The Holiday Empire

The Holiday Empire, also known as the Holiday State pre-1996, is a landlocked empire located in between

Central Asia and Eastern Europe. The capital of the Empire is Georgetown with a population of around 10 million as of 2055. Since 1996, the empire has rapidly expanded annexing parts of Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Romania. As of 2120, the Holiday State alone has a population of 47 million, where the empire has a combined population of 172 million. Due to the US and Soviet Union having a big part in the empire's early History, English, as well as Russian, are considered official languages. Despite not being an official language, Romanian, Ukrainian and Kazakh are also spoken widely within the Empire. The Empire began to become a military superpower during the late 2040s-60s with record breaking aircraft like the Albatross III being put into service. Following the end of the Second Korean war, the empire went into a steady decline. Poor leadership led to overspending on military tech and scientific research. The overspending and the loss of the Second Korean War was a large contributor to the collapse of the Holiday Empire in 2130.

Etymology
The Holiday Empire got it's name during the early 1950s when the ease of living in the state was much higher than it is today.

"So many opportunities here, it's like a Holiday State"

This would eventually become the given name in 1955, with the 'empire' status being added in 1996.

Early History
The Holiday Empire would first begin as a small country-sized piece of land given to the Soviet Union in 1922. Aside from a few rural villages, the land was mostly uninhabited. Throughout WW2, the land was claimed by the Nazis. The small population was at the mercy of Nazi forces and suffered mass genocides reducing most of the already small population. In 1945, as the war waned, the area was annexed again by the US.

As part of the Marshall Plan, billions of dollars were shovelled into agriculture, housing, and industry. A new city named Georgetown was built to accommodate these facilities. Initially, this was to provide aid to Europe after the decimation in WW2. Under the table however, the main reason was due to it's proximity to the Soviet Union. The new state was used as a platform to spy on the Soviets. Life was easy, and there were many job opportunities, it was soon nicknamed 'The Holiday State' which would soon become it's official name in 1955. With the largest deposit of Uranium in the world being found north of Georgetown, even more people flocked over.

Soviet Occupation
On the 20th January 1956, the Soviets, in search of Uranium, invaded the Holiday State. The conflict began with a Soviet La-11s violating Holidian Air force. With too many La-11s being lost to Holidian P-51s, the Soviets retreated and attacked two days later with more force. The fighting continued for months with Holdian Forces dwindling by the day. Finally, on the 28th of May, 1957, the Soviets won with Holidian Forces completely annihilated.

Throughout Soviet Occupation of the state, the state's capital, Georgetown, was rebuilt after extensive Soviet bombings during the war. American-style suburbs were replaced with almost monolithic apartment blocks. After only five years, the city was completely unrecognizable. Resistance groups like the Western Alliance also popped up during this time, and conducted one of the largest raids in 1964.

With the decline of the Soviet Union in the 80s-90s, the Holiday State became independent once more. With the Soviet Union collapsing in 1991, the Holiday State was in a position to annex neighbouring nations like Ukraine, bits of Kazakhstan, and more.

Empire Status
The state officially achieved Empire status in 1996 with the state rapidly expanding. The new empire was doing well until the economic crash of 2008 where the empire was hit hard. Ukraine, now called the Atlantis State eventually became independent in 2009.

Tensions between the Holiday Empire and the Atlantis State rose in the 2020s. The tensions would reach their height in 2028 when Atlantean fighters breached Holidian Airspace. This small conflict would turn into a long, brutal war with Holidian Forces finally winning in 2037. Post-War, the Empire would increase military spending. New aircraft were introduced. From the 2030s onward, the Empire became formidable air power and would finally be tested in the Second Korean War of 2097.

Decline and Collapse
While the Holiday Empire was largely successful throughout the first half of the Second Korean War, dwindling supplies, a steady advance from NATO forces and waning support from allies led to its defeat in late 2102. With the Holiday Empire on the losing side, large repercussions were paid post-war leaving the Empire in debt for decades. Despite this, funding in military were increased leading to even more debt. The recession during the 2110s brought uncertainty into the future. Nations were thinking of breaking away from the Holiday Empire. With the 'Base Delta Zero' asteroid disaster in 2114, funding in scientific study was increased which, further increased the debt.

The Empire's economy would rise and plummet throughout the next decade until finally, on February 17, 2130, a combination of poor leadership, overspending, and it's member states pushing to leave, the Holiday Empire collapsed. With countries declaring independence, the Holiday Empire shrunk down to it's original size pre-2008 and became the Holiday State again.

Government
Early on, when the Empire was still a state, it was directly governed by the US. Even with the state's 'independence' in 1955, the US still had a major influence on the state. With Soviet Occupation in the 50s-80s, the state was communist. With the Western Alliance rising to power immediately after the Soviets left, the Empire became a democracy. This was short lived, however, with the state now becoming a dictatorship as of 2037.

Military
With military hardware being outdated for most of the Empire's early history, there was a push to improve military hardware in the 2020s-40s. With the introduction of world beating aircraft like the Albatross III and IV, the state became a formidable air power. As the Holiday Empire is land-locked, the Empire has an equally strong ground force.