History of Vegno
The history of Vegno covers a fairly large period, conventionally divided in two by Vegnese historians: before and after the declaration of independence of the Vegno constituent assembly and the consequent formation of the Republic of Vegno.
The territories currently belonging to the Republic of Vegno, are located in the north-east area of Apollonia and have seen, in the course of the history of Micras, a succession of very heterogeneous domains over time, with even large periods of small independent settlements without a government central.
The city that most of all, throughout history, has played a fundamental role in the territory is certainly the city of Port of Sails (Vegnian: "Porto di Vele"), which for years represented a key port of the Kingdom of Toketi, one of the most important kingdoms in the panorama of Apollonia, except then falling into disrepair with the fall of the same, and only recently being re-evaluated in the Vegnese landscape thanks to its history.
History before the Vegnese Republic
The first domains
From 1477 AN until about 1527 AN, the data found by the Vegnese historians are too few and lacking to be able to establish a truly sure storyline of the dominions over the Vegnese territories.
What is currently assumed is that in these early years a series of independent kingdoms and republics followed one another, headed above all by the Crandan Republic, later annexed to the Duchy of Arminy.
The Crandan Republic is thought to have been able to unify the territories north of Apollonia with the present Vegnean territories in the northeast, resulting in a major territorial expansion on the continent.
Later the Crandan Republic was annexed into the duchy of Arminy, which was actually a confederation created as a result of a merger between several Germanic-themed nations, including Cranda, Northworthy, Hurmu and Slobovia. After the country collapsed, probably in the early 1500s, its lands were gifted to several nations, including Lac Glacei, Stormark, Shireroth, Gotzborg, the Grand Commonwealth, Alexandria and the Anglo-Saxon Commonwealth. Much of these land claims were abandoned by their respective heirs soon after succession, and the Vegnese territories were merged into the High Realm of Stormark until the 1520s.
Under Stormark's reign, some cities in the northeast grew and developed as never before, forming part of a large kingdom that also included territories on the Keltian continent. In particular, the city of Port of Sails began, precisely in these years, its development which will then lead it to be one of the most important in the panorama; in fact, thanks to its strategic position, together with the Keltian Datret, it was a fundamental stop in the maritime routes through the Strait of Pearls.
However, the domain of the Stormark ceased around 1530, when they were abandoned by the rulers, to instead see the subsequent birth of perhaps the most important domain in the history of the Vegnese territories: the Kingdom of Toketi.
From the Toketi conquest to the Gralan Empire
The domain that has undoubtedly represented the most important piece of history is that of the Kingdom of Toketi, which settled in these areas around the years 1530-1534 AN, making it officially one of the most important on the continent.
Some Tokish artifacts found by Vegnese historians affirm the foundation of the city in 1537 AN by the Kingdom of Toketi and its King Liam conToketi I; other previous finds, however, already demonstrate its existence under the rule of Stormark, failing to date the actual birth of the city so precisely. However, the fact is certain that under the Toketi dominion the city experienced one of its moments of maximum splendour, also acquiring a notable religious importance given by the construction in 1545 AN of the Temple of Reynardine.
Later in 1544 AN, the kingdom of Toketi united with Novatainia and Relaram, to form the Confederacy of Gralus, which later became, in 1551 AN, officially the Gralan Empire, one of the largest and most important nations on Micras.
Under the Gralan Empire, the territories that would later become Vegnese territory would know their period of maximum importance. The empire continued to exert its influence on these territories for a very long time, however still belonging, both culturally and politically, to the province of Toketi.
However, the fall of the Gralan Empire occurred in 1615 AN, and after more than 70 years of rule first as a confederation and then as an Empire, the Tokish territories became independent again and again under the Tokish Kingdom, which then resumed its independence and full control over these areas.
The final fall of the Tokish influence and the Republic of Freeland
However, the new independence of the Kingdom of Toketi was not long-lasting because, in 1627 AN, the kingdom underwent the last sharp political shock, which led to the definitive fall of the sovereign, without the establishment of a new government. The territories, currently Vegnese, in the north-east of Apollonia were thus left to themselves, where each city individually organized its own way of living and self-governing.
However, Port of Sails was re-conquered by the High Realm of Stormark, which had already held this area between 1500 and 1520 AN, returning to govern this city until its definitive fall. The areas to the north were not reconquered by the kingdom, only to be subsequently occupied by the Republic of Freeland in 1654 AN.
It placed its capital in Viten (later "Sancrus"), on the island of Falange, and gave birth to what are still today the largest Vegnese cities: especially Glavat (now "Mhazar") and Klomina ( now "Agropl"). The Polish influence still remains today in some areas of the Vegnese territory, however confined above all to the island of Falange, where the capital Viten was located, and to that of Falangetta, where the city of Extremum is located today.
During 1685 and 1687 AN however both respectively the High Realm of Stormark, leaving the once prosperous and important city of Port of Sails semi-abandoned, and also the Republic of Freeland fell. The territories of Vegno were then abandoned to individual settlements by any central government for a good 19 years when, in 1706 AN, the declaration of independence of the Republic of Vegno was officially made.
Wars of Independence
Background
Soon after the collapse of the Republic of Freeland in 1687 AN, ideologies of a possible re-unification of the country by individual city initiatives began to spread across the territory. The feeling of feeling part of the same country was common to all the inhabitants, having always been united under a single flag throughout their history. However, what was changing during the last years of the 1600s was the desire to take over the dominion and the upper hand by the individual communities in the respective settlements that had arisen following the fall of the central government.
The cities that had organized themselves better autonomously with their own mini-government were certainly those that had already had their relevance in the past: the former capital Viten, Glavat and the smaller Klomina. A minority of Gaian origins (the future Vegnesi), however, had quickly organized themselves well in a settlement on the sea, not far from Glavat: Cossa. This gaian minority, however, soon began to attract the attention of many ex-polishes from nearby cities, who asked for many years to be able to move and settle there, due to the considerable growth of the city in a short time. The remarkable growth of Cossa in the last years of the 1600s had been made possible by a very stable restricted council, made up of 7 members, and by a population that had always been in the minority eager for revenge and independence from the old, now decayed government. Especially the maritime activity and the considerable arrivals of population from nearby cities made the city of Cossa, in a short time, the most populous and important city in the area.
With the growth of the population, the desire for a new unification of the country also grew in the city, at the dawn of the 1700s, this time under the leadership of the old Gaian minority, by now autonomously defined as Vegnese, a term deriving from the ancient stories of Gaian settlers who founded a kingdom on these shores (cf. Etymology)
At the beginning of 1700 AN the economic resources of Cossa were thus diverted to the constitution of an important army, with the aim of unifying the country under the same vegnese flag.
First War of Independence
The three-year period 1700-1703 AN was decisive for the unification of Vegno. In the first months of 1700 An the 7 members of the council of Cossa entered into an alliance with the government of Glavat, the second largest city in the continental area of the country, thanks to which both now had the largest military force and population in the territory . However, the stipulated agreements, from subsequent testimonies and finds, are said to have been in reality a real blackmail by the city of Cossa, with the governor of Glavat forced to accept what in reality was a real surrender in order not to create damage to its citizens and thus guarantee them an important weight in the subsequent unitary state. In fact, through these agreements the governor of Glavat undertook to give unconditional support to Cossa and the 7 members of the council, to change the name of the city to the Vegnian "Mhazar" and to renounce any claim to power over the subsequent state.
Thus began the first Vegnese war of independence, also called Operation Cormorant or Securing of the Nation by the Vegnese government, where the cities of Cossa and Mhazar waged war on the cities of the continent to unify and annex them to a single central state.The minor settlements gave in without a fight and many of them were even happy to declare themselves again a truly independent state; in most cases, in fact, this first war of independence was nothing more than a peaceful occupation of the territory and small settlements in the nation.
The only real battles were actually only two: the battle of South Coast and the one of Klomina. In fact, these only two cities tried to offer a poor resistance to the Vegnese troops advancing on the territory, without however succeeding and declaring their surrender after 3 days for Klomina and after 4 for the newborn Murgione.
The first Vegnese war of independence thus saw its end in 1703 AN, with the conquest, both peaceful and not, by the troops of Cossa and Mhazar of the continental territories of the ex-republic of Freeland.
Second War of Independence
The second war of independence takes place in the course of the year 1704 AN, very close to the end of the first one, so much so that many Vegnese historians tend to define it as a single war of independence, although officially they are still defined as distinct one on the other.
The forces at play by the governments of the continental cities of Vegno are in fact always the same leftovers from the first war and this time the objective was to conquer and secure the city of Viten, on the island of Falange.
The former capital of the Republic of Freeland was clearly the most powerful and populous city of the former republic but, thanks to the fact of being located on an island compared to the other continental territories or also due to wrong decisions, it had remained totally foreign in the first war of independence and had absolutely no interest either in participating in it, or in presenting itself as a real alternative to the Vegnese conquest. This failure to intervene is, for many historians and experts, the real misstep of the city of Viten during the Vegnese independence, since, if it had intervened from the beginning, many believe that it alone would have had the strength to reunify the whole country under the old Polish majority.
The real beginning of the war came with the landing of the Vegnese troops on the island of Falange and the assault on the former capital, totally unexpected by the local leaders. This mistake on the part of the local governors, of considering themselves outsiders and totally ignoring what was happening on the continent, was their condemnation: the city was in fact completely conquered in just two days, with a single strong resistance near the former palace government of the Republic of Freeland.
The conquest of the city was carried out as peacefully as possible, with the few firefights limited to the Polish guard militias present at the entrances; the only strong act of the vegnese army was the total destruction of the government building of the capital, which was razed to the ground by the army, as a signal of the definitive fall of what little remained of the previous republic of Freeland.
With the subsequent landing and the peaceful occupation of the islands of Falangina and Falangetta, the second war of independence ended at the end of 1704 AN, which now saw the definitively decided territory of Vegno re-unified under the flag of the Cormorant.
The First Republic (1706 AN-1716 AN)
The declaration of independence and the Constitution
After the end of the wars of independence, the declaration of independence of the Republic of Vegno was finally drawn up on an official and international level.
The capital of the new state obviously became Cossa there the 7 members of the Council of Cossa, now officially the 7 founding fathers of the republic, formed the first provisional government, with the constitution of the first Constituent Assembly, which officially had the task of drafting the first "Costituzione del Vegno" (Constitution of Vegno).
The Constitution of the Republic of Vegno was officially promulgated in late 1705 AN and it is the fundamental law of the State, which occupies the top of the hierarchy of sources in the legal system of the Republic: it is composed of 12 articles written and published by the Seven Founding Fathers of the Constituent Assembly of Vegno. The seven members of the constituent assembly were, at the time, the most important offices of the Republic of Vegno, pending the appointment of an official President and a Prime Minister; these members were: Shalva Mancuso, Mickey Lange Levati, Antonio Visciglia, Luca Zarrella, Marco Unno, Haldi Rinaldi and Peppe Freeda.
On the basis of the constitution, the formation of a semi-presidential republic with direct election of the people was established and the first elections were already scheduled for the following year, 1706 AN.
First elections and the National Unity Government
The first political elections of the vegno republic were held in 1706 AN and saw the division of the 7 founding fathers of the constitution into 4 parties with different political ideologies, 4 of them applying for the role of first President of the Republic. Luca Zarrella founded his party Forza Vegno, with a centre-right ideology, while more extremists were Mickey Lange Levati and Marco M. Unno, who founded the Vegnese nationalist party, with far more right-wing and nationalist extremist ideologies. Antonio Visciglia and Haldi Rinaldi reunited in the Partito Democratico Costituzionale, instead espousing a more moderate ideology of the center, shifted slightly to the left, while the last member of the constituent assembly, Peppe Freeda, based his political ideas on environmentalism, animalism and feminism.
However, the results of the first parliamentary elections gave a rather fragmented image of the country, with no party capable of governing independently, while Antonio Visciglia was elected as the first President of the Republic, in a run-off with Mickey Lange Levati. Visciglia, markedly moderate in line, tried to involve all members of parliament in a large government of national unity, which would give a strong image of stability after the declaration of independence. Visciglia's proposal was well received by all parliamentarians and party leaders, albeit with some disagreements with the more ideologically distant Partito Nazionalista Vegnese.
Thus the first vegnese government was formed, with Luca Zarrella, leader of the second most voted party, who was appointed by the President as Prime Minister , forming the Zarrella I Cabinet.
The great stability of the first government of national unity allowed Vegno to pass a whole series of laws in great autonomy and security, considerably increasing the economic strength of the country in the first years and at the same time developing remarkable international relations with other nations.
In fact, the first maneuvers on which the first government concentrated were establishing relations and treaties with the nearby nations of Lac Glacei and Angsax (which would later merge into Lac Glacei itself) and ratifying the entry of Vegno within the Micras Treaty Organization. Also important were the measures in the energy sector, where they saw the adoption of nuclear power, with the construction of the first nuclear reactor and the allocation of funds for the construction of the largest suspension bridge in the nation: the Strait of Vegno Bridge.
1707 internal lands Annexation Referedum
Another very important event during the first vegnese legislature is certainly the annexation of the territories between Vegno and Lac Glacei. Initially during the declaration of independence these territories were left out of the vegnese claim as buffer states with the large neighbors of Lac Glacei and Angsax, not being yet the internationally recognized Vegnese republic. The situation changed after the treaties with these latter neighboring states: a mutual relationship of recognition and friendship was guaranteed thanks to these agreements and the internal territories thus had the possibility of requesting the Vegnese government to become part of the republic.
The formal decision was taken in 1707 AN, when the government's motion to carry out a referendum within the major settlements between Vegno and the states of Lac Glacei and Angsax was voted unanimously within the Assemblea Nazionale.
The referendum was officially held in mid-1707 and, when asked whether it wanted to become part of the Vegno republic, the YES obtained 78% of the votes, with a victory by an important margin. Local reactions to the proclamation of the result were important, with notable marches in the largest cities just annexed to the republic; however, there was no shortage of small protest movements, clearly coming from the minority of the population, which nevertheless created many inconveniences to the voting operations and led to subsequent clashes with the Vegnese police, who intervened to enforce public order.
The large result of the referendum, together with demographic and economic growth in the country, further increased popular trust in the current political class which, among the last measures of the first legislature, approved, thanks to an absolute majority in parliament exceeding 2/3 of the total, a change of constitution. The number of parliaments was, in fact, increased from 100 to 150, with the motivation of a wider popular base given by the annexation referendum, thus giving, according to the government, greater representation to the popular will now increased in number.
The "Moderates" Era
At the end of the first legislature, the political panorama of the vegnese Republic was quite fragmented: in the first elections, the popular will was heterogeneously distributed among the various parties, which had agreed on a government of national unity. However, at the dawn of the new elections of 1709, this scenario appeared quite improbable for the second legislature; the tensions between the moderate forces and the Partito Nazionalista Vegnese had gradually increased during the first government, reaching a peak during the electoral campaign for the new elections. The outgoing president Visciglia had in fact abruptly vetoed the latest bills of the PNV, creating discontent among the 30 "black" parliamentarians (cf. party color), in particular with their spokesman Marco Unno.
Furthermore, for the first time, the Partito Indipendentista Vegnese, born of a few dissidents from the annexation referendum, and the Partito Comunista, Vegno's first real far-left party, also presented themselves in these elections.
The parliamentary composition that emerged from these elections was, once again, quite fragmented with the need on the part of Luca Zarrella, elected President of the Republic for the first time, and his Forza Vegno party, the first force in the country, to look for allies for the formation of the second government. The consultations started immediately after the inauguration of the new parliamentarians and essentially two frameworks were envisaged: a possible right-wing alliance by Forza Vegno with the extremists of the PNV, which however was hardly feasible given that the numbers would not have allowed him to have the majority , or seek an agreement with the moderate forces of Shalva Mancuso and his Partito Popolare Vegnese, the country's second force, and with the outgoing president Visciglia. The agreement between Zarrella, Mancuso and Visciglia saw the light a few days after the start of the consultations, with the officialization of the new government, with Mancuso Prime Minister, who took the canonical oath the following week.
The Mancuso I Cabinet was therefore a government of broad understanding with all the moderate forces of the country, effectively excluding the extremists of the PNV and the Partito Comunista.
The most important event was certainly the vote on the second change of constitution in republican history, where the parliament, with an absolute majority and therefore also involving the PNV and the Partito Comunista, approved the extension of the legislatures from 3 to 5 years, to guarantee greater political solidity for the country and give greater room for maneuver to the individual governments in office.
With the end of the second legislature, political and government relations did not change for the elections of 1714, where the outgoing parties in government of Forza Vegno and the Partito Popolare Vegnese presented themselves jointly in alliance, while on the opposite side the PNV had made an agreement with I Verdi. the ex-president Visciglia, who was instead defeated in the previous elections, and with a clear decrease in consensus, decided to ally himself with the Partito Comunista in the centre-left alliance; this agreement saw the end shortly after the electoral results when Zarrella and Forza Vegno emerged victorious from the elections, with the Partito Democratico Costituzionale losing thousands of votes against the allies of the Partito Comunista. Shalva Mancuso's Partito Popolare Vegnese was still second strength, even after two years it will be discovered that these results were falsified to the detriment of a PNV which was instead in clear growth in consensus in the country.
The government that took office again following these elections again counted on the same majority as the previous one, albeit with a lower parliamentary base, but still sufficient to guarantee it a majority. Mancuso was appointed Prime Minister again in what would later be the last government of the so-called "Era of the Moderates", with the end of which, Vegnese historians canonically sanction the end of the "First Republic".
The Second Republic (1716 AN-present)
Vegno Political Scandal
From the regional elections of 1715, a strong doubt arose within public opinion as to how the forces of the moderate majority had managed to gain control of the country, despite the fact that the polls showed them in sharp decline, and above all after the regional elections of 1715 where the PNV obtained a resounding victory and the center parties were limited only to the government of a few regions.
The turning point came in the last months of 1715 AN when, according to testimonies that were not clearly fully confirmed, a tip arrived within the PNV, which said that the previous national elections had actually been distorted by electoral fraud. This rumor was immediately spread very quickly by the members of the PNV and reached the most important newspapers and television, bringing a great media hype about the government currently in office.
The responses from the majority parties were obviously totally extraneous to the matter and the major political leaders chose the path of ignoring the rumors and continuing their work regardless of these protests.
However, the great indifference of the government in office did not give a good impression to all Vegnese public opinion, which indeed saw this indifference to these accusations as a possible admission of guilt. However, after two months of media chaos, and under great pressure from the extremist PNV, the Cossa court began an official investigation, which saw as the main suspects, in addition to numerous MPs from FV, PPV and PDC, also the names of illustrious Luca Zarrella, Antonio Visciglia andShalva Mancuso
However, the latter, being in office as high offices of the state, enjoyed parliamentary immunity and therefore could not be officially investigated by justice, unless first approved by the parliament itself. The parliamentary debate took place 15 days after the official start of the investigation by judge Carmine Buonsante, and saw Marco M. Unno as the protagonist above all, who strongly accused the government and ordered him to resign immediately. The main response of the majority forces came from Prime Minister Shalva Mancuso, who importantly rejected the allegations of the PNV and that at this moment the government's priority was to work together and not give weight to these rumors without any substantiated evidence.
The ensuing vote denied the authorization to proceed against Luca Zarrella, Shalva Mancuso and Antonio Visciglia, leading to a resounding and historic protest by the opposition forces, above all of the PNV type. While the President of the Assembly was reading the results of the votes, contrary to the authorisation, the deputies of the PNV insulted their colleagues by calling them "thieves" and "cheaters". Public opinion believed that the rescue of the suspects was due exclusively to the votes of the majority of parliamentarians, in particular of Forza Vegno and the PPV, which had many representatives under investigation. In reality, the vote was held by secret ballot and the counts showed that the "no" line was broader, to the point of suspecting that some opposition deputies had also voted in favor of the President and the Prime Minister. This would have happened in order to then cry foul and obtain early elections, according to a technique of using the secret ballot called "the horse move".
The lack of authorization triggered a very violent reaction in parliament. The next day students from Cossa's high schools demonstrated in the streets of the capital: some universities were occupied, in many cities the headquarters of the parties were attacked by demonstrators. In the afternoon the opposition parties (PNV, I Verdi and Vegno Vivo) called a demonstration in front of Dilemma Palace, where they demanded the dissolution of parliament.
The definitive collapse occurred the following month when the whole parliamentary group of the PNV together with Peppe Freeda's I Verdi resigned as deputies and refused to return to parliament until an official sentence was issued by the court of what was being dealt with of the case. Therefore, only the majority forces remained in parliament together with the members of Vegno Vivo, who would join the opposition only the following month.
In VIII.1716, after the resignation of the parliamentarians of Vegno Vivo as well, the President of the Republic Zarrella was forced to proceed with the dissolution of Parliament; of the 150 members initially foreseen by the constitution, only 81 belonging to the majority had remained and the resonance, the media pressure and the protests of parliamentarians and citizens had become so great as to prevent the continuation of the legislature of the government.
In doing so, the parliamentary immunities guaranteed to the members of the investigated parties were lost and the Court of Cossa was officially able to proceed with the investigations against the deputies. Following the resignation and the loss of parliamentary immunity, the investigations against the three political leaders were continued and following the fundamental testimony of Giovanni Conso, a member of the Partito Popolare Vegnese and very close to Shalva Mancuso, the truth emerged. Shalva Mancuso, former prime minister, admitted his guilt and was convicted, as well as banned from any political office, and his former allies Zarrella and Visciglia, despite being declared innocent, lost a great deal of esteem and credibility on the part of the voters.
The rise of the right-wing
Following the electoral scandal of 1716 AN, as already widely predicted by the media, the historical moderate parties lost a lot of support in the elections of late 1716 and for the first time in history we saw a landslide victory of the far-right party PNV which took power of the government jointly with the PF. Mickey Lange Levati was elected as President of the Republic, while Marco M. Unno was appointed as Prime Minister, forming for the first time in the history of Vegno a totally right-wing extremist government. The result of the elections was overwhelming: the Partito Nazionalista Vegnese obtained 46% of the total votes, becoming largely the first party in the country and also conquered all 12 possible majority seats in the 12 regions (as also done by the Communists). The result of the elections clearly reflects a government majority formed by the PNV with as many as 72 seats, in addition to which the more moderate I Verdi joined the government, guaranteeing a majority, albeit narrow in terms of numbers, but certainly very united ideologically, in stark contrast with the historic moderate center parties.
The right-wing government that has taken power promotes a series of policies aimed at restoring order and stability in the country after the electoral scandal that has shaken public opinion. The PNV leader Mickey Lange Levati introduced reforms to ensure the integrity of the electoral system and the transparency of the elections. There will be stricter rules for the funding of political parties, the protection of voter privacy, and the use of advanced technologies to monitor electoral operations. Secondly, the government has adopted policies aimed at strengthening the country's economy and this includes reducing corporate taxes, attracting foreign investment, simplifying bureaucracy and implementing policies to encourage SME growth; it is also focused on national security, strengthening law enforcement, increasing border controls and adopting a restrictive policy on illegal immigration and increasing investment in advanced technologies for surveillance and crime prevention. Also the more military-intention of the new right-government has worried a lot the opposition parties, whose importance in the political framework has decreased a lot.
Vegnese Colonialism on Keltia
With the establishment of the new far-right government, the priorities of the new political class shifted more towards the military sphere and the desire for territorial and economic expansion of the country. With a greater allocation of resources destined for the military sphere, the Vegnese state budget suffered a considerable jolt, with numerous debates that wanted a greater focus by the government on investments rather than on military reinforcement. However, the Partito Nazionalista Vegnese plan was to use this military force, which had been increased both in number, through new hires by expanding the compulsory military service already present, and in technologies, for an expansion of the Vegnesi territories. For obvious reasons, this could not have happened in the territory of Apollonia where an expansion of Vegno would practically have coincided with an open war with the neighbors of Lac Glacei, with whom Vegno was historically, since the beginning of the Republic, on good terms, and such they wanted also be maintained by the new government.
The best solution launched by the "black" government and in particular by the President of the Republic Mickey Lange Levati, was that of an expedition across the Northern Sea, to create a real Vegnese colony on the Keltian continent. The government plan envisaged the use of both air forces of the air force and the navy, which would have transported the infantry units that would have landed on the territories between the Territories of Anubis, under the control of The Hexarchy, and Normark.
In the wildest of expectations, the Vegnese occupation had to be yes, militarized, but technically peaceful, with the intention of the government to preserve as many citizens as possible, without useless bloodshed.
The mission, named as Flying Cormorant, in memory of the first and only military operation of the nation (Operation Cormorant), during Vegnese independence, was officially implemented in XII.1718 AN, when the first Vegnese Navy ships departed from the ports of Cossa and Sancrus across the Northern Sea, followed in the following days by the first aircraft of the Vegnese Air Force in support. The expedition envisaged the use of 10,000 infantry men, 10 landing ships and 15 support aircrafts.
The military occupation of the Keltian territory ended in III.1719 AN with the conquest of a large slice of the continent on the coasts of the Northern Sea. The border was established by the Vegnese armed forces without having contact with neighbors on Keltia, leaving voluntarily demilitarized territory before foreign borders. The mission was a great success for the Vegnese Armed Forces, who occupied the territory for the most part peacefully, even if there were some events of armed resistance by the local population, initially hidden by the Vegnese government, only to then come to light from numerous testimonies subsequent to the formal annexation of the territories.
Famous was the announcement at the end of III.1719 AN in the parliament of the President of the Republic Mickey Lange Levati on live television on unified networks, together with his right-hand man and Prime Minister of Vegno Marco Unno: "History has been made: the first Vegno colony is now a reality. I owe a thank you to our armed forces, my faithful colleagues and all the people of Vegno! and a welcome to our new fellow citizens, to whom I promise stability, protection and prosperity for the future!"
After the end of the operations, the government ordered the return of most of the troops, leaving however a substantial part to garrison the new territories, pending new specific laws passed specifically to guarantee public order on Keltian Vegno and for other provisions administrative. The majority of the Vegnese population was enthusiastic about the annexation of these territories of the other continent, although a small part, above all of pacifist and communist ideology, strongly opposed the operation, reaffirming the self-determination rights of the local populations and resulting in numerous but little obvious protests. The reaction of the populations of Keltia was also mostly positive, happy to be able to join a larger nation and not only in small organized groups and for the new opportunities they could have under a developed central state, although even here there was no lack of opposition from isolated independence movements.
The Instability of the 1720s and the Historic Compromise
After five years under far-right governance, during which nationalist and expansionist sentiments dominated Vegnese ideology, the people who opposed this political direction began to unite. This anti-nationalist sentiment, countering the far-right ideology of the PNV, led to the formation of the Unione Democratica, founded by Antonio Visciglia, an experienced and multiple-term President of the Republic. Antonio Visciglia succeeded in rallying together all the political groups opposing the government of Mickey Lange Levatiand Unno, ultimately leading them to victory in the 1721 Vegno Elections.
Antonio Visciglia, elected as President of the Republic, could not secure the confidence of the PNV-majority parliament. Consequently, he chose to form a technical government composed of independents and professionals, led by Angelo Greco, a renowned lawyer from Taurasi who now became Prime Minister. The stated objective was electoral reform, which was approved just months after the new government took office, though it remained in place until 1726 AN.
This period of political instability and a technical government unable to pursue ideological policies allowed the right-wing opposition to regain support, consolidating behind the injustice of being the most-voted party yet unable to govern. The 1726 Vegno Elections marked a turning point in recent Vegnese history. Antonio Visciglia was re-elected as President of the Republic, drawing all the votes in the second round, while the PNV once again emerged as the most-voted party. To avoid another technical government or returning to the polls, Mickey Lange Levati and Antonio Visciglia reached an agreement later known as the "Historic Compromise" between the PDC and the PNV. These two ideologically opposed parties formed a coalition government led by Marco M. Unno.
However, support for the two major parties quickly plummeted in the months following the elections, and the government they formed marked a negative turning point in Vegnese history. Persistent internal disputes made the "Historic Compromise" one of the worst political moves since the nation's founding, with both the PDC and the PNV reaching historic lows in popularity on the eve of the subsequent elections.
