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Description
The complexities of the Holy Roman Empire's nature meant that alongside the broad pan-imperial alliance that (theoretically) bound together the Empire's member states, there was any number of smaller regional alliances. One such alliance was an "alliance of alliances", namely that of the Three Leagues which was composed of the Grey League, the League of God's House, and the League of Ten Jurisdictions. Altogether they made up a region that was unusually diverse in terms of languages, though the dominant language was as it had been for centuries Romansh, a lesser-known branch of the Romance Languages and which gave "Raetia" its own identity in a region dominated by German and Italian speakers.

Such was the case when in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, the Three Leagues were faced with the question of what to do next. In the course of Napoleon's wars they had been swept up into the Helvetic Republic, then made part of the Swiss Confederation shortly afterwards. While the Leagues had always been friendly to Switzerland, the unfolding political chaos that had plagued it for the last decades drove opinion away from Switzerland, not only as being part of the Swiss Confederation but over ideology. Unlike the proposed confederalism of Switzerland, there was a growing desire in the "Graubünden" for a stronger, more centralized republic. This and disputes over the rights of Romansh speakers led the Canton of Graubünden to formally separate from Switzerland in the Congress of Vienna as of 1815.

Having so separated, the republican movement crystallized and formed the Republic of Raetia (also spelled Rhaetia), putting its capital in the old League capital of Cuera (Chur). The small province of Tarasp was also returned to Austria, as a goodwill gesture for the nation which it saw as its natural protector. Other issues arose in the interim, particularly those debating liberalism (supported by Protestants) and conservatism (supported by Catholics). Language also proved a sticking point, as in Raetia there were five dialectal variations which were different enough to make supporting one over the others an issue, not to mention the large numbers of German and Italian speakers across the nascent country.

Further revolutions in Europe throughout the early 19th Century only drove home the need to solve these issues before they spilled into violence. In particular the July Revolution in France which finally ended the Bourbon Monarchy sent a shockwave through Europe, prompting the 1831 Sunday Revolution, when a number of Protestant liberals marched on the state house as the Catholic conservatives were at Mass, occupying it until liberal concessions were granted such as expanded voting rights and strengthening federal judicial powers. Fears that Raetia might descend into civil war were eventually subdued by, ironically enough, the outbreak of the Sonderbundskrieg in neighboring Switzerland. The grueling three-year conflict drove home the need to compromise and culminated with the issuing of the 1845 Federal Constitution.

With Raetia now firmly a centralized state it could turn its attention to building itself as a national identity. Officially adopting the metric system, the government also promoted a new standardized form of the Romansh language known as Romansh Rhaetia to unify the various dialects into a single language, though this was met with widespread opposition and was eventually scaled back to being a utility language taught in secondary schools. Officially a non-partisan state the Raetia State Council was still divided along political lines with liberal Protestants and conservative Catholics forming the main factions as they historically had. The ongoing debate between Catholic and Protestant groups was further enabled by Raetian Christians being almost evenly split between Catholic and Protestant.

Oddly enough this level of debate allowed for a relatively stable political order. The stability of Raetian politics allowed it to subsume itself from external matters such as when Austria steadily lost lands to the Italians and then lost the Brudekrieg to Prussia, once again becoming an ally to the neutral Switzerland in creating the Alpine Council for mutual protection. This would prove prescient with the rise of the German Empire threatening the established European order, and in 1914 with the outbreak of World War I Raetia remained neutral alongside Switzerland, and with the post-war settlement brought Liechtenstein into the Alpine Council after the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed.

As World War II loomed over the horizon, Raetia took a much more active course of action than Switzerland. Though it officially declared its neutrality it was more than happy to take in refugees from Austria after its 1938 annexation using a bit of diplomatic trickery surrounding the Tarasp enclave, which although now formally part of the Nazi Reich was in a customs union with Raetia. In this way Raetia accepted nearly 25,000 Jewish refugees, although formal diplomacy was maintained and economic ties were created, drawing criticism as the war broke out over the invasion of Poland. Though Raetia again asserted neutrality, Germany's anger at the "mongrel state" and worsening relations led to Germany declaring war against Raetia, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein in May 1940. Liechtenstein was quickly overwhelmed, but Raetia and Switzerland proved much harder.

With occupying armies coming from both Germany and Italy (and Vichy France, in some cases) Switzerland and Raetia made life a living hell for the invaders. The alpine terrain was worsened by willing destruction of bridges and tunnels, artillery emplacements disguised as cottages, and extensive bunkers dug out of the mountains along with strategic hit-and-run tactics that made up the Reduit, the effort to force German and Italian invasion to be as brutal and grueling as possible. Though Germany had subdued France. was invading Russia, and controlled more than half of Europe, these two small nations were never fully occupied and cost Germany and Italy nearly five men for every one Swiss and Raetian they killed. The unending invasion effort, driven by Hitler's mania, has been attributed to shortening the war by nearly six months, leading to the end of the war in Europe in November 1944.

The post-war world saw Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Raetia abandon their neutrality when it had been shown to not be enough of a protection, aligning with the United States and NATO at its formation in 1948. Raetia benefited greatly from the Marshall Plan in rebuilding its infrastructure as well as modernizing it. The post-war period was one of economic recovery and modernization with Raetia's economy developing into a post-industrial service economy based heavily on finance, tourism, and high-tech development of computers and pharmaceuticals. Being a founding member of the European Union it continues to develop its relationship with the world, along with continuing the existence of the Alpine Council alongside Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and (since 1948) Austria. Having once shunned the outside world, Raetia has become one of the most closely integrated into the modern globalized order.

Description
The complexities of the Holy Roman Empire's nature meant that alongside the broad pan-imperial alliance that (theoretically) bound together the Empire's member states, there was any number of smaller regional alliances. One such alliance was an "alliance of alliances", namely that of the Three Leagues which was composed of the Grey League, the League of God's House, and the League of Ten Jurisdictions. Altogether they made up a region that was unusually diverse in terms of languages, though the dominant language was as it had been for centuries Romansh, a lesser-known branch of the Romance Languages and which gave "Raetia" its own identity in a region dominated by German and Italian speakers.

Such was the case when in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, the Three Leagues were faced with the question of what to do next. In the course of Napoleon's wars they had been swept up into the Helvetic Republic, then made part of the Swiss Confederation shortly afterwards. While the Leagues had always been friendly to Switzerland, the unfolding political chaos that had plagued it for the last decades drove opinion away from Switzerland, not only as being part of the Swiss Confederation but over ideology. Unlike the proposed confederalism of Switzerland, there was a growing desire in the "Graubünden" for a stronger, more centralized republic. This and disputes over the rights of Romansh speakers led the Canton of Graubünden to formally separate from Switzerland in the Congress of Vienna as of 1815.

Having so separated, the republican movement crystallized and formed the Republic of Raetia (also spelled Rhaetia), putting its capital in the old League capital of Cuera (Chur). The small province of Tarasp was also returned to Austria, as a goodwill gesture for the nation which it saw as its natural protector. Other issues arose in the interim, particularly those debating liberalism (supported by Protestants) and conservatism (supported by Catholics). Language also proved a sticking point, as in Raetia there were five dialectal variations which were different enough to make supporting one over the others an issue, not to mention the large numbers of German and Italian speakers across the nascent country.

Further revolutions in Europe throughout the early 19th Century only drove home the need to solve these issues before they spilled into violence. In particular the July Revolution in France which finally ended the Bourbon Monarchy sent a shockwave through Europe, prompting the 1831 Sunday Revolution, when a number of Protestant liberals marched on the state house as the Catholic conservatives were at Mass, occupying it until liberal concessions were granted such as expanded voting rights and strengthening federal judicial powers. Fears that Raetia might descend into civil war were eventually subdued by, ironically enough, the outbreak of the Sonderbundskrieg in neighboring Switzerland. The grueling three-year conflict drove home the need to compromise and culminated with the issuing of the 1845 Federal Constitution.

With Raetia now firmly a centralized state it could turn its attention to building itself as a national identity. Officially adopting the metric system, the government also promoted a new standardized form of the Romansh language known as Romansh Rhaetia to unify the various dialects into a single language, though this was met with widespread opposition and was eventually scaled back to being a utility language taught in secondary schools. Officially a non-partisan state the Raetia State Council was still divided along political lines with liberal Protestants and conservative Catholics forming the main factions as they historically had. The ongoing debate between Catholic and Protestant groups was further enabled by Raetian Christians being almost evenly split between Catholic and Protestant.

Oddly enough this level of debate allowed for a relatively stable political order. The stability of Raetian politics allowed it to subsume itself from external matters such as when Austria steadily lost lands to the Italians and then lost the Brudekrieg to Prussia, once again becoming an ally to the neutral Switzerland in creating the Alpine Council for mutual protection. This would prove prescient with the rise of the German Empire threatening the established European order, and in 1914 with the outbreak of World War I Raetia remained neutral alongside Switzerland, and with the post-war settlement brought Liechtenstein into the Alpine Council after the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed.

As World War II loomed over the horizon, Raetia took a much more active course of action than Switzerland. Though it officially declared its neutrality it was more than happy to take in refugees from Austria after its 1938 annexation using a bit of diplomatic trickery surrounding the Tarasp enclave, which although now formally part of the Nazi Reich was in a customs union with Raetia. In this way Raetia accepted nearly 25,000 Jewish refugees, although formal diplomacy was maintained and economic ties were created, drawing criticism as the war broke out over the invasion of Poland. Though Raetia again asserted neutrality, Germany's anger at the "mongrel state" and worsening relations led to Germany declaring war against Raetia, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein in May 1940. Liechtenstein was quickly overwhelmed, but Raetia and Switzerland proved much harder.

With occupying armies coming from both Germany and Italy (and Vichy France, in some cases) Switzerland and Raetia made life a living hell for the invaders. The alpine terrain was worsened by willing destruction of bridges and tunnels, artillery emplacements disguised as cottages, and extensive bunkers dug out of the mountains along with strategic hit-and-run tactics that made up the Reduit, the effort to force German and Italian invasion to be as brutal and grueling as possible. Though Germany had subdued France. was invading Russia, and controlled more than half of Europe, these two small nations were never fully occupied and cost Germany and Italy nearly five men for every one Swiss and Raetian they killed. The unending invasion effort, driven by Hitler's mania, has been attributed to shortening the war by nearly six months, leading to the end of the war in Europe in November 1944.

The post-war world saw Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Raetia abandon their neutrality when it had been shown to not be enough of a protection, aligning with the United States and NATO at its formation in 1948. Raetia benefited greatly from the Marshall Plan in rebuilding its infrastructure as well as modernizing it. The post-war period was one of economic recovery and modernization with Raetia's economy developing into a post-industrial service economy based heavily on finance, tourism, and high-tech development of computers and pharmaceuticals. Being a founding member of the European Union it continues to develop its relationship with the world, along with continuing the existence of the Alpine Council alongside Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and (since 1948) Austria. Having once shunned the outside world, Raetia has become one of the most closely integrated into the modern globalized order.