Southeastern Federation

The Southeastern Federation was formed on July 1, 1976, after Marvelia, Kosma, Yutuland, and Oalia granted their Southeastern colonies independence. It was completed on July 1, 1978, with the admission of Oalia's colonies. On May 17, 1983, the Lost Islands declared independence.

A potential war between the remainder of the Federation and the Lost Islands was averted when South Kosma and New Yutuland declared independence on August 15, 1978 as Spitzenbergen. East Marvelia agreed to unite with Chruno later that year.

Founding members

• Chruno Joined 1 July 1976
• East Marvelia (became South Chruno, and is now the southern end of Chruno Joined 1 July 1976
• South Kosma (became North Spitzenbergen and is now the northern island of Spitzenbergen Joined 1 September 1976
• New Yutuland (became South Spitzenbergen and is now the southern island of Spitzenbergen Joined 13 August 1977
• Oalia-outre-mer (became and remains the Lost Islands) Joined 1 July 1978.

Background

The islands that became the Federation were first inhabited around 500-550 AD, with the native Romí occupying all the islands over the next century.

Oral tradition, now backed up by modern archaeological evidence, indicates three countries emerged among the Romí that correspond to the modern-day countries. These countries were engaged in nearly continual low-grade warfare, with one country occasionally occupying the other two.

During the 18th and early 19th century, neighboring mainland countries fought over the islands. Chruno was able to maintain its independence, albeit only after ceding its southern territory to Marvelia. Spitzenbergen was split between Kosma and Yutuland, and Oalia occupied the Lost Islands. This was codified in an 1856 treaty.

A 1926 treaty saw the Oalians grant full autonomy to the natives of Salapp and Kálith in the Lost islands, although the Romí did not engage in external affairs.

By the 1960s, a movement for Southeastern independence had started, with some acts of violence and rebellion making colonial administration even more expensive. A disagreement emerged over whether how a post-independence Southeast would look, but advocates of a federation gradually emerged the most popular between the mainland colonial powers and the Southeastern people.

Marvelia agreed to grant its colony of East Marvelia independence on July 1, 1976, and the Federation was born. Over the next two years, Kosma, Yutuland, and Oalia, all agreed to allow their former colonies to join the federation.

Federation government

The Federation was set up so each nation (Chruno and each of the former colonies) had one vote in the Federal Council, which was the executive branch. An Assembly, consisting of 30 members from each of the five nations, was the Federation's legislative branch.

Defence and foreign policy were explicitly in the hands of the Federation government. Other powers could be ceded to the federal government at the request of a member nation.

Internal dissension

The Lost Islands opposed these arrangements due to the fact that it had only one-fifth of the Federation's voting power. The other component nations pointed out that the Lost Islands also had a lower population than the other countries, but Chruno/South Chruno and North/South Spitzenbergen typically voted as blocs -- each of which had twice the votes of the Lost Islands.

The Lost Islands repeatedly proposed reorganizing the federation along the old three nations model of the pre-colonial era, but this was opposed by the other nations.

Chruno proposed creating a single unitary nation of the entire Southeast, but this was also opposed by the other nations, fearing Chruno would dominate this hypothetical nation. A growing movement in East Marvelia proposed a union between Chruno and East Marvelia, although the proposal of this nation having double votes in the Federation was a complete non-starter.

Spitzenbergen, having been under separate colonial masters, was itself split between Federal (remain part of the Federation), National (declare independence as a single nation), and Republican (declare independence as two nations) blocs.

The breakup

The Lost Islands declared a referendum on March 15, 1983, on the question of independence. 84% of Lost Islanders declared their desire for full independence, while only 16% wished to remain part of the Federation. This was done over the objections of the other four nations, although last-minute intervention from the Council of Internatia ensured the actual voting was free of violence.

After independence, the Lost Islands requested Federation soldiers from other nations leave Lost Islands territory by May 15. This request was refused, and scattered warfare started in the Islands.

Chruno and South Chruno were keen to re-integrate the Lost Islands, while North and South Spitzenbergen were willing to allow the Lost Islands to leave the Federation. Spitzenbergen allowed its soldiers to leave the Lost Islands, and the Lost Islanders permitted this to occur.

By May 14, Lost Islands militias had ejected all (now) foreign troops from its soil and full independence was declared on May 17, 1983.

By this point, Chruno and South Chruno were ready to declare war against the Lost Islands, a threat that weakened the power of the Federal bloc in North and South Spitzenbergen, which were both ready to move on with a Federation of four component nations.

On July 15, 1983, authorities in North and South Spitzenbergen agreed to a plebiscite on those nations' future. The "unite as one nation" bloc won 54% of the vote in North Spitzenbergen and 62% of the vote in South Spitzenbergen. A date of August 15 was slated for independence.

This time, Chruno and South Chruno were forced to accept the breakup of the Federation, and withdrew their soldiers peacefully. They voted on November 3, 1983, to unite as a single nation by a 92%-6% margin in Chruno and a 95%-3% margin in South Chruno.

Aftermath

For many years after the breakup, tensions were high between the three nations -- a state of cold war existed.

Only by the late 2000s, with the death of many extremists on all sides and the birth of a younger generation that did not harbor those tensions, were the Southeastern nations able to become closer. 2013 saw a major breakthrough with the Southeastern Song Festival and the Southeastern Football Championships, the first major co-operation between all three nations in 30 years.