IC Thread: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=519086
~ The Rhevilian Civil War ~
Background:
The Rhevilian Civil War also called the Socialist Rebellion, or the Rhevilian Revolution is an ongoing conflict between the Kingdom of Rhevilia and the Republic of Rhevilia that began on October 12, 2021. In the past few years, there had been a rising political party known as the People’s Party that had gained significant ground in the National Assembly, the parliament of the nation. The People’s Party advocated for massive social change within the country including the eradication of the capitalist system which they believe to be inherently “authoritarian” and “oppressive”, also they advocated for the abolishment of the monarchy that holds absolute authority over the nation which they also describe as authoritarian and oppressive.
Along with that, there had been rising discussions of the possibility of a “revolution” of some kind, as the People’s Party got closer and closer to obtaining a majority in the National Assembly. The counter to the People’s Party is the Royalist Party, colloquially known as the Monarchists. The Monarchists advocated for the continued support of the King and his royal family, who have led the country for generations. The tensions between these two movements came to a head when on October 11, 2021, the King, at the advice of his Ministers, declared a formal ban on political parties, institutions, and expressions, that endanger the authority of the government i.e. the Monarchy.
Almost immediately, there was a widespread backlash as many people went to arms. The People’s Party met in the National Assembly while it was adjourned and unanimously declared the actions of the King to be tyrannical, immoral, and illegal, and the group formally went into open rebellion against the government. On October 12, 2021, the first few letters came from the Governors of the majority People’s Party regions, that officially declared independence from the Kingdom of Rhevilia.
Overview:
The Kingdom of Rhevilia
The Kingdom of Rhevilia, founded in 1805, is an island nation led by King Andris Balodis I. The nation was founded by Latvian explorers who exerted control of the native populations. Despite initial rebellion against the newly founded Monarchy, the native population and new European explorers were able to find ways to coexist peacefully with one another making the nation one of the few monarchies with a very diverse population to date, though the crown has always been held by people of European descent. Its largest economic sector is tourism, with agriculture, and fishing coming in second and third respectively. The nation has been slowly transitioning its economy toward industries and a more developed economy.
Rhevilia has been, for years ruled by its Monarch, but there recently has been a push for socialism by a solid portion of the population. That clash between socialism and monarchism has led to war, the King has been repeatedly open to bringing the war back to the discussion table as he believes the continued death of their fellow former citizens is “painful” and “saddening” but he has firmly reiterated “there shall be no surrender of any of the Kingdom’s territory”. The Kingdom has refused to acknowledge the Civil War as a war and instead calls it the Socialist Rebellion, and they do not recognize the existence of the Republic of Rhevilia.
The Kingdom of Rhevilia is a nuclear-armed state, and the King has stated that any interference in the rebellion against the government can be treated as a hostile action against the government.
The Republic of Rhevilia
The Republic of Rhevilia, founded in 2021, is a number of territories in open rebellion against the Kingdom of Rhevilia, led by their elected Prime Minister Vanda Ozoliņš. The nation firmly believes in its cause and is willing to drag on the war for as long as possible if it means gaining its independence from the Kingdom. They have expressed their willingness to return to the discussion table but only if independence is “guaranteed” they no longer trust the King or his Monarchist.
Their economy, at the moment, is fully geared toward the war and because of this they are struggling to provide safe food and drinking water to noncombatants and civilians, they have been repeatedly asking for international assistance for their cause in the form of military aid and humanitarian aid to no avail due to the blockade they are under by the Kingdom.
The Republic of Rhevilia is also a nuclear-armed state having obtained access to nuclear weapon systems and silos from generals who joined the rebellion. The Republic has not ruled out the use of nuclear weapons to somehow win the war.
FTP (For The People)
The For the People movement is a rising terrorist group advocating for the complete destruction of the monarchy and the socialist groups “harming” the country. This group was founded after the beginning of the Civil War and has quickly grown despite them being responsible for various terrorist attacks against both civilian and military targets on both sides of the war. Their leader Peter Liepins, is an immigrant from the United States, who obtained citizenship in the country in 2017. The group sees all forms of the current governments as symbols of oppression.
There have been repeated attempts by this group to get access to nuclear weapons possessed by both sides, they have been repeatedly rebuffed so far.
Military Metrics and the War
The Kingdom of Rhevilia
Population: 34 million
Military:
- Army - 275,000 active in combat, 100,000 reserved
- AirForce - 250 soviet-era combat aircraft, 120 helicopters, 10 transport aircraft
- Navy - 7 attack submarines, 4 frigates, 3 corvettes, 13 multipurpose patrol ships, 5 minesweeper ships, 3 landing platform docks, 4 missile boats
The Republic of Rhevilia
Population: 26 million
Military
- Army - 300,000 in combat, 25,000 reserved
- AirForce - 192 soviet-era combat aircraft, 50 helicopters, 6 transport aircraft
- Navy - 4 attack submarines, 2 frigates, 4 corvettes, 7 multipurpose patrol ships, 3 minesweeper ships, 5 landing platform docks, 1 missile boat
The War
7 months of War
- KR casualties - 23,000 killed, 70,000 wounded
- RR casualties - 20,000 killed, 67,000 wounded
- Civilian Casualties -15,000 killed, 48,000 wounded
- Total Casualties - 58,000 killed, 185,000 wounded
All you need to know about Rhevilia
CLIMATE
Rhevilia is a medium-small island somewhat southern to the Labrador Sea, in the Atlantic Ocean, colonized by European explorers from the Latvian region. The best word to describe Rhevilia is cold, very cold. While it is basically Winter year-round, during Winter it is very common for it to dip and remain in the negatives at around -15°C, during the Summer it stays at an average of 8°C. Because of that, precipitation is fairly uncommon with the most you’ll be getting is snow and maybe some rain on the warmest of days.
GEOGRAPHY
Rhevilia is home to various geographical regions. The east coast is the most mountainous region of the island and the coldest region of the island. Because of this, it is home to three of the nation's smallest major cities, New Talava, Šaná, and Vēra. As you head west toward the center of the island, it flattens into the majority of the island’s vegetation and forest, this also happens to be the location of the island’s most densely populated centers being, Rhevilia City, Groshikha, Aļģis, and Ododiru, and other major towns in the location. As you head northwest you’ll run into the only glaciers on the island, of which there are two named, Suftsall and Ridgemar. While both glaciers are near the northern tip of the island, the closest major city to a glacier which would be Ridgemar is Talava. As you head south you’ll run into the warmest portion of the island, this area doesn’t have much vegetation but it does have warm hot springs provided by the geothermal activity happening under the island. There are also natural harbors that exist that provide good fishing grounds. The two major cities of this area is Rîșri and Valdis.
WATERWAYS
The island of Rhevilia has three major rivers, the Lauga, Gauja, and Dubna rivers. The Lauga River is the largest river on the island and it flows southward from a small lake near a town near New Talava, all the way past Valdis to the Atlantic Ocean. The Gauja River starts from Talava and meets up with the Lauga river at Rhevilia City. The Dubna River starts near New Talava before meeting up with the Lauga River at, you guessed it, Rhevilia City. The city was intentionally built on the meeting point of the three rivers making it the most important point on the island. There are various other small waterways and lakes on the island, though none are as important as the three main rivers.
MAP Notes:
The light blue represents the Republic of Rhevilia
The green represents the Kingdom fo Rhevilia
The stars represent the capital cities
The circles represent major cities
The squares represent major towns
The white lines represent major roads
The dark red lines represent minor roads
The thin ocean lines represent the blockade by the Kingdom
IMPORTANT
The Basics
The process for the RP will flow like this. The official passage of time occurs every two months from me, via an official update on the state of Rhevilia. Usually, this will include the sentiments of each nation, casualty count, map update, etc. I will make it very clear that this is an update, not an RP post so look out for it, it's important everyone stays in relatively the same time period.
As the creator of Rhevilia, I will roleplay the two nations and also roleplay the interaction between other nations. I will always post the flag of whatever nation to indicate which nation you’re roleplay with. Also, you absolutely can request more information on a subject matter of Rhevilia that can help determine your actions, on that note, information that you wouldn’t otherwise know, shall be hidden unless you go out of your way to obtain that information. Try to request such information, beforehand, via a telegram, so it doesn’t conflict with the roleplay.
Military
When it comes to military actions in this roleplay, as stated in the rules, it is forbidden for the first five months. However, you can send troops only for humanitarian purposes, such as providing aid and relief or rescuing people in combat zones, in that time period, they may not enter into combat unless in self-defense, when roleplaying this cannot be used as a justification to unnecessarily escalate the war. Here is are some example questions you should ask your self when sending troops: what is your justification for deploying troops, how does your nation slowly buildup troops, is it under the order of a president, does the legislature have to approve first, what kind of troops are you deploying, how are you going to transport troops to an Atlantic ocean island nation, how many troops are you planning on deploying, etc. You don’t have to answer every question but it’s important that you follow a process and showcase and roleplay that process when building up and deploying troops. Cause and effect people! This same process also should be used for humanitarian troops, though much more reduced.
Also, you cannot send troops without opening up diplomatic relations with whatever side you’re supporting and receiving their permission. Well I mean you can but they would definitely be considered enemies of both states, and would unnecessarily escalate the war.
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is absolutely the first thing you should be doing when roleplaying, both internal and external diplomacy. Diplomacy is the most important process of this roleplay and should be slow and steady. I would like to update you on the formal foreign policy of Rhevilia based on an important question asked:
PLEASE READ: “Rhevilia, diplomatically speaking, is an isolated nation, as in they prefer to keep to themselves when it comes to the international stage. They’re not even members of the United Nations or other international organizations and they open up diplomatic channels to very few nations. They still allow tourists to come and go for the sake of their economy but really it’s only recently that they’ve opened up their diplomatic channels to other nations due to the war, but both sides are mostly focused on receiving international assistance in the form of humanitarian aid at the moment. So when it comes to the roleplay, that basically means you have to formally open up diplomatic channels since they’ve never opened up to you before.”
The formal opening up of diplomatic relations is an important part of the roleplay and its why this is in the rules for now.
------
ECONOMY
The island of Rhevilia, economically speaking, has a GDP of $803 billion and a GDP per capita of $13,383, which is fueled by its main exports of raw aluminum products, fisheries, and agriculture, but usually, agriculture is used to sustain the nation. Its main service export and largest economic sector is Tourism and despite its diplomatic isolation, only tourists from the select few nations that it has opened up its diplomatic channels, make the time and the effort to visit the nation which is quite beautiful despite being very cold. Despite tourism being the main economic powerhouse, the nation has been slowly transitioning its economy to focus more on industry to hopefully develop the main things that it imports which include, machinery and equipment, petroleum products, and textiles. The island before the war, maintained a free market economy, with very little interference by the Monarchy or the National Assembly, it is believed that this unregulated market led to the rise of socialism within the nation and perhaps led to the Civil War.
Other information can be found here: https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1705832
