Wurttemberg (The Once and Never Kings)

The Kingdom of Württemberg, Württemberg, is a medium-sized unitary constitutional monarchy in the southern German region of the Holy Roman Empire. It borders many othe members of the Holy Roman Empire, including Baden, Burgau, the Palatinate, Hohenzollern, and Fürstenburg.

History
Württemberg was founded as a county within the Duchy of Swabia in 1081. After the extinction of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, the lands fell to his relatives in the House of Württemberg. However, these new rulers couldn't hold onto the Swabian lands, and the stem duchy fell apart into various independent entities.

Nevertheless, Württemberg was the largest and most powerful of the Swabias successors in the Holy Roman Empire. Despite being divided between brothers in 1442, it built a power base in southern Germany. The founder of the Swabian League in 1433, it was initially meant to curb the aggressive actions of Bayern-Landshut, but proved to be a capable force. Indeed, the League would come to be the Luxembourg Emperors most crucial ally when the Parisian lead Francia began the First Francian-Imperial War in 1457.

The Württemberg Counties would be reunited in 1483, and subsequently raised to a duchy in 1492.

The Reformation would prove deeply divisive to both Württemberg and the Swabian League as a whole, and the League would be disbanded as several members joined the Schmalkaldic League. Württemberg itself became a majority Lutheran country, and its Dukes would convert in 1536.

Joining its fellow Schmalkaldic League members into the Schmalkaldic War, Württemberg was conquered by a joint Swiss-Decapole army, leading to Stuttgarts fall in 1551. An unintended, but positive for the Catholic states, consequence of the war was the extinction of the Lutheran line of the House of Württemberg, leading to the ascension of the Catholic Duke Ernst II. Ernst abided by the Peace of Augsburg, to respect Lutherans right to worship as they choose, but his favor was unmistakeable, and over time, Württemberg would return to a Catholic-majority state.

Joining the Catholics in the Forty Years War, Württemberg was ravaged by Saxon-Hessian armies, leading to massive depopulation. Württemberg wouldn't recover until 1827.

Joining the Napoleonic Wars soon after Napoleone declared his "Italian Empire", Württemberger troops proved crucial in stopping the Italian advance through the Swiss states at the Battle of Zurich. Württemberg would be rewarded for its service by being elevated to kingdom in 1861.

Recently Württemberg has become probably the most liberalized state in Germany, becoming the first Swabian state to allow voting for women, and the first state outside Luxembourg or Austria to remove Salic Law.

Government
Württemberg is a unitary state divided into 35 districts. It has a single chambered legislature who, along with the Chancellor, holds most of the power, reducing the King to little more than a figurehead.