Paläkkinen

the Oligarchy of Paläkkinen, commonly known as Paläkkinen (alternatively spelt Palakkinen), is a nation in the Ewynnia region of East Alaxia. It is landlocked bordering Empherias (the High Kingdoms of Alaxia) and Grensalbourg to the west, and the Hveden Federation in all other cardinal directions. The capital and largest city is Teräkputo which is located near the eastern part of the river Ewynn. Other major cities include Mutärkeä and Pienikaup. The official language Palak, a Sisinic-based language similar to Empheri or Durbinian.

Pre-history
A collection of tribes known as the Wysinens inhabited the northern sects of the modern day country while a group of tribes known as the Sisinites (for which the proto-language Sisinic is named) covered much of the southern ground near the capital city. They migrated to the area and eventually mixed together. The mountains and geography isolated them from the neighbouring Empheri tribes and they grew isolated and developed their own cultures.

Formation
There developed many hundreds of small countries, duchies, and tracts of land. Eventually, the Kingdom of the Palaks rose up and conquered all of the smaller cities in the east. This country renamed itself to Palakkinen to create the modern day nation state.

Kingdom of Palakkinen
The country fought various war with it's neighbours, especially Empherias.

War of the Palakkine Succession
The ruling dynasty, the Kunigergs, have maintained power for many centuries and been prestigious. Because of a succession crisis, the 2381 War of the Palakkine Succession began. There were three rival internal factions, alongside a claimant from the Empheri and Norsairi thrones. The war began following the death of Katja III with no children or siblings or close relatives to take the throne. Katja, when she was alive, had promised that the throne would go to her cousin Katja Maria-Ellaine Kunigergs in 2375, but on her death bed she wished for her noble friend, Maaria Maritta Honkanen, to take the throne. Because she was in the palace, and her family (the Honkanen family) wanted power, Maaria became Rijkdottir Maria VI. Katja, believing she was the rightful heir, formed an army to fight. Meanwhile, Katja III's younger brother who had pre-deceased her, Georgi, had an illegitimate child through a highly publicised affair. This child, known as Georgi the Bastard. He was not in line for the throne, but believed he had a better claim being closer paternally than either of the other two claimants and he gained favour amongst some conservatives.

By 2382, Maria VI and Katja Maria-Ellaine had gone through some battles with no major outcome, whereas Georgi the Bastard was still finding more forces. Meanwhile, the Empheri rijkse, James VII, believed that he was the rightful heir to the Palak throne through some dubious royal marriages and relatives. The Rijkse continued to ask the Liberal Prime Minister, Wigfred Marksdottir, but she refused to consider any action. However, the Conservatives sided with the monarch and after winning some 10 seats in the 2382 election, and with intense pressure, she agreed to go to war to consolidate the Empheri claims. By 2383, Norsair had also got involved based on a similar premise with their king, and was also at all out conflict with Empherias.

Rijkdottir Maria VI was captured and executed by Georgi's forces in October 2386 and saw Georgi crowned as Georgi II. Georgi II then moved his forces on Katja Maria-Ellaine from the east while Empherias moved from the west. A Norsair counter attack in 2387 saw Empheri slow down their invasion. Some members of the court of Georgi II then betrayed him and gave crucial details to Katja Maria-Ellaine. Georgi II's entire army was captured by Katja in 2390 and he was executed. Katja was crowned Katja IV. Katja IV spent most of 2391 and 2392 cleaning up her army, her cities, etc. This brief pause in the war ended in 2393 as Empherias signed peace with Norsair. Now under a Conservative government, they levied more troops against Palakkinen.

To the annoyance of many people, Georgi the Bastard's son, Georgi the Thorn, rose up with his sect of troops once again in 2394 but saw no major action. He took advantage of a weakened Palakkinen government in early 2395 and tried to march on major cities. However, Empherias signed peace with Palakkinen on 1 February 2395 due to their own internal troubles and thus Katja IV returned to put down Georgi's rebellion. However, he fled and the war ended due to inaction by the summer of 2395.

Following the aftermath of the 2395 revolutions in Empherias, Georgi once again believed he could take over Katja IV and so rallied his troops in May 2397. He successfully murdered Katja IV in 2400 and took the throne to become Georgi III. Katja's eldest daughter, named Maaria-Maritta Katja Kunigergs, vowed revenge, and deposed Georgi the next year being crowned Maria VII. These events are known as the 'Georgi Intermission' or sometimes 'The Second War of the Palakkine Succession'. Throughout this, several pretenders tried to also seize the throne.

2409 Revolution
The constant period of war for the last twenty years was wearing people down. The succession crisis did not matter and many thought the constant warring was ridiculous and without any representation for the people. Resistance built up and inspiration from other populist movements saw the royal palace stormed in 2409 alongside armouries - a coup began. The royal family were put under house arrest in the deep southern tundra. By 2411, the royal family was taken into the freezing cold wasteland and the family was executed and buried, the location of their grave unmarked and unknown. This marked the end of the royal bloodline.

The Triumvirate
While the people were fed up with royalty and bloodline as the source of power, they were not fed up with people having total power. While it was agreed rulers should be elected, there was some arguments as to whether one person or several should be in power. Eventually the Oligarch faction won out, with three powerful and influential politicians being elected in 2411. These were Antton Kauppila, a great field marshall; Pekka Pihlaja, an immensely wealthy man running several industries; and Kaappo Hyvonen, the beloved Mayor of the capital city. This formed the 1st Great Triumvirate which would rule the nation. After this incident, many people seeking to overthrow or radically change the government quieted down or disbanded as they awaited the change the oligarchs would give.