The Senate of the Republic of Valand has passed the motion of secession from the Union of Earth States, and henceforth, I declare the Republic of Valand a nation which owes her allegiance to no party, though she shall extend her hand of friendship and sisterhood to the Confederate States of Earth. The Republic of Valand cannot, and will not, raise her armies to invade and conquer her free and sovereign seceded brother nations, Valand has long rejected tyranny and oppression, and we shall continue to do so.
—President Geoffrey Dale announces the passing of the motion on Valand's secession from the Union of Earth States to the Senate of the Union of Earth States, and allegiance with the Confederate States of Earth
The Confederate flag of Valand, flown over the Valandan Senate building as the document declaring Valand a Confederate nation was signed, afterwards the de facto national flag
The Battle Flag of the Army of Valand (Rectangular)
The Republic of Valand was a nation state located on the planet Earth. The Republic of Valand was founded in 300 BBY following victory in the Valandan War of Independence against the Valandian Empire with help from the Zarkan Kingdom, who had weakened Valandia in the earlier West Valand War of 310 BBY to 308 BBY, who won the Duchy of West Valand, which was the western portion of Valand Colony broken off to become a de jure independent duchy, yet was de facto a client state of the Zarkan Kingdom.
The Zarkano-Valandan victory in the Valandan War of Independence resulted in the independence of Valand Colony as declared in the Treaty of Valley City, by 250 BBY the Republic of Valand was on good terms with its former ruler, Valandia.
Valand was one of the original members of the Union of Earth States, as such the Valandans were strongly traditionalist, Valand was a member of the Traditionalist Faction, and thus openly resented the election of Richard WIlliams of the Federalist Faction in the election of 24 BBY, Williams' political ideology and goals, and his actions as Union President.
In 23 BBY Valand joined the new Western States Confederacy, the militarised successor of the Traditionalist Faction, in response a faction of militant, hard-line Union loyalists began a rebellion in an attempt to force the secession of North Valand county from the rest of Valand, the WSC helped Valand put down the rebellion, the loyalists had clandestine support from the Union, whilst Valand wasn't able to prove it, it was common knowledge, causing a public outcry to almost cause Valand to secede. Whilst Valand stayed in the Union, for the time being, Valand openly rejected Union sovereignty, and openly disregarded Union laws and policies.
By 21 BBY Valand and the other members of the Western States Confederacy had spent three years trying to prevent the increasing centralization and federalization of Union governance over its member states, it also tried to stop the imposition of large taxes and tariffs on the member states, without success, as a result the people of the Republic of Valand had lost their faith in the Union, and in early 21 BBY the Republic of Valand became the 11th nation to secede from the Union and join the Confederate States of Earth, making Valand the first of the Second Secessionist Crisis
Valand's secession came about as both a show of support to the Confederacy, to which Valand was sympathetic towards, as well as in effort to remain neutral in the event of any future conflict. Despite this neutrality, however, Valand signed the Confederate-Valandan Alliance, which gave the Confederacy the right to garrison forces within Valand for their mutual defence, Samuel Tanner's Army of the Border was moved east from the Confederation of the Drelan River to Valand.
From the time of secession until the Second Secessionist Crisis the Republic of Valand was one of the neutral nations sandwiched between the Confederacy and the Union, and as there were some skirmishes in the early period of the Earth Civil War, following the Valand Campaign, between Valand's military and the forces of the Union, as Valand resisted Unionist attempts to push into their land, Valand also provided clandestine support to the Confederacy, due to being a Confederate sympathising nation.
As a result of the alliance the Union invaded Valand in what became known as the Valand Campaign, the invasion was also due to the fact the Valandan Senate had refused to acknowledge Union President Williams' order for all Union states, Williams did not recognise Valand's neutrality, to mobilise their military forces in order to invade and conquer the Confederacy, Valand was already effectively a Confederate-sympathizing nation by the time of secession, the Valandan people would not accept the raising of their armies to invade their Confederate brothers.
For a week the Republic of Valand was completely independent of both global alliances, which ended following the First Battle of Earth, when Valand was one of a flood of nations which joining the Confederacy during the Second Secessionist Crisis, which arose in the wake of the First Battle of Earth.
The northern portion of Valand was sympathetic to the Union, and seceded from the rest of Valand, becoming the state of North Valand, despite this most of the southern part of North Valand was sympathetic to the Confederacy, and pushed for North Valand to either rejoin Valand, or join the Confederacy as an independent state, the North Valand Irregulars were a band of guerilla fighters who fought on behalf of the Confederacy in order to restore North Valand to Valand. Following the victory of the Confederacy over the Union the nation of North Valand voted to join the Confederacy, with Unionist Valandans fleeing the border into Union territory.
After Valand joined the Confederacy the Union ramped up their military activity against Valand, of particular interest to the Union leadership was the capture of the Valandan capital, Valley City, Valley City was the scene of two large battles, in the latter of which the city was largely destroyed, resulting almost unanimous condemnation in both the Confederacy and the Union, and accelerated the secessions of nations from the Union, the Third Secessionist Crisis.
For the atrocities committed against their countrymen by the Union, the soldiers of the Army of Valand arguably fought the hardest of all Confederate forces, Valand also one of the leading providers of soldiers and arms to the Confederate cause, it was believed that Valand fought so hard for the Confederacy because Valandans had personal reasons to fight the Union as well as political ones, Valand was eager for payback for the terror and massacres the Union had inflicted upon the nation during its invasion, following the Campaign of Flames the Senate of Valand institued "total war" against the Union of Earth States, from then on Valandan would completely destroy captured territory, just as the Union forced had done to their homes and nation during the Union's invasion, this would lead to the Union decrying Valandan soldiers as war criminals, much to the annoyance and ridicule of Valandans.
The Union has accused us and our brave boys of being "war criminals"! I cannot believe the gall of the Unionists! They really are the pot calling the kettle black! They start crying about "war crimes" after we give them a taste of their own medicine! I didn't see them crying about "war crimes" when their soldiers were burning our homes, churches, hospitals, farms, parks, gardens, factories, leisure facilities, and so forth, to the ground! I didn't see them moaning about "war crimes" when their soldiers were busy destroying our fields, leading to the starvation of our people! Where was their concern over "war crimes" when their damnable solders were reducing our men, women and children to ash in their fires? Damned arsonists! Or when they were crushing them into bloody pulp under the feet of their walkers!? We'll make them pay for such crimes against our nation and our people, they'd better get used to it!
—President Geoffrey Dale in a rant about the Union's accusations of Valandan soldiers being war criminals to the Valandan Senate