Balkania: Difference between revisions

The '''National Republic of Balkania''' iswas a nation in the far north -,- of [[Civcraft 2.0]] founded in late November 2014. It iswas lead by State President [[Ipslore_]] and an elected National Assembly. The government is defined by the [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bzCfu9aFwPjnjxoLjVP4CLhcPnQtlTw5OFtk_lzwPMw/edit Constitution] to be a 'Semi-Democratic National Republic'.

The lack of Balkanian response to these proposals lead to Senntisteni military action on the 11th of January, when the Senntisten Army, led by Governor [[Agentnola]] of Londinium invaded and occupied New Serbia, committing numerous war crimes such as civilian massacres and destruction of private property in the process. The occupation continued, though fiercely contested by brave Balkanian partisans for several hours until King Spongesuds became available and brokered a deal whereby 27d would be paid to Senntisten for a guarantee of safety for a week. In addition, Orthodox Balkania would permit the construction of a Catholic Church in New Serbia, and Catholic Senntisten would permit the construction of an Orthodox Church in Londinium.

After the Battle of New Serbia, the two sides settled into an uneasy stalemate - Senntisten refused to recognize Balkania's sovereignty over their territory, and Balkania refused to recognize Senntisteni claims on New Serbia, which remained under ''de facto'' Balkanian control. During this time Balkania gained some international recognition, being recognised by the governments of [[Aeon]] and [[Terminus]], and forming an alliance with the budding Commonwealth of the [[Kaiserinreich]]. The Royal Balkanian Army also quietly seized control of the abandoned town of Corvus to the south of New Serbia, which was christened "South Balkania" and claimed as the second territory of the nation alongside New Serbia. There was even a slight thaw in Balkania-Senntisten relations, with a rail line established between New Serbia and Londinium.

The uneasy stalemate was finally ended when Balkania attempted to apply to the [[United Minus Minus]], or UMM as a further step to legitimacy as a sovereign nation. The UMM was headed by [[Orion]], a nation from which Senntisten had fought for independence themselves, and while the very existence of Balkania was an affront to them, Balkania aligning itself with an old Senntisteni enemy was even worse. This led to [https://www.reddit.com/r/Senntisten/comments/2ubszl/balkania_senntisten/ renewed debate] in Senntisten on how to finally resolve the Balkania situation.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Senntisten/comments/2ubszl/balkania_senntisten/</ref> Hardliners continued with the rheoric of &quot;Annexation or relocation&quot; to remove what they saw as illegal squatters, while many more saw that Balkania had grown to the point of being a real nation more than a squatter camp, and urged a diplomatic, peaceful resolution. Eventually Emperor [[Seldomshock]] himself was forced to [https://www.reddit.com/r/Senntisten/comments/2ucc59/on_balkania/ make a statement] - He announced his desire to recognize Balkania as a sovereign nation and establish proper borders, however with the condition of the relinquishment of South Balkania to Senntisten control.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Senntisten/comments/2ucc59/on_balkania/</ref>

While no official deal was actually reached, this was the effective end of the Balkanian War of Independence. Senntisten-Balkania relations warmed, with Balkania deciding against membership in the UMM, and instead becoming the fifth member of the Senntisten-founded [[Great Northern Alliance]] on the 1st of March. Balkania's effective borders were an area around New Serbia as defined by the [http://i.imgur.com/8wMVVpA.png &quot;Urban Planning Proposal&quot;] in addition to South Balkania, which became developed as an agricultural colony to free up land new New Serbia for urban development.<ref>New Urban Planning Proposal [https://imgur.com/8wMVVpA imgur.com/8wMVVpA]</ref>

In late April, Balkania's ally Kaiserin, at the time an autonomous province of [[SPQR (Civcraft 2.0)|SPQR]], [https://www.reddit.com/r/Civcraft/comments/347jf8/oppressed_no_longer_announcing_the_independence/ unilaterally declared their independence] as a sovereign state seperateseparate from SPQR.<ref>https://undelete.pullpush.io/r/Civcraft/comments/347jf8/oppressed_no_longer_announcing_the_independence/</ref> This immediately put Balkania in a difficult position - The Kaiserinreich was Balkania's oldest and closest ally, but SPQR was a member of the Great Northern Alliance, the charter of which called for the mutual recognition of land claims between GNA states - To support Kaiserin would be in open defiance of this clause, this very clause being among the reasons for Balkania's official recognition by Senntisten.

By far the most interesting thing ever to happen to Balkania came with a flood of immigrants into the newly-chartered housing area &quot;Banovo Brdo Housing District&quot; in early May 2015. One of the immigrants, [[YellowClimber]], attempted to hold unauthorized &quot;elections&quot; within the district. This quickly spiraled into an all-out rebellion from the residents of the district, leading to a national lockdown and the deployment of the Royal Balkanian Army to restore order. The rebels were quickly quelled, and after some subsequent mop-up operations by the newly-formed Balkanian SAS, the crisis was over. A far more detailed account of the Rebellion can be found [[conflicts/banovoemergency|here.]]

While Balkania had chosen to stand by Kaiserin in their War of Independence, relations between the two nations had greatly deteriorated since. Kaiserin believed Balkania had not provided enough aid and abandoned their ally in their time of need against SPQR. Personal incidents between Queen [[NovaCeasar|Novaceasar]] of Kaiserin and numerous Balkanians only exacerbated a widening gap between the two nations. A final straw came with a dispute over the ownership of the Kaiserin-New Serbia Line, which led to Novaceasar terminating the Alliance.

In the aftermath of the demise of Balkania's oldest alliance, the nation was free to fully embrace the GNA and strengthen ties with old enemies of Kaiserin such as SPQR and [[Volterra (Civcraft)|Volterra]], now no longer needing to strike a careful balance between the two for fear of alienating either side.

In early June, driven by the suggestions of the newly-created Ministry of Economics, Balkania [https://www.reddit.com/r/Balkania/comments/3a4qtf/balkanias_recent_colonial_aquisitions/ acquired two overseas colonies] - The desert territory of Uluru, [purchased from Senntisten,<ref>Lease of Desert Area to Balkania https://docs.google.com/document/d/1phA_RBSghCGwjC0MvYffxQU7jVpH9bpZNht4lcHttxQ/edit purchased from Senntisten],</ref> and the previously uninhabited jungle island of Devica.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Balkania/comments/3a4qtf/balkanias_recent_colonial_aquisitions/</ref> The reasoning for this was the need for the domestic production of goods needed for the Balkanian Potion Industry in other biomes previously unavaliable. In addition, Devica was selected to become Balkania's second permanently inhabited territory, with four colonists being sent to the island to establish a settlement there, though strictly bound by a [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rxumCw7hR6u2B9MWLLJtg2Za_bq7f5KyxX9jsclVrKM/edit charter] to prevent future incidents such as the Banovo Rebellion.<ref>Mission for Devica Settlers https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rxumCw7hR6u2B9MWLLJtg2Za_bq7f5KyxX9jsclVrKM/edit</ref>

In July 2015, Kaiserin effectively collapsed, with the resignation of two chancellors in rapid succession, the at least nominal abdication of Queen Novaceasar, the sale of the islands of Minerva to SPQR, the regions of [[Icenia (Civcraft 2.0)|Icenia]] and [[Vienna]] declaring independence, with at least Icenia achieving their goal backed by Balkania and the GNA. This led to proposals for SPQR, Volterra or the collective GNA to purchase Kaiserinreich to get them out of the quadrant, though the estimated sum varied wildly from 34,000d at the highest to 7,000d at the lowest. Eventually, Kaiserin instead decided to sell their land to [[Aeon]], a third party, for a very low sum, and relocate to the -,+ on the [[Chanada|Chanadian]] border.

Desiring a larger contiguous area than the increasingly constrictive boundaries of New Serbia, in late July Balkania formalized it's largest and most expensive land purchase yet, [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rvn2w1vYJxaFyI_7iIYP8I1t79B6djvXgku1s3075jw/edit acquiring the territory of &quot;Greater Balkania&quot;] around New Serbia.<ref>Greater Balkania Land Purchase https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rvn2w1vYJxaFyI_7iIYP8I1t79B6djvXgku1s3075jw/edit</ref> The acquisition of &quot;Greater Balkania&quot; had long been a Balkanian pipe dream for future expansion, but it was at last realized and Balkania now had the territory to expand.

However, the purchase of the vast territory of Greater Balkania did not solve the nation's myriad other problems - Mainly the dwindling population which had not grown in months and the subsequent tiring of the old guard core citizens who had been there for 5+ months now. The City of New Serbia underwent some development during this time such as rail lines to Orion and [[New Senntisten]], and Balkania's first formal law was passed, the [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v_2BELVwZj1lgE5S23phxuOQlo-S9zQTWbeZg3uitOI/edit New Serbia Dereliction Act], but real change was minimal. The city was also struck by a severe [https://www.reddit.com/r/Balkania/comments/3enooq/banovo_fire/ arson attack], which devastated the Banovo district in particular.<ref>https://undelete.pullpush.io/r/Balkania/comments/3enooq/banovo_fire/</ref>

[https://www.reddit.com/r/Balkania/comments/3fgm78/resigning_as_foreign_minister/ On the 2nd of August 2015, the Foreign, Economic and Security Ministers, Ipslore_, DoLLaZ and Uyuxo respectively, all resigned and departed from Balkania], having grown burned out in the nation and it's continued low population despite their attempts to revitalize it. With their departure Balkania's population effectively dropped to Spongesuds alone, who was for the most part semi-active at best.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Balkania/comments/3fgm78/resigning_as_foreign_minister/</ref>

On the 30th of November 2015, Balkania's one-year anniversary since the founding of New Serbia by King Spongesuds I, Ipslore_ returned to the inactive nation to restart it. Spongesuds agreed to abdicate in favour of Ipslore, who had been long since considered his heir, who immediately [https://www.reddit.com/r/Civcraft/comments/3usl5x/the_oneyear_anniversary_and_revival_of_balkania/ abolished the monarchy], and declared Balkania to be a National Republic with a Constitution as the cornerstone of the new state.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Civcraft/comments/3usl5x/the_oneyear_anniversary_and_revival_of_balkania/</ref>

* New Serbia was designated a historic site and the capital was relocated to the under-construction city of [[Istria]] in the southwest of the Greater Balkania.

For administrative purposes, Balkania iswas broken into five regions - The City of New Serbia, the Territories of Greater Balkania &amp; South Balkania, and the Colonies of Uluru &amp; Devica.

The Independent State of Balkania hashad fourfive main settlements:

Balkania iswas a National Republic with it'sits government laid out in it's [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bzCfu9aFwPjnjxoLjVP4CLhcPnQtlTw5OFtk_lzwPMw/edit Constitution]. State President Ipslore iswas the head of state.

Balkania hashad cordial relations with all it'sits neighbours, and iswas a member-state of the [[groups/alliances/gna|Great Northern Alliance]], and founder of the International [[Anti-Comintern Pact]], or IACP, which currently consistsconsisted of three other nations alongside Balkania in the fight against the red hydra. Balkania hashad embassies in New Senntisten, [[Roma]] and Icenia, as well as a small Fort that servesserved as a Legation in the nearby Senntisteni town of Londinium, and the New Serbia Embassy Street hostshosted Senntisteni, Roman, Icenian and Volterran Embassies.

Balkania previously had a long-standing alliance with the Commonwealth of the Kaiserinreich, before it was [https://www.reddit.com/r/Balkania/comments/39oh3i/end_of_the_kaiserinbalkania_alliance/ terminated by the Kaiserinreich due to a dispute over the ownership of the Kaiserin-New Serbia line.]<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Balkania/comments/39oh3i/end_of_the_kaiserinbalkania_alliance/</ref>

Balkania hashad formalized seven official documents over it's history -

Balkania iswas a primarily capitalist country, with a free market where citizens arewere free to set up their own private enterprises as they wishwished, though integrating some elements of Socialism and State Capitalism, with the majority of infrastructure owned and maintained by the state, as well as food freely provided to citizens and travelers alike. The national government has an economic agreement with Devica, a Balkanian colony, to export a set amount of sugarcane and cocoa, which willwould always be bought at a flat rate.

Balkania hashad a limited private sector, mostly being made up of shops in the New Serbia Market. The largest private companies operating out of Balkania arewere:

* Spongecorp, the remnants of the crown-owned Balkania Trading Company and it'sits subsidiaries are nowwere privately owned by Spongesuds. The Company hashad branches in New Senntisten, Orion, [[Thule]], Icenia and [[Discord]], and continuescontinued to produce XP in the historic city of New Serbia.

Balkania hashad two state companies, Balkania National Rails, responsible for the construction and maintenance of Balkania's railway systems, and the Londinium Development Company, which aidsaided in the development of the Senntisteni city of Londinium, where Balkania hashad significant economic interests.

Previously under the monarchical Independent State of Balkania, there was a far more extensive system of State Companies, with the crown-owned Balkania Trading Company and it's subsidiaries, Balkania Brand Potions and Balkania XP Exports, serving as a worldwide brand, with branches in New Senntisten, Orion, Thule, Icenia and Discord. However with the transition to the National Republic these were transferred to the private ownership of the ex-monarch Spongesuds, who chose to consolidate them into one company, Spongecorp, which continuescontinued to operate privately.

Balkania hashad wide and varied styles of architecture, the most distinct of these being the New Serbia style used in official buildings. Prominent examples of this style are the Novi Dvor, the Balkanian National Public Library, and the New Serbia National Theatre. This distinct theme is used in all official buildings, even abroad as Embassies and Governorates.

Balkania hashad a long and storied theatrical tradition, starting with the opening of the New Serbia National Theatre in April 2015. Since then, it hashad hosted many original plays by the Balkanian Theatrical Group, such as [https://www.reddit.com/r/Civcraft/comments/32ixpn/balkania_opens_its_very_own_theater/ &quot;Shrek is Love, Shrek is Life&quot;.], and the long-awaited Mein/11.