United Commonwealth Worldbuilding v2.0

The United Commonwealth | Predicica (www.predicica.com/place/The-United-Commonwealth)


The United Commonwealth
The Commonwealth, Krawiterska, Severoszlavia, Obyedinyonnaya Rechpospolita Kravitera

---

The United Commonwealth is at a geographic crossroads. It links the fertile lowland plains of East Craviter and the sea lanes of the Argent Sea and the Auburn Channel to the mountainous highlands of Central Craviter. Now bounded by six nations, the Commonwealth has waxed and waned over the centuries, buffeted by the forces of regional history. In the early Middle Ages, the First Commonwealth, when it was founded, was an alliance of principalities, voivodeships, thanedoms, jarldoms, and cities. It was led by a Captain-General elected by the General Sejm, the assembly of princes. They were subjugated by successive waves of invaders, from the Argent Imperium and the Alemaners to the Khastenians. In the Partitions of the Commonwealth (1659-1678), the lowlands became known as Nordic Krawiterska, a collection of possessions held by the United Kingdom of Goyanes and Andrenne in personal union, and its highland territories were parceled out to Callise and Khastenia. Arrandali and Essalanean principalities were carved out of the Commonwealth's southern regions. Syrixia took over Krawiterska after the 1st Nordic-Imperial War. In the Wars of the Callisean Republic (1814-1819), the General Sejm of Nordic Krawiterska voted to oust Samprati III in 1815, declared itself a sister republic of Callise, and marked the beginning of the short-lived Second Commonwealth. The Army of Mittelreich, the standing forces tasked to defend Syrixian Krawiterska, was bogged down by the Krawiterskan Army until the arrival of Syrixian-Nordic Coalition forces in 1819.

Even at times of national crisis, however, the cultures of the United Commonwealth remained strong; indeed, it even flourished. Intellectuals, musicians, filmmakers, and writers came from Krawiterskan Alemaners, Arrandalis, Calliseans, Essaleneans, Lechites, and Kyivans. Alemaners Callisean revolutionary ideals were carried by Regent Kazimierz Pułaski, a Lechite, and Speaker Jarl Herman Bohuslæn, an Alemaner-Prydanian; both founding fathers of the modern Commonwealth. They led the national effort behind the Krawiterskan Constitution of 1821. The name "Krawiterska" was first mentioned in the document. The new Third Commonwealth incorporated ideals of the Callisean Republic, the Supreme Law of Goyanes, and the Santonian Revolution, and created a parliamentary federation. The elective monarchy that existed since the First Commonwealth was replaced by a hereditary dynasty. Astrid Severyn-Loðbrók of Prydania became the first Craviterian Emperor in 1827.

In the 1930s the exploitation of oil and natural gas became the major industry, with the Commonwealth emerging in the 1940s as one of the world’s leading petroleum exporters. Andrenne, Maloria, and Syrixia were the main benefactors of the oil concessions. The Fascist War was particularly damaging. The Third Commonwealth was ended by the Covenant, a group of radical Gotic officers that sought to join the Dominion alliance. They committed the coup that established the Fourth Commonwealth. It imposed forced Gotification policies on the Krawiterskan Szlavic population. In both the Commonwealth and Krawiterskan-occupied Khastenia, the Courantist and Zmeyist religions were banned. Andrensk became the sole official language. The use of the Argenti, Lechite, and Szlavonic languages were prohibited. The Alemaner and Callisean languages gained legal protections. With the defeat of the Dominion in 1951, the Third Commonwealth was restored.

Yuri I's ill-fated plans for political and economic reforms and bribery from Andrenne led to the 1979 coup, sponsored by Maloria, replaced the Third Commonwealth with the Fifth Commonwealth. 14 years of totalitarian rule under the Solidarist Party followed, though not without strong challenges on the part of Krawiterskan workers, who, supported by a dissident Courantist Church, called the economic failures of the Solidarist system into question. In the early 1980s, beginning in the shipyards of Gdańsk, Krawiterskan workers formed a nationwide movement called Konfederacja (Confederation). Despite the arrest of Konfederacja's leadership, its newspapers kept publishing, spreading its values and agenda throughout the country. In May 1993 the Solidarist Party, under the new leadership of Konfederacja leader Prince Włodokus Bolkonsky, announced a general amnesty, regular party elections, and an end to political oppression, planting the seeds of the Commonwealth's return to more democratic practices.

Although the demise of central economic planning and one-party rule brought profound political and economic changes, including the beginnings of the formation of a large middle class, for much of the post-totalitarian era the Krawiterskans had to endure a generally weak economy, high inflation, and a complex of social ills that served to lower life expectancy significantly. The Bolkonsky Government was unable to prevent the Interconfessional War (1993-1996). Hundreds of Laurenist and Courantist churches were destroyed and the faithful persecuted in both Szlavic and Gotic-dominated states. As a result, 3 million people were displaced. 2 million left for Saintonge and Oklusia. Allegations of collusion with the Andrennian, Malorian, and Syrixian governments plagued each successive government since the post-1993 parliamentary elections in 1995.

The United Commonwealth | Predicica (www.predicica.com/place/The-United-Commonwealth)

Top Questions