Mezoraico Worldbuilding Thread

Mezoraico | Predicica (www.predicica.com/place/Mezoraico)


Mezoraico
Cravitera Centrale, Imperio de la Mezlandoj, Impero dei Paesi Mezzo, Mezolandoj, Mittelreich

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Mezoraico, officially the Empire of the Middle Countries, or just the Middle Countries, is a member state of the Predicean Union. Situated 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, it has waxed and waned over the centuries, buffeted by the forces of regional history.

In 43 AD, the Argent conquest of Mezoraico began. In 863, Lech the Szlav liberated much of Mezoraico, made governor by Dominar Andronikas I, and when the Argent Imperium ended in 1137, the wiecze, an assembly of Borseanist, Zmeyist, and Zuist rulers, elected their own dominarz to lead the Middle Countries. The dominarz's were native, hereditary rulers until the Central Crusades conquered Mezoraico by 1291. The largest Crusader state, the Kingdom of Sankta Kruco, was established by the House of Mavoia. In 1482, Sankta Kruco united the Crusader states in Mezoraico. The mass expulsions of protestant Gotics and pagan Szlavs freed up land for Courantist colonization. Resettlement agreements were negotiated via territorial readjustments with the Duchy of Sillanais, Essalanea, and Khastenia. In 1797, the Empire entered a personal union under Predice. Its status was reduced to a protectorate. In the Wars of the Callisean Republic, Chevalier partitioned the western half of the Empire to the First Khastenian Republic and created two sister republics, Aleman and Tristain. After Callise fell to the Nordic Coalition in 1817, the Predicean government granted more powers to the General Veče and granted autonomy to Skalindowia and Tristain.

The unique blend of Gotic, Kylian, and Szlavic nations and peoples created a cosmopolitan society: Cxjusono, a Gotic-Kylian language, is the only recognized national language. Predicean is the sole language for legislation; and both languages are used along with Lechite for administrative affairs. National scientists, musicians, filmmakers, and writers came from Alemaners, Arrandalis, Calliseans, Essaleneans, and Lechites. Local governments incorporated ideals of the Callisean Republic, the Supreme Law of Goyanes, and the Santonian Revolution. In 1822, the Empire was granted representation in the Predicean Parliament. Mezoraico was granted independence in 1931 to join the Predicean Union, a confederation of made up of Predice and its former colonial empire.

In the 1930s the exploitation of oil and natural gas became the major industry, with Mezoraico emerging in the 1940s as one of the world’s leading petroleum exporters. Predice, Andrenne, and Maloria were the main benefactors of the oil concessions. During the Fascist War, in preparation for an invasion in Craviter, a million-man defense force was assembled by the local Mezocano Army and the Predicean and Caruiano expeditionary troops. In 1945, Maloria occupied the constituent Kingdom of Tristain. In the west, the free territories of Mezoraico became a base of operations for various resistance movements of occupied Craviterian neighbors. The occupation ended in 1947. Peace was restored in 1950.

The PU Common Market, reconstruction funds, and reparations helped restart the Mezocano economy. It was overseen by the ruling Popola Ligo, originally the local affiliate of Predice's Messianist Democracy. Political and economic reforms abolished the last feudal institutions and transformed Mezoraico into a liberal democracy. It became an important manufacturing center of the PU. The Ligo built a comprehensive welfare state, including a national insurance and inclusive unemployment benefits. The government retained wartime controls over the economy, such as resource allocation, employment, and critical industries, including the railways, public utilities, and much of heavy industry. The oil industry is jointly and privately owned by concerns based in Andrenne and Predice.

Mezoraico has a parliamentary system with its bicameral legislature comprising of the Chamber of Princes, representing the constituent monarchies and provinces, and the Central Legislative Council, elected by universal suffrage. It is a developed market and high-income economy. It has a very high standard of living and safety, and it offers free university education and universal healthcare to its youth.

Quick Facts

Flag of Mezoraico

Anthem: Marcia Reale
Head Of State:
Craviterian Emperor: Vittorio Emanuele II
Regent: Archduke Matthias VIII of Mittelreich
Head Of Government:
State Chancellor: Ritter Wilhelm von Städtler III
Capital: Sankta Kruco
Population:
(2024 est.) 77,300,500
Currency exchange:
1 IBU equals ₤1.83
Form of Government:
Federal constitutional monarchy
with two legislative houses
(Chamber of Princes [325]; Central Legislative Council [418])
National Language:
Cxjusono
Official Languages:
Predicean, Andrensk, and Lechite
Official Religion:
Courantism
Official Name:
Cxjusono:
Imperio de la Mezlandoj
Predicean:
Impero dei Paesi Mezzo
(Empire of the Middle Countries)
Total Area (Sq Km):
501,566
Total Area (Sq Mi):
193,655
Monetary unit:
Predicean lira (₤)
Density: Persons Per Sq Km: (2024)
154.1
Literacy: Percentage Of Population
Age 15 And Over Literate:
Male: (2021) 100% Female: (2021) 100%
GDP (Nominal):
(2024) 2.974 trillion IBU
GDP per capita (Nominal):
38,473 IBU

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OOC Note: This a WIP post. It is not canon.

Skalia | Predicica (www.predicica.com/place/Skalia)


Skalia
Scalendova, Scalia, Skalindowia

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The State of Skalia, located in Central Craviter, is a member state of the Predicean Union. It is made up of three regions: Północna Lechia, Bałtcka, and Swarelię. The Skalian peoples in Selia and Tauroga in Scalvia, contrary to popular belief, were not the original settlements. These were named after ancient cities founded in Mezoraico. Those were destroyed in the Central Crusades. The Selian and Taurogan pagans sought refuge northward to present-day Skalia.

The land was home to Norsian and Erionese petty kingdoms until the Skalian Crusade in 1253. The Courantist conquerors leveraged religious tolerance to gain the loyalties of heathen vassals and tributaries and to maintain relationships with the pagan states of Khastenia and Norsia. When the last crusade was completed in 1291, the Messianization of Skalia formally commenced. Grand Prince Jogaila of Lietuva, the leader of the Cunigni Konfederaja, converted to Messianism and married the Courantist Duchess Jadwiga of Lechia to appease the crusader kingdoms. However, even after the conversion of all Skalia, the conflict persisted as Pagan and Messianist powers vied for control and influence over the continent. By the end of the 15th Century, Skalia was part of the Kingdom of Lechia, a constituent realm of Mezoraico.

The Predicean influences on the Skalian and the North Szlavic peoples helped create Skalia's rich ethnic and religious mix. Borseanism, Courantism, and Zmeyism are the three main beliefs of the population, and each is associated with a certain cultural group: Borseanism finds its main adherents among the Norsians and Ereionese; Zmeyism is for the Khastenians and Pagan Lechites, and Courantism is for the Messianist Lechites and the Scalendovese Meticci. Meticcis are any half-Prediceans whose ancestors intermarried with either Skalians or North Szlavs. They developed an apartheid system to maintain Courantist dominance over the pagans.

Its remoteness and distance from Predice helped maintain apartheid for the first half of the 20th Century. Skalian voivodeships in Lechia, controlled by the Courantist minority population, enforced segregation between legally defined races in administration, public services, and other spheres of life, creating virtually three nations: Arianese, Predicean, and Szlavic. The Arianese are migrants from Predicean Auroria, mainly from Orientale. Predicean included all Courantists and Metticis, including any converted Szlav. Szlavic combined all pagans, regardless if they are North Szlav or Skalian. In 1929, the Skalian voivodeships engineered a referendum to separate from Mezoraico on a narrow majority. The referendum franchise, claimed to be open for all Skalian nations, with strict income and property qualifications, was designed to ensure the Courantist voters outnumbered the pagan voters. They officially became independent in 1931 to join the Predicean Union.

After the Fascist War, Scalendova was a beneficiary of reparations and subsidies as part of the PU postwar reconstruction plans. The limited abolition of apartheid and the terrorist activities of Nova Krucmilito, secretly supplied by the Predicean Nationalist Association, hampered further development and PU aid. In 1967, they were expelled from the PU. The new independent republic quickly became a pariah state. The economic blockade by the PU, combined with cultural sanctions from all over the world, isolated Scalendova from the outside world.

The sudden Social Feudalist Coup in 1968 that toppled the republic is marred by conspiracy theories. It is widely claimed there was a secret agreement between Maloria and the PU to finalize their spheres of influence in Craviter. In the same year, the new Kingdom of Scalendova signed a defensive pact with Maloria and ceded them Port Rally. Horrific ethnic cleansing campaigns between 1972 and 1975 killed thousands and violently displaced nearly 3 million people.

In 1985, the People Power Revolution took over the Baltca province and neighboring areas. It divided the kingdom between the rebel-occupied inlands in the west and the government-controlled coastlands in the east. The revolution spread outside the Szlavic communities and into the urban centers of the Arianese and Predicean peoples. Apart from confronting the issues of ethnic separatism in a multicultural land, the increasingly kleptocratic elite of the Courantist minority have become unpopular within their own people due to the growing wealth disparities between the wealthy and working classes.

In February 1986, the PU forces invaded Scalendova. Maloria refused to honor its defensive pact with the kingdom. They explained it "lost the support of the people." A peace agreement in 1987 returned the kingdom to Predicean rule. It renamed "Scalendova" to "Skalia." The provisional constitution introduced universal suffrage and parliamentary democracy. The 1990 general election saw the appointment of the first Skalian majority government. Negotiations to rejoin the PU were finalized in the Norvalle Accords of 1995. It established a centralized government that guarantees equal representation for all ethnic groups in Skalia.

The division of powers in the country is distributed among three important cities: The executive seat is in Riga, the Lechite capital of Północna Lechia; the legislative seat is in Olsztyn, the Pagan capital of Bałtcka; and the judicial seat is in Loretto, the Courantist capital of Swarelię. Nowadays, Skalia is a developed mixed economy, drawing on its fertile ranch lands, machinery exports, and tourist attractions. The creation of a new Skalian identity, united under the PU, has been assimilating the population in a melting pot based on civic values. There are persistent race-related issues in contemporary Skalian politics. There have been demands for minority rights, especially reparations for colonial abuse, and criticisms of civic monoculturalism driven by conservative backlash.

Since 1987, Skalia has demanded the withdrawal of Maloria from Port Rally. This is an ongoing territorial dispute.

Quick Facts

Flag of Skalia

Anthem: Marcia Reale
Head Of State:
King of Skalia: Vittorio Emanuele II
Governor-General: Prince Lazzero Gazzari
Head Of Government:
State Chancellor: Daddo Tomko
Capital: Riga
Population:
(2024 est.) 6,132,500
Currency exchange:
1 IBU equals ₤1.83
Form of Government:
Constitutional monarchy
with two legislative houses
(Chamber of Peoples [81]; Legislative Council [200])
National Language:
Lechite
Official Languages:
Predicean, Selian, and Taurogan
Official Religion:
Courantism
Official Name:
Lechite:
Stan Skalia
Predicean:
Stato di Scalia
(State of Skalia)
Total Area (Sq Km):
78,086
Total Area (Sq Mi):
30,149
Monetary unit:
Predicean lira (₤)
Density: Persons Per Sq Km: (2024)
78.5
Literacy: Percentage Of Population
Age 15 And Over Literate:
Male: (2021) 99% Female: (2021) 97%
GDP (Nominal):
(2024) 236 billion IBU
GDP per capita (Nominal):
38,483 IBU

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OOC Note: This a WIP post. It is not canon.

Excerpt from "From Empire to Confederation: Predice's Transformation and the Temptation of Globalization"
By Alfonso D'Orso (Alessano: Università di Alessano - Edizioni Alessano, 2018)

[...]

In Postwar Predice, Mancini's legacy had left a turbulent divide in Messianist Democracy. The liberal and socialist wings of the party welcomed the multicultural Predicean Union. It allowed a more equal distribution of prosperity through a single market, free movement, and greater representation for the member states. Although, a critical faction within DM and outside in the opposition benches argued that the new union still primarily benefited "La Patria" or "Father Predice" as the political and economic center of the Union.

Meanwhile, the conservative wing of the party continued to lament the "End of Empire", of what they call the "Greater Predicean Nation." They claimed it existed in the three continents where Predicean territory spanned. Nobody was louder in this than the ruling Courantist minority in Scalendova. Comprised of the descendants of the crusader-settlers and the converted Szlavic aristocracy, they identified more with the Courantist and Kylian heritage that was introduced by the Empire. They glorified the Central Crusades as God's will to cleanse Craviter of the pagans and rewarded lands and peasants to the crusaders and the Szlavic lords who supported them.

In the 1950s, as part of the grand economic reconstruction of the PU, vast underutilized largeholdings in Caruia, Mezoraico, and Scalendova were to be divided into smallholdings and redistributed to the poor farmers, many of whom were either landless or, if not, cultivated on unproductive lands. Subsidies were provided, more to grant a starting fund for the farmers and less to compensate the landlords. There was little opposition to this in Caruia after the Democratic Front won, a broad coalition of reformists from all sides of the political compass. The bigger resistance could be found in Predicean Craviter, especially in Scalendova.

The Skalian peoples, the native majority of Scalendova, are made up of Selians and Taurogans. The Skalians fled north to their present-day home. They faced religious persecution. Many of their temples were destroyed. The few that survived were either converted to Courantist temples or repurposed into museums. Access was permitted but monopolized to leverage the cooperation of the pagan Skalians. Most of them were tenant farmers. Despite the abolition of serfdom, the newly liberated Skalian peasantry barely left the farms of their former feudal masters. Those who did migrated to the cities and became the workforce of the small but growing industrial base of urban Scalendova.

The 1954 Scalendovese general elections were won by Gino Trossingen's United Messianist Democrats (no relation to DM). They campaigned on ensuring the PU's reconstruction plans were fully implemented. Its small majority, however, made their position vulnerable. Only a limited number of reforms were passed, including desegregation and the abolition of the ban on public pagan worship. The expansion of the electoral franchise to the Skalians pushed many Courantists to join the Predicean Nationalist Association, founded by Alessandro Giunfiule.

On 6 April 1960, an explosion inside the Scalendovese Veče killed 21 people, parliamentary staff and legislators, including Council President Trossingen. The Nova Krucmilito, radical Messianist militants, claimed responsibility for the attack. It was part of a larger terror campaign that targeted Skalian communities. They assassinated Skalian leaders and bombed Skalian neighborhoods. The ANP claimed the violence had nothing to do with their rhetoric. They blamed the "impotent" MDU government, which forces the "neglected" Predicean nationalist movement to join groups like NK. It became official party line to declare the MDU government "neither cared for its Courantist brothers nor honored the god-fearing King." In the 1965 general election, the MDU initially maintained a minority coalition government until a key coalition partner left to form a new coalition government under ANP, along with other opposition parties.

An emergency meeting of the UP High Council was convened in Sankta Kruco in May 1967. Council President Giunfiule asked for economic and military subsidies to help prevent a "territory-wide pagan uprising." In the six months prior, the UP General Assembly organized an independent commission to investigate NK and its alleged relationships with certain organizations across the PU, concentrated in Mezoraico. It discovered that the equipment and armaments of the NC were military-grade. High-ranking members of the Mezocano and Scalendovese officer corps were questioned on suspicion of black-market dealings. The Mezocano officers were quickly arrested and charged. The Scalendovese government not only refused to detain their officers but also delayed extradition orders from Mezoraico and Predice. Gonfaloniere Alberto Cuciale, then the UP Foreign Minister, threatened Giunfule that, unless the Scalendovese authorities cooperated, he would call for an independent commission to look for more NK connections in Giunfiule's government and party. The President of the High Council, Caruiano leader Nunzio Farrugia, instructed the UP Secretariat to refer to all NK activities as a "rebellion" in speeches and public documents.

When the commission's findings were discussed in the High Council meeting on the Scalendovese situation, the four heads of government engaged in an emotional debate. Cuciale recalled there were expletives thrown around the table. He described the emerging division as Pro-Commission, comprised of the Caruiano and Predicean delegations, and Anti-Commission, of the Mezocano and the Scalendovese. The gridlock ended when it became clear that Giunfiule will never accept any peacekeeping force from the member states. Giunfiule attempted to bluff the other members of the High Council by daring them to vote on the Union membership of Scalendova. It backfired when the High Council pushed forward. On May 31, 1967, a confederate decree was issued to expel Scalendova.

UP - Predicean Union
MDU - United Messianist Democrats
NK - Nova Krucimilito
ANP - Predicean Nationalist Association