| |||||||
| Capital | Nemiscau | ||||||
| Largest city | Aksimiki | ||||||
| Other cities | Chisasibi, Nov Euskadi, Maskekon, Chemiwanit, Tuktoyaktuk | ||||||
| Language official |
None at federal level | ||||||
| others | Cree, Ojibwe, Na-Dene, Mikmaq, Basque, Frisian, French, Inuit, Beothuk | ||||||
| Religion | Shamanic Christianity | ||||||
| Ethnic Groups main |
Algonquin | ||||||
| others | Various European | ||||||
| Demonym | Algonquian | ||||||
| Government | Sachemate | ||||||
| Established | 1582 | ||||||
| Independence | from Missisipia | ||||||
| Currency | Algonquian franc | ||||||
Algonquia, officially the Algonquian Sachemate, is a large nation located in Northern Borealia. Composed largely of ethnically Cree and Ojibwe, it stretches from the Adelheid Sea in the north to Gichigami in the south. Formed from several Cree states as the Nehilaw Sachemate in 1582, it later unified the Cree. It was renamed to Algonquia after incorporating the Ojibwe to reflect its more multicultural nature. The sole Native state surviving in Borealia, Algonquia maintains close ties with numerous Borealian and European states.
History[]
Early History[]
The history of Algonquia begins with the migration of the tribes that would later form the Cree and Ojibwe peoples into Eastern Borealia, prior to recorded history. These tribes remained in decentralized, low-density population until the 1500s, when L'nu fishermen set up fishing camps in present-day Aksimiki for better access to the significant fish population in the area. These settlements gradually evolved into a full-scale colony around the 1530s. By this point, most of the L'nu had assimilated into the more numerous Cree population, forming a hybrid culture which largely spoke Cree. The area remained a small and relatively unimportant L'nu colony, largely isolated from the tensions that afflicted the L'nu nation. These came to a head when the country fell into civil war in 1583, when the area was inundated with refugees, causing its population to spike. Although Brittannia seized the rest of the L'nu Empire, the Aksimiki area was sold to Mississippia instead. This marks the area's entry into mainstream international affairs and modernity.
Isolated by hundreds of miles of wilderness from the rest of Mississipia, control remained fairly loose. However, trade relations with Europe and development increased during this period, as Aksimiki's position as one of only two seacoasts for Mississipia made it more important. It was at this time that horses, gunpowder and the Latin alphabet were introduced to the area. Around 1580, a priest successfully created a Latinized Cree alphabet which remains in use in Algonquia to this day. This prosperity was interrupted by the collapse of the overburdened and overstretched Mississipia in 1583. Local chieftains seized control, splitting the area into three parts. It was only ten years alter that this chaotic state of affairs came to an end when local chieftains in the West united to form the Nehilaw Sachemate, which controlled only a third of Aksimiki initially.
Rise of the Sachemate[]
The new Sachemate embarked on a series of wars of reunification, first attacking the disunited chieftains in the east of the region. They were conquered swiftly, leading the Moose Cree in the south to accept unification peacefully. Gradually modernizing, the Nehilaw improved relations with several European nations, notably Oldenburg, Scandinavia (with which an alliance was also signed) and Brittannia, and also encouraged immigration from Europe to provide new resources within the population. This immigration has produced the large Basque, Frisian and French minorities currently in existence in the area. The sale of Maskekon to Oldenburg in the 1610s provided the Nehilaw with the nucleus of a navy.
Gradual expansion south and west brought more Cree into the fold, and eventually brought the Nehialw into contact with other tribal groups around the Great Lakes. Gojijiwinag, Nipissing and the North Ojibwe all peacefully fell under the influence of the Nehilaw, but the wish sod the Nehialw to trade peacefully were cramped by hostile nations like the Twightee and Anashinabe. A war with the Twightee gave the Nehilaw access in perpetuity to the Kankakee and thus the Mississipi Rivers, while a second, four-year war with the aggressive Nashinabe resulted in their annexation. Several groups under their sway, such as the Chippawa and Oji-Cree, were freed and given their own chiefdoms within the Sachemate.
This aggressiveness brought the attention of France to the Nehilaw, leading to an invasion by massively superior forces. This was resolved by the Treaty of Rouenelle, which made the Nehilaw a French protectorate. Over the next decades, the Nehilaw modernized peacefully, under French influence. Immigration from Europe resulted both in modernization and the spread of Christianity,w which gradually replace for fused with shamanic beliefs.
Reform[]
In the 1760s, tensions came to a head within the Sachemate as the Ojibwe minority revolted. This resulted in the expansion of the Council of Sachems to include more minorities, and the nation's name change to Algonquia to reflect its new and more inclusive identity. Algonquia began to take a more independent line on foreign policy, joining the New Munich Pact and allying with the Commonwealth of Borealia and other independent Borealian nations. Algonquia also joined the Union of Hesperia and Borealia.
Algonquia faced its second major challenge as it was invaded by Scandinavia in 1809 with the superior Scandinavian forces easily overrunning much of the country. Algonquia was unprepared, with Scandinavia having affirmed the alliance between the two nations just before it invaded. The government, largely driven underground or into exile, reorganized and launched a guerrilla war. Backed by Borealian troops, the defeated Algonquians were able to eventually reorganize, counterattack and expel the Scandinavians. Suspicious of Arcadia's inactivity in this war, however, Algonquia accused it of conspiring with the Scandinavians to divide Algonquian territory. The fellow members of the New Munich pact forced it to back down, contributing to a coup later that year that saw the House of Mistahi overthrown and the Council of Sachems democratized. The High Sachem was replaced by Pakisimotan, who has ruled as High Sachem, although effectively reduced to a figurehead, since.
Conflict in Borealia[]
Algonquia enjoyed a long period of peace after the Scandinavian invasion, modernizing and industrializing, while the military expanded considerably. However, the stability of the region, even among allies, was breaking down. The tensions with Arcadia had never been fully forgotten, and Algonquia eventually agreed to launch a joint invasion of that nation with Reme. The outmatched Arcadians were defeated, and the nation divided between Reme and Algonquia. It was also at this time that Algonquia issued the Nemiscau Declaration, committing itself to defending the rights of Native Borealians against imperialism and oppression.
The Arcadians revolted shortly afterward, but were crushed easily by the still-mobilized military. This triggered a famine and cholera epidemic that drastically reduced the Arcadian population. Shortly afterward, the Arcadian remnant states to the south of Algonquia also revolted against Reme, leading to two campaigns which saw them subjected once more. Finally, the Arcadians revolted in Algonquia yet again, this time summarily killing many Algonquian settlers, provoking national anger. This revolt too was put down and the recalcitrant Arcadians forced to emigrate to Europe.
A decade of peace followed before the outbreak of war with Iceland in 1880, over territorial disputes in Helluland and in revenge for the invasion of Algonquia earlier. The war proved brutal, with troops fighting in freezing conditions and many starving due to lack of supplies. The decade proved fraught with conflict as war between Hamburg and New Munich Pact broke out. Unwilling to invade Hamburg, Algonquia instead attacked Oldenburg, which had intervened in the war, seizing its Borealian colonies in two years of warfare. Algonquia returned most of these after the war, however, retaining only Maskekon. Seeking to gain tax revenue and foreign markets, Algonquian forces invaded the Pskovian Isles in the Imperial Sea later that year, successfully seizing the islands as the lightly-garrisoned territories surrendered.
Civil strife ensued in the 1890s between conservative and left-wing forces, leading to the victory of the leftists andy the dominance of the Tribal Socialists under High Saachem Sikosew Inew. A skilled statesmen, he presided over the victory in the Dutch Colonial War and the annexation of Kolossland.
Sikosew Inew, the architect of the Algonquian victory in the Dutch Colonial War.
Culture[]
Religion and Language[]
The vast majority of Algonquia's population is a member of the Algonquin linguistic group, with most being from either the Cree or Ojibwe groups. Cree is most widely spoken; virtually the entire population speaks it as a second language, and it predominates in the north and west. Ojibwe is spoken in the south and east, but much less, by only 5% of the population as a first language. French is also spoken, particularly among the upper classes and in coastal regions, but mainly as a second language. Smaller populations on the coast speak Basque, French and Frisian, relics of the government-encouraged immigration of the 18th century. In eastern areas, Mikmaq, German and Beothuk are spoken in some areas, notably Natigosteg and Kolossland, although Cree predominates. In the far north, Na-Dene and Inuit play a similar role. All of these minority languages have proven heavily influential on Cree, creating numerous loanwords and forming a hybrid language referred to as "Algonquin".
Although Algonquia was officially converted to Christianity in the 17th century, by the L'nu, conversions as lukewarm at best. Although the religion spread under Mississipia, the lack of official preference toward it never gave it the same ability to force conversions as occurred in other areas. As a result, Christianity was forced to merge with pre-Christian shamanic religions in order to spread. This has created a thriving, syncretic version of Christianity, which mixes saints with nature spirits, the Christian God with shamanic concepts of the Great Spirit, and other such compromises. Beliefs in the ability of priests to call on saints to influence the temporal world through communications with spirits are widespread, and many people will pay them to curse rivals on their behalf. Shamanism is still widespread in the far north and west.
Foreign Relations[]
Allies[]
- New Munich Pact
- All members of the New Munich pact are viewed as allies, Reme and Borealia in particular, and cooperate on many foreign policy goals and often economically.
Friendly[]
- France - Once Algonquia's protector, ties grew more distant after France's failure to help Algonquia in the Nehilaw War, but France is still viewed with liking by most Algonquians. French is widely spoken as a second language, and cultural trends tend to imitate French ones.
Neutral[]
- Germany - Although relations have been fraught with conflict over past years, notably over the Beothuk insurgency, Germany has been willing to take considerable steps toward addressing native welfare, and the government is interested in improving relations.
Hostile[]
- United Nordic Republics - Once a close ally, the UNR betrayed Algonquia and invaded it in a blatantly expansionist war in the 1700s. It has proceeded to steal the land of the Inuit, Na-Dene and Chippawa and allow disease and starvation to annihilate them. The UNR has shown itself to be a hostile, imperialist and deceitful nation, viewed at best with dislike by most Algonquians. In northern, Inuit-majority regions, "Scandinavian" has become an epithet for dishonest and greedy.