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Description
A bit of lore and worldbuilding for Warbirds . Consider this my base pitch for what Belka could've been like before the latter half of the 20th century.

When musing over the idea of what Belka was like in the good ol' days of yestercentury, the thought process basically went like this:

Ok, Belka is regarded, in-universe and out, as pretty much the moustache-twirling villain of Strangereal. Obvious course of action: make them a militaristic empire, big on war and aggressive expansionism.
Problem: In order to justify their in-universe reputation historically, Belka needs to be a legitimate threat to everyone in Osea , including and especially the Osean Federation , which takes up literally 2/3 of the entire continent.
Solution: Make Belka into an early starter empire and eat up lots of neighbouring lands while Osea is still small.
Most of these conquered territories will be independent countries in the future, meaning that the people inside them must have distinct national identities worth independencing for. Thus the empire's chronic internal management issues were born.
How do they handle this? Make an internal administration and political system so obscenely complex and intricate only the Bismarcks and Metternichs of Belka could hope to keep it together.
This in turn provides the solution for how the empire, still alive and (sort of) well during the 30s and 40s when Warbirds takes place, will collapse in time to let the Belkan Federation we know and love from canon come into being in the 70s: slap fantasy-WWI (canon ) and fantasy-WWII (fanon) on top of it, drain it economically, politically and socially and watch as the whole thing crumbles to the ground under centuries of bottled up nationalism and self-determination.

So what is the Belkan Empire?
Meme answer: it's the Strangereal equivalent of the German Empire, with the internal administration problems of the Holy Roman Empire and the internal divisions of the Austrian Empire, with some Russian Empire sprinkled in as well, why not.

As for the Empire's flag, I wanted it to look like something along the lines of the imperial German war flag , but also something that can be related back to Belka's canon flag . As for the coat of arms, it's basically a mashup of elements from this and this CoA by the superbly talented TiltschMaster , this Greek Orthodox Church flag rendition by Augustus-1861 (check them out, they are both well worth your time ) and from the CoAs of the German and Russian empires.

For connoisseurs of European royalty, the names of the five Belkan Ruling Houses are all based on the names of five European royal houses, four well known, one perhaps more obscure: one German, one Austrian, one French, one English and one Portuguese. If you can figure which house corresponds to which, you win a free internet cookie.

Do let me know what you think, otherwise have a nice day.

Stay awesome, DA ;D

Ace Combat © Bandai Namco, Project Aces

Everything else Warbirds-related © Kenisi

Description
A bit of lore and worldbuilding for Warbirds . Consider this my base pitch for what Belka could've been like before the latter half of the 20th century.

When musing over the idea of what Belka was like in the good ol' days of yestercentury, the thought process basically went like this:

Ok, Belka is regarded, in-universe and out, as pretty much the moustache-twirling villain of Strangereal. Obvious course of action: make them a militaristic empire, big on war and aggressive expansionism.
Problem: In order to justify their in-universe reputation historically, Belka needs to be a legitimate threat to everyone in Osea , including and especially the Osean Federation , which takes up literally 2/3 of the entire continent.
Solution: Make Belka into an early starter empire and eat up lots of neighbouring lands while Osea is still small.
Most of these conquered territories will be independent countries in the future, meaning that the people inside them must have distinct national identities worth independencing for. Thus the empire's chronic internal management issues were born.
How do they handle this? Make an internal administration and political system so obscenely complex and intricate only the Bismarcks and Metternichs of Belka could hope to keep it together.
This in turn provides the solution for how the empire, still alive and (sort of) well during the 30s and 40s when Warbirds takes place, will collapse in time to let the Belkan Federation we know and love from canon come into being in the 70s: slap fantasy-WWI (canon ) and fantasy-WWII (fanon) on top of it, drain it economically, politically and socially and watch as the whole thing crumbles to the ground under centuries of bottled up nationalism and self-determination.

So what is the Belkan Empire?
Meme answer: it's the Strangereal equivalent of the German Empire, with the internal administration problems of the Holy Roman Empire and the internal divisions of the Austrian Empire, with some Russian Empire sprinkled in as well, why not.

As for the Empire's flag, I wanted it to look like something along the lines of the imperial German war flag , but also something that can be related back to Belka's canon flag . As for the coat of arms, it's basically a mashup of elements from this and this CoA by the superbly talented TiltschMaster , this Greek Orthodox Church flag rendition by Augustus-1861 (check them out, they are both well worth your time ) and from the CoAs of the German and Russian empires.

For connoisseurs of European royalty, the names of the five Belkan Ruling Houses are all based on the names of five European royal houses, four well known, one perhaps more obscure: one German, one Austrian, one French, one English and one Portuguese. If you can figure which house corresponds to which, you win a free internet cookie.

Do let me know what you think, otherwise have a nice day.

Stay awesome, DA ;D

Ace Combat © Bandai Namco, Project Aces

Everything else Warbirds-related © Kenisi