Courland is a nation-state on the Courland Peninsula, in former Latvia, and claims to be the heir to the Republic of Latvia that was unjustly annexed by the Soviet Union during World War II.
September 26th, 1983. Riga, Latvian SSR.
Janis woke due the noise coming from the telephone, connected to the Vertushka system, which was only working to have direct orders from Moscow.
He took the phone, when he heard a nervous female voice in the other side
"JANIS!! You should be leaving your home now, the nuclear war has started!"
"Arisha! A-are you sure?"
"Yes! I had called the other SSRs to tell them to leave their capitals...hope they are safe!"
After the call, Janis had few time to leave, and was lucky to only suffer less irradiation and surviving due being a nation.
He would move to the city of Ventspils, a harbour in Courland, where he could be more safe.
In the events of Doomsday, these Latvian cities were hit:
·Daugavpils, destroyed in a strike on nearby Lociki Air Base.
·Jēkabpils, destroyed in a strike on the air base.
·Liepāja, destroyed in a strike on the naval facilities and the port itself.
·Riga, the former capital, destroyed along with its suburbs and surrounding communities in several strikes on both it and the military facilities in the area.
·Tukums, destroyed in a strike on the Air Base.
·Valmiera, destroyed in a strike on nearby Liepas Air Base.
Ventspils, being the USSR's leading port in crude oil export, wasn't targeted by the Americans, and became the main harbour in the Baltic for the surviving fleets outside of Sweden and Finland. Janis became active with the refugees and both Russian and Latvian population, trying to help as much as he could.
After contact was lost with the Soviet government on Doomsday the local Latvians attempted to continue their lives as best as they could. But discontent was brewing. Many people failed to see the point of serving the vanished Soviet regime, especially as they had been occupied after World War II. On July 15th, 1984 the local population declared a republic, considering it to be a replacement for the defunct Latvian republic.
July 15th, 1984. Ventspils, Courland, former Latvian SSR.
The city hall of Ventspils was crowded. Civilians and politicians occupied the square of the city hall. Inside, the Courlander Declaration of Independence was signed by the military, and nationalistic factions of the area. The LKP accepted the independence, as contact with any surviving parts of the USSR were impossible, and then, the Republic of Courland was declared.
The declaration was only a technicality, as the Courlanders had been effectively independent since Doomsday. Contact was re-established with the the nearby state of Lithuania in the spring of 1985. The Lithuanians began a process of strengthening their cultural ties with the Courlanders. This culminated in the signing of the Ventspils Treaty, which created the Baltic Alliance. The Estonians, after contact was established late on, declined full membership, but politely accepted an honorary membership.
September 26th, 1991. Ventspils, Courland.
Less than a decade after the traumatic events of Doomsday, Janis was able to contact with Estonia and Lithuania, who, same as him, declared themselves indepedent from the Soviet Union. They would create a Baltic Alliance, to prevent any reclamation of the Russians...but how long would it last?
After contact with the Nordic Union was established in 1991 and with the Estonians that same year, the strategic importance of the capital's location was rediscovered. As contact with foreign nations increased it was discovered that Venspils was a convenient port for ships heading for destinations all around the Baltic Sea. The port soon found itself host to increasing amounts of trade, which started pouring massive amounts of capital into Courland's coffers. The port itself went through four significant expansions in 1992, 1995, 1999, and most recently in 2004. This income has lent a standard of living that is unprecedented in many parts of the world today.
The other states haven't been recognised, as the so-called New Livonian Order (based around Vidzeme) it's a loosely group of settlements joined by a revival group, and the Republic of Latgalia, this one being formed by military troops and surviving latgalian culture and people, still haves a rivalry with Courland... They don't recognise Courland as the sucessor of both the pre-1944 Republic of Latvia and the Latvian SSR
But in 2023, the New Livonian Order was dissolved and forced to be part of Courland, while Latgalia still was a rival to Courland...
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