Author Topic: The Grand Duchy of Belgravia  (Read 1790 times)

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Offline Markus

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The Grand Duchy of Belgravia
« on: February 06, 2022, 01:51:08 PM »
The Grand Duchy of Belgravia is a land locked constitutional monarchy with approx. 20 million citizens located in East Aranye. OOC: Is currently appears on the map as Elista, it will be fixed on the next map update.

Short history and present status

The Grand Duchy of Belgravia has historically been at the cross roads of the larger Rus’ states: Halych, Nis and Samantra. Its history is linked to that of Samantra (and before that to Rodina) as it often gravitated in the orbit of historical kingdom of Samantra. By the start of the Great War Era (1914) the Grand Duchy of Belgravia was nothing more than a satellite state of the Kingdom of Samantra that managed preserve its de jure independence by giving up its de facto independence  to Petrograd (ooc: Samantra). At the beginning of the Great War Era the overwhelming majority of Belgravians considered themselves ethnic Samantrans, its church was subordinate to that of Samatra and it shared many of the laws of customs of Samantra.

Following the Samantran Sacred War (1914-1954) at the end of which Samantra basically imploded and was left in such a poor state that it could no longer provide for the security and development of its sphere of influence, Belgravia found itself alone on the Mundus stage, with few friends and with little ability to build relations. During the fifties and sixties it tentatively sought to align itself with Halych or Nis depending on which it perceived to be more powerful or most convenient. Beginning with the 1980s the economic recovery of Samantra and its willingness to reassert itself in its historical sphere of influence (of which Belgravia was a part) was initially welcomed with Belgravia linking much of its economy to the Samantran one (the major key strategic sectors of the Belgravian economy were sold or merged with Samantran companies).  However, as Samantra become increasingly more socially conservative than Belgravia and the Samatran Orthodox Church become the de facto and the jure government in Samantra, Belgravia’s relations experienced tensions. To make matters worse for Belgravia its government, of with the executive branch is led by the Grand Duke and the legislative branch bt the elected Duma, are deeply divided over the Samantran issue. The ruling royal family, House Godunov, which is the same house as the Samantran ex Royal family is fearful that any distancing from Samantra could leave room for Belgravia to become a republic. It is for this reason that they have continued to pursue a pro Samantran policy while the Duma is leaning towards a more distancing from Samantra but is facing serious opposition from the pro Samantran and monarchist factions in the chamber.
The recent developments in Halych (civil war) and Nis( Basnion genocide) has left the Belgravian elite with the impression that Samantra remains Belgravia’s only reliable partners despite some contentious issues regarding Samantran dominance over Belgravian political and social life. The only debate is how close Belgravia should be to Samantra.

Today, the Grand Duchy of Belgravia is relatively poor compared to Samantra, has little diplomatic clout, the identity of its population is split between that of being Samantran or being Belgravian, its population speaks the same language as Samantra and its economy is dependent on Samantra. The ruling royal family of Belgravia seeks to secure its future by marrying the future heir to one of the Rus’ monarchies.

Belgravia at a glance:

Name: Belgravia
Official name: The Grand Duchy of Belgravia
Motto: " God and the people of Rus’"
Political system: constitutional monarchy with huge executive powers for the Grand Duke who is also the head of government. The unicameral legislature, Duma, is elected and is a check on the powers of the Grand Duke.
Anthem: TBD
Population: 20 million
Ethnicity: 90% Belgravian (ooc: Russian) aka Slavic aka Samatran Rus'. About half the population sees themselves as Belgravian, the rest see themselves as Samantran.
Demonym: Belgravian
Largest city and capital: Calfa (1 mil)
Languages: Samantran Rus'(ooc: Russian) aka Slavic aka Rodinian
Alphabet: Cyrillic
Religion: about 90% of the population adhere to Christian Orthodoxy and are members of the Samantran Orthodox Church. Belgravia does not have a separate national church.
GDP per capita (nominal): $15,000
GDP (nominal): $300 billion
Currency: Samantran Ruble (it uses the same currency as Samantra but it prints its own banknotes).
Exchange rate: 1 Samantran ruble = 1 USD


Grand Duke Adrian Godunov and his Grand Duchess Olga Godunov


Princess Eleonora Godunov, heir to the throne of the Grand Duchy of Belgravia