Historio - History
Ancient HistoryThe first mention of "The Rock" was in 1582, when Paravas and Gierza took a significiant part of what is now the Principality of Montogranda and the Zaran territory of Zaras. During that time, the locals settled this barren land. Many species that were unique went extinct rather quickly by 1605. However, due to fighting to conquer each other, by 1683, it fell to Serinar. During the 17th and 18th century, it exploited all the resources known at the time. By 1807, it was conquered by Dainarén, but because the peninsula was so worthless, since all the resources were virtually gone, it practically played hot potato with Keuwala and Serinar regarding ownership of the peninsula. Colonists came, left, and so on and so forth. With fishing and agriculture the only profitable activity, and even then, it did not earn very much. Only by the 20th century will there be a permanent population that would settle it. Just as many hoped it wouldn't be those "damned Europeans," they were. Even worse, they spoke Esperanto...
Esperanto SettlementIn 1915, 4,000 Esperanto-speaking people departed from the battlefield in Europe. By that point, they settled firmly on the La Roko, still in the "hot potato" phase. More and more Esperanto-speakers flooded the area, and would start farming. However, in 1918, Serinar had control and was about to give it to Keuwala when an Esperanto-speaking man, aged 28, Franz Jozef discovered something that would boost the economy.
Gold on the Kuneta River.
As a result, Serinar quickly sent troops, and gold began to be harvested. Many immigrants went to La Roko, hoping to get rich quick. However, in 1923, gold was exhausted, and the population of 130,000 people rapidly plummeted, to 13,820 people, many of which spoke Esperanto. The wealth, however lasted, and more sources of gold were discovered, but not with the same intensity as the Gold Rush from 1918-1923 on La Roko. However, in 1947, it was annexed by Dainarén from Serinar.
Dainarén AdministrationBy that point, colonists from Dainarén, well, some would go through La Roko. All in all, around 4,500 colonists would settle there. Bronze, silver and tin were discovered and helped boost the local economy. Corruption however resulted in Montogranda remaining poor. When the Civil War started, the Esperantists began fighting to take control of what they considered to be "La Roko," and indeed, by 1967, they took the area. Finally, they voted for a constitutional monarchy led by a Prince, and elected the first Prince, which from that point on, the oldest son would take the throne. Franz Jozef promptly accepted and became the first Prince, "Princo Jozef I", reigning until his death in 1992.
Prince Jozef I EraOn the 8th of March, 1968, Prince Jozef I declared unilateral independence from Dainarén, citing the civil war and fears that a new regime that arrives in Dainarén would erase the culture of what the Esperanto-speaking nations took decades to create. Thus, the Governor's Mansion (Esperanto: Reganto Palaco) became the Royal Palace (Esperanto: Reĝa Palaco), that was used from 1968 to 1987 (AMP 81 to AMP 100). He instituted the paco as the currency, with 1 paco equal to 5 lira, and divided into 100 esperi.
For the first 4 years, Montogranda was peaceful, and indeed had a Prime Minister and a 30 seat Parliament in the capital, Kunet. In 1972, the dictator of Dainarén, Kenen Erán ordered to invade the Most Serene Principality. Despite the fact that it ended in 1980, it only succeeded in driving them out from the northeastern region of Montogranda, and still controls the area today. Only 9 people chose to remain when they took over the Province, many heading to Kunet. Even nowadays, it still claims the area. Erán made a strategic mistake by ordering a blitzkrieg towards the south of Montogranda to take the capital and largest cities quickly, and this allowed the Montograndan defense force to quickly withdraw and set up fortifications along the mountains, and this degraded into a standstill. Zaras helped by sending its air force to bomb Dainaréni forces and managed to score a naval victory in 1973 that gave it supremacy over the sea. Erán had no sense of reality so he decided to focus on crushing Montogranda first and then make an example of Zaras despite the latter's vulnerability. The Montograndan army managed to win battles against Dainarénis because it knew how to wage mountain warfare, and the population also resisted by taking advantage of urban warfare, so a lot of Dainaréni forces were tied down to trying to stamp out insurrections in the cities.
All this time, Zaras prepared its own operations, but endured agonising debates over how much to send and how much to hold back in case Erán tried to invade the city itself. finally in 1974 Zaras shipped its military forces and the city and principality cooperated in the shockingly successful Operation Daybreak: Zaran troops landed at the south of the peninsula and managed to make short work of the Dainaréni forces, advancing north. The Montograndan armies in the mountains started their own offensive and linked up with the Zarans, isolating Dainaréni forces in the Espero Valley (Esperanto: Espero Valo) and wiping them out easily. A rebellion started to the north of Montogranda that distracted Dainarén, threatened its supply/communication lines and required them to send more troops there instead. The allies split to cover the principality easier, with Zaras attacking mostly in the east and Montograndans in the west. However, the Dainarénis managed to stop the front at Antauen, probably in early 1976, where they had fortifications. Erán managed to wipe out one group of rebels later in 1976 and send that army to Antauen to reinforce the front, keeping the stalemate. Zaras and Montogranda focus all of their efforts on breaking that line, but refuse to attack unless attacked. Two years would pass with no success, Erán still focusing on crushing the rebels and insurgencies in the other parts of Dainarén. But in autumn 1978 the Dainarénis manage to defeat the northern rebels, which of course panics Zaras and Montogranda, who hurriedly re-deploy some forces to prevent that.
Dainarén attacks from the north as expected, and gets stopped at the mountains, but in western Altiplano they manage to break through and force the Zaran-Montograndan defenders to retreat. This spooks Zaras and Montogranda even more but the Dainaréni offensive runs out of steam at the better-fortified position in the south. On paper it looks like Dainarén might turn the tide. In reality, they've overextended their forces to the south and they still have to guard west since the mountains are held by the Montograndans. A coordinated attack stretching over the winter into 1979 pushes the Dainarénis back past the border, but now Zaras and Montogranda have to requisition some forces to man that area since it's not the best defensive position, leaving the Antauen front somewhat undermanned. By this point Montogranda is severely exhausted from the war, and Zaras is also starting to crack a bit under pressure. Erán is having some success defeating the rebels in the other parts of Dainarén, so he might be able to bring all of his forces down onto Montogranda and Zaras soon.
However, seven years of failing to conquer a Malta-sized municipality has actually gotten him to maybe realise that he might be throwing effort into a black hole. Montogranda starts to make the first diplomatic contacts to ask for an armistice around this time, and wouldn't you know it, Dainarén's head of foreign policy hated Erán's military adventures and loves the idea. He doesn't bring it up to Erán directly but the chief commander of military forces, who also wants one less headache to deal with. Armistice negotiations drag on and off throughout 1979 at several clandestine locations. Finally, the armistice is signed in December 1979, with Dainaréni forces still occupying Antauen, and a ceasefire comes into effect. Erán is furious at the two getting an armistice behind his back, but he takes it as a fait accompli and decides to give up on retaking Montogranda, trying to save face by reasoning something along the lines of "it's barely the size of a cow turd anyway." Negotiations for an official peace collapse over Dainarén's unwillingness to withdraw from Antauen.
However, in 1980, the war ended, the economy recovered. Until 1974, it had its own paco coins, but due to hyperinflation, it had to use Zara lira notes, and still uses them to this day, but since 1980, minted its own coins. During the 1980s, tourism was booming, encouraging rebuilding. Another industry that flourished was the banking industry. However, on September 26th, 1992, Prince Jozef I died at the age of 102, and was given a Royal Funeral at the Palace. A 7 day state of mourning was held, many people mourning the death of a leader that seemed to have united the country.
The question now, was what would his son, Prince Jozef II do to preserve the Principality as it marches forth into the 21st Century?
Prince Jozef II EraOn January 1, 1993, Prince Jozef II was coronated at the Royal Palace in Kunet and assumed the throne as "His Most Serene Prince, Jozef II of Montogranda." Once he assumed the throne, he promptly realized that 52% of the populace spoke English, as their first language, whilst 45% spoke Esperanto as their first language, and the rest chose other tongues. For 9 years, he desperately tried to convince Parliament to make English an official language alongside Esperanto. Only in 2002 would it pass, at a very slim majority, with 50.5% approving and 49.5% disapproving. In 1998, the dialing code was changed, being passed with a 67% majority, from +89 to +91, the same as Zaras. In 2001, he abolished counties. Finally, in 2005, after a referendum, his powers were significantly reduced. He still could veto bills, and represent the State, but Parliament now has most of the power, but the monarchy keeps Parliament in check and vice-versa. Today, the nation still has a threat to the north, and in fact has a Zaran military base just 3 km south of the border of the Occupied Territories of Montogranda.