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Jowston map

Map of Jowston

The City-States of Jowston (ジョウストン都市同盟; Jousuton Toshi Doumei), also known as the Jowston Alliance, The City-State of Jowston, The City-State Jowston, or simply Jowston or The State, was a country located on the central-east coast of the Northern Continent. A federal aristocracy, Jowston shared land borders with the Holy Kingdom of Harmonia, the Highland Kingdom, the Grasslands, and the Toran Republic. Its capital was Muse City, located in the nation's main province, Muse Principality.

History[]

Flag of Jowston

Flag of Jowston

314: Foundation
Established in order to counter balance the growing power of the Highland Kingdom in the Dunan region following the collapse of the Dunan Kingdom in SY 252, the Jowston Alliance was signed by the three principal states that made up the former kingdom; South Window City, Muse City, and Two River City, as well as the Matilda Knightdom, a military organization founded by Muse which had gained its own independence.

SY 314 saw the formation of the City-States of Jowston with the agreement being signed at Jowston Hill in Muse City. It was originally intended to be named after the Muse hero, General Jowston, who was famed for defending the region from Highland Kingdom. However, insisting that they had played a greater part in that defense, the Matilda Knights opposed the name. A quick compromise was reached when it was agreed that the new nation would be officially named after the hill and not the person.

362-378: Expansion
Although still formally an alliance, with borders and checkpoints intact, Jowston made steps towards an integrated nation with the foundation of the New Leaf Academy in 362, located within the Greenhill region of Muse in order to be a center of education for all citizens of Jowston.

Continuing to engage in hostile relations with both the Highland Kingdom and the Scarlet Moon Empire, the Jowston Alliance grew in SY 366 when the frontier mining town of Tinto City became a city-state in it's own right and joined the alliance.

Seven years ago, 373, saw the Greenhill region, it's importance haven grown, insisting upon the "independence of higher learning," Greenhill petitioned the Jowston Alliance for independence which was formally granted by Uriah, the then mayor of Muse.

SY 378, with the all bureaucratic structures moved to Greenhill, saw Greenhill admitted entrance into the alliance, becoming a member state in its own right.

428-434: War With Highland
The continued tense situation with Highland exploded in 428 with the Jowston-Highland War beginning with the invasion of Muse. Caught unaware and under the poor leadership of Muse mayor Darel, the city-state soon fell, along with Greenhill and Matilda.

Forced to engaged in guerilla tactics against the Highland occupied territories under 432, the tactical ability of Genkaku led to what became known as the Great Offensive with the reclamation of all occupied territories.

The war ended in SY 434 with the loss of the Jowston territory of Kyaro to Highland following a duel of champions between Genkaku and Highland's Han Cunningham. Genkaku was banished from Jowston for this failure, later revealed to be a plot of the increasingly jealous Darel.

447-458: Cracks
Following the war, cracks began to appear within the Jowston Alliance. Greenhill began to suffer from poor crop yield, leading the city-state to have trouble paying its annual tributes to the alliance, earning derision from Matilda. Meanwhile, Two River, located far from the border with Highland, also started to become tired of the situation with the Kingdom.

Tinto, located to the far west, felt that its interests were neglected and its resources drained for wars which did not affect it. SY 447 saw Tinto forces attack the Scarlet Moon Empire to take advantage of the discord caused by the Scarlet Moon Succession War. Without support, they were eventually repelled.

In 456, Mathiu Silverberg of the Toran Liberation Army sent forged documents to South Window and Tinto informing them of (untrue) Imperial plans to invade their territory. Outraged, Tinto and South Window invaded the Senan region thus forcing Imperial General Kasim Hazil to surrender to the Liberation Army.

Senan would be held by Jowston until 458 when the newly found Toran Republic set out to recapture the lands lost during the Toran Liberation War. Known as the Toran-Jowston War, South Window was forced to pull back first leaving the Tinto forces in danger who also retreated.

These incidents and no doubt others, left the City-States of Jowston extremely fractured at a time when Highland forces were beginning to mass on the border with the Kingdom falling increasingly under the influence of the "Mad Prince", Luca Blight.

460: Collapse and Rebirth
The fall of Jowston came in 460 when Highland finally broke the cease fire truce between the two nations, rapidly attacking and torching the towns of Toto and Ryube in eastern Muse. Muse called for help under the terms of the Jowston Alliance but by now the cracks that had formed in the Alliance were too great and Muse was mostly rebuffed.

After Muse fell, the Alliance quickly collapsed, with each state closing its borders and trying to either fight or negotiate with Highland individually. Eventually the New State Army emerged to unite the fragmented city-states and repel the Highland invasion.

Following the war, a new unified nation is established in the Dunan region, designed to not allow such fragmentation to happen again. The Dunan Republic was formed containing the old City-States of Jowston (excluding Tinto, which was never truly at ease in the Alliance) as well as the defeated and subjugated Highland Kingdom.

Politics[]

The City-States of Jowston functioned as a federal aristocracy from its inception to its fall some 146 years later. According to the terms of the Jowston Alliance, national and international policy would be formulated at a convening of the heads of each city-state at Jowston Hill while regional politics would usually be completely handled by the leader of the individual city-states. Surprisingly no formal way of establishing policy existed within Jowston with decisions in alliance meetings being made seemingly by consensus.

This undoubtedly contributed to the fractured nature of the nation and helped accelerate its collapse in 460.

Trivia[]

  • Jowston was mispelled "Jowstone" in the english version of Suikoden.
  • The Japanese name for this is ジョウストン都市同盟. It has been translated by fans as the Urban League of Jowston. It could also be translated as the Urban Confederacy of Jowston. 都市同盟 has been used throughout history to talk about various leagues of city-states, such as the Aetolian League, the Decapolis, the Lombard League, the Tuscan League, the First Rhenish League, the Prussian Confederation, among others..

Sources[]

Suikoden II
Characters
108 Stars
of Destiny
Playable
AbizboahAmadaAnitaAydaBadeauxBobBolganCamusChacoCliveEilieFeatherFlikFreedFutchGabochaGadgetGantetsuGengenGenshuGeorgGijimuHai YoHannaHauserHixHoiHumphreyKahnKarenKasumiKilleyKinnisonKoyuLo WenLong Chan-ChanLorelaiLucMazusMegMiklotovMillieMondoMukumukuNanamiNinaOulanPesmergaRikimaruRinaRiouSasukeSheenaShiloShinShiroSidSierraSigfriedSimoneStallionTai HoTengaarTomoTsaiTutaValeriaVikiViktorVincentWakabaYoshinoZamza
Non-Playable
(except in Major Battles)
BarbaraLeonaAppleGilbertShuHuanRichmondAlexHildaAdlaiTempletonYam KooTakiHansFitcherRidley/BorisTetsuTonyEmiliaJeaneYuzuTeresaKibaKlausLebranteGordonAnnalleeConnellTenkouRauraJessMarlowePicoJudeAlbertoTessaiMaximillian
Allies
Playable
(non-Stars of Destiny)
RulodiaChucharaMakumakuMikumikuMokumokuMekumekuMcDohlBonaparte
Temporary Playable
Jowy
Non-Playable
PilikaJilliaAnabelleLeknaatGremioBrightPohlSusuLillyGustavGranmeyerPeteMakai
Adversaries
Highland Army
LucaSeedCulganAgaresSolon JheeHan Cunningham
Other NeclordSasaraiYuberLuciaBeechamLeon
Other
Non-Playable Marcel AtreidesRosa AtreidesElzaKoEllieGenkakuSaraAlenGrensealMarieLiukanCleoPahnEileenLepantVarkasKageShun MinJowstonRobertBernandHikusaakMarouxRevierSoldedtUriahAlecYu KumGoetsuShikiRyukiBashokRyukoAntonioGyokuranRetsoLesterJinkaiBiancaAlen WisemailKianuDaisyDarelJoannaKentCrimsonHanzoFu Tan ChenMarcoMarxMomo
Locations
Nations
City-States of JowstonDunan RepublicHighland KingdomToran Republic
Towns
Mercenary Fortress (HQ) • Kyaro TownRyube VillageToto VillageMuse CityCoronet TownKuskus TownSouth Window CityRadat TownNorth Window Village / Dunan Castle (HQ) • Lakewest TownTwo River CityKobold VillageForest VillageGreenhill City / New Leaf AcademyRockaxe TownHighway VillageBanner VillageGregminsterRokkaku HamletDrakemouth VillageTigermouth VillageCrom VillageTinto CitySajahLycanthrope Village
Other
Tenzan PassNorth Sparrow PassRyube ForestWhite Deer Inn / Sindar RuinsMuse-Greenhill Brdr.Muse-Highland BorderCave of the WindTwo River SewersKobold ForestGreenhill ForestPath to MatildaRakutei MountainMuse-Matilda BorderBanner PassTinto PassTinto MinesL'Renouille
Groups
Races
ElvesHumansKoboldsHumansLycanthropesSindarVampiresWinged Horde
Armies
Blue KnightsHarmonian ArmyHighland ArmyJowston ArmyMaximillian KnightsNew State ArmyRed KnightsWhite Knights
Families
AtreidesBlightsSilverbergsWindamiersWizens
Others
Howling Voice Guild
Lore
Terms
Fire SpearsTrue Runes
Wars
Battle of L'RenouilleBattle of North Window CastleBattle of RadatDunan Unification WarHigheast RebellionJowston-Highland War
Gameplay
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Database
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