From the State Press

[Evangeline Anovilis]

[center][font="Palatino Linotype"][size="6"]Karlovački List[/size][/font]
1[sup]st[/sup] Issue

[img]http://i.imgur.com/21T59.png[/img][/center]

[b]National Mourning[/b]

Ban Milan has ordered a day of national mourning, as two great losses have occurred to the Duchy. Pope XV, head of the Catholic Church, state religion of Croatia, has died and a new Pope has to be elected by the Papal Conclave now. The local Cardinal, Stefan Velankovic has left the Duchy to attent this serious matter and he will not return, until the traditional 'Habeus Papam!' was spoken from the balcony of the St. Peters Basilica. Many hope for Catholicism to regain strength, given the perceived threat by Nordic Religion to Croatian Culture.

But also, the people are mourning over the significant losses in the Tianxian invasion of Germany. Altough Germany preserved the integrity of its mainlands, the Easterners succeeded in the conquest of Kazakhstan and the Caucasus, creating a debate among the people wether or not the Horde has now gained ground in Europe. Many scholars talk of no immediate threat, altough they acknowledge that the Horde now holds European territory north of the Kuma-Manych Depression and west of the Ural River. Croatian losses in the war were small, however, Ban Milan wants the Croats to mourn for all Slavs lost in this war, as many think that it was them who were hit the hardest, given the civilian death toll. Still, the Ban decided to hold a speech, honouring the Slavic losses, as well as the German ones, proclaiming that while Slavs were hurt in a manner hardly acceptable, it was still in defense of the freedom of Europe from outside influence.

[b]The Search for a Monarch[/b]

As Ban Milan announced that he will be searching for a monarch immediatly after the elections, the Duchy is split over whom to coronate. Two sides have formed, honouring mostly historic ties, with the Southern Pan-slavists, wanting to install a member of the House Romanov-Gottorp, while the Northern Croats still uphold the claim of the House Habsburg-Lorraine. Both sides made their opinion known via protest marches on Karlovac, with minor clashes, but neither dead nor wounded. The camps number a few ten thousand each, but the majority are undecided. While the Russians are feared to be too distant for any functioning monarchy, the return of a Habsburg-Lorraine Princess is feared as association with the Horde, seen as unwise given the importance of German-Croat relations. Altough the Fascists argue that the Horde may offer oportunities to reclaim lands lost in the past, many see this as an empty promise, as the fall of Vicidalia showed the problem of the Hordes inability to project force fast enough in face of Blitzkrieg. Given the size of Croatia, compared to Vicidalia, it is not seen as worthwhile to provoke German anger over affiliating with their former enemies. Ban Milan also ruled out the return under Habsburg rule, for this reason and the widespread distrust towards the new Amazonian movement.

[b]Croatia forms an Army[/b]

With the institution of a conscription law, Croatia has now begun to set up an army. Stationed in Karlovac, the army will be to defend the country in face of an attack. Despite the small size, the dimension of the neighbouring realms were deemed reason enough to create 3 divisions, one of standing army, and two with a rotating system, in order to keep the citizens trained. Croatia, lacking the manpower, should at least prevail in quality of our troops, General Petar Nikolin states. He also confirms that the army will get armor and artillery soon, as the systems were already ordered and in production. Many hope that the Navy would be formed as fast.

The main reason stated for militarising to this extent, however is less the two immediate neighbours, but also the incursion of the Horde and the opportunism of certain countries, displayed in the past. With Imperialists, like France, the Horde, former Vicidalia or Australia, as well as the forces under Bob Lopol, Croatia sees its own security as a matter of paramount importance.

[b]Edit: OOC:[/b] No, I can't speak Hrvatski, so beat me in a query if the title's wrong.

Edited January 9, 2012 by Evangeline Anovilis

[Evangeline Anovilis]

[center][font="Palatino Linotype"][size="6"]Karlovački List[/size][/font]
2[sup]nd[/sup] Issue

[img]http://i.imgur.com/21T59.png[/img][/center]

[b]Adriatic Trade experiences Revival[/b]

With the lease of the harbor of Koper to the Duchy of Croatia, the Trade in the Adriatic Sea has increased already in the first few days, as a slight increase in ship numbers indicates. Many see it as the beginning of the expected rise of Adriatic Trade, following the stagnation that had settled in as the Adriatic Sea was bordering only two countries, which already shared land borders. In the first days, a local Branch of the somewhat known CCCV, also dubbed the Compagnie, was already established, and also about 60% of all merchant vessels are theirs, making them one of the chief trading partners, in terms of private-owned enterprises. However, it is rather unsurprising, given Ban Milans olicy to declare Koper a free port, in order to strengthen the small economy of Croatia. For the same purpose the Naval Yards layed a keel for a multitude of ships, the number is still disclosed .

These ships however, will most likely be military ships, contributing to the Croatian Navy, to protect our shores and interests. The Ban stated that soon, Croatia would have the highest tonnage of military ships in the world, given the extreme naval build-up program, which not only keeps Koper occupied, but the government looks to buy ships from the outside as well. For contractors, there will be a dedicated part of the Karlovački List on page 25.

[Evangeline Anovilis]

[center][font="Palatino Linotype"][size="6"]Karlovački List[/size][/font]
3[sup]rd[/sup] Issue

[img]http://i.imgur.com/21T59.png[/img][/center]

[b]Our navy grows[/b]

Today, the Croatian Naval Forces commissioned their first frigate, the [i]Strossmayer[/i]. Her namesake derives from the famous Josip Juraj Strossmayer, chosen by Ban Milan to symbolise the unity with the other slavic people in Central Europe, as well as with the catholic church. With this, the Croatian Naval Forces now can go further than just their coastline, with a frigate build according to the newest technologies. The Strossmayer will be deployed in Koper and soon be joined by further ships of her class. Details are mostly classified, however, the government states the capability of this new ship, not only to be able to hide from radar dedection, but also ranges of over 700 km are reported, making the ship a valuable asset to our country. The next ships are due to be commisioned soon.

[center][img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/FS_Forbin_1.jpg[/img]
[i]The Strossmayer[/i][/center]

Edited January 13, 2012 by Evangeline Anovilis

[Evangeline Anovilis]

[center][font="Palatino Linotype"][size="6"]Karlovački List[/size][/font]
4[sup]th[/sup] Issue

[img]http://i.imgur.com/21T59.png[/img][/center]

[b]Govakia annexed[/b]

As the country of Govakia has fallen into anarchy, the crews of our battlecruisers Erzherzog Eugen and Stjepan Sarkotić occupied the country and declared it Croatian West Africa. Altough looking good on the map, the economy and its prospects look terrible and apart from sand and dates, the Minister of Economic Affairs is rather pessimistic. Many hope that the colony will not burden the treasury with even more bills, as the colony may be weak, but it still needs to be kept up in a proper state.

Altough basic infrastructure is kept up, the government decided not to invest money, as long as the economic situation did not improve. Currently, Croatias economy lies in shambles, hardly industrialised and with an incompetible agriculture. Still the country keeps spending money, leaving many to wonder how this is achieved.