APPLICATION
NS Name: The National Dominion of Hungary
RP Name: The Royal Commonwealth of Three Nations - Krolewska Rzeczpospolita Trojga Narodow / Kralovske Spolecenstvij Tri Narodu / Königliches Gemeinwesen der Dreier Nationen
Flag: TBA
Capital: Prague (Administrative) / Krakow (Royal)
Territory: The Commonwealth (Map updated, Bavaria and Cottbus removed as discussed with Germany - Possibility to add East Prussia instead OP?)
Population: 80 732 112 (2020 Census)
Official Language(s): Polish / Czech / German.
Recognized Language(s): Slovene (regional) / Wendish ((Sorbian (regional) / Lithuanian (Regional)
Ethnic Breakdown: 53% Polish / 18% Czech / 15% Austrian / 4% Wendish / 3% German / 3% Slovene / 6% Other.
Religious Breakdown: 70% Roman Catholic / 8% Protestant / 17% Irreligious/Atheist/Other
Type of Government: Unitary Devolved Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
In the Commonwealth, devolution is the act of the Three-Crowns Consulate granting of a greater level of self-government to the Royal Parliaments of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Czechia and the Archduchy of Austria and to their associated administrative divisions as outlined in the 1979 Constitutional Amendment by the administration of Bruno Kreisky. Devolution differs from federalism in that the devolved powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in and thus are legitimized by the central government. Thus, the state remains a unitary state as the legislation creating devolved parliaments or assemblies can be repealed or amended by the central authority in the same way as any other law or statute as the devolved parliaments are technically government bodies subordinate to the central authority.
Head of State: HM Karol Olbracht I Jagiellonski.
Head of Government: First Consul Andrzej Duda.
Legislature: The Royal All-Crowns Consulate.
Legislative Houses: The Royal All-Crowns Consulate.
Party in Power: All-Realms Block for Stability and Development
National Issues:
The Russian Menace: Lingering resentment over the loss of the Crown of Lithuania and Eastern Poland casts a shadow over the Commonwealth, there are still people alive today who remember when the Commonwealth was still that of the Four Nations, there are still surviving Lithuanian veterans from the Army in Exile who fought for the Four Nations. Among a decent number of people there is a sense that the "Fourth Crown" should return to the Commonwealth as well as a sense of guilt for the "suffering of our Lithuanian brethren under the Soviet jackboot." While Soviet-Commonwealth relations have improved some due to trade since the 1980's, most people in the Commonwealth have a very deep-seated negative view of the Soviet Union, a sentiment that has been getting stronger over the last decade.
Walking the Tightrope: The Commonwealth is just as the name suggests, a state made up of three constituent nations. It's politics are characterized by a constant need for balancing the interests of the Poles, Czechs and Austrians in a way that doesn't alienate any one of them and balancing historical divisions and tensions such as the legacy of the Hussite Wars.
The legacy of 2008: Despite significant recovery, the 2008 Financial Crisis hit the Commonwealth hard, very hard, wiping out a chunk of the country's GDP, raising unemployment to 18%, resulting in a youth crisis and a property bust. The ripples of this still dance on the water today in the formation of a secondary socio-economic class of workers, largely young, with reduced wages, no job stability and little advancement opportunities trapped in a cycle of temporary jobs.
Public Goals: Uphold Democracy and National Values - Expand and Modernize Infrastructure - Cooperate closely with PTA and EEEU allies - Extend International Trade Relations - Invest in Security and Defense - Economic growth and job creation.
Private Goals: Use the position of largest economy in the EEEU to become its undisputed leader - Reform the PTA with a stronger emphasis on Europe - Become the leading nation of the Carpathian region - Weaken the global influence of the USSR and COMINTERN - If by some miracle a workable opportunity presents itself, detach Lithuania.
GDP (nominal): 3.87 Trillion USD.
Currency: Commonwealth Crowns.
Economic System: Mixed Capitalist Economy
Major Trade Partners: Italy / Byzantium / England / Germany / Taiping / Croatia / Egypt / Jerusalem / the Nordics / (Romania / Hungary (NPC's??))
Major Exports: Machinery / Precision Engineering Equipment / Motor Vehicles and parts / Manufactured Goods / Chemicals / Home Appliances / Medical Equipment / Pharmaceuticals / Iron / Copper / Steel / Processed Foodstuffs / Raw Foodstuffs / Livestock
Major Imports: Machinery and Equipment / Chemicals / Metal Goods / Oil and Oil Byproducts / Natural Gas / Exotic Foodstuffs / Lubricants and Related Materials / Consumer Electronics / Electronic Components
Defense Budget (USD): 102.8 billion
Alliance(s): Pacific Treaty Organization / Eastern European Economic Community
Military Branches: The Royal Army / The Royal Air Force / The Royal Navy / Three Crowns National Guard Corps / Special Operations Executive.
Active Duty: 600 000 troops.
Reserve Duty: 350 000 troops.
Total Manpower: 2 300 000 BMEC graduates.
Land Forces: 375 000 Active duty regulars / 106 000 Three Crowns National Guard troops / 16 000 Border Protection Corps troops / 4000 Spec Ops.
3200 MBT's
11 800 IFV's/APC's/IMV's
1720 ARV's
240 Tank Destroyers
2680 SPG's
800 MLRS
812 Towed AA-cannons
64 SPAAG's
458 Short/Medium range SAM Systems,
48 Attack Helicopters
354 Transport Helicopters
62 Training Helicopters
1200 Light/Recon UAV's
Naval Forces: 26 000 Active personnel.
2 Frigates
8 Corvettes
3 Submarines
8 Fast Attack Craft
25 Minesweepers
12 Minelayer/Amphibious Assault Ships
5 Salvage & Rescue Ships
8 Auxiliary/Support Ships
2 Tankers
4 Training Ships
6 Patrol Aircraft
15 Transport Aircraft
20 ASW Helicopters
10 SAR Helicopters
10 ASM-Launchers
Air Forces: 75 000 Active troops.
228 Combat Jets.
84 Transport Aircraft.
48 Attack Helicopters
96 Multirole/Utility Helicopters
132 Training/Light Attack Planes and Helicopters
60 Medium/Heavy UCAV's
152 Medium/Long-range SAM-Systems
Other Military Information: The manpower of the Royal Armed Forces of the Three Nations mainly relies on a system of conscription. All males who have reached the age of eighteen and are found physically/mentally fit can be called to serve the three months long Basic Military Education Course (BMEC). After finishing the BMEC the conscript can choose to either enlist as a professional soldier, to go through another 3 to 6 months of training and join the active reserves, to join one's local National Guard unit or be discharged into civilian life with an eight-year reserve obligation. Conscientious objection is legally acceptable and those who claim this right are instead obliged to serve a one-year period of civilian service instead. Since 2012, female volunteers have been allowed to become professional soldiers. The government pays for any rental/utility bills the conscripts incur during their service. It is also illegal to fire or suspend an employee due to conscripted service, refresher training or wartime activation. The Three Crowns National Guard Corps is made up of made up of professional officers and part-time volunteer soldiers who receive 30 days of refresher training per year. The National Guard is designed to operate autonomously in home areas as light infantry units with personnel drawn from the local population. While not a nuclear power, the Commonwealth does have a stockpile of chemical and biological weapons to act as a deterrent, mainly anthrax and anti-agricultural bioweapons such as Wheat Blast, Rice Blast and Rinderpest.
History:
1025: King Boleslaw I of Poland loses control of several of his Father's conquests, with the returning Bohemian king reclaiming his realm and conquering most of Polish Lusatia after the great Pagan revolt breaks out in Poland.
1059: Kingdom of Poland is reunited by Kazimir the Restorer, who solidifies control over the Polish heartlands, pommerania and reconquers Silesia from Bohemia. He managed to achieve this largely thanks to German aid as his mother was a German princess of the Holy Roman Empire.
1138: Before he died, King Boleslaw III of Poland divides the country, in a limited sense, among four of his sons. He made complex arrangements intended to prevent fratricidal warfare and preserve the Polish state's formal unity, but after Boleslaw's death, the implementation of the plan failed and a long period of fragmentation was ushered in where Piast dukes, the clergy, and the nobility fought for the control over the divided kingdom.
1246 - After the Death of the King of Bavaria a succession crisis ensues in the Kingdom. Archduke Friedrich II von Habsburg of Austria begins his attempts to conquer Bavarian lands for the Austrian crown, using marriage, bribery, trickery and sheer military force to gain a solid foothold. Still, the acquisition turns out difficult, with frequent interventions from the German Emperors constantly making the territory change hands.
1278 - Battle of Augsburg. Otto II, second son of Friedrich II finally loses his patience with the Holy Roman Empire as well as with the Hungarian meddling by Bela IV of Hungary. Assembling an army composed of Austrian, pro-Austrian Bavarian, Bohemian and Polish forces, he marches to meet the German Emperor and the Hungarian King. It was the final, deciding battle after 30 years of struggle for the Kingdom of Bavaria. As the battle turned against Otto with hidden Hungarian reserves hitting the Habsburg alliance in the back, he personally lead his own reserves in a desperate bid for victory. The hard-pressed and teetering Bohemian troops recognized it for the desperate, saving maneuver they needed and fought on as best they could, granting Archduke Otto the time and ability to ward off the Hungarians and in the process win the battle, claiming most of Bavaria for the Austrian Crown. However, Archduke Otto himself was severely wounded in the fighting and died from his injuries only two weeks after the battle.
1301 - King Jiri III of Bohemia trips during a visit to the outhose while drunk and ends up falling to his death from the castle walls. Thus the male line of the Premyslid Dynasty was ended. With King Wilderich III of Austria betrothed to Jiri III's only daughter, he claims the throne in the name of his son albeit his claim difficult to press due to the work of strong Czech lords in the realm opposing annexation by Austria.
1308 - the weak Kazimir II of Poland ascends to the throne. In the chaos of this change of rulers as well as due to his weakness, the Teutonic Order manages to conquer the city of Gdansk from the realm by force of arms. They proceeded to butcher the local population, starting the long history of deep resentment of the Poles towards the Teutons.
1313 - Being unwelcome in Bohemia and with constant wars ravaging the lands, King Johann I of Austria and Bohemia, son of Wilderich III starts travelling across all of his realm and generally leaving many internal policies up to the local lords while concentrating his personal attention on foreign affairs. Through his efforts Johann is able to secure the Wendish lands of Misina and Zycz and wrest them away from the German states for good. He incorporates these lands and the new Duchy of Lusatia under the Kingdom of Bohemia, once and for all eliminating recurring German aspirations and claims on last lands of the Wendish Slavs and improving his standing in Bohemia as a result.
1320 - Johann I offers a deal to the Pope to relinquish any and all Austrian claims to Illyria and Venetia in return for recognition as King of Bohemia. The Pope accepts.
1346 - Kazimir the Great of Poland assumes the thrones of his country. He centralizes the Kingdom realm as well as crushing the nobility and centralizing power with himself. Kazimir the Great would modernize Poland extensively, revamp the judicial system, found the University of Krakow, build many great buildings, surround many towns and cities new walls, conquer East Galicia and Upper Silesia and generally lead the Polish realm into a golden age. He did however die with no legitimate male heir of House Piast, leading to his daughter Princess Jadwiga being crowned Queen of Poland in 1382.
1384 - Queen Jadwiga of Poland marries Grand Duke Jogaila of Lithuania, founding House Jagiellonski in the process and beginning a personal union between the two realms.
1388 - Conclusion of internal unrest in Bohemia by reconciliation with the nobility, the official legal establishment of nobles' rights and a division of the government between the King and the nobles.
1401 - Unions of Vilnius and Radom, with Wladyslaw IV Jagiellonski strengthens the personal union between Poland and Lithuania with multiple acts ratified and signed in Vilnius and Radom.
1403 - Jan Hus becomes a lecturer at the University of Prague, espousing hardline anti-papal, anti-Austrian and pro-Czech rhetoric.
1409 - Provoking a war with the Teutonic Order over Gdansk, Wladyslaw Jagiellonski leads the full might of the Polish-Lithuanian Personal Union he has forged against the Teutonic Order.
1411 - Battle of Grunwald and Peace of Torun. The Teutonic Order is absolutely crushed and reduced to a small state in East Prussia under Polish overlordship.
1415 - Jan Hus is burned at the stake for Heresy. Hussites rise up all across the Bohemian lands and begin the Hussite Wars.
1434 - Wladyslaw Jagiellonski dies. His younger son Kazimir takes the throne of Lithuania. His older son, also Wladyslaw takes the thrones of Poland.
1444 - Wladyslaw V perishes in battle against Hussite forces in Lower Silesia while aiding the Austrian army. Kazimir IV Jagiellonski now rules both Lithuania and Poland. Marries daughter of Austrian King Otto IV.
1450 - Grigorij Podebrady is elected "national" King of Bohemia by the Hussites and thus stands directly against Otto von Habsburg.
1461 - Grigorij Podebrady and Otto IV both killed during the Battle of Zlin, Kazimir IV claims the Austrian Crown for his son Prince Jaroslaw. War of Austrian Succession begins between Poland-Lithuania and Hungary, the conflict ends in Polish-Lithuanian victory and Kazimir claims the Austrian throne as regent for his son.
1485 - The Compact of Basel finally pacifies the Hussites, ending many, many decades of war and brings peace to Bohemia.
1515 - The Union of Prague and Vilnius makes the Personal Union between the Kingdoms of Poland, Lithuania, Bohemia and Austria dynastic under House Jagiellonski.
1519 - Muscovy invades Lithuania in what is widely regarded as the fourth Muscovite-Lithuanian War.
1521 - The Teutonic Order attempts at independence with help from the Germans to the west, declaring war on the Jagiellonian realms.
1523 - The Teutonic Order is crushed and Prussia is secularized as a Duchy.
1527 - Conclusion of the Fourth Muscovite-Lithuanian War as as Austrian forces freed up in the west arrived in the east and pressure Muscovy to a peace treaty.
1569 - Union of Wroclaw. The official establishment of the Royal Commonwealth of the Four Nations between the Kingdoms of Poland, Lithuania, Austria and Bohemia.
1577 - Commonwealth invades Russia in an attempt to conquer Riga. The Russians are ousted and much of the Baltic ends up in Commonwealth hands. This would be the first in a long series of wars between the Commonwealth and the Russians.
1605 - Beginning of the first, direct Commonwealth-Russian War.
1635 - Simmering tensions over the religious prosecution of Hussites, the continued subservience of the Commonwealth superstate to the Poles as well as once again rising nationalistic fervor among the Czechs begins the Deluge of the Commonwealth as Bohuslav Jiri declares himself King of all the Commonwealth. This kicks off a civil war between Bohuslav I's faction against the rightful King Sigismund III of House Jagiellonski, with interventions from the Germans and Russians starting as well trying to take advantage.
1638 - King Bohuslav I perishes in the Battle of Warsaw, leaving Sigismund III as the sole remaining pretender to and unifier of the Commonwealth. As Sigismund attempted to regain full control of the Commonwealth, the Russians see an opportunity and declare war for Riga.
1640 - The exhausted Commonwealth loses the war against Russia and is forced to recognize the loss of Livonia and all Ukrainian lands east of the Dniepr river in the Peace of Smolensk.
1641 - Sigismund III dies in battle against German troops over the city of Gdansk. His son, Wladyslaw Albert I assumes the throne of the Commonwealth.
1642 - The Commonwealth invades Croatia to gain access to the lucrative Mediterranean coast. Byzantium, engaged in conflict with the Caliphate in the Middle-East agreed to sign a peace with the Commonwealth, sacrificing Croatian land and allowing the Commonwealth to reach the Mediterranean in Pula. While quickly concluding a peace, Byzantium still looks for opportunity to weaken the Commonwealth.
1648 - The Russo-Byzantine funded and armed Khmelnytsky Uprising breaks out in the Commonwealth's Ukrainian lands. Wladyslaw Albert I is forced to hastily move troops from the Balkans to Ukraine.
1654 - With Commonwealth troops bearing down on the Ukrainian Uprising and Byzantine troops being embroiled in battle to the South, the Hetman of the Cossacks, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, turns to the Russians and asks for their official support and for Russia to declare war on the Commonwealth in return for his allegiance. Thus starts the next Russo-Commonwealth War, with Russian Forces flooding across the Commonwealth's eastern holdings.
1655 - The Second Northern War breaks out as Swedish Forces navally invade the Commonwealth's holdings, occupying much of its coastline.
1656 - The Duchy of Prussia once more attempts secession and throwing off the Commonwealth's yoke, declaring war on the Commonwealth and allying with Sweden.
1665 - The Commonwealth concedes a peace with Sweden the Second Northern War, recognizing Prussian independence and ceding Courland to the Swedes in exchange for peace.
1667 - The Russo-Commonwealth War concludes with a russian victory, much of Belarus and Ukraine are officially ceded to the Russians.
1668 - Wladyslaw Albert I passes peacefully in his sleep. Jan Karol I succeeds him on the throne and immediately sues for peace, conceding complete military defeat. He agrees to pay immense war reparations, break all standing treaties, alliances and marriages and prostrate himself before the Tzar.
1670 - With the war over, Jan Karol I is forced to engage in large scale reorganization of the country. The economy has completely collapsed by this point while it's population had been ravaged. Jan Karol moves the Commonwealth fully into absolutism as the Quadruple Monarchy of Poland, Bohemia, Lithuania and Austria is created. Masses of unemployed soldiers who knew nothing but war and found no employment were now running rampant across the country, raiding and pillaging and forcing Jan Karol to engage in lengthy campaigns of annihilation against these bandit gangs, some numbering hundreds of men.
1734 - Agricultural reforms under the reign of King Jan Karol II introduces four-field crop rotation and the potato to the Commonwealth, greatly increasing food production.
1750 - The Kingdom begins recovering notably from the devastation of war, art flourishes and new innovations are being introduced such as steam-pumps to pump water from mines. Most important is the gradual introduction of farming machinery such as the seed planting drill, steam-pumped land drainage, selective cattle-breeding techniques and more advanced irrigation techniques contributing to a revitalized economy
1767 - King Stanislaw II August fully abolishes serfdom and replaces it with a system of tenancy and embarks on a number of reforms. Tenanted farms primarily produce cash crops, as the noble landlords expects his rent to be paid, so subsistence farming is a waste of time, as it will not generate any income. Successful tenants, who developed their land could well become quietly wealthy men. The King also passed numerous Enclosure Laws throughout his reign where large swathes of common land were effectively stolen from the peasantry and incorporated into noble estates. While farming was effectivized as subsistence farming on the common land was replaced with cash-crops for trade. Most of the poorer peasants who depended on the common land were now forced to take wages working for their new landlords, or to move to the towns and cities swapping rural poverty for urban squalor.
1771 - The first stock exchange in the Commonwealth, the Wiener Börse, is opened in in Vienna. Mining industries in Silesia and Bohemia expand greatly as steam-pumping becomes widespread and the coke blast furnace is introduced.
1780 - The Lodz Plug Riots. Lodz had by this point grown significantly thanks to being the center of the proto-industrialized Polish textile industry. Mills powered by steam engines could produce cheap goods of good, reliable quality and profits from the mills could be enormous as the machines often ran day and night, for as long as the steam engines had coal and water, and there are raw materials to process. Workers in the mills of Lodz however grew to see steam power as a threat to their livelihoods and started destroying boiler plugs to render the steam engines useless. Machine breaking was made a capital crime, and 11 men were executed for it in the town, leading to large riot that had to be put down by force.
1783 - Attempted colonization of the Andaman and Nicobar Isles. Gottfried Stahl of the Commonwealth Exploratory Society arrived on the island with four ships which had sailed from Pula in Istria. Stahl greeted the natives personally and made a contract with the Nicobarese, fooling them to basically sign over the whole Nicobar Archipelago to the Commonwealth. The colonization effort was successful until Stahl died in 1790. The colonists lost courage in their settlement attempts, and the islands were abandoned in 1792.
1792 - King Jan Alexander I rises to the throne, leading the Commonwealth through the troubled decades of the Coalition Wars. As prince and during the early years of his reign, Jan Alexander often used liberal rhetoric, but continued the Commonwealth's absolutist policies in practice. In the first years of his reign major liberal educational reforms and started building more universities. Between 1794 and 1820 he changed the Commonwealth's diplomatic position towards France five times between neutrality, hostility, and alliance.
1820 - End of the Coalition Wars, Commonwealth is represented by it's foreign minister Klemens von Metternich at the Paris talks.
1825 - Jan Alexander I dies. Throughout his reign he became increasingly arbitrary, reactionary, and fearful of plots against him. He ended the educational reforms he made earlier, purging schools of foreign teachers, puts rural schools under full control of the Catholic church as well as firing liberal-minded professors from the realm's universities. Karol Albert I rises to the throne.
1827 - Klemens von Metternich is appointed to Chief Minister by Karol Albert I as the two shared deeply conservative views. Metternich's policies were strongly against revolution and liberalism. In his opinion, liberalism was a form of "legalized revolution" and that absolute monarchy was the only proper system of government. Metternich organized a number of congresses aimed to maintain the political equilibrium among the European powers and prevent revolutionary efforts. These meetings also aimed to resolve foreign issues and disputes without resorting to violence. Strict censorship of education, press and speech to repress revolutionary and liberal concepts was enforced. Metternich also used a wide-ranging spy network to dampen down unrest.
1830 - First Railroads start being built and open up once-remote areas. Many firms promote capitalist ways of production.
1846 - Pan-German sentiments have steadily been gaining popularity in Bavaria in the decades since the Napoleonic Wars. Notable liberal clubs of the time in Warsaw, Gdansk, Prague and Vienna criticized Metternich's government from the city's coffeehouses, salons, and even stages. They advocated relaxed censorship, freedom of religion, economic freedoms, and, above all, a more competent administration. They were opposed to outright popular sovereignty and universal franchise. More to the left was a radicalized, impoverished intelligentsia. Educational opportunities in the 1840's Commonwealth had far outstripped employment opportunities for the educated.
1849 - Rising nationalist fervor as well as liberal opposition to the absolutistic monarchy wracks the country. The Warsaw Congress results Metternich being forced to resign, replaced by Alexander von Bach as Chief Minister. A constitution is drafted and accepted in the Commonwealth of the Four Nations. Despite being an absolutist himself, von Bach agrees to reforms such as an annual parliamentary session in Prague, abolition of the tax, customs and tariff exemption of the nobility, abolition of separate laws for the common people and nobility and passes an amendment allowing common people to be elected as juries in legal courts.
1855 - Reforms are passed allowing all people to be officials even on the highest levels of the public administration and judicature, if they have the prescribed education. A Central Bank is also established while industry grows rapidly in Upper Silesia, Bohemia and Lower Austria.
1858 - Commonwealth Steam-Frigate HMS Novara then on its expedition to circumnavigate the globe decided to stop at the Nicobars along the way. The Novara landed and commenced a scientific expedition which and included the search for a site to establish a possible penal colony. The leader of the group, Austrian explorer Karl von Scherzer, promoted re-colonization. Commonwealth scientists and archaeologists explored the islands and collected over 500 artifacts native to the islands. Possible settlements attempts were shot down by the Polish and particularly Czech lobbies in the Royal Parliament, citing needless expenses.
1873 - King Pavel Stanislaw I ascends to the throne. A committed constitutionalist and a liberal, many hoped that Pavel Stanislaw's reign would lead to a liberalization of the Commonwealth and an increase of parliament's influence on the political process. The dismissal of Kazimir Radziwill, the arch-conservative interior minister signaled the end of Alexander von Bach's era of neo-absolutism.
1878 - Fear of the growing socialist movement leads to the adoption of the All-Realms Factory Act of 1878 to neutralize socialist grievances and promises. The act limited working hours for everyone, insured workers against industrial risks inherent in the workplace and provided maternity benefits to unmarried women. Further reforms followed with the institution of public Health Care in 1883 followed by invalidity and old-age insurance in 1889. King Pavel Stanislaw I further won the support of both industry and skilled workers by issuing a royal decree with high tariff policies, which protected profits and wages from foreign competition, although he alienated liberal intellectuals who advocated free trade.
1886 - The Commonwealth became interested in another possible colonization attempt and, once again, set sail for the Andamans and Nicobars. When the crew arrived they were surprised to find the entire Nicobar island chain had already been colonized by the English several years earlier ending all further possibilities to colonize the area.
1906 - King Jan Alexander II rises to power after the death of Pavel Stanislaw. The new King wanted to reassert his ruling prerogatives at a time when other monarchs in Europe were increasingly being transformed into constitutional figureheads.
1908 - Increasing constitutionalization, the 1908 Elections are the first after full male suffrage is introduced in 1905.
1910 - Fixated in the Commonwealth claiming a "place in the sun", a concession in the Chinese city of Tianjin was established.
1914 - Deeply influenced by Chief of Staff Conrad von Hötzendorf, the King managed to rope the Commonwealth into the first Great War on the side of the Entente. The Commonwealth's army, while impressive on the parade ground showed itself deeply lacking against the Germans and suffered terrible casualties in the attempted offensives into Bavaria.
1916 - Commonwealth forces lose ground in Bavaria, Regensburg and Ingolstadt fall to the Germans while in the east, the Germans advance into Silesia and besiege Wroclaw.
1917 - Gdansk falls and German forces reach Munich. Supply shortages, low morale, and the high casualty rate seriously affected the operational abilities of the Commonwealth's army. Casualties among officers educated before the war were especially damaging as they were the only people trained to command such a multiethnic army.
1918 - The Commonwealth manages to hold on until the end of the war and attends Versailles as one of the victors. Demands to fully incorporate Bavaria are granted as one of the ways Germany would be punished.
1920 - Jozef Pilsudski, a veteran of the Great War and former army Major founds the Promethean Party, quickly soaring in the polls. The Prometheans advocated the need to change the constitution, with more power in the hands of the First and limiting the powers of the Crown Parlaiment as well as the elimination of corruption, uphold traditional values and recognition of the state-building role of the Catholic Church in the Commonwealth, a strong focus on national unity and propagation of civic nationalism as well as strong opposition to ethnonationalist movements seeking separation from the Commonwealth as well as Marxism.
1925 - Pilsudski and the Promethans win the elections.
1930 - Pilsudski wins reelection but dies after three years in office from aggressive liver cancer. Vice-Premier Ignacy Moscicki succeeds him as First Consul and leader of the Promethean party.
1935 - Moscicki loses the election to the All-Crowns Liberal Party under the leadership of Edvard Benes.
1936 - After international pressure a referendum is held in Bavaria and goes in favor of Germany which annexes the region. Commonwealth government under First Consul Edvard Benes accepts this but hardline unionists, especially Austrian ones are greatly angered.
Early 1938 - Lusatia Crisis, despite being inhabited by a Wendish majority, this is by a rather small margin as around 40% of the region is inhabited by ethnic Germans. Germany claims the region as a part of Germany's natural borders. Benes government is paralyzed as international community doesn't react and is wary of escalating the situation further. German troops proceed to cross into Lusatia and Commonwealth troops never get orders to use force, German forces surround local barracks and garrisons, disarming the Commonwealth troops and lets them leave. Images of disarmed Commonwealth soldiers being escorted across the border by armed German soldiers flood the newspapers and leads to great public outcry. The King abdicates, passing the throne to Fryderyk August I, who deeply sympathized with the Hardliners and militarists. Later that year radical far-right unionist Engelbert Dolfuss leads the March on Prague, deposing the Benes government and claims emergency powers with a coalition of hardline Unionist parties, in effect installing an authoritarian regime. Marxists, Austrian Nazi sympathizers and Ukrainian nationalists are heavily persecuted and thousands of "enemies of the nation" are locked up in the Bereza Kartuska prison.
Late 1938 - Munich Crisis. Germany, France, Italy, and England meet to discuss the future of Austria. The Commonwealth is not invited but everyone in Prague knows exactly what's being discussed. The Germans are planning to carve up the Commonwealth. The eyes of the world are on Munich to see what is decided. To perhaps nobody's surprise, the Western powers demand the Commonwealth hold a second referendum in Austria. To the people of the Commonwealth is seems clear what the western powers are doing, they don't care about the other European states, they don't care about preserving peace, the balance of power or international law. They are happy to let the Germans overrun the Eastern half of the continent as long as it stops their own people from dying in a new war, the Dolfuss regime uses it's propaganda machine to exploit these sentiments as much as possible and the hardliners see a great increase of support. Dolfuss holds an impassioned speech in Vienna about "defending what's right" and standing by the European order as decided at Versailles. This infuriates Hitler and the Nazis as Versailles officially gave all of Bavaria to the Commonwealth, with Hitler accusing Dolfuss of rescinding the Commonwealth's recognition of the Bavarian referendum. Both sides start preparing for war.
1939 - As German military buildup in Bavaria accelerates, Dolfuss, spurred on by his Minister of War Rydz-Smigly gives the green light for a preemptive attack on Germany. In April of 1939 Commonwealth troops cross the German border and Commonwealth aircraft attack German concentration points and supply-dumps in Bavaria, Lusatia and East Prussia. German troops are initially caught by surprise and the Commonwealth makes some gains in Bavaria and particularly East Prussia, but the German High Command soon adapts to the new situation. After three months, Vienna falls to the Germans and the remnants of the Commonwealth's troops retreat into Bohemia and south across the Enns. Two months later Wroclaw and Gdansk both fall and the siege of Königsberg is broken. At this point, Soviet forces start lining up along the eastern borders of the Commonwealth and begin preparing defensive positions as Yagoda is afraid that the openly anti-bolshevik Nazi regime will just keep going east after the Commonwealth collapses. The Germans finally break through the defenses in Bohemia and capture Prague as well as Lodz during the winter of 1939. It is clear beyond any doubt now that the Commonwealth will lose this fight. The Soviets look for a way to weaken Nazi Germany and keep Hitler from taking full control over the Commonwealth's lands. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is signed in secret between the German Third Reich and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
1940 - As German forces approach Warsaw, Soviet troops cross the Commonwealth's now basically open Eastern border. Warsaw falls in late March and large-scale organized resistance ends, with Dolfuss himself dying in the fighting, refusing to abandon the city and appointing General Waldyslaw Sikorski as the emergency First Consul. The Jagiellonski royal family flees from Krakow as German troops approach and relocate to Constantinople. The Commonwealth's government and remnants of its military escape to Croatia and Romania where they are disarmed and interned. Most of the Commonwealth's soldiers to keep going to Byzantium where they form the core of the Army in Exile.
1941 - The Secret State Administration is formed in the occupied Commonwealth. A single political and military entity formed by the amalgamation of resistance organizations that were loyal to the Government in Exile in Byzantium. The first elements of the Underground State were established mid-1940. The Underground State. The Underground State encompassed not only the armed and violent resistance as embodied in the Home Army, but also civilian structures, such as education, culture and social services. The rationale behind the creation of the secret civilian authority drew on the fact that the German (and for some time, Soviet) occupation of the Commonwealth was seen as illegal. Hence, all institutions created by the occupants were also illegal, and parallel Commonwealther institutions were set up in accordance with the Four Crowns law.
1942 - After Operation Barbarossa, a top-secret meeting is held between Wladyskaw Sikorski and the Soviet ambassador in Byzantium. It ends with Sikorski reluctantly signing the Trebizond Papers, where the Commonwealth agrees to cede the Crown of Lithuania and the Polish Crown territories of Vohlynia, Rivne and East Galicia to the USSR. In exchange, the Soviet Union would bind itself to not support Communist guerilla movements in the occupied Commonwealth that did not recognize the Government in Exile and instead to support the Home Army while releasing any and all Commonwealth soldiers and officers captured during the earlier fighting and later occupation, allowing them passage to Byzantium to join the Army in Exile.
1944 - Realizing the Government in Exile is selling them out, the Lithuanian Home Army units sever ties with the Government in Byzantium and launch the Vilnius Uprising hoping to take control of the capital and proclaim an independent Lithuanian before the Soviets arrive and take the city. Yagoda orders Soviet forces to halt and lets the Germans crush the revolt with extreme brutality, over 90% of the city is destroyed by the time the Soviets march in.
1945 - The Second Great War has ended, and the Commonwealth is largely in ruins, the Allied powers come together to discuss the terms of Axis surrender and the future map of Europe. As the Commonwealth was seen as partially responsible for the outbreak of the war, it has to fully recognize Bavaria as German territory in perpetuity and renounce any and all claims to the region as part of the Austrian Crown. As the negotiations go on it becomes clear that rewarding the USSR was next on the agenda, and as the Commonwealth was again seen as partially responsible for the war, the Crown of Lithuania and the Polish territories of East Galicia, Vohlynia and Rivne are officially confirmed as part of the USSR by the Allies despite the Commonwealth's frenzied attempts a re-negotiation to keep at least Lithuania, or at least Byelastok and Lwow, or at least... something, but that all pleas go on deaf ears. At this point an order is given to Commonwealth troops stationed in Bavaria which was it's occupation zone. As no reparations seemed to be coming, the lands would be stripped. Industrial equipment, agricultural machinery, research equipment from universities, even livestock is loaded up on trains headed for Bohemia and Austria.
1947 - The Pilsen-deutsche of Bohemia, Lausitz-deutsche of Lusatia and Danzigers are expelled into Germany along with pro-Nazi Austrians who collaborated with the regime during the occupation. Some Austrian Nazis are however tried for war-crimes and executed in Vienna, men such as most prominently Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Friedrich Rainer and Odilo Globocnik. In the east comes a large influx of ethnic Poles expelled from the USSR along with Lithuanian refugees along with some anti-Nazi Bavarians claiming Austrian nationality. Using emergency powers, Chief Minister Wladyslaw Sikorski writes a new, more authoritarian constitution alongside the King, which causes significant controversy in left-of-center circles. The new constitution offically reforms the state into the Commonwealth of Three Nations and is seen as the beginning of the post-war Jagiellonianist era. Jagiellonianism was the outgrowth of the political developments since the rule of Pavel Stanislaw I'st but also deeply influenced by the hardline Dolfuss Regime and the ideology of Jozef Pilsudski's Promethean Party. It has been seen by modern political scientists as a "a peculiarly Commonwealther phenomenon". Jagiellonianism saw as it's chief missions the affirmation of national sovereignty and unity and was radically opposed to what was seen as the divisiveness and disunity created by the Marxist commitment to class struggle.
1948 - Wladyslaw Sikorski stepped down from the position of Chief Minister, and the first elections are held since 1935. The All-Realms Block for Stability and Development wins in a landslide, led by Army in Exile veteran, former General Wladyslaw Anders. He championed a policy of he would call "dirigizm" under which the government intervened heavily in the economy, using this combination of free-market and state-directed economic with indicative five-year plans as the main tool. This led to a rapid reconstruction and expansion of the Commonwealth's economy. High-profile projects, mostly but not always financially successful, were launched.
1970 - After five re-elections with a ARBSD supermajority, First Consul Wladyslaw Anders dies in the middle of his fifth term.
1974 - Global Oil Crisis hits the Commonwealth, putting an end to the "Three Golden Decades." These decades of economic prosperity combined high productivity with high average wages and high consumption, and were also characterized by a highly developed system of social benefits instituted in the post-war years.
1976 - ARBSD loses the elections to the Unionist Citizens Pact, signaling the end of the First Jagiellonianist Era and "rule of the Polish colonels" as Bruno Kreisky from Austria leads the UCP to victory. He would serve three terms and make many significant reforms. Kreisky had made a campaign promise to reduce the mandatory military service from nine to six months which he did in 1978 and a high-profile promise to democratize the constitution and end the "authoritarian democracy". Employee benefits were expanded, the workweek was cut to 40 hours, and legislation providing for equality for women in the workplace were passed. Kreisky would significantly expand healthcare and education funding.
1979 - Bruno Kreisky manages to drum up the support he needed to re-write and democratize the constitution.
1985 - First bilateral trade deal is signed between the Commonwealth and Germany since end of WW2.
1988 - Kreisky loses the election to Franz Kettler and the Freedom Party of the Commonwealth. Still, he goes down in history as probably the most successful Socialist politician in the Commonwealth's history. Thanks to him, the standard of living rose in the aftermath of the Oil Crisis, the welfare system and safety network expanded and he made sure to strengthen the position of women. From going to a position where women's station in society had stayed unchanged since the 1950's when Kreisky came into office, by the late 1990's the Commonwealth had largely achieved a modern Western profile in terms of economic participation by women. All this resulted in the Kreisky Era being remembered as one of prosperity and optimism about the future by his supporters. His detractors however still criticize Kreisky's policy of deficit spending. Kettler proceeds to try and reduce structural spending and introduces a number of tax cuts, mostly targeting large businesses and the upper-middle class.
1992 - Kettler re-elected. Proceeds to embark on a policy of tentative reapproachment with the USSR, signing trade agreements for natural gas and raw materials and liberalized the country's immigration laws.
1996 - Freedom Party of the Commonwealth holds on to power after Kettler's resignation. The new leader of the party, Vacláv Havel ran on a campaign of the "Five national priorities", Healthy Public Finances, Modern and Efficient State, A Hard Stance on Crime, Removing Business Barriers and Promoting Science and Education.
2004 - Freedom Party and Unionist Citizens Pact form coalition government to oppose the rising ARBSD. Under the leadership of Jan Fischer from the Freedom Party. He proved popular internally, although some of his policies such as opening for private clinics and elderly care homes were criticized by both the left and the Jagiellonianist right.
2008 - Freedom Party / Unionist Citizens Pact coalition remains in power. Now under the leadership of the controversial Miloš Zeman from the UCP. The Financial Crash of 2008 hits the country hard. A property crash ensues and the construction industry, previously accounting for almost 10% of GDP collapses utterly and unemployment start to rise fast. The property crash led to a collapse of credit as banks hit by bad debts cut back lending. As the economy began contracting sharply, government revenues collapse and government debt began to climb rapidly. By the 2010 the Commonwealth was faced with severe financial problems. Unemployment rose to a record high of 18 percent and Alior Bank, the fourth largest bank in the Commonwealth requests a government bailout of 40 billion crowns, the largest bank bailout in the nation's history.
2012 - ARBSD returns to power on the waves of a seemingly returning conservative/rightist zeitgeist, coming to power again after having been in the opposition since 1976. Led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the government embarks on a project of increasing economic interventionism, large-scale investments and re-armament to hopefully kick-start the economy in the wake of the 2008 Financial Crash. Labor reforms make for a more flexible labor market, facilitating easier layoffs with the goal of enhancing corporate confidence. By 2014, the Commonwealth's economy reversed its negative trend and started creating jobs again for the first time since 2008. However, trade unions, left, and center-left parties criticized the reform and wanted it to be revoked on grounds that it tilted the balance of power too far towards employers. Besides, most new work contracts are temporary leaving many, primarily young employees with no sense of economic security. Minimum wages were raised by 20% and a number of controversial amendments to the constitution were made by the second Kaczynski administration such as raising term limits on the First Consul from 3 to 5 and reducing democratic safeguards in the Constitutional Court, Prosecutors Office, Media Authority, and State Audit Office while introducing a tighter immigration policy, undoing many of Kettler's reforms in the area.
2016 - ARBSD remains in power under the first Duda administration. First Consul Andrzej Duda used bailout money from the !World Bank and !IMF to "re-patriate" the banking system, the Commonwealth government now owns between 25 and 35 percent stakes in several of the country's largest banks through the State Insurance Company and the Three Crowns Development Fund, both part of the Ministry of Finance. Duda also embarked on a large joint investment with the Nordics, laying the foundations for a pipeline to connect the two counties which would reduce the Commonwealth's dependence on Soviet oil and LNG imports while also closing a number of loopholes in the corporate tax code.
2020 - ARBSD remains in power under the second Duda administration.
RP Example(s): You know me Sao.
Do not remove - 2022RP
