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The Peninsular Empire
The Peninsular Empire is a nation of stories. Jenovachi culture and history is a colorful tapestry woven with the folklore of entire generations, so it should come as no surprise when a plethora of unique tales emerge within an empire as vast as the one under the benevolence of the Imperial Family, sprouting from the farthest marches forgotten by the vestiges of imperial power to the proclaimed centre of the world in Strallé. From La Mets where the pristine azure overlooks the historic Beaux-Arts boulevards of springtime willows and vibrant storefronts, to the pale industrial slaves of the empire's smog-stricken manufactories, amidst blazing steel furnaces and crowded subterranean bazaars. The Peninsular Empire is a nation which cannot be holistically encompassed by a single narrative, and as such the kaleidoscope of experiences create the narrative of a nation which is extraordinary.
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Peninsular Empire of Great Jenovah
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Peninsular Empire of Great Jenovah
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The Peninsular Empire and its constituents; Fusean Maquis resistance activity visualized (west), Flettish C-6 (east).
"I find myself a man with ten thousand enemies, but I will not know fear, for the Lord will sustain me."
The Peninsular Empire of Great Jenovah is an empire in decline, encased in a forgotten time capsule with the perversion of the distant retro-futuristic aesthetic, once an inspiring beacon of optimism for the future now the vehicle of ultimate despotism appropriated by the megalomaniacs in Strallé. A bellicose hermit kingdom laying atop the corpse of the venerated Fusean Empire, it currently borders several countries which includes the Fletteland; whom it remains in an exhausting state of war with; and the Seraphic Dominion of Yergana. The Jenovachi realm comprises various principalities, duchies, republics, and baronies which form to create the collective entity of 1.5016 million square kilometers referred to as the Peninsular Empire which effectively is ruled out of the metropole. The Peninsular Empire wields incredible power and influence despite its geographic isolation, itself an undisputed continental hegemon, commanding a sophisticated centralized economy unchallenged in world cybernetics, chemicals, electronics, entertainment, and other sectors. Led as a constitutional monarchy with a strict one-party system, the ruling regime, referred to as the Patrie Rouge, is an elusive but pragmatic political body formed with revolutionary ideals inspired by a distortion of Marxist-Leninist economic doctrine, simultaneously (and in contradiction) pursuing the restoration of the monarchy to a position of absolute power as paramount dictators of Jenovachi society and nationhood. The Peninsular Empire suffers from internal rivalries which can cripple the state, usually the vicious inter-service rivalry between the Jenovachi Army and the Jenovachi Air Force which exacts the conniving schemes of opposing officers, impeding upon the functionality of the state. The Jenovachi bureaucracy preaches pure meritocracy which has fostered a cutthroat political culture, often to Jenovah's own detriment, regularly breeding statesmen of wunderkind status and as swiftly eliminating them in merciless grabs for power; assassinations are a regularity in the upper echelons of state while duels for honor, a practice universally regarded as antiquated, are declared against adversaries. The Peninsular Empire invites the ascension of unscrupulous strongmen to positions of power, seeing revanchist attitudes circulate across the politburo and pulling the nation into perpetual armed conflict.
Déotille of House Merce is the current patriarch of the Imperial Family and the “emperor-designate” by legal technicality, but he does not retain the title of 'Emperor of Fusea' as the elevation of the revered empress to the status of an undying lord has created an unstable political paradigm in which the seat of imperial power sits with the throne, occupied by a corpse whose consciousness is debated. Although Jenovah is nominally an atheist state, its society is one that is deeply spiritual and past religious connotations of the Imperial Family have persisted, especially with the verdant iconolatry pursued by the Patrie Rouge regime. The Emperor is a position akin to a messiah, meaning its holder can wield enormous amounts of power and influence as, even with an enforced atheism, the divinity of the imperial throne has not been hindered. The Imperial Family and the Patrie Rouge coexist as a diarchy but with an underlying animosity dominating their relationship. The Patrie Rouge regime derives its legitimacy from the approval of the reigning monarch, in return vowing to consult House Merce on all matters concerning state, but no checks exist on the authority of the imperial regime; the power of either depends entirely on the strength of the sovereign.
Jenovah is an empire with a population of 125,001,835 as of the 2110 census, giving it a population density of 83.245 people per km² although the figures vary drastically by region. 65.2% identify under the Jenovachi nationality, but a history of multiculturalism and integration makes receiving verifiable data on ethnic backgrounds particularly difficult; estimated around 30-35% of the original proportion belong to the Jenovachi ethnicity while an additional 8-10% are mixed with it. 19.29% are categorized with the Gens ethnic group originating from the Fusean Empire; 11.1% belong to the Folke people. An amalgamation of nationalities and ethnicities comprise the remaining portion, ranging from the Flettish to the Fiole people. 95% are fluent in Fusean French and speak it as their first language. The Peninsular Empire was reported to have a nominal GDP of $4.138 trillion which contracted in the previous four quarters with a GDP per capita of $33,103, but this number is misrepresentative due to geographical disparities. The Jenovachi metropole flourishes in comparative excess with a GDP per capita of $67,779 while the colonial empire struggles with a stark GDP per capita of $8,653. The Jenovachi state provides a basic standard of living for all citizens residing in the metropole which includes free and universal healthcare of adequate quality, education up to secondary school with university entrance entirely determined by exams, subsidized urban housing with cafeterias which serve hot meals and bread to anyone with eligible stamps, and an unnegotiable state of security and safety with nonexistent rates of crime.
”Faith mended the wounds of the Jenovachi nation in the face of ultimate evil, unfathomable horrors had been endured by millions as black ash-choked rains drowned the realm in scalding irradiated tar, the rot of flesh permeating the air for decades. It was not faith within God which allowed the Jenovachi people to persevere, but faith in their nation.”
Established June of 2028 in the aftermath of a devastating atomic war which saw the complete unadulterated decimation of Great Jenovah, the Peninsular Empire is a society born out of bloodshed and remains familiar with it. As history becomes muddled and obscure the closer to the events of the 2016 atomic war, it's unclear what precisely transpired during these days of unimaginable tumult. It was rumored an exiled princess had arrived at the northern coasts of the Jenovachi peninsula, where she led a legendary conquest in order to unite the nation once again, but no evidence of this barring the word of mouth can be derived from any sources; no photographs exist, although a conquest swept across the region from 2025 - 2026. It was from these exploits upon which the foundations of the Petit Domaine were made, the former military elite now aristocracy of Jenovah. The Peninsular Empire spent the first half-century of its existence embroiled in struggle, engaged in near-constant combat against occupational forces for control of the Jenovachi heartland while attempting to desperately cling onto the overseas colonial holdings of Great Jenovah. It would fail, but with every loss, the fanaticism and vigor of the Jenovachi people only strengthened; as did their bloodthirst. Jenovah would only reconquer the entirety of its pre-war mainland territories in the mid-2060's, but several decades would have to pass before a weakened derelict Jenovah could finally set its eyes on riches outside.
In 2086, a seventeen-year Lady Frances Merce embarked upon her legendary conquest of the Fusean Empire. A prodigy in all regards, the prowess and savvy which the Lady exhibited even at such youth cemented her reputation as a military commander of deified status; the ‘Jeanne D’Arc’ of the 21st century. It was a grueling effort which expended the many thousand lives of Jenovachi, but this sacrifice allowed the Peninsular Empire to expand in all directions, beginning with what was once the heartland of the Fusean Empire. It was conquered within six months, all while further campaigns piercing deeper into the fractured Fusean Empire were underway and delivered incredible results. The Lady Merce's string of victories was cut after her entire force was decimated by a small contingent of militants in mountainous battle in 2089, unprepared for the harsh environments of the snowcapped mountains. It effectively ended her superstar status, eventually relegating her to managing a guerilla war within the conquered realms and becoming a viceregal governor of sorts where the responsibilities of consolidating Jenovachi rule became hers. The Peninsular Empire would continue expanding deeper into the continental interior regardless of minor setbacks, but the form in which this expansion proceeded in was of a bureaucratic and slow nature. The Jenovachi state exercised complete control over every military affair, divorcing field commanders of their operational autonomy and micromanaging the battlefields which the nation engaged in, morphing to mimic the vast administrative bureaucracy which firmed the control of the Patrie Rouge over the Peninsular Empire.
The Boreal Spring is an ongoing series of wars waged by the Peninsular Empire, principally against . . .
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Economy
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Economy
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"And yet the red banners roused the serfs, who seized three-pronged lances when the warlords raised whips in their black hands."
The Peninsular Empire commands one of the most unique economies in the entire world, boasting a highly-developed centrally-planned model which uses a nationwide information network for planning; the intersection between state and economy blurs more with every five-year plan implemented. It was originally intended to be used as a temporary measure to reconstruct the nation, but the merit of the command model was soon realized with the advent of new algorithms which allowed planners to collect data on a national scale to be used for the purposes of economic management. The Jenovachi postwar economic agenda has been characterized by massive industrial expansion, often sidelining the service industries with the empire's predominant occupation overwhelmingly being in the industrial sector. The Peninsular Empire exports a diverse cornucopia of products and commodities but its major industrial exports include: steel, lumber, aerospace, defense, chemicals, mining, motor vehicles, poultry, agriculture, and electronics; while Jenovachi media conglomerates are the most influential in the world. It should come with no surprise that the Jenovachi media industry, despite its incapacitation as a direct result of the atomic bombings, is the undisputed capital of world media; a society which has historically held image in high regards, emphasizing restraint and punctuality in social situations, as well as going hand-in-hand with a rich patronage for the arts. The Peninsular Empire possesses a unique understanding of soft-power politics, exporting its vibrant culture as a commodity in order to nurture a world familiar with the Jenovachi nation and subsequently receptive to the ideological persuasion of its vast propaganda apparatus. The Jenovachi Standard Concern for Commerce (Jenèvein Estandart Combiner por Commers; JECC, Jenèscommer), the state-run monopoly which retains ultimate control over all commercial activity within the empire including production and distribution, makes use of a centralized computer network (Système Informatique Central Automatisé; SIC) which improves empire-wide economic management by allowing administrators and planners within the JECC to collect and process vast amounts of data from across the entirety of the Peninsular Empire, utilizing this information to make more accurate and efficient decisions about resource allocation, production planning, and the distribution of goods and services. It was established as a means to overcome the inefficiencies and limitations of the classical command model, which relied on manual calculations and an all-encompassing bureaucracy to manage economic decision-making. Jenovachi leads the world in the field of cybernetics, which remains the subject of enthusiastic state investment as the development of cheap prosthetics and bionics alleviates the aftermath of injuries which veterans suffer in the wars, but this widespread access to augmentative cybernetics has also developed a cornucopia of subcultures and philosophies pertaining to their use.
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The Jenovachi command system is not without flaws. An emphasis on heavy industry and military overspending created a variety of issues in the present-day Peninsular Empire, most glaringly the sidelining of light industry and consumerist needs has seen the quality of life decline substantially across the whole of the imperium. Consequently, this focus on military expansion has seen civilian innovation stifled in favor of developments furthering the needs of the armed forces.
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The Free City of Damarques is the second-largest metropolis within the Peninsular Empire with a population estimated to be around 8.97 million according to the 2110 census. A jewel of the empire, the Free City is the single-most important port of the entire nation, renowned for its cutting-edge facilities and pristine seawaters unfamiliar in the metropole. It remains one of the few sectors in which capitalist industry is permitted to flourish, although state intervention still remains prevalent. It was once the capital of the Fusean Empire, but Jenovachi rule has transformed the city into an international center for commerce, science, education, and industry, reversing the impairing autarkic policy regime which stifled the city's growth. However Damarques is not without its numerous shortcomings, however, as with widespread deregulation, the absence of oversight agencies in this metropolis consequently has nurtured a laissez-faire nightmare in which a powerful clan of industrial dynasties akin to chaebols reign over its streets. It was intended to be an experiment of free market economics in the Peninsular Empire, almost entirely devoid of the omnipotent centralization encompassing the rest of the realm, but this freedom has rotted the metropolis from inside out. A phenomenon has sprouted in recent decades which has seen residents of the city move to the outskirts of the Free City beyond its municipal jurisdiction where social programmes enacted by the Peninsular Empire and mandated to be universal by law are still applicable, facilitating a depopulation of its city centre and ballooning extensively the rural counties surrounding the metropolis. The Académie Polytechnique and other similar institutions remain some of the most prestigious within the whole of the Peninsular Empire regardless and in the Fusean tradition, the city possesses a reputation for education, refinement, and the arts, birthing raw talent from its famed theatre houses and leading Jenovachi dramaturgy.
The Jenovachi Army's renewed occupation promises to eventually implement systematic changes needed by the city's population, but authorities only demonstrate compliance with the egregious hierarchy much to the residents' disappointment. The Peninsular Empire has widely demonstrated a disinterest in the affairs of its premier metropolis, rather devoting resources and manpower towards the maintenance of Strallé. In 2112, following demonstrations in protest of Emperor Déotille’s coup d’etat, several armored tank units were deployed to the meet the demonstrators which resulted in a several-hour long standoff between regiments of the Jenovachi Army and protesters obstructing the way towards the Chambre du Parlement which housed the municipal government, escalating when rubber bullets and tear gas were deployed to disperse the crowds. The Chambre du Parlement was destroyed in the subsequent mayhem after tanks started firing upon the central clocktower of the hall, eventually resulting in the destruction of an entire level and triggering a chain reaction which collapsed it. It ostensibly succeeded in quashing dissent, however clandestine actions by the guerilla organization known as the Maquis disrupted the port facilities of Damarques, stranding the Jenovachi fleets at sea whilst the naval war with the SSTO escalates.
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Society
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Society
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The Imperial Family is the paramount bastion of all ideological and cultural affairs within the Peninsular Empire, and this paradigm is reinforced via the philosophy contemporarily known as restorationism. Jenovachi restorationist thought combines the ideas of Marxist-Leninist regimes with the values of revanchist ultranationalism, simultaneously placing the monarchy of the Peninsular Empire as the sole conduit through which a utopian vision can be implemented. It cannot be accurately described as socialist, as the Peninsular Empire actively persecutes such thinking, nor does the fascist label encompass the principles since fascism is considered the sworn ideological nemesis of the Peninsular Empire, and the interventionist foreign policy of the state often reflects these ideas. The Peninsular Empire embraces the coordinated totalitarianism of the Soviet Union, but critics would argue the ideals which are peddled to wider society are of National Bolshevik thinking. The Peninsular Empire retains an expansionist foreign policy which has seen it wage a number of wars in order to accumulate influence abroad and sprawl its realm across the ‘Continental Interior’ region. The Imperial Family adopts the long-held mandate of the former Fusean Empire that dominion over the whole continent is rightfully vested within the powers and responsibilities of the Fusean Crown, so therefore such wars are reinterpreted as struggles for the unification of a dismembered conglomerate of peoples united by history and culture. Jenovachi restorationism condemns deeply the overseas colonialism of empires partitioning its continent, but in this eternal jihad against parasitic external influence, the resources of an entire continent have been mobilized, usually through similar imperialist means, in order to drive back encroaching imperial powers. The Peninsular Empire is not completely driven by the values of imperialism and irredentism. A core principle of restorationism is egalitarianism which, principally, has been practiced by the imperial regime.
National Bolshevik thinking. The Peninsular Empire retains an expansionist foreign policy which has seen it wage a number of wars in order to accumulate influence abroad and sprawl its realm across the ‘Continental Interior’ region. The Imperial Family adopts the long-held mandate of the former Fusean Empire that dominion over the whole continent is rightfully vested within the powers and responsibilities of the Fusean Crown, so therefore such wars are reinterpreted as struggles for the unification of a dismembered conglomerate of peoples united by history and culture. Jenovachi restorationism condemns deeply the overseas colonialism of empires partitioning its continent, but in this eternal jihad against parasitic external influence, the resources of an entire continent have been mobilized, usually through similar imperialist means, in order to drive back encroaching imperial powers. The Peninsular Empire is not completely driven by the values of imperialism and irredentism. A core principle of restorationism is egalitarianism which, principally, has been practiced by the imperial regime.The Patrie Rouge regime plays an indispensable role in the daily lives of Jenovachi; its revolutionary ideals and iconography seep into every aspect of society. The Junior Pioneers (Jeunes Pionniers) are a youth organization which all Jenovachi citizens from ages nine to sixteen are conscripted into, directly under the oversight of the Patrie Rouge in an effort to introduce and indoctrinate the youth of the Peninsular Empire into the national program. Jenovachi youth can be expected to partake in a variety of different extracurricular activities intended to foster an allegiance to the Peninsular Empire, primarily with the organization of community-centered volunteer work such as cafeteria duties, public labor projects, and environmental preservation. The Junior Pioneers are recognizable by their signature vermillion handkerchief which every cadet is required to wear, as well as their white button-up uniform intended to mimic the historic serf clothing of revolutionary leaders.
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A core founding principle of the Peninsular Empire’s restorationism is the right to cultural expression and the protection of the various ethnic minorities which flourish under the reign of Jenovah. Although Fusean French is the most-spoken language across all boreal civilization, minority languages have had their alphabets and rights to free expression protected under law with ethnicities retaining an expansive degree of autonomy in cultural education free of metropolitan interference. Jenovah is a society with a history of multicultural and multiracial interactions, stemming from its rich seafaring mercantile roots, but the intersection of common struggles among the proletariat has invited rise to a regime blind to color and interested in the advancement of historically-marginalized communities; the quarrel between white and black have largely been squashed by an empire which represents and fulfills the needs and wants of its various localities. The Flettish ethnic and cultural enclaves scattered across the Peninsular Empire and principally in the Flettesmarch, however, have largely been disenfranchised despite these revolutionary ideals in what the imperial regime refers to as the process of ‘decolonization’ which has morphed to resemble ethnic cleansing.
The Peninsular Empire enforces absolute equality between the sexes. As social expectations and roles had shifted with the post-atomic era, the classic chauvinism which dominated the Jenovachi reactionary mindset was instead replaced with a militant equality pertaining to the revolutionary ideals embraced by the Jenovachi in the years of reconstruction. It was done, not through a wholehearted acceptance of feminist values, but rather necessity as Jenovachi labor power had shrunk so substantially, especially with millions of men slaughtered in battle, to where women were able to obtain equality in order to supplement the shortage of workers. A preexisting culture stressing education and refinement mingled well with the emancipation of women as the wave of new high-skilled laborers allowed Jenovah to leapfrog over its rivals. Jenovachi women are encouraged to educate themselves at university-level institutions and seek out careers in service of their motherland with some of the brightest engineers, propagandists, and military tacticians being women. The Petit Domaine, however, remains significantly more conservative and misogynistic as women are expected to fulfill domestic household roles while simultaneously educating themselves to manage family finances and enterprises. As congress is dominated by members belonging to the aristocratic clique, female politicians are forced to be exponentially more brutal and ruthless compared to their male counterparts in order to compensate for their perceived incompetence or weakness. The Fusean underclasses of the Peninsular Empire experience the best of these feminist social reforms, elevating themselves to a status above second-class citizens and sometimes even being afforded more opportunities for employment and immigration than their male counterparts, coinciding with a wave of enthusiasm developing further feminist legislation alongside the normalization of LGBTQ+ relations.
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The Jenovachi hereditary aristocracy (Petit Domaine) forms an integral part of the society of the Peninsular Empire. An institution which encompasses seven noble families as well as dozens of subservient minor houses scattered across the realms, the aristocracy forms the highest echelon of a rigid caste structure which ensures the consolidation of power into the hands of a small cabal of elite families. As Jenovachi elites are under social expectations to excel as a result of their material abundance, a culture of education and refinement exists which expects members of the aristocracy to be indulged in classic literature, art, music, military strategy, and imperial history; also well-mannered and regal in presentation. A strict code of conduct is followed in social situations, barring cordial interactions between members of their stratum. An aristocrat is often expected to appear as sophisticated and elegant, but most importantly, humble. And this reality presents itself in every facet of aristocratic culture, including Jenovachi fashion as a whole which stresses minimalistic patterns, strong silhouettes, and chic elegance which does not intend to boast. The Jenovachi aristocracy also has a strong sense of duty and responsibility to those working beneath them, but also to their communities and nation as a whole, providing welfare to their employees and supporting local institutions such as churches and schools; the latter almost being a requirement as the absence of private schooling forces aristocrats to guarantee the education of their children’s public institution is appropriate. An especially popular method of demonstrating courage, loyalty, and patriotism for members of the aristocracy is enlistment in the military, seen for members of this class as prestigious rather than a means of social mobility. The Jenovachi university system accommodates these values as many elite institutions also double as military academies which allow aristocratic children to pursue military careers if duty calls. The Patrie Rouge often cooperates with the aristocracy in matters concerning military, mostly due to shared veteran backgrounds; many officers within the ranks of the Jenovachi Army belonged to the aristocracy, fostering a relationship with the working-class soldiers beneath them while the distinguished officers of the aristocracy became heroes of war celebrated in the empire.
A rigorous honor code stemming from ancient aristocratic customs forms the basis behind all social interactions within the Peninsular Empire. The Jenovachi people are held to certain standards upon entering any conversation with a presentation of formality and restraint expected from every individual. As a shame-based culture, dishonor against the family name and the individual are held with incredible weight and seen as a mortal sin only rectifiable by feats of courage or sacrifice. An emphasis on family and legacy provides reason as to why the Peninsular Empire is a nation dominated by a handful of dynasties, since the atomic family unit is nonexistent and the community surrounding a family exists to sustain the foundations behind empires for centuries to come.
The Peninsular Empire is one of the few societies which makes widespread use of cybernetics and its proliferation has yielded a profound impact on present-day culture and society which manifest themselves in a variety of social phenomena studied by analysts. Jenovachi militarism means a significant portion of its population belong to a class of veterans, many who return with debilitating injuries which would perceivably reduce them to docile sponges dependent on state subsidies. The Imperial Family has declared a moratorium on the development of a number of innovations, including but not limited to: artificial intelligence and augmentative cybernetics of the mind. Jenovachi philosophy in regards to the augmentation of the mind stems from a reactionary backlash towards the proliferation of automation and the rise of machine-learning artificial intelligences which are able to, in all circumstances, pass as human. A society which has held education and the exchange of ideas in the highest of regards for all its history, the encroachment of technology upon mankind's ability to reason has been of utmost concern to the Peninsular Empire’s cultural institutions. It views developments in robotics and artificial intelligence across the globe as existential threats towards the sacred state of the human mind; the unique attribute of consciousness. An intelligence equal to the cognitive functions of the mind is believed to be dangerous as it would possess no soul, devoid of the capacity for emotion and perspective; with this, the act of mending flesh and machine is viewed disdainfully whereas the act of mending mind with machine is sacrilegious.
Historically, cycles of devastating famine which persisted until contemporary history developed specific views and standards regarding food and its consumption. The Peninsular Empire harvests a single staple crop which forms the cornerstone of Jenovachi agriculture; rice. A cereal grain non-native to the nation but rather imported within the last century, the ease to cultivate mass amounts of rice was peddled as a solution to hunger by the Patrie Rouge which has seen its ascension as the basic food to accompany all meals. It was a foreign crop regarded as exotic by an ignorant Jenovachi populace whose exposure to outside cultures was sparse, but its incorporation coupled with an extensive public relations campaign saw a steady rise in popularity of rice among Jenovachi households.
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