Ezo Republic
The Ezo Republic is an island nation situated in the North Mauridian, near the Arctic Circle. It is the most northerly member state of the Intercontinental Alliance and of the Yamato Commonwealth. The latter is possible as the Emperor of Yamato is recognised as a religious and traditional figure rather than political figure.
Population - 9.5 million
Capital - Kazehana
History
Throughout the mid 20th century, a contentious and mercurial series of governments gradually and unsteadily navigated the small country away from its early foundation of resource extraction to a more modern knowledge and service-based economy. The formation of the Intercontinental Alliance spurred a brief period of investment during the 80's which matured this transformation and put Ezo's educational and technological base on a world class level. During the Great War, Ezo found itself most relevant in terms of isolation and geographical placement, hosting foreign ships, aircraft, signals intelligence, and a variety of other assets. Union efforts to disrupt these operations soon scaled up to complete naval interdiction and considerable strategic bombing, with devastating consequences. By the war's climax, bombing and blockade had completely destroyed the economy, directly or indirectly caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and brought about hardship unknown to living memory. Developments along other fronts of the war had also rendered the state strategically irrelevant - the sole virtue that averted what would have been an easy Union invasion. It was thus with very little to lose that Ezo pitched the last of its resources and the bulk of its intellectual capital into the Juno Project.
For a country of such limited means (at that point in the war, almost no means at all), Ezo produced a remarkable level of contribution to research efforts. Ezo was the least and most recently developed of the allies and as a result, magic had not fallen to the wayside as much as it had in the other countries. In many cases, living sources and practitioners could still be found from the Ezo traditions where others had to resort to old texts and historic accounts. Many of the geomantic and procedural specifications of the Ritual of Empowerment draw from Shinto and Kagura. Subsequently, Ezo's research into the subject appears to have returned further to these roots. Following the success of Mary Koo, the Ezo Republic quickly established its own ritual sites and soon deployed its first Glory.
After winning the war, Ezo was faced with the colossal endeavor of rebuilding its shattered infrastructure whilst maintaining its post-war occupation obligations. Ezo inherited an almagation of several Union colonies on Estvan.
Geography
Ezo has short, mild summers; long, snowy and bitterly cold winters; and a short but vibrant spring. Its southern waters (and thus the port of Kazehana) are ice free year round.
Military
Military: C
Occupation Index: 3
The national military of the Ezo Republic is the Ezo Republican Defence Force. Despite its involvement in the Alliance, the ERDF had been an unambitious military prior to the war, with a decently advanced but modestly funded force centered around the usual staples of anti-submarine operations and air defence. Its performance during the Great War itself is generally considered to have been good, considering the circumstances. Despite continual blockade bombardment, limited signals intelligence and combat air missions continued to the end of the conflict. Nevertheless, the Union's overwhelming numbers meant that Ezo was unable to meaningfully defend its regular infrastructure.
Following the war, the Ezo Republic found itself in command of significant numbers of experienced and battlehardened veterans but was also severely short on material resources. As a member of the victorious side, Ezo also found itself saddled with significant obligations in terms of occupation zones and numerous (far more numerous than most know) unforseen mission and capability requirements. This transition has seen the ERDF expand both numerically and doctrinally, with unsurprising results on the country's still-rebuilding finances.
Force 1: Ezo (Land)
Force 2: Estvan (Land)
Force 3: Reserve (Land)
Force 4: Ezo (Sea)
Force 5: Estvan/Ezo (Sea)
Force 6: Reserve (Sea)
Military Equipment
ERS Impossible Request
Originally a 46,000 ton Bell Zephyr-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the Archduchy of Kanon that survived the war and was handed over to the Ezo Republic as a part of some incredibly complex negotiations over the Second Structured Reparations Plan. Rather than scrap or sell the ship as everyone expected however, Ezo elected to finish the vessel where it was and commissioned it. For a military the size of the ERDF, the rather aptly named Impossible Request is a disproportionate financial and logistical burden. Although they had operated a small helicopter carrier with a few vertical take-off fighters in the past, the facilities to service a full size carrier weren't even built at the time, and the only suitable fighters were surrendered enemy planes. Nevertheless, the ERDF has faithfully funded the creation of a proper battlegroup around this ship. Some analysts find the investment rather inconsistent with Ezo's defensive requirements and as such the project has drawn suspicion.
Reinforce II class frigate
Imperial Arsenal ImAr-38TH
A subsonic vertical take-off strike fighter that originated from West Lotic and entered service throughout the Intercontinental Alliance in the late 70's and 80's in a slew of variants. Most of Ezo's small fleet were rendered inoperable or unmaintainable during the war but the post-war period has seen a few scraped back into service.
Saioji Type 495 舞-fighter
An indigenous single-engine fighter roughly analogous in concept and capability to the Saab Gripen.
RIFL Valkyria F2
A powerful twin-engine multi-role fighter that was the air superiority staple for several countries of the Pan-Glevis Union. Many of these aircraft survived the final months of the war as commanders refused to commit them against glories without a plan. As a result, numerous examples have passed into Allied hands through outright capture or as reparations. The Valkyria project was a lavishly funded program and the resulting aircraft has a slew of expensive advances such as supercruise, thrust vectoring, reduced observability and so on. Having done such a good job shooting down their planes, the Valkyria is now ironically the most numerous combat aircraft in ERDF service.
RIFL Valkyria K0N
The carrier-borne variant of the above.
Type 1818 main battle tank
The main indigenous battle tank of Ezo Republic is a quite small machine, weighing just 40 tons and having only a crew of 3. On paper, it has no abilities that appear particularly capable but as a small defensive tank, it was supposed to have an uncanny ability to remain hidden and pop up in unexpected places.
Economy
GNP: D
Trade: B
Research
Research: A
Academic Links: C
Locations
Karen Test Site
Yasuri Shrine
Amahara Shrine