History of Kalopia

Kalopia-Wantuni has a long history that reaches back to the earliest civilizations of Majatra, beginning with the Enetric Migrations.

Pre-classical Kalopia


Before the Enetric Migrations, Kalopia was the site of one of the oldest and most mysterious civilizations. Little is known about the pre-Enetric civilization other than what was left in the archaeological record, including sumptuous palaces, elaborate frescoes, and hundreds of yet undeciphered inscriptions in an unknown language. The pre-Enetrics seemed to have build a sophisticated urban trading civilization focused on the worship of a number of chthonic gods and enjoying close trade relations with the entire Majatran continent. Bull-jumping seems to have been a popular sport. The pre-Enetric civilization collapsed around 1500 BCE for unknown reasons. The collapse of this civilization coincides with the estimated arrival of the Enetric tribes, leading to the hypothesis that the invading Enetrics may have been the cause of the collapse. However pre-Enetric cities show no evidence of sacking or violent conquest, and newer theories speculate that the collapse may have been a result of a combination of environmental and political-military factors, coming about as a result of drought, crop failure, famine, and the Enetric migration or invasion. Regardless, the Enetric invasion was immortalized in a number of ancient Kalopian epic poems and is the first tentatively-recorded event in Kalopian history.

With the collapse of the palatial civilizations and the Enetric migration, no new monumental structures were built and commerce with the rest of Majatra was largely brought to an end. Literacy itself seems to have disappeared, since the redistributive economy had crashed and there was no longer a need to keep written records. Society during this period was divided into independent regions organized by kinship groups and oikoi or households, which later led to the emergence of the poleis or independent city-states. Towards the beginning of the first millennium Kalopia started an economic recovery and the gradual rebirth of civilization. A new writing system was introduced, adapted from the Cildanian alphabet, notably introducing characters for vowel sounds and thereby creating the first truly alphabetic (as opposed to abjad) writing system. The new alphabet quickly spread throughout Majatra and was used to write languages other than Kalopian as well.

Clasical Kalopia


Beginning with the late pre-Classical Era, the Kalopian oikoi had consolidated into poleis, independent and often republican city-states. The late pre-Classical and early Classical era were marked by significant urbanization through a process called "synoecism", the amalgamation of several small settlements into a single urban center. During this time the urban settlements greatly increased their population, leading to a process of colonization around the entire continent. The city-states would send colonists to remote places to establish a new polis in distant lands, which would maintain close economic and cultural ties to the metropolis but was otherwise fully independent.

The economic prosperity and blossoming trade resulting from urbanization and colonization led to the birth of the Classical Era, usually considered to have lasted from around the 8th century BCE until 205 BCE. During this period Kalopia was considered one of the most advanced, enlightened civilizations of its age. Consisting of a number of loosely affiliated city-states, classical Kalopia was not a state in the traditional sense, but was bonded together through connections in culture, language, and ideals. At certain points in history, Kalopian city-states are known to have controlled, settled, or otherwise heavily influenced the entire Majatran continent. The Kalopians experienced new heights in economic growth for their time, which resulted in previously unmatched cultural feats in architecture, drama, science, philosophy, and democracy. Though generally politically disunited, the cities of Kalopia were known to occasionally band together when combating their rivals.

Cildanian Kalopia
As a result of the Selucian-Cildanian Wars (398-280 BCE) the Cildanian Hegemony emerged as the largest empire in Majatra. During the wars Kalopian colonies in what is today Deltaria were also brought under Cildanian rule and thereafter were ruled by native tyrants, nominated by the Cildanian governor in Leucopolis. Dissatisfied with the rule of the Cildanian-appointed tyrants, the Kalopian city-states in Deltaria initiated a revolt in 229 BCE. Lasting until 221, the revolt received substantial assistance from the city-states on the Kalopian mainland, particularly Helios. After the revolt was crushed by the Cildanians in 221, the Cildanian Republic decided to punish Helios and its allies for their support of the revolt. Moreover, seeing that the many city-states in Kalopia possessed a constant threat to the stability of the Cildanian Empire, the Cildanians decided to conquer the whole of Kalopia. In 215 BCE the first Cildanian invasion of Kalopia began. During the war with the Cildanians many Kalopian city-states banded together, and managed to win a number of significant victories. However, the general disunity of the poleis allowed the Cildanians to fight them one by one, and eventually most of Kalopia was brought under Cildanian rule by 205 BCE.

Conquered Kalopia was established as an Orsit (Province) governed by a Rab (Governor), and under Cildanian rule life in Kalopia continued much the same as it had previously. Cildanian and Selucian culture during this period were highly influenced by Kalopian culture, and although some Cildanian nobles regarded the Kalopians as lazy, petty, and unreliable, many others embraced Kalopian literature and philosophy. The Kalopian language was favored by the educated elite in Qart Qildar, who tended to regard Kalopian culture as an example to be followed. Also during this time the Kalopian language became the overall lingua franca and even official language throughout the Hegemony's southern provinces, even in areas that had never been colonized by Kalopians or brought under Kalopian influence.

Jelbic invasion
Starting with the middle of the 2nd century the Cildanian Hegemony entered a prolonged period of decline and instability, which also affected Kalopia. The civil wars and military decline of the Empire paved the way to the conquest of large portions of the Cildanian empire by the invading Jelbo-Tukarics, who in 71 BCE defeated the Cildanian garrison in Kalopia and conquered the entire province. For the next four centuries the Kalopian region would remain under the rule of the Jelbo-Tukaric tribes, occasionally united in petty khanates. However the city-states of Kalopia displayed a certain degree of continuity during this era, and the region remained heavily urbanized for a long time under Jelbo-Tukaric rule. Kalopians were allowed to retain their political institutions and customs and in return they were to pay tribute and provide foot soldiers for the army. Jelbo-Tukaric society was initially stratified, with the Jelbo-Tukaric elite at the top of the social ladder, but beginning with the 3rd century there was a process of incorporation of Kalopians in the ranks of the Jelbo-Tukaric nobility, which allowed the Khans to curtail the power of the leading Jelbo-Tukaric aristocratic families. During the same century a process of centralization also began, and the Kalopian cities started losing their autonomy. Religiously, although a majority of Jelbo-Tukarics retained their Tanhrist monotheistic religion and Kalopians retained their ancient mythology, Hosianism had begun to spread, becoming particularly popular in urban areas. By the end of the 4rth century the Jelbo-Tukaric ruling class had become fully assimilated culturally and linguistically to the Kalopians over which they ruled, although they retained their privileges and distinct identity.

Augustan Kalopia
In spite of the gradual economic and political decline of Kalopia under Jelbo-Tukaric rule, Kalopian culture continued to thrive, both in Kalopia itself and in areas previously colonized or influenced by Kalopians. One such area was the Kingdom of Leucopolis, one of the remnant states of the Cildanian Hegemony, where Kalopian and Selucian cultures existed side by side and formed the basis of the Kingdom's culture. In 395 CE Leucopolitan king Augustus the Great initiated one of the largest and most successful campaigns of conquests in Terran history. After a rapid seven-year campaign the Kingdom of Irkawa, the largest territorial empire on the continent at the time, was conquered by Augustus' armies. Ruling from the newly founded city of Augusta on the shores of Lake Majatra, Augustus spent the rest of his reign expanding his empire to the north and consolidating his dynasty. Thus the Augustan Empire was founded, and under its ruling Dioclid dynasty Augusta became a center of Kalopian culture, rivaling Helios in splendor and cultural achievements. Within a century Augusta had become the largest city in the world and a largely Kalopian city, with Kalopians from diverse backgrounds forming much of its population. Under Augustus' son Cassander I and his grandson, Lysander I, Augustan rule was expanded westwards to incorporate Kalopia itself.

Under Augustan rule Kalopia was one of the most prosperous regions of the Empire, and the Augustans sent colonists there and contributed new buildings to its cities. Augustans were heavily Kalopianized and Kalopians were generally loyal to the Empire. Kalopian influence was so pervasive that throughout the Empire's thousand year existence Classical Kalopian was the only official language and practically the only language considered worthy of writing in the Augustan Empire. Also during Augustan rule most of Kalopia adopted Hosianism as the main religion, under the Augustan Church, and Hosian Kalopians were considered fully Augustan and thus part of the Empire's ruling elite.

1232

Deltarian rule
Augustan hegemony in Central Majatra would however prove to be short-lived. In a series of population movements, the Deltarian people, a group of ethnicities originating in Artania and ruled by the Tokundian tribe, moved from their Artanian homeland into Majatra. Briefly settling in what is today Jelbania and Vanuku around 500 CE, the Deltarian tribes began a number of raids into Augustan lands, reaching as far as Helios in 569. The initial raids were eventually defeated by the Augustans, who managed to maintain the Empire's frontiers. In 599 another massive raid was initiated by Deltarian chieftains Radomir, Bojan, and Branimir, and just like the previous raids it was easily repulsed by Emperor Constantine I. However Constantine was deposed in a military revolt in 604, reversing his military gains against the Deltarians, and by the following year they managed to occupy most of what is today Deltaria and the north-western parts of Kalopia in what is called the Deltarian land-taking.

Emirate of Wantuni
For hundreds of years, the ruling Wantunis enforced a strict system of human tribute on the Hosian population, known as paidomazoma in Kalopian. By writ of the Emir, two children per village would be put into bondage every year. One child would be converted to Ahmadism and conscripted into the Emir's personal army and the other would be sold as a slave. This brought a newfound military strength and relative economic prosperity to the nation. Unfortunately for the Emirate, the other provinces, oppressed and disgruntled, were made all too ready to seek out a new partner in governance because of these methods, and Wantuni became susceptible to the threat of colonialism.

Throughout the middle of the 16th Century, Artanian powers established colonial settlements on the shores of Wantuni. By the 1560s, such cities as New Oldtown, Port Faraday, Queenstown, and Plentinburg Falls has become bastions of colonial power. Eventually, these powers faded away and were replaced by a strong, if understated, Deltarian presence. Preying on divisions within the nations, Deltaria maneuvered itself into a position of political importance in the nation and the Emir became a political figurehead, subject to the every whim of the Deltarian establishment.

In 1750, Abd al-Aziz ibn Abu Hafs al-Ghaliz, a descendant of a separate line of the Watuni dynasty living in exile in Solentia, raised a rebel force and, with the aid of the Q'nzar Emirs, succeeded in driving out the Deltarian colonials, to the joy of much of the native populace. Celebrations of independence were short-lived, however, because the new Emir al-Ghaliz soon declared his allegiance to the Q'nzar Empire.

Under the Q'nzars, Wantuni was given a comparatively wider berth of sovereignty and saw a period of calm and economic growth. As demographics shifted, the Q'nzar colonists began to overshadow the native peoples and the remaining Deltarians. At first, ethnic Solentians enjoyed the protection of the Q'nzar crown in their new lands, but soon began to find their influence overreaching and heavy-handed. Native Wantuni and Kalopian people soon became hateful of the harsh tributes in currency and human capital that the Q'nzars demanded and, allying with one another, the two groups rebelled against the Q'nzars and declared Wantuni an independent republic in 1930.

Republican Wantuni (2000-2410)


For three decades, the Republic seemed a strong and independent state, committed to the value of liberty. But in the early 2030s, Solentia, bitter over its loss, orchestrated a coup d'etat, replacing the republican government with an Emperor as their figurehead, supported by Solentian military forces. Banding together, dissidents and members of political parties of the Republic formed a resistance movement. With support from Kanjor, the resistance movement forced Solentia into a war of attrition that it did not have the resources to cope with. In 2376, Mikael von Löwenberg family, noble descending from both the Wantuni dynasty and a prominent Solentian settler family, was elected to the position of Emperor, establishing a Second Wantuni Empire.

Emergence of Kalopian nationalism (2410-2700)
Starting with the early decades of the 25th century a Kalopian nationalist movement emerged in Wantuni, seeking the replacement of the cosmopolitan Empire with a Kalopian-dominated regime. Eventually, a mainstream political movement developed in Wantuni and the Kalopian diaspora across the globe, supporting the establishment of Kalopia as a nation-state. Citing their historical ties to the land the Wantuni now occupied, Kalopians began to see the region as their birthright. By 2620, the first attempts to re-occupy the nation and declare Kalopia reborn had been attempted but, without strong leadership, had failed. As the Kalopian demographic grew quickly, with swathes of the urban class immigrating from Kundrati and Kazulia, and intermarried with other segments of society, it soon became the largest ethnic group within Wantuni. Its growing political power was further cemented by the arrival of a Kalopian upper class, including such visionaries as the Kafuristani-Kalopian oil baron and businessman Theodoros Aristocrat, who lent economic support to the idea.



It was not until 2698, under the leadership of Kalopian aristocrats Nileas Metaxas and Aristotelis Sophus that the Independent Republic of Wantuni was declared the Aristokratiki Basileia of Kalopia. under the Metaxes and Sophus, in what became known as the "Queens' Monarchy" (in reference to their openly homosexual relationship), the nation experienced vast liberal reforms, in the vein of Kalopian values. Their legacy today remains the sexual liberation movement which they pioneered in mainstream Wantuni. Kalopian politician Pornidious Aristocrat, of the Kalopian Regime Coalition, was elected to lead the first democratic Kalopian government and frequently sparred with the ethnically Wantuni Quasi-Libertarian Party. He is today remembered for his program, still in place today, which calls for the return of all Kalopians across the globe to the homeland. This resulted in a sudden rise in population, which helped propel Kalopia to become one of the world's largest nations.

Creation of Modern Kalopia (2700-2790)
Throughout the next few decades, dissent began to fester among the mainstream population, as many began to feel that Niles Metaxas and Aristotelis Sophus had slowly morphed into iron-fisted dictators. In the fateful Elections of February 2737, the people rose up against the "Queens' Monarchy," and overthrew the institution, replacing it with a democratically-elected President, John Locke, head of the Quasi-Libertarian Party. The Quasi-Libertarian Party had been a dominating political force in Wantunian politics since the early 26th century.

Due to his failing health, Pornidious Aristocrat, still the head of government, was removed from his position of authority within the Kalopian Regime Coalition, now displaying socialist tendencies, to be replaced by Egoist Virginatos, marking a new period through his leadership when Kalopia hosted a major diplomatic event, the Terran Cooperation Summit, specifically aiming to unite the major powers of Terra. As the year wore on, it seemed evident that Virginatos was more and more often the one calling the shots behind Aristocrat, and pundits jokingly referred to the administration as the "Virginatos Government." Despite this seeming lack of control within his own nation, Aristocrat earned wide acclaim abroad for his part in the Global Peacekeeping Organization, of which he eventually became the Grand Secretariat.

By July of 2740, in the midst of the Terran Cooperation Summit, conflict between ethnic Kalopians and Wantuni cultural conservatives flared up once more. Amid demonstrations and violent riots on the streets, as well as the loss of the police and army, the government called on the paramilitary militia of the Kalopian Regime Coalition to defend the capital city of Polykratos. Eventually, control of the government was wrested from the KRC and placed firmly in the hands of a more liberal, moderate coalition. Two years later, Pornidious Aristocrat died whilst giving a speech, under his authority as Grand Secretariat of the GPO, urging Egelion to join the organization.

Around this time, the Kalopian Navy were deployed to Egelion, with the intent of being utilized to put down a rebellion in Trigunia, under the auspices of the GPO's First Military Command. In April 2746, Egoist Virginatos was assassinated in his cabinet the day prior to the FMC's launch of operations in Trigunia, with suspicion being pointed towards GPO's rival, NATO. With the death of Virginatos, the First Military Command was mustered out and the Kalopian fleet returned home. With the fall of their last great leader, the Kalopian Regime Coalition disbanded, and millionaire and prominent KRC member, Malekas Aristocrat was found dead.

Eleven years later, his son, John Aristocrat, now running the Aristocrat Insurance Group, refounded the Kalopian Regime Coalition, in an effort to see the ideals of his father through to their ending. By June of 2761, John Aristocrat was elected to the position of Grand Secretariat of the Imperial Lands of Kalopia, the nation's head of state, on a platform of centralization and nationalism. Later that year, a major diplomatic incident occurred when a military aircraft, from anarchy-ridden Kafuristan, entered Kalopian airspace and bombed several rural villages. Kalopian ground and air assets destroyed the bomber and where then mobilized along the Kalopian-Kafuristani border. Soon, the Kalopian forces entered Kafuristan, as part of the GPO-lead Second Military Command, with the mission of restoring peace and order to the nation by eliminating several antagonistic rebel groups. During the course of the conflict, some violence spread over into Kalopian villages, but the mission ultimately proved successful.

In 2762, Eric Kim, a longtime resident of Polykratos and quiet wealthy backer of several key Kalopian military projects, vaulted to the forefront of politics when he founded the Kalopian Unity Power Bloc, a political party, often allied to the KRC, that stressed Kalopian Nationalism and devotion, largely unexplained, to "Vril Power." After the elections of December 2763, the Kalopian Regime Coalition was supplanted by the KUPB, the Quasi-Libertarian Party, and the Democratic Socialists of Kalopia, amid criticism that it was too involved in foreign affairs and ignoring the needs of the ordinary Kalopian citizen. After this disappointing result for the KRC, they officially dismantled for a second time. From the 2760s onwards, the Imperial Lands of Kalopia was essentially ruled as a one party state run by the Quasi-Libertarian Party.

Under Quasi-Libertarian rule, the Kalopian military once again saw action abroad, under the aegis of the Global Peacekeeping Organization. After a number of nuclear attacks throughout Terra by Pontesi-affiliated groups, the GPO mobilized the Kalopian fleet to launch a shoreline assault of Pontesi, in coordination with other GPO military forces.

Rise of the Kalopian Empire (2790-2793)
The direction of the nation was altered rapidly when, in the 2791 elections, the Imperial Patriotic League, a minor political party which had not yet ever held a single seat in the Koinoboulio, was vaulted to prominence, with just over 64 percent of the vote. Embracing the idea of Kalopian nationalism and sovereignty, the Patriotic League withdrew Kalopia from the Global Peacekeeping Organization, citing its asserting too much a degree of authority over Kalopia and its military, and ordered all Kalopian military forces under GPO leadership to return home.

The Kalopian Regime Coalition (2797-3056)
After the decline of the Imperial Patriotic League, an obscure and struggling party rose to power in the absence of a strong an organized opposition. The Kalopian Regime Coalition was founded in 2594, but had always been a rather small and weak opposition group, rising and falling for certain period of time, even outright disapperaing. It was led by Diktátor Apellas who officially declared an autocracy (in the absence of opposition) in April 21, 2923 eliminating the Kalopiki Dimokratia and replacing it with the Kalopiki Autocratoria. It had taken advantage of certain issues of corruption and the tensions with Kaufuristan and taken power over its rival, Anthropophagus. But with the return of Anthropophagus several months later, the KRC quickly lost power as a constitutional hereditary monarchy under the House of Islyn was established. In 3011, after over nine decades of struggling against the House of Islyn, which was usually supported by the more popular parties, the Kalopian Regime Coalition assumed complete control of the Ekklesia (legislature) and would hold that unopposed dominance for the next 50 years. During this time, the KRC enjoyed complete unopposed dominance over the Kalopian government taking many extreme authoritarian measures, nationalizing all industries, restricing freedoms, and even exiling the royal family to Hulstria. However, without any sort of organized opposition for the next 50 years, the KRC stood unopposed while under the dominance of Diktátor Apellas which fostered corruption and international tensions, including a war with Delteria in 3045.

The Post-Apellan Era (3070-3477)
After the collapse of the KRC, there was a massive power vacuum that remained unfilled until the rise of the National Imperialists (NIP) in 3070. They quickly brought about changes and sought to restore the monarchy under the House of Islyn, abolished earlier by Diktátor Apellas. Again, they favored the hereditary constitutional monarchy where the true power lies in the hands of the Head of Government and the Cabinet. Two other parties, the Directorship of the People(DoP) and the Buttermann Party(reorganized later into the National Democratic Party) rose for a short period of time in the election of 3071, when the plans of the National Imperialists were temporarily disrupted with the majority of the Buttermann Party. The cooperation between the DoP and the BP would block the changes the NIP until the elections of June 3072, when both these new opposition parties would disappear. Unbeknownst to the NIP, a new party a emerged during this time with the decline of the DoP and BP and appear in the election. The United Ultra-Moderate Coalition (UUMC) would establish a small majority for a short time after the election, before losing it after a call for early electoins. During this new election in December 3072, the NIP would gain a two-thirds majority, allowing it to enact constitutional amendments and soon, the return of the monarchy, without any strong opposition. They would make sweeping changes, allowing another early election in 3076, which still gave them a majority, however not a two-thirds one. Besides this, the NIP managed to restore the House of Islyn as a symbolic constitutional monarchy in 3078, calling the royal family back from Hulstria and establishing a line of succession.

Great Patriarchy (3557-3569)
Baselios I, a prominent Theognosian Priest, declared that Kalopia should be the start of a conservative Patriarchal revolution. Kalopia was gripped by a theocratic government, and Baselios I adopted the mantle of "Patriarch". He adopted Kalopia as the site of the "Great Patriarchy", while continuing the nation's membership in the Deltarian Empire. The Great Patriarchy, under the rule of Baselios I, saw the reformation of an ancient Holy Inquisition in order to root out heresy worldwide. The Great Patriarchy ended in 3569.

Razamid Province (3673-3713)
Kalopia-Wantuni went through several types of short lived regimes, amongst them nationalist, monarchist and Ahmadist. In December 3673 by way of bribes and orchestration of an internal coup, the Razamids of Kafuristan overthrew the Zahirite Imam and Kalopia-Wantuni became a province of the fast expanding Razamid Caliphate. The Siphinian secret police boss Kostaq Fisnik ruled Kalopia-Wantuni for the Razamids with a Razamid Prince appointed Wali (Governor).