Kingdom of Kamenia

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Kingdom of Kamenia Краљевина Кменсја Kraljevina Kmensja
Flag National arms
Motto: For God, Tsar and Kamenia За Бога, Цара и Камениа (Kamenian) Za Boga, Cara i Kamenia (Transliteration)
Anthem: Anthem of the Tsar Химна Цара (Kamenian) Himna Cara (Transliteration)
Location of Kamenia
Capital and largest city	Skadar
Official languages	Kamenian · Serbian Montenegrin
Demonym	Kamenian
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Tsar	Peter IV of Kamenia
• President-Minister	Matija Nikolajević
Legislature	Council of Ministers
Establishment
• Independent Duklja	9th century
• Recognition of Kingdom of Zeta	1077
• Independence	1 May 1703
• Secularization	15 April 1871
• Kingdom proclaimed	22 June 1913
• Kamenian Civil War	August 1925 - March 1926
• Modern constitution	19 January 1986
Area
• Total	2,051 km2 (792 sq mi)
Population
• 2014 estimate	385,800 (177th)
• 2011 census	382,773
• Density	188/km2 (486.9/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2013 estimate
• Total	$4.5 billion (158th)
• Per capita	$11,664 (82nd)
Gini	37.6 medium · Medium
HDI (2014)	0.758 high · 70th
Currency	Kamenian krone (K) (KMK)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy
Drives on the	left
Calling code	+384
ISO 3166 code	KK
Internet TLD	.km

The Kingdom of Kamenia, also referred to as the Tsardom of Kamenia (Kamenian: Краљевина Кменсја, Kraljevina Kmensja), is a unitary constitutional monarchy located in the Western Balkans composed of 15 municipalities. Bordered by Montenegro to the north and west and Albania to the south and east, Kamenia streches from the Lower Adriatic Sea to the Valbonë Valley, with mountain plains prominent in the north, with the south and west dominated by flatlands. Its capital and largest city is Skadar, which has held the distinction since the nation's independence.

In the 9th century, there existed a Slavic principality within the territory of modern Kamenia; Duklja. In 1042, archon Stefan Vojislav led a revolt that resulted in the independence of Duklja and the establishment of the Vojislavljević dynasty. Duklja reached its zenith under Vojislav's son, Mihailo. By the 13th century, Zeta had replaced Duklja when referring to the realm. In the late 14th century, Zeta came under the rule of the Balšić noble family, then the Crnojević noble family, and by the 15th century, southern Zeta was more often referred to as Kman Sjya by its inhabitants. From the 16th to 18th centuries, Kamenia fell under the influence of the Ottoman Empire.

Beginning in 1703, the Metropolitan of Skadar (later titled Knyaz then Tsar) were rulers of Kamenia, the House of Crnojević (and later Orléans-Crnojević) reigning without a constitution or parliament until 1885. A brief civil war in the 1920's ultimately led to the rise of the fascist KNSP in 1934, controlling the nation under an extremely nationalistic and totalitarian regime until the White Revolution of 1985. Multi-party elections soon took place, the monarch resigned to an advisory and figurehead role after the adoption of the Constitution of 1986, the right-wing nationalistic Central Party and Kamenian People's Party having effectively controlled the nation's unitary parliament to the present day.

Etymology

Beginning in the 15th century, the area that would ultimately become Kamenia was named Kman Sjya by its inhabitants (sometimes transliterated into "Little Stone"). At first, this terminology just referred to the land around Skadar, but later grew to refer to the culture area encompassing the land east of Montenegro.

During the 18th century, Venetians and Austrians began to use a more modern name to describe the nation's inhabitants; titling them the Kamen (occasionally the Kaman) people, which later evolved during this time period into its modern spelling. By the time of the signing of the Treaty of Vienna, the nation was beginning to be referred to officially as Kamenia.

By the 19th century, the area encompassing the Valbonë Valley and Skadar became known as Old Kamenia to distinguish it from now independent nation's newly acquired territories. By the early 20th century, Kamenia had finally expanded south enough through numerous wars with the Ottoman Empire to reach the Adriatic Sea, the flatlands that encompassed this new land being dubbed New Kamenia.

History

Main article: History of Kamenia

Ancient History

Dominated by the Ardiaei tribe since the 3rd century BC, the area that would become Kamenia was invaded and occupied by the Romans by 168 BC, later becoming a part of the imperial Praevalitana province. Slavs began to colonize the area in the 6th century, and after centuries of waves, had by the 10th century formed a semi-independent principality called Duklja in suzerainty to the Byzantine Empire.

Middle Ages

Duklja gained its independence from the Byzantine Roman Empire in 1042. Over the next few decades, it expanded its territory to neighbouring Rascia and Bosnia and also became recognised as a kingdom. Its power started declining at the beginning of 12th century. After King Bodin's death(in 1101 or 1108) several civil wars ensued. As the nobility fought for the throne the kingdom was weakened and by 1186 it was conquered by Stefan Nemanja and incorporated into Serbian realm as a province named Zeta. After the Serbian Empire collapsed in the second half of the 14th century, the most powerful Zetan family, the Balšićs, became sovereigns of Zeta.

In 1421, Zeta was annexed to the Serbian Despotate but after 1455 another noble family from Zeta, the Crnojevićs, became sovereign rulers of the country, making it the last free monarchy of the Balkans before it fell to the Ottomans in 1496, and got annexed to the Sanjak of Shkodër. During the reign of Crnojevićs, southern Zeta became an area for mass Serbian migration to the coast, the new populace giving the land the name Kman Sjya, or Little Rock. For a short time between 1514 and 1528, Kman Sjya existed as a separate autonomous Sanjak under the Montenegrin Metropolitanate, another version of which existed again between 1597 and 1614. During the ensuring century, the language of the region began to evolve down a separate path from its inhabitant's ancestors in Serbia, this ultimately deviating into the modern Kamenian language.

Metropolitanate

During the 16th century, the Montenegrin and Kamenian peoples developed a form of unique autonomy within the Ottoman Empire, families from both 'nations' being free from certain restrictions that would elsewhere be found in the Empire. Nevertheless, Montenegrin clans became so disenchantment with the Ottoman presence within their nation during the 17th century that they rose in a number of rebellions.

The march on Skadar

Motivated by a string of both Montenegrin and Venetian victories during the Great Turkish War towards the end of the century, a number of strong Kamenian families residing within the Valbonë Valley rose against the Turks, leading to the decade long war for independence. Following a decisive victory at the battle of Great Drin, the Kamenian clans alongside their Montenegrin allies marched on the town of Skadar (known as Shkodër in the Ottoman Empire), establishing it as the capital of the nation. On May 1, 1703, after over a decade of conflict in the mountains of northern Kamenia, the remaining Turkish forces within the Valbonë Valley and the surrounding region were ordered to evacuate.

One of the earliest issues regarding the state would soon prove to be the question on who would rule. During the war for independence, several commanders and family leaders came forward as possible candidates for control over the young nation, one of them being the influential Bojan Šiljak. Winning over the Venetians to the Kamenian side during the war, he led his force of 20,000 to a number of important victories during the mountain campaigns of 1697-1699, not losing a single battle. However, in 1703, he finally fell in the final battle at the Great Drin, his second in command, Mašut Crnojević, taking over as head of his army during the march on Skadar. However, despite his new found power as general of the nation's largest army, Crnojević did not immediately vie for power, instead biding his time whilst priests, merchant families, and the sons of Bojan Šiljak fought for rule.

Ultimately, in August 8, 1706, a compromise was found between the bickering power seekers, all of which agreed to appoint Crnojević as the theocratic Vladika (Prince-Bishop) Mašut I of Kamenia, all whilst ensuring his position remained weak in comparison to the stronger landholders. Initially, this resolve calmed the bickering between the nobles, the newly appointed Prince-Bishop remaining wary of governing to not ignite further conflicts. However, following the first of the Wars of Šiljak between the incumbent government and the descendants of Bojan, it became clear that Crnojević could no longer remain weak in the fact of international and internal affairs, persuading the bishops of Kamenia to grant him further powers in the final years of his reign, ultimately pacifying the nobles for a decade, ruling with autocratic powers similar to those of other absolute monarchs.

Following the death of Mašut I in 1721, the bishops of the Metropolitanate elected his son by the same name as the second Vladika, the 45 year old being crowned Mašut II of Kamenia. Following this however, it soon became apparent that the entrenched nobility would refuse to serve under a leader who continued to rule with the autocratic powers of the first Prince-Bishop, and during the ensuring decade and a half, tensions rose between the landholders (who grew to support the grandson of Bojan, Mitar Šiljak) and the bishops of Kameria (who supported a strong Vladika). Ultimately, these tensions boiled over into the Second War of Šiljak, Mašut II leading his numerically superior forces against his enemy's at the Battle of Bajicë, defeating them in a swift blow to the power of the landholders.

Furthered during the later rule of Mašut II was diplomatic ties to a number of international powers, as well as the significant expansion of the population after years of almost constant war. With Serbian and other Slavic peoples emigrating into the borders of the state for protection from the Ottoman Empire, the Metropolitanate found itself under the influence of a number of nearby nations; Austria, Venice and Montenegro, the later two seeking to expand their territory into it's lands. As a result of this 'race' for Kamenia, the Prince-Bishopric was soon to be recognized as an independent state by many nations during the mid-18th century, influence of each aforementioned state growing stronger with each year. By the 1750's, Austria, Venice and Montenegro each had an independent 'governor' acting within Kamenian borders, strongly influencing it's internal (and in some cases, external) policies.

By the election of Nenoje of Kamenia (son of Mašut II) after twenty-three years of his father's rule, the privileges of the nobility had been swiftly dealt with in such a manner that they were limited to the point in which no major insurrection could be funded internally, despite widespread condemnation of the new Vladika's near-totalitarian rule. Instead of fighting against the aristocracy however as his father and grandfather did, Nenoje decided to appease the indignant nobles, opting to expand their rights to land and governance if it was seen to the benefit of the state. This program ultimately came at a price, the Vladika finding himself slowly alienating his chief advisers (ho favoured stronger Prince-Bishop) and the landed nobles (who favoured a simple figurehead without any powers), after which tensions began to flare again.

War of Kamenia

Main article: War of Kamenia

By 1758, secret talks held between a number of landholding Kamenian families and the Montenegrin co-Vladika, Sava Petrović-Njegoš brought about one of the greatest threats to the young nation. With all parties agreeing to support another grandson of Bojan; Vitamir Šiljak, Sava of Montenegro also promised to militarily support another noble uprising in Kamenia. Events came ahead on February 26, 1759 when several nobles attending a party hosted by Nenoje surrounded and stabbed him to death in the royal courtyard at Skadar, many leading bishops also being hunted down over the ensuring days. With Montenegrin support, they seized the capital and razed the palace, placing Vitamir Šiljak on the throne as Knyaz (Prince) Vitamir I of Kamenia.

In response to events in the capital, several leading bishops converged on the village of Turin to find and appoint the then-exiled Peter (brother to Nenoje) as the legitimate Vladika of Kamenia. Here, he raised his own personal army to route both the nobles and the Montenegrin forces and restore the nation to Crnojević control, publicly supported by a number of influential and wealthy families in Kamenia's mountainous north. Over a period of three years, both sides fought, won and lost several significant battles in what would later come to be called the War of Kamenia, at least half the male population fighting in battle at one point or another.

Peter I receiving a Venetian diplomat

Ultimately, the turning point in the war would come in during the summer of 1763 when Venice finally offered support to the young Peter I, and with reliances that Kamenia would become indebted to the Republic for a period of fifty years, the Italian nation stormed Montenegro to draw their forces out of Kamenia. With the foreigners army having left in bulk, Peter saw to a decisive and final blow against the landed aristocracy at the Siege of Skadar, when he bombarded his capital with Venetian support, storming and massacring the opposing noble forces and capturing Vitamir I in the process, executing him a week later to bring an end to the Wars of Šiljak. Now, with international support and a weakened nobility, the Vladika usurped almost absolute power like his father and grandfather while removing every privilege of the powerful landowning families (executing or exiling those that supported Vitamir), the bishops of Kamenia granting Peter the title of Slavina, or the Glorious.

Napoleonic Wars and Stagnation

Shortly following the bloody conflict, Kamenia found itself within the sphere of Venetian influence, a perpetual governor appointed by the Italian republic to assist the bishops and Vladika on both internal and international policy, as well as guide the nation towards 'modernisation'. This program consisted of transforming the then large but inexperienced military into a small but disciplined European style force, aiding the growth of Kamenian agricultural industry, and transforming the bishop-based bureaucracy into one that far more resembled those in central Europe.

Over the course of three decades, this process was slow and drawn out, initially successful as the militia-styled military transformed into a standing army, armed with more modern weapons (mostly turn of the century Venetian artillery and firearms), as well as the redevelopment of the government structure, the position of Chief Minister being created by the Vladika as an official title for the Venetian governors to further aid him in his campaign of modernization. However, towards the end of the 18th century, as Venice began to experience economic and internal problems, their support for the small nation began to waiver, Kamenia unable to pay for much of the infrastructure or modern military without the Italian nation's support. By the fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797, the nation had been left mostly to its own devices, falling back on agricultural production to feed its small and unstable economy.

In 1806, the ailing Peter I had unexpectedly received word from the Emperor Napoleon with a call to aide his military in its advance on the Bay of Kotor. Initially, the Vladika wished to support the French Sovereign, however, after a string of French defeats at the hands of Montenegrin and Russian forces, Peter I drew his nation into conflict with the invaders. Sending an 'expeditionary force' to support the despised Montenegrin army, the three nation alliance defeated the French military decisively at both Cavtat and Herceg-Novi, these victories soured after a peace treaty signed in 1807 between Russia and France granted the control of the Kotor Bay to the latter nation. This peace would last less than seven years however, as shortly after Peter I's death in 1812, France marched into Russia, once again igniting war, and 1813, Kamenian and Montenegrin soldiers were once again fighting beside one another, capturing and holding the Bay of Kotor until the end of the war in 1815. Expecting land as compensation for their sacrifice during the war, soldiers and diplomats from both nations were forced home in disappointment as the Congress of Vienna resolved that the Bay should be transferred to the Austrian Empire.

Mašut III on a visit to England

Following Peter I's death in mid-1812, his third and final surviving son was crowned Vladika Mašut III in a lavish ceremony. A traditionalist, the new Prince-Bishop was supported by the leading bishops due to his outspoken defence of the absolute theocratic government Kamenia was founded under and his opposition to his fathers perceived 'weakening' of the state. As a result, Mašut III followed a program throughout his reign of strengthening the position of Vladika more immensely than it had ever been before, all whilst removing the influence of many outside nations in government, his actions culminating in the expulsion of over seventy foreign diplomats in 1833, and the abolishment of the office of Chief Minister the following year.

From then on, the Prince-Bishop ruled without any checks, formulating a failed plan for industrialisation in 1846 without advice or counsel which ultimately ended in economic collapse only months following its implementation, as well as an extended famine in 1847 and a short lived attempt of revolution that was a part of the wider European tide of revolution in 1848. By the time of his death in 1853, the nation was no longer able to support the growth of crops in the countryside or the importation of goods into the nation.

Vladika Peter II

Following his grandfather's death, Peter Orléans-Crnojević (the son of Mašut III's daughter Ljeposava Crnojević and Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale) came to the throne as Peter II, his mother unable to succeed to the Prince-Bishopric due to strict Salic law. Coming to power at the age of 5, the young leader of Kamenia growing into his position surrounded by the leading liberal bishops of the time, his attitudes towards the strong authoritarianism of the time becoming more reformist as he came of age in 1865. Peter I was quick to appoint his mentors Felic Kujović and Crnoje Damj as his chief advisers, initiating a period of prolonged restructuring of the weakened state, including eliminating the extensive legislative powers of the bishops and expanding local franchise to local regions.

By 1870, the Peter, Kujović and Damj (now unofficially known as the 'triumvirate') formed the first democratic parliament for Kamenia in response to the growing democratization of Montenegro, creating a nation-wide elected government (the Council of Ministers) who were to be elected by the electorate of land-owning men (later expanded to all men in 1883). One year later, during the opening of the Parliament following the first general election, the members of the Council of Ministers passed their first pieces of major legislation, including the Constitution of Kamenia and first legislative law code in the nation's history, as well as establishing Kamenia as a principality, with Peter II crowned for a second time as Knyaz (Prince) Peter I of the now secularized country.

Civil War

Main article: Kamenian Civil War

Following the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of the First World War, economic collapse soon proved to be evident with the nation's co-currency, the Austrian krone (the most common currency used during the time), ending print. Now relying on the lesser Kamenian dinar as a means to conduct international and internal trade in the uncertain economic climate following the global conflict, many business fell as the government began printing more-and-more money after 1919 to 'fill the gaps' left after the co-currency ended printing. These policies of money printing were furthered following Peter I's death in 1919 and the ascension of his eldest son, Peter II, the young monarch appointing the Young Liberal, Emilo Ćorović, to the position of President-Minister in 1920, the new head of government pushing for the acceleration of currency printing.

As a result of this policy, inflation began to grow slowly over the following two years, the kingdom's fragile economy entering a brief period of stabilisation in which thousands continued to lose jobs and homes. In early 1923, the economy crashed after hyperinflation finally oversaw the rapid rate acceleration of the Kamenian dinar, doubling the price of goods over periods of only days. Ultimately furthered by the devaluation of the German mark that was occurring at the same time, by March 1924, one American dollar was worth 750,410,000,000 dinars with over 20% of the nation becoming unemployed, the Ćorović government's inability to stem the increasing economic collapse resulting in their overwhelming defeat in the 1924 election and the ascendency of the Moderators Party. Shortly after their victory, the Kamenian dinar was abolished and replaced with the Kamenian krone, stabilizing prices and allowing for the purchase of goods as the economy slowly began to recover.

Governance

Main article: Politics of Kamenia

Kamenia is described in the Constitution of 1986 as a "democratic constitutional monarchy based on the region of popular law". There have been several variations of the Kamenian Constitution since the writing of the first one in 1870, only the most recent proclaiming the rule of law to be above that of the monarch.

The Monarch of Kamenia (officially known as the Tsar or King) is the head of state in Kamenia, each heir being raised to the position through strict agnatic succession law. Officially representing the nation abroad, the monarch is also granted the power to veto laws passed by the parliament, dissolve the Council of Ministers to call a new election, call for a referendum and appoint the President-Minister (although no Tsar in the last century has used the latter three powers which have been de facto granted to the parliament). The official residence of the Monarch is the Palace of Crnojević in the capital of Skadar.

The head of government in Kameia is the President-Minister. Elected to the position along similar lines of British Westminster tradition (the holder would be the leader of the largest party in parliament), they unofficially represent the nation abroad (doing so with more authority than the head of state) and are aided by a Deputy President-Minister who is chosen by the Tsar.

The parliament of Kamenia, the Council of Ministers, is a unicameral legislative body that has the power to pass laws, ratify treaties, appoints the government ministers and justices of all courts, adopts the budget and perform other duties as established by the Constitution. Parliament can pass a vote of no-confidence on the Government by a two-thirds majority, although this can be overridden by a Tsar's veto. Each representative Council-Minister is elected per every 5,600 votes.

See also: Foreign relations of Kamenia

Military

Main article: Military of Kamenia

Economy

Main article: Economy of Kamenia