Worldbuilding- Country by Country
- Thread starter buihurbarb
- Start date
Map: https://imgur.com/X5rdtoK
Flag: https://imgur.com/jHrkjlD
Inserting images doesn't work for me for some reason, seems my whole account is gimped to hell.
Flag: https://imgur.com/jHrkjlD
Inserting images doesn't work for me for some reason, seems my whole account is gimped to hell.
It'd be a bit smaller with Arizona and the Mesalands in the way, otherwise go for it dude.
Your formatting is wonky. Replace your post with this text:
Code:
Map: [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/X5rdtoK.png[/IMG]
Flag: [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/jHrkjlD.png[/IMG]and it should work just fine. In the future, right click the image and click 'Copy image address' or a similar command. If your URL doesn't contain a file extension (e.g .png) you didn't copy it right.
Updated the Mesalands once more, thanks to Arizona. Their cession/border agreement of the Sierra Nevadas was an interesting choice. We'll see how well that plays out...
A tip for those working around tiny islands and other crannies the Fill tool can't reach. Select the blank white/color you want to replace as Color 1, and the new color as Color 2. With the Eraser tool, right click on the colors you want to replace and it should fill in easily, no fill tool required.
The Republic of the Caucus
Capital - Baku
Ideology - Democracy
National Anthem -
Flag -
Also, these anthems are new, so here's the one for the Republic of Arizona
I feel like a unified Transcaucasia would be like Yugoslavia on steroids if it ever breaks apart.
Gaelic KingdomUnion of the crowns of Hebrides, Northen ireland and Scotland. While during middle age and the colonial era it was a poweful rival to Pryden, the lost of its Northumbrian holdings during the modern age to a socialist revolution gutted it from most of its industrially developped regions. Right after this critical incident, the crown was forced to relinquish most of its past power and form a constitutional monarchy to appease the masses and avoid the revolution to spread inside its new border. Without most of its power, it was forced to peacefully let go of its colony at the first sign of autonomist desire to avoid colonial conflict. What it lost in direct revenue it did gain in good relation with its former dependency, propping it to form good commercial relations with them. Whitout rich native natural ressources, the country invested immensly in education and in scientific fields to stay at the peak of innovation, reaping revenue from patent and advanced industrial production. This really paid off recently since it allowed them to exploit the rich deep petroleum deposits of the North sea.
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The Siberian Khanate
(I realize the size might be a bit much. If so, let me know; I have an alternate idea for shrinking it if necessary)
Map:
Flag:
(I realize the size might be a bit much. If so, let me know; I have an alternate idea for shrinking it if necessary)
Map:
Flag:
Not an entry but a guide to the international organizations so far
Dark Blue is the Democratic Treaty Organization (DTO) So far the only criteras is being a democracy and not having bad relations with current members.
Orange is the League of Neutral Nations (LNN) A pro-peace, pro-neutrality and pro-free trade organization.
Grey is country without affiliations
Dark Blue is the Democratic Treaty Organization (DTO) So far the only criteras is being a democracy and not having bad relations with current members.
Orange is the League of Neutral Nations (LNN) A pro-peace, pro-neutrality and pro-free trade organization.
Grey is country without affiliations
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Transural RepublicSent to maintain peace across the Ural mountain, the cosack carved a country for themselves. They eventually allied with boyars who were more interested in minning and exploiting the soil, happy to leave the cosack in charge of actually running the law of the land. It stayed in a semi-feudal state until the industrial revolution where the massive natural reserves allowed for a rapid industrialisation and exploitation of the Ural vast mineral wealth. Quickly the new industrialists sponsored eastward expension to acquire more land to exploit and the cosack where happy to go back on the path of war. But at the border of the Korean Mandchuria, the cosack, far from their power base, were defeated and only an extremely unexpected victory at the small fort of Sretensk allowed the cosack to keep their eastern baikal possessions. But in the Ural region, the serf and peasents revolted against the horrid working conditions imposed by the boyars to them. With the revolt growing quickly out of proportion, the cosack switched side and accepted a republican government and reduced power to keep their traditional holding on the military apparatus. At first the revolution brought liberal democracy as well as improved living and working conditions but quickly technocrat apparatchik restricted those liberties, in the name of wealth redistribution. When the population began to make noise, the government, with the help of the cosack, manufactured a war against the Siberian Khanate to justify them and unite the peoples under the banners. The war was only active for a few months, resulting in minor border reajustment, because defeating the Khanate was conterproductive, keeping them as a boogeyman to keep the population behind the government and the army being much more useful.
Kingdom of Karput (1472-1760)
Karafuto Prefecture (1760-1921)
Republic of Karput (1921-Present)
The story of the Karputians is a story of persecution, perseverance and pride. The first Karputian kingdom on Karafuto Island was only scarcely 'Karputian', but rather a sort of government in exile.
The royal line of Karput can be traced back to Hokkaido, and even further back as an unaffiliated collection of Ainu villages. When faced with constant raids by some Ainu villages, Japan's Kakizaki clan, placed in charge of Hokkaido's southern coast in 1291 (with little support by the weakly united Japan of the time), decided to establish a relationship with key powerful villages to create a buffer zone. Through gift-giving, marriages and other interactions, a strong power was propped up that had an admiration for elements of Japanese culture, even developing a Japanese-style social stratification by 1330. Initially a confederacy of powerful kotans, it had become a more centralized polity that spread its influence through both persuasion, alliances and conquest.
Both the Kakizaki and the shogunate at Honshu reviewed their relationship with this polity. Their 'buffer state' was building simple roads, creating industry and installing governors. A full colonization of Hokkaido had been considered and proposed long before, but at the time the island was mostly undeveloped, heavily forested and filled with a mosaic of individual villages that would be impossible to conquer or completely subjugate. This analysis of the history of the Ainu buffer polity led scholars and officials to propose a sort of 'outsourced development' to acquire the fertile Hokkaido. By encouraging a native state to form and do the heavy lifting, educating its leaders in Japan (at least for a short time), they can incorporate it into the Empire at a later date. The status of Japan's military and cultural alliances changed into a polity the Japanese considered its Dependency of Ezochi; although the Ainu had different opinions on its relationship, they were quite dependent on Japan for cultural goods, external protection, skilled labor and more. From the Ainu elite class, a royal family emerged in 1394 that was quite content with the luxury of a Japanese-styled system. Agriculture, previously done on a smaller scale, was now an activity of equal or greater importance than hunting and fishing in some areas, making land available for more Japanese-styled crops. The Japanese had introduced their own writing system to the Ainu, but after a while this was rejected in favor of a new writing system loosely based on katakana that more accurately reflected the Ainu language. The Ainu on Hokkaido had gone from independent village units, to a loose hegemonic association, to an unequal-power confederacy and finally to something resembling a feudal kingdom within the span of about a century. Ezochi's influence had spread beyond Hokkaido to other Ainu territories such as the Chishima Islands and a small portion of Karafuto. Ezochi had become something of an influential trading nation in its own right with communities around the Sea of Okhotsk.
The complacent and pampered Ainu royalty swore fealty to the Emperor of Japan in 1405 as a semi-autonomous tributary state, still subject to the authority of the Emperor. The Hundred Year Plan seemed to be working perfectly so far. Implementing its final steps, however, proved to be more difficult. While the local Ainu lords appreciated the titles the Japanese would give them, many declined to be relocated to other areas to be replaced by a Japanese daimyo. This replacement did sometimes work when the Ainu crown was persuaded to replace their less-than-loyal lords with beneficial Japanese replacements, but this was not on a scale rapid enough to appear sufficient. The most successful strategy was a 'transfer' program of 'professional farmers' growing wheat, barley and beef, relocating the previous owners to areas in need of development. Japan had been able to gain more and more influence in Ezochi, coming close to annexing it outright.
Ezochi was not completely blind to Japan's gyp plan. A few in her ruling elite had suspected the Japanese of trying to meddle too far in their affairs. The plan began to fall apart in 1461 upon the arrest of a transfer daimyo. During an unknowingly acceptable call for oversight, Konuma Kikunojo had responded with arrests and later executions when the situation had collapsed into a 'riot'. Konuma and his retinue were tried harshly and proved the suspicions of many in the government of Ezochi. The King of Ezochi had moved to ban all daimyo from the island, which was heavily contested by Japan. Furthermore, a prince of Ezochi, Akon Assokotor, had personally killed a daimyo that he claimed had plans to overthrow the Ainu. An impatient shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, after many clumsy attempts at annexation, opted for a stronger, faster approach.
Ashikaga's decision was not entirely on impulse. By the time troops were being levied, the Japanese already had a strong presence in Hokkaido. Every daimyo, every wealthy farmer, and nearly ever skilled craftsman and merchant in Ezochi was acting as Japan's eyes and ears. Collectively, they had all but given the Japanese a complete map of Hokkaido complete with strategic points and troop locations. Other than a joint repulsion of Korean forces from Hokkaido, Ezochi had never faced a full scale land invasion before, and her more or less 'modernized' military was helpless against the experienced army of Japan; its developed roads, open spaces and concentrated, controllable population becoming its weakness. From 1468 to 1472, the Japanese cut through the nation of Ezochi, aided greatly by their own people living there.
Most of the Ainu victories in the Japan-Ezochi War were by Prince Akon Assokotor's own private army, who he kept sharp with both regular exercises and campaigns into 'uncivilized' territories. Even still, the conquest was brutal and most of the Ezochi royal family captured or killed. In 1472 Ashikaga, in a stroke of both mercy and perceived genius, issued the Ezochi royals an ultimatum: relocate their palace, family, retinue etc. to holdings outside Hokkaido, surrendering the island to Japan, and they will be both spared and free. Any further aggression from the royals would be met with significantly less mercy.
The Ainu capitulated. Assokotor's progress was halted with his family at ransom, and he too signed. The capital was to be moved to a moderately large town called Tunayci on the southern end of the island immediately north of Hokkaido. The one the local Ainu there say a god had created on the estuary of a river; kar put ya mosir, Karput, which the Japanese transliterated into Karafuto. This played perfectly in the designs of Japan: their strategy of outsourced development, while harder than it seemed, had been quite fruitful. This strategy would be used to annex other hard-to-develop regions, and they believed they would later be able to do the same to Karafuto.
The Karputian territory of Ezochi welcomed the royal family with bittersweet reception. They were happy to host them, but the circumstances of the visit were bleak. The King had committed seppuku in his shameful handling of the War, leaving Assokotor next in line. They were left with only a fraction of the glory they once held. In the turmoil, there were many who suggested to accept defeat as a sign to return to the old ways, to a lifestyle that was seen as a more peaceful, more moral way of living.
But there were still Ainu in Ezochi being persecuted. Assokotor knew how the Japanese treated them. And he also knew their peace in Karput was temporary; Japan would eventually plant its feet here with or without their help. To recede into the simple life would be to betray them and their grandchildren. The time was not to give up, the time was to regroup, rebuild and restore. The vision of Assokotor and his associates was one that would bring the kingdom back to glory, but this time on the terms and culture of the Ainu, not the Japanese.
The restoration of the Ezo state in Karput started off slow, but rapidly accelerated. Assokotor immediately began work on fortifications of Tunayci, which he had renamed Ainucasi (Stronghold of the People) to increase morale. The military of Karput would be stronger than ever with a powerful martial class anyone can enter. Karput still had a monarchy, but the monarch in this case must heed the thoughts of his council, in a style more similar to the traditional Ainu governance. The Kingdom of Karput made many attempts to accept Hokkaido Ainu into their country, but the Japanese in most cases refused to hand over useful laborers, and usually only sent unwanted criminals or political dissidents. It saved Ainu from Japanese oppression, but more needed to be done.
Much was taken to study Karput's natural resources. While not as fertile as Hokkaido, barley and millet grew quite well in Karput's southern river valleys. The real savior was buckwheat, which together with dandelion triumphed over poor soils and managed to feed thousands in short growing seasons. For other regions, pastoralism was preferred. Ezochi adopted cows from Japan (but few horses) and made greater use of animals than the Japanese did. As it grew to encompass all of Karput (even a portion of the Amur estuary, eventually, along with the Kuriles that originally belonged to Ezochi), other nations such as the Nivkhs and especially Oroks were incorporated into the Kingdom; the latter's reindeer herding was greatly incentivized to become an important agricultural industry in northern Karput. The later foreign import of cold-weather crops such as potatoes, carrots and spinach and animals such as llamas and camels greatly maximized both Karput's land yield and the transportation of goods, placing Karput on the map with other decently sized nations. Even the taigas and swampy muskegs had been eventually transformed into productive terrain.
However, what really put Karput on the map was its discovery of great deposits of silver in 1673. This metal proved to be a lucrative trading good, especially with Japan's rival Korea, which began to form a strong relationship between the two countries. In addition to a high commercial influence in the Sea of Okhotsk, Karput now had a rich partner in Asia. Japan, realizing a missed opportunity to seize Karafuto as well, demanded tribute from Karput in 1699. An invasion force was launched shortly after upon rejection of these demands.
The Japanese found themselves unable to repeat history. The Ainu had changed greatly since their status as a naive dependency. Their swords were sharp, their land was rich, and they had powerful allies: Korea.
The Wars of the Northern Silver was a long, sporadic campaign waged off and on from 1700 through 1760 between the countries of Japan, Korea and Karput. The Koreo-Karputian alliance was a shock to Japan's invasion force. While initially able to hold part of Karafuto Island, the Korean Navy's blockade of the Sōya Strait allowed the Karputians to retake that part of the kingdom. Through their combined strength and tactics, the Karputians shook the Japanese further by proving to be far more effective warriors than their history made the Ainu out to be. The Karputians were able to not only invade but even hold a significant portion of Hokkaido from 1712 through the middle of the war in 1748. In much of the duration between was a ceasefire that lasted several decades. The Japanese had been bested and humiliated, but still had their eyes on Karputian silver, not quite ready to pursue peace.
In 1720, Japan's luck began to change some time in the middle of the war with a new arrival from the West: the Republic of Galicia. Hailing from the complete other side of the continent, Galicia impressed Japan with its riches and technology, and an amiable trading relationship soon followed. During the ceasefire between Karput, Japan had agreed to aid Galicia militarily, defending its colonies in exchange for gold. The economic and cultural relationship was strong, and Japan was able to use their new Galician technology to gain a foothold on Hokkaido once more in 1749; however, the combined Korean and Karputian navies along with Karputian ground forces made a second land invasion difficult. They appealed to Galicia for assistance, but by this time had little to offer beyond allegiance. The Galicians played around with this concept and proposed admitting Japan into its Republic in exchange for a conquest of Karput and protection from Korea.
In every other scenario, Japan would have brushed this off as preposterous, ludicrous and even downright insulting. Why should one country give up its sovereignty on this basis? Even if that country appeared to have an admirable culture? But they did not have much else to turn to. The weakly organized 'Empire' had barely been able to defend against one of its creations, losing copious amounts of resources, money, investment, and men in the process. A sneak attack by Karput on Honshu ports while Japan was deploying a small fraction of its army to aid Galicia was especially crippling in terms of the need to repair the damage. And Korea was eyeing the Japanese islands like a hungry fox stares at a wounded chicken.
Japan's hands were tied. It was weakened. It was in danger. There were people that needed to be punished, and in doing so would restore the glory of Japan. Joining Galicia was therefore the only option. Not long after the signing of the unification treaty in 1756, Galicia and Japan once more mobilized for war. A large invasion fleet plowed through Korea's ships, pummeled Karput's coastal defenses and stormed the capital of Ainucasi. The city was put under siege and heavy bombardment in 1758. In 1760, Ainucasi was captured; its army defeated though well-fought, and the King writing a treaty of surrender under duress. The royal family's lives at ransom ensured the easy conquest of Karput. Once Japan's new Karafuto Prefecture was thoroughly occupied and its leaders replaced with Japanese governors, the entire Karputian royal family was executed in public next to the Shrine of Akon Assokotor, which was also burned. There are many Ainu today who claim royal descent, but none have been conclusive.
As promised in the treaty, the Emperor of Japan, already a mostly powerless figurehead, stepped down as the 'head of state' in the winter of 1760, instead becoming more of a cultural-religious leader for the Japanese. In reality the Kuramoto shogunate, which had the real power, simply swore allegiance to the laws of the Republic with plans to reform into a more democratic system of government. The new year would see neither empire nor shogunate, but a Republic with territory all around the world and prosperity for all. Well, mostly all.
Luck changed for Karput again during World War II. By 1905, the Republic had its hands full in Europe and East Asia; all domestic efforts were pointed toward the war. The Karputians, a nationality that now comprised all the other pre-Japanese ethnicities of Karafuto, did not forget the persecution they suffered as the centuries passed. They did not forget the destruction of their kingdom and the oppression they all faced as their island was little more than a silver mine and a punching bag for the Japanese to vent their vengeful frustrations onto. Hundreds of years of animosity was not lost on them, and it wasn't lost on the Iron Coalition, either. The IC, enemies of the Republic of Galicia-Japan and its allies, intiated propaganda campaigns within the former Ainucasi (now renamed to Kitamachi, "northern town") and other Karputian cities. The reactions were a success, but the Karputians had nothing to fight with -- a problem easily solved by the clandestine import of arms from Siberian fishing boats. With the Republic distracted elsewhere, the inevitable Karputian Revolution began in the spring of 1914.
Within the span of a long, grueling 6 years of rebellion, the Karputians had been able to drive off the Japanese from every corner of Karafuto. During the years of fighting, many had wondered where to go once victory had certainly come. There is no more kingdom to speak of, and creating a new royal line didn't feel proper. The Karputians looked back into their own histories as Ainu, and also as Nivkhs, Oroks and more. They had concluded that a republican form of government was the one that most coincided with ancient traditions and gave the most freedoms. A Constitution had been drafted over these years and was finally signed in 1921. The Republic of Karput had much to rebuild, but also had much to look forward to.
Today, Karput is a reasonably well-off country and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Sea of Okhotsk apart from Kamshakka. It enjoys a thriving economy based on fishing, mining, tourism, oil drilling, and very recently, information technology. Whenever it has enjoyed independence (and even during some periods of occupation), Karput has been the gateway of trade and influence between the nations of Asia and the nations to the north, in what has been called the North Pacific Prosperity Sphere. Karput is also a member of the Democratic Treaty Organization, joining on the recommendation of the Republic of Greater Korea.
The royal line of Karput can be traced back to Hokkaido, and even further back as an unaffiliated collection of Ainu villages. When faced with constant raids by some Ainu villages, Japan's Kakizaki clan, placed in charge of Hokkaido's southern coast in 1291 (with little support by the weakly united Japan of the time), decided to establish a relationship with key powerful villages to create a buffer zone. Through gift-giving, marriages and other interactions, a strong power was propped up that had an admiration for elements of Japanese culture, even developing a Japanese-style social stratification by 1330. Initially a confederacy of powerful kotans, it had become a more centralized polity that spread its influence through both persuasion, alliances and conquest.
Both the Kakizaki and the shogunate at Honshu reviewed their relationship with this polity. Their 'buffer state' was building simple roads, creating industry and installing governors. A full colonization of Hokkaido had been considered and proposed long before, but at the time the island was mostly undeveloped, heavily forested and filled with a mosaic of individual villages that would be impossible to conquer or completely subjugate. This analysis of the history of the Ainu buffer polity led scholars and officials to propose a sort of 'outsourced development' to acquire the fertile Hokkaido. By encouraging a native state to form and do the heavy lifting, educating its leaders in Japan (at least for a short time), they can incorporate it into the Empire at a later date. The status of Japan's military and cultural alliances changed into a polity the Japanese considered its Dependency of Ezochi; although the Ainu had different opinions on its relationship, they were quite dependent on Japan for cultural goods, external protection, skilled labor and more. From the Ainu elite class, a royal family emerged in 1394 that was quite content with the luxury of a Japanese-styled system. Agriculture, previously done on a smaller scale, was now an activity of equal or greater importance than hunting and fishing in some areas, making land available for more Japanese-styled crops. The Japanese had introduced their own writing system to the Ainu, but after a while this was rejected in favor of a new writing system loosely based on katakana that more accurately reflected the Ainu language. The Ainu on Hokkaido had gone from independent village units, to a loose hegemonic association, to an unequal-power confederacy and finally to something resembling a feudal kingdom within the span of about a century. Ezochi's influence had spread beyond Hokkaido to other Ainu territories such as the Chishima Islands and a small portion of Karafuto. Ezochi had become something of an influential trading nation in its own right with communities around the Sea of Okhotsk.
The complacent and pampered Ainu royalty swore fealty to the Emperor of Japan in 1405 as a semi-autonomous tributary state, still subject to the authority of the Emperor. The Hundred Year Plan seemed to be working perfectly so far. Implementing its final steps, however, proved to be more difficult. While the local Ainu lords appreciated the titles the Japanese would give them, many declined to be relocated to other areas to be replaced by a Japanese daimyo. This replacement did sometimes work when the Ainu crown was persuaded to replace their less-than-loyal lords with beneficial Japanese replacements, but this was not on a scale rapid enough to appear sufficient. The most successful strategy was a 'transfer' program of 'professional farmers' growing wheat, barley and beef, relocating the previous owners to areas in need of development. Japan had been able to gain more and more influence in Ezochi, coming close to annexing it outright.
Ezochi was not completely blind to Japan's gyp plan. A few in her ruling elite had suspected the Japanese of trying to meddle too far in their affairs. The plan began to fall apart in 1461 upon the arrest of a transfer daimyo. During an unknowingly acceptable call for oversight, Konuma Kikunojo had responded with arrests and later executions when the situation had collapsed into a 'riot'. Konuma and his retinue were tried harshly and proved the suspicions of many in the government of Ezochi. The King of Ezochi had moved to ban all daimyo from the island, which was heavily contested by Japan. Furthermore, a prince of Ezochi, Akon Assokotor, had personally killed a daimyo that he claimed had plans to overthrow the Ainu. An impatient shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, after many clumsy attempts at annexation, opted for a stronger, faster approach.
Ashikaga's decision was not entirely on impulse. By the time troops were being levied, the Japanese already had a strong presence in Hokkaido. Every daimyo, every wealthy farmer, and nearly ever skilled craftsman and merchant in Ezochi was acting as Japan's eyes and ears. Collectively, they had all but given the Japanese a complete map of Hokkaido complete with strategic points and troop locations. Other than a joint repulsion of Korean forces from Hokkaido, Ezochi had never faced a full scale land invasion before, and her more or less 'modernized' military was helpless against the experienced army of Japan; its developed roads, open spaces and concentrated, controllable population becoming its weakness. From 1468 to 1472, the Japanese cut through the nation of Ezochi, aided greatly by their own people living there.
Most of the Ainu victories in the Japan-Ezochi War were by Prince Akon Assokotor's own private army, who he kept sharp with both regular exercises and campaigns into 'uncivilized' territories. Even still, the conquest was brutal and most of the Ezochi royal family captured or killed. In 1472 Ashikaga, in a stroke of both mercy and perceived genius, issued the Ezochi royals an ultimatum: relocate their palace, family, retinue etc. to holdings outside Hokkaido, surrendering the island to Japan, and they will be both spared and free. Any further aggression from the royals would be met with significantly less mercy.
The Ainu capitulated. Assokotor's progress was halted with his family at ransom, and he too signed. The capital was to be moved to a moderately large town called Tunayci on the southern end of the island immediately north of Hokkaido. The one the local Ainu there say a god had created on the estuary of a river; kar put ya mosir, Karput, which the Japanese transliterated into Karafuto. This played perfectly in the designs of Japan: their strategy of outsourced development, while harder than it seemed, had been quite fruitful. This strategy would be used to annex other hard-to-develop regions, and they believed they would later be able to do the same to Karafuto.
The Karputian territory of Ezochi welcomed the royal family with bittersweet reception. They were happy to host them, but the circumstances of the visit were bleak. The King had committed seppuku in his shameful handling of the War, leaving Assokotor next in line. They were left with only a fraction of the glory they once held. In the turmoil, there were many who suggested to accept defeat as a sign to return to the old ways, to a lifestyle that was seen as a more peaceful, more moral way of living.
But there were still Ainu in Ezochi being persecuted. Assokotor knew how the Japanese treated them. And he also knew their peace in Karput was temporary; Japan would eventually plant its feet here with or without their help. To recede into the simple life would be to betray them and their grandchildren. The time was not to give up, the time was to regroup, rebuild and restore. The vision of Assokotor and his associates was one that would bring the kingdom back to glory, but this time on the terms and culture of the Ainu, not the Japanese.
The restoration of the Ezo state in Karput started off slow, but rapidly accelerated. Assokotor immediately began work on fortifications of Tunayci, which he had renamed Ainucasi (Stronghold of the People) to increase morale. The military of Karput would be stronger than ever with a powerful martial class anyone can enter. Karput still had a monarchy, but the monarch in this case must heed the thoughts of his council, in a style more similar to the traditional Ainu governance. The Kingdom of Karput made many attempts to accept Hokkaido Ainu into their country, but the Japanese in most cases refused to hand over useful laborers, and usually only sent unwanted criminals or political dissidents. It saved Ainu from Japanese oppression, but more needed to be done.
Much was taken to study Karput's natural resources. While not as fertile as Hokkaido, barley and millet grew quite well in Karput's southern river valleys. The real savior was buckwheat, which together with dandelion triumphed over poor soils and managed to feed thousands in short growing seasons. For other regions, pastoralism was preferred. Ezochi adopted cows from Japan (but few horses) and made greater use of animals than the Japanese did. As it grew to encompass all of Karput (even a portion of the Amur estuary, eventually, along with the Kuriles that originally belonged to Ezochi), other nations such as the Nivkhs and especially Oroks were incorporated into the Kingdom; the latter's reindeer herding was greatly incentivized to become an important agricultural industry in northern Karput. The later foreign import of cold-weather crops such as potatoes, carrots and spinach and animals such as llamas and camels greatly maximized both Karput's land yield and the transportation of goods, placing Karput on the map with other decently sized nations. Even the taigas and swampy muskegs had been eventually transformed into productive terrain.
However, what really put Karput on the map was its discovery of great deposits of silver in 1673. This metal proved to be a lucrative trading good, especially with Japan's rival Korea, which began to form a strong relationship between the two countries. In addition to a high commercial influence in the Sea of Okhotsk, Karput now had a rich partner in Asia. Japan, realizing a missed opportunity to seize Karafuto as well, demanded tribute from Karput in 1699. An invasion force was launched shortly after upon rejection of these demands.
The Japanese found themselves unable to repeat history. The Ainu had changed greatly since their status as a naive dependency. Their swords were sharp, their land was rich, and they had powerful allies: Korea.
The Wars of the Northern Silver was a long, sporadic campaign waged off and on from 1700 through 1760 between the countries of Japan, Korea and Karput. The Koreo-Karputian alliance was a shock to Japan's invasion force. While initially able to hold part of Karafuto Island, the Korean Navy's blockade of the Sōya Strait allowed the Karputians to retake that part of the kingdom. Through their combined strength and tactics, the Karputians shook the Japanese further by proving to be far more effective warriors than their history made the Ainu out to be. The Karputians were able to not only invade but even hold a significant portion of Hokkaido from 1712 through the middle of the war in 1748. In much of the duration between was a ceasefire that lasted several decades. The Japanese had been bested and humiliated, but still had their eyes on Karputian silver, not quite ready to pursue peace.
In 1720, Japan's luck began to change some time in the middle of the war with a new arrival from the West: the Republic of Galicia. Hailing from the complete other side of the continent, Galicia impressed Japan with its riches and technology, and an amiable trading relationship soon followed. During the ceasefire between Karput, Japan had agreed to aid Galicia militarily, defending its colonies in exchange for gold. The economic and cultural relationship was strong, and Japan was able to use their new Galician technology to gain a foothold on Hokkaido once more in 1749; however, the combined Korean and Karputian navies along with Karputian ground forces made a second land invasion difficult. They appealed to Galicia for assistance, but by this time had little to offer beyond allegiance. The Galicians played around with this concept and proposed admitting Japan into its Republic in exchange for a conquest of Karput and protection from Korea.
In every other scenario, Japan would have brushed this off as preposterous, ludicrous and even downright insulting. Why should one country give up its sovereignty on this basis? Even if that country appeared to have an admirable culture? But they did not have much else to turn to. The weakly organized 'Empire' had barely been able to defend against one of its creations, losing copious amounts of resources, money, investment, and men in the process. A sneak attack by Karput on Honshu ports while Japan was deploying a small fraction of its army to aid Galicia was especially crippling in terms of the need to repair the damage. And Korea was eyeing the Japanese islands like a hungry fox stares at a wounded chicken.
Japan's hands were tied. It was weakened. It was in danger. There were people that needed to be punished, and in doing so would restore the glory of Japan. Joining Galicia was therefore the only option. Not long after the signing of the unification treaty in 1756, Galicia and Japan once more mobilized for war. A large invasion fleet plowed through Korea's ships, pummeled Karput's coastal defenses and stormed the capital of Ainucasi. The city was put under siege and heavy bombardment in 1758. In 1760, Ainucasi was captured; its army defeated though well-fought, and the King writing a treaty of surrender under duress. The royal family's lives at ransom ensured the easy conquest of Karput. Once Japan's new Karafuto Prefecture was thoroughly occupied and its leaders replaced with Japanese governors, the entire Karputian royal family was executed in public next to the Shrine of Akon Assokotor, which was also burned. There are many Ainu today who claim royal descent, but none have been conclusive.
As promised in the treaty, the Emperor of Japan, already a mostly powerless figurehead, stepped down as the 'head of state' in the winter of 1760, instead becoming more of a cultural-religious leader for the Japanese. In reality the Kuramoto shogunate, which had the real power, simply swore allegiance to the laws of the Republic with plans to reform into a more democratic system of government. The new year would see neither empire nor shogunate, but a Republic with territory all around the world and prosperity for all. Well, mostly all.
Luck changed for Karput again during World War II. By 1905, the Republic had its hands full in Europe and East Asia; all domestic efforts were pointed toward the war. The Karputians, a nationality that now comprised all the other pre-Japanese ethnicities of Karafuto, did not forget the persecution they suffered as the centuries passed. They did not forget the destruction of their kingdom and the oppression they all faced as their island was little more than a silver mine and a punching bag for the Japanese to vent their vengeful frustrations onto. Hundreds of years of animosity was not lost on them, and it wasn't lost on the Iron Coalition, either. The IC, enemies of the Republic of Galicia-Japan and its allies, intiated propaganda campaigns within the former Ainucasi (now renamed to Kitamachi, "northern town") and other Karputian cities. The reactions were a success, but the Karputians had nothing to fight with -- a problem easily solved by the clandestine import of arms from Siberian fishing boats. With the Republic distracted elsewhere, the inevitable Karputian Revolution began in the spring of 1914.
Within the span of a long, grueling 6 years of rebellion, the Karputians had been able to drive off the Japanese from every corner of Karafuto. During the years of fighting, many had wondered where to go once victory had certainly come. There is no more kingdom to speak of, and creating a new royal line didn't feel proper. The Karputians looked back into their own histories as Ainu, and also as Nivkhs, Oroks and more. They had concluded that a republican form of government was the one that most coincided with ancient traditions and gave the most freedoms. A Constitution had been drafted over these years and was finally signed in 1921. The Republic of Karput had much to rebuild, but also had much to look forward to.
Today, Karput is a reasonably well-off country and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Sea of Okhotsk apart from Kamshakka. It enjoys a thriving economy based on fishing, mining, tourism, oil drilling, and very recently, information technology. Whenever it has enjoyed independence (and even during some periods of occupation), Karput has been the gateway of trade and influence between the nations of Asia and the nations to the north, in what has been called the North Pacific Prosperity Sphere. Karput is also a member of the Democratic Treaty Organization, joining on the recommendation of the Republic of Greater Korea.
I had a bit too much fun writing this.
Territory carved from The Republic of Galicia-Japan with permission from @ThirdMan2005 .
Fixed the anti-aliasing issue for Sibir.
Also @AlternateHistoryBall do you mind changing the colors for the Khanate of Sibir so it can stand out from Karput? Preferably one matching the "Khanate of Sibir" region in the SUCK under Greater Russia.
Finno-Karelian-Novgorodian Republic
Alternative names: Finno-Novgorod, Triple Republic
Capitals: Helsinki, Novgorod, Petrozavodsk
Alliances: DWO
Flag:
Alternative names: Finno-Novgorod, Triple Republic
Capitals: Helsinki, Novgorod, Petrozavodsk
Alliances: DWO
Flag:
Kipchak KhanateSyberian and Turkish tribes displaced by the cosack have founded their own country. Despite this bloody past, they are now allied with the Transural republic as they now benefit from their advanced weaponry and their army, during the war with the Syberian Khanate they were able to raid across the border. Now they live under a warlord that answer to the council of Transural.
copy the image in paint and simply fill the "provinces" of your country with your country color using the bucket tool.
the flag are 100% optional, just give the country name and a small description in the comment section.