Vojandzeka

Vojandzeka (Vojanak: Vojăndzekă), known officially as The Free Vojanak Republic (Vojanak: Ta Vojănăk Rzepublik Ăn ) , or simply as Vojana (Vojanak: Vojăna) , is a landlocked country in eastern Alutra. It is bordered to the north by Galvia, to the west by Izlegal, and to the south and east by Ochsardvia and its  Seceßko. The country's borders are largely defined by the Plǎduv River and its tributaries, which run centrally through the nation and empties into the Locufaric Ocean. The capital city is Mazulot, and it along with Sipěrlat and Bramoz constitute the country's largest urban centers. The Vojanak language is the and sole official language of Vojandzeka; it is the first language of most of Vojanak citizens and is the only country whose official language list includes it.

Vojandzeka has had near constant human habitation for roughly 40,000 years, settled by proto-Galvic/proto-Varic peoples migrating from the Lake Vāras area. It was also much later settled by proto-Gožyar and other miscellaneous Serpentine peoples in the late and early  (4,000-3,000 BCE), who then intermingled with the previous inhabitants, mixing together culturally and genetically into their own unique people. Vojanak city-states began to form around 900 BCE, mostly centered around the floodplains of the Plǎduv River and its respective estuaries, gathering especially within the wide valleys of the north. These city states started as small, weak kingdoms, and remained that way for around a century prior to the founding of Wizkanja and the Wizkanian Empire, traditionally dated to 800 BCE. According to Zavnakism, the city was established by one Zavno — who according to legend had descended to Vanatas from the Sun.

On March 1 1986, Vojandzeka officially declared independence from Zabregashia in the early morning. As soon as word spread back to ZUOVA officials, the invasion of Vojandzeka began with a column of tanks rolling to the republic's capital. As time went on, civilian resistance increased. Meanwhile, the Vojanak Military began to pick off solitary ZUOVA tanks with anti-tank weaponry. Ordrey was the first nation to recognize Vojanak independence, and soon convinced the World Forum to do the same. World Forum troops were eventually sent to Vojandzeka in an attempt to form a DMZ to stop any further deaths. This failed, and WF soldiers were killed by Zabregashian invaders. Signs of a cultural genocide were also documented within captured areas of Vojana. In the early months of 2003, ZUOVA had encircled the capital of Mazulot with Vojanak, Ordrish, and W.F. troops still inside. With ZUOVA becoming increasingly unstable during the war, conflict in the country's own capital would turn into the collapse of ZUOVA, and military movements in Vojandzeka came to a standstill. ZUOVA collapsed in on itself, and the nation was free from Zabregashian rule.

A , Vojandzeka is a member of the World Forum, the Alutran Cultural Community, and a candidate for the Aarnieu Fraternity. Vojandzeka is categorized as a and has undergone considerable economic reform since its independence in developing an open economy. Vojandzeka is an upper-middle-income country according to the World Forum's definitions; and provides social security, a universal health care system, and free primary and secondary education to its citizens.

Etymology
The name Vojandzeka has its roots in the Vojanak language, dating back originally to some time during the 6th century CE in a Wizkanian legal document. Vojandzeka's name derives from the Medieval Vojanak word Vojan meaning "brother" and Dzekě meaning "kingdom", with Voyn itself deriving from the Ancient Wizkanian word Voyn, also meaning brother. The oldest preserved remnant of the Vojanak comes from the 1st century BCE, with the brotherly relationship between Wizkanian legionaries forming the common term Voyn to refer to one another in a friendly manner. The term then went on to encompass not just legionaries, but any ally or one with Wizkanian heritage. The name eventually evolved into its modern Vojan, which prompted the adoption of its modern name Vojandzeka after the kingdom's independence from the Snudzinskian Union. The word for kingdom, Dzekě, derives from the Wizkanian word for leader, Dzek, which was the title used during the Wizkanian Empire for the Emperor.

Prehistory
Vojandzeka has had near constant human habitation since the Upper Paleolithic period about 40,000 years ago, settled by proto-Galvic/proto-Varic peoples hailing from the Lake Vārava area. The first signs of agriculture appeared by 10,000 BCE, as did the domestication of animals and the construction of more advanced tools and weapons. By 8,000 BCE, sculptures and rudimentary pottery were being made, and by the Bronze Age in 4,000 BCE, contact with other external Alutran trade networks began. Vojana became a stop on the Pan-Alutran Trade Network by the late Bronze-Age, which allowed for further trading as far as the Myrish plains. With Vojana being positioned in a crossroads between Letanic and Serpentine cultures, it soon became a mix of both, genetically and culturally. Between 2000 and 1500 BCE, Letanic settlers migrated south to the Vojanak lands, and nomadic proto-Gožyar would arrive from the east. The original proto-Galvic populace would soon become assimilated with either proto-Letanic or proto-Gožyar peoples, and the two remaining cultures too would assimilate into one another becoming Plǎduvian cultures, which itself was distinct from both of its predecessors; however remaining the same linguistically. The Plǎduvian realm was largely defined by the Plǎduv River, which ran centrally through the land from Lake Varas in Galvia. Soon, the Plǎduvian cultural borders would also be spread to more of the surrounding Bregashian mountains as the people fed off the plentiful wildlife and flora which called the mountains home. These mountains also resulted in the Plǎduvian cultures being interfered with little by surrounding cultures, spare some proto-Galvic, Letanic, Aquizi, and Gozyar migrants who made it through.



Wizkanian Empire
Around 800 BCE, Plǎduvian city states formed, mostly along the Plǎduv River. the Kingdom of Wizkania was the most dominant power, whose location on the Plǎduv River became crucial to the kingdom's power. The Kingdom of Wizkania was extremely territorial in nature; constantly seeking to expand its domain and take over other nearby kingdoms who paled in comparison to the superior Wizkanian armor, trade, and weapons. The kingdom's roots are unknown, though classical historical legends state that the Zavno dynasty who ruled the kingdom had descended from the God of the Sun. More grounded theories assert that the Zavno dynasty had come from a group of banished Viduz royals who traveled southwards to the Plǎduvian realm to reestablish a new kingdom far away from the Viduz domain. The true rise of Wizkania would first become clear near 410 BCE after the ascension of one Lavah of Wizkania to the throne. Though young, Lavh was a notably vicious leader who was quick to lead an exponential expansion of the Wizkanian realm through several brutal but quick wars to its north. As opposed to the previous expansions of Wizkania to the unorganized south, the north of Wizkania was composed of larger and more sturdy states. This hurdle would soon be cleared though, and within the first decades of Lavh's kingship, multitudes of land would be under concrete Wizkanian ownership. By far the strongest enemy the Wizkanian Empire battled was that of the Empire of Juras, which belonged most prominently near Lake Varavas to the north of Wizkania. This war would even continue on into the kingship of Lavh's successor, Trpin III, whose leadership would bring even more territorial expansion than his predecessor, and whose name is much more famous in modern day. Wizkania would eventually spread its realm as far north as Kalezic and the Alutran Steppe and as far east as Hilnizbors and the easternmost regions of Martland. By 360 BCE, the Wizkanian Empire had cemented itself a spot amongst the largest and most powerful kingdoms in the history of Alutra. A brotherly companionship with the Gozyar would also be formed during this time.

Wizkania eventually met its end with the death of Trpin, which effectively decapitated Wizkania. Losses were widespread, and the Empire of Juras soon had the tactical advantage, pushing inwards into Wizkanian territory. It wasn't long before the grand Wizkanian Empire splintered. Wizkania was whittled down into an area not dissimilar in scale with its modern day counterpart, and the now organized tribes to its south proved to be trouble for the Wizs. The southern Letans scooped up a bunch of Wizkanian land as well. For the next several centuries, Wizkania, whose name would eventually turn into Vojana, the kingdom remained docile and regional, still weak from its losses. From 0 CE and onwards, Vojana was the home of mercenaries who were frequently hired abroad to fight in scattered wars in its area. Due to Vojanak and Gozyar bonds, Vojanak fighters were sent to assist Gozyar fighters against the Sedic Confederacy and Aquizis which further strengthened the pair's bonds. Vojana was later crucial to the founding of the kingdom of Izlegal, as it helped defend the land from Aquizi invaders and assisted in the establishment of the kingdom. Vojana was a pretty friendly country which often received thanks from its nearby neighbors, who in turn vowed to not invade or otherwise harm Vojanak sovereignty. This included the Letans to its south, which in turn resulted in more Letans moving into the small kingdom.

Snudzinskian Union
At the conception of the Letanic Snudzinskian Union in 1108, Vojana would be amalgamated into it. The union contained Oxellia and Ardvogallia (Two Letanic neighbors to the south), Vojana, West Izlegal, Seceßko (Ochsardvian Exclave south of Vojana), and many small unincorporated Letanic/Zemakian states to the south and west of the Varic Empire (Galvia). The Snudzinskian Union would come to a fiery end in 1345, and Vojana was finally free of Snudzinskianite rule. The 15th - 18th centuries would be largely uneventful for Vojana, spare minor territorial gains and losses which had no real impact on anything. In 1629, Vojana's Seceßko seceded, and in 1709, Vojana's capital Trpinjǎ was partially destroyed in a large flood. At the dawn of the 19th century, Pan-Letanic ideas again became widespread across much of Transbregashia, and in 1855, Vojana (renamed to Vojandzeka) was once again reeled into a Letanic Union in a union dubbed the Transbregashian Confederation. At its inception, the Transbregashian Confederation was not much of a troublemaker at all though, and the unification between the three (four counting Seceßko) greatly benefited the countries financially. Overall, this union was a lot tamer and more beneficial than the Snudzinskian Union, but that would not last forever.



World Wars
TC would remain neutral in the first world war, but not in the second world war. During the second world war, the Transbregashian Confederation's monarchy would be overthrown by a fascistic group who were aligned with Galvia and the rest of the Alliance Powers. Though the Transbregashian Confederation would never officially enter the war, the coup spurred an era of fascism and unrest, and the nation was compliant with the Alliance and all the death it wrought. After the coup, the nation was renamed to the Zabregashian Union of Oxellia, Voiana, and Ardvogallia, aka ZUOVA.

The nation was now a 'democracy', though it functioned a lot more like a dictatorship. As the rest of the nation suffered under the new oppressive rule, a new Vojanak ethnic revolution came into place. With the borders of Vojandzeka being redrawn upon its inception into ZUOVA, the populace of the Republic was once again a majority Vojanak.

Vojanak War of Independence
In December of 1974, Vojanak author Vocta Pokratovek published his book Hole in the Wall following the death of United Zabregashia Freedom party president Właßiediß Rađow in-office. The book would immediately become immensely popular, and would sell up to 600,000 copies before the book was taken off shelves due to the book's views on the Vojanak identity and ZUOVA as a whole. With the Vojanak culture being repressed through many iterations throughout history, the book's message became a voice for the suppressed Voiana. Inevitably, the book and its message sparked an ethno-nationalism renaissance within the Republic of Voiana and also throughout the rest of ZUOVA. Meanwhile, author Pokratovek was apprehended by Zabregashian officials and sent to prison in [city], much to the displeasure of the Vojanak populace. As nationalism spread across the rest of the Union, there were fears amongst mostly Letanic nationalist groups that ZUOVA was becoming too culturally decentralized and that a breakup would occur soon. This would spur a further Transbregashian crisis and centralization movement in retaliation to the influx of Vojanak nationalism. Meanwhile, Galvia — ZUOVA's closest ally and defender, became weary of Vojanak nationalism, too fearing the imminent breakup of the Union say the situation go out of control.

The first multiparty elections occurred in ZUOVA in December of 1975. With the long-running United Zabregashia Freedom party losing steam following the death of its previous president, the Vojanak populace began to lean less towards the old deep buff regime leading Zabregashia. After a close election within the Republic of Voiana, Vojanak leader Szilevo Vruznivek was elected Minister of the Republic with a margin of less than 5%. Believing the election to be fraudulent, Zabregashian president Koʒewesz Krieniñ, attempted to overthrow the election and instead place deep buff leader Hăld Szalcivek in Vruznivek's place, however Vojandzeka had completely spiraled out of control from the Zabregashian overlords and had seemingly gone rogue. Within the span of just six months, 12 terrorist attacks were conducted both within the Republic of Voiana and the rest of ZUOVA, and violent protests were common, with several protesters practicing. In August of 1979, Krieniñ's puppet Szalcivek would be killed in a car-bombing just outside of Bramoz, Voiana, with Vojanak conspirators claiming responsibility. With the state of Voiana already completely out of hand, and with Vruznivek still having control of the Republic, Krieniñ elected to declare  within Voiana in January of 1985, though the attempted martial law would soon be refuted by provincial gendarme and sheriffs. The disorganized yet fierce armed resistance of Voiana would shock both ZUOVA and Krieniñ, and deaths were widespread. The battle, known as the January war, would only last approximately 12 hours before Zabregashian troops were withdrawn from Voiana as Krieniñ considered his next step.

In the late months of 1985, Krieniñ began secret talks with Galvian Grand Secretariat Fricis Vītoliņš, in which the two discussed their options with the rebellious state. With Galvia being deeply intertwined in Zabregashian politics, Vītoliņš and Krieniñ elected to position increased Galvian military presence on the Vojanak-Galvian border in a show of force. After discussing further, Vītoliņš vowed to have Galvia assist in the potential invasion of Voiana if the situation were to escalate further or if the republic were to declare independence, with Galvia being promised territory and monetary compensation in return. Meanwhile, Izlegal, though at war itself, pledged that it would accept Vojanak refugees say the crisis devolve into all-out war.

This would all come to a head in the morning of March 1, 1986, when Vojanak de-facto president Vruznivek declared independence on live television. Shortly after, Vruznivek would also give the famed March 1 speech to a crowd in front of the capitol in Mazulot. War against Vojandzeka was declared immediately by Krieniñ, and he stated in a speech later the same day that he had "no intentions of punishing or oppressing the Vojanak people", and that he admired the peoples' "ethnic determination"; however, he also stated that he sought to demilitarize the autonomous republic and harness it back under Zabregashian control. During the speech, Krieniñ also said that "all bloodshed, should it be necessary, is on Vojanak hands". Within minutes of Vruznivek's March 1 speech, explosions were reported in Mazulot, Sipěrlat, Nurăn, Bramoz, Jaçoko, and Sakzěluszmi, as well as numerous rural locations scattered all across the territory. Simultaneously, the Zabregashian Ministry of Defense demanded that all civilian air traffic over Vojandzeka be halted immediately.

Checkpoints at the Vojanak-Zabregashian border were destroyed instantly, and Zabregashian movements were soon reported by Vojanak officials near Sakzěluszmi. Many Vojanak were targeted by Zabregashian missiles, which allowed for Zabregashia to gain  over much of the western portion of the nation, but struggled to push into or past the capital Mazulot due to unexpectedly stiff anti-air capabilities. Galvia had yet to engage Vojandzeka, still having not declared war. The first large battle of the war took place in Sakzěluszmi, where Vojanak and Zabregashian forces clashed over control of the city. Zabregashian forces managed to gain control of much of the city's suburbs, but strong resistance limited their success in the more urban areas. Meanwhile, saboteurs in Mazulot hailing from Galvia, ZUOVA, and certain Vojanak rebel groups attempted to assassinate Vruznivek, but all were captured due to an unnamed within the Zabregashian government giving away the plans to Vojanak officials. It is believed that initial plans from Zabregashia were to capture all major cities in a and decapitate the separatist government; installing their own afterwards.

After the first signs of conflict, Vruznivek declared and severed all remaining Vojanak-Zabregashian relations, effective immediately. Zabregashian missiles targeted Vojanak infrastructure, including Kizyrra International Airport, Vojandzeka's largest airport, 29 km (18 mi) west of Mazulot.

Geography
A country, Vojandzeka is situated within the crossroads of Central and Eastern Alutra within the Bregashian Mountains. Galvia is to the north, Ochsardvia to the east, Izlegal to the west, and [country] to the south. The territory covers 68,529 square kilometres (26,459 square miles). Elevation ranges from the mountains of the Bregashian Mountains, with the nation's tallest being Mount Ekszu on the outskirts of Mazulot with a height of 2,711 m (8,894 ft), to the marshes of Khetsez̧, which makes up its entire southern border. Inland Vojandzeka consists of a series of mountains and valleys varying in size.

The hilly northern parts of the nation and the flat plains of Khetsez̧ in the south is traversed by the major rivers of the Plǎduv and the Cesta, which also makes up the nation's border with Izlegal. The Plǎduv, among Alutra's longest rivers, runs through the cities of Trpinjǎ, Bramoz, Sipěrlat, and more. The central and northern regions near the borders with Galvia and Ochsardvia consist of steep mountains and forested highlands. Natural resources found in quantities significant enough for production include zinc, coal, manganese, low-grade iron ore, calcium, gypsum, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt, and hydropower. Karst topography makes up about half of Vojandzeka and is especially prominent in the north. Vojandzeka hosts deep caves, several of which are deeper than 250 m (820.21 ft). Vojandzeka's most famous lakes are the Nujăszas lakes, a system of 25 lakes with waterfalls connecting them over dolomite and limestone hills. The lakes are renowned for their distinctive colours, ranging from turquoise to mint green, grey or blue.

Overall, nearly 50% of Vojandzeka is forested. Most forest areas are in the centre, east and west parts of Vojandzeka with dominant karst topography. Khetsez̧ has a wetter climate, with several marshes and other bogs scattered across the otherwise fertile agricultural land. Northern Vojandzeka (Çăpedě) contains very fertile agricultural land along the Cesta river and the corresponding area is heavily farmed. This farmland is a part of the plain stretching into neighboring Izlegal and other Serpentine states.

The Plǎduv basin is the largest in the country. It covers 87% of the territory of Vojandzeka, which is 59,620 square kilometres (23,019 sq mi). The Plǎduv valley and its respective basin plays an important part in the economy and the communication system of the country. The Plǎduv Valley project is considered to be crucial for the strategic development of the country. The river Cesta forms the Cestan basin, which covers an area of about 8,223 km2 (3,174 sq mi), i.e., 12% of the territory. It receives water from Lake Nuisjor, the largest natural lake in the nation. Vojandzeka has around 100 ponds and thirty natural lakes. Vojandzeka also has an array of resorts and spa towns, especially in the southern, warmer regions of the country, though some also exist near the Nujăszas lakes area, as the high silica content of the lakes is believed to be good for the skin.

Mazulot is the capital and largest city. Other major cities include Sipěrlat and Çagszur along the Plǎduv River, Jaçoko, Nurăn, Dăvit and Szisigăsz in the east, Sakzěluszmi in the western part of the country, and Bramoz, the largest city in the southern region of Khetsez̧.

Military
233,053 active (4.07%) 713,832 reserve (12.47%)