| |||||||
| Anthem | "Hymn of the German People" | ||||||
| Capital (and largest city) |
Frankfurt | ||||||
| Language official |
German | ||||||
| others | French | ||||||
| Demonym | German, Rhinish | ||||||
| Government | Monarchical Confederation | ||||||
| Legislature | Diet of the Confederation of the Rhine | ||||||
| Protector | Napoleon VII | ||||||
| Royal house: | Bonaparte | ||||||
| Prince-Primate | Albrecht, King of Wurttemberg | ||||||
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel | ||||||
| Population | 80 million [1] (European states) | ||||||
| Established | 1806 | ||||||
| Currency | Rheinmark | ||||||
| Internet TLD | .cor | ||||||
| Organizations | FN | ||||||
The Confederation of the Rhine, commonly referred to as Germany, is a country in central Europe. It is bordered to the East, West, and North by the French Empire, and to the South by Switzerland. it has numerous territories around the world, including Madagascar, the German Antilles, the Maldives and Dampieria in Western Australia. The country is a confederation of 37 largely self-governing monarchies, but each sends representatives to the Confederal Diet in Frankfurt.
History[]
The Confederation was created in 1806 by Napoleon I out of the defeated and outdated Holy Roman Empire. The new state was a significant help to Napoleon, supplying him with troops and supplies throughout all his campaigns. Although originally a French puppet, the Confederation was, for all intents and purposes, independent by the reign of Napoleon II.
The confederation embarked on a small campaign of colonialisation throughout the remainder of the 19th century. The German Antilles were established through a combination of gifts from France, purchases from France, and some actual colonisation. Bases were established on the Maldives in the 1840s, and a bit of gunboat diplomacy resulted in a protectorae over the sultanate in 1849. Prince Luitpold von Wittelsbach established a primarily Bavarian settlement in North-Western Australia, establishing the himself as Duke of the "Duchy of Dampieria", which became a protectorate the following year. Gradually elbowing into the Indian Ocean trade, still dominated by the British in India, the rotectorates were both a source of national wealth and national pride for the Confederation. Economic expansion into Madagascar began in the late 1860s, and after a three-year conflict, the Malagasy Kingdom accepted German protectorate status in 1875.
The twentieth century was one of good fortunes for the Confederation. Spared from most of the fighting of the Asia-pacific War, as well as most of the economic woes of its neighbour, the Confederation flourished. The protectorates were granted full member-state status after the end of the war. With the turn of the century, the Confederation is a world leader in renewable energy technologies, as well as a very strong economic power.
Government[]
The Confederation of the Rhine has quite a unique system of government. It has two heads of state, and a tricameral legislature. Each of the constituent monarchies also have their own monarchs and parliaments.
Constituent States[]
The thirty-two states of the Confederation are divided into two "colleges": the College of Kings and the College of Princes. The former is made up of the largest, most powerful states, whilst the latter comprises small principalities and duchies.
College of Kings[]
| Country | Capital | Monarch |
|---|---|---|
 Grand Duchy of Baden
|
Karlsruhe | Grand Duke Maximillian II |
 Kingdom of Bavaria
|
Munich | King Franz |
 Grand Duchy of Berg
|
Dusseldorf | Grand Duke Louis III |
 Grand Duchy of Frankfurt
|
Frankfurt | Grand Duke Richard |
 Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt
|
Darmstadt | Grand Duke Heinrich |
 Kingdom of Madagaskar
|
Antananarivo | Queen Ranalavona IV |
 Kingdom of Saxony
|
Dresden | King Alexander |
 Kingdom of Westphalia
|
Kassel | King Napoleon VII/III |
 Kingdom of Wurrtemberg
|
Stuttgart | King Albrecht |
 Duchy of Wurzburg
|
Wurzburg | Grand Duke Sigmund |
College of Princes[]
| Country | Capital | Monarch |
|---|---|---|
 Duchy of Anhalt
|
Dessau | Duke Julius |
|
|
Luitpoldshaven | Duke Otto II |
 Principality of Hohenzollern-Hechingen
|
Hechingen | Prince Karl Friederich |
| Prncipality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
|
Sigmaringen | Princess Adelheid |
 Principality of Isenburg-Birstein
|
Isenburg | Prince Konrad |
 Principality of Leyen
|
Hohensgeroldseck | Prince Wilhelm II |
 Principality of Liechtenstein
|
Vaduz | Prince Hans-Adam |
 Principality of Lippe-Detmold
|
Detmold | Friederich Wilhelm |
 Sultanate of the Maldives
|
Male | Sultan Muhammed Shamsuddeen IV |
 Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
|
Schwerin | Duke Karl-Leopold II |
 Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
|
Strelitz | Duke Borwin |
 Duchy of Nassau
|
Wiesbaden | Duke Friederich Karl |
| File:RepublicofWesternGermany.pngPrincipality of Reuss | Gera | Prince Heinrich XIII |
 Sultanate of Sansibar
|
Sansibar | Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah |
 Duchy of Saxe-Coburg
|
Coburg | Duke Andreas |
 Duchy of Saxe-Gotha
|
Gotha | Duke Karl |
 Duchy of Saxe-Hildeburghausen
|
Hildeburghausen | Duchess Sieglinde |
 Duchy of Saxe-Meinigen
|
Meinigen | Duke Konrad |
 Duchy of Saxe-Weimar
|
Weimar | Duke Wolfram |
 Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe
|
Buckelburg | Prince Alexander |
 Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
|
Rudolstadt | Princess Maria II |
 Principality of Schwarzburg-Sonderhausen
|
Sonderhausen | Prince Rudolf |
 Principality of Waldeck
|
Waldeck | Prince Wittekind |
Territories[]
| Territory | Capital | Governor |
|---|---|---|
 Confederal Territory of Stettin
|
Stettin | Governor Peter Krystein |
 German Antilles
|
Chaguanas | Governor Antonius Glucksburg |
Confederational Politics[]
The de jure head of state of the Confederation of the Rhine is, in fact, the French Emperor, Napoleon VII, who is simultaneously the Protector of the Confederation. Although the position is a remnant from the days of total French domination, with little actual power, the Protector has been useful in the nation's history. For example, then Protector Napoleon VI successfully stopped a national crisis after the assassination of the Prince-Primate in 1964.[2]
The de facto head of state, however, is the Prince-Primate. He is a monarch of a constituent state who is elected by the people of the Confederation. He serves a ten year term, and has executive control over the military of the Confederation. He is the president of the College of Kings.
The monarchs of the states of the Confederation each have a seat in either the College of Kings or the College of Princes. These are the higher two of the three houses of the Diet, and the equivalent of the old House of Lords in England. Bills must pass in at least one of these colleges to become laws.
The Head of Government of the Confederation is the Chancellor. They are the leader of the party in majority in the lowest house; the College of the People. Members of the College are elected by all citizens aged 18 and above. Elections are generally held every four years. The People's College has the right to introduce bills, and any bill introduced by one of the noble colleges must pass in the People's College to become Confederational Law.
State Politics[]
Each of the member-states of the Confederation have their own governments. Whilst the government of the Confederation is in control of healthcare, finance, main roads, the judicial system and welfare, the rest is left to the states. For instance: amenities, basic services, policing, and state militaries.
A typical state government consists of the monarch, and a small elected assembly. The monarch has the final say on bills before they come into law. State elections are generally held every three years.
The Confederation's colonies
Overseas Territories[]
Despite the majority of the population residing in Germany, the Confederation does possess states and one territory overseas, as a result of their former colonial empire. These are:
- The German Antilles
- Kingdom of Madagaskar
- Sultanate of Sansibar
- Sultanate of the Maldives
- Duchy of Dampieria
The latter four are full member-states, however due to the distance between them and European Germany, they do tend to exercise greater autonomy. Madagaskar, Sansibar and the Maldives were pre-existing monarchies which the Confederation made colonial protectorates of in the mid-to-late Nineteenth century. Dampieria was established as a settler-duchy in 1856 when Luitpold von Wittelsbach and two hundred Bavarian settlers arrived there in 1856.
The Antilles, never having had a native monarchy, are still administered the same way as a colony; with a Frankfurt-appointed Governor. The territory exercises extensive internal autonomy however.
Military and Foreign Affairs[]
Foreign relations of the Confederation centre on a strong military, political and historical link to France, and it is a member of the French Bloc. It is also a close ally of the Duchy of Warsaw.
The Confederation does not possess a centralised army. Instead, all of the constituent states maintain their own armies. These range in size from the large and well-equipped Bavarian and Malagasy armies to the insignificant Army of Liechtenstein, which contributes fifty men. During times of war, the Confederal General Staff takes overall control of the land forces. Member-states are technically permitted to engage in independent military actions without the rest of the confederation, but this almost never occurs.
The Confederal Navy is a middling force that is operated by the central government. Its primary task is defending the Confederation and the sea-lanes to the more far-flung territories.