Tulgary
30-06-2006, 16:51
OOC: Beth Gellert, here. This is the alternate nation idea about which I've recently been talking. To anyone wondering, and as I indicated in the recruitment & discussion thread, my creation of this thread does not mean that Tulgary is an accepted part of AMW. It may be accepted by the community, or rejected as improper owing to my existing control of one of the world's largest nations.
For now, I've simply enjoyed reading about the old form of the nation that I've inherited, and adapting it to fit real-world geography and AMW history. If accepted, Tulgary will become possibly a founding member of the Holy League, but its weakest independent player.
For now, if you want to respond to this thread, I think that it would be best to do it OOC and use the discussion thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=455144).
THE GRAND DUCHY OF TULGARY
http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/tulgary.jpg
How much can I give in my years?
History
Known to have been lived by humans since the last ice age, remains one hundred thousand years old have been found in Tulgary. Over two thousand years ago, Celts in what we now know as Tulgary resisted the Roman Empire with varying degrees of enthusiasm and success, but most were ultimately unable to survive Julius Caesar, while the rest later fell to those who came after that famous leader.
Amazingly, it appears that, in following centuries, Tulgary was 'visited' by Glakatahn raiders, who deposited the first traces of Slavic culture and genetic presence in the region, and may have changed the entire shape of Europe had the easterners not fallen back, perhaps under internal pressure.
The rise of the Franks was significant to Tulgary, which eventually came under the rule of the Christian-convert Clovis I. Some say that the current first family, the Papans, are in fact the embodiment of natural support for the restorer of Frankish unity, Pepijn de Korte, father of Charlemagne, and that the family name is somehow a legacy of the eigth century, a dedication, perhaps, to Pépin. In the C20th, the Archduke did nothing to discourage speculation and conspiracy theory linking him to the Carolingian line of Charlemagne, Pépin, and Charles Martel, which persists in Tulgary in spite of what some point to as Slavic features evident especially in the faces of the royal family.
In the early fourteenth century, obsessively mercantile proto-Tulgarians actually fought their French neighbours and defeated the nobility in battle, retaining their prosperity and the power of ordinary men made good. Ultimately, though, the small communities and independent cities of a pre-national Tulgary fell to French domination, and the Hundred Years War saw active association with the English, as rebels against French rule.
Eventually, Tulgary became part of the vast domain of Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, but was always home to a good many independent thinkers, who took the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 as legal recognition of the statehood belonged to their homelands, and immediately began to cause every bit as much trouble as the German Protestants. Tulgarian nationalism, placing merchant ambition over hereditary dominion, appears to have been a largely unrecognised force in continental politics up until the eve of its victory in Northern Europe, since more clear-cut religious struggles tended to take a front-seat.
Tulgary was made united and independent during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but often broke internally. France, Spain, England, and the German lands at various times put different pressures on the Tulgarians, while Catholicism and Protestantism, and the aristocracy and merchant classes struggled on and off against one another. Further Habsburg influence was felt during times of great frustration for the French in the Tulgarian theatre, but was generally reversed. For the most part, Tulgary was a source of instability, never to be relied upon by any of its neighbours.
The Napoleonic era, during which Tulgary necessarily sided with Bonaparte, forced some vitality into the national economy (partly as opposed to that of cities and individuals), and massive demographic shifts resulted from the movement of soldiers and workers along with the deaths of so many young men, especially in the Russias. After Napoleon's defeat, which only came with the chilly demise of many thousands of Tulgary's finest citizens, the very grey and mutually agreeable Pongrok Papan was created Czar Miksa of Tulgary.
Miksa I established the Tulgarian Catholicon with the intention of curing all of the divided nation's ills. The Catholicon required that each of Pongrok's male descendents should be created princes of the various districts of Tulgary, making principalities associated by common blood instead of cities divided by differing religions. These other royals sat, in the Chamber of Princes, as deputies below the Czar's premiership. This extended family would serve as Tulgary's Parliament, the Czar's brothers and other relations being hereditary Ministers for the districts that otherwise would have been their autonomous Principalities.
Pongrok's long rule was followed by that of his son, Mandek, who took the title Miksa II and is credited with building Tulgary to the status of a recognised world power.
The third and final Tulgarian Czar was Emil Papan, who took the title Czar Rica and regained much power for himself at the expense of the nation's merchants. Czar Rica, in essence, bought (with profits from the far east, earned after taking control of the East India Company that was established under the hands-off rule of his immediate ancestors) the right to abuse and exploit the people and geography of the Congo. He even went so far as to name the capital for his horse, Leopold.
After another long reign for a Papan, Rica died only during the early years of the C20th, gasping in his last breath a verbal expression of horror, popularly remembered as a death-bed realisation of the intense suffering caused by his countrymen in Africa. His young son, Felvarosh Papan, survived in power against the attentions of his princely siblings and cousins only by declining the three-generations-old title of Czar, becoming instead Archduke of a new Grand Duchy of Tulgary. The Chamber of Princes was replaced by one of Deputies from amongst the mercantile elite: the Archduke gained the power to appoint the members of his legislative chamber, while the merchants took an official, legal part in national governance by electing from amongst their elite the candidates for appointment.
The young Archduke also returned the East Indies and the Congo to the control of powerful merchants, to whom his de jure ministers owed much of their de facto authority. Felvarosh's extreme youth at the time -early in the C20th- has often been cited to support the view that the Catholicon was largely subverted by the merchants after Rica's passing and that the colonies were plied from the grasp of an immature child rather than signed-over by a divinely enabled leader of the Tulgarian people. Most scholars abroad -it would be unwise to publish such ideas in Tulgary- agree that the Grand Duchy was created by the design of influential merchants eagre to retake control in the colonies, and that they exploited the youngster's vulnerability to his family. However, it is also said, in respect of his kingly ambitions, that the name chosen by Felvarosh -Basilius- should have been read as something of a warning to the merchants.
The Great War arrived in time to prevent armed conflict between capitalists and aristocrats as princes conspired to overthrow the Grand Duchy, and Tulgary, over-run by Germany, would resist valiantly during the invasion and inevitable occupation, later taking a key military role in her own liberation. After the war, much thought of rebellion had been wiped-out along with the nation's youth, and the child Archduke was amongst the last hot-headed youngsters in Tulgary. He was wildly popular, and endured the inter-war era with consummate ease, his position apparently unhurt by the First World War.
Still, Tulgary was isolated, republics all around, and it was hard to imagine the Archduke's youthful gloss lasting forever. The rise of Fascism was something of a blessing for Felvarosh, though his country was again invaded, and this time rather more easily annexed by the Germans. The Archduke survived under the protection of the House of Walmington, and returned at the end of the war to a nation hurt by radicalism and change. Eagre to reassert their independence, the Tulgarians were glad to have back their distinguished master, and though the East Indies were lost to the war, the fourth Papan was able to direct public interest in this respect towards Africa, where he maintained control in the Congo for a further fifteen years. This proved to be more than enough time to see the public drop their interest in empire and the loss of the east, so a strengthened Archduke withdrew national support for the merchant authorities and enjoyed watching them collapse before the resistance of mere Africans and the disdain of the peasantry at home.
More recently, an aged Archduke Basilius has harboured fellow old-world aristocrats as they plotted victory in what he sees as the real struggle: that between blue-blood aristocrats and devious-minded merchants, and the Tulgarian now considers his role in the establishment of a modern Holy League to be pivotal, though few can pretend that his nation remains a key player in the military and industrial campaigns of the alliance. In fact it is true that Basilius has done much to discourage many aspects of potential industrial growth, precisely because he fears Tulgary's powerful merchant traditions that, let us not forget, are the reason that he is the first Archduke instead of the fourth Czar.
Government
Founder of the Catholicon: Czar Miksa I (Pongrok Papan)
Second ruler of the Catholicon: Czar Miksa II (Mandek Papan)
Last leader of the Catholicon: Czar Rica (Emil Papan)
First Archduke of the Grand Duchy: Archduke Basilius (Felvarosh Papan)
Heir Apparent: Crown Prince Kiraly Papan
There are in the Chamber of Deputies around two-dozen seats, one for each province, acting as Tulgary's legislative body. Presently it is the Archduke who wields most real power, but the struggle between nobles and merchants is centuries old, and it would be perhaps naive to suggest that the latter are down and out. The Judiciary also owes its appointments directly to the Archuke.
The Archduke sits in the city of Luxembourg, calling the major part of the defences there Grestovar Fortress. The Chamber of Deputies also assembles there, and has secondary Chambers at Brussels, Amsterdam, and the Hague, each used for meetings once or twice a year.
National holidays include the Archduke's birthday and the Harvest Festival, along with other notable dates on the Catholic calendar.
One curiosity is in the nomenclature of the state and its ruler. The head of state is known locally as an Archduke, while the state is a Grand Duchy. This is true with all of Tulgary's offically-sanctioned languages, while some foreign languages/nations choose to call Basilius a Grand Duke, or his nation an Archduchy.
Internally, the Grand Duchy of Tulgary and Archduke Basilius are called most commonly in these forms: Groothertogdom Tulgary (Aartshertog Basilius); Grossherzogtum Tulgary (Erzherzog Basilius); and Grand-Duché du Tulgary (Archiduc Basilius). Crown Prince Kiraly is known as Prince Héritier, Kronprinz, and Kroonprins, amongst other forms.
People
The national religion is nominally Catholicism, but, in Tulgary, it has become distinguishable from the faith in other Catholic nations, largely because of the unusual and changing history of the nation. The Archduke is a Catholic, and is regarded by many of his like-minded subjects as the Pope's equal. A large minority several million strong maintains Protestant faith, and is traditionally over-represented in the more successful mercantile ranks.
Life expectancy and physical health in the Tulgarian population has always been good, with the Tulgarians being some of Europe's tallest people, but, since the industrial revolution, the improvements have been so minor as to see the Grand Duchy outstripped by its neighbours. The bulk of the populace remains committed to agriculture and primary industry and, despite seriously limited economic growth and sloth in embracing modern healthcare standards, Tulgary's visitors will find the average man consuming all the calories of a dangerously fat Briton, Greek, or Quinntonian, and burning them off with physical work that leaves him broad of shoulder and healthy of spirit.
In competitions centred around the harvest festivals, Tulgarian peasants are often -some say patronisingly- raced against foreign challengers in work-related contests: a favourite of the nobility is to wager heavily that an entire team of foreign sportsmen or soldiers can not reap [with hand tools] the corn of one half of a field before a lone Tulgarian has finished the other half. It is usual for the Tulgarian to finish before half a dozen challengers are half way through their task, and to do so without losing his breath. Such feats become less impressive next to the more advanced mechanisation of foreign farms.
Still, in more widely played professional sports, the Duchy tends to perform modestly at best on the international stage. Football is probably the exception, but attempts to meet the English on the cricket pitch have ended in ignomy, much as most attempts at rugby, and the nation rarely makes an impressive showing in athletics stadia.
Basic literacy is close to universal, but higher education is enjoyed by only a minority of the population.
Tulgary has a population of 27,344,941 people, known as Tulgarian(s). Six languages are spoken, with French being the most common, certainly in high-society, administration, and and commerce.
Economy
Agriculture is the largest employment sector, with industry an increasingly close second.
A number of grains, many vegetables, some fruits, and livestock -of which Tulgarians are especially proud- are the nation's agricultural produce. Beef, veal, and milk are major industries in the Grand Duchy, while the Archduke's famous stables have, over his long life, spawned a noteworthy industry in thoroughbred horses and fostered a gambling industry that has spread from betting on horses to other sports and games of chance. The gambling industry is aimed primarily at foreigners, Tulgarian citizens being required to establish National Gambling Accounts if they wish to legally partake in any serious way. How much they may pay into these accounts initially and again each year depends upon their earnings, and further infusions must be through winnings or else at the start of the new financial year and again tied to earnings. This is to prevent problem gamblers from destroying themselves and turning to criminal means of replenishing their lost gambling stakes.
Apart from agriculture, Tulgary regards manufacturing as its main economic purpose. Metal products; mostly light military weaponry and transportation equipment; and engineering products are constructed in the Grand Duchy; and Basilius now hopes to make his nation a European centre for assembly of other large manufactures from around the Holy League, such as transport equipment.
Tourism is significant, along with a small banking and financial sector, and food processing, beverages, and fishing comprise most of what remains in the economy.
Geography
Located in Western Europe, Tulgary lies between France and Germany, looking out on to the North Sea. This location has contributed to the nation's long and varied troubles, as Tulgary is exposed to any aggression from its two larger continental neighbours and the near-by British.
The Grand Duchy covers some 74,640sq.km, of which 66,747sq.km is land. The terrain is mostly lowland, including much reclaimed land, some of which lies below sealevel. Towards the south, however, are some hills in the east, with the rugged Ardennes Forest mountains in the southwest. At just 694 metres above sealevel, Signal de Botrange is Tulgary's highest point.
Natural resources, while not alone sufficient to compensate the Grand Duchy for its small size and precarious location, do include various useful construction materials, some natural gas and petroleum, iron ore in the south, silica sand, carbonates, salt, and peat, and, perhaps most importantly, a large quantity of arable land.
For now, I've simply enjoyed reading about the old form of the nation that I've inherited, and adapting it to fit real-world geography and AMW history. If accepted, Tulgary will become possibly a founding member of the Holy League, but its weakest independent player.
For now, if you want to respond to this thread, I think that it would be best to do it OOC and use the discussion thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=455144).
THE GRAND DUCHY OF TULGARY
http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/tulgary.jpg
How much can I give in my years?
History
Known to have been lived by humans since the last ice age, remains one hundred thousand years old have been found in Tulgary. Over two thousand years ago, Celts in what we now know as Tulgary resisted the Roman Empire with varying degrees of enthusiasm and success, but most were ultimately unable to survive Julius Caesar, while the rest later fell to those who came after that famous leader.
Amazingly, it appears that, in following centuries, Tulgary was 'visited' by Glakatahn raiders, who deposited the first traces of Slavic culture and genetic presence in the region, and may have changed the entire shape of Europe had the easterners not fallen back, perhaps under internal pressure.
The rise of the Franks was significant to Tulgary, which eventually came under the rule of the Christian-convert Clovis I. Some say that the current first family, the Papans, are in fact the embodiment of natural support for the restorer of Frankish unity, Pepijn de Korte, father of Charlemagne, and that the family name is somehow a legacy of the eigth century, a dedication, perhaps, to Pépin. In the C20th, the Archduke did nothing to discourage speculation and conspiracy theory linking him to the Carolingian line of Charlemagne, Pépin, and Charles Martel, which persists in Tulgary in spite of what some point to as Slavic features evident especially in the faces of the royal family.
In the early fourteenth century, obsessively mercantile proto-Tulgarians actually fought their French neighbours and defeated the nobility in battle, retaining their prosperity and the power of ordinary men made good. Ultimately, though, the small communities and independent cities of a pre-national Tulgary fell to French domination, and the Hundred Years War saw active association with the English, as rebels against French rule.
Eventually, Tulgary became part of the vast domain of Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, but was always home to a good many independent thinkers, who took the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 as legal recognition of the statehood belonged to their homelands, and immediately began to cause every bit as much trouble as the German Protestants. Tulgarian nationalism, placing merchant ambition over hereditary dominion, appears to have been a largely unrecognised force in continental politics up until the eve of its victory in Northern Europe, since more clear-cut religious struggles tended to take a front-seat.
Tulgary was made united and independent during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but often broke internally. France, Spain, England, and the German lands at various times put different pressures on the Tulgarians, while Catholicism and Protestantism, and the aristocracy and merchant classes struggled on and off against one another. Further Habsburg influence was felt during times of great frustration for the French in the Tulgarian theatre, but was generally reversed. For the most part, Tulgary was a source of instability, never to be relied upon by any of its neighbours.
The Napoleonic era, during which Tulgary necessarily sided with Bonaparte, forced some vitality into the national economy (partly as opposed to that of cities and individuals), and massive demographic shifts resulted from the movement of soldiers and workers along with the deaths of so many young men, especially in the Russias. After Napoleon's defeat, which only came with the chilly demise of many thousands of Tulgary's finest citizens, the very grey and mutually agreeable Pongrok Papan was created Czar Miksa of Tulgary.
Miksa I established the Tulgarian Catholicon with the intention of curing all of the divided nation's ills. The Catholicon required that each of Pongrok's male descendents should be created princes of the various districts of Tulgary, making principalities associated by common blood instead of cities divided by differing religions. These other royals sat, in the Chamber of Princes, as deputies below the Czar's premiership. This extended family would serve as Tulgary's Parliament, the Czar's brothers and other relations being hereditary Ministers for the districts that otherwise would have been their autonomous Principalities.
Pongrok's long rule was followed by that of his son, Mandek, who took the title Miksa II and is credited with building Tulgary to the status of a recognised world power.
The third and final Tulgarian Czar was Emil Papan, who took the title Czar Rica and regained much power for himself at the expense of the nation's merchants. Czar Rica, in essence, bought (with profits from the far east, earned after taking control of the East India Company that was established under the hands-off rule of his immediate ancestors) the right to abuse and exploit the people and geography of the Congo. He even went so far as to name the capital for his horse, Leopold.
After another long reign for a Papan, Rica died only during the early years of the C20th, gasping in his last breath a verbal expression of horror, popularly remembered as a death-bed realisation of the intense suffering caused by his countrymen in Africa. His young son, Felvarosh Papan, survived in power against the attentions of his princely siblings and cousins only by declining the three-generations-old title of Czar, becoming instead Archduke of a new Grand Duchy of Tulgary. The Chamber of Princes was replaced by one of Deputies from amongst the mercantile elite: the Archduke gained the power to appoint the members of his legislative chamber, while the merchants took an official, legal part in national governance by electing from amongst their elite the candidates for appointment.
The young Archduke also returned the East Indies and the Congo to the control of powerful merchants, to whom his de jure ministers owed much of their de facto authority. Felvarosh's extreme youth at the time -early in the C20th- has often been cited to support the view that the Catholicon was largely subverted by the merchants after Rica's passing and that the colonies were plied from the grasp of an immature child rather than signed-over by a divinely enabled leader of the Tulgarian people. Most scholars abroad -it would be unwise to publish such ideas in Tulgary- agree that the Grand Duchy was created by the design of influential merchants eagre to retake control in the colonies, and that they exploited the youngster's vulnerability to his family. However, it is also said, in respect of his kingly ambitions, that the name chosen by Felvarosh -Basilius- should have been read as something of a warning to the merchants.
The Great War arrived in time to prevent armed conflict between capitalists and aristocrats as princes conspired to overthrow the Grand Duchy, and Tulgary, over-run by Germany, would resist valiantly during the invasion and inevitable occupation, later taking a key military role in her own liberation. After the war, much thought of rebellion had been wiped-out along with the nation's youth, and the child Archduke was amongst the last hot-headed youngsters in Tulgary. He was wildly popular, and endured the inter-war era with consummate ease, his position apparently unhurt by the First World War.
Still, Tulgary was isolated, republics all around, and it was hard to imagine the Archduke's youthful gloss lasting forever. The rise of Fascism was something of a blessing for Felvarosh, though his country was again invaded, and this time rather more easily annexed by the Germans. The Archduke survived under the protection of the House of Walmington, and returned at the end of the war to a nation hurt by radicalism and change. Eagre to reassert their independence, the Tulgarians were glad to have back their distinguished master, and though the East Indies were lost to the war, the fourth Papan was able to direct public interest in this respect towards Africa, where he maintained control in the Congo for a further fifteen years. This proved to be more than enough time to see the public drop their interest in empire and the loss of the east, so a strengthened Archduke withdrew national support for the merchant authorities and enjoyed watching them collapse before the resistance of mere Africans and the disdain of the peasantry at home.
More recently, an aged Archduke Basilius has harboured fellow old-world aristocrats as they plotted victory in what he sees as the real struggle: that between blue-blood aristocrats and devious-minded merchants, and the Tulgarian now considers his role in the establishment of a modern Holy League to be pivotal, though few can pretend that his nation remains a key player in the military and industrial campaigns of the alliance. In fact it is true that Basilius has done much to discourage many aspects of potential industrial growth, precisely because he fears Tulgary's powerful merchant traditions that, let us not forget, are the reason that he is the first Archduke instead of the fourth Czar.
Government
Founder of the Catholicon: Czar Miksa I (Pongrok Papan)
Second ruler of the Catholicon: Czar Miksa II (Mandek Papan)
Last leader of the Catholicon: Czar Rica (Emil Papan)
First Archduke of the Grand Duchy: Archduke Basilius (Felvarosh Papan)
Heir Apparent: Crown Prince Kiraly Papan
There are in the Chamber of Deputies around two-dozen seats, one for each province, acting as Tulgary's legislative body. Presently it is the Archduke who wields most real power, but the struggle between nobles and merchants is centuries old, and it would be perhaps naive to suggest that the latter are down and out. The Judiciary also owes its appointments directly to the Archuke.
The Archduke sits in the city of Luxembourg, calling the major part of the defences there Grestovar Fortress. The Chamber of Deputies also assembles there, and has secondary Chambers at Brussels, Amsterdam, and the Hague, each used for meetings once or twice a year.
National holidays include the Archduke's birthday and the Harvest Festival, along with other notable dates on the Catholic calendar.
One curiosity is in the nomenclature of the state and its ruler. The head of state is known locally as an Archduke, while the state is a Grand Duchy. This is true with all of Tulgary's offically-sanctioned languages, while some foreign languages/nations choose to call Basilius a Grand Duke, or his nation an Archduchy.
Internally, the Grand Duchy of Tulgary and Archduke Basilius are called most commonly in these forms: Groothertogdom Tulgary (Aartshertog Basilius); Grossherzogtum Tulgary (Erzherzog Basilius); and Grand-Duché du Tulgary (Archiduc Basilius). Crown Prince Kiraly is known as Prince Héritier, Kronprinz, and Kroonprins, amongst other forms.
People
The national religion is nominally Catholicism, but, in Tulgary, it has become distinguishable from the faith in other Catholic nations, largely because of the unusual and changing history of the nation. The Archduke is a Catholic, and is regarded by many of his like-minded subjects as the Pope's equal. A large minority several million strong maintains Protestant faith, and is traditionally over-represented in the more successful mercantile ranks.
Life expectancy and physical health in the Tulgarian population has always been good, with the Tulgarians being some of Europe's tallest people, but, since the industrial revolution, the improvements have been so minor as to see the Grand Duchy outstripped by its neighbours. The bulk of the populace remains committed to agriculture and primary industry and, despite seriously limited economic growth and sloth in embracing modern healthcare standards, Tulgary's visitors will find the average man consuming all the calories of a dangerously fat Briton, Greek, or Quinntonian, and burning them off with physical work that leaves him broad of shoulder and healthy of spirit.
In competitions centred around the harvest festivals, Tulgarian peasants are often -some say patronisingly- raced against foreign challengers in work-related contests: a favourite of the nobility is to wager heavily that an entire team of foreign sportsmen or soldiers can not reap [with hand tools] the corn of one half of a field before a lone Tulgarian has finished the other half. It is usual for the Tulgarian to finish before half a dozen challengers are half way through their task, and to do so without losing his breath. Such feats become less impressive next to the more advanced mechanisation of foreign farms.
Still, in more widely played professional sports, the Duchy tends to perform modestly at best on the international stage. Football is probably the exception, but attempts to meet the English on the cricket pitch have ended in ignomy, much as most attempts at rugby, and the nation rarely makes an impressive showing in athletics stadia.
Basic literacy is close to universal, but higher education is enjoyed by only a minority of the population.
Tulgary has a population of 27,344,941 people, known as Tulgarian(s). Six languages are spoken, with French being the most common, certainly in high-society, administration, and and commerce.
Economy
Agriculture is the largest employment sector, with industry an increasingly close second.
A number of grains, many vegetables, some fruits, and livestock -of which Tulgarians are especially proud- are the nation's agricultural produce. Beef, veal, and milk are major industries in the Grand Duchy, while the Archduke's famous stables have, over his long life, spawned a noteworthy industry in thoroughbred horses and fostered a gambling industry that has spread from betting on horses to other sports and games of chance. The gambling industry is aimed primarily at foreigners, Tulgarian citizens being required to establish National Gambling Accounts if they wish to legally partake in any serious way. How much they may pay into these accounts initially and again each year depends upon their earnings, and further infusions must be through winnings or else at the start of the new financial year and again tied to earnings. This is to prevent problem gamblers from destroying themselves and turning to criminal means of replenishing their lost gambling stakes.
Apart from agriculture, Tulgary regards manufacturing as its main economic purpose. Metal products; mostly light military weaponry and transportation equipment; and engineering products are constructed in the Grand Duchy; and Basilius now hopes to make his nation a European centre for assembly of other large manufactures from around the Holy League, such as transport equipment.
Tourism is significant, along with a small banking and financial sector, and food processing, beverages, and fishing comprise most of what remains in the economy.
Geography
Located in Western Europe, Tulgary lies between France and Germany, looking out on to the North Sea. This location has contributed to the nation's long and varied troubles, as Tulgary is exposed to any aggression from its two larger continental neighbours and the near-by British.
The Grand Duchy covers some 74,640sq.km, of which 66,747sq.km is land. The terrain is mostly lowland, including much reclaimed land, some of which lies below sealevel. Towards the south, however, are some hills in the east, with the rugged Ardennes Forest mountains in the southwest. At just 694 metres above sealevel, Signal de Botrange is Tulgary's highest point.
Natural resources, while not alone sufficient to compensate the Grand Duchy for its small size and precarious location, do include various useful construction materials, some natural gas and petroleum, iron ore in the south, silica sand, carbonates, salt, and peat, and, perhaps most importantly, a large quantity of arable land.