In previous posts [x][x], I’ve laid out the rules that explain what
affects a nations’ health. This post, however, will elaborate in more detail to
show the different ways in which they can be affected and why that is.
For one thing, we know that the personification’s health is
predicated on their economic and political situation. That is, if they are
suffering from political issues (either domestic or international) or are
experiencing an economic recession, they will fall ill.
That said, let’s go through the symptoms they can experience.
They can get colds or fevers:
Ex: Several nations develop fevers or colds in reaction to
the Great Depression.
Ex: Austria will develop a high fever and eventually collapse if
Germany acquires a cold [from an economic slump].
“A reliable country that likes to approach things with a sober seriousness. He approves of and supports lots of Germany’s ideas so he may look like one of the helper countries, but in reality the level of his dependency is pretty high.
So high that when Germany catches a little cold, Austria goes straight to high fever and eventually collapses, and so he doesn’t have much of a choice than to take good care of himself.”
Ex: England develops a cold after the American Revolution.
They can suffer from fatigue and exhaustion:
Ex: The aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars.
They can die:
Ex: Spain nearly dies during an economic recession before
Romano starts helping him recover with imports.
They can cough up blood:
This symptom in particular is depicted more as a consequence
of war (which includes separate battles/attacks) or civil strife. You’ll often
see the most devastated nations coughing up blood in panels where Hima
introduces different sides of the conflict.
Ex: Prussia, Spain, and Italy during the Napoleonic Wars.
Ex: Prussia during the American Revolution.
Ex: China during WW2 after being betrayed by Japan.
Ex: The disunity in the Holy Roman empire causes Holy Rome
to fall ill and cough up blood. His political situation isn’t stable, which, in
turn, is reflected in his poor health.
Bonus case:
The nations cough up blood and get sick during conflicts,
but are nonetheless able to heal from these wounds with time as their country’s
situation stabilizes.
But, what if a personification never healed emotionally from
a conflict and keep reliving it over and over again?
Wouldn’t that explain why England coughs up blood and falls
ill every year during the fourth of July? The event is still fresh in his mind,
and regardless if it’s over and done with, his body reacts as if it’s still
happening.
Teacher: You can’t do this assignment at the last minute.
Remember that time where Austria wore skirts until Maria Theresa produced a male heir? It’s a joke taken literally.
“’For a long time, Maria Theresa wasn’t blessed with a male heir, and as she gave birth to a third daughter, Friedrich made fun of her saying that ‘Austria is a country that only wears skirts.“’
All righty! Looks like it’s time for a more comprehensive guide focusing specifically on their health. They suffer from a variety of symptoms – it’s not just colds or fevers.
I’m so done with this semester that I put a picture of Amerimochi in an academic paper worth 50% of my grade.
It’s supposed to represent an aspect of my personality, but really I’m just trolling with my psych prof :))))))
Me: Lie in the paper and pretend you’re not psychotic.
Also me: Indoctrinate him with as many Hetalia memes as possible.
I think it goes unsaid that how the nations relate to one
another is not only based on their present political relations.
In other words, while they may not be on good terms with
each other, these relations don’t define their relationship in whole. There are
times where nations get along, and there are times where they will fight
frequently and ‘hate’ each other. Point is, the hate doesn’t typically last.
While current relations do cause tensions, their pasts have
the most impact on how they view one another. It would therefore be shallow to
say that if nation A and nation B grew up together, only to go to war centuries
later, that they would unequivocally hate each other and be unable to reconcile.
Relationships don’t work like that, and this is especially the case for
immortals who have lived several lifetimes.
I’ve stressed this in other posts before, but the nations
don’t represent their government. They represent their people – they’re cultural,
not political representations. The irony is that they’re forced to serve their government, which may or may
not represent their peoples’ best interest. [x] [x]
It is for this reason that even in times of war, nations on
opposing sides are shown to be getting along with each other when they’re not
on the battlefield.
Ex: America’s occupation of Rome. He doesn’t treat the Italy
brothers as enemies, but rather friends.
Ex: England, Russia, and Germany share their military
rations with each other.
While humans from other nations may bear present grudges
towards each other, this doesn’t always reflect itself in the personification.
It’s important to remember that they’re people themselves, and have had more experiences
that influence their outlook on life.
That said, what this post will set out to demonstrate is
that nations rumoured to canonically hate each other don’t actually. The hatred
isn’t deep-set or genuine. It’s more like a rivalry between someone who constantly
gets on your nerves…someone who you routinely get into arguments with and can
never see eye-to-eye. On the other hand, old war grudges have been shown to heal with time.
Although, some take far longer than
others.
With all that in mind, let’s go over some of the most common
characters that are mistakenly depicted to be in hate-hate relationships. And
yes, while this is intended to be ship neutral, all of these examples can be
used to counter bashes against your ship.
Russia and America:
While they may have been on thin ice with each other in the Cold
War, their history runs far deeper than that. Unfortunately, we get very
minimal insight into American-Imperial Russia relations. The strips only depict
Russia’s participation in the American Revolution.
Either way, the two countries don’t hate each other,
regardless of how tense their political relations were and still are. They even
acknowledge this tension as they spend time with each other in the present.
Russia in particular admits to how much America gets on his nerves.
China and Japan:
Japan’s betrayal in WW2 caused China to develop a strong
grudge towards him.
Nonetheless, in recent strips, we do see China attempting to
reconcile with Japan through diplomacy.
Hungary and Romania:
The two are noted to fight like cats and dogs. Each nation
depicts each other in a negative historical light. They may have resented each
other, and still do from time to time. However, it’s not true, long-lasting hatred.
Ex: Hungary’s somewhat smug reaction to Romania and Bulgaria fighting with
each other.
Regardless, they’re still capable of getting along.
Greece and Turkey:
The two bicker every time they see each other.
Comic gags
aside, the two still care for each other and are mentioned to be making some grounds
in their relationship.
Ex: Turkey’s form of bullying Greece is taking him to a
bathhouse and massaging him.
Switzerland and Japan:
Switzerland yells at Japan to be more assertive and voice
his opinion. It has nothing to do with hatred. If anything, it’s an aggressive form of encouragement.
Veneziano and Romano:
Romano suffers from an inferiority complex in comparison to
Veneziano, who received most of their grandfather’s attention. As such, he is
often very hostile to Veneziano, referring to him as “stupid little brother”,
or something similar to that depending on his mood.
However, this is only done to Veneziano’s face. When he’s
not around, Romano’s been shown on several occasions to look out for Veneziano.
America and England:
Short story short, the two have been able to reconcile their
rocky relations in the years following the Revolution. England’s bitter and
scathing nature towards America has softened considerably over the years.
It’s said that England once suffered from one hundred years
of heartbreak, presumably a hint to the American Revolution.[x]
Ex: England still goes to America’s centennial celebrations, despite
how sick it makes him.
He also offers to fix a crack in the first liberty bell he
gave to America, and gives him another one for his bicentennial.
Ex: The two are close enough to make fun of each other’s
politics.
America and Canada:
Canada doesn’t hate America. Instead, he hates America’s
egocentrism and often calls him out for this.
France and England:
While these two are notorious for fighting, having their own
designated preserve to quarrel in…
…they can get along with each other just as well too.
Ex: France used to be England’s cook.
Ex: England proudly calls on France’s cooking skills again
when he opens a butler café.
Ex: A summary of how their relationship’s progressed.
Prussia and Austria:
The two don’t get along with each other.
However, that doesn’t stop them from spending Christmas together as ‘family.’ Prussia, of course, initially [teasingly] refuses to accept Austria and Hungary as guests.
…
Real Hatred – Prussia and Russia:
Albeit the fact that it’s one sided, Prussia’s hatred of
Russia is deep. It’s probably one of the only case examples where it’s not a
matter of two nations simply not getting along.
Ex: Prussia will cough up blood if Russia touches him.
Either that, or he will lose four eyelashes.
With all that in mind, long-lasting hatred between nations
is rare in canon. Similarly, while current political relations may have an
influence on how nations interact with each other, the influence of the past –
on a personal level – is much greater.
When England is depicted as a hateful character. He’s bitter, insecure, and resentful, but he’s never motivated by hate.
Don’t get me wrong either. He can be cruel. But, he can also be extremely thoughtful, considerate, and sensitive.
All right, yeah. While this isn’t a novel theory or anything, I still think it’s important to point out that very few nations actually hate each other. Yes, there are periods where they do, but it’s not a deep-set hatred. I can only think of one example where it’s true hatred, and it’s only one-sided.
This isn’t strictly intended for ships, but it can certainly be used as a reference if you want to prove that the relationship dynamic is possible. I’ll touch on this later, but I want to reiterate again that the nations are cultural, not political representations.
Post coming up tonight.
The nations are two-fold representations. By that I mean
that they have a literal body and a figurative body.
Bear with me, things get a bit tricky, but I’ll break it
down to the best of my ability.
Basically, the figurative body is what influences the nation’s
physical body.
The figurative body
is composed of two parts.
1) There’s the geography of the nation. The landmass is sometimes referred to as their body or house,
despite the real physical one that they possess.
The geography can influence both the physical appearance and
personality of the personification.
Ex: Since Sealand’s geographic body is small, so is his physical
one.
Ex: Iceland’s contrasting volcanic and freezing temperatures respectively
causes him to have a hot and cold side.
2) There’s the personality
of a nation. The personality of a nation (not to be confused with the
personification’s personality) is defined in terms of culture in the manga [x]
If the culture is well-developed
and thriving, then the personification will also thrive and be able to grow; to
age. However, if the culture is repressed, then the personification’s growth
will also be stunted.
The reason I’m outlining this is essentially to show how
geography/climate and historical events are reflected in the personifications’
appearances and personalities. Information on the impact that this has on their
health can be found here [x][x]
What this post will focus on, however, is why some nations
have scars and either suffer from or are affected with other physical symptoms.
Let’s go over some examples.
Ancient Rome:
Before dying, Rome was noted to have many wounds and scars –
a physical reflection of the turmoil his people suffered from.
Lithuania:
We know from his time spent in the USSR that Lithuania acquired
several scars on his back. The military repression of several revolts and the
banning of diverse cultural practices in favor of an atheist state very likely
had a role in causing these scars to appear.
Latvia:
Latvia’s case is similar to Lithuania’s. While we don’t know
if he has any scars, we know that Russia pushing down onto his head ultimately
stunted his growth. How I interpret this is that it’s a metaphor for political repression.
Put another way, Russian control stunted Latvia’s growth,
which, in turn, was reflected in the personification’s physical body.
China:
It’s hinted that China gained scars after being betrayed by
Japan in WW2. It’s both a literal and symbolic stab to the back.
Germany:
Each time America engages in reckless financial activities,
a new wrinkle develops on Germany’s forehead.
Finland:
Estonia’s quest to become a Nordic causes Finland’s back to
be itchy whenever he’s talked about.
Bonus cases that aren’t so clear…
Russia:
When he’s not wearing a scarf, Russia is shown to be wearing
bandages around his neck.
Netherlands:
An unknown event caused him to develop a scar on his
forehead.
Ellawritesficssometimes 