Flag: (pending volk making me one, ree)
Nation Name (long): The Principality of Spiridoneva
Nation Name (short): Spiridoneva
Motto: Natura nihil frustra facit
National Animal: None
National Flower/Plant: Tufted Saxifrage
National Anthem: The Great Snowy Plains
Capitol: Osijak (January-June) / New Eldura (July/December)
Largest City: Sibenik (130,000)
Demonym: Spiridondevans
Language: Island Volkaiyun (A mix of Volkian and Vekaiyun with varying local dialects; members of each species can understand each other, but it’s not necessarily perfect. A good real world comparison would be Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian).
Species: Vulpines (46%), Lupines (40%), Other - Mostly Humans™ (14%)
Population: 980,000 (As of 2020)
Government type: Constitutional Monarchy
Leader(s): Co-princed by Yasili Vladimos (Vulpine) and Emile Spiridonev (Lupine)
Legislature: National Assembly
Formation: 1919
Total GDP: 61.70 Billion SHD ((USD))
Calling Code: 723
ISO 3166 code: SPI
Internet TLD: .spi
Historical Summary:
Early Discovery and Settlement
The first detailed record of the islands was recorded by Ilun Spiridonev, a Volkian explorer, in 1511. He described it as a “frigid wasteland of a rock.” and never visited it again. Interest in the islands continued, however, with Volkian expeditions in 1533, 1601, 1677, and 1744. Real settlement by Volkia was not attempted until 1804, given the island’s near year-round frost. The Volkian settlement, Osijak, now the capitol of the Lupine region of the island, was founded on the southeast corner of the island. What the Volkians did not know, was the then Vekaiyun Kingdom had established a colony of its own in New Eldura, on the eastern banks of the island.
Neither side knew of the other’s existence, until a presumably very awkward meeting in 1823. A uneasy peace lasted until things came to a head over fishing rights.
Sibenik and the Whale Wars
Whaling quickly became the main industry of the northern island; and the settlement of Sibenik was established by Human settlers in the 1862 to sustain the growing industry. Unknown to the South Hills fishing company that had established the settlement, they had walked into the middle of a growing territorial dispute between the Spiridonev family that duchied the Volkian settlement of the island, and the Vladimos family, directors of New Eldira.
As Sibenik was founded on the southern side of the island between the two settlements; both Lupine and Vulpine settlers flocked to Sibenik seeking work in the well paying whaling industry. What followed however, was representatives of both governments of the two colonies; each claiming the entire island, and demanding the new settlement pay taxes. One thing led to another, and a Volkian ship captain was beat to death by three Vekaiyun’s who were denied positions on whaling ships. Sibenik erupted into riots overnight.
Despite being dubbed the whale wars in textbooks due to the origin of the conflict, very little of the fighting occurred at sea; neither of the fledgling colonies could afford real warships, and both mother countries were hesitant to go to war over a few thousand settlers on a snowy rock of an island. Both were content to let the settlers fight it out using militiamen. The lack of professional military minds led to a very brutal form of combat; uniforms were scarce, and rifles scarcer. The two “battles” of Sibenik in 1864 and 1866 respectively were moreso street brawls than any organized fighting. In a fire started to root a Vulpine militia company out of a warehouse, a Lupine rifle company inadvertently burned 80% of Sibenik to the ground in the second battle. More people died of hypothermia and starvation that winter than in the entire war; as the fire burned most of the city’s food supplies and shelter.
Foreign Occupation and an Uneasy Peace
Following it’s “soft imperialism” reputation of the time, word of the Sibenik riot and subsequent wars quickly alerted South Hills as the fishing company at the center of it all was a southern company. While initially content acting as peacekeepers, the second battle of Sibenik in 1866 led to direct South Hills intervention; occupying the city and disarming Vulpines and Lupines alike, South Hills effectively claimed Sibenik as an international city. While both New Eldira and the Spiridenovs were unhappy with the agreement, it was the purest compromise; neither side got what they wanted. Volkia and Vekaiyu quietly protested a foreign intervention, but in reality were content with it as it meant neither of them had to contribute troops.
However, as the years drug on and it became evident that South Hills may not have intention of leaving, representatives from the three countries sat down in 1870 and agreed to the following;
-
South Hills would govern Sibenik as an international city.
-
South Hills, Vekaiyu, and Volkia would have a lease to govern Sibenik for 100 years as a tribunal, after which governance would return to the island’s unified government.
-
Volkia and Vekaiyu would work towards establishing a unified island government by 1920.
-
The island’s two autonomous regions; Vulpine and Lupine, were established on paper with zones of control.
A (smaller) civil war.
While signing a piece of paper promising a unified government in tropical Elizabeth was easy, none of the representatives at the 1870 conference had ever actually been to Spiridoneva. Once it fell to local bureaucrats to actually hash out an agreement, it became clear just how impossible a task this would be. The two species on the island distrusted and often hated each other; and neutral mediators in the South Hills humans were required to keep Sibenik from burning down a second time. However, a more pressing task quickly befell Volkian bureaucrats;
Volkia had fallen into civil war in 1885. This quickly caused a rapid withdraw of Volkian government officials and what already minimal Volkian military assets existed on the island. Volkian settlers were torn between the monarchy and the new federation; Vekaiyun settlers saw an opportunity. Finish the job and kick the lupines off the island.
Siege of Osijak and military intervention
With Volkia’s leaders focused on a bloody civil war, the Vulpine militias quickly steamrolled through Volkian territory and settlements. Within 6 months, they were besieging Osijak, the Lupine capitol on the island. The only place safe of conflict remained Sibenik; as South Hills reinforced it into effectively a military installation. While the larger Vulpine militia kept Osijak pinned down from the land, they had no seaworthy warships or large siege cannons, allowing sympathetic ships to run supply runs to the besieged city. Osijak held out for over a year as the Volkian civil war wound down; this would become known to city residents as the Vulpine Winter; over 10% of the city’s population would starve or freeze. The Spiridonevas, then lead by Prince Wojak Spiridonev, stubbornly refused multiple offers of surrender believing any surrender would involve subservience to the Vulpines and an unknown fate; Rumors had circulated from conquered inland Lupine villages of vulpine atrocities ranging from executions to burning entire villages.
Volkian leaders on both side of the civil war were well aware of the city’s plight, but were unable to act given the civil war. This quickly ended with the death of King Yuri IV in 1888, and the new Volkian Federal Republic’s establishment. Eager to not lose international prestige, they quickly dispatched a large military force to rescue Osijak.
The Long (Vulpine) March and the Sibenik Armistice
The Volkian troops; crack and battle hardened from their freshly won civil war, landed in Osijak in June. The vulpine militia, poorly trained sailors and farmers, were no match. In the Battle of Vitaly’s Geyser, 7,000 Volkian troops routed 9,000 Vulpine militiamen. Those fit enough ran, and began a long route back to Vulpine territory. Over 2,000 of the Vulpine militiamen were captured by Volkian forces and local lupine militiamen. While the Volkian troops treated the prisoners relatively well, the local militia, who had been starving under the Vulpine’s siege for over a year, were far from polite. When foreign press leaked stories of Vulpine prisoners of war being drug, beaten and held without food in the city’s center, with many being taken as slaves, Vekaiyun outrage poured over into a military intervention of their own, dispatching a force from Vekaiyu in July of 1888. Such human rights abuses were common on both sides; entire villages were burned if they were on the ‘wrong side of the border’, and those that refused to leave faced harassment, assault, and on occasion kidnapping, murder, and even forced labor.
South Hills’ administration of Sibinek quickly became inundated with refugees from all sides of the conflict; as it was the only truly neutral area on the island. Still, street fights between Vulpines and Lupines were routine, with the mostly human administration holding on by their fingertips. When news hit that a Vekaiyun strike force was dispatched, Volkian commanders came to their senses, and halted their advance at the demarcation line decided by the Treaty of 1870. South Hills and the newly established Tano States mediated a new armistice in Sibenik;
-
Both Volkian and Vekaiyun military forces would leave the island.
-
Both sides will disband their militias
-
Both sides will return prisoners of war.
-
Both sides will continue to honor the 1870 agreement for a unified state by 1920.
Establishing Spiridoneva
Even settling on a name was a topic of fierce debate for the four constitutional conventions that led to the nation’s first establishment in 1919. Hardcore Vulpine delegates saw it as “too Volkian”. Eventually though, a constitution of compromises was made.
-
Executive government would default to the countries two ruling families; the Spiridonevs of Osijak, and the Vladimos’ of New Eldura. Significant executive decisions, such as declaring war, require both princes(s)’ to agree.
-
The nations’ capitol would rotate every 6 months between Osijak and New Eldura.
-
Sibenik remains a international city until 1970 under the Treaty of Elizabeth.
-
A bill of rights outlaws slavery and establishes most civil rights, though a attempt at banning discrimination based on species is narrowly defeated as both sides routinely practiced segregation in housing and education, among other things.
-
Both princes and their government retain executive power over their respective regions.
Free Sibenik
Though still officially an international city, Sibenik remained approximately 63% Vulpine and 30% Lupine, the remainder being humans. Vulpines and Lupines began entering the city’s government as South Hills aimed to have less direct say, but this quickly led to violence between the two species. The Lupines in the city lived in the northern hilly districts, with the Vulpines occupying the portside districts of the city.
Citywide riots had to be quelled by international troops in 1898, 1923, 1944, and 1966. In 1967, a peaceful protest outside the courthouse by Lupine protestors turned violent when the protestors began throwing rocks and sharp objects at South Hills Marines guarding the courthouse. A marine opened fire, leading to a bloody shootout that killed 8 Lupine protestors, including a 12 year old child. This incident became known as Bloody Thursday. The incident spiraled into a full blown revolt in the Lupine district, through a movement referred to as “Free Sibenik” when Lupine militias armed themselves and sealed off the city’s northern district, refusing to allow city officials or troops in. Vulpine movements, such as the OEM (One (new) Eldura Movement, New Eldura being the traditional Vekaiyun name for the entire island), capitalized on the violence to try and intimidate Lupine residents out, and vice versa as movements like Free Sibenik committed mortar attacks and car bombings on Vulpine neighborhoods. Sectarian violence continued throughout the 1960s and 1970s. More importantly, the presence of international forces, primarily South Hills troops, were beginning to look more like a occupation than peacekeeping to most residents.
Good Monday Agreement of 1970
With the 100 year lease expiring, the departure of international troops in Sibenik lead to many questions, primarily whether the residents would kill each other immediately after their departure. After years of negotiation throughout the 1960s, a agreement was struck.
-
International troops would depart orderly by 1971 on the conditions that:
-
Spiridoneva officially outlaws segregation and discrimination on basis of species;
-
Both regions agree to never forcefully relocate anyone from their region on regard of being of the opposite species;
-
Spiridoneva agrees to never establish internal border controls between its regions, as this would separate families and lead to more conflict;
-
All island residents on July 1, 1971 would be granted Spiridonevan citizenship. Individuals of Vekaiyun and Volkian descent may claim citizenship of their home country as a dual-citizenship.
-
Sibenik would be jointly governed by both region through a tribunal, with a international committee as mediator when necessary;
-
Spiridoneva continues efforts to unite the regions of the country into a more cohesive body, and;
-
Spiridoneva agrees never to establish a professional ground military. A navy and air force were permitted for self defense.
Many feared the agreement would immediately spiral into another civil war, but, much to everyone’s surprise, it didn’t. Sectarian violence continues to this day, with groups like OEM and Free Sibenik still operating in limited numbers, but overall the country is seeing increased stability and cohesion. Time will tell if it stays that way.