Balica

Balica

Balica is a country in western Europe. Composed primarily of the island of Balica, which is west of France and south of the United Kingdom and Ireland, it is formerly known as the Kingdom of Balica. The primary languages are English and French, with Breton recognized as a secondary language.

Balica at a Glance

Capital: Aven
National Languages: English, French
Recognized Languages: Breton
Government: Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
Independence (from England): February 10th, 1649
Area: 51,238 km/2
Population: 15,814,345 (2020 census)
Annual growth:
Density: 308.2 km/2
GDP (nominal): $814 Billion, per capita $ 51,114
HDI: 0,916
Currency: EUR
Time Zone: GMT
Date formats: dd-mm-yyyy (AD)
Drives on the: Left
Internet TLD: .bl
Calling Code: +35

Head of State: Her Majesty Catherine II, Queen of Balica (r. 2004-Present)
Head of Government: The Rt. Hon. Edward Chartes, as Prime Minister and President of the Council of State (Since 2018)

Defence Budget: $ 15.46 Billion
-Air force: 5.2 Billion
-Army: 4.9 Billion
-Navy: 5.5 Billion

History

Balica is historically part of the British Isles. It’s native population are the Bretons, sharing a common heritage with the people of Brittany in modern day France. In 1067, as part of the Norman Conquest, it came under the rule of William the Conqueror. During this time, the Norman French became the language of government, and then was slowly supplanted by Middle and later Modern English. By 1650, the Isle of Balica was a multicultural island, with Anglo-Saxon Protestants dominating the North and East, French speaking Catholics in the South, and Breton speaking Catholics in the West. The results of the English Civil War sat poorly with all of these groups, with the Anglo-Saxons being Monarchist in nature, and the Catholics fearing the Parliamentary forces. Additionally, the Catholic population in the south and west had repeatedly attempted to secede from England. The son of Charles I, Robert, the Duke of Balica, thus declared Balica an independent state upon the execution of his father, and proclaimed a new nation founded on (limited) religious tolerance, granting Catholics equal rights to Protestants. After defeating Cromwell’s forces at the Battle of Newburgh, the Kingdom was able to gain legitimacy and secured its independence.

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, Balica was able to maintain its independence by balancing relations between the English and French Kingdoms. This balancing act came to an end with the French Revolution and the fall of the French monarchy. During the War of the First Coalition, the Royal Balican Navy worked with the Royal Navy to convoy ships in the Bay of Biscay and to hunt French Privateers. During the Napoleanic wars, the RBN saw action in protecting merchant vessels and raiding French shipping, with the RBN engaging in some notable single ship and minor squadron actions against the French. The Balican Army sent some regiments to fight in the Peninsular War, and later in Southwest French as part of the Sixth Coalition.

From the late 17th Century to the late-mid 20th century, Balican society was Pillarized. Originally formed around Anglo-Saxon Protestants and Franco-Breton Catholics, these groups embraced the idea of spear sovereignty, with their own churches, newspapers, hospitals, and social services. As industrialization progressed in the mid-1800s, industrial laborers, trade unionists, and left-wing intellectuals formed a social-democratic third pillar centered around the Labour Party and Trade Unions. Following the Second World War, with an overall liberalization of society and an increased role of government in domestic social services, social pillarization became less apparent, though some aspects still remain, such as Catholic hospitals, trade union services, and religiously affiliated private schools.

By the 1890s, Balican politics had become those of a multi-party democracy, with the Conservatives, the Catholic League, Labour, and Liberals all being major political parties. With the 1922 Government Reform Act, through the adoption of multi-member constituencies and transferable vote elections, smaller parties also became competitive in national and local elections.

During the First World War, Balica entered on the side of the Triple Entente in August 1914 following the German invasion of Belgium. The Balican Army formed a Corps level formation on the Western Front and the RBN escorted convoys. Additionally, the RBN’s largest ship, the battlecruiser Queen Charlotte, served with Britain’s Home Fleet for the duration of the war, and participated at the Battle of Jutland.

The interwar period saw Balica pursue a policy of armed neutrality following the end of the first world war. Loth to be dragged into another conflict, the governments avoided signing any treaties or alliances with other nations, aside from joining the League of Nations and signing the Kellogg-Briand Pact. In the early 1930s, in response to the economic effects of the Great Depression, the government consolidated various public and private pension programs into the National Pension Program, aggressively nationalized the railroad, communications, and energy production sectors, and embarked on large scale spending on public works projects to simulate the economy. One of these projects was a dramatic expansion of the RBN in the late 1930s, adding 2 Large Cruisers and building additional destroyers and submarines as a reaction to the resumption of naval construction in Europe.

When German invaded Poland in 1939, there was significant domestic opposition to joining another potentially bloody continental conflict. As a result, Balica formally remained neutral until Germany declared war on the United State on December 10th, with Parliament declaring war on Germany the day after. However, by early 1941, the RBN was heavily involved in escorting Balican bound convoys in response to Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare, and engaged U-Boats on a few occasions before the formal declaration of war. Following their entry into the war, Balican forces fought in both the MTO and ETO, with the Balican Army fielding two Corps formations on the Western Front by the end of March 1945.

Following the end of World War II, Balica was an founding member of both the United Nations and NATO. Domestically, the post-war consensus saw the creation of a National Health Insurance Program, and the continuation of social democratic policies started in the 1930s. This continued until the 1980s, when the Conservative-CDA coalition privatized the railroads and opened the telecom industry and some other nationalized areas of the economy up to competition.

Militarily, in the post war era, Balican soldiers fought in the Korean war 1951-54, and served in various UN peacekeeping operations, including a battalion level detachment as part of OUNC. Balican units tended to be chosen for west and central African missions due to Balica’s not having been a colonizing power and the prevalence of Francophone personnel. The RBN and RBAF participated in Operations Desert Shield/Storm, and from 2001-2013, RBAF and Balican Army units served with ISAF, with some personnel remaining in a training/advisory capacity. Until the 1990s though, the primary focus of the Balican Armed Forces was to support NATO against potential conflict against the Soviets. To this end, the Army maintained two Armoured Brigades in Germany supported by two wings of tactical fighters and strike aircraft of the RBAF. The RBN on the other hand was focused around a ASW Carrier Group, with the role of protecting convoys between North America and Europe and assisting in patrolling the GIUK gap. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Balican Armed Forces saw a large contraction in size with reductions in personnel and equipment. By the early 2010s, these forces were about half the strength of their 1980s numbers.

In 1951, Balica was a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community, and also was an initial signatory to the Treaty of Rome creating the European Economic Community and joined the European Atomic Energy Community in 1957. In 1992, Balica held a referendum and joined the Maastricht Treaty, making it a founding member of the European Union. This was followed by joining the Amsterdam, Nice, and Lisbon Treaties.

Geography
Balica is an island roughly 50,000 sq km in area, with a few smaller islands located in and around inlets and bays. Despite being relatively small, it consists of topographically distinct regions. In the east are the coastal plains, with Balica’s most populous city, Williamsport, located in the northeast, and its second most populous city, Redones, located in the southeast. Connecting these two cities is the Aven valley, where the capital city of Aven is located. West of this is the more rural Western Hills, which are as the name suggests, hilly. This region is also known for its fertile farmland and extends until one comes to the Erc’h (or Snow) Mountains which cut across the midwest and continue to form the Northwest peninsula and the northern part of the large Bay of Menez Dour. It’s highest peak is Braz Menez at 905 meters above sea level. On the southeast end of Bay of Menez Dour is the city of Rhyus, which forms the center of the fourth most populous metropolitan area, and most populated west of Aven. The southwest coast is also a coastal plain but unlike the east coast, is mostly rural.

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