Empherias

the Kingdom of Empherias, commonly known as Empherias, is a nation in southeast Alaxia. It is a province of the greater High Kingdoms of Alaxia since 2448. It is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, but the monarchy plays little to no part to politics in Empherias, living in Kiavar. It is often cited as one of the most democratic and peaceful nations in the world, and has been consistently Social-Democrat or Centre-Left since 2395. The capital city of the nation is Wynnoa, located in the south central region on the river Ewynn. The second largest city is Esthullen, followed by Rommes. Vreimer acts as an important trading hub with the rest of the High Kingdoms, Rhequons is a seat of many company institutions and both Gateshaven and Nieuwbourg are large port cities on the coast.

The country's population is approximately 37.2 million. The true number of Empherians are unknown as there are many living in Empherias who haven't fully immigrated or assimilated, and there are many ex-patriots living in other countries, particularly in other High Kingdoms members, and the International City which hosts around 130,000 Empherians. It borders the Kingdom of Karkuss to the west, Koresa and Ahitereira in the northwest, Grensalbourg and Palakkinen in the east, and the Hveden Federation in both the north and south.

Since 2488, the nation has been ruled by Prime Minister Lucy King as leader of the People's Socialist Party, which runs as a subsidiary of the larger Red Bloq party that runs nationally in High Kingdoms' elections. Lucy King has won the previous 3 elections: those being 2491, 2495, and 2499. She intends to run in the next election, rumoured to be in 2503. On top of these, the Socialists also won the 2487 election with the former leader, Alistair Walker. Before these socialist successes, the nation was run by the Empherian Liberal Party (who are now the largest opposition party) under beloved Prime Minister, Scarlett May.

Geography
Empherias is a relatively small country, located on the southern flank of the High Kingdoms of Alaxia. By surface land area, Empherias occupies 1,353,583 km2, making it the 31st largest country in the world. It is often misattributed at being a large nation (although only the 3rd largest in the HKA) due to the distortion of the globe in a map projection. The country is relatively diverse in biomes, primarily dominated by mixed forests in its lowlands around the Ewynn Valley and vast swathes of Taiga in its highlands. To the north, the country occupies a portion of the massive Grensalbourg Volcanic Field, which forms large fractures or dikes resulting in relatively steep valleys around its margins. Otherwise, the country is not geologically active at all, with sparse seismic activity near its highlands. The country is split between the Kaarad-Tbek Mountains and Eastern Durbinian Mountains, which share a similar geology though the Ewynn cuts through the two ranges. Empherias is generally mild, with frostless winters throughout much of the country and cool summers everywhere.

Climate
Empherias' climate is diverse, ranging from relatively mild to extremely cold in certain areas. Snowy winters typically dominate throughout the southern half of the country, though the lowlands and north rarely ever experience freezing conditions.

Brekenreidkegt Brekepaine
Following decades of out of touch politicians continuously winning in Parliament, due to the bad representation system, having dukes and high titled men and women being allowed to vote, many people are angry. The most angry are the middle class in the suburbs of the largest cities: Wynnoa, Esthullen and Rommes, who are upset that the gap between them and the upper class were increasing. the "Brekenreidkegt Brekepaine" was a novel written by poet Lewis Rhommel in late 2394 criticising the institution of pointless suppression of voting by the lower and middle classes. The Brekenreidkegt being the local name for a town hall in southwest Esthullen which had been notorious for often comical voting margins and gerrymandering. The building was seized in the early morning at around half past four by around five hundred middle class civilians, with hundreds of lit torches and common weapons such as cricket bats, fencing swords and cooking knives. However, the pure amount of people forced the doors to break under pressure and the people to swarm through the front gates. One of the leaders of this protest was Edgard Morrison, an avid populist, who wanted to convince the corrupt Duke in the area to free up voting regulations and allow people to vote and elect a new representative of the people. This was important as a new tax law, which would've raised taxes, was about to be passed by the government of the nation. Windows smashed, royal guards stabbed and killed, and the Duke fled the scene and declared an emergency to Rijkse James VII of Empherias.

A local populist man named Felix D'laminet was chosen by the local mass of people among popular opinion to replace the current duke in hiding. The overthrown Duke self-declared his exile, being rich enough to support himself elsewhere in the countryside and fearing a return. Felix had previously worked as an adviser to the Duke, trying to promote new and radical reforms and ideas. He was fired after not blending well and then started work at a local outspoken newspaper, the "Real People's Work" where he gained popularity amongst the classes. A cult of personality had formed around Felix D'laminet. He had formed the People's Populist Party (PPP) and hoped to challenge the ruling class in the upcoming elections under the Rijkse James VII. However, another popular man. Henry Alark was also popular amongst populists known for his more violent and militarist opinions. This extremist branch believed that they should remove the entire current Parliament by force in a revolution. These Alarkists began planning to take over.

Aerogastnicht - Night of the Many Ghosts
Four months before the scheduled national elections, Henry Alark rallied his small extremists in the town of Scudbourg. They had used months of preparation, and many were armed with ex-military rifles ready to storm the government. They began at the King's Palace, the Parliament, the Main City Centre, and many rich manors around the city. They stormed the Parliament. Two hundred militia and Alark himself stormed in the doors and creating mass panic in the building. Only a dozen of MPs were there, but they were all slaughtered as they were defenceless. Immediately, the Royal Guards were called. The Prime Minister immediately sent Rijkse James VII to flee in Rommes, while he would rally the Royal Guards to attack and defeat the insurrection, and the PM himself would try and calm down the crowds. the Battle of Parliament was fought for three whole days, with the Royal Guards against the Militia until the militia was entirely unorganised, chaotic and leaderless. As Henry Alark fled, the Battle had claimed eighty lives, and many MPs had died.

Despite not taking part of inciting the insurrection, Felix D'laminet was arrested on charges of treason for defying the Duke, and being a pretender in a public position. The elitists tried to do this to curb the influence of the populists, but many of his supporters threatened another insurrection, but bigger this time. The Royal Guards were put on high alert. Felix D'laminet became a very well known figure across the country due to many newspapers of the event, and many sympathised with his cause. Applications to join the populist party skyrocketed in the next few weeks and months. On election day, the populists were not taking part, and the Conservatives had won the election, with many of the nobles and elite sympathising for their lost party members. the Alarkists prepared a march on Parliament again, this time with numbers of tens of thousands instead of a few hundred.

The Princess Coup
The King's daughter, the eldest of the children, Princess Abigail has taken over the duty of ruling the country following her father's flee. Abigail, having had her education in foreign nations due to the King's busy work, has a different idea on how to control the government. While the Rijkse has fled from Rommes to the Hveden Federation, Abigail disbands the entire government of mostly un-elected dukes and lords and takes complete control of the entire nation's government. She promises she will remove this power from herself once a parliament of only elected officials is put in place. Taking charge of a newly elected Parliament, she creates a faction of liberals which allies itself with the large following of the People's Populist Party and has the support of many lower and middle class people. The nobles and lords that have been removed from power are very angry to lose influence over the government. Very few now support Princess Abigail and many of them form a faction of Frankists, supported by rich and upper class people, lords and nobles, and the people who work for these nobles and lords to support themselves. Rijkse James, if he was to return from Hvede is likely to be torn between his daughter and the Frankists.

The Populist Uprising (2395-2415)
Princess, now Rijkdottir, Abigail releases Felix D'laminet from prison as she is sympathetic to his cause. She asks Felix to form a new government and become the new Prime Minister. This new government was formed on 1st January 2397. Despite his violent tendencies, he selects other prominent populist figure Henry Alark to lead a ministry of defence. This is mainly to raise an army to quell any noble uprisings if they are to come, or other foreign nations who may intervene with the revolution. He also selects Harry Redworks, a left wing political adviser to the old Rijkse; Edward Broedesmore, a slightly middle class land owner and philanthropist who had devoted time to helping the poor; William Weslington, a former army general and liberal advocate brought to serve in the new military as a high ranking general; Robert Webber, a political commentator and expert who leant conservative; Henry Watford, a local business owner who leans conservative; Maria Harris, a friend to Felix who leans liberal; Amelia Rattsenburg, owner a local newspaper and daughter of a rich noble who leans liberal; and Alice Rettels, a descendant of the famous Empherian ambassador Alexander Rettels.

Felix D'laminet's Tenure
This new government led the nation in the years following until the Rijkdottir demanded that Felix hold a general election to democratically elect officials into government positions. Felix officially branded himself into the leader of the Populist party and ran for the position of Prime Minister in the first post-revolution election on 28th March 2402. Opposing him was his good friend and great Socialist advocate, Elizabeth Rose, running for the Socialist party; the very conservative and establishment Conservative leader, Josef Martinique; and many smaller parties such as the Liberals, the Social-Nationals and the Right Democrats. The Populists won the election, winning 144 out of 300 possible constituency seats. While this was not a majority of seats, the rest of the parties' vote was fractured which gave the Populists a plurality of the votes and therefore the right to form a government. They formed a minority government. The Conservatives won 99 seats, 45 less than the Conservatives. The Socialists won 25 seats. Elizabeth Rose opened up possibilities of a left-wing coalition between the Populists and Socialists, but nothing came of it and the Populists had no trouble running the nation.

The next general election occurred on 1st May 2407. It was all but agreed that May would serve as a month for the elections. Again running were the Populists, led by Felix D'laminet; the Conservatives, led by Josef Martinique; and the Socialists, led by Elizabeth Rose. The Socialists manage to win 10 more seats than the Conservatives (80 to the Conservatives' 70) while the Populists won again with 139 seats. The Liberals did worse than usual with many votes going to the Conservatives. This demonstrated a shift further to the left as populist ideals grew more in pop culture and society. Felix D'laminet announced his resignation on 10th April 2411 following 14 full years of ruling the country. Originating from health issues, he originally planned on taking a year off to recover while allowing fellow party member Robert Webber to act as an Interim Prime Minister, before returning to the role. However, Felix later decided that after the decade and a half that he should go for good and a new fresh face lead the nation. As the resignation was immediate however, the new party leader had to be implemented. Leader of the second largest party and in an informal coalition with the ruling party, the Socialists were sworn in as a caretaker government. This government was governed by Elizabeth Rose from D'laminet's resignation until the next election date of 17th April 2412. This caretaker government allowed many populist figures to remain in key positions.

Webber and Watford's Tenure
Despite having the bid of being D'laminet's preferred interim, Robert Webber ultimately lost out a tough nine month leadership election to colleague, Henry Watford. He had previously served as Lord of the Treasury under Felix D'laminet's government. Using the height of memory of the populist government of the past, and the Populist mania in pop culture, Watford created an ideal picture around himself in the media and easily won the 17th April 2412 election. He won 141 seats, more than Felix did in his second run at the election but still produced a minority government. Because of more difficulty in passing legislature without a majority, and the Socialists unwilling to form an informal coalition without D'laminet's leadership, the Populists were forced to allow a new election to take place before the scheduled 2417 election. After debates in parliament, the next election was decided to take place on 21st December 2414 on national Empherias day, to allow high voting turnouts. The 2412 election actually increased the size of the Commons from 300 to 325 members of parliament following an addition of constituencies. This made the achievement of 141 MPs more underwhelming.

The election on 21st December 2414 would again increase this size in Parliament, from 325 to 371 members. Henry Watford ran again for the Populists while the other two major parties also kept the same leader. The popular and constituency votes disagreed for the first time in history. The popular vote which would form a government was won by the Populists making Henry Watford the new Prime Minister. However, the Socialist party won more constituency seats in Parliament and therefore were able to block government legislature. This was more torturous than the political problems in 2412 and led to Henry Watford's resignation as Prime Minister and leader of the Populist party on the 28th December 2414. Robert Webber, with his chance stolen in 2414, took the position as both leader of the party and Prime Minister on the same day. To end this political turmoil, Webber places a new election to take place the following year on 21st December 2415. He planned on passing legislature with support of parties on a case by case basis to try and improve the political situation. Webber promised a Populist leadership election to truly elect a new leader by June 2415, but this date was not met.

The election on 21st December 2415 would again increase the size of parliament to 401 members. A small bloc of Conservative and Liberal voters formed a new Liberal party which stood in the election. The Socialists, under Elizabeth Rose, managed to win both the popular and constituency votes winning 225 members of parliament, a majority of 24 seats. The Populists only managed 99 members of parliament, with the Conservatives even lower on 60. This solidified the Socialists as a force to be reckoned with in politics.

The Battle of Priscei Cathedral
During this term, Felix had to deal with many different issues. First, the threat of a monarchist invasion and uprising, and possible intervention from monarchist nations surrounding them. On 3rd March 2399, thousands of men following various noblemen rise up in the city of Priscei and capture the city without resistance. D'laminet orders Henry Alark, the Minister of Defence to retaliate. He sends the Royal Guards, populist volunteers and militia, and what remains of the old Empherias National Army of 20,000 troops to attack and put down the rebellion. Outside the Priscei Cathedral, 26,000 populist troops with General William Weslington battle an opposing 5,000 monarchist rebels led by Lord Peter van Rindelburg. Due to superior training and morale, with many noble troops fighting out of obligation not for support, the Populists take only 800 casualties while the Monarchist rebels take 2400 casualties. This leads to half of the Monarchist rebels dead, and the Empherias army still standing strong with 25,000 troops. The remaining rebels are either arrested or flee. Lord Peter is captured and executed for treason the following year in 2400.

Due to embarrassment, Rijkse James VII, who had planned to return to Empherias to aid a Monarchist revolt had their campaign been more successful, decided to remain in Hvede. Local newspapers spread the idea that Rijkse had essentially abdicated and exiled himself to live in a country estate in Hvede. The popularity of the Monarchists dwindled as many placed their trust in the new government. Monarchist nobles were stripped of titles and lands to scare other lords into going against the government. Many who took part in the rebellion were executed or imprisoned. The Populists grew in popularity rapidly. Many nobles weren't very pleased with these changes but did not want to revolt due to the major change in political climate, and their recent loss at Priscei. Then, due to Rijkse James VII's essential abdication in the previous days, Abigail was coronated on the Empherias National Day of Celebration on December 21st 2401 as Rijkdottir Abigail the First. She swore not to go mad with power and protect Empherias from any future threats, and to devote her whole life to the nation. She awarded Henry Alark, Felix D'laminet and William Weslington with the highest order of the nation: a knighthood.

Policies of the Populists
One of the first policies of the Populists was to create a grand but small army to defend Empherias with. Henry Alark founded the Empherias navy, despite being landlocked, in 2401. He negotiated a deal with Ahitereira-Koresa to lease a small piece of land on the coast of the East Alaxian sea, in which an Empherian port would be established named Nieuwbourg. It was intended to be a large port for imports and exports. A large railway would connect Nieuwbourg and the closest major trade city, Vreimer. The railway would not be Empherian territory, but owned by the National Empherias Trading Association as a company. Tariffs for the port would be set by Empherias, and would also see the creation of military warships for Empherias. In return, a non-aggression pact was signed for 10 years with border control decreased significantly. Cash would be paid for the lease and both Koresan and Empherian workers could work on the port to bring in jobs for both nations. Half of the profits from commercial use would be given to Ahitereira. the Treaty of the Nieuwbourg Port was signed in 2402.

An alliance between the Kingdom of Empherias and the Hveden Federation was signed on 18th February 2402.

Following Nieuwbourg's construction, an Empherias battleship was comissioned on 5th June 2412 by Alark. Blueprints and plans were acquired from Hveden Federation with research from Empherian engineers.

Tax breaks were given to mothers who have three or more children. More children were popularised in media through government intervention. Furthermore, schemes to encourage immigration to Empherias were created. Path to citizenship was made easier, with the ability to hold dual-nationality. Communities and towns built specifically for ex-patriots of other countries were created and given small pieces of autonomy. Large examples of this were Nehvedenbourg which hosted many Kusfeldic heritage, and Palakteb, a town filled with many Palaks. The media was requested to show off the nation as a safe space for migrants and refugees throughout the world. Racism and xenophobia is taught in schools to be against good moral code. Old cultural significance to the Empherians, to not completely remove any symbols of the Empherian people, were shown off too. The old popular sport of sword-fighting was brought back in spectacular fashion in the Fencing Cup in 2406, with subsequent cups every year. As 2500, this remains one of the most popular sports in Empherias. Empherias dress was shown off more often and December 21st was made a national holiday in 2408.

The government took a new approach to education. An education minister would establish new rules for education. A seperate of Primary and Secondary education was made, with the former ending at age 10. Language learning of either Hveden or Ahitereiran was introduced there after with a third language optional at age 14. Children could leave school at 16 to become a legal adult and earn an adult's minimum wage. All children took an end of school exam for qualifications. Later education started at age 17 which included pre-existing universities. The first government endorsed university was Esthullen National College but more continued. A child's minimum was furthermore set at half of an adult's. The lands of the Tbekien were annexed on 10th July 2410. Although occupied for some centuries now, new documentation was passed in parliament that recognised the land as sovereign Empherias soil equal to the other lands. Minister of Foreign Affairs asked the global community to recognise these lands as Empherias too. To emphasise that these lands were represented by Empherias, 25 new constituencies were formed out of the land and added to the Parliament. However, it is notable that these constituencies had far fewer people than other constituencies due to the large amount of inhospitable lava fields in the area. A local governorship was established as Representative of the Lands and People of Tbekien which would represent the region in the cabinet of the government.

Discussed by Henry Alark and Alice Rettels, the Hveden Federation and the Kingdom of Empherias signed a deal in late 2411 that promised the entire army of Empherias to aid the Hveden's in case of war with the ability to assign the command of all troops to their army. In return, Hvede would provide army and navy technologies of the time to keep the army in top notch condition. Military access would be granted to both nations alongside naval access. However, this was later ended by Prime Minister Elizabeth Rose.

Soon after, in early 2412, them and the Kingdom of Karkuss would form the AHEK Alliance. Palakkinen joined the alliance later in 2414. The Lava Field & People Collaboration Mission was former in 2413 by Elizabeth Rose which dealt with matters of research over the lava fields. Two separate slices of land were bought from the Hveden Federation in early 2414. Railways are also built between Hvede and Empherias. (pictured)

the new National Empherias Housing Associate (NEHA) would provide small houses including a small living space, a kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom. These were be built in stacks of five and stacked closely together in city centres, and in suburbs were to be in stacks of up to twenty to accommodate large amounts of people. Changes to tax are 0.5% increase for the years of 2412 and 2413 alone, and then 0.25% increase in 2414 and 2415.

Due to the recession and unpopularity, Henry Watford made the decision to lower income tax from 21.5% to 16% on the lowest paid brackets, and for medium class ($60,000 or more) from 26.5% to 21%, and for upper class ($140,000 or more) from 33.5% to 28%. This puts less strains on the citizens themselves. Due to the tax decrease, Education funding is scrapped for at least until 2417, Housing funding is scrapped for at least until 2417, and a tax was placed on luxury goods that will equal 30% of their value on top.

Integration of Weskynn and Norsair
Following a suspiciously large donation, the royal family of Weskynn place an Empherian politician and statesman David Algarre as the Prime Minister of their nation. Following this, Algarre submits a declaration of unilateral union with the Kingdom of Empherias. Amelia Rattsenburg begins the process of integration of many public services. Their legal rights are submitted into the Empherian constitution and they are admitted to the state on 1st January 2414. This integration increases the Empherian parliament from 325 to 371 members. Norsair, the duchy to the south east, was in a similar situation. Following alleged scandals by the former Duke that supposedly breached the safety of Empherian citizens on the border, Henry Alark moved 3000 peacekeeping troops to the capital of the nation. These remained from June 2412 until September 2413. The government was under immense pressure from the Empherias chief adviser Harry Redworks and information adviser Amelia Rattsenburg alongside it's own representatives to change the situation. The government collapsed on 12th September 2413 following a heated argument between the ruling Chaparet party and a coalition member Daliget party. Chaparet were in favour with more collaboration with the Empherians through further integration with the similar languages. The Daligets however, and many opposition parties, wanted to continue with independence.

Harry Redworks, a popular figure in Norsair, having studied and become a pseudo-celebrity, moved to the capital to defuse the situation on 15th September 2413. He was more popular than any member of the government had been, mainly because he had been removed from the situation, and was wanted by many Chaparet members to take charge of the parliament. With an overwhelming backing, Redworks became the new leader of the Chaparet where he persuaded enough opposition and Daliget members to support his side enough to form a new government. They wanted fresh change, were inclined by money and fame, and passed the motion to elect the new government on 21st September 2413 creating the first "stable" government since 2409. Following this, Redworks passed legislature that would allow easy integration with Empherias such as changing many standardisations to match. He persuaded the nation to vote for a bill that would allow the action to join the Kingdom of Empherias in early 2414. This legislature was bound up in much bureaucracy and the bill was expected to come into effect in October 2414 with possible unification in early 2415. The bill was signed into law on 28th October 2414. Redworks was expected to pass a bill unifiying the two nations on 16th January 2415. However, the populist's mediocre result at the 2414 election convinced Redworks that a possible populist defeat was possible in following elections and that his own ideology may be on the decline. If he was to resign in Norsair, he could fall back on his job in the Populist cabinet of Empherias, but without this, he had no safety net. He delayed the signing of the unification until 20th July 2415 when fellow Chaparet believed he was trying to consolidate power for himself. Chaparet and the opposition formed a vote of no confidence on 29th July 2415 which passed, removing Redworks from power. Norsair's new Prime Minister, Alexander Charles, signed the unification on 11th August 2415. Norsair is recognised to have joined Empherias on 1st September 2415.

The Rose Era (2415-2425)
Elizabeth Rose became the Prime Minister on the night of the 21st December 2415 with a majority of the seats in Parliament. This was the first time since the revolution that the government had a majority of the seats in Parliament and this allowed for easy change and a shift in politics to occur. To consolidate local power around Empherias, Elizabeth Rose wanted to make a union of countries around all of East Alaxia for peace, security and economic benefits for all partaking members. She spent the majority of 2416 and 2417 attempting to make deals with other nations. Ludwig Reimes, a good friend of Elizabeth Rose and continuous figure among Socialist outlets, was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer following a recession caused by the leadup and impact of the First World War.

Economic Union of East Alaxia (EUEA)

 * see also: Economic Union of East Alaxia

Social Policies
During Elizabeth Rose's reign, the previous King who had fled to the Hveden Federation died of a stroke whilst still exiled. He was moved back to Empherias for a royal burial in early 2416. The socialists, under pressure from the royal family, introduced a same-sex marriage bill allowing two members of the same sex to get married. Homosexual relationships were allowed previously for many centuries, but never in marriage. The bill came into effect in February 2416 allowing for one of the royal members, Princess Maria, to get married to another woman in May 2416.

Dissolution of the Populist Party
The populist party at this point is a skeleton of it's former self. Robert Webber as leader is grossly unpopular having lost power and had some disagreements with other popular populist figures. He is humiliated after a speech to the Populist convention on 12th May 2417 and then resigns the following day. Alice Rettels, the great granddaughter of acclaimed ambassador Alexander Rettels, takes over as the Interim leader. She makes exactly two appearances in Parliament as the populist leader before she signs the formal dissolution of the populist party on 1st August 2417. During Rettels' tenure, over 20 populist MPs had renounced their party membership. Webber, when speaking on the dissolution in his autobiography in 2421, stated:

"I hold no responsibility to Rettels for the dissolution of the party. What I, and my predecessors, were doing was steering a sinking ship as far as it could go. Following the rise of ideologically driven political parties - and hundreds at that - the need for a populist party was gone. Whatever action we took for the future would lead to some corner of the party feeling frustrated. The populist project could not go on."

Robert Webber, Alice Rettels, Henry Watford, and other prominent populist figures change their allegiance to the People's Socialist Party which closely followed their ideologies under Elizabeth Rose's leadership. The most famous politician not to follow is Peter Goodard, an advocate for conservatism within the populist that had a large following. 66 of the 99 populist MPs sign up to the Socialist party by 2418, while 20 went to the Conservatives, 4 to the Liberals, 1 to the Nationalists and 8 remained independent.

Elizabeth Rose was happy to allocate top populist politicians to positions in the government. Henry Alark maintains his position as Minister of Defence and the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Edward Broedesmore, formerly the Lord of the Treasury; is made a financial adviser. Alice Rettels is appointed as the Empherian ambassador to the Hveden Federation but later becomes Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The Rose Project
Building on the Felix D'laminet Decade Roadmap (2407-2417) and Watford Five Year Plan (2413-2417) made under a populist government, Elizabeth Rose unveils the Rose Project on 1st September 2417 following the end of Summer Recess. The plan consisted of three stages beginning in 2417 and continuing past 2427. The plan was flexible to allow future Prime Ministers to make tweaks and changes to the situation if the Socialists didn't continue. Major infrastructure projects will improve the economy following the recession.

Universities were be built across the country in the nation's biggest cities. The largest university created was the Royal University of Rosetta, in Wynnoa. Foreign students were welcomed and treated equally within the schools although small cases were racism still existed. These schools prioritised higher subjects such as Science, Engineering and Mathematics. To support these universities, grants were given out by the government to lower costs of enrolment and to encourage learning. Major missteps were made with not regulating these grants as many schools maintained their current cost of entry while also taking in grant money. There were also instances of fraud within their institutions. Rose recommended lowering the tax that schools and corporations had to pay to allow for greater allocation of money but these were never passed in Parliament.

Defence wasn't prioritised as much as before. The fear of monarchist or particularist revolts died down following the relative stabilities in Empherias in the 2410s. Spending was cut by 33% in the duration of the plan with the majority of spending going to research and development, with 28% of the remaining spending going to the purchase and production of naval vessels.

New transport links regarding railways and road infrastructure were created across the nation. More bridges were built to connect towns across primarily the river Ewynn and it's tributaries. New train stations, research and development, better transport networks were developed. The majority of railway services remained privatised but some were sold to public companies to work on more rural railways, primarily ones in the mountains. Despite railways being the nation and the government's preferred way of travel, the majority of research and development went into new trial transport methods such as trams. Bicycles were also encouraged with plans to build more bicycle lanes however these were dropped due to cost concerns. Cost would be a huge factor which slowed the progress. The deadline was delayed countless times from 2427 to as late as 2433 with some plans being scrapped all together.

Palakkinen Border Crisis
On 7th December 2417, Palakkinen announced claims on the eastern-most parts of the Eastern Durbinian Mountains. These parts were claimed, and had been claimed, by the Hveden Federation for decades by this point and they had begun migrations to here within the previous ten years. Hvede threatened war with Palakkinen unless they backed down, which they didn't. The following day, Henry Alark pulled 24,000 troops out of reserves into active duty and sent to patrol the south-eastern border. He did this under the continuation of good Empherias-Hvede relations and alliance. By the 10th December 2417, the tension had heated up and Henry Alark forced Elizabeth Rose to pass the Act of Reserves 2417. This act pulled all remaining 46,000 reserve troops into active duty and reformed the army into 14 divisions of 5,000 troops. Alark personally stationed these equally across the border. He also ordered the E.R.S Abigail battleship to sail down the Ewynn River to patrol trade going to Palakkinen.

The Crisis was ultimately mediated by the foreign party of Ahitereira which created the Non-Aggression of East Alaxia. This allowed Palakkinen to annex the mountains it had claimed, guaranteed non-aggression between Empherias, Hvede, and Palakkinen, and recognised an Hveden expansion into the southern-most unclaimed lands in the east. Hvede's full control over these lands was not recognised and a conference to divide up these lands never occurred.

Empherias maintained better relations and exited it's semi-isolation phase. Princess Catherine Lydekker of Empherias then married Prince Fernico of Ahitereira-Koresa in 2418. This drastically improved Empherias-Ahitereiran relations. Prince Louis Lydekker of Empherias then married Princess Wendy of Karkuss in 2419.

The Late Rose Era
In the 2420 election, with the populists out of the picture, the main rivalry was between Elizabeth Rose and the conservative leader, William Henry Russell. Rose was delighted with the result of 299 socialist MPs compared to the Conservative's 100. This gave the Socialists a great majority and mandate to continue carrying out the Rose Project. Both Elizabeth Rose and Ludwig Reimes micromanaged the economy to an extent during the recession to make sure everything more closely. The national budget was evaluated every six months to make sure budgets were strict, and a significant amount of the budget was contributed to debt repayment and keeping money in the treasury. After a significant amount of by-elections in 2423, William Henry Russell resigned as leader of the Conservative party due to losses.

The Rettels Era (2425-2435)
Elizabeth Rose then announced during one of her speeches on 20th February 2424 that she would resign on the 1st May 2424. She did not choose her successor, instead wishing to hold a leadership election between March and April 2424. She announced in the same speech that she has prepared for reformed EUEA propositions to be created and hoped the next Prime Minister would continue her work to unite East Alaxia in an economic and political union. Alice Rettels ultimately won this leadership election and led the Socialists in the 2425 election. This election was the first using the proportional representative system where Rettels won 59.7% of the vote, securing her a clear majority and mandate. Her main rival in the election was Liberal leader Skylar Lawrence. The Conservatives had collapsed following troubles in 2423 and 2424 and eventually merged with the Liberals. They claimed only 35.2% of the vote however. Henry Artenflower, famous leader of the fringe Nationalist party, died on 18th December 2425 of health complications at age 86. The nationalists then selected Luka Beckers, aged 28, to take over the party. This worried both Lawrence and Rettels as his rhetoric was a valuable asset to any party. Harry Redworks, former domestic affairs minister in Norsair, and president of the country with the same name, died soon after.

Major changes to the budget occurred under Rettels who believed that the effects of the recession had lessened. The education budget was increased by nearly 50% acknowledging their grant scheme wasn't particularly helping. They reformed the scheme system to pay parents of smart children a large percentage of their enrolment fee to allow poorer families to still have good education in universities. Grants were only be granted to safe and trusted universities, although like always this was exploited. Public schools were offered and were paid entirely by government or charities up until the age of 16 to allow poverty stricken parents to give their younger children basic education. This massively increased literacy rates and caused a standardisation of the Empherian language which was set to be similar to Alaxian standards in Ahitereira. Private schools were still available however.

Rettels submitted a law to the parliament for the creation and empowerment of trade unions which was approved by 92.5% of the Commons, and 90.8% of the Representatives house. These would be able to strike against bad employers which increased the worker's rights in an industrialising and capitalist society. The government also introduced a minimum wage law set at 4.50 krelats per hour. Local legislation elsewhere saw the wage increase to as much as 5.25 krelats per hour. Liza Veys, Rettels, and Reimes sat down with many of the top delegations of Alaxian powers to which their reformed EUEA plans were again rejected.

Naval Expansion of the 2420s
The army, following the end of the Great War, would see an even lesser purpose. Their budget was cut by half with the navy doubling their budget. The navy was seen as more important, especially for trade. Rettels appointed famous admiral Tom Rijkseite to serve as Chief of the Naval Forces. A naval expansion would see the purchase from Ceironia of:


 * 4 battleships
 * 6 destroyers
 * 11 rapid-assault cruisers
 * 3 heavy-assault cruisers
 * 4 submarines
 * 1 dreadnought

This included a goal of 8,000 volunteers for sailors and the employment of new engineers. New submarine and dreadnought designs would be developed with the help of Hveden technology. He further announced 7 coastal patrol vessels and a new battleship hich were completed by 2427.

Military Expansion of the 2420s
Henry Alark wished to expand the military similar to Tom Rijkseite's expansion to the navy. Despite the recent budget cut, Alark succeeded in this by importing old scrapped metals and accepting gifts from neighbours. 50,000 volunteers went through two years of military training, although this didn't increase the numbers much as around ~30,000 former volunteers left the army entirely. He organised a deal with Ceironia that would see Empherias purchase the blueprints, designs and decommissioned models of military aircraft, old battleships, submarine, destroyers and armoured cars. Palakkinen contemplated a joint-development of military equipment but nothing came of it. The first in-house built Empherian tank, the Erwynn I, began production in 2430.

Kiavalar donated a large amount of weapons, equipment and knowledge to the Empherian army in early 2430. The army gained:


 * 200 heavy tanks
 * 100 light tanks
 * 15 medium tanks
 * 200 planes
 * 50 metal body planes
 * 200 armoured cars
 * licences for production
 * two military officers expert in either armed or naval forces

William Weslington filled in for Alark often during this period due to his worsening health. Following his 6 weeks off from the military, he was forced to take another 2 months leave due to a stroke suffered on the end of the 6th week. Following a year of up and down participation in planning and coordinating the ministry of defence from home, through letters, he was forced away from this practice when he had a second stroke after receiving news of a disaster fire onboard one of the battleships - although the fire only caused minimal damages before being put out. He was hospitalised and he passed away in his sleep 4 days later. He was 92 and insisted he remained in government throughout the remaining years of his life. William Weslington became the Minister of Defence in his place.

The Treaty of Grensalbourg
The Treaty of Grensalbourg was signed with Palakkinen on 14th September 2428. This treaty ceded a large portion of land in eastern Empherias (although all land lost had been acquired by Hvede a decade earlier) to Palakkinen. Empherian companies remained in control of 5% of mining rights in this area. A new country, known as Grensalbourg, would become an independent city state built by joint Empherian and Palakkinen workers to act as a major trading hub with open borders to both nations. It would be led by two co-leaders with one appointed by Empherias and one by Palakkinen. This city state vowed to be permanently demilitarised but under military protection by all involved parties. Anybody living in Grensalbourg would be eligible for dual-citizenship of Empherias and Palakkinen with new children to automatically hold both citizenships. However, in 2470, Grensalbourg introduced a Grensalbourgish citizenship that people can opt into if they wanted to.

Lack of Innovation in the 2430s
The Election of 2430 ended predictably in another Socialist victory. Skylar Lawrence humiliated as the Liberals lost 12 seats, but she vowed she would reform policies and lead the Liberals to a great victory. Rettels had little more to promise as the Socialists fatigued being in power too long. She introduced the Public Weapons Act which banned weapons in public without a reasonable purpose or expressed permission with punishment of imprisonment or fines.

the Royal Marriage of Princess Roxanne and her boyfriend James Boulevard saw the eldest daughter of the heir to the throne, Prince George married at age 18 to a friend of hers from university and son of famous newspaper editor John Boulevard. The service took place in late 2432.

Despite a very lackluster third term, Rettels announced her resignation as Prime Minister to take place on 1st November 2433 with another socialist leadership race taking place between 1st August and 24th November. She was heavily criticised for this, having done practically nothing in two years, while passing on the baton to a new Prime Minister who would have only two years to introduce effective legislature before the next general election. high profile socialist, former populist, and cabinet long timer Edward Broedesmore wins the race and becomes Prime Minister. This race is controversial as Broedesmore wins by just 5,000 votes and beating out very popular Chancellor Ludwig Reimes.

Edward Broedesmore again does very little legislature. He was praised for little interference in the economy, making it the most free market Empherias had been since the 2300s however he was critiqued heavily for his failure to help poverty stricken families or introducing regulation which both Elizabeth Rose and Alice Rettels promised but never implemented. Both him and Rettels failed to seek new research and therefore Empherias fell behind in terms of technology by around five years. He was known as egotistical and was later revealed to be incredibly corrupt. He glided Empherias to the next election in 2435. He stood for re-election against Skylar Lawrence: A veteran politician and liberal expert who had been steadily gaining popularity against the Socialist's arrogance and lack of innovation.

The Lawrence Administration
Following Skylar Lawrence's victory at the general election, she vowed to change the landscape of Empherias forever. Being the first right wing party in power in over 40 years, Lawrence announced that she planned to increase the amount of disposable income for citizens and be the party for corporations and businesses. This led to the Income Tax Act 2435, where the Liberals lowered income tax from 20% to 18% on lower tax brackets, and from 20% to 16% on higher income tax brackets. Their government also passed the Minimum Wage Act of 2435 where the minimum wage was decreased by 55.5% to encourage businesses to employ more people and lower unemployment. Lawrence decreased the amount of government spending on the welfare state by 1.2%, moving this money to giving out subsidies to badly performing businesses to encourage growth. The education budget was slashed following the cut to income tax to stop the government going into debt, and the whole industry was effectively privatised.

The government created the Government Company and Interests Foundation (GKIF) in the Government Corporate Economic Growth Act 2436. This agency was owned by the government and gave grants to business start-ups who follow government guidelines and agree to operate exclusively in Empherias for the first ten business years. They also created the Government International Company Association (GIKA) which aimed at bringing in business and companies from other countries to operate in Empherias with further grants, loans, land and lower rent prices. In 2437, the government passed the Corporate Tax Act 2437, which lowered corporate tax from 30% to 25%. They vowed to lower this figure to 20% but this never happened during this administration.

The Liberal government, especially Minister of Justice Josephine Bell, wanted a reform to the judicial system. This established the government court headed by experts in law by the current party; the opposition court headed by experts in law by the party in the opposition; and finally the Supreme Court. The supreme court would be headed by individuals who, once appointed, would serve forever until death or resignation. They would be experts in law, and legally required to abstain from all politics. Judges on the supreme court would number 11, and usually be chosen as the longest serving court members. Prisons would be down-scaled in severity with smaller and less severe sentences. Sentences on different types of offences would be set in stone and standardised across the whole nation. Furthermore, the government abolished the death penalty in the Capital Punishment Act 2440. During this time, Parliament relocated from a small palace building in Esthullen - where it had been located since 2396 - to a newly built palace in Wynnoa. The Supreme Court would remain.

Skylar Lawrence's party would run for re-election in the 2430 general election where they lost their majority in Parliament and lost 48 seats in total. She had to be careful because of her minority government and being unable to make a coalition. Theoretically, she could of made a coalition with the Centrists, Conservatives and the Nationalists, but this would've been a very thin coalition. Therefore, she ran on a case by case party co-operation basis. Three major bills passed through parliament during this time:


 * In November 2440, Lawrence proposed the Empherias Oil Claimant Act 2440, which would claim oil patches in oceans surrounding Southeast Alaxia. With co-operation from the Nationalists, Conservatives, Centrists and some independents, this bill passed narrowly.
 * In March 2441, Lawrence proposed the Empherias Claimant of Southern Hveden Mountains Act 2441, which claimed a large portion of the Hveden southern mountains for Empherias. The Nationalists advocated for this bill, but key parties needed for it to pass such as the Conservatives and Centrists opposed it due to it conflicting with the Empherias policy and alliance with the Hveden Federation.
 * In July 2441, Lawrence proposed that Norsair should be completely integrated into the Empherias state and remove their autonomy. This passed almost unanimously with only 11 rejections and 7 abstains.

By November 2441, Skylar Lawrence was tired of presiding over a parliament and working on trying to stitch together a coalition for every vote rather than lead a government. She then called a snap general election for December 2441 to try and regain a majority. Despite having no change in seats, the Socialists (288) manage to win 29 more than the Liberals (259) and therefore gained the ability to form a government. This Socialist government was insured by the Syndicalist party's 20 seats which took them over the half way line to 308 seats. Katelyn Roberts therefore became the next Prime Minister.

Jack Bastion and the Fall of the Liberals
The King Administration

Politics

 * See also: List of Heads of States in Empherias

Fashion
Fashion may vary considerably according to age, social class, generation and occupation. There have also been waves of popular fashion often characterised by decades and styles. Empherians have a vast number of choices in the selection of their clothes. What a person chooses to wear can reflect his or her personality or interests. When people who have high cultural status start to wear new or different styles, they may inspire a new fashion trend. People who like or respect these people are influenced by their style and begin wearing similarly styled clothes. It can be argued that Wynnoa is the fashion capital of not only Empherias, but the High Kingdoms of Alaxia, or even the entirety of Alaxia.

Tailors and dressmakers were responsible early on for innovations, while magazines, books, and later television have huge impact on sales and therefore trends in fashion. Major clothing stores in Empherias include: Merigold's, Enrommes, Leseker, Heinrettes, Kaia Kyte, and Augereau.

Women's
There are many fashion magazines that well extremely well which have large cultural impacts into fashion, especially women's fashion. For example, the Rechtjucke magazine created a massive trend for women to wear shorter skirts such as mini-skirts in the early 2430s which has continued until the modern era today.

Formal
One of the current trends is a feminisation of men fashion and a revival of older fashion. Flared and breasted trouser suits are gaining popularity in black, navy blue, purple, pink, grey, cream and tartan. Blazers and suit jackets have also peaked in popularity alongside pencil and mini skirts. Traditionally feminine clothing like maxi and gingham dresses also spiked in popularity. Tights, mainly black or white, are commonly used in formal wear.

Media
Over the last few years, many more leisure magazines, such as fashion or sports magazines have began selling extremely well, more so than many national newspapers. It is predicted that these magazines will have huge cultural impacts. For example, the Rechtjucke Magazine created a massive trend starting in 1932 for women to wear shorter and shorter skirts that has now spread nationwide with no indication of the trend slowing down. Magazines also created a massive boost in popularity for Football, with the sport overtaking the number of fencing clubs, the national sport in early 1934. Magazines will surely have a huge influence over our culture.

Football

 * See also: Empherias in Football and Empherias Football Club

The most popular sport in Empherias is football, however this hasn't always been the case. Fencing, now the second most popular sport, had held an iron grip over the nation in terms of popularity for centuries as a symbol of the culture. This domination quickly crashed down following the standardisation of football in Ahitereira, and the big culture crossover. Empherias' success early on in the High Kingdoms Football Cup and the GPA World Cup, and it's abundance in media, led to a quick takeover from Fencing to this more engaging sport. Other top sports in Empherias include Hockey, Cricket, and Skiing.

Empherias has been very successful in Football. It's football confederation was founded in early 2418. It's first international match was with Grensalbourg on 9th March 2420 but the majority of interest during this period came from the interior leagues within the nation. Empherian teams played in Ahitereiran football leagues from 2419 until 2472. It has hosted the High Kingdoms Football Cup three times, and has won the tournament on five occasions (2470, 2472, 2490, 2494, and 2496). They scored a victory consecutively two different times. The team have never come in last place. They have won the biggest victory award 6 times (2468, 2470, 2472, 2490, 2494, and 2496) with the largest of these being their 11-2 victory over Koresa in 2470. They also received the top scorer award 5 times, every time simultaneously with winning the whole event. Alex Rhommel, Harry Heron and James Maguire have each won this award once, with Mikael Rettz winning the award twice (2490 and 2494) which puts him in a second-place-tie for the person with the most top scoring awards (being tied with Miqel Davi from Ahitereira, and being beaten out by Holimer Siva from Ahitereira with a record 6 awards).

Other Sports
Fencing is a very popular sport, mainly due to it's tradition routes and link to culture. Every two years there is the Fencing Competitive Championships but these gain low viewership on television. Fencing is more predominately popular for use in schools and passive activities, rather than competitive or television play. There is no official set of rules, but guidelines produced by school curriculums. It was introduced by an old monarch to get children to learn sword fighting at a young age to gear them for war, but has since became a staple of the culture. When more modern laws were introduced and new war technology outdated the use of swords, fencing became popular through duels and young publications. Many film choreographers hire individuals from Empherias to help learn and teach the moves of traditional fencing to make movie fighting more accurate.

Hockey, Cricket and Skiing enjoy a comfy minority as a sport. Hockey is showcased at the Hockey World Cup held every 3 years, and the Empherias Hockey League held annually. Viewership is relatively low but the finals are viewed by as many as some of the most popular TV shows. Cricket isn't a very popular sport on TV and like fencing is mainly played in schools. There is no major cricket league in Empherias, but they do compete and do well in the Cricket World Cup held every 2 years. Skiing is not very popular in terms of television popularity, but is often played by people going on holiday to the mountainous south or east and trying the sport. Empherias also have a great showing in the Skiing segment of the Olympics.