Virswa

Virswa, officially known as the La République de Virswa, is a country in the central portion of the continent of Artemia in Anterra. The country maintains a very large degree of autonomy simply because it is surrounded by enemy nations. The purpose of the government is to keep Virswa running as well as dealing with matters of state such as foreign affairs. As of 2019, the estimated population of Virswa is 60,432,100 people across an area covering 600,000km2.

As the first homo-sapiens became more sedentary they settled down in the area with the most potential. One of these area was the land that was to become Virswa. They settled down in the land due to the high abundance of natural resources such as; fish, wood, ore, and wild game. After many years they began to form primitive societies. In the 1760s a man named Émile Jooseppi united them under a single flag. In the next years there where many conflicts and deaths. But still Virswa stood strong.

Virswa is an Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy where the monarch holds no power and is just a figure head. Most years the Green Party wins the elections. Due to the country be surrounded by enemy nations a very strong military tradition was born. Most men having served in the Armed forces. Most civilians own firearms purely for self-defense reasons. Because of its geographical position it has developed the tendency to try to keep and enforce peace.

Gastronomy is taken quite seriously in Virswa. There are also many traditions with parades being held to honor them all. There are also Hundreds of statues of Émile Jooseppi left from the 1800s. These statues are almost as sacred as the Imperial Palace. The economy of Virswa is highly developed and free-market-orientated. The Economy mainly revolves around the production of wine, bio-engineered crops, and the ammunition for tanks and guns. It also revolves around forestry and mining.

Etymology
The origins of the name Virswa are highly disputed. The more recognized origin is from the word Virtuous signifying conforming to moral and ethical principles; morally excellent; upright. The other suspected origin is and the more likely one was uttered by a very drunk Émile Jooseppi. Most likely asking for the regional wine Vigne-de-la-loire.

Early History
The earliest settlers where the nomadic Homo Erectus passing thru the bountiful lands. After many years they transitioned to a more sedentary life style and the years they decided to settle down near the forests. Thru the years they branched out into to forests and the grasslands and thrived. They lived without much contact from the outside world until the 1400s. There where a few exceptions where they were raided by other parties. Such as the vikings. Until the 1400s they where vastly lagging behind on the current technologies such as gunpowder, windmills, glasses and astrolabes. In the span of 200 years they had to catch up on around 600 years of technology. This did not cause to many problems as they were very resilient people.

Virswa Unification Movement (1761-1763)
In the 1750s a man by the name of Émile Jooseppi traveled the world to search for new technologies for his village. As he traveled across the continent he realized that his region was quite different. It was not a united society it was just a independent villages scattered in lush forests and grass lands. In the early 1760s Émile traveled across the lands searching far and wide to find every village. At the various villages he presented his idea for a movement to unify all of the provinces under a single flag. Most villages agreed with his proposal. The major village that disagreed with the proposal was Loué the reason it was that they were vary powerful and they would lose most of it. Government type was a absolute monarchy with Émile as the self appointed ruler. During his short reign he got a lot of work done. Such as armed forces to defend the country of Virswa, Joint research facilities and proper infrastructure to support the country.

The First Civil War (1764-1771)
The first Virswa Civil War(1764-1771), also known as the 1st Virswa Independence war, was a war between the Virswa government and small anti-unification groups. The war was the culmination of the Virswa Unification movement. In 1764, Revolutionaries seized control of multiple major cities. The next month, they formally declared their movement as a new nation, The Virswa Liberation Front. From 1764 onward, they tried to take control of the whole country. Throughout the war, the government were able to use their army to capture and occupy cities, but control of the forests (where 40% of the population lived) largely eluded them due to their relatively limited supply. In 1766, shortly after an Virswa victory at Loué, the main revolutionary force capitulated. The Treaty of Loué in 1766 ended the war abolished the revolutionary forces for good.

3rd September 1764: Loué and multiple other villages rise against the Virswa government.

5th September 1764: The government mobilizes the army. They march out to try and retake the cities

9th September 1764: The battle of hill 762. The revolutionary forces take position at the top of hill 762. They fire down on the approaching governmental forces. When the government forces charged, they were mowed down by cannon fire and wall gun fire. It was a decisive victory for the revolutionary forces.

12th-17th September 1764:The government forces fail to retake every city lost.

18th September 1764-23rd January 1765: No real combat or attacks. Some cases of attacks on supply lines.

24th January 1765: The revolutionary forces take fort Paris killing all occupants

25th-31st January 1765: The government Forces bombard fort Paris for 6 days straight. Doing small amounts of damage.

1st February 1765: The government forces charge the fort but are pushed back.

2nd February 1765: The government forces charge the fort again but are pushed back.

3rd February-23rd march 1765: The government forces siege the fort.

24th march 1765: Revolutionary forces surrender the fort.

25th march-1th July 1765: The government besieges Hill 762

2nd July 1765: The government takes Hill 762

7th July-3rd August 1765: The government fought back the revolutionary forces in the capital.

4th august 1765: The government forces surrender the capital.

12th November-7th December 1765: The government fights back into the city and captures it.

7th December 1765-4th June 1766: The government launches operation delta and takes back every single city.

5th June 1766: The treaty of Loué is negotiated. It calls for the surrender of all revolutionary forces and for them to unite with the government.

In the following years there were still feelings of hate towards the government. With multiple more attempts to start the war again. All of the attempts were thwarted due to the fact that the government had learned a lesson and stationed troops in almost all cities and villages. The government had the difficult task of fighting the war while simultaneously trying to retain the allegiance of the citizens. Citizen support was important, since the goal of the war was to stop the spread of the movement, but this imposed numerous military limitations. The need to retain Citizen allegiance also meant that the government were unable to use the harsh methods of suppressing rebellion they employed later after the war. Even with these limitations, many cities choose to join the government that had protected them. This combination of factors still ultimately lead to the downfall of the revolutionary's.

The Monarchist Abolition coup(1939)
The Monarchist Abolition War, or the Second civil war was a war waged between 1939-1948. It was waged between; The Virswa anti-monarchist movement and the Government forces. It was active from 1939 to the late 1940s, it was started when Louis Jean the monarch was attacked by a group of armed anti-monarchist. They killed him and dragged his body to the town square and hung him. They then invaded the monarch's palace and houses.

September 1st 1939: Louis Jean is killed by armed anti-monarchists. They also invade his palace and houses.

September 2nd 1939: thousands of anti-monarchists across the country rise up and take key locations such as; armories, government buildings and forts

September 3rd 1939: 400 anti-monarchists seize and fortify hill 762. They bring millions of rounds of ammunition and 7 VMT-76 tanks to the top of the hill.

September: 4-7th 1939: In a last ditch attempt the government force they bring 20,000 troops and 20 VLT-57 tanks and attack hill 762. Imagine the last scene in fury but with more men and more tanks. The government took 10,000 casualties and did not manage to take the hill.

September 8th 1939: While the Government masses more at the base of hill 762. More men and supplies are brought up to the top of the hill to relieve the tired troops. The small number of casualties are taken away.

September 9th-13th 1939: After a full day of shelling the hill the government who now have 40,000 troops attack hill 762. The defenders defend the hill for 3 days but are eventually overwhelmed by the superior enemy forces after a bayonet charge. The government takes 23,000 casualties while the defenders take 1000.

September 13th-17th 1939: As the anti-monarchist forces march into Tours they are ambushed by a Government element. The resulting action was almost complete annihilation of both sides and the city. The total casualty count of this battle are unknown but some figures but it at 500,000 people.

September 19th 1939: A anti-monarchist raid on a airfield gives them access to VIP planes and VHB bombers. This allowed them to fly bombing raids and to attack enemy fighters. The pilots had very limited training but it was better than nothing.

September 20th-23rd 1939: The Anti-monarchist bomb hill 762 with planes and artillery.

September 23rd 1939: The government attempts to counter-attack but they are mowed down by machine gun fire.

September 24th: Near the town of Loué the anti-monarchists and the government have the only large scale tank battle. The monarchists lost due to the lack of newer tanks and air support.

September 24th 1939: Around a 100,000 Anti-monarchist "troops" gather around hill 762. They are mostly comprised of people with no training and no guns.

September 25th 1939: The Anti-Monarchists are annihilated in what would later be referred to as "Bloody Monday". More than 30,000s people were killed. This help gain a lot of support for the Anti-monarchists side.

September 26th 1939: The town of Loué is taken when groups of Anti-monarchists overwhelm the tanks stationed there. Loué was very important to the government as it was where they had stockpiled much of their supplies.

September 27th-5th October 1939: The Anti-monarchists take hill 762 after 8 continuous days of fighting.

6th October 1939: As a last ditch attempt the government over runs the ruined city of Tours with all of their remaining forces

7th October-12th October 1939: While the Anti-monarchists mass troops outside of the city other troops take the installations the Government abandoned. Meanwhile in the city the Government fortifies their position and braces for the last attack. They believe if they can beat the enemy forces they may have a chance to win.

13th October 1939-January 7th 1940: The Battle of Tours was the largest confrontation of The second Virswa Civil War, in which the Virswa government fought the anti-monarchists for control of the city of Tours. It was as a last ditch attempt to win the war by the government. Marked by fierce close-quarters combat.The Anti-monarchists offensive to capture Tours began in October 13th 1939, most of the Anti-monarchists forces. Most of those combatants had very little to no training. The attack was supported by intense bombing that reduced the already ruined to nothing but large piles of rock and wood. The fighting degenerated into house-to-house fighting; the Anti-monarchists poured troops into the city. By early-January 1940 the Anti-monarchists had destroyed all of the government forces, who had very little amounts of supplies left.

8th January 1940: The remaining government forces demand peace concessions. Later that day the Treaty second treaty of Paris is signed. It was signed it the exact same spot as the first to humiliate the government.

9th January-present: A Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy is established in Virswa.

The Virswa Fascist Army (1948-1972)
Virswa Facist Army (VFA), was an organization seeking the establishment of a Fascist government in the country of Virswa. The following events are the big ones there were countless other ones resulting in inestimable deaths.

January 30, 1948: Known as Bloody Sunday, the VFA attacked a marketplace full of people with homemade chlorine gas and hand grenades leaving more than 40 people dead and 100 more injured.

July 21, 1950: More than 10 bombs explode in Tours, leaving 4 dead and 130 injured. As retaliation the Government executes 7 confirmed VFA members. And creates the Anti-Fascist-Investigation-Team (AFIT).

Nov. 21, 1952: Targeting two pubs in Caen known to be popular among off-duty law enforcement, the VFA sets off bombs that kill 21 and injure 82.

March 1, 1954: The VFA organised hunger strikes across Virswa. Most people quit after a week. It resulted in 3 deaths

Nov. 8, 1963: The VFA detonates a 7kt improvised nuclear devices in the outskirts of Loué. Around 7 thousand are killed and 12 thousand more are injured. As a result the Government tries to start peace negotiations.

Nov. 20, 1963: 20 Unarmed VFA Members are killed by the a squad of Dragoons. The government seizes 100s of weapons and multiple IEDs.

March 20, 1964: The VFA takes hill 762. They bring up supplies and try to hold the hill

April 1, 1964: The Dragoons assault hill 762 killing 100s of VFA members. They take 7 casualties.

Feb. 9, 1965: The VFA attacks Precinct 31 in Tours killing or wounding everyone inside.

Feb. 10, 1965: The VFA bombs the 99th Precinct in Tours they do not cause much damage.

June 13, 1972: The VFA formally announces an end to its 24-year armed campaign. "All VFA units have been ordered to dump arms,” the group says in a statement. “All volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programs through exclusively peaceful means. Volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever."

29 February 1980: A VFA unit that had not disbanded bombs an almost empty parliamentary building killing 12 people and injuring 41 more people. As a result the the police raid a VFA cache and find multiple barrels of chemical weapons and hundreds of weapons. They also arrest 12 VFA members.

The War on drugs and the mob (1991 - Present)
Drug use for medicinal and recreational purposes has been happening in Virswa since the 1800s. But the selling of it by non-government organisations was made illegal in 1961. It was instated to try and limit the effects of the Virswa mafia. However the mafia turned to more nefarious acts to keep a flow of money at first they supplied arms to the VFA then when they were disbanded the Mafia turned to money laundering and drug distribution. In the last 10 years the mafia was kept in check by thousands of raids by military forces. Another solution presented is government mandated companies, meaning all companies must go thru a process to be rendered legal. The idea was that it would prevent the stores to be used a money laundering fronts. This does not work but does create a false sense of security.

Location & Borders
In the immortal words of Scruth "Generally Continental, leaning towards Coniferous forest along the northern coast and temperate grassland in the south". In other words in the north it is more of a boreal forest while to the south there are more open plains. Virswa is bordered by multiple countries. They are; North Veikaia, Modrovia and Gardarike.

Regional species
Due to the lush forests in the north multiple species mutated in consequence growing bigger. The 2 major mutations are the taupe bear and the giant salmon. The Taupe bear is a hybrid between a brown and black bear. It gets its name from the dark brown color of its fur the color is taupe. This bear has the ability to climb tree's like the black bear and the strength of the brown bear making it an apex predator.

Climate
The climat of Virswa can be split into three climate zones. Northernmost corner of Virswa has a subarctic climate (Köppen DFC), with short but warm summers; and long but very cold winters. A bit lower near the western coast of Artemia there is a Temperate oceanic climate (Köppen CFB), with short dry summer heavy rain fall happens during the mild winters. The rest of Virswa is a hemiboreal climate (Köppen Dfb).