Historical Nations Hockey Concepts 2.0

[DeFrank]

Just finished writing a huge paper on the Punic Wars...

Carthage!

[spamspamspamspam]

Will we see Vichy France or perhaps when New Brunswick Newfoundland was it's own country before joining Canada?

[IceCap]

Will we see Vichy France

No. I'm not doing Nazi Germany, and I will not do any Nazi Germany puppet states.

or perhaps when New Brunswick was it's own country before joining Canada?

New Brunswick was never it's own country. You're thinking of Newfoundland. Yes, Newfoundland will be coming up.

[Gfonk04]

I've tried to do something different with Corsica, something to buck the trend of the last few. Though I maintain that the formulaic pattern works with Hawaii because I was attempting to allude to a barberpole pattern.

Yes and yes.

Corsica is a big win, I like the blue stripes added in there, it also gives the jersey an icy feel with the use of black and white and the very thin stripes. Well done.

Savoy is a step in the right direction in terms of different enough but still solid. I'm excited for the potential of homes/aways.

[IceCap]

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1569–1795

The informal beginnings of the union between Poland and Lithuania start when King Ladislas II of Poland became Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1377. From here on out the Kings of Poland would also be the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. The union, however, was only personal. The King/Grand Duke would rule each entity separately. This changed in 1569 when King/Grand Duke Sigismund II ordered his two holdings united as a single state. The union was completed at the Union of Lublin and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth came into being. It was informally called the Republic of the Two Nations.

This is where the nature of this state confuses some. A republic, traditionally, means any state that's not ruled by a monarch. Yet the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was ruled by a King for all of its history. Yet it's called a republic. So what gives? Well the short answer is that the Commonwealth was both a monarchy and a republic. Jan Zamoyski, a Chancellor of the Commonwealth, summed it up by saying "the King reigns but does not govern." The Commonwealth had a legislator, the Sejm, which limited the power of the Crown. Further, Sigismund died childless, ending the Jagiellon dynasty that had ruled Poland since the late 1300s. After his death in 1572 the Sejm opted to make the monarchy elected. The Sejm would convene after the death or abdication of each king and elect a new king from the ranks of the nobility in Poland and Lithuania. This style of government, sometimes called an aristocratic republic, was referred to as a the Golden Liberty by its creators. They believed they had had found the perfect balance between monarchism and republicanism, between democracy and authoritarianism.

The first go at this elected monarchy didn't end so well, however. Henry Valois was elected King of the Commonwealth following Sigismund II's death, as Henry III of Poland-Lithuania. Henry III's brother, however, was Charles IX of France, a decidedly non-elective monarchy. Well Charles IX died and Henry III of Poland-Lithuania was next in line for the throne. This was the 16th century, however. He couldn't rule two kingdoms on opposite ends of Europe. Being French first and foremost he left the Commonwealth to take up the throne of France, which was much less restricted in what it could do. It's rumoured he left a note that read "If you want to know where the King of Poland is, turn this card around" on each side. As the guards read the card he sneaked out the back and made his way to France where his death would plunge France into the decades long Wars of Religion.

Commonwealth forces were sent into the Russian Empire to stabilize the country during the "Time of Troubles" that was only ended the Romanovs seized the Russian throne and stabilized the country. At various points during this period Commonwealth forces managed to capture and hold Moscow. The Holy Roman Empire was tearing apart at the seams as the Thirty Years War began just as the Commonwealth was experiencing the height of its power. Wisely the Sejm voted not to get involve, and the Commonwealth was spared from the destruction and upheaval that was forced upon almost every nation that got involved. The Commonwealth instead launched a series of campaigns that expanded its territory throughout the 17th century. This, however, proved to be their undoing. Most of modern-day Ukraine was brought under Commonwealth control. Regardless of progressive the Commonwealth was, with an elected monarch and a healthy series of checks and balances that kept total power out of the hands of either the monarch of the Sejm, they were still viewed as foreign occupiers by the Ukrainians. A Ukrainian uprising in 1648 resulted in the Treaty of Pereyaslav in 1654 that ceded Ukraine to the Russian Empire. The terms were apparently popular among Ukrainians, who saw the Russians as closer themselves ethnically and culturally then the Poles/Lithuanians. The Russian annexation of Ukraine led to an increase in Russian influence in eastern Europe and a decrease of Commonwealth influence.

Further setbacks for the Commonwealth when Sweden and Russia launched the Deluge, a massive war against the Commonwealth that lasted from 1655 to 1660. The Commonwealth survived, but it was a hollow victory. The country was devastated by the campaign.

In 1683 King John III of the Commonwealth relieved the battered Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I at the Battle of Vienna against the Ottoman Empire in 1683. The Commonwealth and HRE forces then forced the Ottomans back across the Danube River, which the Ottomans would never cross again. For its role in stopping the advancements of the Muslim Ottomans the Commonwealth received the title of "bulwark of Christianity." Religiously the Commonwealth was startlingly tolerant given the time period, perhaps owing to its large and diverse population. Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, and Jews were all present in the Commonwealth, and were more or less free to practice their religions openly. The Commonwealth was perhaps the most religiously tolerant nation in medieval/early modern Christian Europe.

In 1715 King Augustus II looked to strengthen the role of the Crown at the expense of the Sejm, and civil war broke out. Tsar Peter I of Russia intervened, and normalcy was restored, though the relationship between the Crown and Sejm was strained, which weakened the overall state. The Commonwealth was also weakened by the establishment of western European colonies in the Americas, which lessened the need for land-based trade routes to Asia, land routes that passed through the Commonwealth.

In 1768 Catherine II of Russia finally had enough of this progressive long-time rival sitting on the edge of her autocratic Russian Empire. She forced the Commonwealth to accept terms which made it a protectorate of the Russian Empire. The Sejm hoped this would only be a temporary arrangement, and a new Constitution was ratified on May 3, 1791. This is the third codified progressive constitution in the world, coming after the Corsican Constitution of 1755 and the US Constitution of 1787. The new constitution codified everything that had existed for some time, such as the supremacy of the Sejm (parliament), the elected monarchy, federal relations between Poland and Lithuania, and religious toleration. The hope was that this new constitution could lead the Commonwealth back to greatness. Four years later, however, the Commonwealth was destroyed. King Stanislas II was forced to abdicate the throne and the Sejm was dissolved as the Russian Empire, Holy Roman Empire, and Kingdom of Prussia carved the Commonwealth up among themselves.

This is what happens when you people force me to push the envelope

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a very unique state for its time, pioneering concepts such as democratic representation, constitutional monarchism, federalism, and religious toleration in Europe. The Corsican Constitution and the American Constitution were both revolutionary documents, but they were produced by revolutionary states. This is to be expected. The May 3rd Constitution, however, was drawn up by the leaders of what was, essentially, a feudalistic/middle ages/dark ages state. It was nearly as progressive as the two revolutionary constitutions that came before it. To me this makes the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth very unique, at least as far as continental Europe goes.

I wanted to reflect that in the uniforms. I would like to say that the V pattern was derived from the pointed ends of the flag, but that would be a post-conceptual justification. In reality I was just playing around with designs and stripe positioning and I came up with this. The crest is also smaller and closer to the collar on the sweater, which is a design quirk I wanted to work into a concept for a while. The V across the chest occupies enough of the torso for me to do it without the rest of the sweater looking empty. The crest itself is a simplified version of the Commonwealth's coat of arms. The whit eagle represents Poland and the white knight, or "vytis," represents Lithuania. Interesting topical side-note. Some think that the vytis emblem of Lithuania, still in use by Lithuania today, is a Christianized version of Thor, the ancient Norse god of thunder.

The Dominion of Newfoundland is up next.

[HawkeyHouse]

Zanzibar please?

[gésier123]

Livonia could be intersting or maybe Cajunland ?

[IceCap]

The Dominion of Newfoundland, 1907-1949

Newfoundland was Britain's first permanent colony in the New World. John Cabot landed sometime between 1497 and 1500, claiming the land for King Henry VII. Today the Canadian province of Newfoundland is known as the "birthplace of the British Empire." Cuper's Cove was the colony's first settlement, and in 1638 Sir David Kirke was made governor of the entire island, representing the first time Newfoundland was recognized as a single political unit. Newfoundland's economy exploded as fishermen realized the waters were rich in, well, fish. The island provided a suitable location to launch fishing excursions into the famed Grand Banks. Governor Kirke oversaw the establishment of a triangle trading route between Newfoundland, the West Indies, and Europe that guaranteed the colony economic prosperity.

The French invaded the island during the Seven Years War (French and Indian War to my American friends) but were repulsed after the British victory at the Battle of Signal Hill in 1762. This secured Britain's hold over the island. In 1783 the Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the American Revolution. The treaty gave the United States right to fish off of the coast of Newfoundland. These rights are still valid today.

Newfoundland was granted responsible government, ie an elected legislator that shared power with the appointed Governor. In the mid 1860s the British began advocating that all of their remaining North American colonies unify and form the Dominion of Canada, which would go on to be the first completely self-governing nation within the British Empire, after Britain of course. The British intended Newfoundland to become part of this new Dominion of Canada, but the populous rejected the notion. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick would become founding members of the Dominion of Canada in 1867, and Prince Edward Island would join in 1871. Newfoundland, however, remained separate. The Newfoundlanders felt a closer connection with the British Isles then they did the other colonies that would form the Dominion of Canada. The last attempt to get Newfoundland to join was in 1892 when Canadian Prime Minister Sir John Thompson tried to negotiate a deal, but it fell apart at the last minuet. Canada wouldn't pursue Newfoundland again until the mid 20th century.

In 1907 Newfoundland looked to have secured its position as an independent entity outside of Canada. The British granted the colony Dominion status, technically elevating it to equal status with the whole of Canada within the British Imperial hierarchy.

The Dominion of Newfoundland sent its own regiment, the 1st Newfoundland Regiment, to World War I. They would serve with such distinction that the regiment earned the title "Royal." The war, however, strained the financial resources of the small Dominion. World War I forced the concept of "total war" on all of its participants. The larger British Dominions of Canada, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand could deal with the demands of total war, but Newfoundland, the poorest of the Dominions, could not.

The strain on the economy in the post-WWI years was coupled with political corruption. Government corruption reached such a staggering level that the Attorney General of Newfoundland actually arrested the Newfoundland Prime Minister Sir Richard Squires. Things reached a breaking point when the Great Depression hit. Political unstable and financially strained, the Depression was the final straw. The country was now broke. In 1934 they requested that Britain revoke responsible government and resume direct rule. This was the first, and remains the only, time that a British colony has request responsible government be revoked. The country retained the rank of Dominion officially, but practically the British ruled Newfoundland directly.

This arrangement lasted until the end of World War II. The British were looking devolve the Empire and were engaged in negotiations to end colonial rule in India and Africa. They no longer wanted the burden of directly governing Newfoundland. A referendum on Newfoundland's future was held in 1948. In the end the populous voted to join Confederation with the rest of Canada by a margin of 52.3% to 47.7%. In 1949 the Dominion of Newfoundland was abolished and Newfoundland became Canada's tenth province.

Like the Kingdom of Hawaii the Dominion of Newfoundland's national flag contained the British Union Jack. So like my Hawaii concept, and following the lead of other countries who's flags contain the Union Jack such as Australia and New Zealand, I went with a separate set of national colours for the Newfoundland national team to use in international competition.

So why green, white, and pink? Well I based my choice of these colours off of the Newfoundland Tricolour. The Tricolour is a flag that's been used to represent Newfoundland, unofficially, since the 1870s. It's rumoured it was designed by a group of Catholics of Irish descent, hence the similar layout and proportions to the Irish flag. Though this flag has never had official status within Newfoundland it seemed like both a natural and unique choice to draw Newfoundland's national team colours from. Like the Kingdom of Hawaii I included the national flag as a patch. Rather then use it as the shoulder/alternate logo, however, I placed it above the name on the back. The crest is the central emblem of Newfoundland's coat of arms. The lions represent England and the unicorns represent Scotland, indicating Newfoundland's ties to the United Kingdom of Great Britain.

Gran Colombia is up next.

[oldschoolvikings]

I'm a sucker for Brittish history between the abandonment by Rome until the Norman Conquest. The Anglo-Saxons pushing out the Welsh, the Vikings invasions, Pictlandia and Alba, etc. It would be hard to work with, I think... a lot of it is unknown or poorly documented. Maybe Alfred's Wessex?

[rams80]

I'm surprised you didn't use a moose for the crest, such as from the Royal Newfoundland Regiment or the HMS Newfoundland.

[UnclearInitial]

I'm a sucker for Brittish history between the abandonment by Rome until the Norman Conquest. The Anglo-Saxons pushing out the Welsh, the Vikings invasions, Pictlandia and Alba, etc. It would be hard to work with, I think... a lot of it is unknown or poorly documented. Maybe Alfred's Ethelstan's Wessex?

It really pisses me off how Ethelstan is overlooked by Alfred, who started paying the Vikings. Ethelstan was a much better ruler than Alfred.

[oldschoolvikings]

I'm a sucker for Brittish history between the abandonment by Rome until the Norman Conquest. The Anglo-Saxons pushing out the Welsh, the Vikings invasions, Pictlandia and Alba, etc. It would be hard to work with, I think... a lot of it is unknown or poorly documented. Maybe Alfred's Ethelstan's Wessex?

It really pisses me off how Ethelstan is overlooked by Alfred, who started paying the Vikings. Ethelstan was a much better ruler than Alfred.

I guess he shoulda burned a few cakes.

[gueman]

Not to side track, like this thread has not been side tracked enough. But is the flag of Newfoundland the only flag that has the Union Jack on it twice? I was looking at it closely and noticed the shield on the COA has a Union Jack as well.

[IceCap]

A quick note about requests. I finished by initial set of concepts back with the Holy Roman Empire. Since then I've been going through the requests and doing the ones that I can do. If you haven't seen one of your requests done, or if you don't see it done in the future it's because of one of four reasons.

1) They violate the rules of who I will or will not do that I laid out in the first post

2) You're asking for a concept that's tied to a concept that I've already done. (an example would be someone requesting the Duchy of Savoy. I've done a Kingdom of Sardinia concept already. The Duchy of Savoy was covered by that concept).

3) I can't find any visual indicators to base a concept on. I need flags, coats of arms, standards, and national colours to use as a starting point for these concepts. I'd LOVE to do a Carthage concept, foe example, but I simply haven't found any symbols, banners, or colours used by that state. If I don't have an idea what the state used to represent itself with then I can't create a concept for it.

4) PHILADELPHIAFLYERS did it in his thread. In the spirit of cooperation I won't do a concept for a nation he's already done.

If a request doesn't fall under these four categories I will get to it eventually.

I'm surprised you didn't use a moose for the crest, such as from the Royal Newfoundland Regiment or the HMS Newfoundland.

I had never thought of that. Great idea! Here's take two with a moose emblem based off of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment's cap badge. I also went with a more traditional block number font. I was attempting to mix it up with the Ducks font, but Newfoundland seems like the place that would prefer block fonts over custom gimmick fonts.

Not to side track, like this thread has not been side tracked enough. But is the flag of Newfoundland the only flag that has the Union Jack on it twice? I was looking at it closely and noticed the shield on the COA has a Union Jack as well.

I want to say you're right about this, but a few British colonial flags featured images of ships that may have been flying Union Jacks, or at least Royal Navy Ensigns, as well.

[IceCap]

The Republic of Colombia, 1819-1831

Formally this nation is known as the Republic of Colombia. "Gran Colombia" is the name assigned to it by historians to distinguish it from the modern day Republic of Colombia, one of the three (later four) states that would emerge from it following its collapse. To avoid confusion I'll refer to the state as Gran Colombia, but keep in mind this isn't a name that people used for the country while it existed. Gran Colombia grew out the Viceroyalty of New Granada, the Spanish colony that encompassed modern day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama.

Simon Bolivar was born into a Spanish aristocratic family in what is now Venezuela, then part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, a colony of Spain. At the age of fourteen he entered a Spanish military academy in New Grenada and discovered he had a talent for battlefield strategy. He travelled to Europe after graduating and was present for Napoleon Bonaparte's coronation as Emperor Napoleon I of France. Bolivar was moved by the spectacle, and decided he would do for his country what the Napoleon-led Revolution had done for France. The catch was that Bolivar didn't consider Spain his country. His family, though of Spanish nobility, had settled in New Grenada for centuries. That was the land Bolivar identified with, not Spain. So he set off to liberate his homeland from Spanish rule.

In 1810 New Grenada officially declared independence from Spain, forming the short-lived United Provinces of New Grenada. The United Provinces granted Bolivar command of the military, protecting the United Provinces from Spanish invasion and conquering the rest of New Grenada for the United Provinces. Though the United Provinces claimed the territory of all of New Grenada only modern-day Colombia was under their control. Bolivar would attempt to bring the rest of New Grenada under the control of the United Provinces government. In 1813 he attempted the first stage of this by invading Venezuela, still under control of Spain. He was successful in the early part of his campaign, but one thing would prove to be his downfall, timing. The United Provinces had taken advantage of the Napoleonic Wars to declare independence. With Spain thrown into a brutal guerrilla war between the supporters of King Ferdinand VII, backed by the British, and Napoleon's forces Spain was in no position to stop the United Provinces. By 1815, however, Napoleon was defeated and Ferdinand VII had secured his place on the throne. He decided to make up for lost time and sent the largest single military expedition the Spanish had ever sent to the New World up to that point. Led by Colonel Pablo Morillo the Spanish forces took the city of Cartagena after a five month siege. Following Cartagena's capture the Spanish forces, joined by loyalist colonial forces, made short work of the United Provinces forces and Bolivar fled to Jamaica. By 1816 the Spanish had crushed the United Provinces and Spanish power was re-established in all of New Granada.

It would not last, however. Bolivar was not welcome in Jamaica. He fled to Haiti in an attempt to get support for an expedition to liberate New Grenada. Haiti agreed to help him if he promised to abolish slavery once he took control of New Grenada. In 1817 he landed in what is today Venezuela with a small expeditionary force and Haitian support. He soon captured Angostura and from there engaged the Spanish colonial forces. The Spanish suffered a huge defeat in the Battle of Boyaca in 1819, ensuring independence of all of New Grenada.

On September 7, 1821 Bolivar declared the independence of New Grenada as the Republic of Colombia. He was elected as the Republic's first President. Gran Colombia was first organized as a federal republic, with three departments; Cundinamarca (modern day Colombia and Panama), Venezuela, and Quito (modern day Ecuador).

Following the war the three sections of the country started to advance their own needs and grievances. Quito was particularly peeved. A law passed by the Congress of the Republic established a tariff that benefited industry in Venezuela, but hurt industry in Quito. Bolivar, as the country's president, payed little attention to these economic grievances. His primary goal was to defeat what remained of the Spanish forces in Gran Colombia, as well as aid revolutionaries in other Spanish holdings. He directed most of the state's resources and attentions toward those goals, ignoring the discontent within the Republic itself. Quito also felt that it was underrepresented in the national Congress and that they lacked advancement opportunities within the Gran Colombian Army and police forces, even within the Department of Quito itself.

Venezuela also had grievances, as they resented Bolivar's centralization of the state. Under Bolivar the central government, specifically the office of the Presidency, had immense power at the expense of the individual departments. The Department of Venezuela, believing its local autonomy was being compromised, almost succeeded from Gran Colombia in 1826 after the national Congress, at the behest of President Bolivar, moved to impeach Jose Antonio Paez, the leader of the Department government in Venezuela who had been arguing for more local autonomy. Bolivar, for his part, was a strange kind of revolutionary. He was born into the Spanish ruling class, supported and led a violent revolt against Spanish authority, but returned to his conservative roots once in power, looking to temper radical revolutionary movements within Gran Colombia once independence had been achieved. He was met with resistance from Ecuadorians and Venezuelans who claimed that his conservative leanings were restricting their autonomy. Paez's supporters in Venezuela began fighting government troops and Bolivar prepared to march on Venezuela to restore order. A compromise was reached, however. Bolivar would pardon all Venezuelan rebels and establish a new constitution with a greater emphasis on local autonomy if Paez called off the revolt. Paez agreed and a new constitutional assembly met in 1828.

The assembly proved to be unsuccessful, however. Bolivar didn't concede enough authority to the Departments, but his supporters were outvoted in every issue and the liberal members of the delegation passed a constitution based on a strong federal system with a balance of powers between the departments and central government. Bolivar and his supporters felt it weakened the national government and walked out. Bolivar suspended the constitution and attempted to hold the nation together as a dictator, but this couldn't hold the Republic together. The final nail in the coffin came after a disastrous war with Peru, another former Spanish colony. With rising separatist sentiment at home and a war not going anywhere against Peru Bolivar resigned the Presidency and the country broke apart into the nations of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador by the end of 1831.

This one went through a couple iterations in my head before I settled on the final design. I've always liked yellow hockey sweaters, as they accomplish the function of white sweaters while standing out. Of of my favourite hockey sweaters out there would have to be Sweden's yellow national team sweater. As such I wanted to go with at least one yellow sweater in this series. My intention was for that to be the Holy Roman Empire, but the group consensus seemed to prefer that concept in black. So I broke out the yellow sweater here, seeing as yellow is the most prominent colour on the Gran Colombian flag.

At first I wasn't sure how this one would turn out. The colours, specifically the blue, were more washed out on the Gran Colombian flag then they are on the modern day flags of Venezuela, Columbia, and Ecuador. I was afraid there wouldn't be enough contrast in the striping. I'm happy to say that it turned out rather nicely. In fact I think these colours work better together then the ones on the modern day flags. The vibrant blue on those flags would probably end up competing for your attention with the equally vibrant gold and red. The more subdued colours on the Gran Colombian flag, however, work well together.

The crest is based off of the modern-day Colombian Air Force's roundel. The colours that make up the ring are pattered after the pattern of the flag, which worked out seeing as the Gran Colombian flag and the modern day Colombian flag share the same pattern. The colours were modified, and the inner circle was filled in with a lighter blue, taken from the Gran Colombian coat of arms. In the centre of this even lighter blue dot are three stars, also taken from the coat of arms. The stars, from what I've been able to gather, represent the three former colonies that made up the Republic, and that would go on to form the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador after the Republic collapsed.

I wasn't sure whether to go with blue or red pants. I opted for blue, but if anyone thinks red would look better just speak up.

The French Empire is up next.

[camly]

Love it

[tvko]

Wow, awesome. The striping is very unique.

[BLUELANDbeliever]

could u maybe try doing a movie themed jersey? id love to know what template u r using.

[IceCap]

Wow, awesome. The striping is very unique.

Thanks, I was going for something not so traditional here.

could u maybe try doing a movie themed jersey? id love to know what template u r using.

There have been a number of fictional requests, so I may do a fictional nations spin-off after this one that will cover nations from movies, tv shows, books, movies, etc...

As for the template, it's the IIHF Nike template that you can find in the Paint Users Paradise 2.0 thread. It's stickied at the top of the Concepts forum.

[BLUELANDbeliever]

just one more quick question. how did you do the details? like the stripes, etc...