Hoflan

The Democratic Republic of Hoflan is an official nation made by Chris Mapping.

The Hoflanian Unification War
Sometimes also referred to as the 23-years war was a conflict in Europe lasting from 1550 to 1573 with the intent of creating a unified German state.

Upon gaining power as the duke of Bavaria Albert V saw what a truly disunited mess the Holy Roman Empire was. He was quite dissatisfied with that situation and thus he wanted to create a unified German state. He wasn't a fool, however, and he has quickly started an attempt to gather allies. He tried to convince nobles within the empire to join his cause, allowing them to keep their ability to govern their current territories pretty much freely they would just have to send soldiers if they're attacked.

Since many were fed up with Austria's dominance in the HRE, and at the moment Austria couldn't do anything if the nobles attempted to create a unified German state due to their war with the Ottoman Empire some nobles took the opportunity to make an attempt at uniting the HRE states.

Albert knew, however, that countries outside the HRE wouldn't be happy about the creation of a unified German state and would certainly try to restore the old system. However, Austria was at war with the Ottomans and thus couldn't do anything so it seemed like a good timing. Either way before the war Albert V decided to look for.

Since it was obvious that France and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth would oppose him, he made an alliance with England and Russia to counter that, and his alliance with England has brought Portugal into the war on the Bavarian side as well as Portugal has been an English ally for a long time.

An alliance with Russia, however, would've brought Sweden into the war as well, but on the opposing side so Albert attempted to ally with Denmark as well. As Denmark was worried that it would lose its influence in Germany and have a serious threat to its independence right south of itself Albert decided to offer some territories to Denmark in Holstein, sent lots of gifts to the Danish king and kept talking about how they could cripple Sweden together making Denmark the true ruler of Scandinavia forever.

After lots of effort the Danish king finally gave in and now Bavaria was ready for war. Bavaria and its HRE allies declared war on the HRE states opposing them on 28th September, 1550. As predicted, France and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth declared war on Bavaria and its allies, and that's when Bavaria's allies declared war on France and the Commonwealth. Not wanting to let its rivals get too powerful Sweden joined the war as well.

As the war dragged on even though at 1st the pro-unificationists had great success but later on they began loosing. Seeing this wanting to weaken England Scotland joined the war in 1557. The English were caught off guard and were already overstretched by the fighting against France but after retreating some troops from France they managed to push the Scottish offensive back. As a surprising turn of events, however, Spain joined on the side of the pro-unificationists in 1561 even despite being from the House of Habsburg. The reason for this is that Philip II was a devout Catholic and he hoped that if Bavaria, a Catholic nation united the Germans then the Bavarians would end the "protestant heresy among the Germans" especially since he knew the Bavarian king Albert V was a staunch Catholic. Nevertheless, Phlipp II not only wanted a Catholic Germany but he also hoped to weaken France by joining the war.

Either way due to Spain joining the war the pro-unificationists suddenly started winning again especially since France struggled to hold off both Spain, England and the unificationist parts of Germany at the same time.

Seeing that Spain joined the war Austria attempted to make peace with the Ottomans so they can intervene in the Hoflanian Unification War. However, the Ottomans saw what was going on and refused the Austrian peace offer. The Austrians even offered the entire Hungary to the Ottomans. However, the Ottomans wanted to make sure that Austria wouldn't be able to intervene in the Hoflanian Unification War and thus Austria would face great difficulties in the future.

The war ended in 1573 with the Treaty of Nuremberg which lead to the creation of a unified Hoflanian state hence changing the course of history forever.

Treaty of Nuremberg
As the nations of Europe have been fighting for 23 years neither them or their people had any will left to continue the war. This vulnerability on both sides has lead to the signature of the Treaty of Nuremberg on 20th June 1574.

Anyhow the negotiations were not without tension and arguments and at one point the Polish ambassador has even hit the Russian ambassador who also hit back causing a huge brawl. The most important achievement of the treaty is of course the formation of the Kingdom of Hoflan ruled by the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach.

Even though Bavaria was the dominant state within Hoflan, however, the king decided to make Cologne the national capital as it was much more populous back then than Munich, plus it was also easier to manage the country from there due to its more central location.

It's also worth noting that before the start of the war the Bavarian king promised that any noble who will support him will be allowed to govern his territories pretty much freely and they would only have to send soldiers when they're attacked. The king kept his promise. However, the territories within the new German state that belong to those who opposed him were to be directly governed by the king himself.

And since France was seriously worried about the new state it was compensated by territories in western Hoflan, Calais from England and Roussillon from Spain.

Meanwhile, to further balance this newly formed German state, Brandenburg has made a royal marriage with Pomerania merging the two nations under Brandenburg's rule hence forming a strong buffer state between the Kingdom of Hoflan and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, Brandenburg was pro-Poland.

England has gained minor territories along the Scottish border, almost capturing Edinburgh. Sweden has gained a little piece of land from Denmark's southeastern part of Norway and with that increasing the size of the Swedish Atlantic coastline.

Sweden has also gained minor territories along the Russian border. However, the Russians gained little pieces of Swedish territory in Finland as well.

Concurrently the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia have also ceded minor areas along the border to each other. However, Russia gained visibly more from this land exchange, and as promised Denmark got its promised territories in Holstein.

Decades of Hardship
Even though the Treaty of Nuremberg did lead to the formation of a unified German state, however, it wasn't the superpower that many and especially the French thought it is at the time. As most of the fighting was on their territory, the new country was devastated, and its military broken while the French took a great deal of their territories. Hoflan also had to deal with a strong Brandenburg to the east that is allied with the Polish. To make matters worse the nobles were relatively powerful and the king was a devout Catholic in a protestant majority nation.

Due to these reasons the Kingdom of Hoflan seemed to be in a hopeless situation. However, Albert V died in 24 October 1579 allowing William V to take the throne. William in order to solve the religious tensions converted to Lutheranism as most of the Hoflanians were Lutherans. He also gradually reduced the power of the nobles in order to centralize the new kingdom. He sometimes even had his nobles assassinated and all their belongings taken including their lands and their armies. The nobles of course started to realize what was going on so they organized a revolt in 18th March 1586 called the Frankfurt Uprising. Their goal was to end the centralization of the kingdom and even despite many of the remaining nobles joined the uprising, the uprising still failed due to poor organization and lack of cooperation in the rebel armies.

Nevertheless, the rebels held on all the way until 24 April 1589 when the uprising was finally crushed in the Battle of Cloppenburg. After the uprising was crushed the rebels saw brutal reprisal. The rebels were executed while its leaders were impaled and put on public display in Cologne the national capital.

As the opposition was finally removed the king could finally centralize royal power without any resistance establishing absolutism in the Kingdom of Hoflan.

Early modern period (16th century–1789)
As the Kingdom of Hoflan was finally stable thanks to the hard work of William V, Hoflan grew increasingly relevant in the global theatre as its economic, military and political power were growing. This newfound power was also demonstrated by the foundation of the Hoflanian West India Company in 1604 as well as the foundation of the Hoflanian EastIndia Company in 1605 and the formation of the first Hoflanian settlement on the eastern coast of the modern day United States in 1607.

When the Thirty Years War broke out in 1618 the Kingdom choose to side with the protestant Czech rebels against the House of Habsburg and its allies. During the war Hoflan managed to push Brandenburg all the way back to the Oder. However, the French and Austrian front lines were stagnating. Meanwhile, George William the Duke of Prussia has led a revolt to end its vassalage to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The revolt was supported by Sweden. However, the revolt failed regardless and Duke George along with other members of the Hohenzollern family had to escape from the region, all the way to the Kingdom of Hoflan where they were welcomed with open arms. Later on the Hohenzollerns would become a powerful noble family in the kingdom known for their military genius. After the war ended and the Treaty of Westphalia was signed and Hoflan was allowed to annex Brandenburgian territories west of the Oder so for that reason Hoflan moved its capital to Berlin.

As the Kingdom of Hoflan kept on colonizing it grew wealthy. However, it also formed an increasingly strong rivalry with England, especially in North America.

When The War of the Spanish Succession broke out in 1701 Hoflan opted to remain neutral as whichever side would win it would only harm Hoflanian interests. This, however, didn't mean that Hoflan stayed idle as it used the war to conquer the remaining parts of Brandenburg. Hoflan declared war on Brandenburg in 24th April 1705. The Brandenburgers fought fiercely against the numerically superior Hoflanian army. However, they finally fell in the battle of Kolberg in 1710.

16th December, 1740 saw the start of the War of the Austrian Succession. The immediate cause of the War of the Austrian Succession was the death in 1740 of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles VI and the inheritance of Hapsburg lands.

The war began under the pretext that Maria Theresa was ineligible to succeed to the Habsburg thrones of her father, Charles VI, because Salic law precluded royal inheritance by a woman. In practice, this was an excuse put forward by the Kingdom of Hoflan, to challenge Habsburg power. Maria Theresa was supported by the Kingdom of France and the Dutch Republic, the traditional enemies of Hoflan, as well as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Spain, as well as Russia.

The Kingdom of Hoflan was backed by the Kingdom of Great Britain a traditional enemy of France and the Kingdoms of Sweden, Naples and the Republic of Genoa.

In 1740, Hoflanian troops crossed over the undefended border of Silesia and occupied Schweidnitz. Silesia was the richest province of Habsburg Austria. By defeating the Austrian Army at the Battle of Mollwitz on 10th April 1741, Frederick succeeded in conquering Lower Silesia. In the next year, 1742, he conquered Upper Silesia.

Silesia, full of rich soils and prosperous manufacturing towns, became a vital region to Hoflan, greatly increasing the nation's area, population, and wealth. Success on the battleground against Austria.

The Seven Years' War was a global conflict fought between 1756 and 1763. It involved every European great power of the time and spanned five continents, affecting Europe, the Americas, West Africa, India, and the Philippines. The conflict split Europe into two coalitions, led by  the Kingdom of Great Britain (including Austria, the Russian Empire, Sweden and Portugal) on one side and the Kingdom of France (including The Kingdom of Hoflan and Bourbon Spain) on the other.

On 29 August 1756, Hoflanian troops led by Frederick von Hohenzollern marched across the border of Austria. Hoflan intended this as a bold pre-emption of an anticipated Austro-Russian invasion of Silesia. Frederick had three goals in the new war against Austria. First, he would seize the Czech territories and eliminate it as a threat to Prussia, then use the local army and treasury to aid the Prussian war effort. His second goal was to advance into Lower Austria, where he might set up winter quarters at Austria's expense. Thirdly, he wanted to invade Moravia from Silesia, and advance on Vienna to force an early end to the war. The Austrian armies were unprepared, and their forces were scattered. Frederick won the Battle of Lobositz on 1st October 1756, and prevented the isolated Austrian army from being reinforced by Austria under General Browne. Frederick also occupied Prague with little opposition from the Austrians. Later on Frederick was preparing for a siege against Vienna. However, he had to postpone that due to combined Russian and Swedish advances in Pomerania and East Prussia.

Due to Swedish and Russian advances supplies were relocated to the Swedish and Russian fronts. However, the situation was still desperate. Hoflan began the 1761 campaign with just 100,000 available troops, many of them new recruits, and its situation seemed desperate. However, the Austrian and Russian forces were also heavily depleted and could not launch a major offensive.

In February 1761 Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick surprised Russian troops at Posen and then advanced to besiege Gniezno in March. He was forced to lift the siege and retreat after Russian forces regrouped and captured several thousand of his men at the Battle of Konin. At the Battle of Kutno, forces under Ferdinand defeated a 92,000-man Russian army.

Hostilities were ended in 1763 by the Treaty of Paris, which involved a complex series of land exchanges, the most important being France's cession to Spain of Louisiana, and to Great Britain the rest of New France except for the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon; as well as Hoflan's cession of its North American colonies to Great Britain.

Maximilian III Joseph actively supported the Americans, who were seeking their independence from Great Britain (realised in the Treaty of Frankfurt (1783). The financial crisis that followed Hoflan's involvement in the American Revolutionary War was one of many contributing factors to the Hoflanian Revolution.

Much of the Enlightenment occurred in Hoflanian as well as French intellectual circles, and major scientific breakthroughs and inventions, such as the invention of the Leyden jar (1745) and the circular saw (1780), were achieved by Hoflanian scientists. The Enlightenment philosophy, in which reason is advocated as the primary source for legitimacy and authority, undermined the power of and support for the monarchy and helped pave the way for the Hoflanian Revolution.

Revolutionary Hoflan (1789-1799)
An unpopular king, Charles Theodore's weak rule, his ill-advised financial, political and military decisions – as well as his inability to control the mounting social tensions in Hoflan – discredited the monarchy, which arguably paved the way for the Hoflanian Revolution.

After having supported the Americans in the American Revolutionary War and participating in the 1st Partition of Poland, Hoflan got into a serious financial crisis. Facing financial troubles, Charles Theodore summoned the estates in May 1789 to propose solutions to his government. As it came to an impasse, the representatives of the Third Estate formed into a National Assembly, signalling the outbreak of the Hoflanian Revolution. Fearing that the king would suppress the newly created National Assembly, insurgents stormed the Royal Palace on 14 July 1789, a date which would become Hoflan's National Day.

Meaning of the flag

 * The white represents the moral cleanness
 * The red represents the bravery
 * The black represents the power
 * The golden eagle represents freedom

Legislation
Hoflan has a civil law system based on Roman law with some references to Germanic law. The Hoflanian Supreme Court is responsible for constitutional matters, with power of judicial review. Hoflan's supreme court system is specialised: for civil and criminal cases, the highest court of appeal is the inquisitorial National Court of Justice, and for other affairs  the courts are the National Labour Court, the National Social Court the National Finance Court and the National Administrative Court.

Criminal and private laws are codified on the national level in the criminal code and the  Civil Code respectively. The Hoflanian penal system seeks to deter the population from committing crimes by high jail sentences in bad circumstances. Except for petty crimes, which are tried before a single professional judge, and serious political crimes, all charges are tried before professional judges.

Unlike many countries Hoflan actually enforces its corruption laws and if a politician is found guilty he or she has to go to jail just like everyone. This is also one of the many reasons why Hoflan has a low level of corruption.

Administrative Divisions

 * 1) Austria
 * 2) Tirol
 * 3) Bavaria
 * 4) Baden-Württemberg
 * 5) Greater Elsaß-Lothringen
 * 6) Luxembourg
 * 7) Westphalia
 * 8) Hesse
 * 9) Thuringia
 * 10) Hannover
 * 11) Saxony
 * 12) Brandenbourg
 * 13) Bohemia
 * 14) Moravia
 * 15) Silesia
 * 16) Posen
 * 17) Pomerania
 * 18) Schleswig-Holstein
 * 19) West Prussia
 * 20) East Prussia

Traveling permissions
Hoflanians can travel to almost every country without visas and citizens from almost every country can get in without visas. Hoflanians can get passports for free and Hoflanian passports grant visa free travel to 174 countries.

By car
Cars in Hoflan are affordable, ecofriendly and the registration is free. On the highway the speed limit is 140km/h and 50km/h in populated area. If you drive drunk (you can drink maximum 0.4l alcohol before driving) and the police caught you then they take your car and you get it back when your blood alcohol level gets to the legal level and you went to the police station for it. If you make an accident while you're drunk it can make your punishment worse. The punishment is usually to pay the cost of the caused damage and sometimes a few hours of public work and in the worst case (usually when you caused a lot of accidents) you lose your driving license.

By Airplane
Hoflan just like other nations has its own airline which is called Hoflan Air. Hoflan Air is one of the best airlines because it has a low rate of accidents, delaying and technical difficulties.

Education
Children are going to kindergarten at the age of four and finish at six. When they are seven they are going to elementary school and stay until 14. They go to school for 8:30 and finish at 14:30. In the school they only learn what they will ever use like read, write, count, spell, biology, English, math, cooking and how to do your paperwork when you're an adult. Also, you can learn music, history, physics and chemistry voluntarily and there's a drawing class also and it's voluntarily, too, and when they turn 15 they are going to high school and they will be there for four years then if they want they can go to college and university which is four years each. But if they don't want to go to college they stay one extra year for the profession. And in classes where they give the kind of profession which you need a subject which is voluntary in the elementary schools they give two professions: one with the voluntary one and another which you don't need voluntary subject because some people might not be good at the voluntary subjects. Although this system sounds strange to many people actually it's very successful because this way the children are prepared for the life properly and they enjoy more the voluntary subjects because they aren't forced to learn it and lessons are very illustrative, too. The Hoflanian education system is so successful it's ranked fifth in the world and second in Europe (after Finland). Hoflan has many great universities and you can study there for free. The most famous universities are in Berlin, Vienna, München and Cologne. The oldest university of Hoflan is in Vienna which is one of the oldest universities in Europe and was built in 1365.

Economy
Hoflan has a highly skilled labour force, a large capital stock, a low level of corruption and a high level of innovation. The Hoflanian economy is the largest economy in Europe and third largest in the world and one of the fastest growing in Europe. The service sector contributes approximately 68% of the total GDP (including information technology), industry 31%, and agriculture 1%. The unemployment rate is 4.5%. The Hoflanian automobile industry is regarded as the most competitive and innovative in the world, and has the third highest automobile production in the world, and fourth-highest total motor vehicle production.

The top ten exports of Hoflan are vehicles, machinery, chemical goods, electronic products, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, transport equipment, basic metals, food products, and rubber and plastics. However, Hoflan is also one of the biggest arms exporter, too, as Hoflanian guns are world renowned.

Immigration
WIP

Languages
In Hoflan 87.9% of the population speaks German as their native language. The largest minority are the Czechs who are made up of 7.03 million people and make up 6.4% of the population. Other significant minorities in Hoflan include Poles (3.4%) and the French with 2.3%. Although the largest minority are the Czech, however, only the French can enjoy autonomy with Frankum province being the only autonomous region. This is due to Hoflan's great relations with France. Meanwhile, the Poles and the Czech can find their language being oppressed in the name of national unity. The nation has a Hoflanification policy that works extremely well as within 100 years the Czech population has been reduced from ten million to 7.03 million.

Religion
WIP

Health
Hoflan has a universal multi-payer health care system with two main types of health insurance: Statutory Health Insurance and Private Health Insurance. The healthcare system is regulated by the Federal Joint Committee, a public health organization authorized to make binding regulations growing out of health reform bills passed by lawmakers, along with routine decisions regarding healthcare in Hoflan. Currently the population is covered by a health insurance plan provided by statute, with criteria allowing some groups to opt for a private health insurance contract. According to the World Health Organization, Hoflan's health care system is 77% government-funded and 23% privately funded. Hoflan spends 11.3% of its GDP on health care. Hoflan has a very low infant mortality rate (four per 1000 live births).

Hoflanians are offered three mandatory health benefits, which are co-financed by employer and employee: health insurance, accident insurance, and long-term care insurance.

Accident insurance for working accidents is covered by the employer and basically covers all risks for commuting to work and at the workplace.

Long-term care is covered half and half by employer and employee and covers cases in which a person is not able to manage his or her daily routine (provision of food, cleaning of apartment, personal hygiene, etc.). It is about 2% of a yearly salaried income or pension, with employers matching the contribution of the employee.

There are two separate types of health insurance: public health insurance and private insurance.

Regular salaried employees must have public health insurance. Only public officers, self-employed people and employees with a large income may join the private system.

For persons who have opted out of the public health insurance system to get private health insurance, it can prove difficult to subsequently go back to the public system, since this is only possible under certain circumstances, for example if they are not yet 55 years of age and their income drops below the level required for private selection. Since private health insurance is usually more expensive than public health insurance, the higher premiums must then be paid out of a lower income.

Military
Hoflan's military is divided into three different branches: Land forces, Navy and Air force. All of them have a very modern equipment and a very effective training. The training of the Hoflanian army is so good it can even compete with other countries special forces. The military has 543,217 persons in total including women. The Hoflanian military is the second strongest in Europe (after Russia) and the fifth in the world.

Sport
In Hoflan the most popular sport is football so not just the fans but the couches and players take it seriously, too. Hoflan is a member of the European Football Confederation (EFC) which is a branch of the Mapperdonian International Football Federation (MIFF). On the current MIFF World Cup Hoflan won all of its matches in Group H against Romoccastia, Malca and Cheenarn with a result of one to zero against Romoccastia and two to one against Malca and Cheenarn making it the strongest country in the group. Hoflan has also won its match in the knockout against the Cassandrian Empire of Macedonia with a result of one to zero thus putting Hoflan in the Quarterfinals against Ronschdilatia.

Other popular sports include boxing, basketball, handball, volleyball, ice hockey, tennis and water sports like sailing, rowing, and swimming. However, they're not as popular as football.

Below you can see the home kit (left) and the away kit (right) of the Hoflanian National Football Team.