Kalistan

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A Brief History of House Ananto's 4th and 5th Dynasties, 5148 - 5689
From Fredrick Guerra to the Empress in Waiting, The Royal Family has left their mark on Terra
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
October 18, 5689


Empress Nicolette I Ananto, "The Great" transformed the modern Empire

As Her Imperial Majesty, Empress in Waiting Carolina-Katherine Michelle Ananto-Connor has entered public life, The National feels that it is time to take a brief retrospective on the modern Kalistani Royal House. We'll see how the Institution of the Monarchy has evolved over time, and project a that trajectory into the future of our Institutional Rulers.

Pre Modern Anantans (Dynasties 1 - 3)
Kalistan began as an Empire. Our earliest prehistory demonstrates that at one point, what is today the four duchies of Kalistan Proper was a completely separate entity from the Island of Ananto. Ananto itself was founded by migrants who flooded north from what is now Aldegar. The people and more importantly their rulers established the Island as a kingdom, and the title "Ananto" which is reportedly proto-Aldegarian for Ruler, was given to the Island. The Ruler, therefore, THE Ananto, gave his (because they were all male) title to his island, and therefore formed the basis of the First Dynasty which ruled Ananto and parts of Northern Kalistan Proper for about 1200 years until the Anantos were pushed off the continent by invading hordes from the west, which flooded through Lodamun and erased all political distinctions in Kalistan.

Meanwhile Ananto captured what is now known as Vintalli and Marlingantos, and continued to rule the Islands for several hundred more years, gradually reconquering lands in Kalistan Proper, Athosia, and mainland Gaduridos from the Horde ahead of their ultimate collapse. This set of rulers, divorced entirely, both geographically and culturally from their proto-aldegarian roots, but not quite Seleyans yet, were known as the Second Dynasty.

The Third Dynasty began when a group of leaders of Gaduri origin came to power in Ananto, taking the name, titles and trappings of the Anantan Leaders of the 2nd Dynasty, but expanding further into a large maritime and Seleyan Empire. During this time, Kalistan came fully under Anantan rule, permanently joining Ananto in a political fusion that continues to this day. The Anantan Empire also variously covered Athosia, Lodamun, Gaduridos, Baltusia, and lands in modern day Dolgava, Seko and Lourenne. But that land was stripped from the Anantans by treachery, subterfuge and outright theft committed by imperial Selucia and Luthori, who practiced a divide and conquer strategy to whittle down and steal Anantan territory permanently.

The modern era saw an inexplicable solidification of international boundaries, but rump elements, pretender elements and outright frauds occasionally claimed the mantle of Anantan Emperor or Empress from the 1900s until 4053, when the Empire, all titles and claims to nobility were abolished and vacated permanently. This era was the era of Socialist Party of Kalistan dominance, and the reason that the titles were officially vacated actually had nothing to do with Third Dynasty Dead Enders. Indrala at the time claimed a title of Khan of Kalistan, a title which had no historical basis whatsoever. The National government of republican Kalistan therefore vacated all titles, in order to erase that title from the possession of the Emperor of Indrala, and as a part of the ceasefire agreement in the ensuing Ananto War, Indrala agreed to formally vacate that title and end its use by the Emperor of Indrala. This act formally ended the Third Dynasty and marked the formal death of the Ancient Anantan Empire.

The Fourth Dynasty and the Anantanese Empire
In 5146, a conservative faction of the Socialist Party, then the Ruling Party in Kalistan, split from the Leftists and declared themselves the Institutional Party of Kalistan. Dedicated to protecting the institutions from incessant modification of the law and policy oscillation caused by what became known as ephemeral Parties, the Institutional Party declared it their mission to restore an Imperial Structure to the office of Head of State, to ensure that, whatever happened in the more democratic legislature, the structure of the State would be protected against the pressure of a random and increasingly erratic electorate was growing tired of Socialist Party dominance, but clearly seemed more intent on electing "anyone other than Socialists" no matter what ridiculous or dangerous ideology they happened to spout.

The Institutional Party, under Premier Nadine Bennots, distant descendant of the philosophical founder of Kalistan's ethical socialism, led her party to a majority, and used that power to begin deliberately instituting the system of a monarchy. The structure that her government settled on borrowed from monarchistic tradition, but originally envisioned a system of two Grand Duchies, one in Ananto and one in Kalistan, who had equal votes and in ties, Ananto's Grand duke would win. In 5147, the preliminary Enabling Act was passed, and the Institutional Party essentially overthrew the Republic through legislative action. Most of the people were politically disengaged by this point, and while some ardent republicans among the socialists protested, the events passed by largely without violence.

In 5148, a philanthropist in his mid 20s named Fredrick Guerra, who was an early supporter of the Institutionalist Party, had access to significant resources that he was willing to use to endow a Royal Family in perpetiuty, and was free to do the job was selected as Kalistan's First Emperor in about 1100 years. Titles were created for him and he was crowned Emperor of Ananto and Kalistan (the two Grand Duchies) on February 1, 5149. Guerra transformed a mansion he had acquired in the ancient capital city of Eveari into the Ananto Estate, and took up the role of Head of State, while Bennots and the Institutionalists continued to govern in Kaliburg.

At first, the Emperor was a mere figurehead. He was more or less ordered to marry by the National Assembly in 5154 and begin producing heirs. Soon the Institutional Party lost power to liberals, and the Office of the Emperor was sidelined, but it continued in place, with Fredrick (Now Fredrick Ananto I) and Empress Elizabeth producing an heir. His first born Son, Emperor David I Ananto, took the throne in 5209, and the Fourth Dynasty was formally begun.

This Empire lasted for three Reigns (David's Son abdicated in favor of his Grandson William I Ananto) and then the Socialists returned to power and forced Emperor William to abdicate without allowing him to crown his son. Then followed a 160 year Republican interlude where the Ananto Family and House Ananto (the foundation begin by Fredrick Guerra) continued to exert some authority and maintain a role in the Politics of the Island. In 5406, William's Three Greats Grandson became President of the Republic, and his daughter succeeded him in office. During this period, the Institutional Party obtained a passage of the law which guaranteed that the President of the Empire must be a member of the Ananto Line. The bill passed over strong, and violent objection by the Socialists, and the Party was formally outlawed by the Institutional Party when several members of the Now ruling Institutional Party were assassinated by Socialist Party extremists, who also attempted but failed to seize the National Assembly.

The outlawing of the Socialists in 5412 under the Administration of President of the Republic Michael Ananto-Thomas cleared the way for the Institutional Party, now the only Party in Government, to re-establish the Monarchy and crown Nicolette Empress of Ananto and Kalistan in 5458 who had been elected President in 5456. This time, however, the Institutionalists meant to make the Empire permanent. They created House Law and very serious protocol around the Monarch, including the institution of the formal and informal audiences, and the various ceremonies. They made it illegal for commoners to speak directly with the Empress except in Formal Audience. And most importantly they instituted the Imperial Fiat, which obliterated the last checks on imperial authority by republicanism and democracy; Kalistan formally became an unapologetically Absolutist Government.

The People, who were once more completely disengaged from politics due to the last opposition party's terrible performance in government, looked the other way as this happened, and most welcomed the new Empress as a national symbol for the people to unite around. Providing the office teeth and distance required Institutionalists in the first couple generations to be more acquiescent to the demands of the Monarch, and to tolerate a measure of political and economic inequality between the monarchy and the people they ruled. But over time, people grew to ask why Kalistan didn't adopt absolute monarchy sooner, and the popularity of Empress Nicolette I Ananto, seen now as an Empress who belonged to the People, increased to the point that she was provided the appellation of "The Great" upon her retirement, a title not given to any other monarch before or since.

Under Nicolette I Ananto's reign, Kalistan integrated deeper with neighboring Seleyan States, took a leading role in regional affairs, greatly improved Kalistan's reputation abroad, begun the National High Speed MagLev train network which revolutionized public transportation across the Empire, and oversaw a cultural explosion in science and technology, music, fashion and art. Nearly all the public institutions that currently exist in Kalistan almost all trace their origins to Nicolette's pivotal reign.

Her daughter, Nicolette II Ananto can be considered the mother of Kalistani Imperialism, aggrandizing the Imperial Style to include what became known as the Crownlands, thus formalizing Kalsitan's historical claims over Athosia, Gaduridos, and large sections of Dolvaga, Lodamun, Seko and Lourenne. Nicolette II Ananto also oversaw the transition of Kalistan away from Fossil Fuel to renewable energy. As Kalistan's neighbors Lourenne inflated and ultimately supernovaed, Kalistan under Nicolette II Ananto filled the vacuum and Kalistan became the dominant force in the Northern Anantonese Ocean. Kalistan became a leading player in International diplomacy, and the regular forces were professionalized under Nicolette II Ananto. And under Nicolette II Ananto, the Single Party Act was finally passed to sweep away the last vestiges of democracy once and for all. Her untimely death in 5528 brought her son, Fredrick II Ananto to the throne.

A long regency allowed the recent loss of democracy to ferment before Fredrick II Ananto could formally take the crown. The beginning of Fredrick's reign was peaceful enough, as Kalistan expanded investment in and deep ties to Gaduridos, hosted an international trade exposition in Kaliburg, and travelled extensively abroad. On one such trip, in 5550, he met his future wife, a Kundrati investment bank lawyer named Pavlina Hulanevek. The two fell in love, but that fateful meeting would change the course of the Kalistani Monarchy forever and ultimately lead to the end of the Fourth Dynasty and the rule by direct descendants of Fredrick I Ananto.

His marriage to the foreigner Pavlina I Ananto caused immediate political chaos in Kalistan, and caused simmering demands for more democracy to be exploited by fascists. Political violence became more frequent, and ultimately ended up in the passage of Lese Majestie, which makes it a crime to injure or assault a member of the Royal Family. Fredrick not only named Pavlina a Co-Empress, but adopted her adopted daughter Carolina Hulanevek and named her his heir, to cover her under the law. The political unrest turned into a crisis when the Emperor was assassinated by a Republican partisan, who had been employed by a cabal of fascists seeking to utilize democracy as a cover to overthrow the government. The Chancellor was also seriously wounded in the attack, and a brief and violent civil war broke out as republican militias, armed and financed by fascists fanned out across the country. The Chaos forced Empress Pavlina I Ananto and Carolina to flee and hide out in Gaduridos for six months while the Regular Forces and the Institutional Militia put down the rebellion.

Pavlina I returned to Kalistan, and spent the rest of her life in deep mourning over her husband. She was, for all accounts a foreigner, spoke broken Vrassan at best, and didn't have many friends among the nationalists in the Institutional Party. But she did have the Institutions of the Monarchy and they gave her absolute power, based on her title. The Reign of The Black Empress had begun. During Pavlina's reign, Kalistan saw the zenith of its association with Kundrati, as well as watching it deteriorate. Pavlina also brought Gaduridos and Lodamun into a new Anantonese Empire as equal constituent states. She began looking beyond the adjacent seas for Kalistani defense, and stretched Kalistani naval power into the Mad Dog Ocean and down into the Central Anantonese Ocean for the first time since the collapse of the Anantan Empire in the 19th Century. In the Northern Anantanese Ocean, Kalistan was peerless, and for likely its last time, Kalistan enjoyed full hegemony in the region.

During Pavlina's reign, Kalistan inherited an heirloom from Pavlina's Kundrati relatives. A Large white diamond, said to have been initially cut by an ancient Yeudi gemsmith thousands of years before, was delivered to Kalistan as a wedding gift for Pavlina's daughter Carolina. The Gem stayed hidden for decades in the the House Ananto Vault, which contains gold, silver, and gems collected over the centuries since the founding of the Fourth Dynasty. And the Anantos themselves were fixated on it, but everyone else forgot about it.

Everyone except the Yeudis of Beiteynu, who were at that very moment working with other nations to kneecap Kalsitan for possessing what they viewed as their diamond. More about that in a moment: Meanwhile, Pavlina's administration oversaw both the beginning of the Kaliburg Metro underground subway system and the founding of the Kalistani Space Program at Spencer, and the launch of a satellite network that would not only allow us to broadcast radio and television around the world, but would also allow us to look down on our neighbors and sometimes enemies. Kalistan's major international challenges during Pavlina's reign were a resurgent Luthori who was aggressively attempting to reincorporate its old empire, including Lodamun, which forced Kalistan to embargo Luthori over.

Pavlina retired from office in 5578, and her waning years would be the last years of Peace that Kalistan would know for a long while. Around 5580, tensions sparked in the Migrants' Pass, and Kalistan re-established patrols in the Mad Dog Ocean from its new base in Lodamun to help contain any potential conflict well away from the Empire. Kalistan was able to project up to the edges of the Artanian Sea, and this would bring Kalistan into conflict with Kundrati in the coming years. But also in 5580, Carolina gave birth to a son, whom she named Fredrick III Ananto after her adopted father. In doing so, she ended the possibility of Fredrick II Ananto's relatives obtaining the throne. The direct line between the Kalistani Crown and the founder of the Fourth Dynasty was severed, dying out with Fredrick II Ananto. The birth of the third Fredrick is the beginning of the Fifth, or Kundrati Dynasty.

(Continued)