Vesniostein

Vesniostein, officially the Kingdom of Vesniostein is a Germanic country located in Central Europe, in the historical region of Pomerania, with a population of around 4 100 000 people it places as the 127th most populous country. The capital is Burgenbrao, located on the Öder (Oder) river and the Öder Lagoon. Vesniostein borders Germany to the west and southwest and Poland to the east and southeast. It also has maritime boundaries to Sweden by way of the island of Bornholm.

Vesniostein is a Constitutional Monarchy, the monarch has no real power, serving as head of state and figurehead while the Prime Minister and parliament are in true power.

Ancient Times:
The first signs of the Vesnian people were seen in Germanic peoples living in what is todays Eastern Germany and Western Poland. The name Vesnia comes from the name of a tribe that lived there who developed into the Vesnians: the Fersni. Similarly to other Germanic tribes the Fersni practiced pagan religions and had their own conflicts and minor polities. The Fersni interacted several times with the Romans and took part in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.

HRE:
Vesnia first appeared as a proper state under vassalage of the Frankish Empire, at which point Burgenbrao was first built. After Francia split it was part of the Saxon vassal state that was under the control of East Francia, then it was directly part of East Francia and later the Holy Roman Empire. Burgenbrao then started out, along with other territories of today's Vesnia as a small state. Specifically, a small principality within the HRE. Burgenbrao would come to expand its influence and borders in the Empire, becoming a duchy in 1133 under Duke Conrad I. The annexation of Pomerania in 1457 started the Kingdom of Vesnia whose name changed to Vesniostein in 1489. Vesniostein was a strong nation within the HRE along the likes of Saxony and Austria, but never held elector nor emperor status. Vesniostein gained Bornholm from Denmark after the Fall of the Kalmar Union.

Later Years and Independence:
Eventually Vesniostein was involved in the Thirty Years' War, in which the Vesnians fought hard against the Swedes, but eventually lost. Sweden claimed Bornholm as well as Schlessvig-Holstein and Vorpommern, ceasing the kingdom's existence as the remaining territories became counties, still under the HRE. In 1712 the kingdom was restored, barring the Swedish-owned territories and thus the capital was instead Köslin. This is sometimes referred to as "Lesser Vesniostein". When Prussia rose up as a powerful state Vesniostein became an important vassal of it. In 1801 Swedish Pomerania was ceded to Vesniostein and Burgenbrao became the capital once more. In 1806 Napoleon abolished the HRE, replacing it with the Confederation of the Rhine which included parts of Vesniostein such as some southern lands, yet the rest was firmly protected by the Prussians, even if the vassalage had been relinquished by then, specifically on June 13th, considered the Independence Day of Vesniostein. Vesniostein fought with the coalitions during the Napoleonic Wars and emerged victorious. During the later 19th century the question of German Unification affected Vesniostein, there was a problem as it was a topic of debate whether they would be included or not, concerning cultural differences and such. But it did end up like the case of Austria, and thus Vesniostein remained an independent kingdom.

World War I:
Vesniostein at first attempted to stay neutral in the days leading up to World War I but due to German pressure they were basically forced to side with the Central Powers, although not as a member. Initially when the war first broke out Vesniostein declared neutrality similarly to Italy, but joined the war in 1915 after signing a treaty that made them join the Central Powers, mainly assisting the Germans in the Eastern Front. Towards the end of the war in 1918, revolts and famine caused King Albus XII to surrender, which was not liked by Kaiser Wilhelm II. Eventually the war was over and Vesniostein had lost.

Interwar Period:
Vesniostein was in a similar place to Germany and Austria after WWI, other than the fact that the monarchy was still around albeit now a consitutional one with the first Prime Minister of Vesniostein being Greger Melk. The nation was poor and unstable in the first few but they managed, similarly to Weimar Germany, to resurge from co-operation with the USA and Sweden. The years 1923-1929 are known as the Vesnian Roaring 20's. The Great Depression hit Vesniostein quite hard and growing fascist and communist groups were abundant. Melk still held the country together but passed away in late 1938. A snap election was declared and due to the growth of extremist parties it was very hard to form a government, but one from Melk's old party managed to be formed under Herbert Renner. It was however weak and arrived at a bad point. Still suffering burns from the market crash, Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler put pressure on the nation.

World War II:
After gaining a hold of Austria, Czechoslovakia and Memel, Hitler turned his attention to not just the Polish corridor but also all of Vesniostein. He saw most of them as traitorous Germans as they had always held onto their own language and cultural identity instead of assimilating to German and also because of their early surrender in the First World War. In late August 1939 Hitler sent two ultimatums, one to Poland, demanding the Polish Corridor and one to Vesniostein, demanding they be annexed. Despite being in such a bad state, Renner refused the ultimatum and was invaded at the same time as Poland on September 1st 1939. On October 2nd Vesniostein surrendered after having fought as hard as possible. Instead of becoming a Reichskommissariat it was directly annexed. The Renner cabinet fled to Sweden, who also annexed Bornholm to prevent Germany from getting a hold of it. Vesniostein remained under German hands until the end of the war. A resistance movement existed all the way from 1939 to 1945 but was mostly covert until late 1944. The resistance worked together with the Polish resistance and later the invading Soviets to free the land from Nazi control. Fascist and Nazi Vesnians co-operated with the Nazis during the Holocaust but there were also many resisting Vesnians. Groups such as Vesnian Jews, communists, immigrants of "unapproved races" and people who simply refused to comply to the Nazi laws were executed and sent to concentration camps during this period as well, being mainly sent to Lebrechtsdorf in Potulice and Stutthof in Danzig, but many to Treblinka and Auschwitz-Birkenau as well. On the 10th of April 1945, Vesniostein was declared freed by the Soviets and their associates in the Vesnian Resistance.

Cold War:
After World War II, Vesniostein had its borders regained but the exiled government was blocked from returning as the Soviet Union installed a communist government much like with the rest of Eastern and parts of Central Europe. King Albus XIII was forced to flee and lived in exile in Sweden with the rest of the royal family. The Democratic Republic of Vesniostein was formed and would remain as a Soviet satellite for many decades to come.

1991-Present:
Not long after the fall of the Soviet Union, the first Vesnian election was held and a new constitution was created, becoming a democratic country. The royal family was allowed to return from exile and Albus, grandson of Albus XIII, became the new king: Albus XIV. Vesniostein later joined the EU on 1 January 1995, the same date as Sweden, Finland and Austria. Vesniostein joined NATO on 12 March 1999, the same date as Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. Vesniostein recognized Kosovo on 6 March 2008.

Geography
Vesniostein is located in Central and Western Europe on the North European plain, bordering the Baltic Sea to the north. One of the most important rivers is the Öder river that flows through the capital, Burgenbrao.

Politics
Vesniostein is a democratic country, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy to be exact, in which the monarch is simply a figurehead while the real political power is in the hands of the Prime Minister and the parliament. The Parliament has x seats. The current government is run by the Vesnische Koalisjion (Vesnian Coalition), composed of the Centre Party, the Vesnian Democrats and the People's Party. The current Prime Minister in Olof Müller of the Centre Party

Administrative Divisions:

 * 1) Rügen-Vestpommern
 * 2) Östpommern
 * 3) Burgenbrao
 * 4) Lechtenheim

Special Cities:

 * 1) Öby (located on Bornholm)
 * 2) Burgenbrao

Nations that Vesniostein doesn't recognize:

 * 1) Ankerland
 * 2) Felixland
 * 3) Oskarland
 * 4) Abkhazia
 * 5) South Ossetia
 * 6) Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (Transnistria)
 * 7) Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara)
 * 8) Somaliland
 * 9) Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)

Economy
Vesniostein, like its neighbour Germany, is quite an industrious nation, with the economy mainly being based on. WIP

Military
Vesniostein is not a big military power, so the army isn't that large or notably strong, however it is well-supplied and does well in military training. It depends quite a bit on Germany for its equipment. WIP

Demographics
Most people in Vesniostein are ethnically Vesnian, at 80%. The other largest groups are Germans at 10% and Poles at 8%. The other 2% consist of other nearby nationalities such as Danes, Sorbs, Swedes and Arabs (immigrants and refugees).

Largest Cities:
WIP
 * 1) Burgenbrao
 * 2) Raustadt
 * 3) Stettin
 * 4) Köslin
 * 5) Eustra

Culture
Vesnian culture is quite similar to German culture, but it has its own little things to stand out. something something. Vesniostein has participated in the Mappervision Song Contest several times. WIP

Real:
Albanian: Vësniosteina

Arabic: Fesniya

Danish, Norwegian and Swedish: Vesnostein

Dutch: Vesnostann

English and German: Vesniostein

Esperanto: Fersano

Finnish: Äläkkatsi

French: Vesniostain

Hungarian: Véznország

Icelandic: Vésniósþan

Italian: Vesnetia

Latvian: Vesnoštanas

Hebrew: ווסנישטיין

Lithuanian: Vesniošteinas

Polish: Wiśniostańsk

Russian: Висьнёстаньск (Vis'niostan'sk)

Spanish and Portuguese: Vesnecía

Official:
Parbounlinese: Vesniakemė

Slavonican: Vesňoštajnsko

Athisian(Croatian & Slovenian): Vesnoštejin

Ijanuskian: Beшнocтéӈcкии (Vešnosténjskii)

Inkamian: Visníoštejn

Visquish: Vesniostainea