Virswa

Virswa, officially known as the La République de Virswa, is a 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 km2.

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 absolute monarchy where the monarch holds supreme autocratic power. That said the monarch must tread very carefully to avoid another bloody civil war. Which would ultimately end the country for good as neighboring nations would take advantage and attack Virswa. 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 United Virswa Republic. From 1764 onward, they tried to take control of the whole country. Throughout the war, the gouvernment 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 early 1769, shortly after an Virswa victory at Loué, the main revolutionary force capitulated. Over the next two years, their was sparse amounts of fighting. The Treaty of Loué in 1771 ended the war abolished the revolutionary forces for good. In the following years there were still feelings of hate towards the gouvernment. 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 gouvernment had the difficult task of fighting the war while simultaneously trying to retain the allegiance of the Loyalists. Loyalist support was important, since the goal of the war was to keep stop the spread of the movement, but this imposed numerous military limitations. The need to retain Loyalist 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.