Chernarus

*This article is about the fictional nation. Written by Echo and Flash.*

**Chernarus** (Chernarussian: **Černarus**; Russian: **Черноруссии**), officially known as the Republic of Chernarus (Chernarussian: **Republika Černarus**; Russian: **Республика Черноруссии**), is located on the Black Mountains peninsula. It is bordered by the Russian Federation to the north, Takistan to the west, and the Green Sea to the south and the east. With a territory of 1202 square kilometres, Chernarus is Europe’s 45th largest country.

Organised prehistoric cultures started developing on Chernarussian lands around the 5th Century B.C. Its ancient history saw presence of the Skyth people, which are the ancestors of the modern Takistani people. The Skyth people inhabited the area in between the rivers of Svetlaya and Burnaya until Slavic tribes invaded the area of modern Chernarus. With the influx of Slavs who share their traditions and blood with the western Slavic peoples [Polish, Czech, Slovak] the Skyth people have been driven out of the area of modern Chernarus to what is today known as Takistan. The emergence of a unified Chernarussian state dates back to the establishment of the Principality of Cherna Rus in 1252 AD, which with the help of Russian states managed to take back the lands that it lost in 1156-1161. More conflicts arose after the Ottoman invasion of the Takmyr Khante, after which the Ottoman Empire has successfully managed to invade Chernarus in 1558. After 10 years in 1568 Chernarus along with the support from the Tsardom of Russia has managed to expel the Ottoman forces out of Chernarus. The alliance between the Russia and Chernarus has led to Chernarus becoming a part of the Tsardom. Chernarus has stayed a part of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire and later on the Soviet Union until 1991. Chernarus has finally gained independence with the fall of the Soviet Union and transited into a democracy and a market-based economy.

Chernarus’ population of nearly 3.9 million people is predominantly urbanised and mainly concentrated in the country’s bigger cities such as Novigrad, Kirovograd, Belozersk, Miroslavl’. Alone those four cities hold 68% of the population, with the remaining 32% living in the countryside in smaller towns and villages. Most cultural and commercial activities happen in the capital and the coastline from Novigrad to Miroslavl’. The strongest sectors of the economy are heavy industry, power engineering and agriculture to some extent, all of which rely on natural resources.

The country’s current political structure dates back to the adoption of a democratic constitution in 1991. Chernarus is a unitary parliamentary republic with a high degree of political, administrative, and economic centralization. It is a member of the United Nations, Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

## History

### **Middle Ages and Ancient Times**

The first proof of any civilization or people's group being settled in the lands of modern day Chernarus date back to the 5th Century B.C. with the Skyth people, the ancestors of the modern-day Takistani people. The Skyth people were settled between the Burnaya and Svetlaya rivers and have lived there until in the 6th Century A.D. Slavic tribes expelled them out of the area and to the west, where they settled in the modern-day region of Takistan, Ardistan and Kurzeghistan.

Slavic tribes from the east settled in the area and have started constructing first towns soon after their arrival. The Slavic tribes were mainly of Chernarussian and Russian origin, Chernarussians mainly being of western-Slavic origin and the Russians of eastern-Slavic origin. The first organized nation in the region that is known to modern historians is the Principality of Cherna Rus created by Jakob Rurik and the house of Rurik on the area that is today known as Novigrad. Many suspect that the name "Chernarus" and "Chernarussian" has come from the fact that the people have settled in the lands of the Black Mountains, despite the fact that the name contains the word "Rus" and "Russian", the origin of the people is not Russian, similar to Belarus and the Belorussian people. However over the centuries of cooperation and living together with the Russian people, the Chernarussians have inherited many traditions, their religion which was brought to the lands of Chernarus by Apostle Simeon, the Chernarussian and Russian people are very much alike, however they do not speak the same language even tho they are culturally very similar with the Cossack culture being one of the most dominant ones in the region of Zagoria, bringing many Chernarussian and Russian families closer.

Due to the ideas of Pan-Slavism and the cooperation between the Chernarussian and the Russian people not many conflicts happened between the Slavic people settling in the region and the first official war between the Takmyr Khante [successors of the Skyth People and Predecessors of the Takistani People], the war which was many fights west of the Svetlaya river, in the modern region of Takistan.  The war has lasted from 1156 to 1161 A.D. The Takmyr Khante has managed to push further east of the Svetlaya river until the terms were made, and the Rubrik dynasty surrendered the lands they lost, this was a humongous blow to their dynasty, their power, and ultimately to their rule. As in 1252 A.D. Taras Kozub became the new ruler of all Chernarussian lands with the support of the Russian people. He has not only taken the Principality of Cherna Rus from the House of Rurik, but he has unified the eastern lands all the way from the Svetlaya river to North and South Zagoria, creating one of the most powerful nations the region has seen and naming it the Grand Principality of Chernarus, with that, he was crowned as the Grand Prince by the Orthodox Church. He led a cruel war against the Takmyr Khante and pushed them back over the Svetlaya river, reclaiming most of the lands that were lost in the 1156-1161 war and ruled over the with ease with the support of many great families from the region, the region saw many conflicts between the Takmyr Khante and the Grand Principality of Chernarus, some small, some large, however the Takmyrs were never able to cross the Svetlaya river again.

The year 1478 saw the Ottoman expansion in the region, as it claimed and conquered the lands of today's Ardistan, Kurzeghistan and Takistan, with those regions the Takmyr Khante fell as well, many of the people were converted to Islam under the Ottoman rule, those who haven't have either been sent off to fight the wars for the Ottomans, killed, or they just simply fled the area further north, seeking refuge in Russian lands. In 1558 the Ottoman forces along with their local supporters have set out to invade Chernarus, which they managed to do within one year, conquering the lands from the Svetlaya River to the Black Mountains, killing the Grand Prince and his close family, driving the rest of the Kozub dynasty out of the region, north through more Ottoman lands and finally into the Tsardom of Russia, only to come back 10 years later, during the Russo-Turkish wars of 1568-1570 with the support of the Tsardom, the Cossacks and the local Chernarussians the leftovers of the Kozub dynasty have managed to push back the Ottomans back across the Svetlaya river, with one of the bloodies battles being fought in the Kirovo fields, the battle later on became a national holiday and its result has decided the outcome of the war, breaking the biggest Ottoman force in the region, and forcing them to retreat back to Takistani lands. The outcome of the war lead to a marriage between the royal families of the Tsardom of Russia and Chernarus, leading to Chernarus becoming a part of the Tsardom.

### **World War I and Industrialization**

With the royal marriage between Duke Kazimir Romanov and Anya Kozub in 1571 an alliance was formed between the two nations, and soon after the death of Petr Kozub, Anya's son that she had with Kazimir Romanov, a Russian Duke, inherits the throne to Chernarus and accepts an offer from the Tsar to become his vassal, in return the Tsar gives him ownership of the lands of Chernarus and Zagoria. The lands of Chernarus prospered under the rule of the Romanov family and the support of the Russian Empire, Novigrad was proclaimed as the capital of the Chernarus and Zagoria region and a royal palace was created to house the leaders of the lands. With Russia in control of Novigrad, the city prospered as a regional and main Green Sea port, urbanization took a heavy beating on the rural population, a large part of the young population left their villages and towns in order to settle in Novigrad, with its fairly decent position on the coast, and the amount of money the Russian Empire invested in it, the city was brewing with activity as many of the merchants, travelling from east to west have stopped in the region in order to sell their goods. During this period many other cities have started appearing, namely Belozersk near the White Lake, the town controlled a lot of the transit coming through the mountains as the White Lake was the easiest way to go through the Black Mountains, further north into Russia, and south to the rest of the peninsula and the ports. Miroslavl' was the other town that prospered with the trade, it was known as the second best port in the region, with the taxes being lower in Miroslavl' many merchants, smaller and big, have moved there in order to achieve a larger profit.

The region was undergoing mass industrialization and urbanization during the late 19th Century, however the Russian Empire has been slowly attempting to "Russify" the Chernarussian people. Even tho the two nations were culturally similar, many of the Chernarussians refused to accept things such as the Cyrillic script and the Russian language as their own, the two peoples however found a common ground with the Cossack culture, which was extremely present in the lands north of the Black Mountains and many of the Chernarussian people north of the Black Mountains have accepted to culturally assimilate over time, however in the areas where the Cossack culture was not as present, the Russian leadership had a hard time convincing people, however they have not resulted to using weaponry of force in order to assimilate the Chernarussian people. These attempts of Russification have caused some unrest in the area and dislike towards the ruling Romanov family and the Russian people as a whole, however this dislike has not caused any violence in the 19th Century, not until the Soviet Union.

The situation in the region of Chernarus and Zagoria was fairly stable despite some minor unrest and dislike towards the leadership, many thought that it was for the better if Chernarus stayed a part of the Russian Empire and prosper. However with the entry into the 20th century, the prosperity and growth has slowly decreased, until more and more issues started arising as the tensions in Europe were at a constant high. And in 1914, with the Russian Empire entering the First World War, the Ottoman Empire blocked access to the Mediterranean, which lead to the trade and the ports in Chernarus suffering greatly. Many goods still arrived from the east, however they could not leave the Black Sea as Istanbul completely blocked the pass. The situation in the Russian Empire was worse and worse, as the casualties of war were pilling up, trade was blocked, factories were being shut down and the entire country was falling into an economic collapse. Minor nationalistic movements appear during the collapse of the Empire, many of them have just been revived from their predecessors in the 1840's and 50's, however the Communist support was overwhelming and because of it, the nationalistic movements in Chernarus are quickly shut down. The region of Chernarus went into a rapid decline economically, leading to many losing their jobs, becoming homeless. The situation was no better in the rest of the Empire. Soon, with the appearance of the Communist ideas, many supported the cause, this included many people from Chernarus as well, the dislike towards the royal family, the loss of jobs, the crumbling economy, many turned to Communism as they stood for the poor workers of the land, many supported the ideas of equality and unification, for the people and by the people.

### **Communism and the Soviet Rule**

With the communists primarily gathering support in the western region of Chernarus, they had an opposition. Many of the industrialized areas were pro-Communist, however in the regions such as South Zagoria and the region of Miroslavl’, the support for the royal family, and the White Army was dominant.

Skirmishes happened between the pro-communist bolshevik forces and the anti-bolshevik forces in the region of South Zagoria leading into guerrilla warfare were neither side would be able to take over enough territories to make a difference on the geographical landscape. But, nearing the end of the Russian Civil war, and with the advancing Red army into the west of Chernarus, the white army forces were defeated along with the Duke of Chernarus himself, he and his family met the same fate of the royal family and were executed a month prior to the civil war ended. Peace was final in Chernarus for the next 20 years.
The Chernarussian people in the west were very welcoming towards the idea of communism and with the end of the civil war came many celebrations. Many expected a better life, more jobs, luxuries and so forth, especially with the end of the First World War. The people were motivated to rebuild what was destroyed, and the communists did offer the people a great amount of jobs and housing. We could say that things were going in the right direction with the communist rule, however with Stalin taking complete power over the Soviet Union, that is when Chernarus saw some of its darkest times in history. With the Iron Fist of Stalin came many purges, deportations and further attempts of Stalinization and Russification. The propaganda machine was working non-stop to feed the people the idea of a Soviet Utopia, that nationalism was bad and so forth. Anyone who opposed the Soviet rule was arrested and what happened to them afterwards was never known.
Any sort of attempt by nationalists or anyone who opposed the regime was answered with complete brutality and shut down. Russian was taught and the Cyrillic script was implemented without any sort of questions being asked to the people by the regime. Dislike grew towards the Soviet Union and the idea of communism as the dream of a Soviet Utopia disappeared slowly in time.

Economically Novigrad received a giant boost in both population and industry, money was flowing into the city however it wasn’t always ending up in the hands of the people. With aggressive Stalinization and Russification of Chernarus, dislike turned into hatred and many people were disappointed with what the Soviet Union and communism turned out to be.

### **World War II**

With the launch of Operation Barbarossa, the USSR and Germany have found themselves in combat, with the German forces pushing deep into the Soviet Union. By the 18th of November the German forces have managed to push past Novorossiysk however that is where the offensive has halted. The German forces have found themselves in a stalemate. During the German offensive into the Caucasus, the high-command of the German Armed Forces has come up with “Operation Rose”. Before “Operation Rose” was commenced, the plan was to conquer the Caucasus through “Operation Edelweiss” and “Operation Alpenröschen”.

These were the goals of the two operations:

* Operation Edelweiss: Conquer the Caucasus and prepare the area for a further advance through Turkey to Egypt.
* Operation Alpenröschen: Conquer the Black Mountains, advance to Novigrad and destroy Soviet Navy bases on the Chernarussian shore.

As the main Operation Edelweiss got stuck at Krasnaja Poljana 25 km in front of Sochi, the German High Command decided to push through the defenses of the Black Mountains. But Operation Alpenröschen was just a dream since there was not enough troops or supplies to attack. Since a normal attack was doomed to fail, however with it many important objectives would as well, like the control over the Green Sea and its Naval Bases, the OKW and several officials have come up with a new plan.

Operation Rose was carried out on the 1st of October 1942 .500 Volunteers from special units like the Brandenburgers, the Fallschirmjäger and the Waffen-SS were dropped behind enemy lines by a KG200. After information which the German intelligence gathered in the years before the war, Chernarus suffered a lot under the Stalin Regime and most of the people would gladly support Germany and its forces. Thousands of pieces of equipment and weaponry were dropped into Chernarus via air in order to support and supply the local pro-Nazi forces.

With most of the Soviet forces focused on fighting the Germans in their effort to push into the Caucasus, which left only a minimal amount of Soviet forces left in Chernarus, many of those who were not loyal to the Soviet leadership. As the Nazis were building up support in Chernarus, they decided to strike fast. Novigrad, Primorsk, Miroslavl’, Chernogorsk, Kirovograd, all quickly fell into the hands of the pro-Nazi forces. Fighting quickly ensued between the small amount of loyal Soviet troops and an overwhelming pro-Nazi force, the Soviet forces were drive to Belozersk within a matter of a week since the uprising.

Operation Rose was carried out with major success, quickly capturing port cities in Chernarus and driving out any Soviet forces. The Soviet high-command however decided not to put as many forces into Chernarus and only focused on keeping the Germans up north and pushing them back. The New Chernarussian State, or the First Chernarussian State, as it some referred to it, was supposed to become a Nazi puppet state of Chernarus, however with the German retreat in 1943, things were not going as well as the high-command planned. At first the Soviet Union held of an offensive on Chernarus whilst rapidly pushing the Germans back on all other fronts. This has left the newly founded Chernarussian State several months until the eventual offensive into Chernarus. With around 320.000 soldiers and volunteers, 300 vehicles of all kinds and around 30 aircraft, they have managed to form an army, however they no longer received supplies from the Germans, leaving them to make their own weaponry and vehicles.

The Soviet plan was to re-capture Chernarus before they launch an offensive on the Ukrainian front. That is why in early February of 1943 is when the first air raids stated happening. Novigrad's industrial sector was leveled to the ground and so was Kirovograd's. Leaving Miroslavl' as the only city capable of producing the necessary material for heavy weaponry and heavy weaponry itself. Chernarussians quickly made their own copy of the T-34, however it was no match for the latest models that the Soviets used. Anything that the Chernarussians developed or tried using would not be up-to-par with the Soviet technology. The last Soviet territory on Chernarussian soil was Belozersk, whoever controlled the city controlled the best and easiest crossing into Chernarus, that is why the Soviets invested a lot of manpower to resist any sort of Chernarussian attack. And so, after several attempts to take over Belozersk by the Chernarussians, they decided to surround the town fro the south, east and west, and dig in, waiting for the Soviets to come out.

On the 5th of June 1943, the Chernarussian forces were awakened by the sound of the Katyushas. Shortly after the rockets stopped flying dozens upon dozens of vehicles poured into the countryside around Belozersk, destroying any Chernarussian emplacements. The Chernarussian defensive line was broken within a matter of hours as the Soviets poured into the country destroying anything in their path. The Chernarussian Liberation Army was equipped with mainly out-dated equipment, whatever was left of the German supplies and whatever they could scavenge from the Soviet armories, whilst the attacking Red Army operated and was equipped with latest vehicles and weaponry from the Soviet Union. The Chernarussian Liberation Army, or the army of the New State has fallen back to Novigrad and its many river where they made their last attempt to hold of the Soviet assault. The Red Army swiftly crushed the rest of the CLA, quickly marching into, first Kirovograd, then Miroslavl', then Primorsk and Chernogorsk. By the 10th of July everything except Novigrad fell to the hands of the Soviets. Novigrad turned into an urban warfare hell, civilian casualties were in the tens of thousands as many didn't have where to escape the conflict and the fighting. By the 1st of August 1943, the guns fell silent in Novigrad, as the last unit was wiped out by the Red Army, however this was not the end of the conflict in Chernarus. The retaliation of the Soviets is about to begin, and so is the Chernarussian insurgency.

### **Cold War**

With the fall of the The Chernarussian State and the Chernarussian Liberation Army, the Soviets quickly took over and brought down any of the last strongholds in Chernarus, however that did not stop the fighting. Many have fled into hiding, creating small resistance groups. These resistance groups grew larger and larger as the Soviets were getting their revenge because of the "Chernarussian Back-stab" as they called it. These resistance groups would be fighting and fighting, destroying Red Army convoys, raiding bases and generally being an issue for the Red Army and the Soviet Regime.

The Soviets Union started a brutal campaign against the resistance in late 1945. Thousands upon thousands of people were arrested, hundreds of thousands were deported and sent to labor camp facilities, commonly known as 'Gulags'. The Soviet Union increased military presence in Chernarus and with it has managed to successfully crush the major part of the resistance, a small amount of rebels has survived the Soviet campaign against them. People stopped joining the rebels, in fear that their families and those who they held dear would get taken away as many of those before them did. By 1952, most of the resistance was crushed and those who were left did not have the supplies nor manpower to conduct any larger operations or deal any major damage to the regime. The last rebel attack has occurred in 1954, when a small military depot was sabotaged, however the saboteurs were quickly caught and executed. From that point on, not a single major, or organized attack has been seen, or any attack that we know of. Many of the Soviet files about Chernarus are still not known and are hidden away somewhere or destroyed forever.

General Secretary Stalin's rule was seen as one of the darkest moments in Chernarussian history. Their language was forbidden on paper and official work, their salaries were practically nonexistent, healthcare was nothing but a dream, people were treated as objects, many worked in bombed-out factories in the cities, those who lived in the countryside had to live off of what they had, that is what they had left after paying taxes to the state. Many would try and find comfort in religion, however their churches were burned and destroyed, their religion, forbidden, those who opposed, them, their families, tortured, killed, deported into the Siberian Gulags. These dark times lasted until 1953, when Stalin has finally met his end and died. With Stalin gone, Chernarus was slowly becoming a normal state and was catching up to the other Soviet Republics. Massive industrialization and urbanization occurred, people were still under a watchful eye of the regime, even the slightest suspicion or opposition to the regime was met with brutal consequences. The regime still suppressed the use of the Latin script in official documents, however people were allowed to use it unofficially.

General Secretary Stalin's end has brought a lot of good to the region of Chernarus, cities prospered, factories were finally repaired, thousands of people were housed and many were pleased with the things they have received, however the hatred for communism and the ethnic tension was still burning deep down in them. However no one dared to express their hatred, not with violence, not with voice, not at all, they would be quickly arrested and then, well we can only speculate as to what happened to them, for thousands of those who tried, documents were never found as to what happened to them, and neither were their bodies. However that was the minority, the majority of the people decided to ignore, but never forget, the past. Most of them simply just focused on working and raising their children, living a normal life, those people usually had nothing to worry about as long as they listened to the regime and obeyed. The economy of Chernarus, especially in the cities prospered from the 1960's until the early 1980's, when Chernarus along with the Soviet Union entered a political and economic turmoil.

When the country has prospered economically, the fear of the people against the regime had never disappeared, until the 1980's. The government grew weaker and weaker, less influential in all spheres of life. Corruption, the loss of jobs, private owners, money went to the rich from the poor, the rich became richer, and the poor became poorer. Factory after factory was shut down and people were stressed, people were angry, nobody was happy except those who were rich. People expressed their anger more and more, nationalism burned inside of the Chernarussian people. Once they at least had a normal life even if it was without religion and their script, however now they had nothing, not a job, no money, no religion, no nothing. Ethnic tensions were rising as people started to express their hatred through violence. Gangs, mafias, criminal organizations, blackmail, became a part of every-day life in Chernarus, drugs and illegal weaponry and trading. Chernarus was a broken country as the 1990's were coming, a decade that will see the fall of the Soviet Union.

### **Fall of the Soviet Union**

Riots, protests, uprising, martial law, freedom, collapse, independence, the words one would see on television, depending on which channel you were watching in 1991. At first Soviet troops rushed into the city, supporting the local police forces in Novigrad, Primorsk, Kirovograd, Miroslavl', Belozersk. No matter how many vehicles or troops the Soviets put into the town, it could never outnumber the amount of people going onto the streets. By the 25th of January the Soviet forces in the Chernarussian SSR have been ordered to withdraw from the country with as much equipment as they can. As the bases emptied, the cities were still occupied by the Soviet forces until the 1st of February when they were all ordered to immediately evacuate the cities and go across the border as the government was no longer able to control the population in Chernarus, the Baltic States and in Russia itself.

On the 5th of February, Chernarus officially became an independent nation, no longer under the Soviet rule. A president was elected by the citizens of the new nation and elected the First President of the nation Vilém Švec, who assisted in the independence from the Soviet Union. It became a parliamentary republic, statues of Lenin and Stalin were being torn down across the country, symbols of pain and suffering to the Chernarussian people, flags of the Soviet Union were burned, colors of green and yellow were raised on every building. Celebrations lasted for days on end until reality was slowly coming back to the people, they soon had to realize that they live in a country that is in horrible state, every other factory was shut down, unemployment was at 60%. People had nothing to do. The new country requested foreign aid in the form of money in order to restart some of the factories, which it managed to do, and by 1998 it managed to drop unemployment below 20%. However even without jobs people worked hard, whether looking for part time jobs of some sort or just working in the fields outside of the city.

These are the days when rich preyed upon the poor, with high unemployment, many would work for anything one might give them, even if it was an extremely small amount of money, which most of the times it was. Novigrad was one of the first cities and places in Chernarus to be able to fully recover from the economic collapse, unemployment was only at 4% in the year 2000. And the rest of Chernarus was slowly rebuilding itself, salaries were increased, more jobs were created, houses were given to those who didn't have any. With the help from Europe and the United States, the country manage to put itself back on its feet to some extent. Cities did prosper when the 21st century came around, Novigrad could be considered a modern European capital, public transportation was one of the best in region, comparable to the Moscow's metro stations, much of Chernarus prospered, Belozersk, Miroslavl', Kirovograd, all of these cities and areas around them were doing as well as they could considering the circumstances. However the same could not be said for the rest of the country, especially South Zagoria.

South Zagoria was a complete mess of ethnic tension, corruption and overall an undeveloped part of the country. Many believe that the fact that the region was undeveloped is the direct result of the amount of ethnic tension in the region with the Russians blaming Chernarussians, and the Chernarussians blaming Russians. This ethnic tension is the reason why parties and organizations such as NAPA and the ChDKZ were created later on in the future. With NAPA guerrilla fighters and members beating up, killing, robbing and generally committing crimes against the Russian populous in South Zagoria. However it wasn't only NAPA that was doing such things, many gangs and smaller organizations, who have later actively taken part in the 2009 conflict on the side of the ChDKZ, were committing the exact same crimes. This meant that the fighting would never be stopped in South Zagoria, with everyone taking 'revenge' against one another. South Zagoria was one of the worst places in Chernarus, most of the smuggling of weapons, drugs or whatever was needed, happened through the Black Mountains, specifically north of South Zagoria.

However the amount of crime and illegal activities happening in South Zagoria were not unnoticed by the government, and soon enough the government sent in small detachments of the CDF as well as personnel from the OREL part of the police to support the local police force in its effort to lower the crime rate, which they managed to do through many successful operations in the area. Many supposed NAPA members as well as members of the Communist Party and the ChDKZ were captured during these operations, however the authorities never managed to link them to the actual political parties. By 2006 the amount of police operations conducted has lowered drastically as the crime rate was at its lowest point in South Zagoria. However they had to pay their attention to the amount of unrest caused during protests and rallies held by the majority Russian supported ChDKZ and the Chernarussian supported NAPA, many believe that the clashes between NAPA and ChDKZ before the conflict, were the reason as to why there was so many atrocities and war crimes committed during the conflict itself. However the rest of Chernarus was in a completely different situation compared to South Zagoria, ethnic tension was on a down-low in the cities such as Belozersk, Russians and Chernarussians lived in peace, many believe that this is due to the fact that western and central Chernarus were a lot better developed compared to eastern Chernarus [south Zagoria]. People focused on work and making their lives, and lives of their children a lot more enjoyable. Unlike in South Zagoria, many Chernarussians and Russians got married in other parts of Chernarus, bonded families and lived quite a peaceful and prosperous life, as prosperous as it could be in Chernarus that is.

### **2009 South Zagorian Conflict**

Due to the ChDKZ party being outlawed in 2007, the ChDKZ have started being much more aggressive and even violent. The disgruntled Chedaki then went on to organize political rallies and marches. The rallies quickly escalated into violence between protesters and the police and OREL units which resulted in the  use of tear gas and rubber bullets - some protesters and police were killed along with several more wounded. This spurred civil unrest throughout South Zagoria between Ethnic Russians and Chernarussian citizens, with the events that happened. The ChDKZ was forcibly dissolved as a political party, which brewed more resentment for the current Chernarussian Government from the already bruised Chedaki. The Chedaki then proceeded to go underground - purchasing weapons, vehicles and equipment along with months of training before they finally initiated an attempted coup d'état in the northern half of South Zagoria.

July 12th 2009 The Beginning and The Early Days of the Conflict: During the early days of the conflict - CDF (Chernarus Defence Force) soldiers who were stationed in the northern part of South Zagoria were caught off guard by the unexpected attacks on their positions, and as a result - were quickly overwhelmed. Early reports of the conflict were sketchy and intelligence on the Chedkai forces was thin on the ground, and as a result - the deployment of CDF reinforcements to South Zagoria was slow and was partially ineffective due to the Chedaki's Guerrilla tactics as they tended to hit and raid resupply convoys entering the province. The CDF suffered defeat after defeat at the hands of the Chedaki - one of the most harrowing defeats was the loss and almost complete annihilation of Severský Základní, the small CDF Base due North of Sverograd - in which the Chedaki filmed the burning alive of two CDF platoons as a means of scare tactics. Several villages were also destroyed during the initial skirmishing - the most notably being Kumyrna which is still a ruin to this day.

After suffering countless defeats the CDF was pushed back to the South Western quarter of the province - the most notable location being Balota airstrip - the Chedaki attacked and attempted to raid the base - but the stalwart CDF soldiers stationed there managed to hold off the attack. The Chedaki also instigated a successful offensive on the CDF training base on Utes island and slaughtered every soldier present. However the CDF wasn't alone in the early days of the Civil War - Národní Strana (The National Party) Also known as NAPA. NAPA fighters assisted the CDF in the Civil War against the Chedaki and worked alongside CDF commanders in organising counter offensives.

Foreign Intervention: Due to US Foreign Policy, the US managed to get involved within the Civil War, Primarily to promote good relations with the current Chernarussian government due to it's strategic location within the Black Sea and being in close proximity to Takistan - a force of 2000 US Marines and one combat fleet were deployed within Chernarus, under the mission codename "Operation: Harvest Red" - Quickly liberating the island of Utes in just three days, before being deployed in a assault on the Regional capital - Chernogorsk in joint operations with NAPA and the CDF. The combined attacks by CDF, NAPA and US Marines - coupled with airstrikes and some US Armour being deployed - quickly overwhelmed the Chedaki positions, with many being taken captive.

However news soon came to light of the conflict not being as simple as a war for control - Fireteam "Razor" were deployed the night before to knock out communications equipment located in the village of Pusta to disorganize the Chedaki forces before the assault began the following day. At Pusta they found some Chedaki militants brutally beating and torturing the local Doctor. "Razor" quickly dispatched the Chedaki soldiers stationed there, and succeeded in knocking out the communications equipment - but not before receiving a tip off from the doctor about the village having been massacred - After destroying the communications equipment, fireteam Razor followed the doctor to the Mass grave in which hundreds of civilians had been burned, tortured or just plain shot dead and hastily buried by the Chedaki militants. Evidence of the war crimes was quickly gathered - suspicions of Ethnic Cleansing were brought into topic by the Marines before they set off south to prepare for the assault on the Regional Capital.

The Moscow Bombing: After the overwhelmingly successful offensive by the joint CDF-US-NAPA coalition on Chernogorsk, the conflict seemed to be coming to a close - the coalition quickly liberated more than half of South Zagoria. However news soon came to light of a Car bombing in the Red Square, Moscow - which injured or killed dozens of civilians. Initial findings pointed to NAPA having orchestrated the bombings - NAPA had a reputation for hating Ethnic Russians due to their Nationalistic views, however - The United Nations ruled that the US should withdraw from Chernarus and let Russian Peacekeepers finish the conflict. However - Fireteam "Razor" was left behind during the US retreat. They soon discovered the Russian Peacekeepers were backing the Chedaki with armour, weapons and munitions, along with some artillery, and even sometimes skirmished with NAPA and CDF Forces. Once again the CDF was being pushed back to the South Western quarter of South Zagoria. However, thanks to Fireteam Razor's Efforts - evidence came to light of proving the Chedaki having orchestrated the Moscow Bombing - however they made it look like NAPA did it. The Russian's UN Mandate was quickly made null and void and the US Marines were allowed to be redeployed. This spelled certain doom for the Chedaki - it's leader Gregori "Akula" Lopatev was captured and deported to Russia, the remainder of the ChDKZs ranks quickly either fled and scattered or were captured or killed.

October 18th 2009 The End, Epilogue: With the conflict over, the US invested heavily in rebuilding efforts for South Zagoria - in bid to get rights to establish a US base within Chernarus - they however failed in this gambit, and no permanent US base was ever established. Chernarus soon recovered from it's brief Civil war, however the scars still covered the land - Countless mass graves and bodies still remain unaccounted for. The Russian effort to support the Chedaki only led to more resentment from Chernarussians towards Russians. The Chedaki Remnants fled into the woods or adopted new identities to escape persecution by CDF and NAPA forces. No files of Fireteam Razor's efforts were ever released, the conflicts files were sealed, documentation was locked away and the 2009 Civil War earned the nickname "The War that Never Was" by the CIA agent in charge of sealing the files. To this day, files and information on the conflict is still difficult to obtain.

### **2009–present**

On the 18th of October 2009, the conflict and the war came to an end, some ChDKZ forces remained, some changed their identity to avoid being captured, some stood and fought until they died. Only after the war came to a stop, the true scale of the crimes committed was revealed. Buildings and churches burned down across the region, bodies pilled up in graves and some never to be found. The atmosphere was cold, winter is around the corner and thousands of people no longer have their homes, heating, water, electricity, everything was shut down. The poorest region in Chernarus has just went through a civil war, it was in complete ruins.

The Chernarussian Defense Force increased military presence in the region of South Zagoria, vehicles and personnel which were kept at bay west of the region poured into the country, crushing any leftover resistance with the assistance of NAPA. However they were not as welcomed in some parts, most didn't care whether it was communism or democracy, to them all they wanted was to live in peace, for now. As the CDF has made its forces push north to eradicate the last of the ChDKZ, NAPA was located further south from the forces in order to help with patrolling until the local police force managed to stand up on its feet again.

As NAPA was not a disciplined army and merely acted on their own, this has led to a lot of revenge acts against the Russian population and the ChDKZ that surrendered, they were brutally tortured, hanged, burnt, executed in firing squads. Many NAPA personnel went on a complete rampage killing, raping and destroying anything Russian. This rampage has went on for three months before the local police force started to patrol Chernogorsk, Elektrozavodsk and then further and further up north. With the aid from the United States and the EU, Chernarus has managed to re-build South Zagoria to some extent, factories, stores and public services have been re-opened, the police force was operating once again, hospitals re-opened and extensive medical care is provided to those who need it. Many of the mines and quarries however have been taken over by foreign investors, the investors used the bad state of South Zagoria ,and the lack of money the government had to pay for the repairs, in order to purchase properties and land across South Zagoria and even Chernarus for a very cheap price, most of the profit was going away from the Chernarussian government, but jobs were provided to the people and the people did not mind it even if they had minimum wage salaries.

Whilst South Zagoria was being re-built, conflicts arose on the other end of peninsula, especially in Takistan. Many refugees fled to Russia or Chernarus, some even tried escaping via boat to Europe, seeking for asylum along with the refugees from the Middle-East and Africa. As some parts of western Chernarus were already populated with Takistanis, many fled to their relatives in the west and many continued going further into Russia in hopes to continue their journey from there. Central and western Chernarus were developing fast, cities were filled with night-life, clubs and Chernarus became one of the larger "party countries" in the world, holding dozens of festivals across its large cities. However, sadly, South Zagoria did not share the same faith, it was left undeveloped and lacking compared to the rest of Chernarus, the scars of the 2009 conflict still remain, tensions were high between the Russians and Chernarussians and they are that way still today.

## Geography

### **Geology**

Chernarus occupies a portion of the eastern Black Mountain peninsula, bordering two countries - Russia to the north and Takistan to the west. The land borders have a total length of 316km and the coastline has a length of of 251km. It has an area of 1202 square kilometers making it the world's 184th largest country.

The most notable topographical features are the Black Mountains, the Kirovo Plains and a small part of the Takmyr Ridge. The southern edge of the Kirovo Plains slopes upward into the foothills south of the Black Mountains, while the Svetlaya river defines a third of the border with Takistan. The Takmyr Ridge is located mainly along the northern part of the border with Takistan, after which it connects into the Black Mountains Ridge which define the entire peninsula.

The Black Mountains run along the northern border of Chernarus with Russia, after which they go further up north and end at the Black Sea. The highest peak on Chernarussian territory is peak Kozub at 1,472 meters and its lowest point is the sea level. Plains occupy about one-third of the territory, while plateaus and hills occupy 41%.

Chernarus closely cooperates with the European Environment Agency in order to successfully preserve many of its forests and rivers. Most of the major cities house large facilities for recycling waist. Even tho the economy of the country is not strong the government does its best to keep the environment at one of the best standards in Europe.

### **Waters**

Chernarus has a small amount of rivers in its western region, however they relatively big and many of them posses little creeks which branch off into the land, the eastern region of South Zagoria however only posses a few smaller lakes and creeks. The two largest rivers are the Svetlaya and Burnaya rivers which forms part of Chernarus' southern border. The Svetlaya and the Burnaya flow into the Black Sea, as do all smaller rivers in Chernarus.

Chernarus' rivers have been used since early times for navigation. The Skyth people, for example, traveled up the Burnaya and the Svetlaya in their rafts and roars.

In the Middle Ages and in early modern times, the shipment of grain and other agricultural products down the Burnaya toward Miroslavl' and onward to other parts of Europe took on great importance.

## Politics

### **2016 Election Conflict**

The presidential election of Chernarus has always been hosted on December 10 every five years. The president is allowed many terms due to the non-existent constitution in Chernarus. This presidential election was against the current President David Veselý of the Democratic Party versus the political candidates of Ludvík Skala of the National Renewal Party, Blažej Pešek of the Law and Order Party, and Kazimír Havel of the Free Commune.

The voting concluded that the people were for the National Renewal Party, a far-right nationalist group focused on better foreign relations and reviving and renewing the Chernarussian economy and to fix its social issues after the 2009 South Zagorian Conflict. Many journalists and other liberal politicians stated that Mr. Hon. Skala, had been associated with many far-right white supremacist groups and Neo-Nazi organizations such as the National Renewal Movement and has killed and committed multiple war crimes." After hearing these accusations, he has claimed he is not associated with an white supremacist groups, and stating that the accusations are totally false and un-true saying, "The honorable Zbor movement that assisted the Chernarussian Defense Force and National Party in fighting the communist movement, is for Chernarussian nationalistic social and economic values to stay within the nation and not to be tampered with my far-left terrorists and communist extremists."

After becoming President of Chernarus, he has stated and assisted with Assembly Members to temporarily ban any communist parties, like the Free Commune, for being associated with the Chernarussian Movement of the Red Star. Many far-left extremists began protests saying this infringes the people's rights, but the President has cracked down on these protests and began a mass-arest of all communist sympothizers.

President Ludvík Skala in 2016, congradualated the newly elected U.S. President, Donald J. Trump, on his victory of the presidential election and wants to further expand the foreign relations of both nations.