Mobius

Mobius, officially the Mobian Confederation, is a country in Western Europe. It is situated in the Bay of Biscay off the coasts of France to the east, Spain to the south, and with the Atlantic Ocean to the west. It covers an area of 65835 km2 and has a population of more than 21.1 million, making it the 28th most densely populated country in the world and the 7th most densely populated in Europe with a density of 312 /km2. The capital is Jesston with Mobotropolis (Mergiston) being the largest city; Other major cities include Larson and Hambug.

Pan-Mobian nationalism dates back to the Revolutions of 1848 with calls to unite the many Mobian nations under one flag. Beginning in the early 20th Century, the Mobian nations would form an economic union under a common currency, though nothing much would happen until the late 1960s. The overthrow of Albion by the psychotic technocratic Robotnikist regime would spark pan-Mobian nationalism once again, which would culminate in Knothole Accords in 1976 after the overthrow of the Robotnikist regime, finally uniting the Mobian nations under one flag.

After the establishment of the Mobian Confederation, the young nation was put under a quasi-authoritarian regime. The country would be placed under two years of left-wing miltary rule after the Lavender Revolution in 1994. Democracy would be restored in 1996 in time for the congressional election, resulting in the implementation of social democratic reforms under prime minister Geoffrey St. John from 1997 and beyond.

Mobius is a sovereign state and a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. The country is a member of the Francophonie and officially trilingual at the federal level. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, and education.

A developed country, Mobius has the highest nominal per-capita income globally as well as the highest ranking in the Human Development Index. Its advanced economy is the fifth-largest in the world. Mobius is part of several major international and intergovernmental institutions or groupings including the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the G8, the Group of Ten, and the G21.

Etymology
Mobius is the anglicized form of Möbius which derived from the name Bartholomäus which is the German form of Bartholomew (name) which is the English form of Βαρθολομαίος (Bartholomaios) which is the Greek form of an Aramaic name meaning "son of Talmai" with Talmai either deriving from tellum "furrow" or the Hebrew name for "Ptolemy" which means that the Aramaic name either means "son of furrows" (rich in soil) or "son of Ptolemy".

Prior to the 19th Century
Mobius was one of the last European landmasses settled by humans. Radiocarbon dating, evidence of deforestation and mitochondrial DNA variability within German Mobian populations suggest Mobius was first settled by Germanic tribes sometime during the 2nd Century, concluding migrations from what's now Germany through Western Europe before finally reaching the archipelago. Over the centuries, these settlers developed distinct Mobian cultures which would have influences from countries such as the Kingdom of Castille, the Kingdom of France, and the Kingdom of England. The various Mobian states were rather isolated throughout the centuries except for during the Hundred Years War in which the English occupied the largest island to use as a launchpad for an invasion of France. They would relinquish control once the war ended.

Napoleonic Wars
During the Napoleonic Wars, the Mobian archipelago went under direct French by Napoleon Bonaparte after the Battle of Biscay in 1802. The first sparks of pan-Mobian nationalism is said to have originated from the unified resistance against the French and the Germanic background of the many Mobian cultures. The archipelago would be liberated by the British in 1814, which then resulted in the restoration of the status quo in the archipelago with the many Mobian nations and the suppression of pan-Mobian nationalism.

Rise of Pan-Mobian Nationalism
The Revolutions of 1848 was a turbulent time for the archipelago with pan-Mobian nationalist uprisings occurring across the archipelago. One notable example was when the Kingdom of Alba was used as a launchpad for a unified liberal Mobian kingdom with the King of Alba being offered the crown. He refused, and the uprising fell apart shortly afterward, with the status quo being restored again. However, unlike what happened after the Napoleonic Wars, pan-Mobian nationalism remained strong, and would dictate Mobian history for the next 125 years and beyond.

Mobian Economic Union
The idea of an economic union in Mobius can be traced back to the mid-19th Century, but serious consideration within the Mobian states wouldn't happen until the early 20th Century with the Mobian Economic Union (MEU) finally becoming a thing in 1932 as a solution to alleviate the worst effects of the Great Depression. Immediate changes included the gold standard being abolished, and the Mobian Ring becoming the common currency for the archipelago, yet the old bulky rings remained as legal tender due to the insistence of various nationalist groups both moderate and radical.

World War II
The Mobian archipelago escaped the ravages of war due to the Mobian states adopting strict neutrality, though most fascist groups still openly advocated for the Mobian states to go to war on the side of the Axis with the Alexander III of Alba openly cooperating with fascists, making Alba the only Mobian nation to have been ruled by a fascist party. However, the fall of the Axis would lead to the fascists being expelled from power with Alexander III being pressured to abdicate in 1958, thus putting his son Crown Prince Maximillian on the throne.

Robotnik Era
A technocrat by the name of Ivo Robotnik overthrew the Kingdom of Albion in a coup in 1968. Robotnik's intentions were to takeover every nation one by one until all were beneath his rule.

Mobian Provisional Union & End of Robotnik
This sparked pan-Mobian nationalism again, rejuvenating an interest in uniting the Mobian nations under one flag which culminated in the Mobian Liberation Army in 1972, and the establishment of the Mobian Provisional Union in 1974. Originally, a unitary republic, the provisional government became a federal monarchy in 1975 after a referendum with Myles McCloud being chosen to become the first King of the Mobians in a vote held shortly afterward. The MLA would overthrow the Robotnik regime on 21 May 1976, thus uniting the Mobian nations under one flag.

First Confederation Era (1976-1994)
With the fall of the Robotnik Regime, the first task of the new nation was to ensure the security of the nation at all costs, with the constitution being partially-suspended in favour of a quasi-authoritarian regime with the government having much more control over the lives of the citizenry in order to keep perceived radicals from both the left and the right from ever being able to be politically-active, and even limited elections to three government-approved candidates, one from each of the democratic parties that have sworn to uphold democratic values. This also limited the ideologies to christian democrats, social conservatives, market liberals, classical liberals, and social liberals while social democrats were allowed limited participation due to their reformist stance that could potentially threaten national security.

During the 1980s, the Mobian economy experienced unprecedented economic growth, causing the standard of living to rise alongside the GDP and the fall of unemployment rates. This would put the quasi-authoritarian regime in a very good light for years to come. However, there was the Rorschach incident of 1988 which, due to the lack of government response, lead to the rise of calls for reform, which the government refused to answer to, fearing a far-left takeover could follow. Once it became clear that the government wouldn't implement reforms at all, talks within the left-wing elements of the Royal Mobian Army began about launching a coup to forcefully implement reforms to bring in a true multi-party democracy.

Lavender Revolution (1994-1997)
The Mobian government resisted initial attempts for reforms until May 1994, when a bloodless left-wing military coup, known as the Lavender Revolution, led to the implementation of a true multi-party democracy after two years of a transitional period known as MRP (Mobian Revolutionary Process). This period was characterized by social turmoil and power disputes between left- and right-wing political forces.

Mobius continued to be governed by a National Reconstruction Council until the Mobian congressional election of 1996. It was won by the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and Geoffrey St. John, its leader, became Prime Minister of the 6th Session of the Jesston State Hall on 20 January 1997. Geoffrey St. John would remain Prime Minister ever since.

Second Mobian Confederation (1997-present)
The over two-decades rule of the PDP began with the inauguration of Geoffrey St. John on 20 January 1997, starting the Second Confederation era. This era has been marked by the transition towards the Nordic model as well as the creation of the Jesston District, and creating some new states to reflect differing demographics and geographical areas, thus reallocating the seats in the House of Congress and the House of Peers. Another aspect is the rise of Euroscepticism, which lead to the fall of the Mobian Liberal Democrats (MLD) as a major party with most members and voters moving to either the PDP or the Mobian Justice Party (MJP).

The worldwide coronavirus pandemic has lead to the St. John government declaring a national lockdown on March 2020 as a pre-emptive measure to limit the possibility of the virus spreading into the country. This move was widely approved by public opinion in spite of the restoration of powers never seen since the days of the First Confederation era. Mobius has the least amount of cases and deaths in the pandemic.