Socialist Federal Republic of Danube

The **Socialist Federal Republic of Danube**, often referred to as SFR Danube or simply Danube, was a country located in Central and Eastern Europe. It emerged in 1925 from the previous empire of Austria-Hungary, after its collapse following WWI and a socialist civil war taking place, lasting until 2028 with the creation of the European Confederation. Spanning around 250 thousand square miles, Germany bordered SFR Danube to the northwest, Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea in the south, the Yugoslav republics to the southeast, Romania to the west, the USSR to the northeast, and, following WWII, shares a slim border with Prussia to the north. SFR Danube was a one-party socialist state governed by the League of Communists of Danube (LCD), and was considered to be one of the most ethnically diverse nations of all time. After reforms following World War II, SFR Danube contained nine constituent republics: Bohemia, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Transylvania, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Dalmatia. Within these nine member states includes various autonomous regions containing local communities of diverging ethnic communities along borders and within republics. After initially alternating capitals between Vienna and Budapest, the Hungarian city of Budapest was eventually chosen as its capital following the destruction of WWII, where it remained for its entirety.

The origin of SFR Danube traces back all the way to the Greater Austrian Empire in the 18th century, ruling over these conquered ethnic groups under a constitutional monarchy. Austria-Hungary was then formed in 1967 under the previous land, following a compromise between the conflicting Vienna and Budapest regions, as both cities began to alternate as the capital city. Enduring numerous wars and border disputes, Austria-Hungary found itself in the midst of WWI, where it ultimately faced many losses and defeats. Most of its previously occupied territories were retained following the stalemate and ceasefire agreement after WWI, where the empire faced destruction, debt, heavy losses, and cases of famine. The Austro-Hungarian Empire remained in economic turmoil and divide, and armed conflict began to rise across the nation, as its previous government collapsed, resulting in the Danubian Civil War. The League of Communists, with heavy support from the USSR, fought against the Nationalists, who received major backing from the colonial empires such as Germany, the UK, and France. The war lasted from 1920 until 1925, when the Communists decisively won, and Danube became the second socialist country in Europe, allying with the USSR along border tensions.

SFR Danube was a major participant in WWII, being the first country invaded by Nazi Germany in 1938, kicking off the European Front. Danube was entirely conquered by late 1939, with members of the existing LCD fleeing into exile or forming resistance groups within the country, fighting against the Nazi German and Fascist Italian occupation of the country. By 1943, the anti-fascist resistance fighters in Danube, along with the Soviet Red Army, began to push back heavily against Axis occupation within Eastern Europe, with a new provisional government being installed. By 1945, most Axis forces were pushed out of Danube, except for parts of the far western border. The war stalled for about 6 months with heavier British and French involvement. With no major advances being made other than further Soviet occupation of Prussia, and with the looming threat of usage of nuclear weapons, the war came to an end with a ceasefire agreement and a later peace treaty, with both Germany and Italy annexing eastern territories from Danube, added to the mass amounts of destruction and deaths faced in the brutal war which lasted nearly a decade.

SFR Danube remained in a strategic position during the Cold War, sharing hundreds of miles of border between Italy and Germany, two fascist countries. SFR Danube's economy eventually recovered after mass reconstruction, surging ahead as a result. By the 1960's unemployment and poverty were at the lowest they have ever been, with both gradually decreasing. Fascism at the borders would eventually fall, and so would capitalism, leading to the formation of the European Union in 2008, and the European Confederation in 2028. SFR Danube was one of its founding members, as all nine remaining republics were integrated into the European Confederation after SFR Danube was formally dissolved.