Nation/North Lukonia

The United Socialist Republics of Lukonia Lukonian Yhdistyneet Sosialistiset Tasavallat
Motto: Vapaus Velvollisuudessa
Capital		Ullinna
Official languages		Lukonian
Demonym		North Lukonian Lukonian
Government		Federal one-party socialist republic
-	Chairman	Taneli Filatov
-	General Secretary	Elias Aunula
Legislature		Supreme Council of the Union
Population
-	2028 census	34,612,573
GDP (nominal)		2029 estimate
-	Total	$326.96 billion
-	Per capita	$7,212
Currency		Luko

North Lukonia, officially the United Socialist Republics of Lukonia (abbreviated as USRL, USR Lukonia, or Lukonia USR) is a federal socialist republic located in the northern part of Moneylania. It borders the Lukonian State to the South and the Sibarian Federation to the West. It is known for being one oft he last socialist states int the known world as well as for its intense isolation and otherwise harsh measures taken by the ruling regime.

With a history dating back to 300AD, the Modern state of Lukonia would come into being with the fall of the Sibarian empire. Soon however, along with drastic changes in the international situation such as the rise of the USSR and the great war, Lukonia would find itself divided, With the United socialist republics of Lukonia the the North, and the Lukonian state to the south. Being the sight for heated conflict during the cold war, little has subsided with its end, with both nations continuing to, albeit without international backing, to raise tensions. This finally boiled over in 2030, when after numerous border violations by both sides the USRL launched an invasion south.

Power in the URSL is held by the United Lukonian Socialsit party, and the state maintains a heavy hand in both economic and political matters. This has left the economy rather stagnated, especially after the fall of the USSR, the URSLs primary ally. Socially the state is usually characterized by heavy surveillance and the complete absence of freedom of speech, tough many more socially "taboo" activities such as drug use are tolerated, as long as they do not interfere with the citizens service to the state.

The national animal is the Lukonian lake squid and the countries geography mainly consists of vast forests and lakes that dot the landscape.

History

Early settlements

The first Lukonian tribes migrated to the lands of modern Lukonia from the far east around 460BC. Over the next couple of hundred years they gradually assimilated the other population in the area, becoming the dominant culture in the process. Lukonians themselves were divided into numerous territorial tribes, which resulted in the tribes being very fractured and disorganized. Agriculture also spread slowly, as harsh winters made farming difficult, and the spread to the more fertile southern areas was slowed down by encounters with other peoples. This conflict put off the formation of major population centers even when other peoples were already dwelling in cities.

The first unification

The Lukonian tribes would remain split and squabbling among each other for the next 700 years after there arrival to the region. The situation greatly changed around the year 300AD. This was during the rise of the Sibarian empire, which was experiencing a heated rivalry with the bordering Xianuan empire. It was in both these empires interests to expand there influence to the lands further South in an effort to gain advantage over one and other, and was situated right in the fringes of this conflict. The Lukonian tribes became subject to raids from Both Xianuan and Sibarian, and fears surfaced that one of these great empires would one day attempt to exert there will over Lukonia.

This threat finally forced the tribes to put aside there differences and elect the leader of the Täme Tribe, Kalevi Soranen, as the high chief of Lukonia. Forming a tribal confederation, the tribes proceeded to face Xianuan and Sibarian incursions together, scoring victories in the battles such as Suojärvi in 357 against the Vianun and Pimemetsä in 418 against the Sibarians, but still being forced to avoid larger armies. These few victories however, put a halt to any serious plans the empires had to expand into Lukonia, as they were already entering a state of decline after years of warfare. The result of this era was a unified Lukonian tribal confederation which while decentralized, was able to guarantee the safety of the tribes.

The Medieval era

With the unifying outside threat gone the Lukonian tribal confederacy would itself also enter a state of decline. The death of the high chief Taneli Roivas in 896 finally spelled an end to the confederation. With no tribe strong enough to take up the mantle of high chief, Lukonia was once again divided. The times had however changed. The tribes had been subject to great societal change during. Agriculture was now common place which led to rapid population growth and the formation of the first cities, with the largest being Ullinna, Turkylä and Petroi, tought the latter also became one of the only city state to be absolutely razed to the ground after Ullinna wanted to make sure of its continued influence in the North.

Despite this transition to a medieval society, feudalism never truly took root in Lukonia. Instead these states evolved from there tribal roots, with mayors taking over the duties of the chief in these new city states. Trade with the peoples of Vasili and Kaznan also brought wealth and ideas to Lukonia, thought the former tribes and the new city states still acted with suspicion towards outside powers. However overall, the medieval period was marked for the most part by societal and population growth, as well as the development of cities and trade with the outside world. Orthodoxy also started to spread rapidly trough Sibarian traders and missionaries, easily supplanting the existing disorganized shamanic faith of the Lukonians. by 1100 Lukonia compromised of 11 distinct and independent city states, with the confederation having been swallowed by these numerous squabbling factions.

The time from 12th to the 17th century would not be a quiet one. The Perishing of Petroi in the 13th century would be a shocking event and directly lead to the war of 5 cities, while other events such as the deposing of recently declared Vasily puppet duke Elias of Lato by Turkylän and Keskylän forces would show that the city states, while fighting between each other, still wanted to be left to there own devices. The Kunra mountain passes conflict, The Lenko Alkona war and the Varenan invasion of Keskylä however were but some oft he conflicts that showed the region was still very much internally fragmented, an issue that would define the region past the middle ages, the renaissance and into the enlightenment era

The Sibarian Invasion

The age of Sibarian rule would begin around 1763, with the start of a minor Ulinna Korsas conflict dubbed initially the Tuumet lumber conflict, as it was over the control of the Tuumer forest and its abundant Lumber reserves, which both maritime cities wanted, with the clearly more powerful Ullinna making its first move. With battles steadily going against his favor, Korsas began naegotiaions with Alkona in the Northwest, convincing them to join the war to curb Ulinnan power. Ontula also joined Korsas side, while this balance of power quickly led Lato in the south of Korsas, to join Ullinna in the promises of spoils of war. The domies fell and all of Lukonia was soon embroiled in the war of Lukonian leagues, with constantly shifting alliances feeding the engines of war.

The league war would be the perfect opportunity for another outside power to finally make its move. The Sibarian empire had already for long been a rising power, its Tsar eyeing at the situation in Lukonia with interests. Soon Sibarian diplomats would strike a deal with Korsas which was quickly falling into Ulinna led leagues hands, accepted the offer from the tsar, fealty for salvation. Sibarian troops would soon arrive and alongside with Korsas, quickly achieved a strategic advantage. Battles in Arosalmi and Kumpala were crushing Sibarian victories, with far larger armies and military traditions that far surpassed most Lukonian cities save for maybe Keskylä. Ulinna soon saw the writing on the wall and joined Korsas in swearing fealty. The next few years Sibaria would consolidate its influence over the rest of Lukonia, with the now confused city states offering mixed resistance. Some like Turkylä would follow the lead of the coastal cities and swear fealty while for example its long time rival Varena would suffer major damage from its resistance, never really recovering its reputation and former prosperity. And so the era of city states came to an end, replaced by the new rule of the Sibarian empire.

The Lukonian Governate

Sibarian rule would, as a suprise to many Lukonians, bring with it many benefits. Sibaria was not interested in the direct rule of yet another region, and certainly not one with such an unstable political situation as the forested lands Lukonia. To this end, The Lukonian governate was created, binding the cities under a central Lukonian goverment overseen by the Sibarians as part of the Sibarian empire. The Governate would be the first ruling body in centuries that united the Lukonian people under one flag, albeit a foreign one. This also led to the first steps towards the establishment of a unified Lukonian national identity, a fact that would have major consequences later on. For now tought, peace reigned and with the political unity of provided by the Sibarians, Lukonia began to slowly prosper. The cities, now forced into cooperation, would grow and ties between them start to form that would later be the foundation for an independent Lukonia. With the turn of the century the industrial era soon began to take hold and Lukonia, nicely situated in the southern parts of the empire along with its rather high population density, would soon be one of the earliest areas in Sibaria to see its effects, with the governate even rumored to have served as a sort of test bed for the Sibarians to see how it would be implemented. The governates position as an autonomus part of the empire also led to a renaissance of culture, as artists and thinkers from the former city states could now freely move between them. Despite the wide reaching autonomy Lukonia was still a part of Sibaria, it may have had its own armed force (Albeit directly under Sibarian command) and government but its people still carried Sibarian passports and its economy was tied to the Sibarian one, along with its foreign policy.

Besides cultral development the on set of industrialization would bring notable changes to the Lukonian economy. Saw mills would soon dot the vast forests, and the large cities would become the home to numerous factories, with Lenko being the first to host such a building after the Scuroan investor Henri Bryner saw the potential for its placement there, kick starting Lukonian industry in the process. Shipping also increased in importance, with contacts to the rest of the world slowly starting to develop, especially those with the far southern nations like Ironcastle and Platacia, which had traditionally been out of reach, contributing to already pre existing growth.

Socially the former strong merchant classes would survive into the Sibarian era, adopting quickly to the environment with the onset of industrialization and would soon contribute greatly to the countries changing situation. With more lax laws concerning freedom of speech and press owing to its autonomy, Lukonia would also became a sort of haven for free thinkers in Sibaria, leading to the widespread of many ideologies that would have been considered "radical" by the rest of the empire. With the establishment of the Lukonian Parliament in 1823 by the blessing of the Sibarian governer general and Tsar himself, many of these views would find themselves a chance to influence society as a whole. The largest of these was the growing socialist movement which, despite attempts to limit its power, would soon find itself an avenue to influence decision making with the creation of the rather sizable Lukonian Social Democratic party. Liberalism would also offer an attractive alternative, with the Liberal league taking the claim for the first party to be founded in Lukonia. Liberalism and Socialism were indeed popular ideologies back in the day, especially due to the already pre existing republican culture making them more accepted, something which the Sibarians did note. To this end they began to quietly promote various conservative party maintaining the status quo such as the Agrarian league and Pro Patria and would also find supporters from the brotherhood of the tilted cross, a Lukonian orthodox christian organization, one that they elevated to a legitimate political force leading to the founding of the Orthodox fraternity league , gaining them influence especially in the southern areas alongside the Agrarians while the more industrialized north would be traditional socialist and liberal territory. This divide would be a sign of things to come.

An independent Lukonia

With Dorofei Yakovlevs overthrowing of the Sibarian government the autonomus position of Lukoniag gave it a chance to break away rather cleanly. With govermental systems already in place, the proclamation of the federal republic in November 1923 went without a issue, with Yakolevs in no position to intervine. Still just like in Sibaria, Lukonias political situation was precarious. The congress of Keskylä would do much to alleviate this, with moderate forces of both the left and the right agreeing to create a government of national unity to oversee the process of nation building, and keep put the more radical elements, especially the recently formed National revolutionary movement and the Orthodox Fraternity as well as the Lukonian Fascist league. With this, the federal Republic would take its first stumbling steps, with Lukonia now an independent and most importantly, a unified country.

The interwar years would bring about many challenges, with independence requiring the removal of many Sibarian systems, and the restructuring of many parts of the countries that had been dependent on Sibarian governance. On the foreign stage a policy of neutrality was adopted by the young republic, and instead of a single president a council was formed in an attempt to bring about a more equal and representative union. By 1930, things seemed to be heading up, with economic growth and political stability finally allowing for the first elections to be held, leading to a social democrat agrarian coalition. This rather stable coalition would survive to win then ext elections as well, but put under pressure with the outbreak of world war two between Flazorus and the USSR. Lukonia itself soon found itself once more under the rule of the government of national unity, yet with ideological conflicts abound far right and left groups gained resurgence. Initially claiming neutrality, Lukonia would soon find itself under pressure from both sides of the war to allow for certain concessions, which it was ultimately unwilling to make. due to its proximity to Flazorus and the need to secure its flanks before the execution of the so called "plan X", Flazorus would invade and occupy Lukonia in Operation Schwarzwald in 1941. In the brief but bloody "Forest war", the rather unorganized yet well equipped Lukonian army would offer hard resistance at strong points, but this would soon be encircled and crushed by mobile Flazorian armored units and especially its overwhelming air power. Despite this experts were confident of Lukonias ability to resis for even a few months, a time frame that was cut short by a coup made by the Lukonian fascist league, which had grown power these past year. Ordering the the army to stand down and throwing the chain of command into chaos, the new "government" fully capitulated to the Flazorians. The operation had been completed and a new "Lukonian Social Republic" was declared, under the rule of the Lukonian Fascist league, now styling itself as the Lukonian National Socialist front, popular known as the Jarvi Regime after its leader Erkko Jarvi, acting as mere puppets for the Flazorians. This puppet state would join in plan X, and institute similarly oppressive policies mirroring those of there benefactors. The northern parts of the country would also be directly occupied by the Flazorians, leading to a massive increase support for the more hard line leftist factions as partisans began to fight back under the Blue, black and red banner. The south itself found sudden resistance from the church, with the Orthodox brotherhood becoming a banned organization and beginning its own resistance campaign, turning itself from a fringe movement to one dedicated to fighting for the freedom from the puppets of the occupiers. There popularity was further raised by the apparent policy of cooperation with the LNSM of a significant portion of the agrarian party, which had dominated the politics of the region. <resistance owuld indeed remain a constant problem for the invades, with the messy nature of Lukonias surrender entire battalions would melt into the woods in mutiny.

Liberation and split

With the destruction of a whole Flazorian army group in Slankov, the fate of the Second world war was decided. The Jarvi regime had contributed quite ab it of its own forces to the campaign, and with it now being proven a failure, was left with a shattered and demoralized army. More and more the Flazorians had to direct more and more men to help with anti partisan duties until they too, were unable to hold on. By 1944 the first Soviet troops were already entering North Lukonia. This triggered the "August uprising", characterized by a spontanious rising up of multiple resistance groups. Any remaining Jarvi regime and Flazorian troops n the country were quickly overwhelmed, as the preparation made for years by the partisans finally bore fruit.

The events would be the birth of a national legend itself, but as the First Soviet troops enetered Ulinna, they were greeted eagerly by members of the Lukonian