Brasland

The Kingdom of Brasland is a parliamentary monarchy located in the region of Western Atlantic, especifically in the subregion known as Transmontana. It was founded by Frederick Balkronn, leader of the rebels who freed the country from the rule of a tyrannical empire.

The origins of Brasland date back to the time of the Roman Empire when Germanic tribes that dominated the area were defeated by the Romans in approximately 16 BC and later became Baricum, a Roman province, in the mid 1st century AD —an area which mostly encloses today's Brasland. In 794 AD, the Frankish king Charlemagne conquered the area and introduced Christianity. However, in 1226 the country was conquered by an eastern empire, which ruled for five centuries with great cruelty. Under the native Balkronn dynasty, Brasland became a stable country and a consolidated regional power.

History

The name Brasland comes from the Latin Brassiae, which means "land of the Brassians". As time passed, the initial name Braschenland (the Braslandian for Brassiae) was shortened into Brasland, which is the current denomination of the country.

The country was initially populated by Germanic tribes, which lived under constant wars between each other. In 16 BC, approximately, the Romans defeated them and conquered the area, which became a province of the empire under the name Baricum.

After the fall of the Roman Empire the area was invaded by Brassians, Bavarians and Slavs. Quickly, the Brassians dominated the rest of the tribes and became the main ethnic and political group in the country.

In 794 AD, Charlemagne conquered the region, encouraging colonisation and introducing Christianity. However, in 1226 the country was invaded by an eastern empire, that held its dominance over Brasland for five centuries.

The empire was very oppressive and cruel, and there were several rebellions across the centuries (the most important being the ones of 1275, 1417, 1598 and 1692). However, its military strength prevented any success for these uprisings.

In 1692, the Braslanders rebelled once more against the empire. The local nobility, led by Count Ulrich von Henslen, attacked the coastal city of Halvan, in the north. However, the empire's military power was superior and the rebels were defeated in several battles, while their forces began to diminish or desert. Von Henslen, desperate, asked for the help of Frederick Balkronn, an extremely popular and capable General who belonged to an impoverished family of the lower nobility. Balkronn, now the de facto military leader (the Count kept the nominal leadership), began a series of succesful campaigns in southern Brasland, gradually conquering more territories. By 1696 almost half of the country belonged to his forces. Meanwhile, the empire faced the increasing disobedience of the locals and was also forced to stop sending new units, as the northern imperial provinces were also in rebellion. Now, with a weakened empire, Balkronn and Henslen divided their forces between the western and eastern fronts. Frederick Balkronn fought in the east, successfuly defeating his enemies and advancing almost towards the northern coast. However, in the western front, Count Ulrich von Henslen was facing difficulties, as the imperial strategies were causing him to step back and lose territory. There was the risk that the empire would reconquer the entire western regions, thus causing the retreat of the rebel forces to their main hadquarters in southern Brasland. Balkronn decided to leave his forces' command to one of his generals, and travelled for several days to the western front, where he helped Von Henslen to turn the situation to their favor. The rebels began to win again and conquered a good part of the North west.

Despite the empire's proposals to divide Brasland's territory, the rebel forces continued their advance towards Halvan, the main city in the northern coast and the empire's last bastion. In 4 January 1698, the Braslander and imperial forces clashed in a last confrontation outside the city, the famous Battle of Halvan. The Empire was finally defeated, and its military leaders officially surrendered in January 20th.

While Count Ulrich von Henslen remained in Halvan to sign a peace treaty with the emperor's emissaries, Frederick Balkronn returned to Markund to organise the troops there. At his arrival at the city, he was received as a hero, and both soldiers and civilians acclaimed him as their monarch (tradition says they hailed: "Frederick King, Frederick King, Frederick King!").

Meanwhile, on March 1698 the Count signed the Treaty of Weissenmeer, where the empire recognized Brasland's independence and both nations agreed to remain in peace. Despite this success, Henslen was angered by the people's demands to make Frederick Balkronn the King of Brasland. The nobility gathered around the Count in Halvan, willing to fight for their plans to make him their sovereign. In Markund, the troops were firm on their stance to crown Frederick as King. All across the country there were tensions among those who wanted either Ulrich or Frederick to be crowned. A civil war was about to happen and there were even troop movements in different parts of the territory. Henslen, knowing that Frederick had the support of most of the population, and of half of the military, and knowing that a civil war would only be advantageous for the empire (which would use this to reconquer Brasland) decided to abandon all claims to the throne and convinced the leaders of the nobility to accept Balkronn as the new King. To show his goodwill, he offered the hand of his own daughter, Caroline, to marry his rival. Frederick accepted the proposal and married Caroline in April, and they were both crowned as King and Queen of Brasland. Together, they founded the royal dynasty of the kingdom, the House of Balkronn, which has ruled until today.

Politics

The King is the Head of State and has extensive prerrogatives. He is the "center of gravity" of the political system. He has the power to dissolve Parliament, and if he wishes he can decide not to call new elections, ruling alone for as long as he wants.

Parliament has 498 seats, of which 448 are elected by the districts and 50 are directly appointed by the King. The party or coalition that obtains the absolute majority can nominate its leader to be the new Chancellor.

The Chancellor is the Head of Government, and he can appoint the ministers. His powers depend upon how active is the King in political life. If the Sovereign has an active rol, this will generally restrict the Chancellor's field of action, unless the King himself decides to limit his own acts to allow the Chancellor have a more active role. The person who is nominated by the party or coalition to be Chancellor can be accepted, and then appointed, by the King. However, if the monarchs wishes, he can refuse the appointment and chose a different person from the same coalition. He can even appoint someone from the political minority, although in practice this has never happened. The King can also intervene in the appointment of the ministers, vetoing certain people. This rarely happens, but if it does then the Chancellor must abide to the Sovereign's decision. Also, the King can decide not to accept the leader of the largest coalition and assume the headship of the government himself, appointing his own cabinet.

Among the King's legislative prerrogatives are the right to propose laws, the exclusive right to propose laws about certain key issues (Parliament cannot propose laws on these issues), the right to veto laws (either partially or completely), etc.

Administrative divisions

Brasland is divided in regions. There are 16 regions or autonomous cities, each of them subdivided in districts (there is an average of fourteen districts per region).

Some large cities (Markund, Halvan and Thurwald) are autonomous and have their own governors (again, with limited prerrogatives). They are also subdivided in districts.

The governor of a region is appointed by the King. His powers are very limited, because regions were created simply to group a number of districts or to keep the territorital unity of some historical provinces, such as the Duchy of Kerlich or the Countship of Henslen.

Each district is composed by a group of municipalities. If a city surpasses the five million citizens, it becomes a city-district but remains part of the region. There are 210 districts and 20 city-districts. The officers of each district are appointed by the governor (with the King's approval).

In every municipality the people elect a mayor, whose term lasts four years and can be reelected indefinitely.

Some of the regions are Arenland, Falkenthal, Füssengau, Tholmark, the Island of Ostis, the Island of Nixinsel, the City of Halvan, the Countship of Henslen, the Duchy of Kerlich, Grünmark, the Duchy of Lansborn, the City of Markund, the City of Thurwald.

Religion

Brasland is officially a Roman Catholic country. There are estimations that a 95% of the population are Catholics. The Primate of Brasland is Laurenthius Cardinal Hohenthurm, who is also the Archbishop of Markund.

Other religions with a relatively important presence in the country are Lutherans (3%), Jews (1%) and others (0,4% Christian Orthodox, 0,3% Muslims, 0,3% non-believers).