OOC: Survey of Voltan Diaspora

[Kolhar]

Government-in-exile

I'm trying to flesh out the Voltan government-in-exile a bit more, this time by getting a better idea of what Voltan diaspora looks like. I'm in particular trying to model it after the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan government-in-exile). Furthermore, I also am trying to make sure this government-in-exile provides services to those loyal to it, such as education and passports and such.

But to know how far I can take this, I need to know how many Voltan diaspora support the government-in-exile. This means trying to figure out where they live, how many there are, what languages they speak, who they are loyal to, etc, etc.

However, I feel it'd be incredibly disrespectful to just decide on my own which countries have significant diaspora, not to mention probably against the rules. Those aren't my countries, after all.

So I want to know what other countries think.

Proposed storyline and lore

1. Dolch Voltans likely would have been the first major wave of expatriates, escaping from the defeat of the Blue Army in the Voltan Civil War. They would likely speak the Voltan dialect of Dolch, and be completely opposed to the communist government. I'm thinking they probably make up an outsized portion of the supporters of the government-in-exile, but what do you think?
2. After that, there could be a slow but continuous trickle of defectors to other nations, particularly while Willi Ebert was in power and ran a Stalinist-style totalitarian dictatorship. They would likely speak Voltan and not Dolch, perhaps with some speaking Tlaloc as well.
3. This trickle of defectors probably will have slowed down after Ernst Krenz came to power, with him being someone who is honestly trying to improve the living situation in Volta.
4. There probably would also be some who left voluntarily to live abroad, be it with partners or after getting jobs in another country, and are still completely loyal to the current government. They probably would mostly live in countries that Volta has historically been friendly with.

So, my questions are:

• How many Voltans would live in your country? (approximate is fine)
• What is their ethnic makeup? (Dolch Voltans/Pflanzer, Voltans/Mischling, Tlaloc Voltans)
• What languages do they speak? (Voltan dialect of Dolch, Voltan language, Tlaloc)
• Who are they loyal to? (communist regime, or government-in-exile, you can put it down in % or fractions if you want)

 

Going to tag a few nations that I think may have significant Voltan diaspora. @San Castellino, as the host of the government-in-exile. @Delamaria, since your government supported the Blue Army (even if in secret) I can see some escaping to your country (particularly those "in the know"). @Seylos, as the former colonial overlord, there may be people from Volta who moved to Seylos even before Volta gained independence alongside a few who escaped from the civil war. @Rhodellia, as a country that supported the communists may have a small minority of people loyal to the current government, both who escaped during the civil war and people who moved to Rhodellia after. And obviously Dolchland, but I think that's an NPC, so I won't tag it.

[Orioni]

Feel free to consider some countries across the sea in Oriental Europa. I'm reminded of how a lot of Vietnamese crossed the Pacific to settle in the USA and Canada.

• While @Ide Jima is rather equally militaristic, and the @Sunset Sea Islands also joined that club since the coup, there exist some more welcoming nations. But perhaps the pro-communist exiles might prefer such a situation?
• Refugees with enough money can find a home in Orioni. The very rich might really enjoy @Miiros.
• Also tagging @Mahana to be complete.

To answer your questionnaire for my own country:

• How many Voltans would live in your country? (approximate is fine) — Anywhere between 10.000 and 50.000 would be reasonable.
• What is their ethnic makeup? (Dolch Voltans/Pflanzer, Voltans/Mischling, Tlaloc Voltans) — Up to you to decide.
• What languages do they speak? (Voltan dialect of Dolch, Voltan language, Tlaloc) — Perhaps the western coastal dialect?
• Who are they loyal to? (communist regime, or government-in-exile, you can put it down in % or fractions if you want) — I would presume most of them support the government-in-exile over the communists.

[Kolhar]

I like the comparisons to how Vietnamese crossed the Pacific to settle in the USA and Canada. It definitely would be possible to people in Oriental Europa then, though I'm not sure which countries specifically. Ethnic makeup would probably be largely dependent on when these Voltans arrived. Earlier immigrants would be more likely to be Dolch Voltans and speak Voltan Dolch. Later on they would likely be more Voltans/Mischlings and Tlalocs, who would speak Voltan and/or Tlaloc but not Dolch.

[Stedoria]

1. The Voltan minority wouldn't be too large of a community within Stedoria, but they'd be large enough to be considered a notable influential diaspora. Numbers would be around 150,000 people. Immigration would increase by a significant amount right after the communist takeover in Volta, but would largely decrease during the turbulent period of the war with Walneria in the 1940s, war with Velaheria in the 1950s, military junta in the 1970s, and civil war in the 1980s and 1990s. After the civil war's end however, dissidents would again start coming in at a larger rate. After the Stedorian Revolution, political exiles would pretty much completely stop due to the revolutionary government's positive view of Volta. Practically all Voltans who have come to Stedoria after the revolution would be loyal to the communist government.

2. The Voltan minority would be majority Dolch Voltans speaking the Voltan dialect of Dolch; the Dolch language is widely understood and spoken in Stedoria due to it being taught in schools, though de facto and daily life usage of it would still be quite low, though one would still be able to get around just using it.

3. As most Voltans in Stedoria came before the revolution, about 110,000 would be descendents/immigrants loyal to/sympathetic with the Voltan government-in-exile. The rest would be following the revolution, and would be loyal to the communist government. Despite the majority probably being more loyal to the government-in-exile, they would be a lot less vocal in their support for the exiled government after the revolution, as Stedoria would clamp down on the most vocal dissidents/anti-communist Voltans, likely meaning the rest, despite supporting the exiled government, wouldn't reveal this as publically now for feal of political consequences.

Please let me know if you have any more specific questions.

Edited June 9, 2022 by Stedoria (see edit history)

[Kolhar]

On 6/9/2022 at 4:30 AM, Stedoria said:

1. The Voltan minority wouldn't be too large of a community within Stedoria, but they'd be large enough to be considered a notable influential diaspora. Numbers would be around 150,000 people. Immigration would increase by a significant amount right after the communist takeover in Volta, but would largely decrease during the turbulent period of the war with Walneria in the 1940s, war with Velaheria in the 1950s, military junta in the 1970s, and civil war in the 1980s and 1990s. After the civil war's end however, dissidents would again start coming in at a larger rate. After the Stedorian Revolution, political exiles would pretty much completely stop due to the revolutionary government's positive view of Volta. Practically all Voltans who have come to Stedoria after the revolution would be loyal to the communist government.

2. The Voltan minority would be majority Dolch Voltans speaking the Voltan dialect of Dolch; the Dolch language is widely understood and spoken in Stedoria due to it being taught in schools, though de facto and daily life usage of it would still be quite low, though one would still be able to get around just using it.

3. As most Voltans in Stedoria came before the revolution, about 110,000 would be descendents/immigrants loyal to/sympathetic with the Voltan government-in-exile. The rest would be following the revolution, and would be loyal to the communist government. Despite the majority probably being more loyal to the government-in-exile, they would be a lot less vocal in their support for the exiled government after the revolution, as Stedoria would clamp down on the most vocal dissidents/anti-communist Voltans, likely meaning the rest, despite supporting the exiled government, wouldn't reveal this as publically now for feal of political consequences.

Please let me know if you have any more specific questions.

Interesting. This could potentially be worked further into your own war lore, if you'd like. Dolch Voltans in particular would have brought a culture of anti-communism with them, so they could be highly involved and have aligned themselves with anti-communist forces (think how the majority, though not all, Christian Assyrian militia's in Syria aligned themselves with the Syrian Democratic Forces). Up to you though.

In terms of questions, would mail censorship be done in Stedoria? I presume the post-revolution government would likely have forced the Voltan government-in-exile representative office/embassy (name would depend on whether or not the pre-revolution government recognized the government-in-exile) to close. With no representative office, the government-in-exile would still technically allow people to get their White Books and/or passports by mail, unless the post is inspected for this sort of stuff.

[Stedoria]

2 hours ago, Volta said:

Interesting. This could potentially be worked further into your own war lore, if you'd like. Dolch Voltans in particular would have brought a culture of anti-communism with them, so they could be highly involved and have aligned themselves with anti-communist forces (think how the majority, though not all, Christian Assyrian militia's in Syria aligned themselves with the Syrian Democratic Forces). Up to you though.

In terms of questions, would mail censorship be done in Stedoria? I presume the post-revolution government would likely have forced the Voltan government-in-exile representative office/embassy (name would depend on whether or not the pre-revolution government recognized the government-in-exile) to close. With no representative office, the government-in-exile would still technically allow people to get their White Books and/or passports by mail, unless the post is inspected for this sort of stuff.

Yeah, Voltan exiles could've acted as a type of expeditionary/mercenary force against Gemotamist and Communist rebels. I haven't started working on the civil war's lore, but it can definitely be included and be expanded upon.

As for censorship, the majority of mail and whatnot is viewed/examine by the Committee of Public Safety (Intelligence service and secret police). Despite this however, they probably wouldn't forbid exiles to get passports and White Books mainly since it isn't viewed as a security threat; however, they'd probably inform the Voltan embassy of individuals who apply for these documents by providing the embassy with the exile's personal information (name, address, etc).

[Delamaria]

On 6/5/2022 at 11:08 PM, Volta said:

Government-in-exile

I'm trying to flesh out the Voltan government-in-exile a bit more, this time by getting a better idea of what Voltan diaspora looks like. I'm in particular trying to model it after the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan government-in-exile). Furthermore, I also am trying to make sure this government-in-exile provides services to those loyal to it, such as education and passports and such.

But to know how far I can take this, I need to know how many Voltan diaspora support the government-in-exile. This means trying to figure out where they live, how many there are, what languages they speak, who they are loyal to, etc, etc.

However, I feel it'd be incredibly disrespectful to just decide on my own which countries have significant diaspora, not to mention probably against the rules. Those aren't my countries, after all.

So I want to know what other countries think.

Proposed storyline and lore

1. Dolch Voltans likely would have been the first major wave of expatriates, escaping from the defeat of the Blue Army in the Voltan Civil War. They would likely speak the Voltan dialect of Dolch, and be completely opposed to the communist government. I'm thinking they probably make up an outsized portion of the supporters of the government-in-exile, but what do you think?
2. After that, there could be a slow but continuous trickle of defectors to other nations, particularly while Willi Ebert was in power and ran a Stalinist-style totalitarian dictatorship. They would likely speak Voltan and not Dolch, perhaps with some speaking Tlaloc as well.
3. This trickle of defectors probably will have slowed down after Ernst Krenz came to power, with him being someone who is honestly trying to improve the living situation in Volta.
4. There probably would also be some who left voluntarily to live abroad, be it with partners or after getting jobs in another country, and are still completely loyal to the current government. They probably would mostly live in countries that Volta has historically been friendly with.

So, my questions are:

• How many Voltans would live in your country? (approximate is fine)
• What is their ethnic makeup? (Dolch Voltans/Pflanzer, Voltans/Mischling, Tlaloc Voltans)
• What languages do they speak? (Voltan dialect of Dolch, Voltan language, Tlaloc)
• Who are they loyal to? (communist regime, or government-in-exile, you can put it down in % or fractions if you want)

 

Going to tag a few nations that I think may have significant Voltan diaspora. @San Castellino, as the host of the government-in-exile. @Delamaria, since your government supported the Blue Army (even if in secret) I can see some escaping to your country (particularly those "in the know"). @Seylos, as the former colonial overlord, there may be people from Volta who moved to Seylos even before Volta gained independence alongside a few who escaped from the civil war. @Rhodellia, as a country that supported the communists may have a small minority of people loyal to the current government, both who escaped during the civil war and people who moved to Rhodellia after. And obviously Dolchland, but I think that's an NPC, so I won't tag it.

I could definitely see Voltan refugees ending up in Delamaria, especially former members of the Blue government.