[b]Nation Name:[/b]
Empire of Lithuania

[b]Flag/Banner:[/b]
[img]https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/attachments/image-png.265212/[/img]

[b]Political Environment and Government Type:[/b]
Lithuania is a theocratic empire ruled by a high priest called the Krivis (fem: Krivė). The Krivis is believed by the local people to be the manifestation of the god Perkunas on earth and as such, his rule is absolute and his word is final. Alongside the Krivis are high priests called the Council of the Vaidilos. Each member is a priest referred to as a vaidila (fem. vaidilutė) who is believed to be a vessel through which their patron god speaks verbatim. Beneath the Vaidilos are a series of lesser clerical rulers who answer to their local vaidila, and enlist the help of military orders to maintain rule in their jurisdiction. 

[b]Location On Map:[/b]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/DCtbTqs.png[/img]

[b]Demographics:[/b]
Lithuania is comprised of about 70% ethnic Balts, who can be found throughout the empire, but cluster most densely in the central area of the country, radiating outward from Dievomiestas. They are divided into various sub-ethnicities, the Lithuanians being the most important. In the farthest northern areas of the empire are the Finns and Estonians, who mostly inhabit the regions of Estonia and the Finnish Isles and rank about 5%. To the east are people collectively termed Russians (descendants of Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians) who make up about 20% of the population. To the West are the Poles, who make up the remaining population at about 5%. 

[img]https://i.imgur.com/B5027cH.png[/img]

Religion is a tricky matter, as the religion of Dievugarbinimas incorporates various religious cults that could be found in the Post-War Baltic. It is known that a small minority of "old believers" who worship only Dievas and his two avatars, Kristus and Dvasia, exist in areas, and this cult is especially popular among the Poles and some Russians. That said, they are not viewed as entirely distinct from Dievugarbinimas, as the mainstream religion also accepts that Dievas came to earth through the avatar of Kristus, and spoke through the avatar of Dvasia, and will return as Kristus to fight the darkness on Earth after the tribulations (which Lithuanians believe they are currently living in) and establish Lithuania as his heavenly kingdom on earth. 

Some major religious cults in the Post War Baltic that were incorporated into Dievugarbinimas were:
[list]
[*] The Cult of Dievas: Seems to be a mixture of Christian folk-beliefs from the various people of the Baltic, as well as Poland and Russia. These were synthesized into a new cult focusing on a supreme creator named Dievas.
[*] The Cult of Perkunas: Perkunas was the Lithuanian pre-Christian god of Thunder, and his memory lived on after the war, with a religious cults appearing centered around powerful leaders and warlords, who claimed to get their legitimacy first from the Christian god, but gradually over time taking on the title of Perkunas, to invoke nostalgic and mythological ties to their claims. Eventually, this came to its logical extreme when the new King of Lithuania proclaimed himself to be a reincarnation of Perkunas. As a result, the worship of Perkunas is the main orthodox state religion of Lithuania.
[*] The Cult of Dawn (Aušra): The Cult of Dawn was a cult that worshiped the destructive power of the Atomic Bombs that decimated the world. They came to worship a goddess named Aušrinė, who had the title of "Dawn-Bringer" and was associated with the Morning Star and the Wind. Aušrinė was believed to be the goddess who created the Sun, and who stands at the gates of paradise and lights the way for those going there. Aušrinė was tasked by Dievas to destroy the world when it became too wicked, and thus it is believe that she gave the power of nuclear bombs to humanity to destroy them. 
[*] The Cult of Saulė: Saulė was the sun goddess, and her cult was the worship of the sun.
[*] The Cult of Bangpūtys: The Sea God who is extremely popular among Latvians and Livonians.
[*] The Cult of Kristus and Dvasia: Believed to be the avatars of Dievas, one used to walk on earth, and the other to communicate spiritually with his followers. 
[*] The Cult of Giltinė: The worship of Death, the Death Cult was a common religion in the Post-War Baltic. Followers of Giltinė operate as bands of nomadic assassins, who kill as an act of worship of their goddess. 
[*] The Cult of Gabija: Gabija was one of the daughters of Dievas and the goddess of Fire. She was also seen as the patron of machinery, and thus her followers became collectors and venerators of the machinery of old.
[/list]

[b]Demographics:[/b]
There are slightly more women in Lithuanian than men, with about 55% of the population being composed of women. 

[b]Culture:[/b]
The people of the Baltic began to regress socially and culturally after the war, with Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Prussia, and Belarus being the main recipients of the nuclear fallout that was emanating out of Russia. The Baltic was plagued with nuclear winter and rising sea levels that were beyond apocalyptic. 

The result was a very clannish and tribal society, where the extended family transitioned from irrelevant to central to society almost overnight. Lithuanians are extremely religious, though their religions have changed over time, with mainstream Christianity largely falling out of favor as "pagan" ideas started to become the norm. 

Many Lithuanians are agricultural, with the soil of Lithuania only just starting to recover, and the necessity for farming to surviving. There is also a tradition of semi-nomadic warrior bands, mostly comprised of young men who wander the countryside taking what they need to survive, with their violent existence accepted by their rulers on the condition that they will rally to their master's call when he needs them. 

[b]Important States and Cities:[/b]
[u]Dievomiestas[/u] - The New Capital city, founded by the first warlord in the heart of Lithuania
[u]Vilnius[/u] - A major city in Lithuania
[u]Riga[/u] - The most important city in the North
[u]Knigsberg[/u] - The most important city in the West
 
[b]History:[/b]

[hider=Fall of the Old World (2018-2035)]
Lithuania was one of the countries hit the hardest by World War 3. Being on the borders with Russia, the NATO alligned Lithuania was one of the first countries to face the brunt of a Russian invasion, with Vilnius being bombed almost immediately in the start of the war. Lithuania became one of the frontlines of the War, with the forces of NATO fighting against the forces of Russia in the Baltic. The Lithuanian population was devasted by the atrocities they faced at the hands of the occupying Russians, as well as the untold loss of life carried out by attempts to retake the small Baltic country from Russia. 

Things only got worse as Russia began to take its brunt of nuclear bombing, with the fallout from the bombs being carried across Russia, to settle in the Baltic. The condition became so devastating that even the Russians had to withdraw from Lithuania, the area becoming a living hell that no one wanted to touch. The area was surrounded by an exclusion zone, essentially becoming cut off from the world forever. 
[/hider]

[hider=The Dark Ages (2035-2387)]
At this point, the nations of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, and the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia fell into complete chaos. All law was gone, and families began to band together for protection. The Baltic had effectively regressed back into the Dark Ages.

The Baltic peoples lived as nomads for the majority of this period, wandering back and forth to find the least polluted areas, as nuclear winter hung over them. Powerful tribes formed out of family clans, with the most powerful being the Lithuanians, the Latvians, the Curonians, the Livonians, the Samogitians, the Yotvingians, The Prussians, the Selonians, The Sambians, the Kalinians, and the Lubavians. 

Tribal Warfare between Baltic peoples, as well as with the trapped Slavic and Finnic peoples who were in the area resulted in a very violent warrior society brewing in the background. 

By this point in time, the Balts had reformed into a new society, with a new religion, new languages, and new ways of life. 
[/hider]

[hider=The Rise of the first Krivis (2387-2420)]
The Lithuanians were a powerful tribe but were in constant war with their southern neighbors, the Yotvingians. The Yotvingians organized constant raids against Lithuanian villages and camps. The leader of a Lithuanian subclan, the Nerisians, sought to organize a meeting with the Yotvingian Varveian clan. The Yotvingian war-chief, Skalvas, poisoned the mead that was consumed in the peace negotiations, allowing the Yotvingians to invade Nerisian territory with little effort. The son of the Nerisian leader, Valdemaras, was forced to go into exile with his mother and sister, as the remaining Nerisians abandoned them when his father died. Later, Valdemaras would be enslaved by Latvian raiders, though he did manage to escape back to Lithuanian lands, where he found favor with the Zemelian clan-leader Titas, who was around his age. The two formed a close friendship, and Valdemaras would go on to marry a woman from another Lithuanian Tribe, Aušra. 

Aušra was later kidnapped by a Yotvingian warlord, and Valdemaras and Titas set out to get her back. In the battle, they managed to not only get back Aušra, but the lands of the Nerisians. 

Later, after the birth of his son Laurynas, Valdemaras was struck by lightning and began to have bizarre visions about his future and the greatness that the Lithuanians would have. At some point later, Valdemaras and Titas lead a joint invasion of Yotvingia, with Valdemaras gaining strong favor with the warriors of Lithuania and even the men of Yotvingia. With Titas' death in the invasion, Valdemaras decided to continue his conquests, and later took on the Latvians, conquering them whole, and proclaiming himself to be the reincarnation of Perkunas. 

Valdemaras later conquered the Western Balts and the Ruska, a Slavic tribe descended from the Russians of Kaliningrad. His final solidification of power, however, would be his invasion and conquests of Belarus and Estonia. 
[/hider]


[hider=Black Flags from the East (2420 onwards)]
Valdemaras died an untimely death, and was succeeded by his son, Laurynas, who later took on the Regnal name of Mindaugas, and set out to make Lithuania a strong nation. Mindaugas conquered lands in Poland, and sent Lithuanian raiders on excursions deep into Europe, and south, even reaching the Caucasus Mountains. Tales would be told of the "Black Flags from the east, of heathens coming to pillage, burn and rape across Europe." Lithuanians became a feared force as they descended like a dark army across the land. 
[/hider]

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