Aye sir o7
Originally, when we all moved to eternity and began creating the new world (believe it or not, that was almost three years ago). Blac and I talked about wanting to do another confederation, as we felt the AC in Oracia had been hamstrung by sloppy institution and, as Oracia was nixed, we missed the opportunity to really play with it in full. We decided, however, to not jump into it as fast as we did with Oracia, as we kind of wanted to dive into the fascist thing and see how that played out. We had talked about a confederation being the outcome of a potential war, but that never happened obviously.
So, we made the WBEA and opted to simply have that develop until our economies were suitably integrated. We had plenty of talks about it and figuring out which direction we wanted for the WBEA, which was officially formed in 1573, or at least I think it was because that was the year I made that news article about it being ratified in the floland legislature. The initial WBEA members were Florinthus, Oslanburg, and Galeae/Vienland. I say those last two together because Vienland was essentially a Galeaen puppet state.
Galeae and Vienland are already remarkably well-integrated. Galeae invaded Vienland and made a new government in the late 1560s, I believe... 1567? Regardless. Galeae and Vienland had essentially open borders, as a Galeaen or Vienlander passport allowed open travel between the two states. Economically speaking, trade was preferential between the two states as well, and business interests were united, almost unilaterally for Galeaen gain, though Vienland wasn't poor by any means, just smaller. Military-wise, Galeaen armed forces were in Vienland following the war to keep the peace, and over time they slowly moved out, but Galeae did maintain some bases in Vienland, nowadays, the militaries are in tight communication and work together in many aspects. Politically, Vienland was essentially on a Galeaen leash for the better part of a decade. Their elections were monitored and mostly controlled. The initial ambition of the Galeaen invasion was eventual integration in fact. There was a time, under Galeaen backed dictator Osvald Ljungstrand that Vienland was even more extreme fascist than Galeae. With the recent removal of the fascist National Union of Galeae and the reinstitution of a proper republic in Galeae, it is to be expected that Vienland will follow suit. Ljungstrand likely died in the 1570s, of old age, and his replacement was likely not as inspiring. Galeae will likely not be as controlling following the reforms, but the connections and integrations will likely remain. If the West Brigidnan Confederation did not happen (which would be sad
) then I would likely integrate Galeae and Vienland.
Now, the WBEA was controversial for a time. Why would Florinthus, a democratic republic, seek such close ties with three very not democratic neighbors, being Galeae, Oslanburg, and Vienland. The simple answer was to be safe. Florinthus is surrounded by these neighbors, and by promoting goodwill and cooperation, Florinthus could essentially make it more difficult to be at odds. It was a compromise on values, but one that likely kept Floland out of the flames. Much of Florinthian foreign policy was focused on this, especially when Alamannia was a thing. Florinthus tied its neighbors down with an economic agreement, and also sought allies abroad. Mordvania was the chief target, as was Nyland. I'm not sure anything happened with Nyland, but I do know Mordvania and Florinthus are rather close. The WBEA foursome was also indirectly tied militarily as well. Florinthus was tied to Oslanburg who was tied to Galeae who was tied to Vienland.
The WBEA was essentially a framework for economic integration. Rather than passing a huge integration bill, they simply established a council who would meet annually to decide which integrations would be instituted in two years time. They would discuss things like joint currency, open borders, joint external tariff policies, and join infrastructure upgrades. If I remember correctly, some of the primary decisions made were a new rail system joining the foursome, removal of tariffs, easing of travel restrictions (open borders was the controversial one elohel) and fixed currency transfer rates. There were likely more, but as we all know, there was a lull in RP activity that hit us as well, so there is a bit of a blank spot we can work with if we need more integration.
It's been over a decade since the WBEA was formed. With Galeae, Oslanburg, and (soon) Vienland to be coming out of their fascist "phase" Florinthus will be seeking to become even closer with its neighbors, to ensure there is stability in the west. Where we will likely go is still to be determined, to be honest.
OOC-wise, blac and I would like to do something along the lines of the AC again. It was super fun for us (sorry Lom) and we really enjoyed it, but didn't really get to play with it as much as we would've liked in the old country. We wanted to do it the right way this time though, and figured almost 40 years (we started talking about it way back when it started, like 1565ish and planned to be done in 1600s-ish time) would be enough time to warrant significant changes. If you remember, the AC formed pretty quick and we just said "yeah, before we started RPing our states got really close". While that was approved then, which is fine, I thought it would be kind of lazy to do here, plus, we had other plans in the short term (ah the fascist days).
The working name is West Brigidnan Confederation (or some permutation of that, idk). We wanted it to sort of be like the AC, with an elected legislature and an executive as well as a judiciary. We are changing things up though, from the AC. Our executive will be a council, apparently like the swiss confederation, and each member state will send an executive to the council. The council will act as head of state and government, but there will be an official council leader who will be rotated each year. The judiciary... idk we'll come up with something for that. Open to ideas. The legislature ~~ I'm kind of into a bicameral thing, with a proportional house and a static house. Idk, it's still very much up in the air at this point. We got some decades before it can be done. I believe I remember an IC year is like, 50 days... so realistically we're looking at this being finished for 2019 ish... right? (jesus thats a long time away... or is it o_o )
Icly, Florinthus is pleased that its neighbors have gotten out of their fascist phase and will be seeking to unite everyone for what it considers the important goals of stability and peace. This new state would be pretty hefty, and would be able to ensure west brigidna does not become a den of war and violence. Also, there are significant concerns about Lanlanian unrest right now (this will be resolved in time but just for now) and that vacuum is a serious issue for floland, who has seen Lanlania, despite the differences in government philosophy, as an agent ensuring the west does not dissolve into chaos. The Florinthian population is probably interested as well, and have been taking advantage of the easy travel and economic benefits for a while now. Surely oslanburgans, galeaens, and vienlanders are seen as brothers and sisters, if not simply friends.
I cannot fully speak for Oslanburg, but I do know they have had concerns with open borders. Oslans are a pretty proud peoples, so they won't bend over for floland. I would expect oslans to be interested because they would be a leading meber of this group. They're the largest and most significant member, indeed. I think, as long as Oslanburg was given its fair place, Oslanburgans would be okay with this. They've just gotten out of fascistland and florinthus, who never went that way, is looking to work with them, as well as the other just out of rough patch states galeae and vienland. Idk, maybe I'm just musing.
Galeae is currently breathing a sigh of relief, as is Vienland, after seeing the Lanlanians throw out that crazy guy who surely saw them on the menu. Galeae, despite its better plans and dreams, isn't nearly as big nor significant as it wishes it was. Joining this would be an opportunity for Galeae to be a part of something very significant. Vienland is in the same boat, though this would allow it to have more of its own destiny, rather than simply being a Galeaen lapdog.
Naturally, I'm not implying the four governments are going to sit down tomorrow and decide all this, it will be a process. I hope this has helped a bit lol. It kind of explains where we are at and some of the things blac and I want to do with this.
Naturally, this is just blac and I for now, but I think it would be interesting to have a process for other nations to join us, should they choose to. I haven't run that by blac yet though sooooo
Something I think should be known, however, is that this is not strictly a gameplay move. We're not trying to "win the game" if that makes sense. Seriously and honestly. We're not trying to make a giant dong that we can wave around at everyone and destroy them. We're just trying to do something we find interesting and fun. I thought we were past the "MUSTWINTHEGAME" mentality of that old place, but maybe not lol...
so I don't forget though, the name we're working with is West Brigidnan Confederation, the capital would be in Lienes-Aetinheim (the two biggest cities and honestly probably one of the larger metro areas in the world). The two cities would likely be integrated into a sort of capital district, something like that. I think both Lienes and Aetinheim are in the 3-5MM range for population... idk exactly. THE TWIN CITIES
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