Mirei

Mirei (also spelled Mireyi) is a founding member state of Sokoku. It is by far the smallest member state by size and population, encompassing nothing more that three island groups in eastern Sokoku between mainland Shaaniaah and the island state of Shuuen. Despite its small population it is the most ethnically and culturally mixed region of Sokoku, with Hueiwei, Iztomal, Kakuri and Dölmer populations. It is the only state with a native Kakuri population, as well as a recognised status for Anarian settlers from the 76th century.

Before the name change in 7670, the state was known as the Fisks-Kakuri Cooperation, or more shortly Fika. It was renamed in honor of the late statesperson and founding mother of Sokoku, Exemplar Chika Mirei, herself half Kakuri and half Dölmer. The name was also considered more neutral, since the equally large Hueiwei and Iztomal communities were not represented in the state name.

History

As a political entity, the state of Mirei dates back to the 7520's, when traders from Talpå (current day Vittmark) established settlements on three island groups without a clear administrative status. Askers was disputed territory between Hallish Bowersland and Helreich's Schangtienrand, while Carls de jure belonged to Bowersland but did not have a colonial presence or settlement. Villes was hardly populated before settlers sat foot here. The settlers of Fisks could themselves be seen as refugees of the ongoing Three Ways Conflict going on between the predecessor states of Vittmark. The settlers should therefore not be labeled as imperial styled colonists, since they lacked a connection with an Anarian (or any other) homeland. For decades they served as an autonomous entity with an unclear geopolitical status.

Carls was used as home base for the Fisks stim's merchant fleet with floating docks and company headquarters. Through these headquarters, administration of the more northerly islands of the Fisks settlements in current day Kamura was managed as well. Where the northern islands functioned as manufacturing territories, Carls was more in use as staple port and logistics hub for trade between The Bind and Kamura on one side, the archipelago forming Sokoku today in the middle and Anarian states further to the west. Askers and Villes were used for agricultural produce, providing food for the settlers on the southern islands.

Due to the lack of formal, internationally recognised status of Fisks on these islands, many nations in the region considered Fisks more or less a piracy activity, trading and dealing regardless of international boundaries or established custom duty routines. What Fisks considered as trade was seen as smuggling activities by neighbouring nations. During the first 4-5 decades, Fisks treated the Hueiwei population as second rate residents, not even registering them as such and employing them in return for food, lodging and protection. The Iztomal population, who were more or less hunter-fisher-gatherers with limited agriculture at that time, were left alone and largely ignored.

In the 7560's the Fisks traders came into conflict with authorities in Schangtienrand and Bowersland more often, with both entities wanting to incorporate the territory. Conflicts between Halland and Helreich had prevented it from happening before, but with the ending of the Pan-Anarian War, talks were started between the two nations to divide the territory between them. In a desperate attempt to avoid this from happening, Fisks sent out an emissary on a solo mission in a self built miniature airship towards Vittmark. Astrid Fisks landed unannounced in Hagneå late 7569, after which a delegation from the Vittmarker government traveled to the southern Fisks islands in 7570. Fisks applied for membership into the federative monarch that same years, which was granted immediately. An expedition in 7571, passing The Bind, landed in northern Fisks for the first time.

Four years later, the isolated Kakuri community reached out to the federal administrator in Carls. The community had managed to stay hidden for the Fisks settlers for over 5 decades. Kakuri leaderhip built up an almost personal relation with the royal family of Vittmark, resulting in their living area being transformed into a royal crown domain. In 7878 the community was accepted as the third landless nation state of Vittmark, which not only resulted in conflicts with the Fisks administration, but also was frowned upon internationally by Anarian colonial powers.

However, inclsuion within Vittmark did not end the troublesome status of Fisks. In Anaria, Vittmark had come in conflict with the signatory nations of the Treaty of Aerilar. Hallis and Helreich were among the signatory nations trying to monopolise and monetise the use of sea straits. This hindered the ambitions of Vittmark as an exporting nation and especially Fisks merchant fleet. The Pan-Stoldavic War, in which Vittmark played an important role, led to regional tension surround the Askers islands in the strait between Bowersland and Schangtienrand, with the latter belong to the Häverist sphere opposing the Vittmarker war effort. With the help of Kamura, Fisks political status was safeguarded during the war, but when The Bind started expanding in northern Altaia, Fisks lost its reliable air connection with Vittmark, effectively cutting the territory off from the rest of Vittmark.

In a disputable move Kamura occupied northern Fisks in order to avoid conquest by The Bind. It led to a huge internal conflict within Fisks, resulting in a new generation of leaders claiming all the key positions. Where previous administrations had been dominant towards native cultures and on the defensive side of development, the new leadership reached out to the Kakuri and Hueiwei communities in order to formulate a common, more pro-active strategy for all community's survival.

It was Chika Mirei, daughter of the Kakuri leader and Vittmarker baroness Kirisaki, who proposed the tactics through her mother. The main ide was to exploit the long lasting civil war between the Häverist colonial forces in Schangtienrand and native liberation forces, tipping the balance by using the force of the large merchant fleet of Fisks. Thanks to intelligence presence of the Kakuri in Schangtienrand's capital Schlung, the Kakuri-Fisks cooperation was able to start coordinate rebellion efforts by individual rebel groups, concentrate them and quickly move them along the coastline.

In 76XX the capital fell, upon which Fisks could move their production facilities from Kamuran occupied islands to the much closer by Shuuen state. A joint defence treaty and customs union between the entities was signed in 76XX. Knowledge from the Kakuri and Fisks communities was applied to quickly build up a functioning nation state, in which the Iztomal minority got an equal status. When the alliance between Shuuen and Kakuri-Fisks was able to also liberate Shaaniaah on the Altaian mainland from its Hallish colonial administration, the three entities formed the multi-ethnic federal republic of Sokoku. The Fisks-Kakuri Cooperation received a separate status as founding member state due to its pivotal role and complicated ethnic, cultural and administrative status.

Government

Mirei has a rather complicated two-dimensional government structure. The four ethnic groups groups each form their own autonomous community. A large part of local government is carried out through these ethnic pillars regardless of location or territory. All four therefore have their own administrative institutions, of which three are located in the Carls settlement, where the Kakuri community is governed from Toshi-bu. On top of this, there are territorial councils for each island, or for the larger islands several local councils. These deal with administrative duties with a territorialdimension, like infrastructure, public works, land ownership and zoning plans.

The communities are indirectly represented in these territorial councils. For example, Villes territorial council only has representatives from the Fisks and Izto Chi communities, since the the communities don't ahve a significant presence here. The territorial unit for Toshi-bu has a special status, given the fact that Carls island (or Kakurijima in Kakuri) is the only place in the world with a native Kakuri population. In order to preserve Kakuri culture and language, the territory is off-limits for non-Kakuri citizens without a special permit.

This heavy, two-dimensional local structure results in state level government being rather small.

In Sokoku's federal parliament, the Kakuri and Fisks communities have a designated seat each, with deputies being appointed by the respective communities. Mirei also has a fixed presence in the federal executive cabinet, most often a Kakuri or Fisks representative. Usually, the Mirei secretary-general gets a rather insignificant secretariat to run, often culture or infrastructure.

Sokoku