History
Early human settlers
The oldest recorded instances of human presence can be found in Coomglenn cave, on the Witteberg mountains at northern Ineland. Small improvised tools have been found in that site, being dated by Carbon 14 testing as being approximately 35.000 years old. However, academics believe that humans arrived in the area much earlier, coming through the south and with first regular human presence occuring in or around the wide forested region, close to the country's southern border. Unfortunately, most records of such activity are believed to be gone due to intensive agricultural activity and forestry over the centuries.
First permanent communities and the establishment of early political entities: the era of the mene
Latest archaeological evidence suggests that the first permanent settlements were established by fishing communities in the marshlands on the eastern side of lake Gra during the Neolithic period, around the seventh millenium BCE. Evidence suggests that those settlements engaged in some early form of trade amongst each other, which eventually led to the establishment of what has been dubbed by scholars as the era of the "communalities" or mene. These mene were originally loose alliances established by a series of communities located within close proximity, but eventually evolved into more complex structures that provided joint governance and worked on a common set of rules. Over time, these oral tradition-based rules gave way to the creation of Ancient Inish customary law.
[LOTS OF ANCIENT, MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN HISTORY TBC HERE]
Times of revolt: the 1819 revolution
The early decades of the nineteenth century proved to be trying times for the kingdom. After centuries of existence, the antiquated social structures of the elective monarchy were starting to crack under the heavy weight of an ever increasing urban population and the initial stages of the industrial revolution. These social issues, coupled with an economic depression triggered by a series of failed colonial adventures overseas, led to extreme instability. General unrest finally exploded in the form of violent revolts in Hautcour and Aigues Calmes. These soon expanded into other urban areas around the country, with some examples of extreme violence occuring such as the overthrowing and public beheading of the Bishop of Zeevorde and the hanging of Guillaume de Legline, prince of Poiret.
In an attempt to calm the situation down, king Gabriel II called for the election and convening of the Estates General, a deliberative assembly under Inish legislation which provided a forum for the different social classes to consult and advise the monarch on several issues. Out of the 1820 Estates General came a series of petitions for the monarch and the prince-electors under the name of the "25 points of july" which listed several demands on political liberalisation, the most important being the calling of a constituent assembly to draft and vote on a constitution.
The "25 points" spurred intense debate in the royal court, but eventually king Gabriel and the prince-electors gave way and accepted the issued demands. On December 1st, 1820, the Constituent National Assembly convened in the Town Hall at Geldenstadt. After four months of deliberations and work in several committees, on June 1821 the king was presented with what's come to be known as the Lenau Constitution. This first constitution for Ineland, which established a parliamentary system under a bicameral structure, ensured the political representation the newly developed urban bourgoise groups had been looking for while also guaranteeing a continued relevance for the prince-electors.
Social change and struggle for further rights
In spite of the newly-achieved political and civil rights brought upon by the Lenau constitution, wide parts of society remained underrepresented or outright ignored in the political process. Women, industrial workers, farmers... Groups making up more than 75% of the population were de facto deprived of their basic right to political participation due to household franchise suffrage. From the mid-1840's several organisations of women and workers, such as the Front Ouvrier Leglandais, initiated a series of campaigns to claim their rightful place in society. The increasing pressure led the government and parliament to pass legislation extending suffrage to all adults above the age of 25. However, women and non-homeowning males were still left out of passive suffrage. This last hurdle towards fully equal political participation was finally eliminated with the passing of the Voter Enfranchisement Law in 1885.
Times of trouble: De Meer's dictatorship and the Inish civil war (1924 - 1927)
The economic collapse of 1912 threw the country into disarray. While the federal government was incapable of handling the situation, some of the principalities took matters into their own hands, many times exceeding their constitutionally-defined powers. The implementation of wide-ranging economic stimulus programmes by state governments put the federal government in a fragile situation. In the 1914 general election an authoritarian movement, the Fatherland Union, was organised around the figure of Vilan de Meer and achieved a plurality of seats in the lower house. However, a progressive government under the leadership of Rémi Delmer was set up by the Labour Party and the newly-created Workers' Front (WF), which also saw a surge in support during that election. The new government was overwhelmed by the severity of the economic situation and didn't manage to regain its constitutional competences in financial and economic policy back from the principalities. This failure led to a snap election taking place in 1917, which saw de Meer's movement increase its share of votes and get its leader elected Prime Minister with support from the conservative groups.
De Meer's government quickly initiated a public works programme under the 'Strong Economy, Strong Society' scheme in order to curb massive unemployment. At the same time however, de Meer enforced a hardcore authoritarian programme through extensive surveillance by federal police forces. In the first six months of his mandate, politically-motivated street violence skyrocketed all across the country as fascist thugs and WF-affiliated militias battled one another openly. This proved a perfect justification for "vehement police action", which was short of an euphemism for government-sanctioned violence against labour and anti-fascist organisations while FU thugs' violence was left unchecked. Violence against political oponents quickly escalated, with a notable episode being the assassination of former PM Delmer in broad daylight after a parliamentary session on November 24, 1917.
The escalation in political violence led to a tightening of restrictive policies by the government. In June 1918, police arrested leaders of socialdemocratic and workers' organisations. The weak position of leftist groups was taken advantage of by De Meer, who pushed the already ill king Johan II to dissolve the Chamber of Commons and scheduled a snap general election for August 21st. The election led to a plurality of seats for the FU (52/120), which still needed support from certain conservative groups. This renewed mandate for the FU came with an even greater attempt by De Meer to extend his grip on power. FU's grayshirts militias dealt a final blow to organised political oposition on the night of October 4th, 1918 in what was known as the night of the sharp knives. More than 700 left-leaning intellectuals, sindicalists and politicians were murdered, while another 1200 were injured to different extents. The tense and violent environment brought conservative parties into the fold to support an extensive power grab by De Meer and the FU. On October 14th, and using the events on Oct. 4th as an alleged reason, the Chamber of Commons passed an emergency powers bill granting De Meer absolute powers.
Over the following few years, the dictatorial regime steadily tightened its grasp over the country. The death of Jean II in 1921 and the subsequent election of Jean III by the House of Electors brought a brief glimpse of hope for the political oposition, but the newly elected king quickly appeared ineffective in opposing De Meer's government. On Tuesday, December 23 1924, agents belonging to the secret police performed an assassination attempt on the king. Though Jean didn't die at the moment, he fell into a coma, passing finally on February 4th, 1925.
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The 2010's financial crisis
The impressive performance of the Inelander economy during the 1990's and 2000's had come at the cost of a quietly expanding real estate bubble. Between 1985 and 2005 the price per sqm of a newly-built accomodation grew from the equivalent of 200€ (in 2022 euros) to approximately 3.200€, while wages only doubled and the overall cost of life increased during said period.
[UNDER DEVELOPMENT]
