The Republic of Ezo is an island nation located in East Asia, separated by the Tsugaru Strait from Japan, by the Soya (La Perouse) Strait from the Russian territory of Sakhalin, and by the Sea of Japan from the Asian mainland. Also included in the territory is the Kunashiri Island, one of the Kuril Islands that was annexed by Ezo forces after the Kuril Islands War (1987) with Russia. Sapporo is the capital and largest city.
ECONOMY
The Ezo economy is one of the largest in Asia. Ezo became a large scale exporter of coal, manganese, and fish products in the mid-1960s until the 1990s, fueling a rapid economic growth. In the mid-1990s, economic growth declined sharply, and the economy was adversely affected by the 1997 Asian economic crisis, inflations, currency devaluations, and military expenditures. As inflation rate was lowered by 2000, the economy began to grow again.
HISTORY
Founded in 1868 by the defeated Shogunal Admiral Enomoto Takeaki after the Boshin War, the Republic of Ezo is the first democratic nation to be established in Asia. The first republic existed only for 5 months, when powerful imperial forces ravaged the country and incorporated it to the growing Japanese domain.
During World War 2, Ezo nationalists, with US and British aid, fought against Japanese troops but eventually resisted the Soviet invasion in the twilight of the war. When Japan surrendered in 1945, the United States granted Ezo with independence, and the second republic was proclaimed in 1946.
After the war, Ezo businessman began building new factories and opened new coal mines, stepping up the development of it's natural and industrial resources with foreign aid. Coal production and exports dramatically increased in the mid-1960s, bringing the economy in it's zenith.
The nation also joined post-war rearmament to meet the threat of Communist agression. A designated major ally of the US, it gave vital support to the Allies during the Korean and the Vietnam Wars. A rocket testing range was opened at Sapporo in 1962, and it launched it's first satellite to space in 1987. Ballistic missile warning systems as well as air defense radars were scattered all around the nation. The Armed Forces was dramatically strengthened, focusing on territorial defense and resisting invasion forces, probably from North Korea or Russia.
In mid-1980s, tensions between Russia and Ezo began to increase as the territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands began to mount. In the Kuril Islands War of 1987, Ezo forces ousted Soviet forces out of the contested Kunashiri Island, forcing it to sign a truce that formally recognizes Ezo's sovereignty over the island. Military installations were built at the island after the war.
Ezo naval and air forces bombed the North Korean coastal city of Wonsan in 2010 as a retaliation after an Ezo warship was torpedoed by a North Korean submarine in the Sea of Japan.
ARMED FORCES
The Republic of Ezo Armed Forces (Japanese:Emishigun no kyōwakoku, 蝦夷軍の共和国) is the unified military organization comprising the Republic of Ezo Army (including the Ezo Army Aviation), the Republic of Ezo Navy (including the Ezo Marine Corps and Ezo Naval Aviation) and the Republic of Ezo Air Force. Having a total force of 200,000 active troops and 380,000 reserves, the Republic of Ezo Armed Forces is the 6th most powerful military in Asia .