The Midlands

The Midlands, officially named the Republic of the Midlands (Midlandic: Das Mittelländische Reich) to differentiate it from the Gelenian Midlands, is a constitutional federal republic in central Avanor. The Midlands are bordered by the Northern Ocean to the north, Olgengaard and Cyrogaard to the east, Yurogaard, Morodavia, and Averra to the south, and Caliane and Aale to the east The Midlands have a land area of LAND AREA and a population of 132'211'990 as of the 1920 census. The nation is a federal state, and as such is divided into fifteen Reichsländer, which serve as the local level of government. The federal capital and largest city is Ansberg, while other major cities include Lindenberg, Abendsberg, Oldenau, and Ostmunster.

The Midlands were first inhabited by humans during the 12,000s BCE, according to archeological evidence. The earliest settlers in the region likely were a mixture of Thanic and Auene peoples, who originally likely followed large game into the region as nomadic cultures, but likely settled down along the region's many rivers and streams, adopting farming techniques in the fertile region by the 9,000s BCE. Warfare between the Thanic peoples of the north and centre parts of the Midlands, and the Auene people of the south was near constant, and would explode further in the 2000s BCE as the Avanoran Imperium expanded out of the continent's southwest, establishing its empire. The city of Ansberg, established by the Imperials,

History

History

History

History

History

History

History

History

The Midlands were originally home to a series of tribal peoples who spoke the common language of Old Midlandic. These tribes would war with one another and with the constantly invading Imperials, who attempted to exert their influence in the area until they, along with other peoples of the west, sacked the capital of the imperium and the formation of numerous kingdoms in the Midlands began. The Midlandic royal families formed the Edict of Meitzen - which established the High King and the first elements of the Reichstag began to form. Several High Kings would reform the nation, bringing the Midlanders into the Sanctumite faith and feudalism began to be implemented.

The Midlands are a highly developed social market economy and a world Great Power, with the third highest population and the third largest economy on the continent.

Etymology
It is unclear to us who began using the term "the Midlands", though there are several theories in scholarly circles. The first recorded usage of the phrase we have comes from the Avanoran Imperium,

People who are from the Midlands are called Midlanders....

Prehistory
The Midlands were first inhabited by the Thanic peoples beginning in the 12,000s BCE according to the earliest archeological evidence. Scholars today believe that the first peoples migrated to the region following game such as deer, roaming cattle, horses, and mammoths. Many of these early peoples likely settled along rivers in the region such as the Rhent, Mass, Eisch, Olbe, and Spree rivers, setting up numerous settlements along their banks in agricultural communities largely using tools made from iron and bronze.

The Midlands were marred by fighting between Thanic and Auene groops early in the preclassical era, archeologists and historians agree. Many have found weapons and tools of war in ancient sites in the region, and many signs that some settlements were wiped out or ended due to warfare. It is likely that the Midland's many rivers and fertile fields and forests were tempting lands for both the Auene and Thanic peoples, and warfare between the two was likely over control of the many fertile lands in the area. It is believed that, despite widesread fighting, by the 8000s BCE, the Thanic peoples had secured their hold on the Midlands.

The pre-classical Thanic culture which dominated the Midlands was not monolithic, and rather was a collection of tribes and clans which spoke a similar dialect and worshipped similar deities. The Thanic people's most important deity was that of the Lion, which was described as a half man and half lion, who was the symbol of strength and internal fortitude. Thanic artwork was related through several methods throughout the prehistoric period, and largely centered around familial living and reverence of the Thanic gods.

During the early classical period, the Midlands were subject to numerous incursions by Imperial explorers and soldiers, who began establishing outposts in the region beginning in the late 2000s BCE. Despite numerous imperial attempts to conquer the whole of the Midlands, the empire was never successful. The southern Liechtental Region was established as an imperial province, and by 918 BCE, the city of Ansberg was established as a frontier settlement, though imperial control over the area was never complete.

As the Gaardic peoples moved into the continent beginning in the 500s BCE, several wars in the eastern Midlands broke out between Gaardic and Thanic peoples. Many were forced to flee from Gaardic invasions, heading westwards into the Imperial frontier. The Midlandic people united under King Ernst the Great to resist the Gaardic invaders, and while much territory was lost to the Gaardic people, the Midlands remained largely under thanic control.

Low Middle Ages
The Gaardic people moved into Avanor beginning in the 400s BCE as population shifts in the far east pushed them westwards. At the forefront of their migrations were the eastern Midlands, now Olgengaard, which soon was overpopulated with Gaardic peoples. Some Midlandic legends claim that a tribal king from Ansberg named Otto the Rain King, called upon the Thanic gods to pour endless rain down on the midlands to flood the Gaardic invaders out - successfully keeping the Gaardic people in Olgengaard and further creating the many rivers and streams of the Midlands today. This legend is largely considered a fable, but the Rain King remains a popular story in the Midlands today.

As the Thanes were prevented from migrating into Caliane and the other Auene countries through several wars, as well as pushed out of the east by the incoming Gaardic peoples, a high concentration of Thanic peoples inhabited the Midlands, forming several cities, as well as many villages and hamlets along rivers and streams. Though not the region's official capital, the city of Ansberg wielded much influence in Midlandic affairs as the largest settlement around, and its ability to raise its mighty population size as a military force against its foes allowed it to secure dominance. Other cities were becoming vital centres as well: Oltenberg, Traubenfurt, Eigenberg, Emmenberg, and Uster became major centres in the region, with its princes and kings raising the peasantry of their countryside to send against one another throughout the period.

Through this warfare, the Sanctumite Church, from its base in Ansberg, began to use the chaos to tend to the needs of the poor and sick who were left to die in the fighting, earning the respect of the peasantry, who flocked to the church in droves, abandoning their Thanic beliefs. In order to keep their power, soon the nobility began yearning for the support of the Sanctum, and so the Midlands were converted to the faith in this period.

Beginning in 1040, the House of Gothe looked outwards from their city of Ansberg towards more ambitious goals - the mastery of the Midlands. Ernst I was the first Gothe king to attempt this unification, waging war in the Saargau region in 1040-1045, becoming known as Ernst the Warrior for leading his troops into battle at the vanguard, though once again the truth of this tale is unknown. His armies would be bogged down in fighting for the rest of his reign in the Usterthal, and his son, Heinrich I, would take up the fight in 1068. It would be Heinrich I who would conquer the Usterthal and move into the Emmen region, subduing it in a war between 1083-1087. The Oberland was next, as Heinrich stormed the city of Oltenberg in 1092. At this point he had claimed the majority of the modern nation for the House of Gothe, though the Rottenberg, the Grindelberg, and the Muhlenheim remained unconquered. Finally, at an old age, he died and Fredrik I took the throne in 1104. He quickly took Muhlenheim and the Grindelberg between 1104-1113, while the war in the Rottenberg was made difficult as the Gaardic soldiers from the Olgengaard came to defend it. The war lased between 1118-1125, until it too was finally subdued. Having finally forged the realm as one, Fredrik I became known as Fredrik the Great.

High Middle Ages
Fredrik I ruled the Midlands as a monarch with limited powers. Unlike his counterparts in Caliane and Gelenia, the and other Midlandic monarchs would go on having to court the favour of the local lords and dukes of the Midlands.

Era of Exploration
Midlandic banks financed the exploration of Larania, Asania, and Korasha and offered insurance to traveling vessels. The growth of the banking and financial sector called for more concentration of authority with the government, especially in terms of the collection of taxes. This attempt at the centralization of authority was seen by many, including the monarchs of Gelenia, Caliane, and Augustine as

Industrialization
With the spread of large scale hydroelectric power in the 1770s in Caliane, industrialization began on the Avanoran continent in earnest. Factories which sprung up along the banks of the River Rhent spread industrialization into the Midlands, while the invention of coal powered plants in the 1780s led to their development in the western Midlands, along with the emergence of a strong coal mining industry in the Lichtenthal Valley.

Industrialization in the Midlands led to the rapid urbanization of cities across the country, such as in Oltenberg, Traubenstein, Ansberg, and Meitz. Factory work began to