A Guide to the Holy Roman Empire of Jerusalem
(as of January 1, 2038)
(while doing the Schwurhand) “I pledge allegiance to His Majesty and to his divine empire. I swear to virtuously and piously uphold the Christian faith and unconditionally support God and my nation. We give our hearts and souls to God and His divinely ordained Autokrator; this we do for the glory of the Lord and for the second coming of His son, Jesus Christ, for He will inherit the eternal Kingdom of God on Earth. Amen.”
The flag of Jerusalem is based on the old Roman imperial flag, more specifically the variant commonly used by the Church, combined with the 11th-century Jerusalem cross, a symbol of Friedrich the Great’s crusader army during the conquest of the Holy Land.
Capital
Berlin (c. 2034)
Other notable cities
Constantinople (capital of Southern District)
Frankfurt (capital of Central District)
Rome (capital of Latium District)
Königsberg (capital of Eastern District)
Alexandria (capital of River District)
National anthem
"Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."
-Timothy 2:3
Onward, Christian crusaders, marching off to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before!
Christ, the royal Master, leads against barbarians.
Forward into battle, see his enemies burn!
Onward, Christian crusaders, marching off to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before!
Like a mighty army moves the church of God:
Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod:
We are not divided, all one body we,
One in hope and doctrine, one in ferocity.
Onward, Christian crusaders, marching off to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before!
Crowns and thrones may perish, empires rise and wane,
But the church of Jesus constant will remain
Barbarians can never against our Church prevail;
We have Christ's own promise, and that cannot fail.
Onward, Christian crusaders, marching off to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before!
Onward then ye people, join our happy throng,
Blend with ours your voices in the triumph song,
‘Glory to the Lord, and honor unto Christ the King!.'
This through countless ages Men and angels sing.
Onward, Christian crusaders, marching off to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before!
Amen.
(Not providing a Youtube link as I don't want to mess up my recommended list.)
Intro
The Holy Roman Empire of Jerusalem is a regime controlling territory in continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. It claims to be a "replacement" of the now defunct Roman Reich, which it abolished in 2036, though other rival governments based in other parts of the former Reich dispute this. Jerusalem is a Christian theocratic absolute monarchy, with some calling it "Christofascist." Despite being vastly weaker than the former Reich, Jerusalem remains the most powerful diplomatic, military, and economic force in the world. From 2035 to 2037, Jerusalem waged a minor civil war against multiple rebel insurgencies as well as rogue remnants of the old Roman Armed Forces. Althought it is effectively a successor state of the former Reich, Jerusalem legally is a completely separate entity from its predecessor.
Terminology
The official name is "Holy Roman Empire of Jerusalem." This name scheme invites comparisons to the Holy Roman Empire which ruled over Central Europe from 800 to 1105 CE before being merged into the Reich during the Restoration, but the emphasis is as an empire of Jerusalem that is holy and Roman, much like the medieval Kingdom of Jerusalem Friedrich the Great founded after his victory in the First Crusade. Most generally refer to the state as Jerusalem, with the demonym as Jerusalemite. Outside Jerusalem, those who do not recognize the regime refer to it as the "Jerusalem regime." A minority refers to it as the "Holy Roman Empire," although this is technically incorrect.
Government
The Jerusalemite government is led by the Committee for Imperial Restoration of Order and Morality, which evolved from the Imperial Emergency Committee Kaiser Wilhelm IV appointed on January 2, 2030 after the Bloody Tuesday massacre and subsequent declaration of martial law. The original committee’s members were all leaders or allies of Christenheit Bewegung, a Christian traditionalist political party in the former Reich, who survived the Bloody Tuesday massacre of January 1, 2030. It is generally referred to formally and informally as the committee (capitalized or not is acceptable). The committee is made up of numerous political, military, and business leaders. It serves as the combined “civilian” executive and legislative branch and is responsible for passing laws and implementing policies. The committee’s powers are delegated by the Autokrator as he sees fit. Legally, the Autokrator reigns and rules with absolute power. There is no single leader of the committee, as its official role is merely to consult and advise the Autokrator's absolute rule and act on his behalf.
Lower ranking members of the committee discussing legislation. However, any legally binding decisions must be approved by at least three out of the five highest ranking committee members or by the Autokrator.
The committee considers the concept of separation of powers a restrictive and inefficient ideology imposed by the party cartel (the mainstream political establishment of the former Reich) to maintain its power. As such, the new committee-led government seeks to avoid that (see "Reinstaat" below). Executive and legislative powers are merged in the institution of the commitee as well as the Imperial Throne, from which all authority is derived. The Autokrator is the supreme authority as head of state and government, commander in chief of the armed forces, and head of the Imperial Christian Apostolic Church. He introduces new laws by imperial decree. Imperial decrees are immediate and legally binding and can be only repealed with another imperial decree. The committee may also legislate on behalf of the Autokrator as he wishes. The Autokrator may override the committee at will, should it show any signs of overstepping its authority.
Administration
The federal system of provinces and Länder used in the Ottonian system has been abolished. Previously, there were three administrative levels: federal, provincial, and regional. This system was designed in the 1940s to prevent the complete rebellion of each imperial province in cases of civil war, as had happened during World War II. While this system served its purpose and prevented organized widespread rebellions during the establishment of Jerusalem, the committee still considered it a flawed system perpetuating the party cartel’s influence and replaced it with a new unitary system. The new system has two tiers: a centralized national government centered on the committee, and several regional districts immediately under it. Each district is led by its own subcommittee, formed from sympathetic former Länder governors and military and business leaders. For example, most of Provincia Germania has been reorganized into the Central District under Frankfurt, with the eastern Länder split off into a new Eastern District under Königsberg. Berlin is given its own capital district. The provinces of Gallia and Taurica are given the designation of Special District (as the "Western" and "Cherson" Special Districts) as part of the rehabilitation of their populations. Some regions are designated as Imperial Homelands, where certain ethnic and religious minorites are allowed to settle in with some semblance of old tolerance laws allegedly remaining enforced there. There are four Imperial Homelands: Judea, in Gaza and Haifa, for Jews; Kurdistan and Armenia, in eastern Anatolia, for Kurds and Armenians; Arabia, in the central Arabian peninsula, for Muslims and non-Christian Arabs; and Africa, based in the Sahara Desert and designated for African populations in Europe.
Imperial succession
His Holy Imperial Majesty Wilhelm IV, God's Chosen Autokrator
As of January 2, 2038, the Jerusalemite imperial succession is strictly limited to only the male descendants of Wilhelm IV through his son, Crown Prince Wilhelm. Females are not considered Hohenzollerns or nobles at all and are barred from holding titles or using the “von” honorific. They are forced to adopt the surnames of their husbands (like all married women), hand all previously owned property and financial assets to their next male of kin (if not husband), and renounce all claims and noble titles. Males outside of the direct lineage of Wilhelm IV retain their titles, the “von” honorific, and Hohenzollern status but are not considered in the succession. This applies to the Schweinfurts as well.
Law
“I, Yahweh, your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me.”
-Deuteronomy 5:9
The law is absolute in Jerusalem. Any rule-breaking or subversion must be reported and is harshly punished. Jerusalemite law operates under biblical law derived from a narrow and literal interpretation of the Old Testament of the Bible. In the judicial branch, all judges are required to judge defendants based on their adherence to biblical law. There is no trial by jury. Prosecutors only need to cite the specific Bible verse they allege the defendant violated and affirm by oath they are honest and just in their judgment. Conviction rates are 100% (higher than China's 99%). Verdicts and sentences are generally issued and carried out as soon as the conviction is made. As in the former Reich, defendants may petition the Kaiser, as the head of the Church, for mercy, but there are no records of any petition succeeding. In theory, the Kaiser may override any verdict, but he has never done so. All judges are required to be Christian males active in the church and well-versed in biblical scripture. Actual legal experience as defined under the old regime is not required.
A typical Jerusalem court with a trial in process
Many sentences are corporal in nature, so as to deter other would-be criminals from committing crimes. For example, the punishment for petty theft is the burning of the offending hand for the first offense, severing of the thumb for a second offense, complete amputation of the hand for the third, and the death penalty for the fourth. Abortion and contraception of any kind are capital offenses, and all involved—from the woman having the abortion to her husband, parents, children, siblings, and doctor providing such means—are executed. Adultery is also a capital offense. Homosexuality and liberalism are classified as mental illnesses, with the treatment ranging from gender conversion therapy or rehabilitation in a Special District to “merciful euthanasia.” The punishment for corruption of any kind is death. The penalty for not reporting a crime is equal to that of the crime itself. Those executed by the death penalty are to have their bodies hung up in trees or on walls or building sides as warnings. Executions are held in public and are frequently mandatory community events. At such events, audience participation in the execution is encouraged and rewarded, especially for children. Methods of execution include being stoned, burned at the stake, hung, shot, gassed, electrocuted, or kicked, torn apart, or bludgeoned by the mob. Frequently, the same sentences are carried out against other members of an offender’s family, sometimes all the way to the third and fourth generations depending on the severity of the offense, as it is believed relatives would share the same genetic predisposition or social influence to commit similar offenses.
Home Guardians on patrol in Constantinople, early 2035. By the time of the proclamation of Jerusalem in January 2036, Home Guardian uniforms had been standardized and all personnel issued proper military gear.
Many of law enforcement institutions of the former Reich, from local police departments to the national Athanatoi Home Division, swore their loyalty to Jerusalem after the establishment of the new regime. These organizations were merged with the RSB, the most pro-Jerusalem of the old law enforcement agencies, and Argus Security, the largest private military contractor and a subsidiary of Tesla Dynamic, a major committee supporter, to create the Home Guardians, a secret police which monitors all aspects of Jerusalemite society for dissent. Although some of its personnel were transferred to Home Guardian duty, Argus still operates independently as the committee's paramilitary and special forces wing.
Social services, which had been privatized in 2033, were bought out by the CB-affiliated Shepherds’ Brotherhood, which created the Shepherds of the Future. The Shepherds of the Future are responsible for maintaining social order within communities. At times, they act as community organizers, overseeing social projects like garbage cleanup or the installation of environmentally friendly energy systems. At other times, they inform the Home Guardians of any potential for dissent or law-breaking activities. Some Shepherds of the Future are sent overseas as missionaries to convert foreigners to Christianity, with the goal of convincing them to relocate to Jerusalem.
Reinstaat
“The first priority of government is to get things done. Government must pass policies that will benefit the people, even if the people do not want them. It must take a rational and pragmatic approach to administration, one not hampered by idealism and political correctness or vague and ill-defined concepts like the so-called rule of law. All institutions and offices must be firmly aligned with and act in the name of the national interest. There is no room for regulations or restraints that limit the power of the state, as these only get in the way of administration.”
- Josiah Burkard
The committee’s primary governing ideology is called “Reinstaat,” or a pure state, more specifically a state purified of the corruption of the “party cartel,” a common phrase used to describe the political establishment of the old Reich. To achieve Reinstaat, all institutions, policies, power structures, ideas, and even buildings and landmarks associated with the establishment are to be destroyed, so that a new and purer Jerusalemite state can start anew. The idea of a pure state has led many to compare it to the Purist religious movement of the Fifty Years' War, which called for a similar purification of society and the Church.
Reinstaat justifies the absolutism of the Jerusalemite government. Through Reinstaat, the Jerusalemite system establishes itself as an absolutist theocracy, with no limitations on the authority of the Kaiser and the committee directly underneath him. Reinstaat calls for a pure state where no regulations, customs, or legal restraints restrict the power, authority, or functioning of the state. It is related to the Roman concept of Rechtsstaat, or a constitutional/Augustinian state which emphasizes the rule of law, in that it emphasizes what is morally just from a Christian standpoint. It is different from Obrigkeitsstaat or Nichtrechtsstaat, states based on the arbitrary use of power, as the use of power in Reinstaat is not arbitrary, but organized and hierarchical yet unrestrained. This idea was first proposed by the economics professor, Economics Nobel Prize laureate, and committee member Josiah Burkard in the late 2020s, who perceived the idea of Rechsstaat as being thrown around “like a bludgeon” to silence and suppress dissenting views going against the party cartel, while also simultaneously hampering government efficiency and preventing the implementation of policy.
Society
“In the name of the morals we stand for, it is the duty of all to be pure and righteous, both in deeds and thoughts. The good Christian must be patriotic and wholesome, just as Saint Wilhelmina intended.”
- Josiah Burkard
As stated above, Jerusalem’s laws and customs are based around a literal and narrow interpretation of the Old Testament of the Bible. The committee generally believes this interpretation is the only valid one, and all Jerusalemites must follow it to build the empire into the Kingdom of God of Earth. To do otherwise is to live in sin and treachery, which if left untreated are punishable by death. Christianity is the state religion and the only religion allowed in Jerusalem. It is mandatory to be a Christian in Jerusalem; all non-Christians are required to convert or leave to an Imperial Homeland (in the case of Jews and Muslims). Individual civil liberties enumerated in the abolished Augustinian Code have been replaced with a system of duties and privileges stemming from the committee’s interpretation of scripture.
Jerusalem is a patriarchal society, where only men have access to education and jobs. Only a select few men meet the strict property, religious, military, and economic requirements for Jerusalemite citizenship. Women are not allowed to have titles, financial accounts, or deeds to property in their name, and the only careers they can have are those specifically assigned to them by the committee. Women are not considered citizens and must submit to the authority of their husband or next male of kin. In some districts, it is forbidden for women to read and write, and all public text there is replaced with pictograms. Women must focus on being modest and pure in all areas, as they are considered to be more prone to weakness of character and sin. After all, it was Eve who was tempted into eating the fruit of knowledge and then led to Adam's downfall and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Due to legally enforced gender discrimination, women are considered the lesser sex and inferior to men. They are given a different education from men which emphasizes child bearing and raising.
Under the Bureau of Media Morals, led by Minister Bysandros Malecares, Jerusalemite media is heavily censored and propagandized to promote patriotic values. Secular media of all kinds is heavily restricted. The only music allowed is Christian music, while all movies, TV shows, and websites must adhere to the Bureau of Media Morals’ restrictive guidelines on “wholesome and patriotic Christian content.” Jerusalemite news makes no effort to even claim to tell the truth. Minister Malecares’ belief is that there is no objective truth, and news is only worth reporting if it is exciting and engaging. “News” stories in Jerusalem are frequently filmed with paid actors reading from scripts designed to draw attention. This serves to keep the Jerusalemite public engaged and outraged at all times, encouraging patriotic expression while suppressing dissent from the bottom up as unpatriotic. Narratives are frequently inconsistent and contradictory, even within the same broadcast, but it is almost impossible to point this out due to the sheer number of narratives being published at the same time. This reduces the effectiveness of any foreign news narratives that break through the censors. At the same time, the Bureau of Media Morals produces an overwhelming amount of foreign propaganda, both on TV networks and online, in tandem with official press releases and announcements. For example, in the summer of 2038, the Bureau of Media Morals promoted and released a musical film called
Gallia: The New Arcadia, which portrayed a romantic idyll through the French countryside, where attractive women in German clothes frolicked through hillside meadows while muscular shirtless men rode on horses set to patriotic music. Nothing French was involved in the making of the movie; the movie itself was shot in the foothills of the Austrian Alps.
Gallia: The New Arcadia was billed as the "herald of the new Christian Babelsberg" and promoted around the world as the new face of the Jerusalemite movie industry. Although critics around the world almost universally panned it, it made 600 million marks at the box office and dominated the public conversation online and offline for weeks.
Education
"Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying."
- Proverbs 19:18
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."
- Proverbs 22:6
"Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell."
- Proverbs 23:14
The Jerusalemite education system remains heavily inspired by the old Roman education system, although with significant departures and "innovations." Education consists of state-funded but privately-owned primary and secondary schools. These schools are predominantly Christian ones, as most secular public schools were either converted or shut down. Curriculum focuses on rote memorization of basic ideas like reading and writing, national patriotism, Christianity, and military training. In any given lesson, the teacher generally simply writes down his teachings on the board, points at it, and asks students to repeat it until they memorize what he said. In secondary schools, there may be alternative courses teaching skilled trades relevant to the local area. Women have a separate curriculum focusing on childbearing, child rearing, and home management. All teachers are required to be male members of the Shepherds’ Brotherhood and approved by the district subcommittee. They are not required to have a teaching degree as issued under the old regime. There are only a handful of universities after secondary school. These universities were formerly private Christian universities which have been converted into male-only seminaries preparing students for the priesthood. Most men, however, choose to attend a Crusader training academy. Universities associated with the heretical Jesuits have not only been closed but completely razed.
The committee sets a standardized curriculum for all schools. Christian instruction, attendance of Christian events, display of Christian iconography, display of the Autokrator’s portrait, and “patriotic education” is mandatory at all levels. As soon as a child is enrolled in school at the age of 5, they are taught love for the motherland, the basic ideas of Christianity as promoted by the committee, and national pride in being Jerusalemite (German). All lessons are conducted solely in German, despite this being officially billed as “bilingual education.” Greek is only used for religious services and related classes, but even there it is being phased out in favor of German (see "Tabula Rasa" below).
While textbooks relating to the sciences and mathematics remain mostly unchanged, those related to history, geography, and current events stress the importance of national sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity. History is reinterpreted through a heroic and patriotic lens, where Friedrich the Great, Friedrich the Glorious, and Saint Wilhelmina bring Orthodox civilization to Europe and end the Catholic Dark Ages by converting the poor French, Arabs, Poles, Germans, and Greeks into patriotic citizens. The Triple Alliance, Mongols, Malcolm Bethune, Scandinavians, Maximists, Russians, Soviets, Chinese, Red Army Faction, FLM, and the party cartel are all labeled as “splittist terrorists” whose plotted to break apart the Reich into its constituent elements and eradicate everything Roman. The “imperial borders” listed in textbooks are also much larger than internationally recognized. One particularly egregious claim is made over almost all of the Atlantic Ocean from two hundred miles off the Kanatan shore to the Volkslands Islands, which are all claimed as “ancestral fishing grounds.” When not in lessons, children are taught patriotic songs, how to salute the flag, and to praise the ever present picture of the Autokrator hanging behind the teacher’s desk, under a Christian cross. Children who fall behind on benchmarks or are unruly and disruptive are brought back in line with corporal punishment. Common punishments include being hit with switches, rods, and even PVC pipes across the hands, legs, back, head, or neck.
"These truths are not new, deep insights from the professional world of research, but rather, the same principles our ancestors used to train their stubborn mules, the same technique God uses to train his children. Remember, this is not discipline but training. It may take several times, but if the punishment is delivered consistently, they will learn to consistently obey, even outside the classroom. Child training is a bulwark against liberal, secular, permissive, child-centered parenting which spoils children into believing in a boundary-free world that revolves around them. In making our children understand their true place in the world, safe from the influence of the corrupt party cartel, we return our whole culture to godliness. If you want a child who will integrate into the New World Order and wait his turn in line for condoms, a government funded abortion, sexually transmitted disease treatment, psychological evaluation and a mark on the forehead, then follow the popular guidelines in education, entertainment and discipline, but if you want a child of God, you will have to do it God's way."
- Bysandros Malecares, writing for the 1105 Commission
Saint Wilhelmina's Mending
"There will be people manipulating others to serve them. They must be given no quarter. Only then will the rest of us enjoy lasting peace."
- Saint Wilhelmina
Outside of the classroom, patriotic education continues under the auspices of the Saint Wilhelmina’s Mending program, a sweeping social program monitoring and curating all aspects of Jerusalemite society. TV channels oriented around children’s content are required to air cartoons promoting national unity and ethnic harmony. In areas with large minority populations, these cartoons demonize minority traditions as “deviant” and provide basic German lessons, with the slogan of “learn German and become civilized.” Crusader triumphs are most frequently held in minority-dominated areas, both to show the strength and vigor of the German majority and to intimidate any would-be dissenters. Children as young as 3 are required to march alongside the soldiers in these triumphs. In particularly problematic areas, minority children are sent away to residential schools to be instructed in the German language and culture by German teachers, with very few opportunities to see their families. The most fortunate students may see their families only for two days out of the entire year, and when they do, they typically struggle with speaking any language other than German.
Satellite footage of a residential camp for children in the Cherson Special District. Children can be seen lining up outside.
The power of the 1105 Commission has been greatly expanded, with the former Bureau of Education now folded into the Commission. Officially, the Commission is known under a new name, the "Imperial Commission of the Holy Roman Empire of Jerusalem to Counter Splittist Attempts to Falsify History to the Detriment of the Holy Roman Empire of Jerusalem’s National Interests" (still calling it the 1105 Commission is acceptable). It is made up of a panel of CB political leaders, military officials, and state-approved historians tasked with defending the “illustrious and exceptional history of the greatest empire in the world.” Jerusalem still recognizes the atrocities of the Angeloi, but an official 1105 Commission resolution states “there is no historical proof that persecution was organized along ethnic or religious lines” and lists sixteen targets of persecution—of various political, social, cultural, and regional leanings—without a single mention of complicity in the mass murder of Muslims. Committee member Theodor Tesla referred to the crimes of the Angeloi and other Axis powers as “an act of repression against the entire world.” There is not much to go on to dispute that; all of the Angeloi concentration camps in Europe, save one, have been demolished between 2028 and 2034. The last one—a camp outside Frankfurt which once imprisoned Aliya Hussein and was violently shut down by Anne Frank—has been seized by the state and has had its exhibits overhauled to focus on the experiences of the guards instead of the prisoners.
Jerusalem still recognizes the Holocaust as having happened, but with a twist. In 2036, Autokrator Wilhelm IV decreed what was officially named the “Law Against Rehabilitation of the Angeloi Ideology.” Its premise was that the Vijayanagara war crimes tribunal had passed exhaustive judgment on all Axis atrocities, and the decree specifically banned, with harsh penalties, “false information on the activites of the imperial regime during the Second World War.” The subtext is that any mention of crimes
not judged at Vijayanagara would be equated to denial of the Holocaust and other known and judged Axis atrocities. The decree ends by stating, “it is wrong to insult the memory of a victorious nation which defended the freedom of all peoples on God’s Earth.”
The 1105 Commission copies this rhetoric in its official policies and guidelines regarding modern social issues. Cultural and religious discrimination—such as anti-French sentiment, Mexicaphobia, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism—are briefly discussed, but only as a few bullet points among dozens of “challenges to Christian Jerusalemite principles” which also includes “pluralism,” “feminism,” “progressivism,” “LGBT ideology,” “critical race theory,” and “identity politics.” Cultural and religious discrimination is defined as a “denial of core Christian beliefs and an attempted replacement with a theory of collective rights in their place; this theory is the direct ancestor of the destructive identity politics ideology which corrupted and destroyed the liberal Reich regime.” Schools are forbidden from teaching the concepts listed by the Commission, or really anything that would “give rise to discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on the basis of the individual’s race, religion, or sex.” One such policy handed down to schools states: “Examples of theories that distort history and are inconsistent with the Imperial Commission of the Holy Roman Empire of Jerusalem to Counter Splittist Attempts to Falsify History to the Detriment of the Holy Roman Empire of Jerusalem’s National Interests’ standards include Holocaust denial, the teaching of critical race theory, and attempts to enforce the LGBT ideology on students.”
Tabula Rasa
“The majority cannot be separated from the national minorities. National minorities cannot separate from the majority, nor can they separate from each other. All of us citizens are all part of a larger Jerusalemite whole. If we all speak with one tongue—German—we aspire to a unified and civilized society, just as Friedrich the Great intended. All negative differences which lead to poverty and civil discord will melt together, and from the melting pot a new Jerusalemite people will emerge as one. All ethnicities should be as one and must share the same language and food.”
- Josiah Burkard
The concept of a melting pot was first described in the late 19th century due to an increase in overseas immigration to the Reich after the unification of China and the Great Eimerican Wars. It was believed that all newcomers to the Reich would enter a multicultural pot and “melt” together into a “soup of Romanitas,” where all would become Roman citizens. This was initially described from an egalitarian point of view, as it declared that anyone could become a Roman. However, the melting pot was redefined in 2014 by Josiah Burkard, whose books
Problematic Populism: Upheaval During the 2024 Recession and the Long-Term Effects on Roman Prosperity and
On the Brink of Collapse posited that it was the many differences—cultural, linguistic, and ethnic—which were causing sociopolitical polarization and division within the Reich. The party cartel intentionally drove this division to keep the common people fighting amongst themselves instead of realizing their true enemy in the establishment. Burkard proposed that the melting pot be made part of government social policy and used to forge a common imperial culture and identity which would break down any distinctions that would divide the people. He posited that many major problems facing the Reich’s most high profile minority groups—the French, Poles, and Arabs—stemmed from the fact that they had prioritized their cultural, ethnic, and religious differences over integrating into a larger Roman community. For example, he argued the French people intentionally marginalized themselves by clinging to an“outdated and backward culture and thus had no right to complain about police brutality, high rates of crime and drug abuse, rampant poverty, and redlining. To solve this, he proposed taking integration policies one step further, by teaching German in bilingual education to ease linguistic barriers, encouraging German culture to be adopted in minority areas, and incentivizing minorities and Germans to move to each other’s regions, so they can interact with each other more.
After 2035, Josiah Burkard implemented this policy as part of the new Tabula Rasa plan. Without the “limitations of Rechtsstaat” to “restrain the efficiency of the central state,” Burkard set about establishing his new melting pot. Believing that continuity of minority cultures was responsible for the cycle of poverty, crime, and political extremism in minority communities, Burkard emphasized the need to “break lineage, break roots, break connections, and break origins” to start over. Ethnic lineage, religious and cultural roots, communal connections, and historical legacies had to be melted down in the pot of Tabula Rasa so they could be reforged into a larger Jerusalemite (German) identity. Through this, he believed he could save minorities from a cycle poverty and extremism. Even the Greeks would be considered a minority group.
A reeducation camp in the Cherson Special District
All aspects of minority cultures were targeted: language, culture, lifestyle, religion, housing, and so on. As stated above, use of minority languages—like French, Polish, Arab, and Russian but also including traditionally tolerated languages like Basque, Anglo-Saxon, Andalusian Norse, and even Greek itself—is purged from all public functions like schools and workplaces, while children are encouraged to speak German and only German. Ostensibly, this would remove the language barrier to facilitate easier communication. Local cultures are discouraged as backwards and, in some cases, uncivilized. German cultural customs are introduced into minority areas and encouraged over local customs. For example, Yavdian culture is officially referred to as “eastern steppes barbarian culture.” Traditional Polish attire is officially labeled as “medieval and redneck” (the slang redneck, used in the 20th and early 21st centuries to denigrate rural inhabitants, actually originated from striking coal workers in the Rhineland who wore red bandanas around their necks to demonstrate solidarity, but has now taken on the former meaning again), with German clothes hailed as “modern and patriotic.” The same treatment is applied to local cuisine, social habits, and ways of life. Traditionally nomadic or agrarian groups like the Romani are forced to settle in fixed communities where they can be easily surveilled. In some cases, drawing on the policies of Saint Wilhelmina, entire communities are scattered across Europe, with German settlers brought in to replace them to achieve “ethnocultural oneness” and facilitate “national melting.” In the Cherson Special District, birth control and even sterilization is enforced on many women. In the Western Special District, the committee encourages marriages between French women and German men. There, French-German spouses are eligible to receive one thousand marks annually for up to five years following the registration of their marriage license. Such marriages are highly publicized, with local subcommittees declaring the couples "will let ethnic unity forever bloom in their hearts and become one's own flesh and blood." This scheme has been extended to parts of the Cherson Special District.
Local religious customs are more aggressively targeted, as Burkard identified non-Christian religion as a major national security threat. Houses of worship are initially shut down with claims of being “hotbeds of terrorist activity.” Then they are razed and paved over (the highly profiled razing of many national landmarks as part of the official beginning of Tabula Rasa, despite the project having begun months earlier, is part of this). And to prevent them from coming back, the land they sit on is repurposed for other uses by the state. For example, the Grand Temple of Cordoba, razed from space by SVI, was replaced with a giant cabbage patch and solar panel array. Monks and nuns of non-Christian faiths are targeted for conversion and other “corrective measures.” This is ostensibly to crack down on religious radicalization, but it is very clear to all that the committee seeks to convert the religious leadership of rival faiths to weaken religion as a method of resistance by the common people. For example, Muslim imams are forced to eat pork and burn prayer mats and copies of the Qur’an. All mosques are razed for being “foreign and anti-patriotic,” and the call to prayer is banned as a “public nuisance.”
It should also be said here that Jerusalem has the shortest wait times for organ transplants.
Holidays
The following strictly religious holidays are celebrated in Jerusalem:
Advent
Christmas - as a strictly religious holiday, with no pagan or secular influences
Easter - again as a strictly religious holiday
Holy Week
Feast of the Annunciation
Lent
Pentecost
The Autokrator’s birthday (February 2)
Jerusalem Proclamation Day (January 8)
No other holidays are celebrated.
Economy
Jerusalem is committed to a fully decarbonized economic model, as detailed in Josiah Burkard’s book
Roman Prosperity in a Warming World, with the goal of eliminating all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It invests heavily into renewable energy industries and strictly regulates all sources of emissions. By 2036, it had eliminated all gas-powered motor vehicles in favor of solar-powered ones. Air travel has seen a dramatic decline since 2030, especially after 2034, as the number of global travelers overall has decreased, while those who still travel take solar-powered high speed rail instead. All remaining coal mines and oilfields have been shut down. Agricultural production has shifted away from polluting industrial methods towards sustainable, localized, and agrarian methods.
The Andasol solar power station in Guadix, Andalusia. Andasol is a 150-megawatt (MW) concentrated solar power station built in 2009 and the first commercial plant in Europe to use parabolic troughs. It uses tanks of molten salt as thermal energy storage to continue generating electricity even without sunlight. Service was temporarily interrupted during a period of insurgency and instability in Andalusia between 2035 and 2037.
In January 2035, to raise money for the new regime, Jerusalem nationalized a significant number of properties and bank accounts belonging to citizens and both Roman and foreign corporations with assets in the former Reich. Legally declaring Jerusalem a politically distinct entity from the former Reich, committee member Josiah Burkard nullified all outstanding contracts with foreign corporations and nationals, arguing their contracts were with the Reich, not Jerusalem, and thus there was no obligation for Jerusalem to compensate them. The former Reich’s position as the center of the global financial system also gave Jerusalem leverage to seize more assets, cut off crucial supply lines, and decapitate the international banking system, plunging foreign economies into chaos so they could not mount an effective economic response to Jerusalem’s actions. As a result, the world entered a massive depression in 2035, the likes of which has not been seen since the beginning of modern banking. In response, the UN and remaining Schengen Pact members imposed an international embargo, and the UN does not recognize Jerusalem as a legitimate nation. However, Jerusalem’s economy remains almost completely self-sufficient, despite a nearly complete lack of foreign trade as a result of international sanctions.
Jerusalem’s economic policy is mercantilist in nature, following the principles and policies laid out in Josiah Burkard’s book
The Case for Relaunching the Mercantile Economy. Jerusalem pursues a policy of autarky and limited (if any) trade with the rest of the world. It imposes high tariffs, especially on manufactured goods, and subsidizes exports. The export of gold and silver is banned entirely. The benefits of such policies, if any, do not “trickle down” to the average Jerusalemite consumer or worker, who are both presented with high local market prices and wages fixed at low rates. Unions are banned and any attempts at labor action harshly suppressed as equalist.
Due to the embargo and its mercantilist policies, Jerusalem receives almost no foreign imports and is unable to export many goods to most nations (other than the occasional batch of “vocational workers” it sends out to work overseas at cheap rates). It remains on cordial terms with several nations which did not join the embargo or were unable to maintain sanctions due to economic and financial hardship. China, which under an increasingly authoritarian Han Xianyu has withdrawn from the UN, does not have an official embargo but does not consider itself an ally or trade partner either. The Republic of Penglai, whose Zhao Yu prides himself on being a personal friend of the Autokrator and several committee members, imports food and industrial parts from Jerusalem but has publicly boasted of seizing rebel-held Mittagsland as a “natural part of Penglai.” The Republic of Nepal considers itself an ally of Jerusalem but is unable to trade or engage in diplomacy due to its status of being landlocked between anti-Jerusalem but politically impotent India and apathetic China. Finally, despite a limited Eimerican Federation supply convoy being set up, Scandinavia reluctantly imports food and other consumer goods from Jerusalem because it depends on them to keep its economy afloat. Other nations fall in the same boat as Scandinavia due to having relatively small economies dependent on Jerusalemite exports. In the summer of 2036, the Korean government agreed to lift sanctions and recognize Jerusalem in exchange for an economic agreement which would see exports to Korea resume and Korean tourists to begin contributing to the Jerusalemite economy. The southern Japanese Republic soon followed suit, hoping to get Jerusalem’s support for its ambitions of full Japanese reunification as well as economic relief. Not all countries are receptive of Jerusalem, though. When Burkard personally extended a bailout offer to Russia, which was on the verge of famine, Chancellor Olga Kirova refused, stubbornly keeping the country on towards complete economic collapse.
Military
The Jerusalemite military mainly consists of men who were previously members of the Roman Armed Forces or employees of Argus Security. Military conscription is used to supplement these troops when needed. All combat-age Jerusalemite men are expected to go through a year of military training and own at least one gun in the event of foreign invasion. These reserves are organized into home militias under the leadership of the Home Guardians, who are to be the commanders of the militias in times of war.
Rebel-taken photo of a Crusader on patrol in Bremerhaven, prior to the city's nuking.
Jerusalem’s military is split into five branches: the army (Crusader Host), navy (Holy Marine), air force (Seraphim Luftwaffe), Home Guard, and the coast guard (Guardians of the Sea), although the navy and coast guard are effective combined due to their small sizes. Soldiers in the Jerusalemite army are generally referred to as Crusaders of the Lord, or just Crusaders. They are trained in urban warfare, decentralized militia tactics, and combined arms attacks with the incorporation of unmanned aerial and grounded drones and intel relayed by implanted Panopticon devices in their heads. A majority of personnel in the continental Kaiserliche Heer sided with Jerusalem, while the rest retreated south of the Sahara or to overseas bases.
A Seraphim S-10 Sword of Michael bombing an exposed rebel convoy in Euskara
The Holy Marine is primarily focused on coastal defense and the transport of troops and marine forces, known as Cherubim, but it can also carry out shore bombardments and launch aircraft from its aircraft carriers. Most of the fleets in the Kaiserliche Marine remained loyal to the old regime and relocated to overseas bases, mainly in Africa, leaving few ships for Jerusalem to command.
On the other hand, almost the entirety of the Kaiserliche Luftwaffe sided with Jerusalem, giving Jerusalem complete aerial superiority over continental Europe. With no conflicts to fight, the Seraphim Luftwaffe focuses on aiding combined arms attacks led by the army. Pilots in the air force are referred to as Angels.
The Autokrator is the commander-in-chief of the military, although he defers to the wishes of the Crusader High Command, which replaced the General Staff. From 2035-2037, the Crusader High Command was headed by Megas Domestikos Heinrich Dandolo, but in January 2038, the committee voted to transfer most of Dandolo's responsibilities to High Command itself, believing a more decentralized chain of command would reduce the effectiveness of a decapitation strike and treason at the very top.
Diplomacy
As stated above, Jerusalem is currently under an international UN embargo. The United Nations and almost all nations do not recognize the legitimacy of Jerusalem due to alleged human rights violations and the circumstances by which it dislodged and abolished the Roman government. The UN still grants legitimacy to a rump Roman government in exile based in Russia, similar to the arrangement its predecessor the Council of Nations made for the Kanatan, Tsarist, and Yavdian governments in exile during the 20th century.
Jerusalem continues trade with its northern neighbor, Scandinavia, which under Olaf Finnson's Ragnaroker government is more receptive to Jerusalem’s economic offers than other nations. Despite importing more and more goods from the Eimerican Federation and being a part of the rump Schengen Part, Scandinavia remains significantly dependent on Roman imports and as such maintains at least neutral or cordial relations with its southern neighbor. While Yavdi’s government is also a Schengen member and has issued condemnations of Jerusalem’s human rights record, it has also not taken any significant diplomatic or economic actions against Jerusalem due to the continued presence of Crusader garrisons in former Roman military bases across the country and on the Chinese border. Yavdi maintains neutral trading relations with Jerusalem.
Russia does not have official relations with Jerusalem due to its close ties to what is left of the former Reich. A Roman government in exile, led by a former Constantinople Metropolitan Police Commissioner and represented at the UN by the Autokrator’s rogue niece Wilhelmina, is based in Kiev and maintains a close informal alliance with the Russian government. This has been a persistent thorn in Jerusalem’s side which continuously inflames relations with Russia. When Josiah Burkard went to Russia with a widely popular offer of détente and economic relief, it was the rogue princess and Roman government in exile which derailed the talks. The growing Roman exile community in Russia, made up of far left Roman refugees and Roman military personnel based in Russia in 2035, continuously lobbies the government to maintain a hardline anti-Jerusalem stance. Jerusalem officially rejects all allegations of atrocities and crimes against humanity as “lies and absurd allegations,” with its secuirty measures as being necessary to combat the “three barbarities” of separatism, terrorism, and extremism. It insists it is committed to promoting ethnic culture, saying minorities are living even better than under the old regime, with new roads, hospitals, and jobs having been created for them. Under the old regime, minority women had been relegated to “baby-making kitchen tenders” before being emancipated by the committee. Josiah Burkard, speaking to promote Tabula Rasa to the international community, says on the matter:
“Jerusalem is a credible, lovable, and respectable nation committed to the well-being of all of its imperial citizens. It is dedicated to upholding international law and fostering a mutual global community for all mankind, where we all join together in win-win cooperation to advance as a single species. For is God not a loving and caring father, who only wants the best for His children on Earth? As His chosen people, we must follow in His example by being loving and caring towards all of our fellow citizens. After all, the golden rule states: do unto your neighbors as they would do unto you.”
