History of Aquaria
- See Also: History of Zeoul, History of Sarconia.
The history of Aquaria covers the period between 2049 and 2115, and is intertwined with its whole and partial constituents Zeoul and Sarconia. For most of recorded history, the lands of modern Aquaria were split into territories of Zeoul, Sarconia or Doren, and this status quo returned after its dissolution in 2115.
Aquaria was notable for the language boundary dividing its Zeoulian-speaking and Sarconian-speaking populations. This lingual difference alongside greater economic development of the Zeoulian states was an increasingly frequent source of division domestically. Despite significant democratic support, the Aquarian government, at that point firmly in the control of the Zeouli states, resisted all calls for reform throughout the late 21st and early 22nd century.
Formation
Whilst the idea of a unified Zeoul and Sarconia occurred amongst some politicians as early as the late 1800s, at the time it was openly ridiculed. Sarconia falling under the influence of communist Arcadia precluded any overtures of cooperation, but after its dissolution and Sarconia's return to scattered city states and nomadic tribes it took until the early 2020s before normal diplomatic contact between Zeoul and the various factions of the region could be established.
Unification only became a serious prospect in the 2040s after the Great Decline, with both the Zeoulian Heartland states and Sarconian provinces beginning an economic recovery in part due to increased cooperation and trade between the two, and a shared sense of optimism in the wake of the global recession. Zeouli diplomats formally broached the subject for the first time in 2046 after achieving a slim democratic mandate to further pursue closer ties between nations, but Sarconia's Khurals and tribes as well as independent Zeouli politicians had been unofficially endorsing the idea in private channels for several years prior.
Despite early hopes to bring together all of Zeoul and all of Sarconia under one banner, enthusiasm for the union waned the further north it was proposed. Despite lengthy talks, the growing movement was unable to come to form agreements with the various leaders of Ghour, Esperi, Aerfel and Bizmi. Once agreements had been secured, the process of devising a new system of rule began. Early proposals called for the unitary Zeoulian heartlands to be incorporated as a single large state with increased democratic representation at a national level. This was ultimately seen as undesirable by those on both sides of the negotiating table however, and the Zeoulian state would agree to be subdivided and adopt a more federal model of governance.
Sarconian elements strongly advocated for maximally devolved powers to given to individual provinces, but these ideas were met with little interest by Zeouli politicians. This was eventually settled on a case-by-case basis, but caused the province of Hanval to pull out of discussions after being unable to secure the level of self-governance it desired.
After sixteen months of negotiations, the model agreed upon called for the willing territories of Zeoul and Sarconia to be partitioned into five administrative states, each of which would put forth a Councillor through a democratic method of their own choice though occurring a minimum of once every 3 years. These Councillors would regularly convene and together form a consensus to direct the actions of Aquaria at an international level, often making decisions according to an informal but strongly encouraged obligation to act according to the democratic majority view of their State constituents.
| “ | Your city's Khural is right. To unite this Aquaria would be unprecedented - but the Decline is behind us. The past is full of austerity and precedented things. Does the future need to be as well? | ” |
| —Lamphred Kerman, in discussion with the Khural of Arrataxt, 2048 | ||
The name of the new nation would be taken from the shared word in the Zeouli and Sarconian languages: Akuarioa, roughly meaning "area between two seas", and in 2050, the Combined States of Aquaria were declared to the world.