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Nation's Name

Republic of Hetteland

Nation's History

The history of the Hettes (Note: A human ethnic group) is one of solitude and infighting above all else. Occupying the region between the Abiram Crags and Fellspire Mountains, commonly known as Hetteland or the Interstice, the Hettes have been separated both physically and culturally from the rest of the world in many ways since the beginning of recorded history. Situated in the isolated, scattered, and fertile valleys of the region, dozens of independent Hettish city-states used to thrive within what seemed to be their own world of sorts. Each was left with only their fellow regional city-states to interact with unless they fancied the idea of braving the great mountain ranges which sheltered their shared civilization. These small city-states, called Palatinates and ruled by ancient nobility, warred with one-another one year and engaged in trade the next, all the while building and exchanging ideas, beliefs, and culture.

Over the course of hundreds of years, no single force, be it native or foreign, had successfully united the Hettes under a unified banner. All would-be foreign invaders were turned back in the mountain passes of outer Hetteland time and time again, while Palatinates looking to expand would often find themselves rapidly struck down by a militant coalition of peers if they attempted to muscle their way into other valleys or passes. Each Palatinate remained fiercely independent, despite sharing a language, religion, and culture with every other Palatinate in Hetteland, and there were no signs of change any time soon. Even after taking part in the mass die-off that resulted from the outbreak of the Jakarta Flu the political landscape of Hetteland refused to be changed. Then, in the decades and subsequent centuries after the Jakarta Flu, trade between the Hettes and foreigners slowly started to become more widespread.

By the time Landen Shelly graced the Earth with his wonderful inventions and theories, a series of passes in the north and south of Hetteland were seeing frequent foreign trade. Just as goods flowed in and out of the isolated region via these passes, so too did ideas. While at first many were opposed to the new technologies coming in, one Palatine in particular embraced the foreign inventions, Valentine et Rhetburg, Palatine of Konfluetten. The young noble took out massive loans and brought in foreign labor to start a period of some of the most rapid industrialization possible. He made promises of power to the Auspect of the Church, receiving funds and blessings in exchange. Within the course of a decade he had made Konfluetten an industrial power-house, trained an elite military using a mix of foreign and native techniques, produced the most modern arms and war machines, and rallied a handful of other lesser Palatinates to his cause. All of this sudden power was built on a massive foundation of ridiculous debt, but Valentine, young ambitious man that he was, had no time to worry about such things. Then it all started, the bloodiest war in Hettish history, the War of Unification.

In truth, it was the seventeenth 'War of Unification' which had been waged in Hetteland, with the other sixteen all failing to reach their goal. Valentine et Rhetburg, however, had both the Church of Man and technology on his side, and was therefore incapable of losing. To kick off the war, the ambitious Palatine sent out an ultimatum to every Palatinate in Hetteland, telling them that if they joined his cause of unification they would not be harmed. Most scoffed at the very idea of the demand, Konfluetten had never been a particularly powerful Palatinate, and very few knew the extent of its recent industrialization. All but one Palatinate denied the demand, and so war was declared. Valentine et Rhetburg had declared a war in which he was outnumbered more than ten-to-one, determined to fight and conquer all Hettish Palatinates besides those few minor ones which had already joined him.

The first strike was rapid and powerful, signalling the beginning of a new era of Hettish warfare. Instead of taking months to ride through the mountains on precarious paths and deadly passes, losing many to the elements on transit, Valentine did something revolutionary. He sent a portion of his army not through the mountains, but over them. Using airships, he was able to deploy elite troops in hostile valleys in a matter of a couple days, rather than a couple months. After being deployed, said troops dominated the battlefield, possessing both better training and equipment, as well as close air support. Still, though, the War of Unification was a drawn out and bloody one. While smaller airborne forces could eliminate enemy forces easily, they found actually occupying the city-states a difficult task, as more sizable armies which were suitable for occupation still had to move through the mountains to reach their objective. After a period of six years, however, Valentine's forces held every inhabited valley and plateau, and subsequently claimed victory via the signing of the Concord.

This action, that is, the signing of the Concord, signalled the end of an ancient era, and the coming of the Republic of Hetteland. The Hettes had been unified under a single centralized government, and the centuries of inner feuds and bloodshed had ended. Laws were made, governmental systems were established, citizenship was granted to nearly everyone, and democracy was embraced. The Church of Man was given governmental representation, as was agreed upon, and the long process of repaying national debt began. Seeing the success of Konfluetten, many other cities started to rapidly industrialize, and improvements were made upon the foreign steam-powered systems. Chief among these was the use of the abundant geothermal activity in Hetteland to heat massive steam plants, which provided the energy that factories needed by using a grid of underground line shafts to turn the machines necessary for production.

The military was modernized, and fortifications were built in the outer passes, accompanied by anti-airship artillery emplacements which dotted the peaks. Seeing their success in the War of Unification, the Republic of Hetteland started to fill out its air wing, at first producing foreign designs before eventually making their own which were better adapted for the high-altitude environment and powerful winds of Hetteland. Mechanized mining helped fuel Hettish industry, which in turn turned into revenue which could be used to pay off debt. Meanwhile, the great biologist Sir Endris Cruzart shocked not just Hetteland, but the entire international scientific community with his so-called Theory of Progression, which supplied evidence of species changing over millennia due to environmental effects and genetic exchange. Working closely with the government, he also developed the so-called school of Eugenics, which said that one could effect the development of the human race through choosing suitable procreating pairs, eliminating undesirable traits and their carriers from the gene pool, and ensuring the continuation of favorable traits through whatever means necessary.

The practice of using eugenics-based systems on the populace was adopted by the government, who quickly started to pick pairings within the populace, set individuals into certain classes based on traits, and forcefully castrating or otherwise... eliminating those who are deemed genetically impure. Before long, resistance to the system became relatively widespread, up until Valentine et Rhetburg gave a rather rousing speech titled 'Hetteland, my love' which is still referenced frequently today. This single speech changed public opinion to view eugenics systems as the only way to truly ascend above Aerth, vanquish the Outer Court, and weave all deserving Hettes into the Fabric. With most people now accepting of the eugenics programs, progress was unimpeded, and Hetteland continued on in its endless march to achieve and maintain modernity.

The next couple of decades were ones of peace and prosperity, as Hetteland engaged in trade and asserted its armed neutrality. By now, it's massive debt is almost vanquished and all inner strife is for the moment stifled. Some may note, however, the the waters seem eerily still, and a storm of sorts may very well be coming to the Republic of Hetteland.

Form of Government

Directorial Federal Republic, with the constitutional capacity to turn into a Dictatorship if a popular vote and Dietary vote both agree to do so, or if a state of emergency is declared.

Political Status

Relatively stable, though various political rebels have been gaining more support around the country in recent months.

Political Overview

Based on the previously foreign idea of democracy, the basic foundation of the Republic of Hetteland's political system is a familiar one. The administration is divided into three branches, the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary. The Judiciary branch is made up of the Paramount Court, which handles the interpretation of law on a national scale and presides over the various Palatinial Courts, which handle local cases. Members of the Paramount Court (of which there are eight) are proposed by the Consul and confirmed by the Directory, and serve terms of 15 years each, with multiple consecutive terms being allowed. Meanwhile, judges for the Palatinial Courts are proposed by popular vote by the citizens of their respective Palatinates and confirmed by the Paramount Court. Overall, the judiciary branch has relatively little power beyond what one would expect from such a branch. The only exception to this is their power to conduct Audits when such action is proposed by the Consul and confirmed by popular civilian vote, though this power has yet to be used.

The main component of the Legislative branch is the Diet, which is the Republic of Hetteland's bicameral legislature. Split up into an Upper and Lower portion (respectively called the Upper and Lower Diet) the Diet was the product of Valentine et Rhetburg's attempt to properly balance the power of the commons, the nobility, and the Church of Man. The Lower Diet, which is unsurprisingly the lower house of the Diet, and is made up of 50 Speakers and 15 Prelates. Speakers are meant to be the voice of the common man in Government, and are elected by popular citizen vote. Speakers are tied to no single Palatinate, and represent the Hettish people as a whole, rather than the Hettes of one Palatinate or another. Like many other positions within Hetteland, Speakers serve in rotation, with each serving 5 years a term and being capable of serving multiple terms in a row. Elections for Speakers happen once a year, with ten terms ending and subsequently needing to be filled each year. Meanwhile, Prelates and meant to represent the Church of Man in the lower house, and are elected by the Great Conclave to their position within the Diet until either death or dismissal. Each one holds the same power as a Speaker, and their presence within the government has been a point of controversy in more recent years.

Just as the Lower Diet represents the common man and serves as the lower house, the Upper Diet represents the nobility, and fills the position of upper house. The layout of the Upper Diet is rather straightforward, consisting of 38 Palatines and 5 Prelates. Palatines are, of course, the nobility of age-old lineages which rule over their respective Palatinates and have for well over a millennia. More often than not, Palatines are not in Konfluetten to cast their votes in person, and instead cast their votes via qualified Surrogate Palatines carrying official documentation and conveying the word of their respective Palatines. Just as is the case in the Lower Diet, the Upper Diet also sports five Prelates, which are elected by the Conclave in an identical process. It should be note that in addition to acting as an upper house, the Upper Diet also elects the Consul via vote.

Finally, the Executive branch is composed of two different powers, with only one being in power at once. The 'normal' executive force of the Republic of Hetteland is the group of individuals which actually makes it a directorial republic, the Direcotry. Unlike most other governments, the Republic of Hetteland does not have one single head of the Executive branch, but rather a group of seven. The Directory, made up of seven Directors, oversees the day-to-day administration of the Republic, usually meeting multiple times a day to cast lightning-quick votes. While the lack of a single head generally hampers their ability to administer the realm, the system is still viewed as a necessary one, meant to minimize the blunders of one man and avoid corruption. Each Director serves a term of seven years, with consecutive terms being allowed. Each year one Director's term ends, subsequently freeing up a new seat in the Directory, and elections subsequently take place. The process of electing each year's new Director is a rather convoluted one, though it starts out rather basic, with citizens casting their votes just as they would in any other Republic.

However, rather than electing a single individual, the popular forms a list of four nominees, made up of the four individuals with the most votes. With that, all civilian votes are disregarded and the list of nominees is passed on to the Lower Diet, which then takes a vote to decide their favoured nominees. After this, the two nominees who received the most votes in the Lower Diet move on to the Upper Diet, which takes the final vote and decides which of the two will become the new Director. The entire process has been greatly criticized by the general populace, with many insisting that it doesn't properly represent the will of the many.

The other position of significant power in the Executive branch is that of the Consul, which is described as an 'emergency power' in the Concord. The idea behind the position of Consul is that it exists to provide the Republic of Hetteland with a single, powerful entity who can be called upon in a time of need to take the reins of the nation. Elected by the Upper Diet alone, and up for reelection every five years (though the position is usually filled by one person until death), the Consul possesses very little power when the nation is not in a State of Emergency. In fact, the only power allowed to the Consul in normal circumstances is the ability to propose an Audit for popular vote and sit-in on Directory meetings. However, the rest of the Consul's power's can be activated through two means, the Directory declaring a State of Emergency, or the proposition gaining a two-thirds majority in both the Lower and Upper Diet. If one or the other happens, the Consul takes over the executive branch, gains the ability to disband the Diet, and can freely amend the Concord, among other things.

Current Political Leader

Officially, none.

Notable Figures
-Conrad et Rhetburg, Consul
-Julian Boesch- Director, 7 years left in term, Naturalist
-Frederic et Wittbray- Director, 6 years left in term, Republican
-Andren et Cohilauen- Director, 5 years left in term, Unionist
-Gaspar et Felden, Director, 4 years left in term, Republican
-Kashmir Fromm, Director, 3 years left in term, Naturalist
-Albrecht Freudenberget, Director, 2 years left in term, Naturalist
-Corsin et Arnigau, Director, 1 year left in term, Republican
-Auguste et Rhetburg, Palatine of Konfluetten, particularly influential member of the Upper Diet, leader of the Unionist party
-Cornelius Brose, leader of the Naturalist Party, influential member of the Lower Diet
-Wolfram et Mottel, leader of the Republican Party, Palatine of Vittegau, influential member of the Upper Diet

Total Population

31,382,274 citizens
8,745,753 slaves
41,128,027 total

Employed Population
39,071,625

Military Population:

Army Overview:

Navy Overview:

Air Force Overview:

Nation's Location: Regions 17, 42, and 43

Nation's Geography:

Economy Overview:

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