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United Subjects of Romanova
Объединенные Предметы Романовы
Timeline: The Green North
Flag Coat of Arms
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Romanova
Location of Romanova
Motto
Король продолжает жить! (English)
("The King lives on!")
Anthem "Hymn of the United Subjects"
Capital Peter City
Largest city Peter City
Other cities Gagarin, Kolomeitsev, Anjou, Wrangel
Language
  official
 
Russian
  others English, French, Greenlandic
Religion
  main
 
Orthodox Christianity
  others Inuit religions
Demonym Romanovan, Romanovic, "Roman"
Government Unitary Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
  Legislature Romanovan State Duma
Tsar Alexander IV
Prime Minister Kvetoslav Vasilyevykh
Population ~21,765,130 
Independence from the Russian Republic
  declared December 25th, 1920
  recognized June 17, 1922
Currency Romanovan ruble (ROB)
Time Zone (UTC-1 to UTC-4)
Driving Side left
Calling Code +21
Internet TLD .rm
Organizations United Nations, Union of Greenland, Imperial Commonwealth

The United Subjects of Romanova (Russian: Объединенные Предметы Романовы, Ob"yedinenniyye Predmetyy Romanovyy); also known as Romanova (Романовия, Romanoviya), the United Subjects, and abbreviated as the U.S.R., (О.П.Р., O.P.R.) is a nation located in northern Greenland.

The land that is now Romanova was inhabited for thousands of years by various groups of Inuit tribes. It wasn't until Russian colonialism in the late 17th century that Russian expeditions explored, and later settled, in the Arctic coasts of Alaska and Greenland, known as the Russian-Greenland Company. Modern day Romanova was formed in 1917, after the collapse of the Russian Empire, and the military leaders of the Russian-Greenland Company decided to create a government to protect the company from a proposed takeover from other powers.[1]

Today Romanova is the largest country to be solely in Greenland and the strongest martial and economic power native to the island. Romanova maintains close political and trade ties with most of the Western world but also holds cultural ties with various Eastern European countries as well, most notably Russia. Romanova is part of several noticeable international organizations such as NATO, the Union of Greenland and the Imperial Commonwealth

Etymology[]

Romanova was originally known as the Russian-Greenland Company. After the Russian-Greenland Company was without a government, their own government was created, along with their declaration of independence. A referendum to decide what names would be used to call the new country took place. The word Romanova comes from Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov (Russian: Пётр Алексе́евич Рома́нов, Пётр I, Pyotr I, or Пётр Вели́кий, Pyotr Velikiy), the ruler of Russia and later the Russian Empire from 1682 until his death, the ruler who expanded the Tsardom of Russia into a three billion acre Russian Empire.[2] Other names the Russian Greenlanders considered were Pyotria, Pyotraland, Petria and Annaland.[3]

History[]

Humble beginnings[]

The area that is now Romanova was once inhabited by Inuit tribes, who lived by hunting seals and the occasional polar bear. Russian explorers first spotted the land in 1741, and colonized it three years later. They named it Romanova in honor of Tsar Peter the Great of the House of Romanov. The Tsar created the Russian-Greenland Company to govern the new settlement and represent it to the Russian government, with notable explorer Fyodor Peleviev as the leader of both company and colony.[4]

Russian Greenland was a popular destination for both the wealthy and the poor, which helped to increase the colony's population. By the 19th century, Russian Greenland was populated by at least one million people. The capital Pelevievo was also renamed Peter City during that time.

In 1803, at the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars, Russian Greenland had expanded enough to attack the French colony Louisville, which was itself attacking the Russian Empire's de facto ally Britain, beginning the Russian Greenland-Louisvillian War. Thirteen years later, in 1815, Louisville was forced to cede its northern part to Russian Greenland, expanding the latter's territory even more.[5]

The Russian Revolution[]

Romanovs in greenland

The Romanovs, surrounded by officials of the Russian-Greenland Company, pictured in Peter City after their escape from Russia, 1918.

Greenland was the last region of the former Russian Empire to break out into conflict because of the Civil War. Several members of the ruling Russian-Greenland Company known as the "Group of Four" hoped to restore Tsar Nicholas II to the throne of Russia. The group's leader Oleg Yurievsky-Oldenburg sent the Russian-Greenland Legion under the command of General Konstantin Arafimov to aid the Whites in first defeating the Reds and then pushing for a re-establishment of the Russian monarchy. The Russian-Greenland Legion, by most accounts performed admirably, with fewer counts of antisemitism or looting recorded compared to other White units.[6]

While numerically too few to change the war in the White's favor, the Greenlandic Legion was crucial in the rescue of Nicholas II and his family during Operation Savior of Man. However, the decision to evacuate the Tsar to Greenland also had adverse consequences. While his rescue from certain death was widely celebrated throughout the world, there were many in Russian Greenland that thought him a murderer and traitor. The decision of the Russian-Greenland Company in September of 1917 to install the tsar as the head of a provisional government, although approved by nearly 80% of the population in a referendum, was considered unacceptable by many of Russian Greenland's radical community. A civil war and new front in the Russian Civil War, the Romanovan War of Independence, broke out between White supporters of the Tsar and pro-Bolshevik Soviets.[7]

Both the Tsar and Yurievsky-Oldenburg hoped for a White victory in the Russian Civil War and a return of the Russian monarchy soon afterward. As a result, the Russian-Greenland Company did not formally declare independence even though it effectively was. Nicholas II remained the claimant to the Russian throne and at first refused suggestions that he take the crown of an independent Romanova. By 1920, with the growing struggles of the mainland Whites and the escalation of civil war in Russian Greenland, Nicholas II and Yurievsky-Oldenburg agreed to declare an independent Romanova with Nicholas II as monarch. Within a year, Romanovan forces obtained victory over pro-Bolshevik forces in Greenland and quickly gained international recognition. Romanova and the Soviet Union never recognized each other and the Soviets regularly made threats to "...conquer the Tsar and his last pocket of bourgeois capitalist loyalists."[8]

Interwar Period[]

The interwar period brought significant changes to all sectors of Romanovan society. Romanova, cut off from goods with the rest of the former Russian Empire, began to trade more openly with the rest of the world. During the "Roaring Twenties" a small local industry developed following British and American investment and the economy began to grow, largely from the development of rich zinc, copper and gold mines and the cultivation of a domestic steel industry. Oil prospecting to the north of Romanova also helped the country's economic potential increase. With the economic growth came the emergence of a small middle-class and the import of significant numbers of telephones, cars and other electrical technologies.[9]

Alexander Kerensky

Alexander Kerensky giving a speech as Prime Minister of Romanova, 1938.

Domestically, Yurievsky-Oldenburg was able to easily secure the support of the Duma, becoming the first prime minister of the new state. Ruling on behalf of the merged Octoberist and Constitutional Democratic parties, Yurievsky-Oldenburg guided his center-right coalition through a series of reforms aimed at improving the governance and quality of life in Romanova.[10] Certain workers' rights such as the eight-hour workday were pushed through law while freedom of speech, press and assembly were constitutionally guaranteed along with the special place of Russian Orthodoxy within the government. The Tsar's position as head of state was also guaranteed, although compared to the previous arrangements in Russia, the Tsar was effectively powerless so as to minimize fears of absolute monarchy and calls for revolution.

Internationally Romanova developed closer ties with the United Kingdom and the rest of the British Empire. Romanova granted the British permission to station troops at a military base near Albanov to deter potential Soviet invasion plans. In addition, the Trans-Greenlandic Railroad was constructed. Finished in 1928, the railroad stretched from Anjou in the north to New Sussex in the south and enabled better commerce and travel between the previously disconnected nation. In foreign affairs Romanova joined the League of Nations in 1926 and was recognized by most nations of the world, again with the exception of the Soviet Union.[11]

In addition, Romanova was a frequent destination for many of the White émigrés that were forced to leave the Soviet Union following its victory in the Russian Civil War. Nearly a million such émigrés migrated to Romanovan territory in the decade following Romanovan independence, swelling the new state's population and economy after initial assimilation hurdles. Several notable émigrés include Alexander Kerensky, Vasily Maklakov, Anton Denikin, Pyotr Wrangel, and Igor Sikorsky. However, such large-scale immigration caused problems apart from initial but manageable shortages of housing. Instances of antisemitism jumped during the late 1920s well into the 1930s and local law enforcement was not always trusted or capable enough to put an end to this persistent problem.[12]

The Great Depression and the rise of fascism in Europe had profound effects upon Romanovan society. Black Tuesday caused trade amongst much of the world to reduce, which in turn sharply decreased the demand for Romanovan natural resources and steel. The government of Ruslan Chernomayev pushed through some stopgap measures intended to blunt the worst of the damage, but the government was unable to prevent a significant drop in the economy. With so much of the state budget taken up for welfare and public work programs, other needs suffered and the military soon was unable to remain up-to-date in terms of technology. Romanova would not recover from the Great Depression for nearly a decade.[13]

RFP Manchouli Swastica

The headquarters of Rodzaevsky's Russian Fascist Party in downtown Pelevievo, 1936.

The economic malaise provided a fertile breeding ground for different extremist ideologies to emerge. The outlawed Communist Party of Greenland, still running a government-in-exile within the Soviet Union, began to regain adherents following the onset of the Great Depression. Leftist ideologies as a whole grew, culminating in Alexander Kerensky's successful comeback to become Prime Minister in the 1933 general elections, much to the displeasure of the Tsar. The far-right also grew in size, especially the Russian Fascist Party of Konstantin Rodzaevsky. Rodzaevsky advocated fervent Russian nationalism and antisemitism, Italian-style fascism, supported Japan and Italy during their conquests of Manchuria and Ethiopia respectively, and promised to liberate Russia. The Fascist Party's paramilitary Blackshirts regularly harassed Jews, Inuits and other minorities in the streets of major cities.[14]

Leading up to World War II, Romanovan society was split between supporting the United Kingdom or Nazi Germany. The Tsar and his family supported the United Kingdom because of their familial ties and political loyalties during and after World War I. However, Russian nationalists believed that Nazi Germany was correct in viewing the Soviet Union as the greatest threat to Europe and hoped that a successful Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union would result in the restoration of the Russian Empire.[15] The announcement of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland rapidly swung public and state opinion in favor of the United Kingdom. Four days after Germany and the Soviet Union annexed portions of Polish territory, Kerensky declared war on Nazi Germany on November 5th, 1939.[16]

World War II[]

Due to Romanova's relative isolation from the rest of Europe the country's initial contribution to the Allied war effort was small.[17] Romanovan ships patrolled near the coast of Nordmark to ensure that the country's statement of neutrality remained true. The Romanovan general staff also prepared plans to supplement the proposed intervention in the Winter War. Following Operation Weserübung and the German occupation of Denmark and Norway, Romanovan troops took part in Operation Procyon, the Allied occupation of Danish and Norwegian possessions in Greenland.[18] In addition, Romanovan navy ships and civilian transports were frequently attacked and torpedoed as part of the ongoing Battle of the Atlantic. Romanovan fighter squadrons also participated in the later Battle of Britain.

Cruisers Mk 5

Romanovan Covenanter tanks preparing to take part in Operation Sirius against Vichy Louisville, 1942.

Within Romanova there was considerable discontent associated with the war effort. While the majority supported the Allies, not everyone did so. Hidden communists and other leftists opposed the war until Operation Barbarossa while the far-right consistently lambasted Nicholas II, Kerensky and other current or former political and military leaders as cowards or fools that had lost Russia to communism.[19] On July 20, 1940, fascist demagogue Dormidontiy Tezryk launched a coup with the support of army general Lev Blotsky. With their base of support in Glusenberg (now Gagarin), Tezryk and Blotsky attempted to seize control of Pelevievo, withdraw from the war and declare neutrality or join the Axis. The coup failed because of a schism present between Tezryk and Rodzaevsky that weakened the fascist movement and the inability of Blotsky to sway the majority of the army to their side.[20] The short Romanovan Civil War that followed was over by September of the same year.

Following the Fall of France and the Second Armistice of Compiègne, Kerensky and his successor Yankel Vanakov viewed with skepticism the Vichy France regime and the local administration of neighboring Louisville. Relations remained neutral in light of the fact that the majority of the world recognized Vichy France as the legitimate French authority as opposed to the Free French. However, following the Tezryk Coup and the Syria–Lebanon Campaign, the Romanovan general staff became fearful that Louisville would be a conduit for further Axis influence and possible invasion of Greenland.[21] As such, in early 1942 Romanovan forces invaded Louisville alongside British, Free French and Free Norwegian forces as part of Operation Sirius. The majority of Louisville was occupied by the end of 1942, with a few holdouts and the capital Cartier falling by February, 1943. Louisville was turned over to a Free French administration shortly after.

Romanovan Mortar

A Romanovan mortar crew in action on the Western Front in Europe, 1944.

For the rest of the war, Romanovan forces were concerned with maintaining the stability and peace in Greenland and the Arctic while supporting Allied efforts elsewhere. Romanovan winter troops and naval ships supplemented American forces during the Aleutian Islands Campaign. Following Operation Zitronella by the German Kriegsmarine, the Romanovan Navy recaptured Svalbard by early October. After Operation Overlord two divisions and a tank battalion were sent under the command of Alexander Rodzyanko to support the Allied drive on Berlin.[22] The Romanovans were present at the Liberation of Paris, the Battle of the Bulge, and the invasion of Germany. Prior to the dropping of the atomic bombs, Romanovan ships and troops were preparing to invade parts of northern Japan as part of Operation Downfall.[23]

During the war's aftermath, the Soviet Union blocked any representatives of Romanova from attending the various conferences and festivities, forcing Romanova to rely on the United Kingdom to represent its interests.[24]

Cold War[]

After Nicholas II died of natural causes in 1946, Tsarevich Alexi II was crowned the new Tsar of Romanova. A year later, he declared his support for the United States and its ideals of freedom, openness and capitalism. He was one of the signatories of the North Atlantic Treaty, and Romanova was one of the founding nations of NATO. Romanova and its people were frequently described as the "good Russians" by various Western press organizations and governments, including those of John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. Romanova was inducted into the United Nations during the Soviet Union's boycott of the organization in 1950.

President Ronald Reagan walking and talking with Republican Senator Paula Hawkins of Florida

U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Romanovan Prime Minister Olga Novets at the White House, 1981.

Militarily, Romanova supported American efforts to curtail the growth of communism elsewhere in the world, although it did not permit the United States or any other power to station nuclear weapons on Romanovan soil. Romanovan troops participated in the UN-sanctioned Korean intervention and Romanova supported, but did not get involved with, American activities in Vietnam. Romanovan Navy ships and submarines based out of Kolomeitsev kept watch on Soviet naval activities in the Arctic Ocean, and many minor incidents involving both navies' ships resulted in many tense times between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Fortunately none of these events resulted in an armed conflict, but the B-455 incident came awfully close.

Romanova was a frequent target for infiltration by Soviet intelligence agencies since independence and espionage increased during the Cold War. The CIA and Romanova's own Internal Line fought a pitched battle with the KGB over state secrets, operatives and defectors within Romanova for much of the Cold War. In the 1970s, Romanova also experienced a domestic threat from the Myasnikov Group, a communist terrorist cell similar to the Red Army Faction of West Germany or the Red Brigades of Italy, that was supported by the KGB and the Soviet Union.

Because of the Soviet Union's relative proximity to Romanova, and because both nations spoke the same language, it was a common destination of defectors trying to leave the Soviet bloc, along with New Dorset, at least until the Soviet Navy increased their patrols in the Arctic waters. Even then, multiple people still managed to slip through the tight net and provide valuable information to NATO and the West. Some famous defectors include Anton Lazarev, Georgiy Kozyrev, and Feofiliy Gludin. Romanova was one of the more common places for defectors from the Soviet Union to settle down following their processing by Western nations.

Recent times[]

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Romanova restarted their relations with the fledgling Russian Federation, as well as the newly independent states formed out of the USSR's collapse.[25] The re-establishment of relations between Russia and Romanova set off a burst of pride in their mutual culture. The return of Tsar Alexi II to St. Petersburg in 1993 caused crowds of people to fill the streets and shout "Боже, Царя храни!" or "God save the Tsar!" Numerous proposals were floated by the populations of both sides, such as the admission of Romanova into Russia or the Tsar returning to Russia as part of a personal union. Neither of these proposals gained much attention by either government.

Basescu putin

Prime Minister Kvetoslav Vasilyevykh (left) with Russian President Vladimir Putin (center), 2017.

Inspired by the idea of the British Commonwealth, the Imperial Commonwealth was established in 1996 by joint agreement between Romanova and Russia. Currently it consists of Romanova, Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. The Commonwealth has the Tsar as the head, like their British counter-part but countries can have their own head of state. Recently relations with Russia have chilled over the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and the following War in Donbass. In addition Romanova has signed trade agreements with the European Union and has played a major role in the development of the Union of Greenland. Following the September 11 attacks Romanova supported American efforts in Afghanistan and the 2011 military intervention in Libya.

Nikolai Kovnovsky became the first Communist president of Romanova, running under the banner of the Democratic Party of the Left of Romanova for 2002 to 2010. He was followed by Andrey Vaiushenko, who was the front runner of the National Socialist Romanovan Workers' Party (which is not affiliated in any way to the now infamous NSDAP). A scandal broke out when Ruslan Vaiushenko, a great-uncle of President Vaiushenko, was revealed to be one of the group of communists that tried to assassinate the royal family during their boat ride to Romanova in a tell-all book by co-conspirator Fyodor Danilov. Leftist parties subsequently lost heavily in the 2013 general elections, followed by the formation of the Constitutional Democratic-led government of Kvetoslav Vasilyevykh. Kvetoslav was re-elected as prime minister, albeit in a coalition government between the Constitutional Democrats and the Long Live Romanova Party, in 2017. 

Government[]

Romanova's government is modeled on the government of the Russian Empire with a few changes. Principally, the Tsar is primarily a ceremonial figurehead and the symbol of the unity, people and eternal struggle of the state under a form of a constitutional monarchy. In addition, the Tsar is the head of state, head of the Romanovan Imperial Family, and formally inaugurates the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is the head of government and carries out most of the executive duties of the state.

Executive[]

The Romanovan Council of Ministers is the main executive body of Romanova. It is currently made up of the Prime Minister, five deputy prime ministers and twenty ministers of their respective ministries. Ministers are appointed by the Prime Minister and formally confirmed by the Tsar.

Legislative[]

The State Council of Romanova acts as the upper house of Parliament. Half of its members are chosen by the Tsar and/or President, and the other half elected by the people. The lower half of Parliament is called the State Duma of Romanova, with all members elected by the people. The current Duma is composed of exactly 200 seats, with the ruling coalition of the Constitutional Democratic Party and the Long Live Romanova Party holding 91 and 31 seats respectively for a total of 122. The Democratic Party of the Left of Romanova is the next biggest party with 40 seats, the National Socialist Romanovan Workers' Party holds 20, and the People's Party of Romanova has 18.

Judicial[]

The Romanovan Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in the country. Composed of twenty judges (one for each judicial subject), the chief justice is sometimes appointed by the Tsar or the president; at other times, he or she is elected by his/her fellow judges. Each judicial subject is subdivided into judicial oblasts, further subdivided into districts.

Flag[]

The flag of Romanova is a navy blue field with two polar bears back to back with each other, a reference to the double-headed eagle that is the main component of the country's coat of arms, and a single seven-pointed star on the canton. Before their declaration of independence, the Russian-Greenland Company officials declared a contest to choose the country's new flag. One of the other chosen proposals was the current Romanovan flag with just a single bear.

Territories[]

Map of Romanova Subjects

Subjects of Romanova. Name of the subject corresponds to the number on the list.

Romanova is divided into thirteen subjects:

  1. Kolomeitsev Subject
  2. Lvovsky Subject
  3. Nukavalov Subject
  4. Arafimov Subject
  5. Wrangel Subject
  6. Belyy Subject
  7. Severnyy Subject
  8. Peleviev Subject
  9. Ludvigsgrad Subject
  10. Pepelyayev Subject
  11. Gagarin Subject
  12. Anjou Subject
  13. Kolchak Subject

The Peter City Capital Subject, although named as such, is not considered as a subject of Romanova. In government records, it is classified as an autonomous governmental entity.

Foreign relations[]

Romanova has mainly good relations with the rest of the world, although its relations with neighboring Donskoya had been cold if not downright frigid until very recently.

Even though Louisville had to cede the territory that is now Ludvigsgrad Subject to Romanova, the two countries have excellent relations with each other.

Romanova is a vocal supporter of the United States during the Cold War, sometimes attributed to the White Russians' defeat in the Russian Civil War to the Communists, and the attempted assassination on the royal family in Yekaterinburg. But in a surprise twist of fate, Romanova became one of the biggest assistants of the fledgling Russian Federation and the other former states of the Soviet Union when it broke apart.

Military[]

The Armed Forces of the United Subjects of Romanova is divided into three components: the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. Both the Army and Navy retain the structure of the Imperial Russian Army and Imperial Russian Navy, but surprisingly (or unsurprisingly to some analysts) Romanova's air force copied the structure of its hated rival, the Soviet Air Forces.[26]

All citizens of Romanova are obligated to serve four years in any armed forces branch of their choosing. Before, only men could join front line combat units, and women were commonly assigned to auxiliary forces like ambulance corps, but this changed in the early 1980s, when the Romanovan Armed Forces began accepting female recruits. After an initial tour of duty, citizens will become part of the reserve until they are 45-50 years old (reports vary), unless they voluntarily reenlist, in which they are considered career soldiers. The total peacetime strength of the entire armed forces is estimated at 23,000 fully combat-trained troops. An estimated 20,000 more are in the reserves.[27]

Economy[]

In the early days of Romanova, its economy depended on fishing and the trade of seal and whale blubber, but as the world's technology began to advance, Romanova found its blubber exports beginning to wane. The government ordered the Ministry of Natural Resources to search for exploitable resources, and it later discovered that there were lots of precious stones and metals underneath Romanovan soil. Romanova's economy is now based on the export of these stones and metals, and ecotourism is also netting large gains for the country since its introduction following the initialization of controlled fishing.

Footnotes[]

  1. Ulyanov, Ferdinand, The History of Romanova (Peter City: United Romanov Publishers, 10 March, 1991), p. 74.
  2. Ipatiev, Nikolai, Romanova: The History of the Newborn Country (Peter City: Romanov Publishers Associated, 10 March, 1989), p. 12-14.
  3. Ipatiev, p. 15
  4. Ipatiev, p. 2
  5. de Lourry, Jean-Anton Michel, The Russian Greenland-Louisvillian War (Cartier: Bonaparte Publishing Houses Associated, 7 May, 2008)
  6. Durwess, Stanley, The Story of the Greenlandic Legion (London: Penguin Books, 27 September, 2003), p. 203.
  7. Ipatiev, p. 50
  8. Gavrilov, Anton, History of Mistrust: An In-Depth Analysis of the Strained Relations Between the United Subjects of Romanova and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Wrangel: Bulganin Books, 23 October, 1992), p. 23
  9. Ipatiev, p. 78
  10. Ipatiev, p. 84
  11. Ipatiev, p. 147
  12. Ulyanov, p. 145
  13. Ulyanov, p. 160
  14. Ulyanov, p. 171
  15. Gavrilov, p. 47
  16. Fedorenko, Ruslan, Romanova and the Second World War (Peter City: United Romanov Publishers, 16 May, 2006), p. 8
  17. Fedorenko, p. 30
  18. Fedorenko, pp. 45-48
  19. Fedorenko, p. 91
  20. Fedorenko, p. 94-96
  21. Fedorenko, p. 155
  22. Fedorenko, p. 185
  23. Fedorenko, p. 249
  24. Gavrilov, p. 67
  25. Olluvanov, Pavel, Romanova and Russia: A New Beginning (Gagarin: Tsar Nikolai II Publishing House, 15 January, 1993), p. 1
  26. Ganachev, Vasily, The Romanovan Air Force (Wrangel: Bulganin Books, 15 July, 1999)
  27. Yeguntsev, Anatoly, Analysis of the Romanovan Armed Forces, (Peter City: United Romanov Publishers, 8 August 2006)
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