Woofertown only officially ceased hostilities and did not officially recognize Aesland. Contemporaneously, the Caparce Uprising led to the Doge Wonderlandian Civil War, resulting in the establishment of the Imperial Union of Ibarkla and Nanto; this union was soon dissolved and the Ibarklan subcontinent was reunified into the Republic of Ibarkla after the Ibarklan Revolutionary War.

Due to extensive territorial, economic and human losses sustained in the Aeslandic and Ibarklan independence movements, mainland Doge Wonderland was forced to consolidate its resources, neglecting the eastern half of the empire to focus on the more densely populated and industrialized western half. This, combined with heavy-handed enforcement of grain shipments from the east leading to mass starvation, societal breakdown and a sharp increase in crime, and renewed religious discrimination against Protescheemsists, led to the Second Reformation War and the independence of Keurig Machines. In all, the Century of Freedom led to Doge Wonderland losing almost three-quarters of its territorial holdings and an economic downturn that lasted almost three decades.

## Demographics

With the exception of small Aeslandic and Nantese communities, Doge Wonderland is entirely populated by ethnically and culturally homogenous Dogeis people.

### Religion

The official state religion of Doge Wonderland is Dogeism. The official and dominant form of Dogeism is Unitary Dogeism, the main sect of Dogeism that arose after the War of the Doge Wonderlandian Succession. Some denominations like Mandator and Loyalist Dogeism are tolerated, while Protescheemsism is suppressed by the government. All other religions are forbidden and are punished by death. Populations of atheists, agnostics and people of other religions do exist in Doge Wonderland, mostly concentrated in communities where Depressione exerts significant power and authority, but are officially unrecognized.

## Government and politics

> *Main article: Politics of Doge Wonderland*
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> *See also: Doge Wonderlandian royal naming traditions*
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Doge Wonderland is an absolute monarchy. The monarch, all of whom have been named Otto von Longdawg and are distinguished from one another mainly via cognomens, holds absolute power over the nation. Elections and political parties are not permitted at the national, provincial or local level, though this often goes unenforced at lower levels due to corruption and lack of enforcement. It has a totalitarian government, as political opposition is legally oppressed, and freedom of speech and assembly are not allowed.

Due to the power and reach of Depressione, many urban centers have transitioned away from the central government's control and towards Depressione's influence.

## Economy

Doge Wonderland maintains a mixed economy, combining some aspects of a free market with government oversight and central planning.