Tsardom of Blowgaria
The history of Blowgaria extends back over 2,000 years, to the time before the Celestial Circle and the intervention of Celestia in Pony affairs. Recovering from the destruction of the former Empire of Harmony, the pony tribe that eventually became Blowgaria traveled a great distance to settle in the lands around the nation's current capital, Sofia. Traditions arose, as they dealt with everything from poor weather for crops, to encroachments by non-pony tribes working to undermine the tribe and its burgeoning traditions. Tapirians - descended from sapient European Tapirs - were a long time enemy of the various Pony settlers to the continent. They controlled, at one time, everything in southern Europe. Donkeys also had significant populations in this same area, and often caused problems with the first Blowgarian settlements, especially outside of Sofia.
As time went on, the Blowgarian nation developed its own identity and cultural traditions. They worked very hard at agriculture, especially, and started to develop an almost cultural paranoia at the same time, given the efforts by Tapirians and Donkeys to resist settlement in areas they claimed but did not control or have settlements in. This also lead to a continuous state of pessimism, as, for over 750 years, there were constant attacks on the food supply by these two other species - everything from intentionally putting rodents into grain stores, burning crops, and using early chemical warfare to make fields unsuitable for planting. So great was this effort, that Blowgaria suffered many lean years, and starvation became a constant threat. However, they persevered.
Around 704 C.S., Blowgaria had overcome its food insecurity issues, and had raised and trained a professional, if fairly small, military. They then used this force to secure their borders, forcing out the last Donkeys and Tapirians from their borders, and claiming significant lands in southern Europe, including the Dardanelles Peninsula, and the city of Procellopolis, originally founded by the Roamans, later held by the Vulpines, and eventually stolen by the Macedonkians, then claimed and taken by Blowgaria, after defeating the Eastern Army of Macedonkia and claiming parts of lands that were once, originally, Vulpinian. Blowgaria rose to become an economic powerhouse, after the discovery of efficient electricity generation in 927 A.D., and invested greatly in the "powering of the nation" to the point that, at one time, Blowgaria had a higher percentage of structures per capita with electricity than anywhere else in Europe - a shocking 47% in total.
In 891 C.S. the Herdiet Union began to expand through the use fo fifth columnists and infiltrators, eventually causing revolutions in Tarpangoslavia and Macedonkia. These infiltrators were normally rebuffed in Blowgaria - their cultural pessimism had insulated them to the honeyed promises of equality by what were, essentially, totalitarians dressed up in Herdiest garb, spouting the words of Karl Barx and Furdrain Angles, but were actually backed entirely by the Herdiet Union. As the world enjoyed an extended time of more-or-less peace, with even the Herdiet nations permitting some forms of diplomacy, travel, and trade, Blowgaria enjoyed their own time of being Southern Europe's number one electronics supplier, and researcher. Eventually, however, things changed for the worse.
In 1002 C.S., Tirek attacked Equestria. Seeing their chance to expand by force, the now Non-Aligned Nations led by Tarpangoslavia started preparing for war. This included sending revolutionaries - not street preachers - to Shquiptaria, Romansca, Holtlary, and especially Blowgaria. The Herdiet Non-Aligned Nations had received early firearms information and samples from the Herdiet Union in an effort to reforge the alliance between the two Power Blocs, and they immediately set about mass producing those weapons. They were then used in two failed uprisings in Blowgaria - the first in late 1003 C.S. and the second in early 1005 C.S. In the first uprising, the Revolutionaries - in reality, mainly Macedonkian fighters - were pushed out of the nation entirely. Then, they returned, and took over one of Blowgaria's border counties, before attempting to march to the capital. This time, the largely Macedonkian force was bolstered by "fighters for international Herdism" that included Roostians, Tapirians, Tarpangs, and other fighters from around southern and eastern Europe.
Despite almost totally lacking firearms, Tsar Studenogrub led the Blowgarian Army agaisnt the technologically superior but numerically inferior Revolutionary invaders, defeating them at the Battle of Samokov on 6 Secundus, 1005 C.S. The enemy fielded 2,173 insurgents, while Tsar Studenogrub fielded 9,874 troops from the Professional Army and Reserve Army. Utilizing the environment to lure his enemies into a very tight field, he ambushed them with every possible trap and pitfall his Field Engineers could rig - rolling boulders, logs, spike traps, snares, and more. When the enemy was penned in to an area about 300 meters wide, with forests and low cliffs and hills around them, he ambushed them with archers and crossbowponies, entrenched behind earthworks that were buttressed with thick abatis, putting the revolutionaries in the worst possible terrain, and forcing them to both shoot and charge up towards the Blowgarians over high terrain. Once they closed within hoof-to-hoof combat distance, Tsar Studenogrub personally led the charge by the main body of the Army, armed with spears, lances, swords, and shields. The result was a complete and total defeat of the enemy force. Only 112 combatants managed to escape. 202 wounded revolutionaries were captured. The rest were killed. Blwogaria siezed the weapons they carried, along with their Baggage Train with ammunition, anti-tank guns, and light artillery. However, Tsar Studenogrub still had a problem.
The county of Blagoevgrad was still partially occupied after the Battle of Samokov, and to make matters worse, Macedonkia launched an attack on Vulpesylvania on 7 Secundus, 1005 C.S. They also attacked and took over the city of Procellopolis on the same day, intending to use its harbors for its Navy, and its population as slave labor for factories. Moreover, Tirek moved in to the areas just beyond the Blowgarian border, and erected a Rainbow Factory there. While Tsar Studenogrub didn't know the nature of the Rainbow Facotry, he charged the Alpine Regiment with its destruction, as many Blwogarians in the Blagoevgrad region had been kidnapped to there. After losing most of the Regiment's officers, and meeting up with NEIGHTO troops for the first time, they managed to destroy the target. A day later, the Supreme Allied Commander of NEIGHTO met with Tsar Studenogrub and laid down the foundation for Blowgaria to join NEIGHTO, which they did after the victory of the Vulpines over Macedonkia.
