Kalugans first emerged as a distinct ethnic group in the early 7th Century AD, descended from survivors of Anean settlers who were incorporated into the Valgan Empire and Yuktobanians who settled the Gulf of Tamudia region after the Empire's defeat. Throughout its history, Kaluga has been subject to Yuktobanian hegemony asserted over the Yuke ethnic diaspora throughout the Verusan continent. First recognized as a political entity with the establishment of the Principality of Kaluga in 1237, Kalugan independence was seen as an indicator of the Grand Duchy of Cinigrad's inability to project power over its expanding empire. After defeating the Europan invasion in the 1280s, Cinigradian armies retook Kaluga and established local political and military infrastructure to maintain control over the region.
Even with the transition from Grand Duchy to Tsardom, the Yukes' central government failed to keep Kaluga under its yoke. In the 1500s regional bureaucrats in Kaluga and Romny conspired to form the Kalugan-Romnian Commonwealth, a relatively liberal constitutional federation of two monarchies that came into being following a short conflict putting down government forces loyal to the Czar in 1582. The Commonwealth faced a series of five invasions from the Tsardom but fought them all off, launching an ambitious but unsuccessful invasion of the Yuktobanian mainland in the 1670s, ultimately resulting in the establishment of the modern border between Kazan and Kaluga.
The Constitution of 1793
No longer faced with external Yuktobanian aggression, tensions flared between rival factions in both Kaluga and Romny, leading to the rise of a nationalist, ethnically Yuktobanian dynasty in Kaluga. The Commonwealth descended into civil war as Kaluga invaded Romny with the intention of deposing its royal family. The war ended in 1788 with the overthrow of the increasingly unpopular Kalugan monarchy, throwing the nation into disarray. Seeking inspiration from Osea's new government, a republican movement emerged from warring nobles and won public support as a result of the previous dynasty's irresponsibility. The Constitution of 1793 established the Republic of Kaluga, which then faced threats from Yuktobania and Romny, both of whom viewed republicanism as a threat to the legitimacy of their rule and a source of dissent within their populations.
Despite these external pressures, the Republic of Kaluga survived throughout the 19th Century, but was overrun by Yuktobanian forces in the opening weeks of the Eastern War, with Yuktobania alleging that they were liberating the Kalugan people from Fascist rule. The Yuktobanians set up the semi-autonomous Socialist Republic of Kaluga as a proxy state and violently suppressed anti-Communist movements in the country.
Revolutionary flag
Suffering from economic decline as a result of sustaining the Yukes' war in Karabastan, including severe hyperinflation as the Yuktobanian Ruble's value plummeted, independence movements broke out in both Kaluga and Romny in 1986, succeeding in toppling the Yuktobanian proxy governments and declaring the Republics of Kaluga and Romny when both interim governments met at a conference in Tyumen. Having withdrawn from Karabastan, the Yuktobanian military launched a full assault on both nations, beginning with Kaluga. Unable to secure aid from Western governments over fears of nuclear reprisal, the Kalugans turned to foreign mercenaries to ward off the Yuktobanian advance, particularly to supplement their outdated air force. While they succeeded in stalling advance forces, a Yuktobanian offensive in early 1987 drove the defenders back to Dimitr where the Yuktobanians killed rebel leaders and reestablished the Socialist Republic of Kaluga before continuing south to Tyumen. While Kaluga failed to win its independence, the brutality with which Yuktobania suppressed the rebellion adversely affected its image to the rest of the world and its own people, resulting in the Central Committee electing the moderate Mikhail Pavlov as General Secretary, who oversaw greater integration with the West and ultimately the transition from the UYSR to the modern Union of Yuktobanian Republics.
Without any guarantees of Yuktobanian military aid in keeping its populace repressed and liberalization in Yuktobania inspiring domestic dissent, the Kalugan government became increasingly authoritarian, provoking a second revolution in 1996. Having prepared for domestic strife for the past decade, the government forces were capable of finding and suppressing revolutionaries before they could successfully launch attacks. After several months of mounting sporadic and futile terrorist attacks against the government, the Romnian military intervened to assist the rebels with both airpower and a ground invasion. An interim government established itself at Sevana and organized a military to retake the capital and do away with the SRK. On March 28th, 1998, the republican forces took Dimitr, and the new constitution was ratified at the end of the year.
The Capitol in Dimitr
Since the revolution, Kaluga has established strong ties with Romny, but the populace bears resentment towards Yuktobania and the West for failing to support its republican movements in both revolutions.
Kaluga has retained a strong heavy industry sector left over from the SRK era and is a major exporter of capital goods such as industrial machinery to Usea. However, the nation is still faced with internal disputes, especially challenges posed by separatist movements led by ethnic Yukes congregated around Gorgasali and the northern border.