Characters
Current reference year is 2016.
Government - By Chancellor
KREUTZER 1992-2000 (Liberal)
- Hans Kreutzer - Chancellor - born 1949-10-10; Sanssouci Province
-A charismatic and inspiring figure, Kreutzer became Liberal Party leader in 1989 but did not attain the chancellorship until the 1992 election. Kreutzer was a moderate neoliberal and a staunch anticommunist, though he continued the welfare programs of his predecessors with minor exceptions. He led an expansive foreign policy and sought to secure trade routes and partnerships in order to continue Kannexan prosperity. To this aim he secured the independence of German-speaking Rhuvanland from the Syrixians and later the communistic Nebulans, using a mixture of diplomacy and KNA (Kannexan intelligence agency) operations. Forming a strategic partnership with the similarly anticommunist Syrixia, Kannex joined the Helmebaine Alliance in 1994. Kannex also joined other international organizations such as the Democratic Union and the NPTO. The next year, Nebula invaded Rhuvanland, leading to the "Great War." Kannex and Syrixia responded with war against Nebula. The Kannexan mainland found itself threatened by Nebulan aerial attacks. Meanwhile, Kannexan-Rhuvish forces defeated the Nebulan fleet off the coast of Rhuvanland. After a year, the Helmebaine forced Nebula to the negotiating table. The victorious and popular Kreutzer was reelected in the 1996 election.
-Chancellor Kreutzer continued a strong interventionist foreign policy in his second term. Despite the Nebulan defeat during the First Rhuvish War, a 'cold peace' remained between Nebula and the Helmebaine Alliance. The Shei Ren Missile Crisis, in which a communist island nation near Syrixia began to host Nebulan missiles and posed a direct threat to the Syrixian mainland, nearly led to another outbreak of hostilities. Kannex also funded separatist rebels in Nebula in an attempt to destabilize the communist regime. Kreutzer chose not to remain as Party Leader for another term and retired just before the dot-com bubble burst in 2000.
-From the 1996 election onwards, the Liberal Party began shifting further right in response to the rise of the nationalistic Fatherland Front. Christian conservatives, which had been politicized since the 1980s in response to the New Left, grew in power in the Liberal Party, much to the moderate Kreutzer's dismay.
- Jurgen Reina - Foreign Minister - born 1957-05-08
KESLER 2000-2004 (Liberal)
- Torsten Kesler - Chancellor; born 1961; Achutien Province
-Torsten Kesler took over the Liberal Party leadership from Hans Kreutzer, winning the 2000 election. Kesler continued the adventurist foreign policy of his popular predecessor, striking a bellicose tone to international communism. The dot-com recession led to a burgeoning pro-independence movement in Pelhafor. At home, Kesler felt his political base threatened by both the Christian Right of his party and the resurgent Democratic Party.
-In 2001, a Nebulan-supported communist rebellion engulfed Rhuvanland. The Helmebaine Alliance intervened in the Second Rhuvish War. Initially the Helmebaine were able to halt the communist advance, but the corruption of the Rhuvish government coupled with infighting between Helmebaine allies led to the withdrawal of Helmebaine forces and the fall of the Rhuvish government in late 2003. Kesler paid dearly for this defeat and was unseated by his own Party.
- Jurgen Reina - Foreign Minister
HENNEBURG 2004-2016 (Democratic)
- Jörg Henneburg - Chancellor; born 1942-7-25; Wallei Province
-The charismatic Jörg Henneburg led the Democratic Party to a landslide victory in the 2004 election. The Democrats formed a majority, the first in over a decade. Henneburg himself was a moderate, a so-called "New Democrat," but social democrats and progressives also won seats under the Democratic Party banner. Henneburg passed a new healthcare law and expanded welfare, and also decriminalized homosexuality, which had long been unenforced but remained nonetheless on the books until then. Henneburg rode a wave of war-weariness and desired to keep Kannex out of foreign entanglements, but soon found himself engrossed in foreign affairs.
-In 2002, the northern country of Cronaal had fallen into civil war. As Cronaal had been a former Helmebaine associate and the nearest allied country to Nebula, the Helmebaine seized the opportunity to intervene. Cronaal remained split: South Cronaal became a capitalist democracy while North Cronaal became a communist republic buttressed with Nebulan support. The peace broke down as North Cronaal invaded South Cronaal. Despite Henneburg's earlier anti-war rhetoric, he deployed troops to Cronaal under Foreign Minister Attenburg's advice. North Cronaal collapsed under Helmebaine attack and Cronaal was unified in 2005.
-That same year, the communist government in Rhuvanland began to weaken. Sensing the opportunity, Henneburg funded anti-communist rebels under Rhuvish conservative leader Heidi Rhein. By 2006, the rebellion was in full throttle and Kannex sent troops to support the regime change. The communist government was toppled and democracy restored in 2007. With these defeats, the Nebulan leader Malachit resigned and was replaced by a more moderate leader, who agreed to a new peace with Kannex and Syrixia. This gave Henneburg the celebrated epithet "victor of the Great War."
-Voters reelected Henneburg for a second term in 2008. The Democratic Party faced new pressures as a civil war in the northern country of McMasterdonia brought a wave of refugees flocking to the Kannexan Reich. Many conservatives viewed the non-Christian newcomers with suspicion. In 2009, the government of the Protectorate of Pelhafor, faced with unrest from the majority Catholic population, requested and received the Kannexan Congress's consent for independence. This hurt Henneburg in the polls, though he remained broadly popular. The granting of Pelhaforan independence outraged conservative Protestants and pushed the Liberal Party further rightwards, while also drawing the voters of the traditional Kannexan Catholic stronghold, Christian Social Party, to the Democrats. The right-wing opposition, the Liberal Party and the Fatherland Front, merged to form the Nationalist Party in 2010. A recession from 2009 to 2010 also strained the Democratic image.
-The Democratic Party maintained power in the 2012 election by a narrow margin. Relations with Syrixia were strained as the Syrixian government formed a compact of friendship with Nebula, Kannex's traditional communist rival. The McMasterdonian crisis weakened the DU, whereas the coup in Guslantis led to the NPTO, its brainchild, becoming effectively inoperable. In 2014, the unstable and weak Rhuvish government collapsed and was replaced by a totalitarian regime under Friedrich Ulrich and the fascistic National Sonacist Party (Nazos). As the new Rhuvish regime turned increasingly repressive to its own population and pledged to expand its territory, the international community reacted with alarm. The weakened NPTO, DU, and Helmebaine could not respond to the crisis. The Latin community of nations, led by Imperium, as well as the Esplandians and the newly-formed "Argent Alliance" led by Wolfsea and consisting of Trinster, Nebula, Syrixia, and later Kannex, responded. The Third Rhuvish War, also called the Second Great War, lasted hardly a year and saw the Nazo regime collapse under the weight of the multilateral invasion.
- Anton Attenburg - Foreign Minister - born 1968-1-31
Royals - House Niemza
Franz (
der Kaiser)
Born 1923-01-07, r. 1956-present. Succeeded his father Christian II. Major supporter of democracy; helped overthrow military rule in 1968. Actively participated in politics as a young emperor, but now leaves most decisions to the Chancellor. Enjoys operas and classical music. Married to Empress Isabelle.
Isabelle (
die Kaiserin)
Born 1926-07-15, nee Aviva. Born in Sarnia Province. Enjoys classical art and likes dogs. Married to Emperor Franz.
Politics
Diplomatic Staff
AMANO, Eugen - Ambassador to Wolfsea (
der Botschafter in Wolfsee)
GARZAI, Clovis - Ambassador to Slokobafia (
der Botschafter in Slokobafia)
GERMANIE, Marie - Ambassador to Salvarity (
die Botschaterin in Salvaritien)
KASERN, Karl - Ambassador to Plembobria (
der Botschafter in Plembobria)
KREUTZER, Klaus - Ambassador to McMasterdonia (
der Botschafter in Mcmasterdonien)
MAKARA, Ivan - Ambassador to Xentherida (
der Botschafter in Xentherida)
MASCHENGO, Johann - Ambassador to Kalti (
der Botschafter in Kalti)
Married.
MEGIDE, Siegfried - Former Representative to the North Pacific Treaty Organization (
der ehemalige Vertreter bei der Nordpazifikpakt-Organisation)
NEMETH, Klaus - Ambassador to Syrixia (
der Botschafter in Syrixia)
SASSACRE, Karl - Ambassador to True Sebland (
der Botschafter in Sebland)
VANTAS, Franz - Representative to the North Pacific Treaty Organization (
der Vertreter bei der Nordpazifikpakt-Organisation)
VANTAS, Sierra - Ambassador to Andulus (
die Botschafterin in der Andulischen Union)
VOLKER, Harvey - Ambassador to Lorbank (
der Botschafter in Lorbank)
Military
HELVETIUS, Hans - Navy
Born 1981-12-03. Born in Wallei fishing town; father was a fisherman. Enjoys sailing, chess. Yearns for combat. Mischievous, clever, creative.
LEIJON, David - Air Force
General. Commander of the Imperial Kannexan Cronaal-Command.
JANG, Wilhelm - Navy
Admiral. Commander of the West Fleet.
TORSTEN, Alexander - Army
Colonel. Representative to the Helmebaine Alliance (
der Wohlbund).
Civilians
