History of Lovia

This article describes the full and rich history of Lovia, starting from the colonization and the monarchy, ending in the present time.

First mentioned
The Lovia Archipelago has never been inhabited, according to scientific studies. There isn't any evidence of prehistoric life, nor of pre-modern human activity. In fact, the islands weren't mentioned until the 1580's. Then, Francis Drake discovered the coasts of Latin America and California. After the San Francisco Bay Area, he went western. In his diary a small and green archipelago is mentioned. Nowhere in his diary he says he visited the islands, but some historians think he and his crew were here for a couple of days. A small extract from the diary of Francis Drake:
 * "We are still going to the west, into the large unknown ocean. Our men are hoping to return, and as we passed a small archipelago on our right, some thought we were back in the Caribbean. The islands were green and some of them were hilly. I told my men this had to be other ones, they weren't on any map."

In 1849 gold was found in California and thousands of Asians came over. Some of these transports passed the Lovia archipelago, although nor the crew, nor the passengers were conscious. In 1852 a Chinese ship was shipwrecked near the Lovia Archipelago. Some of the passengers reached the most northern island of the archipelago, now called Asian Island. They were picked up four months later and seemed well fed. After years, one of them went working for a Californian newspaper and published a story of the Pacific Islands, as he called them.
 * "Imagine Paradise. Image a green island, with hills, fruit and clear blue water. Imagine all you've read in the Bible, imagine what Thomas More has written. Imagine perfection, it's out there. Miles off the Californian coast, past the Channel Islands, the Pacific Islands wait for you to be discovered."

Arthur Noble
Arthur Nobel, a young Belgian man, moved to San Francisco in 1872. He was a journalist and going through the archives of all the papers, he found some writing material. That same year he found the article on the Pacific Islands. He found an investor and chartered a ship, Francis II, to go to the mysterious archipelago. It didn't take long and after a few days they reached Lovia. Arthur Nobel set up a first settlement and went back to San Francisco in 1875. He published hundreds of advertisements in American and European newspapers and returned in 1876 with more than 150 people. The settlement Noble City was named after their new king, Arthur Nobel. His name changed into Arthur Francis Noble the First or King Arthur I.

The next years King Arthur I reigned over Lovia very well and the population kept growing. In 1876 there were about 200 citizens.

Population growth
In 1887 Arthur I died from natural causes and his son Arthur II inherited the throne. In the meantime the population had increased even more and had reached 342 inhabitants. By 1900 there were about 660 inhabitants and just before his death 1.540. Arthur II was rather socialist and leftist in his viewpoints, unique for his era. The king was murdered by a German spy, in 1938, and his daughter Queen Lucy I, the first and only Lovian ruling queen, took over the throne after a long period of arguments about who would inherit the throne, even though Arthur had always made it very clear the eldest child would inherit the throne regardless of its sex.

In 1904 the Lovian Congress proposed the foundation of states as the highest subdivision, which was accepted later that year. This was set in action January 1, 1905, and Clymene, Kings, Oceana, Seven, and Sylvania were created.

Unlike the United States Lovia did not join both First World War and Second World War. The Lovian population was too low and the King wouldn't send any troops, although he supported the allies financially. Queen Lucy I kept to Arthur's policy and didn't enter World War II. Though, some Lovian men went to California to join the American troops in World War II, with the permission of the US Army and the Lovian queen.

20th Century
Not only the population grew, also the trade and the wealth did. Noble City had become an important port between California and the Far East. The Lovian culture bloomed, and literature became a true trademark. Queen Lucy is seen as one of Lovia's best monarchs and as one of the best female leaders in the world. Queen Lucy was succeeded by her eldest son, King Lucas I, in 1953.

Although, around 1955 the Lovian population growth started stagnating. Lovia suffered from famines and welfare decreased. King Lucas I was deposed, after three years of reigning Lovia. Lucas' brother, King Arthur III took over the throne and fortunately the harvests became better in 1957 and the problems seemed to be over, more as a result of the climate than of the reign of Arthur III. Since then the economy of the Kingdom of Lovia has been doing well.

Under Arthur III, the beautiful Castle Donia was build in the Emerald Highlands and the Donia Clan rose to prominence under August Magnus Donia.

During Dimitri I
In 2007, King Arthur III died, and there wasn't an obvious heir to the throne since Arthur left no legitimate children. For months economy slackened and the population didn't increase any more. In November King Dimitri I, a nephew of the former king was chosen and crowned. Then, everything went well again, economies boomed and the population got a boost. In December the population reached 8,000, an absolute summit at that time.

The politics changed a lot under the reign of King Dimitri I. He drafted a new Constitution, which was signed in December. Under the new Constitution Congress was erected, Federal (Congress) and State (Governor) Elections were held and federal and state institutions were founded. Yuri Medvedev became the Prime Minister, replacing a lot of the king's power and the Medvedev I Government ruled the country as of February 1, 2008.

The Hurbanovans started protesting against the Lovian government and monarch after some provocations in March and April. They claimed independency, but after a short revolution, the Lovian government regained power. As a result of this Lovia quit the United Wiki Nations in 2008 after a Congressal decision.

In May 2008, Mid-term Elections were held and the team of Congressmen was extended by five new men. The Lovian population kept growing at an enormous tempo, reaching 20,000 in May 2008.

But another time of riots followed and people in Oceana and Train Village started revolting. After a time of civil unrest, the King decided to step down on August 11. The demonstrations stopped and the monarchy was replaced by a new republican system.

Republican period
Yuri Medvedev, Prime Minister, continued his work as chief of state and introduced the "Lovian state democracy". The system looked very similar to the previous one, with one major difference: there was no king anymore. After a short while, Medvedev fell into inactivity and Lovia became a silent place once more. The population decreased and a new economic crisis would hit the archipelago. Many attempts were done to bring back democracy and government to Lovia, but all failed. The democratically elected Congress ended on February 1, 2009, and since that day Lovia had been totally ungoverned.