Grienzland

The Grienzen Empire National Flag

The Grienzen Empire in 1914

Also known as 'The Fatherland' to its people, Grienzland is the recently unified nation formed out of the many smaller countries that have historically been at odds. Divided by many competing noble families, Grienzland did not exist as a single concept until 1871 when the largest of Grienzen states came together to work out an end to the needless competition.

## History

### Background

> Main article: **Pre-Empire Grienzland History**
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For the nearly four centuries prior to 1871, the people of Grienzland lived within a perpetually shifting map of redrawn borders. In previous eras, to be Grienzen was to love your neighbor and hate the next town over, for no other reason than that they served a different lord. And then to welcome them as neighbor a scant generation later once their lord died and yours claimed their town. Many senseless wars were fought and promptly forgotten about which lead to difficulty in forming regional identities until just recently.

As time went on, the kingdoms and duchies that would become the provinces of Grienzland grew larger due to the increases in bureaucratic, transport, and communication infrastructures permitting territorial consolidation. It was becoming increasingly clear that these nations would wind up fighting for control of the entire territory if something wasn't done. There were multiple attempts at province-spanning alliances and a confederation, but each of these fell apart due to infighting or foreign intervention.

### Gallo-Preusvian War of 1870

> Main article: **Gallo-Preusvian War of 1870**
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In 1870, the **Gallian Republic** declared war on the largest and most militarily powerful Grienzen state of Preusvia and invaded Grienzland over a succession crisis in the **Kingdom of Hispalia**. Rather than being limited to just Preusvia and the Gallian Republic, the invasion targeted trade partners as well which dragged the rest of the Grienzen states into the war. The Grienzen defense was lead by Preusvia, which united the militaries of the other states to soundly rebuff the Gallians from their territory.

Instead of stopping with the defense of Grienzen territories, Preusvian military leadership convinced the commanders of the other Grienzen states to push their advantage and take the fight all the way to Paree, the capital of the Gallian Republic. Along the way, they scored victory after victory over the disorganized Gallian army, and after a series of routs, they surrounded and utterly destroyed the remaining Gallian resistance at the Battle of Buldan, capturing the Marshal of Gallia Jean-Alexandre Margueritte, who later died of his wounds.

After that point, all organized fighting capability melted away and the combined Grienzen armies marched on Paree. An extended siege ensued to force the Gallians to surrender, but indecision and uncertainty on who was running the country caused the siege to last into the following year, at great loss of life and destruction within Paree from artillery barrages and starvation. Eventually, terms of surrender were offered and accepted, with Grienzland gaining several Ifranian colonies and the eastern Gallian province of Alraine.

During the long peace negotiations, representatives of the various Grienzen states managed to convene to finally determine the conditions for uniting together into a single Empire.

### 1871 Foundation of the Grienzen Empire

In order to avoid more unnecessary conflict and clashes of personality, diplomatic representatives from every Grienzen territory convened in the central lesser state of Schlussfalen to discuss the future of their people. After seven grueling weeks of negotiations, they returned to their homelands to announce that the Era of Division was over and the new United Imperial Era had begun. The seasoned, determined **King Walter II of Preusvia**, was crowned King of the Grienzen People, becoming emperor of the newly formed Grienzland Empire. He assembled a parliament of politicians from every region to suggest laws, and appointed a council of church elders to advise in spiritual matters. And thus the singular political entity intended to represent all Grienzen people was formed, marking the introduction of a great new power Uropa had never seen before.

It wouldn't be until 17 years later that nearly all Grienzen states were part of the Grienzen Empire, but it was the beginning of that project. Every effort before had been limited in some way, keeping them from attaining true political unity. The Grienzen states had previously only been cooperating solely for economic purposes (as in the 1812 trade agreement referred to as the Grienzen Union) or military ones (in the case of the Preusvian-lead mutual defense agreement established in 1849). The Grienzen Empire was to be a final federation from which there would be no more excluding or limiting. While each state is expected to maintain its own individual culture, elements of social and political infrastructure were standardized so as to foster collaboration, such as uniform education systems across all states. In this way a new, single body politic could form so as to foster the Grienzen people into the future of Uropa.

### Edict of Unification

> Main article: **Edict of Unification**
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   By 1882, influence from other nations had fomented a sizable faction of representatives in the Imperial government who sought to bring about the destruction of all **Non-Human Races** living within Grienzland. These were agents working to pursue the goals of the **Ascendancy of Man**, a philosophical, political, and economic ideology bent on undermining all aspects of traditional life. Peaceful coexistence with Non-Humans had been the norm for hundreds of years, and yet they convinced Emperor Walter II to dispatch Field Marshal Andreas Meier at the head of a military expedition to eradicate them once and for all. After Field Marshal Meier returned to the capital with emissaries from each of the Races he had been sent to slaughter, refusing to undertake his assignment, the emperor realized the error of his decision and declared the order passed by the Imperial Representative Assembly nullified. They began to plot his removal and likely execution as a result.

Emperor Walter II went before the people to tell them of the intentions of the Ascendancy of Man, and while explaining to his citizens the importance of not drenching their newly formed empire in the blood of innocent peoples who should be citizens alongside them as fellow Grienzens, he was assassinated. An Ascendancy sympathizer shot him from the crowd with a poisoned bullet, and he died shortly after. The crowd proceeded to extrajudicially kill most of the representatives loyal to the Ascendancy of Man before the capital came under military control, and the late emperor's son, Walter Friedrich Rudolf became **Emperor Friedrich III**. He converted his father's speech into official law, declaring it the Edict of Unification that granted imperial citizenship to all Non-Humans living within Grienzland, formally inviting them to join the civilization and partake in society.

### The Puma's Pounce

> Main article: **Mogidar Affair**
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The most recent event that made it clear to all involved that war was on the horizon took place in 1911. The expansionist aims of the Gallian Republic lead to full-blown military invasion of the East Ifranian country of **Marrakosh**. In a display of overwhelming military might, 12,000 Gallian soldiers landed in Marrakosh to link up with local rebels opposing the government, though it soon became clear that the Gallians were intent on conquering the country to add it to their Ifranian holdings.

In response, the Grienzen Imperial Navy dispatched a colonial defense gunboat, the IGS *Puma* to secure the port of Mogidar for the purposes of extracting several Grienzen citizens from the city. Most notably, they were there to rescue Wolfen prospector and engineer Heinrich Wilhelm, who was in danger of persecution or execution once the Gallians enforced the policies of the Ascendancy of Man in the region.

This lead to a brief conflict and threats of declaration of war on the parts of Gallia and **Grand Breteyne** were met with a refusal to stand down by Grienzland, with partial mobilization started by the latter. It was only the swift work of diplomat Albert von Kochterlen, head of Grienzland's Office of Foreign Affairs, that a compromise was reached and war was avoided. In exchange for giving Southern Kamenda to the Grienzen colony of **Kamenda**, as well as allowing the Grienzen Navy to extricate Grienzen citizens and a large number of **Fey Cat** civilians within Marrakosh, the Gallians were permitted to take over the country.

But the closeness that the great powers of Uropa came to war over this incident made it inescapably obvious that a real conflict was coming. After this point, both sides began to prepare, and Grand Breteyne moved closer to the Gallian Republic out of spite for Grienzland's continued insistence on having a say regarding overseas colonies.

## Foreign Relations

    As of 1914, Grienzland is currently embroiled in a bitter war with many of its enemies, declared as a result of a series of escalating border skirmishes and politically motivated assassinations.

The Gallian Republic in particular harbors an intense animosity for Grienzland for many reasons, chief among them being their defeat in the Wretched War of 1870, Grienzen control of the border region of Alraine, and the most recent Mogidar Affair. This ongoing rival stemmed from Grienzland's complete rejection of the Ascendancy of Man and its reaffirmation in the shared faith of **Ortueism** through the Edict of Unification. The Gallian government has spent the past 32 years since then working to secure alliances with other nations who share their anti-religious, anti-hierarchical stance, leading to Grienzland becoming increasingly isolated and at odds with its neighbors. Even the countries without a particularly hardline position on the broiling religious feud have seen the potential benefit of cutting down the "upstart" central power of Grienzland.

### The Start of the War

On June 30th, 1914, Crown Prince József of Karpania was murdered in **Seruiani** while engaging in a conciliatory diplomatic visit. Long a champion of the rights of local peoples to govern themselves, the Half-Horse prince was regarded as an advocate for Seruianian sovereignty, and yet he was shot alongside his wife by a radical Seruiani nationalist from a secret society called the Death Mask. After this assassination, Karpania demanded access to Seruiani's police records and to be allowed to conduct an official investigation into the Seruiani military to root out additional members of Death Mask, which were refused. Seruiani was backed by the Rossiyan Federation which began to mobilize its military in response to Karpania's ire against its smaller ally.

Finally, on July 14th after two weeks of delay and uncooperative runaround from Seruiani, Karpania declared war on its neighbor with the goal of holding the government responsible for the assassination. Grienzland gave Karpania its full support in the matter, but this did not stop Rossiya from declaring war on Karpania. As a result, Grienzland declared war on Rossiya on July 16th, at which point the Gallian Republic entered the war to defend its ally Rossiya. This proved to be enough of an excuse for **Nordia** to join the war efforts five days later, plunging the Fatherland into a conflict on four fronts. As of yet, Grand Breteyne has not taken a side but their own military mobilization does not bode well, especially considering their diplomatic ties with Gallia and Rossiya.

## Constituent States

Grienzland encompasses 17 officially recognized states including Dansvig and Schleissmag, though the two are most often lumped together into what is colloquially referred to as Occupied Danmag. Each state has significant autonomy in how local affairs are run but Imperial edicts take precedence.

The Imperial Palace is located in Buchou, Preusvia, as the seat of the Grienzland Empire government.

### Rhein Province

The center of production in Grienzland, the Rhein Province is an industrial powerhouse. It encompasses one of the most mineral rich areas in Uropa and the land is dotted with coal and metal mines and refineries, around which many of the towns formed. As such, work is plentiful and pays well, but it tends to be risky, either working in the mines themselves or a factory, or on a train used to transport goods to the rest of Grienzland. Labor is always in high demand and working conditions have begun to improve, albeit slowly. Arcane chemical and mineral detection has allowed for vastly increased efficiency in mining without as many cave-ins or poisonings, and new fabrication technology means less need for hands near dangerous machinery.

The Rhein Province used to be a smaller territory, approximately 80% of its current size, but the Gallo-Preusvian War resulted in the acquisition of the mineral rich territory of Alraine from the Gallian Republic, which was integrated into the Rhein Province. Most of the Gallian citizens (many of whom were Cassumite bankers) fled the region after the annexation was granted, moving behind the new border of the Gallian Republic. There were already a large number of Grienzen-speaking ethnic Grienzens who lived in the region before annexation, and repopulation settlement efforts went smoothly so that by 1885 the region had been entirely integrated with complete population satisfaction at the new state of life.

### Luthairingia

Categorized as two separate states, Upper and Lower Luthairingia have a storied past between them. Many times throughout Grienzen history, the kingdom of Luthairingia has been split and reconstituted and divided once more. Much of the cause for secession is the stark religious contrast between them, with Lower Luthairingia being devoutly Synenolic while Upper Luthairingia is steadfastly Church of Unity. It isn't until very recently that there has been some cross-pollination but even now religious discrimination and segregation is quite common.

Despite the religious stubbornness of Luthairingians, they are known as cultural window into the outside world throughout the rest of Grienzland, due to their position. Upper Luthairingia has a multitude of ocean ports while Lower Luthairingia is crossed by many large rivers through which trade goods flow from further inland out to Della and beyond. While not many foreign merchants or sailors are encouraged to overstay their welcome, the large cities in both states are bustling with all manners of exotic trade and artistic exchange.

### Occupied Danmag

Officially known the two separate states of Dansvig and Schleissmag, both have historically belonged to the country of Nordia. The two sister states share such a long-lasting bond that runs back through the centuries that they insist on being known as Danmag, a combination of their two names. The only reason they are still technically separate regions is due to recognition of an ancient yet still-honored agreement between the Grienzens to the south and the Nordians to the north. This arrangement lead to the **Danmag War of 1864** when Nordia broke its word and attempted to annex a large part of the northernmost state of Dansvig due to its Nordian population in the area. Preusvia and Kierstia came to the rescue of the population of Danmag, and after their victory they agreed to protect the two states from further incursions.

When the Grienzen Empire was established in 1871, Schleissmag was offered the invitation to join due to its entirely Grienzen population, but it refused unless the offer was extended to Dansvig as well. The population of Dansvig was nearly half Nordian however, so this caused quite a bit of debate and uncertainty about the risk of watering down the notion of Grienzland as a homeland for the Grienzen people. Eventually however, after 12 years of Grienzification, the Nordian people in Dansvig switched their primary language to Grienzen and adopted Grienzen culture and governmental practices. And so in 1883, the Imperial Representative Assembly voted to finally admit Danmag into the Grienzen Empire. This incited quite a bit of ire on the part of Nordia, seeing it as expansionist and threatening to their borders, but their defeat has rendered them incapable of doing much about it.

### Preusvia

While Luthairingia is well known for bringing in foreign culture to be introduced to the Grienzen people, Preusvia is where much of the native Grienzen art and architectural advancements are made. Renowned for its higher level education and prestigious military academies, Preusvia has a proud history of successfully fielding its well-trained, exceptionally-armed military against far larger enemies. The renown of their warrior tradition played a large role in the formation of the Fatherland as many other states wished to secure military protection rather than risk a war of expansion, and it was for this reason that the King of Preusvia was chosen to be the first Emperor of Grienzland.

Nearly all of the officers in the Grienzen military have trained in Preusvia, as have many soldiers from other regions as well. When they have not, their training regiment was certainly designed- and likely even administered- by a Preusvian officer.

### The Lesser States

In the center of the Fatherland sit nine smaller states formed through a series of consolidations and combinations. Previously consisting of Bayernian and many Preusvian territories as well as a myriad small kingdoms and duchies, the Lesser States are larger now than they ever have been throughout history. Due to the administrative rearrangements, many of the finer details on what it means to be from each of the Lesser States are still being iterated upon. As such, population movement is frequent and communities form and disintegrate by the year, but this has been a diminishing trend in the last decade. Given several more generations, the individual character of the Lesser States will no doubt blossom and shine, but it seems that now their identities might just be forged in the fires of war.

A few of the Lesser States include:

* **Gerde**, the southernmost Lesser State, a sleepy and insular state which has long been a pawn in the political and military machinations of its fellow **Synenolic** neighbor states of Bayernia and Kierstia prior to the Unification. In the **war between Kierstia and Preusvia**, Gerde lasted merely two weeks into the hostilities, with its lone army crushed at its first battle, at which point they happily entered into 'forced' (but fair) trade agreements with Preusvia, providing significant amounts of food from their sizable and highly-prized farmlands.
* **Sachden**, to the immediate south of Preusvia, this Lesser State is renowned for punching far above its weight in terms of military contribution in many a war, most recently the war between Kierstia and Preusvia. In that conflict, Sachden sided with Kierstia and fought so vigorously that their martial zeal earned Preusvia's complete respect and a superior position at the negotiating table when Preusvia eventually claimed victory. After that, the two developed close ties, and it is not uncommon for Sachden to be described as Preusvia's 'scrappy little sister state.' Sachden holds the honor of being the only state other than Kierstia and Bayernia to field its own independent army with its own dedicated **Imperial War Mage Academy**.
* **Schlussfalen**, one of the westernmost Lesser States, was the location of many important diplomatic meetings throughout history. In 1849 a Constitutional Council met there in an attempt at undermining monarchical power through Grienzen unification under a binding constitution. Later in 1871 the heads of the Grienzen states met once again in Schlussfalen to iron out the formation of the Grienzen Empire. In the Kiersto-Preusvian War of 1866, Schlussfalen fought alongside Kierstia, but did not suffer any reprisals after Preusvia's victory, out of concern of angering Gallia if Preusvia seized any territory that close to its border.

### Kierstia

The melting pot of Grienzland, Kierstia was founded as the threshold for Western Uropa against the barbarians in the steppes further east. It eventually grew into one of the great powers of Uropa before struggling with the burgeoning senses of national identity in its territories. After forming the **Kiersto-Karpanian Dual Empire** in 1849 to maintain a hold on Karpania, the two eventually parted ways in 1888 when Kierstia requested to join the other Grienzen States in the flourishing Grienzen Empire. Rather than demote the once-grand state to that of a lowly province, Preusvian Emperor Friedrich III welcomed Kierstia as a prodigal brother and made sure that it gained every bit of representation that Bayernia also had. There are some who idly complain still about this unearned recognition, as Kierstia did not participate in the **Gallo-Preusvian War of 1870** that lead to the formation of the Grienzen Empire.

Regardless, when it joined the Empire, Kierstia brought with it a love for the fine arts unsurpassed by any other state. While Preusvia is famous for its architecture and- to a lesser degree- statues, Kierstia is where any painter, musician, playwright, actor, or writer of any talent strives to make a name for himself. Its location on the threshold with several major nations has lead to Kierstia's position as a point of cultural exchange, and it has the highest proportion of foreigners living within its border (at almost 20%). While Preusvia has the finest of military academies in the Empire, Kierstia can boast superiority in most other educational pursuits and sports its own War Mage Academy.

In spite of all its higher pursuits (or perhaps because of them), Kierstia possesses the widest wealth gap between its upper class and the impoverished masses that clog its cities.

### Bayernia

The third most powerful state in the Empire after Kierstia, one might be forgiven for wondering how by visiting any of Bayernia's sleepy rustic towns. While much of Grienzland is a bustling hub of industrialization, Bayernia appears belligerently opposed to modernizing, content in its idyllic farmlands and ancient traditions. Known far and wide for delicious food, overflowing banquets, lively celebrations, charming country dances, and unparalleled hospitality, Bayernia is nevertheless a resilient state with a fierce sense of its own identity despite their participation in the Empire. Out of all the states, Bayernia practices its right to local rule the most, and Imperial Decrees are often enforced quite loosely on it. Bayernia maintains its own separate military as well as running its own War Mage Academy.

The fact that the majority of grains, livestock, and especially alcohol consumed throughout Grienzland are produced in Bayernia no doubt plays a large part in that arrangement. Another contributing factor is that Bayernia did participate in the 1870 Gallo-Preusvian War, scoring a number of important flanking victories that turned the tide of the war in the early days. Despite this, the often alarmingly aloof mindset among Bayernians is a source of grumbling in the other states, as many wonder whether Bayernians even realize they are citizens of the Fatherland. They certainly do, but perhaps they don't dwell on it with the same zeal that Preusvians would like them to.

## Non-Human Populations

> Main article: **Races**
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Having only been recognized as official citizens of the Grienzen Empire for the past 16 years, Non-Human integration into Human society has been a slow process. Many still stay close to their ancestral homelands, such as the mountains of Bayernia and the Rhein for the **Dragon Daughters** and the forests of Luthairingia for the **Night Ravens**. Of all the states, Kierstia is ahead of the rest in terms of programs to help their Non-Human neighbors become contributing members of society, and Fey Cats have taken to the area in search of such opportunities. Preusvia has become the de facto capital of the **Wolfen** due to their common interest in the pursuit of martial prowess.

## Religious Affiliations

> Main article: **Religions**
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Despite the unification of Grienzland, the religious divide between the regions remains stark. Many regions lean heavily to one branch of Ortueism over another, and even in states with a mix of denominations, religious affiliation maps show a clear delineation between areas of one faith and another. Across the four decades these lines are becoming slowly more blurred as time goes on, and the instances of religiously-motivated violence have decreased as a result of the government's effort to improve solidarity along with the growing threat of militant irreligiosity coming from abroad.