In the centuries since the world first transitioned into the governance of modern-nation states,
the western boundaries of the Usean continent have been dominated by Erusea.
It is a nation synonymous with industrialism, expansionism, and a martial spirit that all
too often ensured its achievements came at the expense of foreign neighbors.
Erusea has known triumph and tragedy, first as a Kingdom, then as a Federal Republic,
and now again as a Kingdom restored.
The historic Kingdom of Erusea first achieved global prominence under the D'Elise dynasty.
Under this family’s rule, the Kingdom annexed several neighboring states, achieving a near
hegemony on the continent, rivaled only by the Federation of Central Usea to the east.
Despite these successes, internal pressures led to the overthrow of the monarchy and the
establishment of a new Federal Republic.
The regime change however did little to affect Erusean foreign policy.
Occupied territories were forcefully integrated by the new government and further annexations
were pursued and achieved.
By the early 1990s, the Federal Republic of Erusea seemed poised to invade the bordering
Republic of Amber and the Independent State of Ugellas.
Much of the Erusean armed forces was mobilized on those countries' respective borders, but
the military buildup prompted the Federation of Central Usea to intervene and guarantee
their independence.
The standoff dominated the affairs of the Usean continent until on April 29th, 1996,
the Ulysses Asteroid, first discovered two years earlier, was confirmed to impact the
Earth in April 1999.
Usea was among the continents predicted to suffer the most damage and the revelation
caused widespread panic and the destabilization of public order.
The Federal Republic of Erusea and its neighbors sought an immediate rapprochement, and the
standoff came to a close.
Though tensions had not fully eased, Erusea became a member of the Usean Allied Forces,
a concentrated effort both to prepare the continent for the Ulysses impact, and to prevent
Osea and Yuktobania, the worlds’ rival superpowers, from leveraging the crisis for their own benefit.
In defiance of what was likely an earnest attempt at continental unification, several
smaller nations on Usea’s southern coastline announced their intention to join the Osean
Federation, ostensibly so they might benefit from Osea’s own attempts to prevent the
impact of Ulysses.
The presence of Osean forces on the Usean continent galvanized conservative elements
within both Erusea and the other Usean Allied Forces, culminating in an attempted coup d'état
in 1997.
For over a year, much of Erusea fell under the control of rebel elements that had been
present within its own military.
Though the Federal Republic eventually reclaimed its territory and achieved victory together
with the Usean Allied Forces, the conflict had diverted desperately needed resources
away from Ulysses preparations.
The Stonehenge Turret Network, a railgun complex in western Usea, had just barely become operational
when the first impacts occurred on July 3rd, 1999.
Though Stonehenge prevented the extinction of human life across Usea, at least ten smaller
meteorites impacted Erusean territory, devastating the Republic’s infrastructure.
One of these, thereafter known as Ryker Crater, struck near the Erusean capital of Farbanti,
flooding the city’s outlying municipal districts.
To maintain the semblance of government however, Erusea refused calls to move its highest officials,
or its administrative capital.
In the aftermath of the impact, the Federal Republic was expected to take a leading role
in the reconstruction efforts, especially in the admittance of refugees.
After accepting roughly 200,000 such displaced people, the country reversed its course, citing
an unbearable strain on its limited resources.
Further refugees were subject to severe restrictions and the country largely closed its borders.
The decision was internationally criticized, and Erusea heavily sanctioned.
As the refugee crisis escalated, Erusea undertook a sudden invasion of San Salvacion in 2003.
This smaller nation was the location of the Stonehenge Network, which Erusea quickly captured
and reactivated.
Led by the Federation of Central Usea, the continent's other nations quickly organized
their military forces under a joint framework known as the Independent State Allied Forces
or ISAF.
The Continental War began on September 14th, 2003 when the deadline for Erusean forces
to withdraw from San Salvacion expired.
For the first year of the conflict, Erusea won devastating victories over ISAF, partially
due to Stonehenge, which had been repurposed into a continent-spanning anti-aircraft weapon.
For a brief period, ISAF was driven from the continent entirely, evacuating to the island
of North Point, off Usea’s northeastern coast.
Attempts by Erusea to force the surrender of North Point were repeatedly repulsed, and
by the spring of 2004 the situation had begun to reverse.
Stonehenge was disabled in April of that year, enabling a massive ISAF counter-offensive
across the continent.
San Salvacion was liberated, Erusea itself invaded, and Farbanti eventually captured
on September 19th, 2004.
The Supreme Commander of Erusean forces was killed in the battle, and the nation formally
surrendered that same day.
Despite this, fighting continued for the next few months, with rebel officers even attempting
to weaponize asteroid remnants still in orbit, using a secret missile complex known as Megalith.
Following this defeat, Erusea was forced to relinquish territories it had annexed over
the previous centuries, with some granted self-rule as new sovereign nations.
The city of Selatapura was one such territory, a critical blow to the Erusean economy as
it had long been one of its most important ports.
The Erusean military was also drastically reduced in size and reorganized so that it
would only be capable of self-defense.
Public anger against the conditions imposed on Erusea culminated in a widespread terrorist
campaign against ISAF occupation forces, in 2006.
In 2011, the largely ineffective provisional government was replaced by a return of a constitutional
monarchy.
The restoration of the D'Elise dynasty, it was hoped, would rally the divided nation
and signal internationally a firm rejection of the Federal Republic’s more facist elements.
In the span of only a few years though, two Erusean Kings died as a result of poor health,
and it was Princess Rosa Cossette D'Elise that instead became the foremost representative
of the Erusean people.
Much of the attention of the monarchy in these years was directed towards the construction
of the International Space Elevator known colloquially as the “Lighthouse”.
The site of which; formerly Erusian Selatapura, and the heavy involvement of the Federation
of Osea, reignited the pre-Ulysses fears of foreign involvement on the Usean continent.
The presence of Osean forces and environmental destruction caused by the Space Elevator’s
construction, led to mass protests across Erusea.
In 2019, convinced by a group of young, nationalist officers of the necessity of military action
against Osea, the King of Erusea ordered the seizure of the space elevator and the aerial
arsenal ships that protected it.
These “Arsenal Birds” helped Erusea achieve air superiority across the continent in much
the same way Stonehenge had over a decade earlier.
Despite early gains however, Osean forces captured Farbanti, and large sections of the
country, before the destruction of orbiting satellite networks made the continuation of
the war untenable.
Erusea’s government collapsed with pro-peace conservatives, pro-war radicals, and various
independence movements vying for control.
After the space elevator was recaptured by Osean forces, a second Erusan provisional
government was formed with Princess Cossette at its head.
The nature of this new Erusean government remains in doubt as internal factions and
outside powers seek to shape the future of the state.
The constitutional monarchy is likely to endure, with the recent war against Osea blamed on
nationalists linked, fairly or unfairly, to the previous Federal Republic.
The Erusean parliament, will presumably be granted further authority to help curtail
the potential for abuse by the reigning monarch.
But its territorial claims are likewise now uncertain.
Prior to its most recent defeat, Erusea was one of the largest nations on Usea, holding
much of the continent’s western lands.
It stretched from the Amber Mountains in the east, to the Spring Sea and Cascade Ocean
in the west and north respectively.
It encompassed great deserts, fertile shores and the great cities of Farbanti and Anchorhead.
At its height, its territory extended even further, and it remains to be seen if Erusea
will again be carved apart as it was in 2006.
Its military will almost certainly be disassembled.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, it’s four major branches; the Erusean Air Force, Navy,
Army and Air Defense Force were considered amongst the best in the world, the equal of
every other Usean nation combined.
Much of this was credited to the Erusean Air and Space Administration, whose advanced research
gave its military, especially its Air Force, a notable edge over other continental forces.
This was epitomized in the legendary achievements of the 156th Tactical Fighter Wing "Aquila"
and the 68th Experimental Squadron “Sol” in the Continental and Lighthouse wars respectively.
The Navy was similarly prestigious, with its most famous element the “Aegir Fleet”
regarded as invincible before its complete destruction by ISAF pilots in 2004.
In whatever state Erusea is allowed to exist in the new era, it will almost certainly be
relegated to a puppet government of Osea.
In this way, the long feared Osean dominance of Usean affairs will finally come to fruition.
It is said that “a rose in a desert can only survive on its strength, not its beauty”
and it remains to be seen what persists in Erusea of either.