Federated Commonwealth of Nations (AKA Gilesland)

Overview of the Federated Commonwealth of Nations (AKA Gilesland)
The Federated Commonwealth of Nations (FCN) is an organization of sovereign nations from North Virginia, South Virginia, Africa, and eastern Asia. It also has an affiliated Aboriginal Protectorate in Australia. It was founded in 1936. FCN nations are internally independent, and the organization is functionally interdependent with member states spanning the globe from both sides of North Virginia [IRL USA] and most of South Virginia across the Atlantic to Southern Afrika and reaching to eastern Asia and Australia. It enjoys a relationship affiliated with, and yet separate from, the Kingdom of Lesser Britannia (KLB), and it shares cultural and political ties with the Gael Empire of the Northern Expanse and other North Virginian nations (e.g. Suevia and [Kingofdabee's nation]). Emerging from the turmoil of the late 18th and early 19th century wars of independence and reconciliation, the FCN shares common cultural, political, and linguistic ties with the various European and Asian powers while remaining solidly its own confederation.

Pre-Federation History
The rise of JubQ’s Moorish nation and its success in retaining southern Iberia set the stage for the failure of both an intact Spain and Portugal to venture as thoroughly into the continent. Instead, the Dutch/Gaels and the English made the initial discoveries that opened up the New World. As a result, exploration of the Virginias (named after Queen Elizabeth) began from the north southward, initially with the creation of trading ports along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean. This allowed the Aztecs and other indigenous nations more time to prepare for European incursions into their territories. Territory in the northern continent was settled by KLB and Iberian nations (becoming Judea, [Kingofdabees’s land], and Terra Nova), and Suévia made successful initial settlement in the northern portion of the south continent. Leon and Castile [Stahl's] managed to get a foothold in the southern stretches of the south continent, leapfrogging earlier English and Gael-Dutch settlements in the middle latitudes.

As a result, European movement into the New World proceeded more slowly, and the native populations dealt with the Europeans on more even terms. Atlantica, the first area of major English/Gael-Dutch settlement, initially had the most northern European feel of New World territories based simply on the fact that the indigenous people had the least time to adapt to European weapons and diseases. What came to be known as Greater Colombia has a strong Suevian flavor, while Fireland takes strong cultural cues from its Iberian roots as well.

Capital:
Currently, the capital is in Bellaire, Republic Argent (RA), [IRL Buenos Aires] and will remain so until 2020, when it will move to Bountiful, Lower California and Deseret (LCD) [IRL San Francisco].

Major Cities:
Boston

Tokyo

[City name TBD] (IRL Los Angeles)

Guangzhou/Shenzhen complex

Shanghai

Halifax

Bellaire (IRL Buenos Aires, originally settled by Stahl’s Iberians)

Manaos (IRL Manaus, Gael-Dutch/English)

Janus (IRL Rio de Janeiro,originally settled by Andre’s Portuguese)

St. Paul (IRL Sao Paulo, originally settled by Andre’s Portuguese)

Jamestown (IRL Santiago, Chile)

Bountiful (IRL San Francisco)

Cape Town

Salt Lake City

Official Languages: Viriginian English, Gael-Dutch [Nessie’s]

Other Official Languages vary depending on the State

Motto: “A mari usque ad mare" (From sea to sea)

Slogan: “Forward”

Anthem: “Organize Yourselves” (set to the tune Hyfrydol, but a bit more lively)

Origins
Greater New England (GNE, AKA Atlantica) comprised the St. Lawrence River basin in Laurentia [IRL Ontario, Quebec, and Labrador] to the north and west, Massachusetts [IRL Rhode Island, eastern Massachusetts, coastal New Hampshire, and Maine] and West Acadia [IRL New Brunswick] through to Nova Scotia to the south, and the tropical isle of New Cambria [IRL Newfoundland] to the east. Boston, Montreal, Quebec, and Halifax formed early major population centers for European settlers.

In the 1740s Virginian colonies along the Atlantic coast (inspired by the Gaelic spirit of independence in the decades following the failure of the Acts of Union) moved to separate themselves from their European rulers. New nations formed from some of the colonies, but Greater New England opted to enter into negotiations with the Crown and Parliament for home rule on terms more favorable to the former colonies. With major fracturing on continental Europe on the one side and continued repercussions stemming from the failed Act of Union and subsequent struggles with the Gaels on the other, the Crown recognized the wisdom of retaining allies in Virginia, weak though they were. Negotiations for a Maritime Union of Atlantica comprising the above-mentioned provinces began in earnest in the 1770s, with the formation of the Crown Principality of Atlantica in 1776. John Adams of Braintree, Massachusetts, was installed as the first Chief Consul to the British Crown.

The British Parliament’s inclusion of Atlantican MPs after the death of [King] further encouraged improved relations between the Crown and its Atlantican subjects in the following decades. Adopting the principle of "responsible government," Atlanticans pushed for reforms to allow for more representative self government. In an effort to appease the Atlantians, the Crown acceded to the Atlantican proposal for the creation of Greater New England (GNE) as a new country (comprising the six provinces of Massachusetts, Laurentia, West Acadia, East Acadia, Nova Scotia, and New Cambria) with the Constitutional Conventions of 1832 and 34. The move was viewed from the Crown’s perspective as a means to block European ambitions for Virginian territories to the west through the creation of a buffer state loyal to the Crown. Concerned with being absorbed back as a colony, however, GNE delegates also prevailed upon Gael, [Drostan], Suevia, and other European powers for formal diplomatic recognition and political separation.

While Greater New England benefited from its long affiliation with its former mother country, it also enjoyed growing autonomy and influence in the Virginias. Inclusively, GNE adopted its own parliamentary system [IRL modeled off a hybrid of the Westminster System and concepts derived from the US Constitution]. In the international arena, it partnered with the Gael Empire on ocean voyages along the Virginian coast to secure possession of those territories. Armed with wanderers' hearts and farmers' thrifty work ethics, GNE settlers boarded Gael ships bound for settlement all along the Virginian continent.

[Due to limited Iberian language influence and greater, though slower Anglo-Dutch influence, language changes happen here.]

South Virginian Settlement
Nessie’s Gael-Dutch established trading posts and areas of limited settlement all up and down the Atlantic coast of the Virginias throughout the 1500s. While these initial settlements prospered, limited incursions were made inland. Settlements along the Silver River estuary (e.g. Belle Aire, ca. 1536), at January River (1565), and Saint Paul (1554). With the alliance with Atlantica beginning in the 1780s and beyond, both nations began an era of intensive inland exploration and trade, especially in South Virginia.

“My Beloved River Argent”: The Republic Argenta
The Silver River Estuary settlements began as a Gael-Dutch trading outpost in 1536. A series of excursions to the Guarani-held territories along the Parana River led to the discovery of the Inca Empire to the west in the Andes Mountains. Over the course of about 150 years, normalized trade relations were eventually established with the Inca, but only after exploration of the Amazon River to the north resulted in more Euro-Incan contacts.

 

After the abortive revolution of the United Provinces when the Strongman [Dutch Name] died under mysterious circumstances, combined GNE and Gael forces descended upon the Silver River estuary (poetically dubbed the “River Argent” by Sir Robert Orrin in his popular song of the era), establishing the Republic Argenta (RA) as an independent-affiliate nation modeled off the GNE structure. Subsequent immigration of GNE, Gael, and KLB subjects and their intermarriage with the local population (mainly of Iberian origin) has led to a unique local English dialect that draws heavily from various roots.

Expansion in the RA and the Creation of Greater and Lower Colombia (GC and LC) and East Bank and St. Paul (EBSP)
Concerned with ensuring a land route to the Pacific Ocean, RA soldiers under the Command of William Higgins traversed the Andes and founded Jamestown on the Pacific coast. The RA expanded slowly over the next 50 years until taking formal claim of all territory north of Castilian [Stahl’s] Fireland. Moving north with the goal of liberating the remainder of Gran Colombia from Castilian and Suevian domination, Higgins and company arrived at Cartagena and enlisted patriots in declaring independence from Suévia and forming a Greater Colombian League. Subsequently, the province of Venezola joined the confederation, which solidified under the name Greater Colombia (GC). Higgins and later leaders of the republic are noted for their commitment to “responsible government” and often can be counted on as able and trustworthy political leaders. This also explains why, although in favor of the FCN, GC did not join as a charter member.

Another potential member of the Greater Colombian League, Lower Colombia (LC), instead chose to form their own government and re-establish ties to the former Incan Empire, redubbed Incan Andeana. LC exists as a bicultural-bilingual society with Anglo-Iberian speakers near the coast and Inca speakers in the mountains. In the southeast, the Provinces of East Bank and Saint Paul (EBSP), combined to form their own nation from a power vacuum that emerged in [Rosas’] and Higgins’ absence. Under the capable leadership of Jose Martinez and Geoffrey Sanderson, the expanded EBSP developed into an agricultural powerhouse.

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Incan Andeana
The Inca People hold the majority of the territory on the Andean Altiplano. They form an autonomous nation. While the Inca regularly engage in trade with surrounding nations, they typically do not venture outside their empire. The Inca are well-known for their art and civil engineering. After disastrous first contact with Suevian colonists in the early 16th Century, the Inca barricaded themselves in the mountains, not reemerging for roughly 100 years after reengagement with Gael and GNE Amazon River traders from the east. Incan Andeana comprises two sub-units, one taking up coastland and the other landlocked Andean highland. While the country enjoys warm relations with LC, its relationship with other FCN nations can be strained. FCN delegates to IA come exclusively from their own indigenous peoples, and people of European descent comprise a tiny minority of the country’s citizens.

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Red Nut Republic (AKA Amazonia)
The Amazon River basin is home to a river-based culture drawn from Anglo-Gael-Dutch Settlers and native peoples whose settlements were built on mostly Suevian foundations. Suevia laid an early 16th C claim to the entire Amazon River basin, a claim taken up by the founders of the RNR in Manaos and that was held in dispute for over 100 years with intermittent border skirmishes with both Colombias and CSP until borders were formally established with the creation of the FCN. The RNR (colloquially known as Amazonia), is among the richest nations on earth in terms of natural wealth. Due to lessons learned from disasters caused by early deforestation of the river basin (notably the Great Manaos Flood of 1869, which basically wiped the city off the map) and subsequent efforts to undo the environmental harm caused thereby, the Amazons have been able to sustainably harvest old growth hardwoods, provide adequate grazing land for livestock (Amazon, Argentan, and Texan beef all compete for dominance on the world market), and extract minerals for export worldwide. Amazons are among the most well-traveled people on earth both within the country’s river-based transportation system and abroad on years’ long shipping voyages.

With the rise of new knowledge in the fields of agriculture, chemistry, and other medicinal arts, Amazonia is poised as a center for a variety of potential plant- and animal-based cures for disease.

Colonization of Later FCN Members in North Virginia
The Texas Republic (TR), Lower California and Deseret (LCD), and the Rocky Mountain Collective (RMC) are three other FCN nations in North Virginia.

“You Can Got to Hell. I’m Going to Texas.”: Texas Republic
Seeking to reunite with their deported Acadian cousins, thousands of colonists from Nova Scotia made their way to the gulf coast of what is now the State of Texas, held by the French, in the late 1820s and early 1830s. In 1836, Texas declared itself an independent republic with the support of KLB (specifically GNE), much to the chagrin of France, the IA, and Terra Nova. Texas expanded westward to LCD in the War of [Fresa-land] Cession, taking in Novo Mexico.

In the north, the Comancherie (Comanche: Nʉmʉnʉʉ Sookobitʉ, 'Comanche land') is the homeland the Comanche people adopted after a long series of battles and negotiated settlements with the European settlers in Texas. A historically varied, but strongly nomadic, trading and rading society, the Comanche are known for their bravery, energy, and honor. The Tsalagi were instrumental in building the Great North Virginian Transcontinental Railway and securing the cooperation of other indigenous nations as they built the rail route through the Rocky Mountain Collective.

As a republic, the country adopted features of the GNE model with modifications drawn from the IA, Terra Nova, and LCD. Subsequently, Texas has enjoyed a warmer relationship with the IA than its western cousins. Texans love their oil and their beef, and their rivalry with Amazonia in rodeo-based sport is legendary.

“Go West, Young Mormons”: Lower California and Deseret
Mormons under the leadership of Joseph Smith (born in Manchester, USV, but raised in Palmyra, NY, USV) fleeing religious persecution in New York on the one hand and Gold Rushers mainly from Texas and GNE (AKA “The ‘46ers”) on the other combined organizational and political might to form the Affiliated Republics of Lower California and Deseret (LCD). The LCD functioned as a loose federation with testy relations between the Josephite Latter-day Saints, Gold Rushers, and Suevian Californios until the death of Smith in 1881 and the religious reforms that followed. The LCD has steadily grown into a powerhouse of religious and social tolerance, enjoying a level of human capital such as few nations have seen before.

Pioneers venturing north to Cascadia-Pacifica (CP) also participated in the Gold Rush; however, they opted not to join the LCD, forming their own government. A (generally) friendly rivalry between the Beavers to the north and the Golden Bears to the south ensued with the Gold Rush and continued with the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad from San Francisco through Sacramento and from there to Salt Lake City and eventually the port of Houston, Texas, with later joint ventures continuing to Boston through the IA and to Atlantica. A southern route from Anglesey [IRL Los Angeles] to [Houston] was completed in the 1950s. While LCD citizens are generally more conservative than their northern cousins, both can be counted on to help out in a fight, as was witnessed during and after the Invasion of Hawaii and Attack on Long Beach.

The Kingdom of Hawaii, occupied during GW2 by the Japanese and liberated by LCD troops, has fostered stronger bilateral ties to LCD in the following decades. Significant FCN and private investment in the islands from LCD- (and other FCN-) based trading companies has led to greater interdependence between the two nations. '''

Rocky Mountain Collective
The Rocky Mountain Collective was originally created as a sparsely populated buffer zone between areas claimed by KLB, Texas, and LCD. Later, these territories were granted to indigenous peoples living on the continent as semi-autonomous homeland in exchange for territories ceded in other parts of the continent. The area has significant mineral wealth, and while landlocked enjoys extensive transportation benefits as a continental crossroads. This self-governing entity engages in international diplomacy at the national level but leaves internal government to the tribes living within its borders.

FCN Members outside the Virginias
The Southern Afrikan States and Aboriginal Protectorate also count among FCN members. In addition, East Asian nations joined the FCN following the GW2.

Southern Afrikan States
The Southern Afrikan States (SAS) share a unique and complex relationship with other FCN nations. Originally established by Dutch and Lesser British settlers in the early to mid-1800s, following the Xhosa/Zulu Uprising supported by Ruthenia and the Imperial Republic of 1856, the Southern Afrikan States have remained predominantly and distinctly African in character. Starting in the 1860s, abolitionist missionaries from the RA, CSP, and later GNE and the LCD as well as political advisors from GC and LC provided material support to the native people and adopting lessons learned from their interactions with the Ruthenian and Imperial Republican peoples, helped the Xhosa, Zulu, and other tribes establish representative governments on their own terms. Lessons learned about how to foster interdependency (rather than dependency) as developed by GC political philosopher Rodrigo Saenz Porter informed much of the foreign cooperative assistance characteristic of the FCN in the 20th Century and beyond. The SAS was formally consolidated as one nation in 1897 and petitioned on its own volition for inclusion in the FCN in 1937, on the 40th anniversary of its charter.

Anthem: “Hymn of Southern Afrika” sung to the tune Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika'''

 

Aboriginal Protectorate (of Australia)
Gael-Dutch claims in what they dubbed originally Terra Australis extended north into the Great (sometimes called Endless) Desert. As the Gaels have traditionally kept to the coast, they sought GNE support to secure those claims within the interior. Enlisting the aid of LCD and Tsalagi and Incan negotiators, Atlantians established diplomatic relations with the Koori elders at the Darling River in 1881 and entered into a process of self-government and resource exchange leading to the creation of the Aboriginal Protectorate jointly administered by GNE, LDC, TR, and IA in 1908 and brought into the FCN in 1936.

 

Creation of the FCN Following Dissolution of Ties with Britannia
Following the First Great War at the beginning of the 20th Century, GNE in particular and its sister states in general moved toward severing formal governmental ties with Britannia. The Crown's arbitrary decision to grant Ontario to the HBC was but one of many made by the Crown in favor of large traders to the detriment of the people living in the KLB colonies over the next two decades.

On March 21, 1936, five of the largest KLB colonies in the Virginias (LCD, RA, RNR, and Texas) formally declared independence from the KLB, citing certain inalienable human freedoms (freedom of speech and expression, freedom to worship God according to one's own conscience, freedom from want, and freedom from fear) as the basis of government.

The Crown offered no rebuttal to the declaration. The move was met with resigned lament from Mother Britain, and eventually [who?] abdicated the throne under the rump empire’s subsequent loss of confidence in his leadership. As more pressing issues presented themselves in Europe, and as the split (while bitter) was both amicable and mutually beneficial, the Lesser British government opted to not press for reunion after Queen Margaret (nee Thatcher) rose to power.

The nations of the FCN banded together in part due to rising tensions in Japan and China, rival powers that each wanted to dominate east Asia. China wished to hold off the advance of the Imperial Republic, and Japan wished to assert its control over Oceania. War broke out on the Asian front in the 1940s with the Japanese occupation of Hawaii. FCN nations allied themselves with China and declared war on the Japanese Prosperity Collective, which had also occupied Manchuria, northern China, and Joseon. The Imperial Republic, an ally of Japan, declared war on China and cut a path to the sea. [Other nations’ involvement/alliances TBD. KLB and Azul may be aligned against IR over India. European fronts are a completely different set of variables.]

Ultimately, Japan was defeated and its Pacific Island holdings were taken over by CP. China ended up divided into two nations (ultimately North China with Beijing as capital and the Republic of China with Guangzhou as capital) and a dominion of the Imperial Republic (the Middle Kingdom with Xian as capital). In principle, while the IR and FCN were on opposite sides of the war, they themselves were not opposed to each other. A divided and partitioned China served the interests of both parties. In some ways, IR traded an enemy it knew well (China) for an uncertain partnership with an unknown federation created in part from its remnants. Prior to the war, the SAS, RMC, GC, LC, and IA petitioned for and received membership in the FCN. Following the war, the nations in Asia formed post war petitioned for and gained membership in the FCN.

Japan, Greater Joseon, and North China
Following the Japanese invasion and occupation of the Hawaiian archipelago (administered by CP) and subsequent bombing of Long Beach Harbor on the Pacific coast, LCD joined CP in declaring war on the Japanese Empire. Following the Second World War, Allied forces led by LCD, FCN allies, and CP divided up portions of the Japanese Empire and the Pacific Islands between them. Japan, Manchuria, and the Korean Peninsula were brought into the FCN (in 1946-47), after adopting parliamentary governments and have subsequently thrived. The three nations, now separate political states, experienced an extended period of Japanese Imperial rule and resource exploitation. After the division of China in the Second Great War (GW2), the area around Beijing south of Manchuria had operated as its own political unit. Later, Beijing merged with Manchuria to form North China. With the movement of the Imperial Republic and [who?] into other areas of China, the FCN hopes its presence in the region will hinder any further political dissolution in the area.

Chinese Republican Holdings
Japanese-occupied China was dissolved into three major partitions after GW2. Chinese Republican forces aligned with the FCN successfully liberated southern and eastern China north and east toward Shanghai, Macao, and Taiwan) from Japanese Imperialists, while [Arvilla] and Imperial Republican forces liberated other Japanese-held portions of China. In the following decades, tensions between the Imperial Republic and the FCN over the ultimate disposition of the Middle Kingdom (reunification vs. continued partition and under whose jurisdiction) have remained steady. In a potentially inflammatory move, the ROC was formally admitted into the FCN in 1972. The ROC has high hopes of strengthening political and cultural ties with North China and Greater Joseon. This development is viewed with a wary eye by the Imperial Republic especially, which intends to maintain its presence in eastern Asia and access to the Pacific via the East China Sea.

Heraldry in the FCN
The FCN enjoys a rich and varied heraldic tradition drawing on Norman English and Iberian traditions while inserting its own flair and motifs. Generally speaking, it follows the basic Anglo-Gael tradition. In North Virginia, Anglo-Gael traditions are fused with indigenous themes. In the South Virginian [American] republics, Iberian, Gael-Dutch, and Incan tastes are often incorporated into their heraldry, while in East Asia and southern Africa, ancient traditional charges are frequently present. The Federated Heraldic Authority (FHA) was created in 1937 as part of the formation of the FCN in an effort to encourage an understanding and appreciation of heraldic art and traditions. Any citizen of FCN member states may apply for arms, but the process requires armigers to adhere to FHA guidelines. Blazons enjoy the same protections as copyrighted works. Variant emblazons belong to the same armiger and cannot be used by other armigers.Civic heraldry also plays a significant role. Nations, provinces, municipalities, corporations, and other public entities make and use arms.

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Common Themes in FHA Tradition
As mentioned above, local flora and fauna as well as modern charges are common features distinguishing some FHA member arms from those of other traditions; however, armigers also often draw from Old World motifs, and (more recently) Asian motifs as well. From a traditionalist perspective, some arms may seem unusual, but the FHA works tirelessly to combine the best the world has to offer in making tasteful and distinctive arms.

FCN civil arms typically use a shield with a rounded base; however, each country’s arms will vary according to their own civil traditions.

Personal arms can vary more widely. These are typically done in a heater style, but they are not restricted to this style.