Two States in One Nation

Author's Note: This is what happens when I read history. Lol, for once, I'm writing about contemporary history (kinda weird though, I feel awkward). :P The second chapter is already written and will be up later tonight after I get off work. I DID AS MUCH RESEARCH AS I COULD! But there's just sooo much and so many factors and viewpoints that came into play, that I probably missed a lot, so forgive me for being an amateur and if I missed something or got something not quite correct, I deeply apologize and I will fix it if possible, but some of it, I can't because then it would interfere too much with the base of the story (hopefully it's not too wrong though... o.o)

Warning: Only that this fic features some of my headcanon, that's all; mostly regarding Prussia's and Holy Rome's family history and Liechtenstein's (and Kugelmugel's in the next chapter) parentage.

Disclaimer: This is based upon contemporary history, but with a Hetalia twist of course and with my own headcanons, so the ideas are mine, but not the rest of it.

Separation

Prussia had seen a great deal of history in his very long lifetime and he had survived a lot. To say that a nation would need to survive almost sounded ridiculous, but he, like most of the European countries, was old enough to know that nations could die. And they did. None of their parents or grandparents or whatever were still around. His own father, Germania, had disappeared soon after Holy Roman Empire was born and he'd never been successful in finding him. So countries did die and he'd had his own close brushes with death even as early on as the sixteenth century. The Protestant Reformation had really torn him up back then and only the Grand Master Albert had been able to save him by converting to Protestant and transforming him into the Duchy of Prussia in 1525 even if it had meant being nothing, but a Polish fief for a little while. Whether he would have died then or not, he didn't know, but he had still escaped it and recovered. Now Prussia once again found himself in the void of uncertainty between life and death.

They wanted him dead. All of them. America, Britain, France, and Russia (well, not so much Russia, but he certainly wasn't trying to stop the others). They all wanted him dead. They blamed him, his culture, and his military history for the rise of the Nazis that had become West's bosses. An eye for an eye: kill the one that was the source that brought upon this horrific genocide. Britain and his previous boss, Winston Churchill, had believed this since at least September of 1943:

"The core of Germany is Prussia. There is the source of the recurring pestilence."

Those were that man's words and they all agreed. That was why they were calling for his dissolution. It was a deathblow for a nation. And it was done. February 25, 1947. The state of Prussia officially ceased to exist and indeed, he'd had no real government after 1932, but he wasn't dead yet! He was Awesome Prussia! He wouldn't go down without a fight! What was left of West that hadn't been partitioned had been divided into four zones of occupation by the Allied countries and some of that land was his! They were not getting rid of him that easily! !

"I'm East!"

He wasn't stupid, especially when it came to his survival. They were called the Allied Control Council, but France, Britain, and America would never let Russia get any closer than that, not with his current government. There was already a great deal of tension between him and the others and if things worked in the direction they seemed to be heading. West was improving and recovering tremendously under the occupation (with exception to Russia's zone in the east), but Russia would never let his piece of him go. As much as he... relished the thought of staying with that giant, he knew that the other three countries would all allow West to become his own man again (since they'd already dealt with the supposed source of Nazism) to unite against Russia and his communism, but if Russia didn't allow the eastern sector to be united, then it would incidentally turn Germany into West Germany (ironic how he'd been calling him that all this time). West would be safer with them, the other Allies, than he would anyway since Russia was the only one who hadn't minded either way if he continued to exist or not. West wasn't dissolved, he was. At least there were some people in the eastern sect that still called themselves Prussians.

"Great! So you'll be coming over to live in my house, da?"

It wasn't like he had a choice.

1949 came and the separation was official. After America, Britain, and France had determined that West had fully-recuperated and no longer needed supervision to keep on the right path, they all left his house. But as Prussia had predicted, Russia wasn't keen on relinquishing the eastern part of West and that was when Prussia took it upon himself to officially declare himself to be the German Democratic Republic. He'd been planning it since his dissolution, but he hadn't told West. He'd relied on the people who still called themselves Prussians to squeak through the past two years until he could grab a new name for himself and once again be safe in the immortality of nationhood. West had been both frantic and furious with him.

"You don't do big stuff like this on a whim! You were planning to secede all this time, weren't you? ! Why didn't you tell me, brother, why? ? ?"

West was young. So young, in fact, that he had never seen a country die. Even his niece, Liechtenstein, who was only born in the early eighteenth century, had seen the dissolution of her uncle, the Holy Roman Empire. Despite the physical similarities between him and West, he had never been able to prove whether or not the two were one-and-the-same, but that was the past and irrelevant at that. Even if West was Holy Rome, he remembered nothing of his life then, so he had still never seen another country die or disappear. He didn't understand the fearful limbo of being alive yet teetering on the brink of non-existence. It wasn't something that he would be able to explain to West and have be understood. One had to experience it for themselves. Loathe as he was to admit it, his loser younger brother Austria understood all too well. Everyone, even him, had thought he was going to die at the end of the first Great War. There were few things worse in this world for a country than dying and knowing that all your greatest struggles and triumphs had all been for nothing. So he left West without explaining, because he couldn't, and tried to settle himself as best he could into this Soviet-run life he had chosen while protecting his peoples' German culture and heritage.

It was hell. Since declaring himself as East Germany, Russia seemed determined to crush the German within him. His Soviet-sympathizing bosses had told him he was a socialist nation-state of workers and peasants. Being German wasn't necessary in obtaining that. In fact, it was harmful because then foolish nationalistic pride got in the way. They were all one. They were all comrades. Nothing would hold one man or woman over the other. He'd heard the spiels enough times to be able to recite them by heart, but oh how it burned! He had seethed as he'd been forced to stand by and watch the Allies support Russia's annexation of East Prussia. 'East Prussia', hell no! That was his ancestral birth place, his mother's land! And his own Fritz had fought to retrieve it and become the first true King of Prussia in 1772! Russia had no right to it and yet, he could do nothing to stop his motherland from being taken by Russia.

As if that wasn't enough. The oh so great founder of communism, Karl Marx (he remembered the name enough to know that a newspaper or two had been officially shut down by the government for it's criticisms of capitalism, the government, and Russia's government too. More irony) had absolutely despised him, so of course, they hated him too. Not only was Russia trying to crush his German spirit, but eliminate his Prussian self – his very identity. The SED, his Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (Socialist Unity Party of Germany), was trying to destroy all continuity between him, Prussia, and East Germany. And he had been an inferno of inconsolable rage when they had started destroying all the monuments to his dear Old Fritz that they could find. He had long ago secreted away his past mementos of Fritz; they would not have his precious treasures of the man who had made him a formidable European power! ! !

"It's good to see that you're getting along so well in my house, Deutsche Demokratische Republik (1). If you weren't, it would be so easy to dissolve this temporary existence you made for yourself and put you right back in that horrific limbo again, da?"

1952 proved just how easy it would be. Russia's boss, Stalin, had proposed the reunification of West with himself, East Germany, along with their neutralization. It was suspiciously clean. There were no conditions on economy or politics and all the basic human rights were guaranteed. Probably the only reason why they hadn't been reunified then was because Britain (who had Churchill as his Prime Minister again), France, and America were so distrustful of Russia. They certainly would never have stated a rearmed West (with freedom to join their stupid European Defense Community) as one of their conditions to allow such reunification under ordinary postwar circumstances. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had always known that his identity as East Germany was only temporary and the Stalin Note had driven that truth straight into his head. As a result, he was more determined than ever to keep his identity as East Germany.

The Uprising of 1953 in East Germany

But that didn't mean that he had to like the way his territory was being governed! His people were going hungry because of all the militarisation and heavy industry! Of all the things that could have started the uprising, it was only a simple worker's strike – that he had encouraged – to protest the raised quota of work for the same amount of pay with a penalty of salary reduction if they failed to meet the quota. It certainly wasn't his fault that West's radio stations in West Berlin were broadcasting all over and that his entire country was uprising with his East Berlin as a result. It had gone from a worker's strike to a political one and even though the uprising was suppressed by the Soviets, Prussia was still proud of his people's quick and unified response. They were German through and through.

Regardless of his initial optimism, his centuries-worth of experience, and of course, his awesomeness, Prussia's people still suffered for several years and he knew it was because of the Soviet occupation. Instead of focusing on the agriculture that would ensure they had food, Russia's bosses were intensely interested in keeping high war-like levels of industry-production. His people were lacking in basic, everyday needs and not only was he getting poorer by the year, but he was feeling sick too. He could not honestly blame any of the East Germans who left him for West's home. Not even the Berlin Wall that was put up in 1961 and isolated West's heart in a communist-run land could stop them. Prussia couldn't support them here, they'd be better off with West even if the mass migration did weaken him. But his economical situtation wasn't the only problem he was facing.

"You dummkopf (2)! Why are you so stubbornly clinging to this restrictive government? ! Not only is it killing you, but it's killing your people! I see it every time more of them cross the border into my home! Rebel against Russia and reunite with me! Brother, you're not even trying! You have the Miracle of the House of Brandenburg (3) on your side! I know you can accomplish it if you just put your mind to it! You're awesome!"

Yes, he was awesome, but not even that would save him from the inevitable death that would follow if he reunited with his younger brother and West didn't seem to realize that. He missed West, he really did and it'd be nice to reunite with him apart from the occasionally-allowed telephone call, but he'd be damned if he was going to stop being the GDR! He had no other name to fall back on and reunification would kill him. Oh, he wouldn't disappear immediately. There was still a small number that thought of themselves as Prussian and even some who were loyal to the 'soveregin' (how could anyone be completely soveregin in a Stalin-influenced communist regime?) state of the GDR, but if he reunified with Germany, in time, those people would die out and their descendents would only call themselves German. Their consciousness, their lives would belong in West's hands and there would be nothing left for him.

Prussia felt terribly sick and congested the longer he remained as East Germany. He fought against Russia's communism every which way while still trying to maintain his independency of West. Communism seemed to seep in like coal dust into his lungs and there were many times when he felt he couldn't breathe for its suffocating nature. His culture, his history was being strangled by this sickening atmosphere that had nothing to do with the sky and the clouds above. Half of him wanted it to end, to give up being East Germany and reunite with West. To tease him and worry over him like he used to and even pick on his loser brother Austria or get hit in the head by Hungary's frying pan again before he finally faded away into non-existence. Reuninting would be better for his people too. Germany could take care of them. He was strong, he'd made him so. But the other half of him wanted to keep on going, to keep on living. Any kind of life was better than death and giving up was the worst possible failure in Father Germania's eyes.

He had to keep on. He had to make this better. He was not going to die. There had to be a way! Death and death couldn't be his only options! ! There had to be something else! Some way to stay alive! But Prussia couldn't see one. All roads looked to be dead ends. He was immortal. Death should not be his enemy. He had seen it time after time to young and old alike. It was a blessing to the elderly humans – even though it hurt horribly when Old Fritz had left him behind – but it couldn't be for him. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to disappear like Vati (4) had when he was a child. Suddenly. Without warning. He was just gone and he knew he'd never see him again. He didn't want to die! He didn't want to disappear! He wasn't living for his people anymore – he already knew they'd be better off with Germany – he was living for his own selfish reasons because he- !

He was afraid to die.

Alone in his room with all his treasured possessions and momentos from history, Prussia cried for the first time in over one hundred and fifty years since Holy Rome's dissolution in 1806. Ashamed of his selfishness. Ashamed of his fear. Ashamed of himself. But he was just so terribly afraid.

()()()()()()()

Once again, it seemed that Germany had taken it upon himself to visit his home to agonize over his separation from his brother. It had been particularly bad before Willy Brandt became Germany's Foreign Minister in 1966 and developped the Ostpolitik to reconcile the two Beilschmidts, but Germany still had his moments.

"I don't understand Austria! I just don't!" Germany repeated and took another swig of beer, "I don't get why he remains insistent on us remaining as two separate nations."

"Germany..."

Germany continued on his rant, completely ignoring Austria, "I can see what he's going through right across my 'border' and the state of his people who do successfully make it over to my house... and those who don't."

"Germany."

"I have the resources and the stability and the willingness of my people to be able to support him both financially and politically if he would just put his foot down with his boss, declare himself 'too awesome for this communist shit', and reunite with me."

"Well, Prussia does have the strongest stubborn streak in the family," Austria pointed out calmly once Germany had paused momentarily.

"Don't I know it?" Germany agreed with dry humor and then his concerned frown returned, "But I know he wants unification too. Or at least some part of him does. I sometimes catch him with a wistful expression on his face when he looks toward my land and doesn't realize I'm watching. I truly believe he misses us."

It took all of Austria's willpower not to snort in disbelief at the very notion that their older brother would miss him, 'Loser Austria'. Well, no, Prussia might miss taunting him. That would be perfectly believable.

"But stubborness aside, why, Austria?" Germany asked and Austria looked over at him. His tone was no longer loud and annoyed, but quiet and plaintive. His light blue eyes, so much like Father Germania's, were wide and desperate with worry. He wanted answers that Austria didn't think he had. "Why won't he unify with me? Why does he still maintain separate sovereignty when it's so obviously hurting him?"

He had an idea why, but he could hardly be sure of it's authenticity and it's not like Prussia would ever confirm it in a million years. Austria had been in a similar state, but reversed, when World War I ended. Death would be a very likely result of such a reunion for Prussia.

"I don't know, Germany."

After the first war, he had become land that was never a proper country to begin with. On the other hand, Prussia had become land that had ceased to be a country. His land could have either dissolved into the territories of other countries or succeeded in transforming him into his own true country. Prussia didn't have that liberty.

"How can I know what goes through the mind of a man like him?"

Death for a nation was a truly frightful thing on par with revolutions and civil wars. Regular tribal wars used to be frequent and so were the deaths of nations-that-might-have-been. It was truly a toss-up back in those days who would survive, but it wasn't nearly so common anymore. However, the disappearance of their strong, invincible father had deeply shaken them all, but secretly, he felt that Prussia had been affected the worst. He'd completely ignored Holy Rome, who was still really young then, at all costs as if their youngest brother was somehow responsible for their father's disappearance and wanted nothing to do with him. He couldn't say whether Germania's disappearance was part of why Prussia had so stubbornly maintained separate sovereignty from Germany (even with the ridiculous new name 'East'), but it would not surprise him much if it did.

"Just don't give up on him, Germany. He doesn't want to be forgotten."

Remembering him was the key to keeping him alive. Unfortunately, history was long while human lives were short and it was up to them whether a country lived or died.

"In the meantime if he is shifting between one desire or the other, you will simply have to go with the flow and recognize his soverenigty until he gets his act together and makes his final political decision on the matter, for better or worse."

Germany dropped his gaze to the table before him and let a dry laugh escape him. "I see. So I'll have to play by brother's rules. Two German states in one German nation (5). I suppose I'll go along with it for now. Not like I can do much anyway. Thank you for seeing me. I apologize for taking up your time like this," he said politely to his second-oldest brother and departed swiftly from the Austrian premises.

Translation tiiiiiime! And some other short notes too.

(1) Deutsche Demokratische Republik – (German) German Democratic Republic (I had Russia say it in German partially so that it would still be somewhat recognizeable what he was saying because I wanted to emphasize the blow to Prussia's pride that he's no longer Prussia, and if it was written in Russian, nobody would be able to even guess what Russia said – unless you read Russian that is).

(2) dummkopf – I think... this literally translates to 'stupid head'. In other words... FOOL! (props to you if you've watched Soul Eater)

(3) Miracle of the House of Brandenburg – The very first time this happened is when the Russians and the Austrians failed to follow up their victory over Frederick the Great at the Battle of Kunersdorf (lol, I like that word) in 1759 during the Seven Years' War. The second time it happened was in 1762, still during the Seven Years' War, when Frederick the Great recieved word that Czarina Elisabeth of Russia was dead and her nephew, Peter, admired Frederick thus changing Russia's alliance in the war. So ultimately, 'Miracle of the House of Brandenburg' always refers back to Frederick the Great.

(4) Vati – Dad (informal form)

(5) "Two German States in One German Nation" – Technically, West Germany did not adopt this line until the early '80s, but since I was purposefully vague about when Germany had gone over to Austria's place to talk, I figured it would be okay. :)

I apologize effusively if I've totally screwed Prussia over in writing him! I'm not good with arrogant characters and this is my first time really writing him, but I didn't think that Prussia would act completely (if at all) like his normal self during this time period. I was reading up on East Germany at one point a couple weeks back (don't remember why), and I was reading that East Germany held itself away from West Germany as a separate German state whereas West Germany was calling for unification and maintained that East Germany was an illegally-constituted state and Soviet puppet.

Reading that, it didn't take me much to come up with a headcanon for why Prussia would do something like that, when he so clearly adores his little brother (partially because I'd already spent some time thinking about the subject before I read it). I've maintained the belief that Germania disappeared (faded away into a different plane of existence is what I figure) soon after Holy Roman Empire was born because all the lands and people that he used to represent were becoming too diversified and were now starting to be represented by all of his sons (Holy Rome took care of the rest of the territory). Holy Rome was also his parting gift to his friendship with Ancient Rome, who he'd killed in the late fourth century (but because he was so important to Western and Southern European culture and history, Rome had instead faded away).

Upon Germania's disappearance soon after Holy Rome's birth, I think it's quite reasonable for Prussia, still just a child at the time, to believe that it was Holy Rome's fault that Germania disappeared and want nothing to do with him. This would start Prussia's fear of death and disappearing, but it wouldn't cement it just yet. That started coming about when Holy Rome disappeared (Thirty Years' War) and became a finite part of his psychology when Holy Rome was later dissolved (Napoleonic Wars). I think he would also feel extremely guilty about the way he'd treated his youngest brother and completely ignored him which is why he's so close to Germany and is so meticulous of his care and protection of him. He doesn't want to repeat the same mistakes that he made towards Holy Rome.

Ah, and the bit about Prussia's motherland, that's mostly referring to the southern part of the Baltic area in what is currently Poland (with that little bit of Russian territory). That's where Old Prussia was located before the Teutonic Knights showed up, but the people who lived in the region weren't called by one name because they didn't have any form of unity, so they called themselves by whatever geographic features were around them (such as the Sambians who lived on the Sambian Peninsula).

You know, it's weird. This is all history for me, but this stuff was happening during my great-grandparents', my grandparents', and even later, my parents' (they were born in the late '60s) lifetimes! It's actually kinda scary...