Kingdom of Friedonia

The "United Kingdom of Elfrieden & Amidonia", popularly known as the "Kingdom of Friedonia", is a new kingdom which got established after the "Principality of Amidonia" got annexed by the "Elfrieden Kingdom", following the events of the "One Week War". The Main Capital of the Kingdom is "Parnam" (the former capital of "Elfrieden Kingdom").

The "Kingdom of Friedonia" mainly consists of two regions, "Elfrieden Region" (formerly "Elfrieden Kingdom") and the "Amidonia Region" (formerly "Principality of Amidonia"). Following the events of the "One Week War", all the Duchy sized regions within the Kingdom were dissolved, and only smaller region were given over to the Noble's or Lord's to handle.

It currently shares borders with "Union of Eastern Nations", "Mercenary State Zem", "Republic of Turgis" and the "Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria" as well as a maritime border with the "Nine Headed Dragon Archipelago Union".

Known Regions and Cities

 * Parnam (“Royal Capital”)
 * Venetinova
 * Randel
 * Red Dragon City
 * Lagoon City
 * Altomura
 * Van
 * Nelva
 * God-Protected Forest
 * Ursula Mountains

History
The formation of "Friedonia" was an totally unexpected situation for both Kazuya Souma and Hakuya Kwonmin, who were the conspirators and orchestrator behind the occupation of Van, the capital of the Principality of Amidonia.

Since the start of the One Week War, the main goal for both Kazuya and Hakuya was to lure the main forces of the Principality away from their capital city Van, and make them attack Elfrieden. The main reason behind this planning was to capture Van and its surrounding area, as well as destroy the army of the Principality, and make them go in a state were they won't be any threat to Elfrieden for a long time.

At the end of the One Week War, with the death of the ruler of the Principality, Gaius Amidonia, and occupation of the capital city Van, Kazuya had achieved the first goal he was aiming for. Though Julius Amidonia did regain control of Van by invoking the First Clause of the Mankind Declaration Treaty and getting the Gran Chaos Empire involved, Kazuya had already planted the seeds for uprising by giving a taste of freedom to the citizens of Van, which they never had under the rule of the Principality. Also working behind the shadows was his special unit, the Black Cats. Since the citizens themselves asked for annexation of the city to Elfrieden, the Empire couldn't interfere with it because of the flaw in the Mankind Declaration Treaty. Thus Kazuya achieved his second and final goal.

However, during the revolt of Van, and Julis leading his army to deal with a large rebellion in the northeast, a number of other uprisings appeared simultaneously all over the country. The reasons behind these events varied; from wanting to overthrow Julius, to sheltering people from his oppressive rule, to support the princess Roroa Amidonia, and so forth. All these uprising (except the one in the northwest), were planned out by Roroa, who wasn't happy with the militaristic rule that her father and brother followed. As for the rebellion in the northwest, it was suspected, though never proven that the Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria had incited the followers of their faith to riot, causing the death of many citizens.

Kazuya having no other choice because of various reasons, had to accept the appeals of the citizens of the "Principality", thus annexing and integrating the whole of Amidonia with Elfrieden. And finally in order to solidify his rule over Amidonia, he accepted Roroa's proposal of a political marriage with her, thus creating the "United Kingdom of Elfrieden & Amidonia", a.k.a., Kingdom of Friedonia. As a result, Friedonia is now the second-largest nation of Landia, next to the Gran Chaos Empire.

As such, the new nation had to deal with additional food shortages due to the increase in population, despite Elfrieden having solved its own food issues a short time ago. Other problems include reconstruction of the Amidonian economy, infrastructure and industry. For these reasons, Kazuya has appointed Amidonia's Minister of Finance Gatsby Colbert and taken Roroa Amidonia as his third Queen Consort. This not only legitimized his claim to Amidonia but also made use of Roroa's business sense.

Government
As before, when it was just the Elfrieden Kingdom, Friedonia is ruled by a monarchy, but with several reforms and processes that reflect its realist ruler, Kazuya Souma. It is still not a signatory nation of the Mankind Declaration Treaty, but does share a bipartite alliance with the Gran Chaos Empire and a tripartite alliance with the Empire and the Republic of Turgis in terms of medical equipment and research. Although the former feudal system remains Friedonia is increasingly becoming meritocratic with commoners being given more opportunities to climb higher while the change in territory given to the nobility being based on the management of their lands.

As for succession in terms of royalty, polygamy is allowed, and it is common for the king to take multiple wives, either to insure that the royal bloodline continues, or for political reasons. As such, the wives can either be Primary or Secondary Queens, depending on their status. For example, Liscia Elfrieden, Aisha Udgard, and Roroa Amidonia all come from royalty, knighthood or nobility and therefore became Primary Queens to King Souma. As a result, any children they have are eligible for succession to the throne. In the case of Roroa, her marriage to Souma also gives him a legitimate claim to the former Principality of Amidonia.

Juna Doma and Naden Delal are Secondary Queens since they do not come from royalty, knighthood or nobility. Their children will not have any rights to the throne, but will still have the prestige and power of being part of the king's family. As such, marriages made among them, as well as close retainers to the King, such as Ludwin Arcs, Poncho Panacotta and Hakuya Kwonmin, are seen by the nobility, as ways to 'marry into money' and strengthen their alliances. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for nobles to offer their own daughters, nieces or wards as potential Primary or Secondary Queen candidates.

Military
Friedonia inherited the military forces of both Elfrieden and Amidonia which were re-organized into the "National Defense Force", after abolishing the independent Army, Navy and Air Force belong to both the nations. This allowed the land, air and naval forces to act with greater coordination under the unified command structure. The military currently numbers around 130,000.

The "National Defense Force" are equipped with new technologies; such as the "Little Susumu Mark V" which allows large ships to be propelled without Sea Dragon's and the miniaturized variants "Little Susumu Mark V Light" used on the Wyvern's allowing them to achieve higher speed than Griffon's. Also, with inputs from Kazuya, the Parachute have also been created which is utilized for a specialized unit. Also, due to the addition of True Dragon's like Naden and Ruby, Friedonia is also the only nation outside of Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom to have Dragon Knights.

Currently Friedonia is attempting to become a sea power as the majority of battlefields and trade routes in Landia are on land most nations have weak navies. New types of ships have been introduced such as "Carrier" Ships, such as the Hiryuu which is the first of carrier ships (using the "Little Susumu Mark V" technology) which act as a Wyvern Carrier, allowing the usage of aerial power over the oceans and two more carrier ships named "Souryuu" and "Unryuu" are under construction alongside Hovercraft starting with the Roroa Maru and the large Souma-class transport ships. Thus Friedonia with its stronger navy including carriers can attack any coastline and troops could be even transported across frozen seas by hovercraft.

In addition Friedonia contain specialist units including,


 * "Dratroopers" is a specialized unit who work with the Wyvern Calvary equipped with "Little Susumu Mark V Light", and are meant to be the Other World variant of Paratrooper, whose main job is to drop down from high altitude behind enemy line, and create chaos and take over key enemy positions. They are also trained to take down the "Anti-Air Repeating Bolt Thrower" behind the enemy lines, in order to clear the path for the Wyvern Calvary to take charge and freely attack and bomb the surface.
 * "Black Cats" is an clandestine unit under the direct command of the King who are responsible for covert operations, intelligence gathering and counter-intelligence.

Economy
With the agriculture of Elfrieden and mineral resources of Amidonia as well as many reforms and innovations brought about by Kazuya, the nation is beginning to thrive with new trade routes and products with the neighboring countries. Advancements in technology, media and education bring about new opportunities in business and alliances.

Evaluation of nobles based on their management of lands caused an increased demand for educated people causing even slaves and prostitutes who were literate and knew arithmetic to be taken into nobility to act as magistrates. Thus Kazuya with the goal of the eventual abolishment of slavery, nationalized the slave industry with standardized exams for slave traders while slaves were to be trained for jobs.

Transportation and logistics have become easier with the development of roads and introduction of the Rhinosaurus Trains which were initially limited to freight but with the development of shock absorbers passanger transport was also made possible. Better ties with neighbouring countries increased trade and allowed joint research projects.

Education
Friedonia inherited its major educational institutes from the Elfrieden Kingdom which were the Royal Officers' Academy, the Royal Academy which produced researchers from all fields and the Mages' School which studied magic. Other major cities also have academies but were inferior to the Royal Academy in Parnam. While commoners used to have limited access to formal education this is changing with the founding of Ginger's Vocational School which was established to improve education standards in the nation by educating both children and adults. The Jewel Voice Broadcast was also used to broadcast educational programs such as Singing with Big Sis, hosted by Juna Doma.

Foreign Relations
Since its formation Friedonia has attempted to build close and beneficial diplomatic ties with its neighbors and powers of Landia and has successfully reduced tensions with some formerly hostile states although it still has tensions with several nations.

Gran Chaos Empire
Friedonia continues the secret alliance with the Gran Chaos Empire formed by Elfrieden during the end of the One Week War. Under the alliance Friedonia would aid the eastern side of Landia with the Union of Eastern Nations against the Demon King's Domain without signing the Mankind Declaration which also ended the Empire's request for tribute to support the war against demon armies. In addition important information would shared between the nations. For this purpose embassies were opened in both nations and a hotline was established with Jewel Voice Broadcast. Gran Chaos Empire later joined the Medical Alliance with Friedonia and the Republic of Turgis with the Empire being responsible for the mass-production of drugs.

Republic of Turgis
The "Look North" policy of the Republic of Turgis had strained relations with Amidonia and Elfrieden and thus their successor the Kingdom of Friedonia. King Souma went to the republic to improve relations and find craftsmen who can mass produce medical equipment such as Hypodermic Needles which resulted in the Tripartite Medical Alliance alongside the Gran Chaos Empire. Further to solve the issue of transport during winter Friedonia offered to use their new hovercrafts led by the ''Roroa Maru. ''

Mercenary State Zem
Tensions are high with the Mercenary State after Friedonia's predecessor, the Elfrieden Kingdom canceled the contract and removed mercenaries from its forces. After the events of the One Week War, many mercenaries were captured and ransomed by Elfrieden. At present, both countries are wary with each other.

Union of Eastern Nations
Due to the bipartite pact with the Gran Chaos Empire, Friedonia agreed to send military aid to the Union. Kazuya later visited the nation during a minster invasion along with Roroa, Aisha and Naden leading an army of 60,000 and saved the Kingdom of Lastania and also met the exiled Julius Amidonia. Then they began marching to relieve the besiege Duchy of Chima.

Star Dragon Mountain Range
Due to the request of Tiamat, Kazuya had visited the dragon nation and formed a contract with his second Secondary Queen Naden Delal.

Nine Headed Dragon Archipelago Union
Initially Friedonia had no official relations with the Archipelago but had skirmishes and minor conflicts over fishing territory and international water borders. After Friedonia helped the Union kill the Ooyamizuchi the two nations entered into a base exchange agreement and is discussing the creation of a maritime alliance.

Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria
Friedonia has an uneasy relationship with the Papal State as it is suspected that it was behind the major uprising in the northern regions of former Principality of Amidonia which resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths. The theocracy has attempted to form an alliance against the Gran Chaos Empire by offering the title of "Holy King" to Souma, in return for making the Lunarian Orthodoxy the state religion of Friedonia. Souma refused the title of "Holy King" but accepted to make the Lunarian Orthodoxy as a state religion and requested a bishop from the Orthodoxy to manage the religion in Friedonia. Souma requested Souji Lester for this. In the end Souma made all religions to register in Friedonia and made every registered religion a "state religion" while Souji Lester was escorted by the Black Cats ensuring that no "accidents" happen to him. As a result, the Lunarian Orthodoxy is not the dominant state religion.

At present, Friedonia is still wary of the Papal State and its movements.

Spirit Kingdom of Garlan
Friedonia has no official ties with the xenophobic kingdom though Merula Merlin does reside in Friedonia as a refugee.

Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom
Currently diplomatic ties between the Dragon Knight Kingdom and Friedonia are limited. The Dragon Knights and Friedonian forces fought together during the minster extermination in the Kingdom of Lastania. Souma hopes that improved ties with Lastania will help Friedonia to develop closer ties with the Dragon Knight Kingdom due to the two countries being allies.

Trivia

 * Friedonia is also the name if a location in the movie Duck Soup.