Full Nation Name : The United Republics of Ruthenia
Majority/Official Culture : Russian is the majority. However, Russian culture is in and of itself a Frankenstein's Monster. There are Latinized High Ruthenian cultural centers such as Novgorod proper and Odessa, deeply Slavic/Eurasian regions like Muscow, and more Nordicized Ingria and Pskov. Perm and Ekaterinburg are notable for its high volume of German settlers, and places like Krasnodar have a Caucasian twang. Now, on the whole, the Ruthenian Republics devoutly follow the Church of Constantinople, and there are Latin overtones in every facet of life, from the use of Latin characters rather than Cyrillic, to the customs of the urban elite. This is what binds the patchwork together, and this is what creates an umbrella of Russian/Ruthenian culture under which every subculture falls. That said, there are also pockets of Turkic, Ugric, and other peoples. There are also substantial pockets of German settlers, especially in the East.
Territorial Core : Territorial Claim : Turkestan, Xinjiang, perhaps Tyre, more lucrative Siberian lands, etc.
Capital City : Novgorod/Great Novgorod/Veliky Novgorod
Population : About 62 million
Government Type : Federalized Republic
Government Ideology/Policies : Varies by composite Republic, but liberal-conservatism, cultural traditionalism, and republicanism reign supreme. Agrarianism, populism, and monarchism are all found intermittently within the United Republics of Ruthenia.
Government Focus : As of right now, the federal government is mostly focused on reforming the state to have a centralized military, educational system, set of common laws, and a strict inter-state commercial codes. Also, the government still has railroad fever.
Head of State : Knyaz (Grand Prince) Alexander II of Muscovy
Head of Government : Posadnik (Loosely "Grand Mayor") Ivar Antoniev
Government Description : Oh boy. So, the United Republics of Ruthenia is divided into many composite republics, each based typically around a city(Pskov, Novgorod, Muscovy, Ryazan, Vladimir, etc) with varying forms of governance. Most composite republics are just that, republics, but others are knyazdoms or some other form of petty monarchy, or some combination of the two. Each republic has quite a bit of autonomy, especially with social matters. However, there is an over-arching federal government that supersedes all. It is made up of a unicameral legislature, executive branch, and judiciary. To break it down by branch, the legislature is the Veche, which is made up one elected or appointed representative from each metropolitan area in the nation. The executive branch is very powerful, and is lead by the Posadnik who is elected popularly for a 5 year term, ruling both the city-republic of Novgorod and the entire federal government. Also in the executive branch is the Grand Prince of Muscovy, who serves as a figurehead for the nation, and also rules the city-republic of Muscovy, a leftover of the Novgorodian practice of borrowing princes for ceremonial purposes. The judiciary is entirely run by legislature-appointed Tysyatskys and the Church. It's complicated and messy, but the government as it is was created in 1472 after the Battle of Shelon and subsequent unification of Novgorod and Muscovy, outlined in the Ulozhenie.
Majority/State Religion : Roman Orthodoxy
Religious Description : Basically, everyone is a super devout Christian, practicing the liturgy in Latin and all that. The Metropolitan of Ruthenia falls below Constantinople, giving the Romans a lot of sway over the nation, especially the military and judiciary.
Economic Ideologies : Mostly free market capitalism, with some populist agrarianism and mixed market found in some republics.
Major Production : Cereal grains are produced in vast amounts, but the industrial centers produce large amounts of steel, linens, ship and locomotive parts, furniture, guns, and other manufactured goods. Whaling is on the decline, though it still occurs rather frequently out of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk.
Economic Description: On account of the decentralized state of the nation, the economy is very diversified and inter-reliant. Novgorod, the founding republic of this state has always been based around trade, especially trade with the Hanseatic League. This lead to increased contact with the West(Germany, Burgundy, Scandinavia, Britain), which helped to modernize the nation. With the expansion of Novgorod came the expansion of modern thought, which lead to the early abolition of serfdom and introduction of Novgorod's vibrant republican system. This all cottage industry to take off quite rapidly at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, as large food production, transportation networks(rivers and canal systems), a free people, and vast resources were already in existence. And slowly but surely, the cottage industries evolved into mills, then factories, found mostly in cities near resources or transportation routes. By 1870, Pskov, Novgorod, the Volga Watershed, Rostov, Perm, and Odessa have become the industrial heartland of the nation, with growing industry in Kazan, Krasnodar, and more. It is, however, important to note that industrialization has not hit the nation evenly, with White Ruthenia/Minsk, Kiev, Muscovy, and almost all the rest of the republics entirely dependent upon agriculture and mineral extraction. This has lead to the start of a mass migration to the cities, as well as agrarian populist movements. While serfdom is not banned, it seems as though the peasantry is trapped, while urban Ruthenia advances to become a major industrial center for Europe. Railroad projects are underway between all major cities, with the most important lines already complete. Oh, and there is fishing/whaling/shipbuilding and crap located out of Arkhangelsk, Murmansk, and Dnepropetrovsk.
Army Strength : The Army is made up of roughly 1% of the population, which is approximately 620,000. Of this, about 120,000 are Cossack and Turk irregulars, 200,000 are in the Federal Army, and the rest are conscripted peasants in local militias tied to the governments of composite republics, for the express purpose of defending those republics and their frontiers. During wartime, they may be placed under the command of the Federal Army. The Federal Army has decent training, high mobility, good armaments, and the local militias tend to be better at asymmetrical warfare and attrition, rather than offensive operations.
Army Weakness : The Army is full of weaknesses. The best fighting forces are irregulars, and the brunt of the military are levied peasants who have loyalty to their local government. These troops also have jobs, varying degrees of training and preparation, and are overall slow and ineffective in conventional warfare. Moreover, many local militias operate using the vernacular Ruthenian, rather than Latin or German like other groups and the Federal Military. Militias have no standardization, and simply cannot be used for invasions/offensive warfare. The Federal Army and Cossacks can, though their numbers are small for such a large nation, which has the chance of spreading them too thin.
Naval Strength : The Federal Navy is made up of about 30,000 sailors serving out of Odessa in the Black Sea, 15,000 out of Astrakhan in the Caspian Sea, 5,000 in the Arctic Sea and a further 10,000 in the Mediterranean utilizing temporary ports mostly out of Rome. The Navy is actually a decent fighting force, that is entirely professional, and follows the maritime tradition started by Novgorod in the Middle Ages. It is charged with mostly defending the waterways and shipping routes of Ruthenian goods, but it also does some power projection, especially in the Baltic and Mediterranean.
Naval Weakness : The Navy is not large, and each portion functions as a separate entity due to geographical isolation. This limits mobility and strategic operation, especially in places like the Arctic Ocean and Baltic, where in large portions of the fleet must sail inland or into the Atlantic anyway. Aside from this, the navy is not nearly as large as those of competitors, and ports are very limited. There are also no naval reserve forces.
Further Military Description : The military utilizes conscription for the most part, with irregular forces being the most elite(trained using the Roman method) and professional.
National Goals : Secure a permanent port in the Mediterranean or Middle East for trading purposes. Expand Eastward, into Turkestan. Solve economic disparity. Unify the state under a stronger federal government. Increase ties with Rome. Become Stronker.
National Issues : Shitty military set up, rising income inequality creating political unrest, mass migration to urban areas, assimilation of German settlers, issues associated with industrialization and urbanization such as pollution and crappy working/living conditions.
National Figures of Interest : I'll keep thinking about this.
National Ambition/Aspirations : Expanding beyond the Urals and reaching Korea's empire. Becoming more culturally Roman.
History : (History is the same up until the 14th century, aside from Novgorod being Latinized rather than Hellenized)
1304: Mikhail of Tver and his governors perished in a highway robbery while travelling to strongarm Novgorod, leading to Tver falling into a succession crisis. Novgorod politically expanded to Tver in the same manner that they did to Pskov.
1304-1397: Novgorodian trade with the rest of the Rus, and with Western Europe, becoming the biggest flax and fur producer on the continent. This time also came with minor class warfare, German immigration, and Eastward expansion, as was found in most of the city's history.
1397: Having moved closer to Tver rather than to Muscovy at the dawn of the 13th century, Novgorod was able to prevent the Muscovite princes from launching incursions into their land and the Dvina, or from using political leverage as princes in the same manner as they did IRL.
1398-1460: Tensions mounted with Muscovy, as the burgeoning empire expanded towards the peaceful Republic. This lead Novgorod to go looking for help.
1461: Marfa Boretskaya secured military support from Tver, Vladimir, Ryazan, Astrakhan, and Pskov in the coming battle against Muscovy. Having secured its sovereignty and increased its sphere against Muscovy, Novgorod had the upper hand. The Poles had been notably left out of the alliance, which pleased the commoners very much.
1462-1472: With the Treaty of Yazhelbitsy having never been signed, Novgorod was able to make the first blow against their rival. Having secured food enough from their allies, Novgorod made swift work of Muscovy, utilizing their professional military force and German mercenaries. Marching over frozen marshes, Muscovy proper was sacked, though Spring came early that year, leaving the Novgorodian military force trapped South of the Shelon River. This lead to brutal attrition, with conflict raging for months, giving the Muscovites time to regain strength and leaving Novgorod vulnerable. This situation had the adverse affect of causing the war to continue for two more years, ending finally in 1464, at the final Battle of Shelon River. Thus a constitution was drafted for the unification of the states that had been involved in the conflict, with a Muscovite being accepted for the first time in a century as the Grand Prince of Novgorod as a peace offering. This was a success, but it would not be until 1472 that conflict in Muscovy would be quelled and unification would be complete.
1473-1600: Trading grew and expanded within the Rus, and Latinization of all composite Republics took off, especially as those nations under Novgorod liberalized. Latin Characters became commonplace with the introduction of book printing, and in 1600, serfdom was banned in its entirety.
1601-1614: A series of brutal civil wars rocked Ruthenia, as an aftershock of the abolition of serfdom.
1616-1700: Economic decline struck Novgorod as its furs and flax became unimportant. The government continued to encourage expansion, in an attempt to flood the market, but it only degraded the value of the cash crop.
1701-1750: With the nation in dire straits, a new hope arose with the agriculture revolution, and a major boom in the productivity of Ruthenian farms. From this came the birth of the industrial revolution in Ruthenia.
1751-1800: A series of wars of expansion were fought against Turkic tribes to the East, allowing for Ruthenia to reach the Urals. Also during this time, Odessa and Nevskygrad(Petrograd) were built as new port cities for increased trade. Along with the industrial revolution came an increase in canal and road building, vastly increasing the viability of Ruthenia on the international marketplace.
1801-1870: Various wars of expansion fought, with a few urban uprisings by the working poor. The most notable conflict was t he Dagestan War against Caucasian Muslims, which lasted almost 50 years. Railroad construction began, and the political system as it stands today took shape, with progressivism and populism on the rise, and demands for more political freedom being granted. Novgorod is set to continue on its path both internationally and internally, should the political system not implode.
Comparison Points – Political : 3
Comparison Points – Cultural/Religious : 2.5
Comparison Points – Economy : 3
Comparison Points – Military : 1.5
Total Comparison Points used (10 Points MAX) : 10/10