When you have to drag the dead weight of your group partner to avoid failing.
First, let’s just establish the fact that for the most part,
the nations are bound by their bosses’ orders.
“They accept their fate as it is and let their bosses order
them around.”
All right, good. Now that that’s out of the way, it’s
important to differentiate between what the nations represent and what they do.
The nations represent their people – they’re cultural personifications.
However, what’s ironic is that because the nations are
subordinated to their leaders, they often act in ways that goes against the best
interests of their people.
Basically, while the nations are personifications that
represent their people, they may not represent them well politically. There’s
an inherent tension between the reason why the nations exist (their people),
and whose interests they serve (their leaders/politicians).
Of course, this doesn’t mean to say that a government can’t
act in the best interest of their people, nor am I trying to justify or
minimize any wrong action taken by a nation as a result of an order given to
them. The point here is that there is an evident power imbalance between a
nation and their boss.
More often than not, the nations don’t have any other choice
but to listen to their boss, aside from the fact of whether the latter’s
intentions are good or bad.
Nonetheless, what I also intend to reveal is how the nations
are still able to exercise a sense of agency and resist their bosses to some
degree. Not only that, but there are times when the nations form a strong and
positive relationship with their boss.
Dictative Relationships:
Russia:
Russia is the epitome of a nation who is forced to comply
with their boss’ orders.
His bosses are “notorious” for making unreasonable demands. It’s
even alluded that they’ve tortured Russia before out of mere boredom.
He was once asked to stop a tank with his own body.
He was also ordered to build a canal in frigid weather
without any food.
Germany:
He’s forced to annex Austria, despite voicing his
unwillingness to do so.
During WW2, Finland talks to Germany about his boss troubles.
He jokes with Germany and says that countries can be imprisoned by their boss
if they complain too much.
This joke takes a dark turn when Finland suggests that
Germany’s boss would actually be capable of doing this.
Private Life:
Now that these more drastic orders have been covered, let’s go
over some of the more trivial aspects of a nation’s life that is controlled by
their boss. Like I said before, the relationship between the two isn’t always oppressive,
but there still remains a clear hierarchy.
England:
England’s banned from alcohol and sweets by his boss, and is
threatened with higher duties and taxes should he consume either of them.
The boss enforces this ban to keep England’s health in check.
Either way, this demonstrates how pervasive and extensive their control is.
Lies + Blind-sidedness:
Sometimes, the nations are kept in the dark about things
too.
America:
After the Roswell New Mexico incident, America is told that
the UFO he saw was nothing more than a weather balloon and that he should
forget that it ever happened.
Likewise, it seems that America is a bit disconnected and naïve
about how his own political system works. The fact that he has to “surmise”
what everyone wants is troubling. The naivety comes with the fact that he
thinks he can find a satisfactory political candidate that pleases everyone.
On the other hand, to surmise means to guess, estimate, or
speculate without having any evidence to confirm the assumption. If anything,
this might mean that he’s not directly involved in gathering public opinion,
but rather that he’s adopted a passive role when elections come around.
It makes me wonder how much he’s permitted to get involved
in the process.
Resistance:
While bound by their bosses’ orders through customary
tradition, there are times when the nations go against them.
Japan:
During the formation of the Anglo-Japanese alliance, Japan apologizes
to England when his boss “went on his own accord.”
Italy:
Italy maintains a boundary with his boss by asserting his right
to keep some of his life private. Admittedly, he does offer to reveal these
stories should his boss treat him to lunch.
Notice the title of this strip too. This confirms the power
differential between boss and nation.
Idolizing Relationships:
Prussia:
Lastly, there are times where the nation forms a lasting
bond with their boss.
Prussia and his relationship with Frederick II “Fritz” is
the best example of this.
Prussia idolized, or rather still idolizes, Fritz to the
point that he still keeps a picture of him on his nightside table.
You’ll also find that when he feels anxious or lonely,
Prussia evokes the memory of Fritz to comfort him. This is seen
in Buon San Valentino.
Bonus: In his character song “Mein Gott!”, Prussia also asks Fritz to watch over him.
In sum…
The nations are often forced to comply with their bosses’
orders, despite being representations of their people. None of this negates or
justifies the fact that they’ve likely been commanded to do unspeakable things.
The bosses’ orders are not always negative in nature, but
they’re still authoritative.
The nations have been shown to exercise discretion and
agency by resisting their bosses.
It’s possible for a nation to form an affectionate
relationship with their boss.
Young Germany: How was I born?
Prussia: AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH I SAVED YOU AS HOLY ROME
BUT THEN YOU BECAME AN AMNESIAC LALALALALALALA
*Holds up Young Germany by the armpits, Lion King style*
Ironically (or perhaps purposefully knowing Hima), in the strip
“It’s a Treasure Box of Countries,” we get a treasure box of information
regarding the rules of nationhood.
We learn two things that happen to a nation when their
country’s culture or personality dies/ disappears. The personality is to be
understood in terms of a group of people uniting with each other under a common
identity.
The two rules go as followed:
1) “Usually, when the culture of the country’s
personality dies/ disappears, the country would gradually disappear or entrust
him/herself to the country that takes over him/her.
2) Or, “There are also cases that him/her is not a
country but continues to live leisurely as a state representative.”
Okay, simple enough. Either they fade over a long period of
time, or they become active in politics. However, there’s another rule I want
to go over that explicitly confirms that the nations are able to become human.
That requires going into the details of the Republic of Niko
Niko’s existence.
Basically, Niko Niko was a middle school student who
obtained micro-nation status. He represented a section of a city in the
Fukushima prefecture.
It’s also important to note that Niko Niko is declared by
Japan to be a rare, anomalistic case. Regardless, we still learn a lot from
him.
For one thing, after obtaining micronation status, Niko Niko
stopped aging and his health became dependent on how his economy was doing, similar
to what the full-blown nations experience.
We also know that Niko Niko eventually relinquishes his
status as a micronation and reverted back to a normal human again.
For example: He resumes aging and is able to have a son.
Tying this back to the rules of nationhood, we finally learn
that Niko Niko’s ability to shift from human to micronation to human again
wouldn’t be as easy for the other nations to undergo.
How I interpret this is that because Niko Niko personified
such a small area, his country’s personality and sense of identity isn’t nearly
as strong as that of a much larger nation. In other words, it would be harder
for the other nations to become human because their people’s sense of national identity
and cultural heritage isn’t something that can just disappear all of a sudden.
But, what about full-blown nations? Are there any hints of
them becoming human?
There sure seems to be.
During the Great Depression, a sickly Lichtenstein wishes
that she could have remained as a country for just a little while longer. Given
that her population is so small, it wouldn’t take as long for her country’s
personality to fade.
Now, for the more obvious and well-known example: Prussia.
I’ve speculated before that Prussia has fulfilled option 2
of the rules listed above. That is, we know for a fact that he attends world
meetings, and since it’s still unconfirmed whether he represents East Germany
(it’s painfully obvious, I know), it’s very well possible that he’s become a
state representative.
There’s also the fact that it’s been proven that he doesn’t
heal from his injuries quite as fast as the other nations do.
He also openly lies about this to Germany.
In sum…
– Niko Niko’s rise to nationhood is a rare case,
but his transformation still provides us with useful information on how it
would be difficult for a normal nation to become human.
– There have been hints here and there of the
normal nations losing their status as personifications and becoming human.
It’s not an easy subject, considering that all the potential examples of this possibility are mostly hinted at. Of course, with the exception of Niko Niko.
Post coming up tonight!
Prussia: Is your country running?
Holy Rome: We’re hardly unified, what do you think?
Prussia: Well, I better go put it together.
…
[on the phone]
Prussia: Is your country still… is your country running?
Germany: Listen, I don’t have time for this.
Prussia: Kids these days. So ungrateful.
Prussia: I wasn’t that drunk
Germany: You inquired about the cost of nest mortgages for Gilbird.
Before I get into how Prussia fits into Hungary and
Austria’s relationship dynamic (platonic or romantic), it’s important to
briefly go over Prussia’s background, as it allows more insight into his
behaviour.
In one of his character notes, it’s stated that he’s never
had to marry. It would follow, then, that Prussia’s narcissism likely derives
from the fact that he’s long grown accustomed to fending for himself. He
doesn’t rely on others.
Yes, he’s been subordinated by other nations before (i.e.
Poland, France, Russia), but the point here is that other than Germany, Prussia
hasn’t formed a meaningful and trusting relationship with another nation.
It’s not just a lack of intimacy either; Prussia’s lonely
and desperately craves company.
In the 2007 Christmas event, he tells [lies to] himself that
he’s happy being alone. Likewise, he attributes the tears welling in his eyes
upon seeing couples spending time together on the holiday to this happy mood.
The strip then pans on Hungary and Austria acting seemingly
couple-like, where Austria buys Hungary a hat. Pretty romantic if you consider
how stingy Austria is.
The fact that Prussia cries at the sight of Hungary being
with Austria hints at an unrequited romance. I’ll touch on this again soon.
Prussia’s alone because he lacks the skills to socialize and
develop relationships with others. The most obvious evidence of this is where
he attempts to read a book instructing him on how to socialize with people,
only to get bored and quickly abandon his commitment to learning from it.
Buon San Valentino also touches on how relationally-stunted
Prussia is.
Just a quick refresher: Germany reads a book about dating
and marriage, thinking that Italy has romantic feelings for him. Austria has
also read this book.
The comedic relief in the strip, is that after failing to
propose to Italy – given that Germany had misread the situation – the scene flips
to Hungary making a remark on the absurdity of the romance book.
Austria gets flustered, keeping that he had also read the
book a secret. He and Hungary then set off to the book store to fix this mess.
Notice how the scene deliberately shifts to Prussia. On cue,
he claims how happy he is to be alone. He then secretly watches from afar as
Hungary and Austria ask the store owner if they have a book on how to comfort
someone who’s “been rejected in his romance.”
The store owner doesn’t appear to have a book of that kind, so of
course Prussia takes things into his own hands and pulls a prank on Austria by
forging a fake book.
I would like to thank @shirokage218 for correcting my original misinterpretation of this part. I really appreciate it.
Take note of the title.
“How to properly comfort a German man who has failed in love.”
Here, it seems like Prussia might be projecting his own insecurities, even in something as trivial as a book title.
With all this in mind, I want to end by pointing out that
Prussia isn’t entirely alone either. He, Austria and Germany have lived together before, likely during Germany’s annexation of Austria.
Lack of romance aside, Prussia is close enough with Austria
and Hungary for them to be considered family. Yes, he does tease Austria by
referring to him as a “lesser German”, but they still spend their holidays
together.
That said, the irony in Prussia’s
life is that he feels alone and depressed despite being surrounded by others.
Ellawritesficssometimes 