Republic of Cornopolia (Legacy)

Map of Cornopolia, 1905, made by the Cornopolian Department of Immigration.

The **Republic of Cornopolia** (commonly known as Cornopolia) is a federal republic in the Cornland Islands. Cornopolia is one of the oldest countries, founded in 1900 and has the highest GDP of any nation. Cornopolia uses Cornopolian Credits or CC as it's primary currency and has an estimated population of 1,830,000 as of 1903. It's biggest city, Conia, is also the capital with 600,000+ residents and being around 40% of the nation's population. The majority of Cornopolia is a combination of grasslands and woodlands following the Conia river, the namesake for the nation's capital. It recognizes English as the official language of Cornopolia's government however most other languages are recognized as legitimate.

## History

### Signing of the Tripartite Pact

In June of 1900, Cornopolia, Azalorn, and Drekie all joined together in signing the Tripartite Pact, an economic alliance which brought the three nation's economies closer by making the Cornopolian Credit, the Drekan Crown, and the Azalornian Dollar to the same value as each other to optimize trade. In August of 1901, Cornopolia confirmed the theories that it was also a military pact following Kaden signing the pact later in 1901.

### Conculus Epidemic

In June of 1900, the disease dubbed Conculus first began infecting Chadistani citizens. It soon grew to infecting the whole nation with a deadly fatality rate of 80%. Soon enough the Chadistani government collapsed and anarchy became prevalent in Chadistan. Cornopolia shared a border with Chadistan and was the best chance for refugees fleeing Chadistan. By December of 1900, around 30,000 Chadistani refugees were in the Cornopolian town of Costa. Many refugees attempted to flee to the capital, Conia, however the Cornopolian Military had blocked off all roads leading into or out of Costa and a quarantine was established in January of 1901. Police were soon withdrawn from the town in March and the only people left to enforce the law were the Red Cross's Emergency Police Brigade deployed in Costa. By December of 1901, the Costa Quarantine Death Toll by the Red Cross was estimated around 30,000. Conculus continued to infect doctors and civilians in Costa while the country's ports were closed. The economy crashed hard in February of 1902 due to the closed off country where the value of the Cornopolian Credit dropped from the value of CC.1 = CC.1 to CC.1 = CC.40. The economy eventually recovered a few months later.

Soon after the Costa Quarantine Zone was established, Conculus escaped through unknown means and Conculus began to spread around the countryside. The Cornopolian Military along with the Red Cross established a massive quarantine around half of the country where any and all citizens were thoroughly checked for Conculus before being allowed to travel. During this time, security and medical staff were especially strict around the capital, Conia. All travel into the metropolitan areas was halted and only foot traffic was allowed. All horse-drawn carriages and vehicles were searched before being allowed to be carried by hand to wherever it was needed. Starvation and poverty began to spike dramatically in Conia, causing massive crime waves and what became known as "Met-Gangs" were established. These Met-Gangs were hired to sneak prohibited supplies through security and to steal supplies from more well off citizens or establishments like banks and grocery stores.

#### Azalorn Crisis

During the Conculus Outbreak, relations between the Kaden colonial state Azalorn and the Eshan Empire were worsening while the majority of the west was distracted by the outbreak. Many people in Azalorn along with the government was against Kaden colonialism and the Eshan government was sympathetic to their cause, mainly due to their shared dislike of Kaden and the west. This culminated when several civilians living in Philadelphia (capital of Kaden) were diagnosed with Conculus and suddenly disappeared. Soon enough they showed up in a port in Aspya, being dropped off suddenly by Kaden police. The infected were soon executed by the Eshan military however Conculus remained in Aspya. This event was known as the Aspyan Crisis by many in the west. Cornopolia, due to the threat that the Costa Quarantine Zone represented, chose to stay neutral in any conflict between Esha and the Tripartite Pact.

In September of 1902, the Azalornian government declared independence from Kaden with vocal support from Vineland and Esha. This was a turning point for the situation in the east, as many believed this event would be the beginning of a war between the Tripartite Pact and Esha/Azalorn. At first, President Hayes refused to recognize Azalornian Independence however declared that Cornopolia would stay out of any conflict that transpired. This decision was most likely what kept any conflict from starting.

At the beginning of 1903, Conculus hit more than 1,600,000 deaths globally and Cornopolia's reaction was another nationwide quarantine with containment within Costa being broken earlier in 1902. In mid 1903 in order to contain the disease further, President Hayes approved the military annexation and incorporation of Chadistan and the establishment of the State of Chadistan along with a travel ban into or out of the former country. Any trespassers were either shot or incapacitated to be transported to a hospital or clinic in Chadistan or Costa. Cornopolia continued to stay isolated and not engage in global affairs besides pursuing a cure in order to preserve itself and focus on containment.

In 1904, a cure for Conculus was finally found due to a joint effort by international scientists working in Conia. Once the cure was found it was mass produced and distributed throughout Cornopolia and the world. Specialized soldiers were sent into Chadistan to distribute medicine and take any civilians found back to the rest of Cornopolia for treatment. Many urban and rural areas were cleared of civilians before either being detonated with TNT or sanitized and removed of Conculus. Since there was yet to be a vaccine for Conculus infection was still possible and infrastructure along with medical facilities were largely lacking in Chadistan, so to prevent another Outbreak many refugees were built new homes in the largest construction project conducted by any world government at the time. At first there was large debate over how to deal with the Chadistani refugees however the Red Cross finally approved the choice of actions that would be taken between 1903 and 1905. Refugees were finally allowed to return in November of 1905 and the government worked with the Red Cross to help many refugees find new homes.

### Post-Conculus

After the Conculus Epidemic most of the tension between the Tripartite Pact and the Vorline Defense Pact consisting of Vineland, Esha, Azalorn, and Victalma & Minoa eased as Azalorn was allowed to continue independent from Kaden influence. No major international conflicts occurred until the Eshan invasion of Juno in 1904. Cornopolia mostly made no threats or statements towards Esha until the end of the war where President Hayes commented on the annexation of Juno where he accused Esha of imperialism and being a potential threat to the west. This never became any conflict between the two nations however did start some political discussion in the government.

In December 1905, the Cornopolian Khiadam Expeditionary Division of 3,000 men conducting joint-training operations with the Khiadamese military were preparing to return to Cornopolia before being attacked by Khiadamese forces. The same happened to soldiers from Kaden and Drekie who also sent men to Khiadam.

## Geography

Cornopolia's geography is mostly forests and plains in the north, where the majority of the population lives. However the southern geography is dominated by large mountains and hills of the Brosbiens where very few urban centers are located.

### Northern Woodlands

Northern Cornopolia is estimated to be 45% forested regions and holds ~70% of the country's population. In terms of elevation, the lowest and highest points (-43 meters and 89 meters respectively) are around 400 meters in comparison. It also hold's the mouth of the Conian River, where the capital Conia is located.

### Chadistani Sub-Desert

In the northeast of Cornopolia lies the Chadistani Sub-Desert, a relatively small desert named after the former Republic of Chadistan. The border between the forests and desert is sudden as there is little transition besides grasslands. Temperatures in the Chadistani Sub-Desert can hit as high as 43 degrees during summer months and drop to -7 degrees during winter. It's mostly flat with no mountains or largely hilly areas allowing for lots of infrastructure to be built.