Transylvania (1983: Doomsday)
From Alternative History
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| Capital: | Cluj-Napoca | ||||||
| Largest city: | Cluj-Napoca | ||||||
| Other cities: | Timişoara, Braşov | ||||||
| Language: official: | Romanian, Hungarian | ||||||
| Other languages: | Roma, German | ||||||
| Type of government: | Federal Republic, Capitalist | ||||||
| Area: | 100,000 km² | ||||||
| Population: | 6,200,000 inh. | ||||||
| Independence: | 26, Sept., 1983 (De Facto) 22, July, 1990 (De Jure) | ||||||
| Currency: | Transylvanian leu | ||||||
Transylvania is a federal republic located in the southern half of the Carpathian Mountains. Based mainly out of what was once northeastern Romania, it is considered the legitimate successor to the Romanian state. The country was formed after the 1983 Nuclear War had destroyed much of the rest of Romania, leaving the Raions in the historical Transylvanian region the only functioning areas in Romania. In the next few years Transylvania was able to survive the after effects from Nuclear War and return to a new democratic state.
Today Transylvania remains one of the largest countries left in central/eastern Europe. Transylvania continues to use the symbols of the old Principality of Transylvania and retains a vast amount of history and pride among its people. It remains fairly stable despite facing constant problems with refugees and conflict between the Hungarian minority and Romanian majority. Transylvania maintains a small army and is close in relations between both Yugoslavia to the West and the Confederation of Greece to the south.
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[edit] History
[edit] Effects of Doomsday
Although the communist government was quite unpopular among its people, Romania was still one of the largest of Warsaw pact nations and was aligned with the Soviet Union. This as well as its large military made it the target for two nuclear missiles. Both missiles were believed to be Medium-range ballistic missiles launched from Western Europe. The first of the targets was the capital of Bucharest with the second being the navel port of Constanţa on the Black Sea.
The blasts killed an estimated 3 million people instantly, with millions more from radioactive fallout afterwards. A large amount of radiation was flooded into the country from the near by nuclear explosions at the foreign cities of Sofia, Budapest, and Chişinău. To make maters worse the winds in Romania at the time were blowing east, contaminating areas previously unaffected. Thus the country witnessed a nearly total social/political collapse and even large cities had begun to depopulate.
[edit] Post Doomsday Survival
However there were three areas in particular that had managed to remain functioning. The northwestern regions of Transylvania, Oltenia, and Banat were largely intact. Here Yugoslavia to the west acted as a buffer zone free of fallout. The Carpathian Mountains also acted as an extra shield of protection, preventing radiation from being blown into the region. The Raions here controlled by the communist party were able to keep things under control, at least for the time being. The people here tried to reach out to other near by countries for help. However most of the states here were fairing little better and Yugoslavia to the east had shut down anything traveling to and from the country because of a massive influx of refugees. Yugoslavia even threatened military action against anyone caught trying to trespass their borders.
Using what little remained of the Romanian military, it was decided that the surviving people in the country would try and fortify themselves in the Southern Carpathians. This was partly because it was the least effected region in the country and also because it could provide a degree of natural defense against the outside world. The strategic location in the center of the country might have been a factor as well, although this is most likely a simple coincidence. Either way the region managed to remain stable and functional throughout the rest of the year.
As the region had an adequate agriculture industry it was able to feed its population. This was further helped because of the self sufficient lifestyles of the Transylvanian peoples; even before doomsday there were people who had lived the same was as 100 years ago. Although lacking in man power and equipment, the military was able to use the more than 100 castles and fortresses in Transylvania again in order to defend the territory in a strange twist of fate. Finally since most refugees fled to Yugoslavia or Austria, the region experienced only a few in the first few years of its existence.
More to come
[edit] See also
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