Patalonian Federal Republic of Districts

Spirit	Notes
Distinguished Admiralty [+]	With major rivals seperated by sea and ocean, the Navy had become the main military instrument of the nation, as seen by our participation in the Great War.
Undisturbed War Economy [+]	The Great War was fought overseas, resulting in our large swathes of industry untouched by the horrors of war.
Federation of Districts [+/-]	Patalonia has granted autonomy to its districts, while great for domestic stability, it requires great political power for overreaching national decisions to pass.
Continent of Patalonia [+/-]	Patalonia is a continent in it's own right, with enough resources to be partially self-sufficient. We enjoy unparalleled defence from any military invasion. However, should the worst come to worst, it's possible to blockade the nation to submission.
The Land of Veridianism [+/-]	Our people follow a branch of Veridianism, leading to cohesiveness between Patalonians, reducing civil unrest. While the urbanism and the Great War have waivered many believers, some of the remaining have opposed the exploitation of our vast natural resources.
Goverment Lobbying [-]	The military-industrial complex has long since lobbied the goverment to keep their plants and projects going. Recently civilian companies have begun to do the same, decreasing the efficiency of the Federal Government.
Harsh Climate Variation [-]	The climate within Patalonia is extremely variable, as we can note the presence of a desert, rainforests and swamps. This leads to internal logistical nightmares and some means of transport becoming unavailable throughout the continent.
Plagued Complacency [-]	The Patalonian Populace is rather complacent. Anything other than a direct aggression or a direct threat for Patalonia gains no traction within the lobbies of the government, therefore not giving the citizens any true war experience.

Language

The Patalonian language is mainly based on the Germanic family of languages, with most of the influence coming from German, followed by Swedish and a bit of Norwegian. There is minute influence from Finnish as seen in some of the location names.

Capital City

The capital of Taladonien is the capital city of Patalonia as well as the district capital of Borät. Its metro area is home to around 15.7 million people. Located in the north east corner of Patalonia, the city enjoys warm tropical weather with minimal seasonal influence across the year, which with its shielded port location results in calm and enjoyable weather throughout the year. The capital shares many great architectural marvels such as the Presidential Palace, Federal Senate, the House of Districts, the Grand City Hall and Borät District Hall. The old town also contains the oldest library and university in Patalonia, Grand Republican Library and Taladonien City University, both established in the 13th century and still running today.
Meanwhile, the adjacent region of Thronau acts as the downtown of the city, with skyscrapers on the opposite side of the Sonnig river and the old town. Thronau contains much of the modern landmarks of the city: the Sambian square celebrating the victory during the Great War; the national navy museum containing a dreadnought, two cruisers and a destroyer, the Republican Army museum with new Great War exhibitions as well as the new National Art Gallery.

Population

~201.26M, current statistics on specific groups and cultural sections are outdated. The government is yet to commit to an up-to-date statistical evaluation of the people.

Government

Classified as a Federal District Based Democracy. The government is split into two sections: the Federal Senate, the place for high level decision making and the home to the federal courts, for the upper echelons of the government and keen viewing of major federal institutions, and the House of Districts the general meeting place of district governors and lower level political advisors. If a law is to be passed it first must achieve popularity in the district that it was thought up in before being sent to the House of Districts, there it will undergo a 4 week long process of streamlining and decision making, from there it will be sent up to the Federal Senate for final decisions and official announcement on its final result. If a quick turn around is needed the lower courts can officially lobby for a quick send to the Federal Senate for final decisions. Representatives of each district to the House of Districts are decided by each district’s senate, which acts similarly to the federal senate. District representation is directly proportional to population.

Economy

The economic system is described by some as 'Social Economic Freedom', it is infact a free-trade state, with traders requiring a government issued licence to sell goods over a certain price, usually $1, exceptions can be made if required. Current laws are based around the recent 1946 'Federal Economic Reform Act' which outlined the banning of insider trading, elimination of monopoly in civil sectors, reformation of the national stock-market with sectors in every district capital and the unification of company taxes across the country, eliminating large amounts of tax evasion. The reform also introduced a taxing body responsible for the taxing of both civilians and business entities to avoid tax fraud, insurance fraud is now, under the reforms, considered a federal offense and can be dealt with at the highest order of court. These acts are somewhat unpopular with the civilian sectors but fully supported by the military sectors of Patalonia.

Centralization

The amount of government centralisation and authority is some-what balanced, with the 2 floors at the central level being dependent on each other, this lets the district governments have leeway within the government and the ability to discuss, propose and combat policies across the country. Local authorities are district funded and controlled however military police and rescue forces in the area act as federal control nodes if something were to go wrong. Some proposals after the Great War call for a district militia, granting extra freedoms to the districts.

Government Cohesion

[WE GOT SOME LOBBYING AND CORRUPTION BOYSSSSS]

Terrain and Climate

Patalonia is a continent-sized island in the tropics. The main feature of the continent is the Kovddo mountain range, essentially splitting the continent in half with a roughly diagonal line north-west to south-east. South of these mountains is the great Drachenau Desert, which spans in-part through 4 of the 9 districts and makes much of the southern inland areas uninhabitable, the only cities of Tannenberg, Zwönitz and Thorn based on major river systems with large mining industries supporting their existence.
West of the Drachenau is the Danian district, its climate consists of arid and semi-arid climate, with most population centers falling on river systems, dependent on their water supply. Southern Dania and Melkart (South of the Drachenau Desert) experience monsoon climate, with jungles and swamps widely seen throughout southern Melkart, Dania and Narten regions. These monsoons bring enough water for large cities, such as the district capitals of Navohavn, Neustadt and Gründer.
Most cities south of the Kovddo mountains tend to stick to large rivers or especially the coast, where either monsoon or more temperate climate conditions are seen, much of the transportation system sticks to these too.
East of the Drachenau and Kovddo mountains, are the Narten and Alechs regions, with less waterways and less precipitation in the east of the continent, the climate is hot semi-arid, and resulting in most of the savanna climate seen in Patalonia. The climate is not as harsh, with Hoffburg, Altkirch and even the inland Worth fairing well, with minimal water supply issues.
North of the Kovddo mountains is the heartland of Patalonia, the hot dry air from the south west cannot get through, while the monsoon precipitation allows for great rivers to flow north.
Dross district gets the least amount of water, with only a single major river flowing through, resulting in a cold semi-arid climate, agriculture is very much possible, but with the higher heat and less water, Dross specializes in vineyards more than grain production. This colder but still semi-arid climates are also seen in inland northern Alechs and Narten regions.
The only regions of Patalonia that can be called temperate are Melkart, Duffen and Borät, this is where the dry equatorial heat doesn’t reach, and the waterways from the inner lake system and rivers mean that the climate is semi-temperate. It is still not completely seasonal, where only the northern most cities of Rehden even see snow, however this leads to agriculture being easy and stable. Melkart, with the Litten and Delenia rivers, acts as the breadbasket of Patalonia, producing a large majority of the food for the country. This leads to the largest inland cities of Patalonia, Krottingen and Delenborg. Similarly, in Duffen, the large lakes and rivers also result in large food production, with livestock products being a large export of the district, and large cities of Prökuls thriving even inland.
The northern and north-eastern coast is where most of the Patalonian populus lives, with the calm bays and wetter climates resulting in comfortable living conditions. This is why the 4 district capitals are all located here: Taladonien metro area (which includes Apenrade), Heydekrug metro area (which includes Möwe and Warmia), Ragnit and Elbing. Northern Duffen shares a similar climate, with the cities of Nortdorf, Castell and Großding.
In Patalonian Veridianism, Drachenau desert is created by the rage of an evil dragon, and thus is seen in the Patalonian consciousness as a hurdle to overcome and thrive, resulting in cities in the middle of the desert and differentiating us from Velskan Veridianism.

Major Cities

Heydekrug - The most major port city of Patalonia, it is the second most populous city, home to 9.68 million people. Located south of Taladonien, as the capital of the Melkart region along the north eastern coast of Patalonia. The city began as a major port for the bread basket area of north eastern Patalonia, shielded by the Kovddo and Taladonia mountains, the region is quite temperate with a large array of crops able to be farmed throughout the Melkart region. As the major rivers of Delenia and Litten flow towards the sea and the Kovddo mountains blocking trade with much of the interior, Heydekrug became a major port and remains so to this day. Today it is the home of much of the naval activity of Patalonia, with PRNB Heydekrug, the Ministry of Navy and the headquarters of Sichel-Heydekrug Heavy Industries all based in the city. A significant part of the population lives along the coast, working in maritime industries of shipbuilding, fishing etc, with the Heydekrug metro area stretching from the Litten river delta to the Delenia river delta and the city of Möwe.
Altkirch - Third most populous city of Patalonia, home to 8.74 million people. Its people enjoy the hot savanna climate of south eastern Patalonia. As the district capital of the Alechs region, with a calm inlet bay, Altkirch has been the lifeline connecting the distant eastern islands to the mainland of Patalonia, with much ship traffic between the Sambian and Ösel archipelagos and the mainland going through Altkirch. With a savanna climate in southern Alechs, the city’s architecture widely differs from the north with many old sandstone buildings intertwined with the newly built air conditioned skyscrapers.

Economic Boons

[GREAT WAR, UNDISTURBED WAR ECONOMY]

Military

Patalonische Republikanische Distriktkorps (Army)

Patalonische Republikanische Distriktmarine and Patalonische Republikanische Küstenwache (Navy and Coast Guard)
The Navy has always been a significant force for the defense and prosperity of Patalonia and in 1947 this continues to be the case. Over 800 thousand men serve in the PRD and PRK as the navy has grown to challenge not only regional but global powers to ensure free trade and safety to the rest of the Dario alliance. The current naval composition of the PRD is:
14 fleet carriers (CV) separated in three classes:
Scinfaxi Class (56000t, 130 aircraft) - Scinfaxi, Hrimfaxi, Fensalir, Dragonet, Alicorn
Cigogne Class (66123t, 100 aircraft) [Exiled Imperial Reveland ships] - Gruidae, Gaul
Fólkvangr Class (35500t, 100 aircraft) - Fólkvangr, Freyja, Sessrúmnir, Odin, Valhalla, Asgard, Bilskirnir
3 light carriers (CVL) consisting of only 1 exiled Imperial Reveland class:
Ourson Class (26139t, 55 aircraft) -  Bélier, Félix, Éridan
20 escort carriers (CVE) consisting of 1 class:
Wespe Class (14500t, 50 aircraft) -
Wespe, Eule, Specht, Korpar, Kranich, Wachtel, Strauß, Cygnet, Anka, Örn, Häger, Uggla,Vaktel, Sparv, Kylling, Kråke, Hauk, Skjære, Påfugl, Tårn
17 battleships (BB) separated into 4 different classes:
Sichel Class (60800t, 9x 18in) - Sichel, Mäher
Skära Class (49600t, 9x 16in) - Skära, Dolch, Svärd, Spjut, Entermesser
Aigaion Class (34900t, 9x 16in) - Aigaion, Kottos, Thálatta, Halcyon
Republik Class (36600t, 8x 15in) - Republik, Freiheit, Gleichwertigkeit, Demokratie, Autonomie, Unabhängigkeit
18 battlecruisers (BC) in two classes:
Schwert (22000t, 4x 15in) - Schwert, Caliburn, Streitaxt, Rapier, Hellebarde, Speer, Lanze, Krummsäbel
Konstitution (50000t, 10x 15in) - Konstitution, Dania, Dross, Brabent, Brissel, Duffen, Borät, Melkart, Narten, Alechs
5 Large Cruisers (CB):
Dreizack Class (35000t, 9x 12in) - Dreizack, Treudd, Neptunus, Ozean, Meer
20 Heavy Cruisers (CA) separated into two classes:
Hræsvelgr Class (19600t, 12x 10in)
Östhammar Class (10600t, 8x 8in)
29 Light Cruisers (CL) separated into three classes
Belka Class (14300t, 12x 6in (DP))
Rehden Class (6300t, 8x 6in)
Taladonia Class of Light Anti-Air Cruisers (CLAA) (7700t, 16x 5in (DP))
12 Destroyer Leaders (DL) of the Feuerfaust class
143 Destroyers (DD) of two classes:
Memel Class (2333t, 6x 4.5in)
Lynx Class (2000t, 3x 5in (DP))
150 Destroyer Escorts (DE) of the Ytter Class
50 Corvettes (KE) of the Jäger Class
147 Submarines (SS) of the Swordfish Class

Patalonische Republikanische Distriktluft (Airforce)

Patalonische Republikanische Flotten-Hilfskraft (Fleet Auxillary / Merchant Marine)

Religion

The national religion of Patalonia is Veridianism, a faith shared with the Velskan Kingdom across the sea. The religion is based on a wide range of pagan religions, with a focus of Norse and Gaelic Druidism. While we share the pantheon, with the same deities such as Alldwyn and Eirva, the sagas and teachings are distinctly Patalonian. Patalonian Veridianism focuses on personal endurance and group cohesiveness, resulting from the vast and harsh southern tropical climate.
A story iconic to Patalonia is the creation of the massive Drachenau desert, Alldwyn encountered a wild dragon that could burn up and torch the land, leaving it a desert. The resulting battle involved using the dragon’s rage and anger against itself and in the end, resulted in the dragon dying. It is said that the blood and tears of the dragon spilled south and resulted in the lush jungles of Melkart.

Additional Lore

Simon Stålenhag, the President of the Patalonian Federal Republic of Districts.
John Stitzgerald (Full name Jonas Albert Stitzgerald), CEO of the Dreinmetal & Warsig franchise (D&W).
Aldrick von Bauscheier, CEO of Von Bauscheier Aircraft Designing Bureau (VBADB) as well as the Minister of Aviation within Patalonia.
Waldemar Sichel, a direct relative of Karl Sichel, the Patalonian naval minister in the 1800s, CEO of Heydekrug-Sichel Heavy Industries (HSHI).
Lothar Landsberg, a prominent captain in the PRN, and the current naval minister within Patalonia.
Jacob Var Tundar, once an Army General, now Minister of the Ground Forces within Patalonia.
Alexandri Guruzuvoy, Minister of Research and Development of Technologies within Patalonia.
Arnold von Sambia, previous naval minister within Patalonia, and the one responsible for the naval victories during the Great War.

Dreinmetal & Warsig

John Stitzgerald (previously known as Jonas Albert Stitzgerald) is a young heir of a longstanding family of shipwrights. The family business, created in 1889, mainly specialized in manufacturing fishing boats and small ferries, wasn’t deemed as profitable as a business venture for him. As a young man, he went from factory to factory to take in what was needed to make the perfect business opportunity. Designs, capacity and most importantly: Demand.
Therefore, he scoured through the options available to him, and many were recurrent: the weapons market, and the armored market. That’s when he decided to turn the family-owned company, Dreinmetal Metallurgy and Shipwrights, to a small arms and artillery oriented manufacturing company in 1936, at age 39.
Alongside John, we also have to mention Paul Warsig, the owner of Warsig Munitions Working, a rather small yet methodic company that produced 15% of the total ammunition used by the Patalonian army until 1936.
In 1939, John and Paul both decided to merge, as this would expand their field of work, as well as combining their knowledge. This gave birth to Dreinmetal & Warsig Büchsenmacherwerkstatt, the gunsmithing and ammo crafting part of the company, as well as D&W Kampf Industrie, in charge of manufacturing heavy artillery, light vehicles and medium armor.
In 1945, it could be noted that 50% of the weapons used by the Patalonian army corps were issued by the Dreinmetal & Warsig factories, while 85% of the ammo provided came from these same facilities. At the end of the war, this manufacturer was recognized by multiple outer countries, notedly some allies like the Velskan people on the opposite side of the sea, which took a liking to the D&W craftsmanship.
By 1947, the factories situated in Nortdorf reached a total area of around 6 km². That allowed for mass-production of small-arms, ammunition and artillery shells. Plans for expansion were thought out, as they were en route to become the workhorses of the Patalonian Armed Forces.
It is to be noted, the once family-owned shipyards in Elbing were sold to Heydekrug-Sichel Heavy Industries, as the Dreinmetal & Warsig franchise completely quit the shipwright community.

Von Bauscheier Aircraft Designing Bureau

Aldrick von Bauscheier is a lower-class noble from the city of Prökuls born in 1919. He graduated from the military academy as a recon officer and later went on to join the Patalonian Air Force as an airborne surveillance operator.
Operating multiple reconnaissance aircrafts, he came to appreciate the workmanship of these planes, and vowed to design aircrafts and powerplants that would largely benefit the Patalonian army.
That led him to retire from the Air Force in 1940, right before Patalonia’s involvement in the Great War, and opening up the Von Bauscheier Aircraft Designing Bureau.
Aldrick von Bauscheier’s involvement in these matters caught Simon Stålenhag’s attention, after which Aldrick was promoted to the post of Minister of Aviation following the end of the Great War, in March 1947, being 27 years old at that time.
 
Heydekrug-Sichel Heavy Industries

Karl Sichel, born 1779, was the Patalonian naval minister from 1812 to 1853, and had to contend with massive naval force growth, as Patalonia had begun to be a player on the global stage. To deal with the massive demand needed for the naval buildup, Sichel had, with the help and funding of the Ministry of Defence, nationalized many large drydocks, in Melkart, Borät and northern Narten, with most drydocks focused in the shipbuilding capital of Heydekrug. The nationalized company had been named Heydekrug-Sichel Heavy Industries (HSHI), natively called: Heydekrug-Sichel Schwerindustrie, after its creator and main region of operation. This allowed Patalonia to dedicate a part of its large shipbuilding capacity, solely on the building of new warships, as well as not relying on civilian drydocks for maintenance and retrofitting. As the 19th century continued, and Patalonia established trade and alliances with nations across the globe, the growing complexity of naval designs had led to Karl beginning a buy up scheme of many other shipbuilders of Patalonia, especially in distant Dania and Brissel districts. By the late 1800s, HSHI had acquired 60% of all drydock capacity in PFRD and over 90% of drydock capacity over 30000t. Today, the HSHI is still run by the Sichel family, with Waldemar Sichel, a grandson of Karl as CEO, but with large oversight of the company by the Ministry of the Navy and the Naval Minister Lothar Landsberg.
As it stands today, the HSHI is an essential part of the Patalonian build strategy, with a large number of shipyards across the continent, responsible for not only the building of new PRN and PRCG vessels but also the maintenance and retrofitting of current vessels. With a focus on military vessels, much of HSHI civilian ship building is based on licensing of designs from other shipwrights and using the shipbuilding capacity granted by state funding to supply the island nation with needed sealift capacities.

Patalonian Ministry of Navy

The current naval minister of Patalonia, Lothar Landsberg, was appointed to the ministry in the later half of 1946,  after his predecessor Arnold von Sambia, who had overseen a major part of the Great War,  relinquished his post due to stress-related problems when he was certain of Patalonia’s victorious stance in the Great War. This had left Lothar to deal with the burden of demobilization of the naval forces as well as the ferrying of the Patalonian ground forces in Aritsia and Saclun back home.
Lothar was born in 1895, in the city of Grunwald, on the island of Sambia. Being an island meant that Lothar was exposed to the maritime sector from his birth, with Landsbergs working as merchant marine captains in the PRFA, and the major Patalonian Republican Naval Base Grunwald on his doorstep. Instead of following his family in the civilian naval sector, Lothar opted to join the military. Lothar’s career began in the Navy, after enlisting in 1913. He quickly rose through the ranks, and was granted command of destroyer PRV DD-143 in 1927. During the Great War, Lothar showed off his skills well, performing well during Kassian naval skirmishes, and for his actions was promoted to the command of the light cruiser PRV Ustio, in late 1942. During 1943, as part of the PFRD Detachment 4, Lothar was part of the Battle of Sabrityar Island, where the Ustio had damaged and sunk several vessels of the KT995. The battle had almost wounded Lothar, and put the light cruiser Ustio out of action for almost a year, but with the Great War raging, Lothar’s talents were greatly needed, as Imperial Reveland ships, fleeing west had placed themselves under Patalonian command, Lothar was placed captain of the light carrier PRNS Bélier. Partaking in convoy escort missions to Aritsia during 1944, Ourson only saw surface combat action during November 1945, where Ourson was placed under the Allied Combined Tasking 1, and participated in the Grand Battle of the Soranian Gulf, during its third stage, the Battle off Cape Vaz. Ourson, under the command of Lothar performed well, and had caused the Axis naval forces to retreat, however an injury to the legs during the battle had left Lothar unable to serve in the Navy after 1945, and left him to seek a career in the civilian sector, despite his distinguished career. However, with the recommendation of Arnold von Sambia, Lothar was placed in the role of naval minister, where he stands to this day.

Alexandri Guruzuvoy

Alexandri Guruzuvoy was born in 1894 in Delenborg, making him the oldest member of the Patalonian government.
In 1910, Alexandri was enlisted into the Mechanized Troops as a LAC driver, a metal beast that has always fascinated him since his youth. He conducted multiple successful training operations as the driver of a Strv 74 “Bob” , and was promoted to the rank of Instructor in 1934. He becomes praiseworthy, having trained the elite spearhead division “Lightning Corps” as well as the “Roar of Thunder” division for the Donubaran counter-offensive.
Following these events, he continued instructing, as well as trying out  vehicle prototypes to make sure the finest quality was produced for the soldiers. He was then promoted to the rank of Chief Instructor, where he could lay back a bit more and focus on a new perspective: armored cars. His research caught the attention of Simon Stålenhag, who promoted him to the position of Minister of Research.

Jacob Var Tundar

Jacob Var Tundar, son of Mikhail Var Tundar and Alexi Myönar, is the one who led the ground offensives against the Donubaran invasion.
Born in 1898, Jacob lived a decent life in Jungfrau Insel, where he learned the basics of horseback riding from his father, a commissioned officer from the Patalonian 31st Kavalleriedivision.
At age 16, Jacob joined the Patalonian Offiziersakademie, in hope of becoming an officer worthy of the Var Tundar family.
He graduates the academy at age 20, being the highest ranked student of his batch of officers, and given the right to form his own platoon: the 69th Cavalry and Reconnaissance Division, “Roar of Thunder”. Specializing in counter-insurgency and information gathering, it went on into training a spearhead division, the Lightning Corps.
Jacob Var Tundar was 38 years old when the war was declared, and led both of his divisions into battle against the Donubaran invaders, thus granting him multiple medals upon his return and a promotion as the General of the Ground Forces of Patalonia.
Following the war, he was once again promoted by Simon Stålenhag himself to the rank of Minister of Patalonian Ground Forces, a position he still occupies to this date.

Flags and Sybmols