The Empire of the Gradonian Islands

[The Gradonian Islands]

The Imperial Federal Empire of the Gradonian Islands

Motto: Wir Sind das Walküre

National Anthem: Gradonia My Home
March of the Emperor: Imperial March
National March: Gradonia Forever Free

The Official Coat of Ams of The Gradonian Empire

National Information
Official Name:The Empire of the Gradonian Empire
Common Names: Gradonia, The Gradonian Islands, The Gradonian Empire
Demonym Gradonian

Capital City: Séséfön
Largest City: Déjan


Islands:
Gradonia-Capitol: Séséfön, Original Island, Formation of Empire April 3 1543
Dejan Island-Capitol: Déjan, Conquered May 4, 1634
Rag Island-Capitol: Klärnet, Conquered December 20, 1789
Solace Island-Capitol: Saßofen, Settled July 9, 1590
The Isle of Joplin-Capitol: New Nelly Gray City, Settled June 10, 1846
Hall Island-No Capitol, Jurisdiction Assumed by Dejan Island, Febuary 4, 1910
Olympia-No Capitol, Jurisdiction Assumed by Rag Island May 15, 1859
Shall Not Move Rock-No Capitol, Jurisdiction Assumed by Solace Island January 1, 1905
The Isle of Gershwin-No Capitol Jurisdiction Assumed by The Isle of Joplin November 21, 1652
Blue Island-No Capitol, Jurisdiction Assumed by Dejan Island October 9, 1593
Note that if there is no capitol the island is largely unsettled and falls under the jurisdiction of the nearest island,

Launguages
Offical:English, Gradonian, German
Unofficial:Spanish, Dutch, Hebrew, Russian

Government:
The Gradonian Empire is a representative democracy with an elected Emperor every six years, an Emperor may serve up to three terms. A Prime minister may be elected every four years however they may serve four terms.

Emperor: Alan Erik von Schnider IV

Prime Minister: Maximilian Kényüb

Chief Justice: Herbert Frelltrump

Minister of Foreign Affairs: Dr. Isaac Fraunnentropp
Embassy

Inception
Date of: April 3, 1543
Recognition: March 29, 1561
Constitution Ratified: April 30, 1543

Land Area: 35,024 Square Miles
Population: 200 Million
Currency: The Grad Exchange Rate on USD 1:1.275
Area Code:+1(942)

[The Gradonian Islands]

The Government of The Empire of the Gradonian Islands

Within the Gradonian Islands there exist a complex system of government. There are two different branches of the government, The Legislative and Emparatic.

The Gradonian Parliament

Below is our Parliament Building

Below is a Picture of Prime Minister Arkkhérzég Maximilian Kényüb (Conservative)

The Seal of the Prime Minister

The Parliament of Gradonia
The Legislative body (or Parliament) is largely responsible for making the laws, originally the legislative body had the right to interpret the laws however in 1921 when a large amount of corruption occurred because of this, the Emparatic branch interviened and created a branch of the legislation that acts as a judicial branch but officially it is still apart of the parliament.
The Gradonian Parliament effectively manages the countries affairs it takes care of most of the countries problems making the Prime Minister arguably one of the most powerful people in the country, apart from the Emperor

Department of Justice
The Department of Justice acts within the parliament to ensure that justice is upheld and that the laws of the parliament are followed correctly. It is responsible for making sure that things are run smoothly and the law is upheld.
They are responsible for punishing felons and keeping order, the police force is a branch of the Department of Justice

The Palace of Justice

Chief Justice Herbert Frelltrump (Liberal)

Seal of the Department of Justice

The Emperor of Gradonia
The Current Emperor is Alan Erik von Schnider IV, he is highly approved of and ha brought great social reforms to Gradonia after it previously faced the worst economic set back it had in 230 years. he is currently in his second year of his second term and plans on running again. Alan von Schnider belongs to the Gradonian Centrist Party.
In Gradonia there is an elected emperor that acts with the power of a king however there are certain limitations to the Emperor's power, for an emperor to do something they must receive a majority vote from a governing body known as the Emperor's Parliament, a group of 235 government officials and civilians alike that debate vote and discuss any sort of actions an emperor preforms. If they vote in favor of the emperors actions then it is immediately signed into affect. With the members of the Emperor's Parliament signing off on the new law or decree proclaiming that a fair and honest method was used to reach the final decision.
if however they ultimately vote against by a margin of 20 members or less the Emperor may override the overturn and sign the law into affect bypassing the parliament altogether.
The system of choosing the Emperor's Parliament is done by selection and voting
40 selected by the Emperor
30 Selected by the Parliament of Gradonia
30 Selected by the Department of Justice
the remaining 135 are voted on by the population of the various islands, the members of the Emperor's Parliament act as representatives along with those of the actual Gradonian Parliament

The Office of Emperor Alan Erik von Schnider IV

The Emperor's Palace

His Majesty The Emperor Alan Erik von Schnider IV (Centrist)

The Seal of the Emperor

Island Governments

Within the large federal government, each island has a variation of the government but on a smaller scale. On the islands the Prime minister is known as the Head of Island Senate, the Chief Justice is known as the Judge of Peace and the Emperor's position is known as the Governor.
Each island for the most part takes care of itself while still following the guidelines set in place by the federal government.
The Islands

Dejan Island
Rag Island
Solace Island
The Isle of Joplin

[The Gradonian Islands]

Culture of the Gradonian Islands

The Arts

In Gradonia there exists a culture unlike any other in the world, one thing that is present on all islands is jazz and ragtime. There are for instance many locations that have taken on a persona of a great jazz performer take for example the [Louis] Armstrong Mountains or Gershwin Gulf. These locations add a different regional flare to the culture of each island, different islands tend to prefer different different types of jazz. For instance Dejan Island prefers jazz from the 20's being dixieland and Gershwin's concert jazz yielding the name of it's gulf (Gershwin Gulf)

A Dixieland band from 1908

However within music there is much more than jazz, opera is very popular among citizens of the Gradonian Islands. As a whole Opera is the most popular form of entertainmentin general. the most popular operas are:
The Barber of Seville
The Thieving Magpie
Carmen
Die Fledermaus(The Bat)

The National Opera House in Séséfön

Another large venue in the Arts is the Symphony, it is arguably the most popular form of entertainment and art on the Isle of Joplin
the most popular symphonies include Mahler Symphonies 1, 5, and 7 and Beethoven Symphony Nos. 2,5 and 7
R. Strauss is also very popular specifically Also Sprach Zarathustra Op. 30 and the Alpine Symphony.

The Symphony Hall on the Isle of Joplin

Visual Art is also a large and important cornerstone of Gradonian Culture however not nearly as influential and important as preforming art

Cuisine

Gradonian cuisine is very similar to that of German and Austrian, due to the colonization by mainly the Germans and the English. potatoes are also very important to Gradonian food and most evening meals have some sort of potato variant.
a popular dish is a Hamburg steak that is cooked light oil garlic and mushrooms. Chicken with lemon is also very popular during summer months.

Language
Gradonian is a very simple language when spoken however it looks complex and confusing
any letter with an umlaut makes the long sound
any e with an accent mark makes an "a" sound
an ß is a double s
there are no c's when in English a c wiuld be soft it is replace with an s
and when a hard c sound would be used a k is placed there instead
otherwise essentially Gradonian is the same as English

[The Gradonian Islands]

Geography

Physical Geography

The Gradonian Islands is an archipelago found in the Mediterranean, thus the climate is a semi arid one. There are sevral forests throughout the islands, such as the Fig Leaf & Maple Leaf forests the Gradonian Islands is famous for the Armstrong Mountains which arose three million years ago and divide the island of Gradonian into two main portions, North and South. There is also a volcano on Dejan Island which has been inactive for 10,000 years.
The Solace Strait is a natural barrier between the island of Gradonia and Rag Island but recently a railroad has been built to span the distance this will help to ease some of the boat traffic that had reached a dangerous level only two years ago.

Human Geography

In Gradonia, magnificent cities exist, however they are mostly located on the coast.
The nations core area is found on the eastern coast of the island of Gradonia. This is a benefit because it also faces most of the other islands so trade is a hub in the cities located on the eastern coast.
However the capital Séséfön is found on the north coast.
The Region produces most of its own oil which is found mostly in the middle sea. This is an economic plus for The Gradonian Islands.
The nation specializes in the automotive industry.

[The Gradonian Islands]

History of The Gradonian Islands

On March 20th 1543 a group of 243 colonists that were sent to the new world washed up on the shores of what is now Gradonia. They stayed there for nine days when they decided to start their own country, independent from rule of another power. This established what would be the Geadonian Empire. They started work on the current capital on the 30th of March by April 18, 1543 the town was mostly finished and work began on the constitution. Once this was finished the people lived quiet lives. Settlers looking to escape oppressive rule by other countries fled to Gradonia. When settled the people wanted to incorporate some of the same tradition of a monarchy but have more political and civil freedoms, they formed the Emperatik system originally called a Democratic Monarchy

The First King, Karl Forpp
Reign:1543-1572

It was obvious from the start that it was an archipelago that they were living in. It was a peaceful life envied by others so people gradually settled on other islands trying to form their own countries. The Gradonians did not like that so after a period of time the descendants of the original colonists conquered or settled the other islands starting with Solace Island in 1590
In 1634 King Wilhelm IV declared war on Dejan Island after numerous battles on land and sea, The Gradonians emerged victorious. King Wilhelm IV became Emperor Wilhelm IV.
The other Islands that were independent soon fell under Gradonia's rule. The smaller Islands did not need to be conquered as they were either unsettled or had such small populations that they fell under the rule of the nearest island.

Emperor Wilhelm IV
Reign:1626-1665

Gradonia Enjoyed Peace for 210 years without incident but in 1875 a major problem arose on the island of Dejan for nine years prior a rebel group had amassed support that entailed 52% of the islands population. The Gradonian Armed Forces fought gallantly though in the beginning of the war the Rebels almost won though through tactical supremacy the Gradonia Triumphed.

Gradonian Troops at the battle of Armenns Hill

Today Gradonia enjoys success in multiple fronts and is an enlightened and cultured nation
It has not fought a war since 1912 when A Fake Republic attempted to conquer Gradonia but as always the Gradonians emerged victorious.

[The Gradonian Islands]

The Armed Forces of the Gradonian Empire

The Imperial Air Force

Insignia of the Air Force
March of the Air Force: The Flying Eagle

The Air Force of the Gradonian Islands has a long proud and noble history. It started in 1897 when Baloons were used to drop artillery shells on enemy positions in the Revjah War.
In 1910 The First planes were used in battle over the skies of Hebjat in a war which proved that Ariel Supremacy was the key to win wars the proud tradition continues today with the modern Air Force that contains Bombers, Fighters, and Helicopters that support the ground troops as well as engage enemy bombers, and strike targets that would otherwise present formidable problems for ground troops.

the first monoplane used in 1910 by the Gradonian Air Force Die Eroberung Mk. I

The Imperial Navy

Insignia of the Navy
March of the Navy: Glory of the Waves

Throughout Gradonian History there has always been a navy this is a key element in the empires history. It has been said that more battles have been fought on sea than on land. This is because the Gradonian Royal Navy has an efficiency that is unmatched by foreign invaders. Because of this, the Gradonian Navy is one of the most powerful Navies in the world. Along with ships the 390 coastal forts that can be found on the islands are also a branch of the Navy.

the 1905 Dreadnought Der Kaiser


The victorious Blitz sinking an enemy ship