Humerland

Humerland is a Kingdom occupying much of Borealis, with colonies also existing in Mediterrae, near Occidentalis, and in Australis. Humerland was widely considered to be the strongest individual country in CCRP II for a lengthy time, although this could have been said only to be true in terms of naval power and economic domination, as its army is quite weak; however, as the lead nation of the Homaric Alliance, it has significant allies. Moreover, Socii Mundial significantly outnumbered the Homaric Alliance, and a war between the two is likely to end in a Humerlandish defeat. However, if the Great Universal Empire is to be considered a nation, its formation easily took the title of strongest nation from Humerland except in navy and area.

Humerland is one of the original founding nations of CCRP II, and was also present in the first CCRP. The owner, Inigo_Montoya_472, was instrumental in creating the RP as he designed the tech tree.

Location
The Humerlandic heartland is in Borealis, although territories exist elsewhere. Territories include:

Borealis:


 * Kingdom of Humerland - Original country
 * Raekyur Islands - Island constituent nation

Alituria:


 * Humerlandish Alituria - Colony
 * Port Archibald - Territory

Mediterrae:


 * Humerlandic Basza Territory - Colony
 * Humerlandish Inutilia - Protectorate

Occidentalis:


 * Humerlandish Occidentalis - Colony
 * Humerlandish South Occidentalis
 * Humerlandish Crab Rave Isles - Territory

Australis:

Orientalis Ocean: Imo Mundi:
 * New South Crabenbourg (Does this remind you of anything?) - Colony
 * South Australis
 * Himilco's Land - Colony
 * Humerlandish Zealandia - Colony
 * Ula mokupuni


 * Humerlandish Imo Mundi Territory

History
Main Article: History of Humerland

Ancient
'''Note: this section is subject to change and ought to be rectified. Some details are distorted, others missing.'''

Following the collapse of the large civilisation known to have conquered much of Borealis (known here as "the Empire"), Canciona, and Mediterrae, which was known to occupy Humerland as far north as the Homarus river, the nation split into various nations previously occupying the area. Humerland as a constituent state came into being c.1000, following a period of infighting among these states.

Homarism, the worship of Great Nephrops the great divine lobster, first began to become prevalent in the Homarus valley around this time, by tribes living by the Homaric Sea, where lobsters are plentiful and were regarded as the offspring of Great Nephrops.

These nations occupied roughly the same regions as the modern provinces of Humerland proper, with the exceptions of Région des Langoustes, later won in the Seventy Years War, and Montonia and Easthumer, which were colonised in the 11th century.

There were 4 such kingdoms; Norrhummerland, Homarus, Midland, and Suitland. The northernmost of these kingdoms, Norrhummerland, was a loose confederacy of local chieftains and their tribes. Ethnically, these people were similar to the Friesians; both migrated east from what is now Haluria around 2,000 years ago; they could not go further south, as the Empire still controlled the land south of the Homarus river. They are not, however, ethnically related to the current populations of Haluria. Norrhummerland being mostly marshy and devoid of materials, civilised society was difficult.

Suitland, or South Land, is ethnically related to the people of the Kneck/Amurrhine valley, including Borogravia and what is now the PRA. They migrated north following the collapse of the Empire, reaching the sea by c440. As a country they were always dominated by Borogravia, and at times threatened by the Inutilian Caliphate or Homarus. Nevertheless, they remained fiercely independent, and did not ally with any sides.

Homarus at the time occupied land on both sides of the Homarus river, as well as substantial holdings to the south. The two major cities of the present nation, Humerburg and Kreeftenstad, were both founded by the Empire and settled by the Homarus, although under the names Homar Burgus and Civilis Homarus. The Homarus river made trade and transport relatively easy, allowing the construction of large cities with grand buildings in addition to the Empire's, including the oldest stone buildings still standing in Humerland. Culturally, they were influenced by Carthaginian explorers, who founded the then royal family, the House of Himilcar, which continued until the First Unification. Carthaginian names became fashionable, the architectural style was influenced by Carthage, as was religion (although by 800 Homarism, the worship of Great Nephrops, was being adopted by the upper classes. This followed the conversion of King Hanno II, who was convinced by his mother-in-law to paint lobsters on his men's shields before going to battle, with the victory having been attributed to this). Carthage also introduced elephants and brought much technology, including large galleys, cranes, the alphabet, and advanced mathematics and astronomy, and architectural and engineering concepts such as the arch and bridge. The existence of the river, and Carthaginian ingenuity, stimulated ship design, allowing Homarus to trade all across the Homaric Sea and as far south as the Gulf of Basza. Already by 690, to protect the mouths of the Homarus river, King Carthalo IV (the royal family was by this time Carthaginian, and took Carthaginian names) built a navy of ships. Midland was essentially a vassal-state of Homarus, and provided it with grain and other produce. By 900 Homarus was taking tribute from even Norrhummerland.

Early Medieval - Egbreth
Around the year 960, a chieftain in Norrhummerland known as Egbreth began a revolt against the Homarus's tribute- and tax-collecting dominance of Norrhummerland. He was also angered by the destruction of the rock-pools where they worshiped the crayfish, destroyed by Homaric missionaries to make people worship Great Nephrops instead. He convinced other chiefs to band together, and they declared war against Homarus.

Homarus responded by sending a large army north to wipe Norrhummerland off the face of the earth. The army is said to have contained 100 elephants, as well as 50,000 men. Egbreth deployed a force of 100 warriors, whom the Homaric soldiers pursued. The warriors retreated into the swamps, inciting the Homaric army to follow. The Homaric army promptly got lost and was ambushed by around 10,000 Norrhummerland warriors, who set fire to the swamps and surrounded the army. Knowing the land, they had the advantage. They killed the entire army, captured the elephants and lots of weapons, mustered a force of 200,000 men, and marched down to Civilis Homarus. They beseiged it, and, taking it by surprise, captured it within a week. Leaving a garrison, they travelled along the Homarus river, looting and sacking as they went. When they got to Homar Burgus, they demanded the surrender of the entire city. This was granted, subject to the condition that Egbreth become a Homarist, that Homar Burgus be kept, and that the royal family be spared, in exchange for ownership by Egbreth of Civilis Homarus. Egbreth pledged compliance to this, was baptised as a Homarist, and was awarded ownership of the Civilis Homarus, which he renamed Kreeftenstad. He then allied with Homarus, to form a union of the two nations in 976, and together they invaded Suitland. He is remembered as Egbreth the Great. His heir, King Ethelred, merged Homarus and Norrhummerland to form Humerland in 1034.

Post-Ethelred
By 1200, Montonia and Easthumer were added to the Kingdom of Humerland, although it took a century, and vast resources and manpower, to subdue them. The nation vied with Valan and Friesland for trade on the Homaric Sea, and started trading extensively in iron mined in the Transhomaric Mountains, some of which has been found in swords from Omari Robusuta and Alituria. By then Omari Robusuta was known, although semi-legendary and thought of as a very rich, magical kingdom. Rumours of lands south and east of South Haluria began around this time, following tales by mariners who had sailed around the coast of Canciona, or travellers who had ventured through Borogravia and Inutilia.

- Unification
By 1340, the kingdom was in a sorry state of collapse and decline. It had reverted to its old kingdoms of Norrhummerland, Homarus, Midland, Suitland, Montonia, and Easthumer. Easthumer was cut off due to robber-barons in the mountains preventing trade, and much of the population was ruled by small fiefdoms and agrarian communities. Humerburg and Kreeftenstad were abandoned for the most part, and the House of Egbreth became one of the many small kingdoms.

This part is where Dierdrik comes in. The son of a baron in Midland, he, like Egbreth before him, amassed a large following. He united Midland and Suitland, and made it his goal to cross the mountains and conquer rebellious Easthumer, which required control of the passes. He succeeded in doing so, and many of the small castles built in the passes at this time to control movement still stand. He set up a vassal government in Easthumer, with its capital at Humerport. He then united the western part, setting up the new capital at Humerburg. This action took 34 years in total, and earned him the title Dierdrik the Uniter. He is the head of the House of Dierdrik.

As for the other events of Dierdrik's reign, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Humerland?

- 70 Years War, conquest of Langouste
In 1390, 10 years after Dierdrik's death, Humerland again had cause to go to war, this time against Langouste, a smaller nation on their coast. Langouste posed a problem, as it blocked much access to the Homaric Sea, and could potentially isolate Suitland if war broke out. Moreover, Humerland was hanging out for a war to boost its patriotism and morale. As such, they declared war on Langouste, and, after a period of fighting that lasted for 7 decades, known as the Seventy Years War, Humerland finally captured the last part of Langouste, the city of Crabenbourg. The nation was merged into Humerland as Région des Langoustes, but the language and culture are still very much independent, as reflected in the place names.

Modern
By the year 1500, Humerland decided that it would need to build a larger navy if it was to control trade on the Homaric Sea. By this time Valan was posing a threat, and Humerland's King Henri IV, the first king from the House of Crabenbourg, reacted by authorising the construction of over 40 ships, including both carracks and the new galleon design invented in Basza.

By 1600, Friesland was the dominant nation in the Homaric Sea. Immensely wealthy through trade with the Orient, including Alituria and Eleutheria, it had a larger navy than Humerland or Valan. It controlled most of the Homaric Sea, and considered itself to have exclusive fishing rights therein. Conflict over fishing rights led to the First Homardo-Friesan War, in 1646 (result: Homaric victory), 1684 (result: Friesan-Valanian victory), 1697 (result: stalemate), and 1786 (result: Homaric victory). In the end, Humerland gained complete dominance of the Homaric Sea, allowing further colonisation.

Both Humerland and Friesland allied during the 14 Seconds War against Haluria.

1800s onwards
In 1880, Humerland had a marriage alliance with Borogravia. This meant that King Claudius II, is the last king of the House of Westborough; his heir apparent, King Norbert VI, will be the first of the Westborough-Borogravian house. Due to the fact that the current Duchess of Borogravia has no descendants, when she dies, the King of Humerland will also be the Grand Duke of Borogravia.

Since 1890, Humerland has expanded its colonial Empire. This involved first taking Alituria, or part thereof, then colonising part of Occidentalis and the east coast of Australis. It has the largest navy in the world, with 14 pre-dreadnoughts, and in late 1905 launched the first Dreadnought-type battleship, completed in early 1906.

Soon after Alituria became inactive, Humerland, along with many other nations, decided to invade it. It was widely criticised for greedily claiming too much, which put strains on relations with the Solis Federation and West Carthage Company. As a result, it only kept the interior section; being rich in soil, this was likely to be its cause for colonisation.

Soon after this, war broke out between Humerland and various nations, mostly of the Socii Mundial, including Haluria, Solis Federation, the WCC, the PRA, Borogravia, and Omari Robusuta. This war had two major theatres; the Borealis and Aliturian fronts, as Humerland had no other colonies at this point. Haluria invaded via the north, but the attack was halted with Humerlandic forces using airships for close air support, and a peace deal with Haluria was signed. South of this, the PRA attempted to attack, but was too late, as Borogravia was already doing so. In Alituria, Omari Robusuta invaded Alituria; the Humerlandic garrison surrendered and in a magnanimous gesture was permitted to go home, with cruiser escort.

It is not known exactly how the war was resolved, but Humerland was permitted to keep its territories. The cause of the war was Humerlandic expansion and resentment at the rush for Alituria.

Humerland was a founding member of the Homaric Alliance, and alliance between Humerland, Borogravia, Omari Robusuta, and other countries.

Humerland has a very large empire, envied by many other nations for its size. After the colonisation of Alituria, it colonised more land. There is no evidence of them having explored, however; this makes people suspicious.

Humerland claims to have invented the dreadnought battleship, although other nations had launched them around the same time, and it is not clear who did so first.

Recently, Humerland was involved in a war against various other Socii nations. This was decanonised as being unfair to an inactive player. This has been criticised, as the admin have been said to be abusing their rights. This seems likely, and FishExist promised not to do so in future. Again, this war was against Humerlandish expansionism.

During the Scourge, it locked down hard. It is not known how many casualties it has.

During the Great War, Humerland did not originally involve herself, but did supply arms to other nations in Socii and the alliance under "lend-lease" terms.

Government
Like the Solis Federation, Humerland models itself off the British Empire. It has a constitutional monarchy with a government similar to the British system of parliament. Like the Netherlands in earth, it has a seat of government in a different city (Kreeftenstad) rather than the capital, in which the monarch lives. This prevents any one city from being too powerful.

Monarch
The current monarch is His Majesty King Norbert VI by the grace of Great Nephrops, Emperor of Alituria. Full title a bit of a mouthful. The previous monarch was His Majesty King Claudius II Rex Lucustis, Emperor of Alituria (the first king to take the title Emperor of Alituria). The previous monarch was from the House of Westborough; the current one is the first of the House of Westborough-Borogravia; when the Duchess Annagovia dies, he will also be grand duke of Borogravia. The full list of monarchs and houses can be found here.

The king is head of state, emperor, highest command of the Royal Humerland Navy, Army, and Royal Air Force, the opener and executive of parliament, and the Vicar of Great Nephrops on earth.

Government
Humerland is a parliamentary democracy with a bicameral system; the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The former is made up of common people (i.e. politicians.) The latter is made up of nobles. The role of the House of Commons is to vote on a bill; any successful bill may, however, be vetoed by the House of Lords.

There are 650 seats in the House of Commons, and 472 in the House of Lords. Technically the king should always be present.

The three main parties are Liberal, Labour, and Conservative. Liberal is left-wing and supports social reforms such as the welfare state. Labour supports the workers and trade unions, and improvements in healthcare and universal education. Conservative is strongly militaristic, supportive of imperialism, tariffs, the Church of Humerland, a powerful Royal Humerland Navy, and traditional hierarchical society.

A general election is held every 5 years. In the last election (1908), Liberal had a slight majority of 334 seats, with Conservative having 167 seats and Labour 58, others 41. As such, the military program was halted, more investments made in social welfare e.g. improving the colony rules. War was avoided, as would not have happened with the Conservative party.

A new election is due for 1915.

Colonies
The Humerlandish Empire has several types of members; here they are, in order of independence:


 * Humerland herself - ruled by Humerland's parliament, and the King
 * Dominions (none at present) - ruled by their own parliament, and the King
 * Colonies, such as Alituria and Australis - ruled by a governor (in theory, Humerland's monarch by proxy)
 * Possessions - bits of non-mainland Humerland that do are considered, de facto, part of the mainland, such as the Homaric Sea islands
 * Protectorates, such as Inutilia - ruled by a prefect
 * Mandates, or temporary (so it is claimed) possessions, under martial law
 * Territories - small or otherwise insignificant regions kept and administered directly from Humerland or a dominion

These seem to be inspired by British Empire colony types, but are not exactly the same.

Military
Humerland is rather patriotic, imperialist, and militaristic. Inigo_Montoya_472 has published a project with various ship classes, as well as propaganda and recruiting posters, and an animated fleet review. The army uniform appears to be based on the French army in 1914, or perhaps on the army from the anime adaption of Howl's Moving Castle. While its army is not large, it boasts a large navy; until the development of dreadnoughts, it had a "two-power standard" rather like the British Parliament's act of the same name. This involved having at least as many pre-dreadnoughts and cruiser as the two other largest navies. This was likely for similar reasons as Britain, to protect its largely sea-connected empire. Its navy is mainly based on the doctrine of "big guns, big ships"; it prioritises the battleship and armoured cruiser over smaller frigates, torpedo boats, and submarines, of which it has a relatively small number. It also has coast-defence vessels mainly for use in the Homaric and Hinsho seas. It lacks large numbers of gunboats, and most of its frigates are sail-powered. Known branches of the military include:

The current Chief of the General Staff is Sir Algernon Spyke Belch-Grabbyt.
 * Royal Humerland Navy
 * Royal Navy Air Service
 * Royal Humerland Army
 * Royal Artillery - cannons, howitzers
 * Royal Gunners - gatlings, maxim guns
 * Air Corps - airships
 * Royal Elephantry
 * Infantry
 * Royal Horsiers - cavalry and dragoons
 * Logistics Corps - exactly what it says on the tin
 * King's Aliturian Rifles (KAR) - native soldiers. The name is clearly based on the real-life King's African Rifles, while uniforms resemble British Indian troops
 * Royal Air Force

The navy currently operates both dreadnoughts and pre-dreadnoughts. Many of the dreadnoughts have warlike names like Thunderer and Conqueror, while the older ships have names such as Royal Oak, Sovereign, and Emperor of Alituria. Emphasis is placed on armoured, not protected cruisers.

Recently Humerland has built very large numbers of airship and other weapons for the West Carthage Company. Many of these have been returned, and most of the airships converted for passenger use or scrapped.

Humerland launched the first super-Dreadnought battleship, HS Iron Baron, in 1913.

Economy
Humerland produces every single resource with the exception of uranium, jewels, nitroglycerin, hydrogen, sulphur, and precious metals. It is currently the largest producer of iron, at 170,000 tons/year, or roughly 36% of global production. Until the First Humerland War, which was mainly about this issue, and the later colonisation of Occidentalis Major and Australis, it was able to exert a stranglehold on iron prices which essentially gave it power to dictate who could have a navy. This, tied with its ally Omari's near-monopoly on copper and zinc, gave it very great economic power.

Humerland's chief resource products are iron, agricultural produce, and timber. Of these, most food is consumed by the nation itself, both its citizens and its very large cavalry force. Much of the iron is either used by the navy to make warships or is used in railway or ship construction; Humerland has the largest Merchant Navy. Timber is virtually worthless, to the point that there are debates in parliament about closing down the Government Timber Works in Alituria.

In terms of sheer income, its main export good is manufactured goods, including agricultural machinery, traction engines, weapons, and even ships to other nations, especially Homaric Alliance members. It historically exported iron, but failure to use the UTSM, and large deposits being discovered in other places, have led to the demise of this export.

As of 1911, yearly production of raw materials was: As of 1910, exports of goods were: Imports were: Total monetary gain: £100,000,000,000 nocks

Government
Royal Zoological Society - society for the study of exotic animals

Royal Botanical Society - society for the study of exotic plants

Church of Humerland (Homarist denomination) - Homarist denomination, part of Western Homarism, with the king of Humerland as the head.

Private
Sunshine Harvester Works - Australis agricultural engineering company

Faulkner Boilermaking co. - makes trains, traction engines, and maritime boilers

Faulkner Engineering & Shipbuilding - makes ships, other stuff

Humerland Gunsmitheries - makes guns

Alituria & Orient Line - shipping line

Orient Air Service - airship passenger and mail service. Not related to Alituria & Orient Line

Trans-Oceanic Air Line - airship passenger and mail service.

Humerland railways - railway lines in Humerland proper

Peninsular railways - railway lines in Alituria

Current Relations
See also: Humerland-Socii relations

'''Current Relations between Humerland and other nations. NOTE: Not always up to date.'''

Asterisk* denotes Homaric Alliance member

Culture
Humerland is a European-esque, British-esque culture. It speaks Homaric (English), and has English-sounding place names such as Troutbeck (a real place called this exists) French-sounding ones like Crabenbourg, and Dutch-sounding Kreeftenstad and others. At least one-third of them refer to crustaceans (e.g. Kreeft is Dutch for "lobster").

The official religion is Homarism. This involves the worship of Great Nephrops, a giant lobster god. A Cathedral is located in Humerburg, and probably other places.

Ethnic groups include Humers, Carthaginians, Friesians, Aliturians, and others.

The demonyms for Humerland are "Humerlandish" and "Humerlandic"; these can be used interchangeably, depending on which sounds better. "Homaric" refers to culture, or sometimes religion. "Humeric" refers to the ethnic group (e.g., the Humerlandish population, most of whom are Humers, are truly Homaric in their observance of Great Nephrops Day). "Humeria" seems to refer to an idealised personification of Humerland, e.g. in the national anthem.

National Anthems:
Humerland currently has three official anthems:


 * Locusta, Locustam Marinam, Dolet Vere Oculis Meis! - State & Religious anthem
 * Great Nephrops Save the King! - Royal anthem
 * Rule Humeria - National anthem

Locusta, locustam marinam, Dolet vere oculis meis (Lobster, Lobster, My Eyes Really Hurt):
Locusta, locustam marinam,

dolet vere oculis meis!

Get it away from me!

Why is it frothing at the mouth?

No, don't remove its claw-bands!

Why did you even buy this?

Was it me who wanted lobster?

Locusta, locustam marinam,

dolet vere oculis meis!

(Don't even ask)

Great Nephrops Save the King:
Great Nephrops save Norbert our king,

Long live our noble king,

Great Nephrops save the king.

Make him victorious,

Happy and glorious,

Tasty with Butter Sauce!

Great Nephrops save the king!

Rule Humeria:
When Humerland, at Heaven's command

Arose from out the azure main;

This was the charter of the land,

And water crayfish sang this strain:

CHORUS:

"Rule, Humeria! Humeria rule the waves:

"Humers never never never shall be slaves."

The nations, not so blest as thee,

Must, in their turns, to lobsters fall;

While thou shalt flourish great and free,

The dread and envy of them all.

CHORUS

Still more majestic thou shalt be,

More dreadful, from each foreign yelp;

As the great net that tears the seas,

Serves but to root thy native kelp.

CHORUS

Thee naughty tyrants ne'er shall tame:

All their attempts to bend thee down,

Will but arouse thy generous flame;

But work their woe, and thy renown.

CHORUS

To thee belongs the rural reign;

Thy cities shall with commerce shine:

All thine shall be the subject main,

And every shore it circles thine.

CHORUS

The Prawns, still with their freedom found,

Shall to thy rocky reefs repair;

''Blest land! With tasty critters crown'd,''

And manly hearts to guard the fair.

CHORUS

Parallels with British Empire
'''This list is incomplete. You can help Wiki by expanding it.'''
 * Despite ruling an empire, Humerland's monarch is only the emperor of Alituria, not any other part of the empire, in the same way as the British sovereign only was emperor or empress of India. This is why the British Empire technically ended in 1947, not 1997.
 * The previous monarch died in his 90s, and resembles a male Queen Victoria in more ways than one
 * Humerland has an empire
 * Humerland's former uniforms were formerly red with white or black pants.
 * Their policy towards Aliturians is quite racist (e.g. they cannot vote)
 * Their national anthems (of three) include "Great Nephrops Save the King" and "Rule Humeria"
 * When the PRA tried to invade Borogravia, they sang an anthem which sounded almost exactly like the Jingo one from the Crimean wars, albeit with the place names replaced.
 * The King's Aliturian Rifles
 * Worship practices resemble Anglicanism
 * They are patriotically imperialist
 * It is heavily implied that they view Humers as superior to other races
 * Some of their ships are based on Royal Navy vessels (although more are based on American ones, e.g. the Achilles class)
 * They actually invest in their colonies, as did Britain, unlike France
 * The whole "white man's burden" thing.
 * Everything else
 * The prioritisation of the navy over the army and air force.
 * The two-power standard
 * Gatlings, war elephants, and native soldiers
 * It colonises Alituria, Australis, Basza and others, similar in many ways to the British colonial locations of India, Australia, and Gibraltar, and likely for similar reasons.
 * Oddly enough, the uniforms are French. They are based off the ones in the anime adaption of Howl's Moving Castle, with light blue trench coat and red trousers. However, various colonial uniforms including the King's Aliturian Rifles and the Australisian Light Horse, are based on ones from British colonies, and the colonial uniform resembles a British one, with black trousers, red jacket, and pith helmet. The weapons are British, including the rifles being based off the Mk. 1 Enfield, to which is added a Sword Bayonet. The Faulkner machine-gun is obviously a rebranded Vickers.

Criticism
Humerland has been accused of "abuse of admin rights" due to a war while it was inactive being decanonised. And the blame was fair enough too, in some ways.