I think I've figured out where Swarelia is

[V:\sys\vantachromia]

While playing through the game, I noticed a few key events that definitely lead me to figuring out where exacrly Swarelia is.

Exhibit A: Swarelia was owned by the Austro-Hungarian empire, as displayed by the flag during one of the eras.

Exhibit B: In a newspaper article, it is stated that Josef Broz Tito (the former leader of Yugoslavia), wants control over Istria, (which was owned by Austria, then Italy, and then Yugoslavia in our timeline).

Exhibit C: In one of the articles after making homosexuality not a mental illness, one key phrase is shown that tips of where Swarelia is.. "a councillor from Trieste".

So where exactly is Swarelia. Well, here's my theory. After the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after WWI, Italy was only given Südtirol, (in our timeline they were given Südtirol and Italian Slovenia). So then what happened to Italian Slovenia? Well, its quite simple, there's only one area that meets all three requirements (being owned by AH, owning Istria, and owning Trieste). Italian Slovenia. And so, Italian Slovenia became known as Swarelia. Even the name sounds similar.

Now I've only played through the Sant' Elias playthrough, but this is just my take on that playthrough. Let me know what you think below.

UPDATE: Exhibit D: Swarelia joins the EU and NATO in Era V, even furtherly solidifying my argument.

UPDATE 2: Exhibit E: One of the articles says that Swarelians were descendants of Ligurians, and Liguria is a region of Italy. My point has been proven even further.

UPDATE 3: Trieste is confirmed to be in Swarelia, as in Era V it says that Eurovision would be held there. Since Trieste is a large city in that specific region of Italy, it could be possible that Trieste is the capital of Swarelia, (or the capital could be the city you work on, but I think Trieste is more likely).

[FalconerHG]

Not sure if it is, but I like your explanation. :)

[HobbyCathartic]

+1

[OrangeP47]

Hmmm, does the gas model option for Venice give a boost to the Swarellian parties? I don't have a save nearby to check but that could be additional info. I doubt Swarellia actually extends that far but it would be "local" ish. The Region of Italy that Trieste is in references Venice, despite not containing the city.

[Buzz]

Originally posted by SrG#DoDProffitt:

Hmmm, does the gas model option for Venice give a boost to the Swarellian parties? I don't have a save nearby to check but that could be additional info. I doubt Swarellia actually extends that far but it would be "local" ish. The Region of Italy that Trieste is in references Venice, despite not containing the city.

The gas lighting model option is "Viennese" meaning from Vienna the capital of Austria. If it was from Venice it would be "Venetian".

[OrangeP47]

Crap, I probably had a dyslexia moment on that event then!

[V:\sys\vantachromia]

A follow up to my post: There are some important dates omitted in the game on purpose to even futher support my theory.

Era 2 ends in 1914, which is the start of WW1. This was probably left out due to not having an occupation mechanic, as the allies did occupy that region of Europe. My theory puts the independence of Swarelia around the time of the signing of the Treaty of Trianon in 1920 (the treaty officially disolving the Austro-Hungarian empire).

Era 3 ends in (I believe) 1939, which is the start of WW2. The entirety of WW2 was left out for the same reason with WW1, there is no occupation mechanic. Fascist Germany, (in our timeline at least), occupied this region when they were sick and tired of Italy and turned on them. Italian Slovenia is borderline a German part of Europe, but I'm sure we all know what Germany really wanted. Anyways, I digress. Essentially my rambling in this paragraph says that Swarelia was more than likely occupied by Fascist Germany.

And a follow up to a post that was deleted, I'm currently playing my third playthrough of Urban Empire (Shuysky family), and at the very beginning, in the Welcome event, was this key phrase: "The emperor needed a city to connect Vienna to the Adriatic". For those of you who don't know, the Adriatic is a sea that border Italian Slovenia. Another event is when the emperor asks you if you could help with the building of a port in Trieste. One of the options says to ignore it, and it says simply "You say you're sorry, and you're afraid Trieste might impact the growth of Kaisershafen". Why would Trieste impact Swarelia? Because of the same reason I've restated again and again. They both are in Italian Slovenia.


And lastly, I don't know if Istria is a part of Swarelia in Era V, simply because it just says that Yugoslavia and Swarelia were doing peace talks. It could've been a partial transfer or no transfer at all. Istria is more than likely a part of Swarelia, considering Istrian is a romantic language, the same language group as Italian (and those of you who don't know, romantic languages are based on the latin language, and swarelians are descendants of ligurians, which were a subculture of the Roman Empire)

Also, if there are any Italians or Slovenians reading this, please tell me what the actual name of the region is. I don't want to keep saying Italian Slovenia if it's wrong. And more importantly, can I get some Dev confirmation on this theory?

[The Angry Dutchman]

+1

[nusensei]

I thought the link to the Adriatic was a dead giveaway.

[therealjohnconnor]

Not sure I want to encourage Eurovision to come to my city :-0

[V:\sys\vantachromia]

I have now found out that the name of the region is [Adriatic] Littoral! (in German, Kȕstenland)

Anyways, after reading more and more of the minor articles, it can be concluded that Swarelia is indeed a Republic, as one of the headlines reads: "Swarelia Becomes Independent Republic!: Swarelia, a small but brave nation, has become an independent republic."

From this, it can easily be said that Littoral is an even more likely area as the region isn't entirely that small, but isn't entirely that big either.

But that leaves a few questions. How did Austria acquire Littoral/Swarelia? What representation were they given and when was it given? Were they a part of the Holy Roman Empire? Can we truly know the capital of Swarelia? Where is Kaisershafen? And what does the flag mean?

Well don't worry everyone, because these questions won't go unanswered. I believe my theory is 100% bulletproof. I challenge you all to find something that disproves this.

Question 1: How did Austria acquire Littoral?: The same exact way they acquired it in our timeline. Austria in our timeline was formed when the Dukes of Bavaria split their lands in the 10th century. We only need to worry about two: The duchy of Kärnten and the Magraviate of Verona. Kärnten would go on to form Austria, while Verona would go on to form Venice. It wouldn't be until the late 1700s when Austria annexed Venice during the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars. After this, Littoral became part of the Napoleonic French Illyrian Provinces, before given back to Austria. Fast forward to WW1, where Littoral becomes Swarelia.

Question 2: What representation were they given and when was it given?
Well, Littoral was actually divided into three regions: the Imperial Free City of Trieste, the Margravate of Istria, and the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca. In the Austrian empire, free cities had some autonomy. Granted, it wasn't much, but it had autonomy. Counties, for the most part, were basically subdivisions, nothing else. Magravates. however, had quite a bit of autonomy. As for when it was given, considering the start of the game, I place the autonomy dates at 1860, since the beginning of Era 2 talks about empires falling apart.

Question 3: Were they a part of the HRE? Yes. the Princely County and Trieste were both parts of the HRE. Granted, this would be long before the start of the game.

Question 4: Can we truly know the capital of Swarelia? It's simple really. The capital is Trieste. The city is mentioned way too often enough, is one of the largest cities in the region, and, the biggest giveaway is that it was the capital of Austrian Littoral.

Question 5: Where is Kaisershafen? This is going to be the most shot-at-the-dark question. but here goes: Rimini, I believe, is about 5 miles north of Trieste, on the coast. The Cauldron is definitely on the west side of the Istrian Penninsula near Karigador, while The Cape is at the very edge of Littoral, about 13 miles from Trieste, near the city of Monfalcone. (Edit: Even the name of the city is Germanic, considering Kaiser is german for Emperor, and Shafen is German for port, literally making the city name "Emperor's Port")

Question 6: What does the flag mean? Well, the colours of the Swarelian flag are Red, White, Black, and Gold. The flag of the Austrian empire was Black and Gold, the flag of Littoral was yellow, red, and blue, and the flag of the County was Red and White. The Black and Gold are to represent the previous ruling under the Austria, while the Red and White come from the Princely County. The tri-colour design comes from the flag of Austrian Littoral. The star is the toughest part though. The closest thing I could find that involved a star in this region is the coat of arms of the Free Territory of Trieste (not to be confused with the Imperial Free City). The coat of arms has a red star, but the same shade of gold on the flag is on the bow. However, it's never truly shown if Swarelia's flag has a star on it, it's only shown on events at the top centre of them.


Anyways, let me know what you have to think about this below. I've been splitting this up into multiple posts as to not overwhelm the entire forum with just my theorising.


I'm littoral-ly certain that this theory is perfect. Okay, I'll stop with the puns.