Washakara

State of Washakara Washakara
Flag Emblem
Motto: "Heta Apytégui, Peteĩ" "Out of many, one"
Capital and	Nauanau
Government	Parliamentary republic
• President	Breua Lunaesa
Legislature	People's Progressive Congress
Population
• 2025 estimate	9,245,959
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Per capita	$15,102

The State of Washakara is a small state in Southern Crona, border to the North by the Confederated Provinces of Arcerion and to the South by the Imperial Kingdom of Paulastra. It was formed as a result of a side theater of the First Great War war between Arcerion and Paulastra, with the nation established by treaty in 1898 which formally withdrew both parties from the conflict.

Washakara is distinguished by significant amount of income and social inequality between its residents, and is primarily notable economically for its role as a major transportation corridor between Paulastra and Arcerion. Many international observers have classified Washakara, functionally, as a condominium of Paulastra and Arcerion. Washakara remains as one of the few places where relaxed immigration laws allow an influx of foreign refugees from Varshan to arrive, and the influx of these immigrants is having a significant disruptive effect on Washakaran society and politics.

History

Early history

With the widespread arrival of Levantine settlers to Southern Crona in the late 1700s, Indigenous populations found it increasingly difficult to remain in the same area as what would eventually become Arcerion. Be it border skirmishes, economic issues, famine, or just mass migration away from ancestral lands, the Indigenous populations of Southeastern Cronan peninsula were gradually moved to an area South-East of where modern Arcerion is today.

In the region claimed by settlers of what would become Arcerion, Paulastra began the establishment of its Western Reserve, a new home for tribal people after land clearances and forced relocations in the wake of the new nation's civil war. The establishment of the reserve also included tribes legally recognized by the Paulastran government, who began to be given increasing self-governance authority within the reserve. The reserve continued to receive an influx of resettled tribes from Paulastra, and from Arcerion there was a continuous influx of people towards the refuge state, and by 1895 this population had reached 3 million. Mostly farmers and agrarian, they were either displaced due to the rapid pace of the Arcer expansion or forcibly through force.

Establishment

The Washakara Basin was claimed by both Arcerion and Paulastra throughout the late 19th century and saw settlement and encroachment by both nations during the 1880s and 1890s. When Arcerion was drawn into the First Great War due to diplomatic commitments in Levantia and Sarpedon, Paulastra moved its armies into the Washakara basin and began to fortify the most extreme border claim, territory largely within the international consensus of Arcerion territory. Arcerion declared war on Paulastra in June of 1897, beginning the Basin War. The Basin War, a side front of the First Great War, largely saw loose columns of forces from both nations fight skirmishes throughout the bush without any major campaigns or battles fought. Due to the increasing ferocity of the war abroad, concerns about the Cape, and other factors, both sides were eager to reach a permanent settlement by early 1898. Negotiations produced an independent state as a condominium in the center of the disputed territory, with both sides annexing significant portions of the basin along the periphery of the new state. The independent state would be governed by the Paulastran treaty-recognized "statutory tribes" which had lived in the basin for centuries.

Culture and society

Washakaran society is largely distinguished into two major "classes" or "groupings" within Washakaran society - members of the so-called "statutory tribes" and the "transferees". The statutory tribes are tribes who have always occupied the lands consisting of present Washakaran territory, and until the mid-20th century they were the only groups given the right to vote. The transferees are groups of people who were forcibly relocated to Washakara by the governments of Paulastra and Arcerion. As the nation has existed for nearly a century and a half, unique cultural traditions have been established among each group as well as those which transcend groupings. Due to close interaction, both politically and culturally, both groups have largely established relatively uniform cultural traditions despite themselves largely originating from dozens of diverse tribes.

The nation's flag and emblem, adopted in 1980, reflects the diverse origin of its people. The flag's four colors and the patchwork of color on the emblem's buffalo attempt to depict people of many different backgrounds coming together into one nation.

Statutory culture

The fourteen statutory tribes - those recognized by treaty with Paulastra - are the predominant cultural group in Washakara with respect to economic presence and public visibility. Statutory culture largely retains many of the cultural traditions and mores present in Washakara for centuries, but has also begun to integrate elements of Occidental civilization due to statutory wealth and influence of the neighboring powers.

Transferee culture

Transferee Washakarans have grown to proudly embrace their heritage despite the negative role the two Occidental nations in Crona played in its creation. Most transferees have lost specific tribal affiliations and instead identify with a generic indigienous pan-Cronan worldview.

While most transferees have taken to the practice of religions like Arzalism and M'acunism due to their pan-Cronan identity, many have also taken to more radical forms of Christian liberation theology.

Politically, a loud and sizable minority of transferees are revolutionary socialists.

Intercultural relations

Relations between the statutory and transferee peoples in Washakara has undergone various stages and has varied by party control and world events. Generally, when the relocations began, most statutory people viewed the people being relocated into their land not as interlopers but as victims, and in the 19th century many "Relocatee Benefit Soceities" were established among the statutory elite to provide for the basic needs of the transferees who were wthout employment or land to sustain themselves. The so-called "paternalist era" of intercultural relations lasted until around 1905, not long after the establishment of Washakara as a sovereign entity. After that time, the governments of Washakara attempted to resist additional relocations or immigration by indigienous peoples from its neighboring states, and popular opinion began to view transferees as a societal burden; transferees were viewed as economic leaches and generally undesirable among statutory society. This view remained the predominant one for the first half of the 20th century. Legal segregation took effect in 1917 and lasted until 1970. During the 1950s, various civil rights movements for the transferees among statutory peoples began, and various pan-Cronan notions improved intercultural relations somewhat during the 1950s and 60s. Legal segregation was abolished in 1970, and the transferees were given the right to vote in 1967.

Despite the political reforms undertaken by the statutory peoples, significant resentment still exists between the peoples. Among statutory Washakarans, the transferees are viewed as little more than welfare queens and people without an identity; many view the transferees as ungrateful for causing disruption among the ancestral land of the statutory peoples. Among the transferees, the statutory peoples are viewed as oppressors and a domineering overclass who, despite reforms, dominate society. Many view the statutory peoples as agents of Occidental oppression.

Immigration

A major influx of refugees from former Varshan representing a growing part of the population every year.

Economy

The primary economic sector of Washakara is transportation and infrastructure. Washakara's position between Paulastra and Arcerion has lead to many major highways and railways being built through the country to link its two neighbors, and it represents the primary form of foreign investment in the country. The railways and major highways in the nation are owned by the government on behalf of its neighbors, who largely subsidize Washakara for its maintenance. Accordingly, many of the non-agrarian jobs in Washakara are related to maintenance of these vital corridors, with many skilled laborers being trained abroad and returning to Washakara; these roles range from highway light technicians to railway engineers. These jobs represent the vast majority of skilled positions in the country which require any formal training. The service sector in the nation exists to a limited extent as necessary to service the roads and rails. Although representing a very small portion of the economy, truck stops and rest areas are some of the most visible parts of the Washakaran economy to residents of Paulastra and Arcerion, leading to a popular stereotype that most Washakarans work in truck stops. This stereotype has lead to the commonly used tongue-in-cheek nickname for Washakara, the "Truckstop Republic", as used by residents of the nation's neighbors.

Due to strategic concerns and the resulting outside investment, Washakara has a disroportionately well built and maintained infrastructure relative to its overall wealth. Many Washakaran politicians campaign on "making good use" of the infrastructure to stimulate economic activity, with little effect. Poor government policies, coupled with corruption, have meant that Washakara has traditionally not fared well economically as the nation is not competitive relative to its two larger neighbors.

Besides the transportation sector, the economy of Washakara is very agrarian. Farming and agriculture still remain a major part of the economy, and frequent droughts or failures to rotate crops due to oversights by the government regularly result in famine and recession. Despite this, the economy manages to export some foodstuffs usually through Paulastran shipyards.

The Washakaran economy is overwhelmingly import-focused, with the local populace unable to self-sustain based off of their own natural resources. It has a limited mining and raw materials or mineral processing sector, with the government subsidizing what little heavy industry and manufacturing it can.