HOME | DD

Description
Official name: The Greater Gothic Empire (Größgotisches Kaiserreich)

Colloquial names: The Fatherland/Empire (used only in Europan circles), Gothia, the Gothic Empire, the GGE

National motto: Unteilbar und untrennbar (Indivisible and Inseparable)

National anthem: Lied vom Vaterland (Song of the Fatherland)

Anglish translation of the first and most well-known verse

Be blessed without end,

Wonderful homeland!

Friendly adorning thy lands are,

Green firs and golden spires!

Gothic labour, earnest and honest,

Gothic love, gentle and kind,

l: Fatherland, how marvelous thou art!

Long live our Empire! :l

Capital(s):

- Kronstadt - Executive capital; seat of HI&RM Andreas Herbert von Karling-Rosenberg

- Nuremberg and Karolingerstadt - Legislative capitals; Nuremberg is the seat of the Imperial Diet, Karolingerstadt is the seat of the States' Council

- Vien - Judicial capital; seat of the Superior Courts

Largest city: Kronstadt - 3.71 million

Languages:

- Gothic - The official language of the GGE. Also the largest, clocking in at 59% of the population recognizing it as their first language, undoubtedly even more knowing it as a second language. Gothicization programs across the country and its colonies have only increased these numbers. With Gothia’s prominence on the world stage as the premier economic power, Gothic has become something of a common language in the world, with people from Kina to Kuba beginning to learn Die Zunge des Volkes.

- Russish - The Russish language is very much a reflection of the people who speak it: no matter what, it will always survive whatever the world throws at it, somehow mostly unscathed. Case in point: the takeover by the Goths. Attempts at Gothicizing the local populace have proven ineffective (as it turns out, one does not simply covert almost 90 million people to a different language and lifestyle) and unpopular (almost tearing down St. Ivan’s Cathedral really did a number on the PR department). Regardless, the Drang nach Osten from millenia past already flooded Russland with plenty of Gothic speakers.

As of now, the Fatherland has finally given up: Reichsmark Moskowien has officially recognized Russish as an official language, and the Imperial Parliament is in the middle of cancelling all Gothicization programs in Russland.

- Anglish - Spoken mostly in the west, especially in Hanover and The Rhine; rather unsurprising, really, considering the two states’ historically close cultural ties to Brittania. The Weltkrieg dealt a serious blow to Anglish’s presence in Gothia, but the fires of war have long been extinguished, and the rising industrial nations in Columbia would very much appreciate it if any trade deals concerning them were discussed in their native tongue. As such, Anglish has, rather shyly, expanded once more past the westernmost regions of Gothia, with many business schools offering Anglish classes.

- Darcsen - As a testament to their former ties to the Russish people in ancient times, the Darcsen language is phonetically identical to Russish. Scripturally, Darcsen is written in the Latin alphabet, widely considered by historians as the result of Darcsenia distancing itself from Russland to reemerge on the western half of the continent, starting with a common alphabet. Darcsen is mostly spoken in the regions bordering Darcsenia.

- Burgundian - Burgundian has had a pretty rough go for the past half-century: the Weltkrieg saw anti-Burgundian sentiment reach such a peak that Brandenburg temporarily outlawed it, not to mention the fate that befell the language’s homeland. Burgundian has only just begun to step back into Gothic society. Even so, not even a global war can extinguish the age-old rivalry between the two peoples claiming the Carolingian legacy; expect some dirty looks from those around you if you’re looking to speak “The Pretenders’ Language”.

Religions: Gothia is officially a secular state. The largest religions within its borders are:

- Christianity - Christianity remains, just barely, the dominant religion of Gothia. As of now, the followers of Christ are split into three camps: the Catholics, centered in Bairn and Austria, the Protestants, centered in western Brandenburg and Hansa, and the Eastern Orthodox, found in Russland and Siberia. There exists, since time immemorial, a deep tension between Christians and Pagans, which often escalated into mass lynchings and regional conflicts; after the socio-cultural upheavals of the Revolutions of 1850 and the Weltkrieg, these tensions have since been reduced to glares and arguments.

- Gothic Paganism - Despite the efforts of various crusades and armies of missionaries, the people living in the eastern reaches of the Fatherland, especially eastern Brandenburg, still cling to the gods their distant ancestors worshipped eons ago. Almost all Pagans now subscribe to the “Gothic Union of Pagans”, a fairly recent movement that unites the various sects scattered throughout Gothia into a single doctrine. The Gothic Pagans are notable for being the last remaining polytheistic major religion in Europa.

- Novayavera - The native faith of the Darcsen people. "New Faith" enjoys a minor following in Halyncha and the Krasinski Basin, areas bordering Darcsenia. Gothic authorities and settlers have adopted a live-and-let-live policy, reciprocated by the rather insular minority.

- Siberian Shamanism - Back in the days of the old Tsardom, the religions of the Siberian natives suffered pogrom after pogrom by mob and army alike, reducing their followers to the low thousands. Come the takeover by the Goths, however, and the government, whether it be out of a sense of sympathy from their fellow non-Christian pagans or simply because the remaining followers are far too few to justify sinking time and money into exterminating or converting, decided to leave them alone.

- Islam - Found only in Reichsmark Turkestan. Like the Marches in Siberia, the Goths aren’t even considering incorporating the region into their Empire. Indeed, they’re only here to extract as much oil from the ground as possible and ditch Turkestan to its own devices after the last few wells dry up. As such, local authorities don’t so much tolerate Islam so much as they just don’t care; as long as the oil keeps flowing and the pipelines remain intact, the natives can worship damn well any god they please.

Government:

- In peacetime - Federal dominant-party semi-constitutional monarchy
Legislature - Imperial Parliament
States' Council (upper house)
Imperial Diet (lower house)
- In wartime, only by imperial decree - Unitary totalitarian military junta

Population by January of 1941:

- 198,240,000 (excluding colonies)

- 220,800,000 (including colonies)

Economy by January 1941: NOTE: All figures are adjusted to current values as of 2003 and don't include colonies.

- Currency - The Imperial Reichsthaler (RTA)

- GDP (PPP) - $4.1 trillion

- GDP per capita (PPP) - $20,682

History:

- 170 B.C. - (estimated) First contact between Latins and Goths

- 64 B.C. - First evidence of tribal confederations

- 14 - First Gothic kingdoms founded along the Rhine, Elbe and Danube rivers

- 119 - The Drang nach Osten begins

- 710 - Charlemagne is crowned Holy Roman Emperor

- 744 - Charlemagne dies; end of the Carolingian Empire
746 - Eastern Carolina is founded by Otto the Wise
- 751 to 758 - The Carolingian Wars

- 1529 to 1582 - The Great Awakening

- 1850 - The Revolutions of 1850

- 1873 to 1919 - The World War (known in Gothia as Der Weltkrieg)
October 7th, 1902 - Treaty on Unification of the Gothic states

Artist's Notes:
The main country of the AU. It originally started off as a thought experiment: What if the Imperials were the good guys, and how would they be the good guys? It snowballed from there.
Gothia’s more or less a weird mix between an anti-hero and anti-villain: some motives and goals are morally bad, others good, and the Empire’s methods of achieving these goals range from velvet-gloved diplomacy to zersetzung.
Compared to their only rival on the continent, (literally) the darkest place on the continent, if not the world, the Goths are heroes. Flawed heroes, but heroes nonetheless.
The main inspirations for Gothia:
- The EEIA - I took their Nazi-Soviet-Bismarckian-Habsburg-Tsarist flavor and ran with it; much of Gothia’s government, military equipment, society, and culture are some unholy blending of all of these countries.

- The Third Reich - The main aspect of Nazi Germany that I used for the GGE was the system of Reichskommissariats: IRL, these were glorified colonies meant to Germanize eastern Europe by enslaving/exterminating the natives and replace them with German settlers. Here, I retooled them into the system of Imperial Marches (Reichsmarks), military governments dedicated to two things: resource extraction and pacification. For Reichsmark Moskowien, pacification is their sole task, as Gothia is hoping to incorporate the March into the Fatherland.

- East Germany - The good ol’ Stasi served as the main inspiration for the SS, Gothia’s very own state sec. Aside from that, the Imperial Military takes cues from the NVA, especially its prussian-esque uniforms and traditions. Like the East Germans, the Imperials also leave an out for conscientious objectors through Construction Soldiers.

- The Soviet Union - The Soviet Union provided Gothia’s territorial extent and military philosophy (Deep Battle + Simple, easy to maintain equipment).
The flag was inspired by that of the Urburschenschaft, the first student fraternity in Germany, whose foundation led to the creation of other such fraternities throughout the region. These Burschenschaften were early strongholds of German nationalism, with many students fighting in the Lutzow Free Corps.
In vexillology, one of the five principles of flag design is “keep it simple”: There should be no overly complex symbols; the flag’s design should be fairly easy to make out if its waving and far away (for example, on a building). I also added my own criteria: the flag should be designed in such a way that it can be presented both ways (i.e, it can be displayed horizontally and vertically, as a hanging banner). With this in mind, I decided to replace the golden oak leaf on the Urburschenschaft’s flag with a simple golden stripe.
The anthem is a straight rip of the first verse of Sei Gesegnet Ohne Ehre, with some lyrics edited.
If the numbers in the economy section seem off, it’s because I have zero idea of how to calculate GDP. Officially, I hand-waved it as being inflated to match the currency values of this AU’s 2003, but if you want an honest answer, I simply plugged the numbers into a calculator, hit ‘divide’, and stuck with a number I found to be reasonable to me.
Fun Fact: this is actually the second time I had to write this fact sheet. Initially, I had this deviation ready and raring to go, only for Stash to inexplicably wipe the entire description when I tried to upload it, so I had to rebuild the description from the ground up. From this moment on, I am creating a copy for all of my descriptions on a Google Doc.
I had absolutely no idea what category to put this in. If anyone has a better idea, please let me know.
The original fact sheet took 2 and a half months to complete. Procrastination, as always, my eternal archenemy.

And here it is! The first entry for my current pet project, Our Parents’ War. Next up is another fact sheet, covering their neighbor to the west: The League-State. What do you think? Comments are encouraged and appreciated.

UPDATE FROM JULY OF 2023: This factsheet is officially outdated; it no longer reflects the official canon of A Toast to The East!, and only remains on the site as a relic, not unlike a museum. An updated sheet for the Empire is in the works and this page will be updated when it is uploaded.

Description
Official name: The Greater Gothic Empire (Größgotisches Kaiserreich)

Colloquial names: The Fatherland/Empire (used only in Europan circles), Gothia, the Gothic Empire, the GGE

National motto: Unteilbar und untrennbar (Indivisible and Inseparable)

National anthem: Lied vom Vaterland (Song of the Fatherland)

Anglish translation of the first and most well-known verse

Be blessed without end,

Wonderful homeland!

Friendly adorning thy lands are,

Green firs and golden spires!

Gothic labour, earnest and honest,

Gothic love, gentle and kind,

l: Fatherland, how marvelous thou art!

Long live our Empire! :l

Capital(s):

- Kronstadt - Executive capital; seat of HI&RM Andreas Herbert von Karling-Rosenberg

- Nuremberg and Karolingerstadt - Legislative capitals; Nuremberg is the seat of the Imperial Diet, Karolingerstadt is the seat of the States' Council

- Vien - Judicial capital; seat of the Superior Courts

Largest city: Kronstadt - 3.71 million

Languages:

- Gothic - The official language of the GGE. Also the largest, clocking in at 59% of the population recognizing it as their first language, undoubtedly even more knowing it as a second language. Gothicization programs across the country and its colonies have only increased these numbers. With Gothia’s prominence on the world stage as the premier economic power, Gothic has become something of a common language in the world, with people from Kina to Kuba beginning to learn Die Zunge des Volkes.

- Russish - The Russish language is very much a reflection of the people who speak it: no matter what, it will always survive whatever the world throws at it, somehow mostly unscathed. Case in point: the takeover by the Goths. Attempts at Gothicizing the local populace have proven ineffective (as it turns out, one does not simply covert almost 90 million people to a different language and lifestyle) and unpopular (almost tearing down St. Ivan’s Cathedral really did a number on the PR department). Regardless, the Drang nach Osten from millenia past already flooded Russland with plenty of Gothic speakers.

As of now, the Fatherland has finally given up: Reichsmark Moskowien has officially recognized Russish as an official language, and the Imperial Parliament is in the middle of cancelling all Gothicization programs in Russland.

- Anglish - Spoken mostly in the west, especially in Hanover and The Rhine; rather unsurprising, really, considering the two states’ historically close cultural ties to Brittania. The Weltkrieg dealt a serious blow to Anglish’s presence in Gothia, but the fires of war have long been extinguished, and the rising industrial nations in Columbia would very much appreciate it if any trade deals concerning them were discussed in their native tongue. As such, Anglish has, rather shyly, expanded once more past the westernmost regions of Gothia, with many business schools offering Anglish classes.

- Darcsen - As a testament to their former ties to the Russish people in ancient times, the Darcsen language is phonetically identical to Russish. Scripturally, Darcsen is written in the Latin alphabet, widely considered by historians as the result of Darcsenia distancing itself from Russland to reemerge on the western half of the continent, starting with a common alphabet. Darcsen is mostly spoken in the regions bordering Darcsenia.

- Burgundian - Burgundian has had a pretty rough go for the past half-century: the Weltkrieg saw anti-Burgundian sentiment reach such a peak that Brandenburg temporarily outlawed it, not to mention the fate that befell the language’s homeland. Burgundian has only just begun to step back into Gothic society. Even so, not even a global war can extinguish the age-old rivalry between the two peoples claiming the Carolingian legacy; expect some dirty looks from those around you if you’re looking to speak “The Pretenders’ Language”.

Religions: Gothia is officially a secular state. The largest religions within its borders are:

- Christianity - Christianity remains, just barely, the dominant religion of Gothia. As of now, the followers of Christ are split into three camps: the Catholics, centered in Bairn and Austria, the Protestants, centered in western Brandenburg and Hansa, and the Eastern Orthodox, found in Russland and Siberia. There exists, since time immemorial, a deep tension between Christians and Pagans, which often escalated into mass lynchings and regional conflicts; after the socio-cultural upheavals of the Revolutions of 1850 and the Weltkrieg, these tensions have since been reduced to glares and arguments.

- Gothic Paganism - Despite the efforts of various crusades and armies of missionaries, the people living in the eastern reaches of the Fatherland, especially eastern Brandenburg, still cling to the gods their distant ancestors worshipped eons ago. Almost all Pagans now subscribe to the “Gothic Union of Pagans”, a fairly recent movement that unites the various sects scattered throughout Gothia into a single doctrine. The Gothic Pagans are notable for being the last remaining polytheistic major religion in Europa.

- Novayavera - The native faith of the Darcsen people. "New Faith" enjoys a minor following in Halyncha and the Krasinski Basin, areas bordering Darcsenia. Gothic authorities and settlers have adopted a live-and-let-live policy, reciprocated by the rather insular minority.

- Siberian Shamanism - Back in the days of the old Tsardom, the religions of the Siberian natives suffered pogrom after pogrom by mob and army alike, reducing their followers to the low thousands. Come the takeover by the Goths, however, and the government, whether it be out of a sense of sympathy from their fellow non-Christian pagans or simply because the remaining followers are far too few to justify sinking time and money into exterminating or converting, decided to leave them alone.

- Islam - Found only in Reichsmark Turkestan. Like the Marches in Siberia, the Goths aren’t even considering incorporating the region into their Empire. Indeed, they’re only here to extract as much oil from the ground as possible and ditch Turkestan to its own devices after the last few wells dry up. As such, local authorities don’t so much tolerate Islam so much as they just don’t care; as long as the oil keeps flowing and the pipelines remain intact, the natives can worship damn well any god they please.

Government:

- In peacetime - Federal dominant-party semi-constitutional monarchy
Legislature - Imperial Parliament
States' Council (upper house)
Imperial Diet (lower house)
- In wartime, only by imperial decree - Unitary totalitarian military junta

Population by January of 1941:

- 198,240,000 (excluding colonies)

- 220,800,000 (including colonies)

Economy by January 1941: NOTE: All figures are adjusted to current values as of 2003 and don't include colonies.

- Currency - The Imperial Reichsthaler (RTA)

- GDP (PPP) - $4.1 trillion

- GDP per capita (PPP) - $20,682

History:

- 170 B.C. - (estimated) First contact between Latins and Goths

- 64 B.C. - First evidence of tribal confederations

- 14 - First Gothic kingdoms founded along the Rhine, Elbe and Danube rivers

- 119 - The Drang nach Osten begins

- 710 - Charlemagne is crowned Holy Roman Emperor

- 744 - Charlemagne dies; end of the Carolingian Empire
746 - Eastern Carolina is founded by Otto the Wise
- 751 to 758 - The Carolingian Wars

- 1529 to 1582 - The Great Awakening

- 1850 - The Revolutions of 1850

- 1873 to 1919 - The World War (known in Gothia as Der Weltkrieg)
October 7th, 1902 - Treaty on Unification of the Gothic states

Artist's Notes:
The main country of the AU. It originally started off as a thought experiment: What if the Imperials were the good guys, and how would they be the good guys? It snowballed from there.
Gothia’s more or less a weird mix between an anti-hero and anti-villain: some motives and goals are morally bad, others good, and the Empire’s methods of achieving these goals range from velvet-gloved diplomacy to zersetzung.
Compared to their only rival on the continent, (literally) the darkest place on the continent, if not the world, the Goths are heroes. Flawed heroes, but heroes nonetheless.
The main inspirations for Gothia:
- The EEIA - I took their Nazi-Soviet-Bismarckian-Habsburg-Tsarist flavor and ran with it; much of Gothia’s government, military equipment, society, and culture are some unholy blending of all of these countries.

- The Third Reich - The main aspect of Nazi Germany that I used for the GGE was the system of Reichskommissariats: IRL, these were glorified colonies meant to Germanize eastern Europe by enslaving/exterminating the natives and replace them with German settlers. Here, I retooled them into the system of Imperial Marches (Reichsmarks), military governments dedicated to two things: resource extraction and pacification. For Reichsmark Moskowien, pacification is their sole task, as Gothia is hoping to incorporate the March into the Fatherland.

- East Germany - The good ol’ Stasi served as the main inspiration for the SS, Gothia’s very own state sec. Aside from that, the Imperial Military takes cues from the NVA, especially its prussian-esque uniforms and traditions. Like the East Germans, the Imperials also leave an out for conscientious objectors through Construction Soldiers.

- The Soviet Union - The Soviet Union provided Gothia’s territorial extent and military philosophy (Deep Battle + Simple, easy to maintain equipment).
The flag was inspired by that of the Urburschenschaft, the first student fraternity in Germany, whose foundation led to the creation of other such fraternities throughout the region. These Burschenschaften were early strongholds of German nationalism, with many students fighting in the Lutzow Free Corps.
In vexillology, one of the five principles of flag design is “keep it simple”: There should be no overly complex symbols; the flag’s design should be fairly easy to make out if its waving and far away (for example, on a building). I also added my own criteria: the flag should be designed in such a way that it can be presented both ways (i.e, it can be displayed horizontally and vertically, as a hanging banner). With this in mind, I decided to replace the golden oak leaf on the Urburschenschaft’s flag with a simple golden stripe.
The anthem is a straight rip of the first verse of Sei Gesegnet Ohne Ehre, with some lyrics edited.
If the numbers in the economy section seem off, it’s because I have zero idea of how to calculate GDP. Officially, I hand-waved it as being inflated to match the currency values of this AU’s 2003, but if you want an honest answer, I simply plugged the numbers into a calculator, hit ‘divide’, and stuck with a number I found to be reasonable to me.
Fun Fact: this is actually the second time I had to write this fact sheet. Initially, I had this deviation ready and raring to go, only for Stash to inexplicably wipe the entire description when I tried to upload it, so I had to rebuild the description from the ground up. From this moment on, I am creating a copy for all of my descriptions on a Google Doc.
I had absolutely no idea what category to put this in. If anyone has a better idea, please let me know.
The original fact sheet took 2 and a half months to complete. Procrastination, as always, my eternal archenemy.

And here it is! The first entry for my current pet project, Our Parents’ War. Next up is another fact sheet, covering their neighbor to the west: The League-State. What do you think? Comments are encouraged and appreciated.

UPDATE FROM JULY OF 2023: This factsheet is officially outdated; it no longer reflects the official canon of A Toast to The East!, and only remains on the site as a relic, not unlike a museum. An updated sheet for the Empire is in the works and this page will be updated when it is uploaded.