Free Duchies

The Confederation of the Free Duchies is a in eastern Tevaria. The Free Duchies are bordered by the to the north, the Machish Sea to the east, Lindare to the south, and Antais to the west. With a population of 11,591,680 as of 2015, the Confederation is the nation in the world, and the least populous in Tevaria. The total national area of 326,753.27 square kilometres makes it the country in the world, and the smallest in Tevaria.

The Free Duchies are a of autonomous and loosely unified  with a holding of land around them, with each independent city referred to as a duchy. The various duchies of the Confederation are unified politically, economically, judicially, and militarily through the national government, which is led by a Grand Duke as its and. The Grand Duke appoints the members of the government on the advice of the Grand Council, which, in turn, elects the Grand Duke from among its own members every ten years. Together, the Grand Duke, the government, and the Grand Council make up the composite national government of the Free Duchies, which negotiates for the country as a whole in Tevarian and other international affairs. This system of government was instituted after the conclusion of the Antesian-Frathensian War in 1721 led to the creation of the country, and has largely remained unchanged ever since.

The first settlers in the region of the Free Duchies were the, who settled in 1531 under French patronage after the colonisation of Frathens across the Machish Sea. Eventually, settlers of Austrian heritage from Lindare would cross the Vimmarks and settle in the Vimmark Southern Highlands as early as 1549. The region was hotly contested, and small skirmishes between settlers of different languages were common. Chanteurism would flourish in the region, as the lack of definite boundaries between the settlements would lead to the domination of the religion over the area by 1619. In 1712, Charles' Uprising in Frathens saw the new kingdom claim the lands across the Machish Sea on continental Tevaria. Antais refused to recognise this claim, leading to the Antesian-Frathensian War in 1715. By end of the conflict, both sides realised a total victory was impossible, and thus, a compromise was made with the creation of the Free Duchies as a sovereign buffer state through the Treaty of Heldhaven. This would trigger the outbreak of the First Antesian-Lindarener War in 1722, as Lindarener settlers saw the loss of their territories as divisive politicking.

Ultimately, Lindare would gain autonomy, and through negotiation, the Free Duchies and the new kingdom agreed to the Vimmark Pact so long as there remained a lack of on trade between the two. The Free Duchies would fan more anti-imperial sentiment through the First Amarian-Antesian War in 1743, and, after a short conflict, the Amarian and Ducher alliance was decisively defeated. The Free Duchies were allowed to remain independent through Frathensian and Lindarener backing at the Treaty of Normark.