Naomh Lazarus (An Honorable Retelling)

Commonwealth of Naomh Lazarus
Comhfhlaitheas an Naoimh Lazarus
Komonwelt ng Naomh Lazarus
Naomh Lazarus
Timeline: An Honorable Retelling
Commonwealth of Naomh Lazarus Comhfhlaitheas an Naoimh Lazarus; Komonwelt ng Naomh Lazarus; Naomh LazarusTimeline: An Honorable Retelling
Flag	Coat of arms
	Anthem: ; Auld Lang Syne; "Old Long Since" https://althistory.fandom.com/wiki/File:Auld_Lang_Syne_-_U.S._Navy_Band.ogg;
Capital	Mayńila
Largest city	New Edinburgh
Other cities	Matheson, Roxes, Cebaia
Official languages	Scottish Gaelic, Lazurino
Regional languages	Portuguese, Aklanon, Ilokano, 15 others
Demonym	Lazurino
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the Scottish Commonwealth
Establishment
Population
GDP (nominal)	2024 estimate
Drives on the	right

Naomh Lazarus, officially the Commonwealth of Naomh Lazarus (Scottish Gaelic: Comhfhlaitheas an Naoimh Lazarus, Lazurino: Komonwelt ng Naomh Lazarus) is a country located in Southeast Asia.

History[]

Pre-colonial Naomh Lazarus (900–1521)[]

Prior to European colonization, the Lazurino archipelago was dotted with various city-states and early polities that had emerged in the 10th century. The earliest written inscriptions found in Naomh Lazarus were the Old Malay-script Laguna Copperplate Inscription dating back to the year 822. These early Lazurino polities were believed to have started trading with China around the Tang Dynasty and continued into the early Song Dynasty. By the 15th century, Islam had reached the southern Lazurino archipelago and began to compete with Hinduism and Buddhism which had also reached the archipelago via trade. During this pre-colonial era, the most prominent Lazurino city-states were Maynila, Tondo, Namayan, Pangasinan, Cebu, Butuan, Maguindanao, Lanao, Sulu, Ma-i, among others.

Following the arrival of Portuguese explorer Ferinand Magellan in 1521, the Portuguese took advantage of the divided state of the archipelago to defeat Lapulapu and conquered the Chiefdom of Mactan on 27 April 1521. This victory is marked as the start of Portugese rule in Naomh Lazarus and the Portuguese had given the archipelago the name "San Lazaro" due to Magellan's arrival coinciding with the feast day of Saint Lazarus of Bethany.

Portuguese rule (1521-1762)[]

From 1521 onwards, the structure of Portuguese colonization was largely reliant on taking advantage of already-existing social structures present on the archipelago. Following the conquest of Mactan, the Portuguese used the city as a foothold to conquer and coerce other chiefdoms and city-states on the island of Cebu. In 1525, Maynila had begun paying tribute to the Portuguese and some Portuguese settlers began intermarrying within the established Chiefdoms and kingdoms on the archipelago. Throughout the 1520s and 1530s, the Portuguese began to amass an army based out of Cebu and Maynila and started to lay waste to the Indigenous polities which refused Portuguese rule. Chiefdoms and city-states which refused Portuguese rule were often enslaved and massacred, with the conquered areas falling under direct control of the Governor-General and Portuguese settlers. Following the conquest of the Visayans in 1561, the Portuguese had established full control over the archipelago while dealing with occasional indigenous resistance.

Due to Muslim presence in the Iberian Peninsula and the New World, a large motivating factor for Portuguese colonization was the spread of the Catholic faith. The arrival of Jesuit missionaries and enforcement of the Catholic faith resulted in local chiefdoms converting to Catholicism and abandoning their indigenous religions. At around the same time, the Portuguese were also exporting Catholicism to their protectorates in Champa and Timor. Catholic Portuguese settlers and their intermingling with Indigenous Lazurinos also helped spur the spread of Catholicism in the archipelago. Despite the growth of Catholicism in San Lazaro, there were still competing faiths in the colony such as the Muslim strongholds in the south and Waldensian Christianity exported to the region by Dutch merchants and missionaries.

Despite Portuguese dominance in Champa and San Lazaro, their colonial administration still faced several internal and external threats. On three separate occasions, the Dutch used their holdings in Nusantara and Sulawesi to attack Portuguese San Lazaro in 1610, 1617, 1624, and 1640. The Japanese also challenged the Portuguese in San Lazaro, with Japanese pirates attacking the islands in the late 1500s. Outside of the Dutch and Japanese, the Portuguese also faced indigenous uprisings which sought to resist Portuguese repression of their indigenous religions and cultures. Despite these challenges, the Portuguese were able to repel any serious threats to their rule in the Philippines. However, as the 1700s came around, the Portuguese were increasingly spread thin with their colonies in Champa, Lavradoria, Timor, and a renewed conflict with Oman in the Indian Ocean. Following Portuguese entrance into the First Great War, the newly risen Scottish Empire had begun to directly compete with the Portuguese in the South Pacific through their protectorate in Polynesia. On 21 September 1762, the Scottish Navy would pull an upset victory against the Portuguese during the Battle of Maynila and successfully conquer the city and the Portuguese Governor-General of San Lazaro. In the aftermath of the Treaty of Paris, the Scottish would be granted the entire archipelago in the Treaty of Paris.

Scottish colony (1763-1891)[]

Manila treaty exe — Mayńila in the 1830s

As opposed to the Portuguese who sought to take advantage of already existing social institutions to legitimize their rule, the Scottish directly consolidated the archipelago into a singular colonial entity under the jurisdiction of the Scottish military and Governor-General. The territory was formally reorganized into the “Colony of Naomh Lazarus” which is the Scottish Gaelic spelling of San Lazaro. Throughout the 1770s, the Scottish government began to promote Scottish settlement in the archipelago, began cracking down on the Portuguese language in the colony, promoting Scots Gaelic as the standardized language in the colony, and sending missionaries to promote the Church of Scotland to indigenous Lazurinos. At this time, Scottish settlers began founding ethnic enclaves on the archipelago such as New Edinburgh separate from native Lazurinos settlements, creating a system of segregation in Naomh Lazarus.

Andres Bonifacio — Aindreas Bonifacio, Lazurino independence leader

As Scottish rule was consolidated in Naomh Lazarus, a distinct and unified Lazurino identity also began to develop on the island. Ethnic Scottish and Lazurino Mestiços began to develop into a strong middle and upper-middle class on the archipelago who felt stronger loyalties to Naomh Lazarus itself then they did to Scotland. This nationalism, coupled with economic enfranchisement of the Lazurino middle class led to the rise of prominent independence figures such as Aindreas Bonifacio who hailed from this middle class. By the 1870s, there were greater calls by the people of Naomh Lazarus for self-governance and autonomy. On 12 April 1887, a delegation of Lazurino independence activists and nationalists would gather outside the Governor-General's palace in New Edinburgh demanding greater autonomy, the creation of a Lazurino parliament, and an end to the policy of persecuting non-Scots Gaelic languages. Despite the crowd being estimated at around 60,000; their demands were ignored, the Scottish military in the city used vicious tactics to break up the demonstration, leaving 17 dead and over 1,000 people injured.

LUPANG_HINIRANG_-_PHILIPPINE_NATIONAL_ANTHEM — LUPANG HINIRANG - PHILIPPINE NATIONAL ANTHEM

Lazurino revolutionaries in New Edinburgh (c. 1887)

This forceful response sparked outrage in the colony, and Bonifacio was soon leading campaigns against the Scottish in Cebu and Maynila proper. On 12 June 1888, the revolutionary army won a decisive victory against the Scottish army at the Battle of New Edinburgh, forcing the Governor-General to retreat north and wait for reinforcements while a provisional "Lazurino Republic" was declared and headquartered in Maynila. Despite the early victories, the revolutionary army struggled to capture the northern portions of the island of Luzon as the Scottish army received manpower and naval reinforcements. At the same time, the Scottish were unable to recapture Mayńila due to widespread civilian support for the revolution. By 1891, the stalemate had lasted for roughly 5 years and both sides were suffering tremendously. Bonifacio knew that with no international recognition, the Scottish would inevitably win the conflict. At the same time, Scottish Governor-General Eòin Hope knew that widespread civilian resistance meant a return to the pre-revolution colonial status quo would be impossible. As a result, Hope called on negotiations with the revolutionaries which Bonifacio reluctantly accepted. Negotiations began on 17 October 1890 before a final agreement would be ratified by both parties on 26 January 1891 in what is now known as the First Lazurino Constitution.

Commonwealth (1891-present)[]

Malacanang,+Manila,+1926 — Residence of the Prime Minister (Mayńila, c. 1920)

As established by the first constitution, Naomh Lazarus was reorganized as an independent country while remaining in personal union with the Scottish monarchy. The Lazurino people were able to elect their leaders for the first time in the 1892 elections which saw Aindreas Bonifacio be elected as the country's first Prime Minister. During his tenure, Bonifacio pushed through sweeping reforms which sought to empower Indigenous and Mestiço Lazurinos while weakening the political dominance of the white Scottish Ascendancy. Bonifacio also pushed for the institutionalization of Lazurino as the official language of Naomh Lazarus rather than solely Scottish Gaelic. Land reforms were also pushed through in 1895, resulting in native Lazurinos being allowed to buy and purchase property in majority white-Scottish settlements, resulting in a de-jure desegregation, though de-facto segregation continued within the archipelago until the early 1930s.

During the Third Great War, Naomh Lazarus and its population would see limited engagement in combat as the conflict theatres were far away from the distant lands in Southeast Asia. However, during the Fourth Great War, Naomh Lazarus would be directly threatened by the Empire of Bharat, which had begun a campaign of conquest and expansion throughout Southeast Asia. By 1940, Bharat had invaded and captured large portions of Scottish Borneo, putting Naomh Lazarus in direct risk of invasion. On the order of the Scottish government, over 100,000 Lazurinos and 30,000 Scotsmen were conscripted to recapture Borneo from Bharat. After a year-long campaign, the tide of battle would change following a decisive Scottish-Lazurino victory at the Battle of Sintang inland Borneo.

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