From trading post to Imperial seat—Karlsland has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a mere outpost of the Austrian East Indies Company. There have been many milestones along the way: the founding of its capital city, Charlesburg, the shift from Company rule to full province hood in the Empire, the granting of self-government early in the 20th century, and of course the flight of the Austrian monarchs to the colony in 1921. Now, it seems that Karlsland is nearing yet another milestone: the abolishment of the monarchy.
The Emperor Charles I of Austria (and King Charles IV of Hungary) fled with his wife, Zita of Bourbon-Parma to Karlsland, the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s only overseas colony after the 1919 Peace of Versailles, in 1921. It survived being picked off by one of the victorious Entente powers for two reasons: first, it was full of Austrians, Hungarians, Czechs, and other ethnicities that would be difficult to assimilate, and second, it held very little of value in the way of natural resources. The reason for their flight was simple: Weimar Germany, in accordance with the principles of ethnic self-determination, had requested they be allowed to annex Austria, and after a quick plebiscite, the League of Nations reluctantly acceded.
Neither the Emperor nor the vast majority of Karlslanders wished to live under German rule, but there were large Hungarian and Czech minorities also living in Karlsland who were reluctant to allow direct rule by an Austrian monarch, fearing it would lead to discrimination against them. Thus, a compromise was made, in which the Emperor restored the old title of Austria-Hungary, guaranteeing the Hungarian and Czech minorities full citizenship in the Empire.
For 72 years Karlsland continued on in much the same way, as the Emperors grew slowly less and less potent and the Diet gained more and more power. By the early 1990s, the royal family was little more than a bauble, as in the United Kingdom. However, unlike in the United Kingdom, they were not a well-liked bauble, though they were most certainly an expensive one, with estates in almost all of the provinces requiring massive upkeep that came directly out of government coffers. The calls to abolish the monarchy grew with the spending reports each year.
Thus, in 1993 a referendum was held to determine the future of the Karlslander government: Should it continue to be a monarchy, or should it become a full republic? When the results came through in the end, they were not close. 68.13% of Karlslanders voted to abolish the monarchy, with only the capital city and Jaquin Province voting against it.
The new Karlslander constitution has yet to be written, and the nation of Karlsland faces an uncertain future, but one thing is for sure: There will be no more Emperors reigning from Charlesburg.
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