Scraps of Worldbuilding

[RETCONNED]

This is the Bank of the Republic, the Central Bank of Callise. It has the primary objective of keeping economic stability in Callise, primarily by acting as the lender of last resort and utilizing Nominal Gross Domestic Product Targetting.

The bank was first opened in 1820 following the Wars of the Republic. It was commissioned to help finance the reconstruction of Callise following the war and was given control of the money supply in the 1860s after the Nationalist League demanded Callise implement a fiat currency to better allow for inflation. It is responsible for numerous economic recoveries in Callisean history and is one of the strongest and most effective Central Banks on Eras.

The bank is governed by the Chairman of the Bank of the Republic, who leads both the Board of Supervision and the Board of Open Market Operations. The Chairman is appointed by the President of the Republic from among the sitting members of the Board of Supervision to serve for a Five-Year Term. The President's choice for Chairman must be confirmed by the Senate. Regular members of the Board of Supervision are appointed by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and serve for life or until resignation. Members of the Board of Supervision may be removed by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Each member of the Board of Supervision also leads a respective bank chapter within each province. There must always be 9 regular members of the Board of Supervision, with the Chairman serving as an impartial mediator with no vote or voice in debate, but control of the Board's agenda. The Chairman also serves as the presiding officer of the Board of Open Market Operations. The Board of Open Market Operations is composed of both the Chairman of the Bank, 4 members chosen by the Board of Supervision, as well as 5 members who are appointed by the President of the Republic with the approval of the Senate. They serve for five years.

The Board of Supervision is the long-term decision making body of the Bank of the Republic. They set the long-term goals of the Bank, supervise the provincial chapters of the Bank, and are tasked with implementing monetary policy decisions. They also regulate banks and have broad oversight of the financial system. Their resolutions influence the bank's mindset for several election cycles because of the nature of existing term-limits. Their long term goals are addressed in the short-term by...

The Board of Open Market Operations. These members, who serve short five-year terms, are responsible for coming to decisions to problems that are occurring in the present and managing the Open Market Operations of the Bank. They come to decisions on initiating quantitative easing, issuing short-term interest rates, and when to buy and sell securities backed by the Treasury of the Republic (which is led by the President of the Republic). They also are involved in the process of purchasing toxic assets and managing the short-term finances of the Bank of the Republic. The Chairman sets their agenda.

The Bank currently abides by what are referred to as the three pillars of financial regulation. The first pillar is the institution of minimum capital requirements informed by credit asset risks, the second pillar is establishing a review process over the banking system, and the third pillar is increasing transparency within the financial system as a whole.

The Bank has capital reserve requirements of 10%, a Bank Rate of 3.00%, and a Nominal Gross Domestic Product Growth Target of 5%. Instead of targeting inflation, like most banks, Callise targets NGDP Growth (Real GDP Growth and GDP Growth due to inflation). This model discards fear of inflation, and uses monetary creation as a tool to drive demand during a bear market. If prices are inflating, banks are more likely to invest and the economy recovers faster as a result, and thus NGDP Targeting stirs faster economic growth. Under the model adopted by the Bank of Republic of Callise, the 5% target is made up of an average of 3% Real GDP Growth and 2% Inflation. However, if Real GDP Growth is contracting the Bank attempts to raise inflation to meet the 5% NGDP growth target. If Real GDP Growth is outpacing the 5% model, the Bank attempts to deflate the currency to prevent runaway inflation.

The strategies employed by the Bank are credited with alleviating the 2002 Financial Crisis and the Three Day Scare of 2010, and is an important wing of Callisean policy making.

Education in Calllise is divided into Preschool, K-9 and 10-12 High School (Primary Education), three year college (Secondary Education), and four-year university (Tertiary Education).

Education starts at the lowest level of Preschool. Preschool is the one level of education not provided for, in part, by the Government. Schooling starts at Age 3 and ends at Age 5 and mostly involves daycare and social learning.

Followed by preschool is Primary Education, K-9 and 10-12. These schools are provided, free of charge, by local governments and are supported by taxes. Schools housing children from K-9 are called Junior School and 10-12 are called Senior School. These schools are segregated into several different sub-components there-within. K-2nd Grade is grouped into Unit A Schooling, 3rd-6th is grouped into Unit B Schooling, 7th-9th is grouped into Unit C Schooling. Students within their units generally co-mingle and have some shared schooling. Unit A and B schooling focuses on General Education and has one centralized classroom with around 20 students, and various external classrooms as well. Unit C schooling separates General Education into more diversified classes, separating language, mathematics, etc. into different classes. Senior Schooling works entirely differently. Instead of teaching solely General Education, Senior Schooling is aimed at specializing the education of each individual student. General Education requirements compose half of your schedule in Grade 10, the other half being career electives. Grade 11 relegates a quarter of your schedule to General Education, and the other three quarters being career electives. In Grade 12, a student utilizes all of their class periods on career electives. Students then apply to colleges and are accepted on their merits as students. Students must declare their area of study in their college application. While many students attend public schools, private schooling is also quite popular in Callise. Charter schooling is used for educational experimentation, and the Government issues Private School Vouchers for students attending Private School. Their education is functionally very similar, but Private Schools are allowed far greater freedom in how they organize their educational system.

Upon graduation from Primary Schooling, students attend Secondary Education in the form College for three years. Here, students learn about their area of general study and focus on a particular career path. The government provides this schooling free of charge at public colleges, but private colleges have steep tuition costs. The government also offers vouchers to attend private university.

The final level of schooling, Tertiary Schooling, is entirely privatized. For four years, students can attain degrees in even more specialized fields of education and attempt to improve their skills in such a field. This area of education receives the most amount of government vouchers because of the private nature of the schooling.

Officially, Highton is a bilingual nation. Although Aleman is natively spoken by 95% of the population, Mercanti was adopted as a second official language in 1988 in order to increase the ability of Hightonians to get jobs abroad. As a first language, ~95% is Aleman, ~3% is Mercanti, ~2% is others. There are only a handful of Alemannic speaking nations, which resulted in the government investing heavily in Mercanti education, which would eventually see it designated as the second official language.

An outstanding 90% of the population is bilingual, in that they are at least semi-fluent in Mercanti. Starting in Kindergarten, schools begin to teach Mercanti. It is not uncommon for comprehensive Mercanti classes at the elementary (Grundschule) level. After the fifth year of education (the final year of Grundschule), students participate in one of only two standardized tests they will take- it tests their knowledge of both official languages and is takes place over three days. After this point there are a variety of other languages which are studied.

From Sixth Year and up, students generally begin to study a third language. Suchari (Syrixian), Gojan, and Prydanian are the most common, although sometimes a variety of other languages are possible. Some of these are: Norsian, Proto-Gotic, Andrennian, and Ceretan. By adulthood, about 30% of Hightonians are trilingual. Somewhat below 10% are quadrilingual.

Throughout most of the Colonial Period, the system of capitalism that most dominated Eras was mercantilism. This system, a combination of protectionist tariffs and statist policies were designed to maximize the economic well-being of the home nation. But following a period of economic stagnation during the late 18th Century, accompanied by an intellectual revolution across many colonial powers led to the creation of new schools of economic thought. Thus began the tradition of the Free-Market Economists. Their ideas have influence many of the powers of Eras, and their intellectual contributions have shaped the course of history. In this post, we will be discussing the five schools of free market economic thought in Erasian history and their contributions to the intellectual tradition of Economics.

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The first school of free market thought to evolve on Eras was the New Imperial School (as opposed to the old Imperial School of mercantile policies), often just called the Imperial School of Economics. This school is credited with having been founded by Jayesh Bhakta, professor at the Imperial School in Pataliputra. In 1763, he wrote The Exchange, in which he posits that the free exchange of goods and services ultimately results in the best possible outcomes for all parties. He proposed that a division of labor most efficiently allocated economic resources and the price of goods and services is determined solely by labor. However, this school was not confined to Syrixia alone. Both Andrenne and Goyanes also had their own contributions to the field. Economist Johannes van Enkvist, author of The Accumulation of Capital, agreed with Bhakta but also stressed the importance of breaking up monopolies to provide for true competition. He also was skeptical of the Labor Theory of Value, but did not post an alternative. His ideas would go on to influence the Gojan School of Economics. Bhakta and Enkvist are depicted below, from left to right.

The ideas of Bhakta were incredibly influential, and they'd eventually become expanded upon by the Malorian School of Economics, which was founded by Lennaert vin Mazurenko, depicted below. His theories became mainstream economic policy in the mid 19th Century with the publication of The Foundations of Economic Thought. While he agreed with Bhkata and Enkvist in broad strokes, he criticized them for failing to factor in individual tendencies to maximize the utility of their income. He posited rational choice theory, the idea that individuals attempt to maximize the utility of their income and firms attempt to maximize their own revenues. The ideas of the Malorian School of Economics dominate the field of Microeconomics, and the principles laid out by Mazurenko are taught in many microeconomics classes in Eras. He is depicted below.
The Gojan School of Economics evolved out of the Imperial School of Economics, particularly the ideas of Enkvist. Their founder, Alfred Ingolfr Hansson, built upon the critique of the Labor Theory of Value and proposed his alternative: Marginal Utility and Subjective Value. Instead of prices being determined by primary utility alone (the actual usefulness of the good or service), one must also include the secondary (or marginal) utility, or satisfaction that a good provides. He posed these ideas in Realms of Interest and Capital, which was published in the late 19th Century. However, more importantly, he argues that interest rates and profits are determined by Supply and Demand, and that marginal utility heavily affects demand. The school diversified it's thought with the publication of Economic Calculations in Empire by Herre Johann Edelstein XI in the early 20th century. In it, he argues that resources naturally flow to their area of maximum utility in a capitalist system, and that final goods true value can only be determined in such a system. This criticism is one often levied against socialist economists and economies. Subsequent economists also built upon these policy prescriptions. Hansson and Edelstein are depicted from left to right.
The Gojan School of Economics contributions in the form of Price Theory and the Economic Calculation Problem heavily influenced economists across Eras. However, the influence of business cycle economists who prescribed government spending to solve problems necessitated the formation of a new economic school of thought. This is what gave rise to the Sarazed School of Economics. As well as being far less anti-spending as the Gojan Economists, the Sarazed School of Economics advocated for monetary policy as the primary method of dealing with economic problems. This school was founded by Nator Avil in the mid 20th Century with the publication of Monetary Policy and the Money Supply. In it, he posits that the money supply heavily influences the overall economy, thus founding the Monetarist field of economic study. While his beliefs in the free market are not universally accepted, his contributions to the field of monetary study form the basis of many modern day monetary theories. He is depicted below.
The ideas of Nator Avil in regards to monetary policy led to the creation of the latest school of free market economic thought, the Beaune School of Economics. The field's founding can be traced to the education of Frédéric Corne by Nator Avil. After returning from Sarazed, he began to teach at the world renowned University of Beaune and preached Monetarism to his disciples. He argued that government stimulus programs were ineffective during Callise's Little and Big Slump, and that a rapid expansion of the money supply would have driven demand and led to a swift recovery. His policies inspired Hugo Garnier, an economist who would go on to serve as the Chairman of the Bank of the Republic (Callise) from 1995 to 2015. From 1995-2005, his monetarist policies were somewhat wary of runaway inflation. That is until his own student, Lambert Bertillon, published his debut scholarly work: Monetary Targets and their Efficacy. In it, he argues that quantitative easing under the past efforts of the Bank of the Republic (particularly in 2002) led to no inflation and only sped the recovery. He then proposed that current inflationary targets didn't fully embrace the power of inflation, and that the Callisean government should instead target a Nominal Growth Domestic Product (Real Growth+Inflation) growth of 5%. This policy ended the three day scare in 2010 and has been a mainstay of Callisean monetary policy since. The Beaune School of Economics has gained an international following, but is yet to be fully embraced by the international financial community as a whole. Corne and Bertillon are shown below, from left to right.

VÅRTINGET:
- Federalist Party: 340 (Control)
- Messianist Democratic Party: 184
- Confederation Development Party: 163
- Centrist Union of Valland: 46

LÅNSEVAR:
- Federalist Party: 32 cantons (Control)
- Messianist Democratic Party: 14 cantons
- Confederation Development Party: 12 cantons
- Centrist Union of Valland: 6 cantons

Dawn of Space Flight

Despite its relatively small size, Highton has emerged as a leader in space innovation and exploration. This is due in large part to its partnership with the Andrennian Space Agency in the decades following the conclusion of the Fascist War.

In the mid-1940s, with the Fascist War ongoing, Princess Gabrielle authorized the creation of a nuclear weapons research programme. She wanted to be prepared in case Highton became directly threatened by the Dominion Powers, and she believed having this capability would provide an edge should that happen. Although the programme was unsuccessful in building any functional warheads, by the end of the war Highton possessed several usable rockets. In 1951, the programme was ended.

The 1951 Treaty of Mitta which ended the War forbid Andrenne from possessing any rockets, which posed a problem less than a decade later when its space program had advanced to a point where it was prepared to send satellites into space. In a move which was somewhat controversial in Highton, the newly-formed HSA, which had taken possession of the rockets, announced it would begin collaborations with the Andrennian Space Agency with the objective of sending a man into space within a decade. It was controversial because just a few years earlier, the two had been on the opposite sides of one of the deadliest wars ever seen. In 1959, an Andrennian satellite was sent into orbit on a Hightonian rocket, followed by several other minor missions in the next few years. After just 4 years of collaboration, the first man was sent into space– an Andrennian astronaut named Elias Haaldversson. He orbited the planet for just over two hours before landing off of the coast of Goyanes. In the years that followed, Highton and Andrenne have worked together closely in the field of space innovation, and remain partners in man’s quest for the stars.

Coalitions:

Governing

Social Left - Socialist Union & Union of Liberals and Greens (310/615 - 1999 Majority) & (298/615 - 2004 Minority)

Grand Left Coalition - Socialist Union, Communist League, & Union of Liberals and Greens (358/615 - 2008 Majority), (373/615 - 2013 Majority)

Democratic March - Socialist Union & Communist League (354/615 - 2018 Majority)


Official Opposition

United Front - Common Voter's Party, Party of the Republic, & Non Partisan Alliance (305/615 - 1999)

Centrist United - Common Voter's Party & Non Partisan Alliance (236/615 - 2004), (170/615 - 2008), (151/615 - 2013), & (148/615 - 2016)

Centre-Core Group - Common Voter's Party & Union of Liberals and Greens (203/615 - 2018)


Other Opposition

The Republic - Party of the Republic (81/615 - 2004), (87/615 - 2008), (91/615 - 2013), & (62/615 - 2016)

United Right! - Party of the Republic & Non-Partisan Alliance (58/615 - 2018)

FIRST PARTY SYSTEM: (1870-1918)
- Conservative League -> Conservative Party (Big tent conservative)
- Liberal Conference -> Liberal Party (Classical liberal)

SECOND PARTY SYSTEM: (1918-1954)
- Liberal Party (Classical liberal)
- Conservative Party (Center-right)
- Democratic Party (Center-left)

THIRD PARTY SYSTEM: (1954-1964)
- Democratic Party (Center-left)
- Liberal Party (Center-right)

FOURTH PARTY SYSTEM: (1964-1967)
- Democratic Party (Center-left)
- Liberal Party (Center-right)
- People's Party (Right-wing populist)

FIFTH PARTY SYSTEM: (1967-1996)
- People's Party -> People's Freedom Party (Right-wing populist -> Center-right)
- Democratic Party -> Democratic Progressive Party (Center-left -> Progressive)

SIXTH PARTY SYSTEM: (1996-2015)
- People's Freedom Party (Center-right)
- Democratic Progressive Party (Progressive)
- Conservative and Monarchist Party (Traditionalist conservative)

SEVENTH PARTY SYSTEM: (2015-present)
- People's Freedom Party (Center-right)
- Conservative and Monarchist Party (Traditionalist conservative)

The inauguration of a new Government in Callise is full of pomp and circumstance, and is steeped in centuries of tradition. In this article, I'll be covering the process in great detail.

The whole process starts with the Inauguration of the President of the Republic. This is done on the steps of the Palace of the Republic. The President is flanked on his right by the Senate, and on the left by the Deputies of the National Assembly. He stands center stage with the sitting Premier Bailie. He then takes the oath of office and declares his intent to the people of Callise before doing so. After they're sworn in, the President is acquainted with their offices for a short time before being ushered into the Senate. There, he swears in the new Senators to ensure their steadfast devotion to the country they now serve.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly meets and is chaired by the Premier Bailie. After swearing in the Deputies of the National Assembly, she entertains a Motion to Form a Directorate, which is customarily granted to the largest member of Parliament. This motion requires a simple majority of the Deputies and is followed by the leader of said party either listing their constituent party members and their appointments to the Directorate, or yielding the floor to the individual they intend to appoint State Director. Once the names of the Directorate members are named, the Assembly has a Vote of Confidence in the new Directorate.

The new Directorate then enters the Senate Chambers where the leading coalition introduces a Motion to Approve the Directorate. Once it passes with a simple majority, the President then ceremoniously signs a document affirming the sitting Directorate and usually takes a photo with the State Director and their sitting Directorate members. Following these events, Government may begin their functioning.

The Worker's Republic of Callise was a Federal Picardist Syndicalist Republic which controlled Callise from 1924 to 1945. Established in the wake of the Little Slump, the Worker's Republic of Callise was one of the first Socialist Republics on Eras to implement the political program of the Picardists and served as a model for the future Syndicalist movement.

The roots of the Worker's Republic of Callise begin with Remy Picard, a revolutionary intellectual from the revolutionary period of Callise. Picard wrote extensively about history, politics, and economic, proposing a generalized critique of Capitalism and predicting that the task of the Working Class was to overthrow the bourgeoisie and to establish a classless society by seizing the reigns of State and Means of Production. Picard founded the International Workers League (The First Workers League). This organization would persist until 1871, when it split over the issue of the Commune of Beaune. Those who believed it was necessary for the Commune to exercise more force, liquidate the bourgeoisie, and seek an offensive revolutionary war against the Republic would form the current of Orthodox Picardism. Those who believed the communards needed to lead by example, and strongly opposed the revolutionary terror, would come to be known as the anarchists.

The Orthodox Picardists would shatter into multiple groups, eventually coalescing, in 1881, as the Second Worker's League. In Callise, this group would be represented by the Social Democratic Party of Callise, with it's affiliate union being the FSGC. With the outbreak of the Malor-Cogorian War, this group, along with that in Maloria, suffered a split. Those who supported the Malorian Government's attempts to overthrow the Cogorian socialists, and consequently the Callisean government's indirect aid, would constitute the majority and expel the Left faction in 1911.

The leader of the Left Social Democrats, whose positions were passionately advocated for by Jean-Charles Duval, would go on to found their own party, the Socialist Labour Party, later that year. Yet while the party was split, the labor movement had yet to decide an ally. While the FSGC was affiliated with the Social Democrats, many of their leaders were Left Social Democrats. In 1912, a resolution passed by the FSGC in defiance of the Social Democrats pushed the matter of party-affiliation to the 1913 convention. During this period, the SLP began an aggressive campaign of union recruitment. By the time of the convention, almost all industrial unions voted for the Socialist Labour Party, while the craft unions primarily voted for the Social Democratic Party. However, because only a single vote was accorded to each union local, regardless of members, the Social Democratic Party won the affiliation vote. This prompted the industrial unions to split off and form the Congress of Industrial Unions, while the original FSGC changed it's name to the CSN.

This groups theoretical foundation was Duvalism, a theory of dual political power formulated by Jean-Charles Duval during his experiences in the Cogorian Socialist movement. Duval witnessed the revolution firsthand, synthesizing elements of the Cogorian model with the Syndicalist movement in Callise. His theory was that, while Industrial Unionism was the basis of the Revolutionary Movement, it must also be combined with a party to serve as the political expression of the will of the Proletariat. During his time in Cogoria, he wrote numerous treatises on political theory and strategy, most famously the 1918 treatise "Labour and Revolution: A Roadmap to the Next World." In it, he formalized his revolutionary program and how to build the conditions for Socialism.

Following the 1913 convention of FSGC, Duval stepped away from the Socialist Labour Party. Having witnessed the outbreak of the Cogorian Revolution, he decided to enlist as a foreign volunteer. From 1913 to 1917, he witnessed the Cogorian revolution firsthand, and wrote extensively about his personal and theoretical experiences within it. As the revolution drew to a close in 1917, he returned to Callise, a conquering hero, widely embraced by his party.

In 1917, following the installation of the Socialists in Cogoria, he returned to Callise. Upon his return, he was elected Chairman of the Socialist Labour Party and the CSI of Callise. From 1918 to 1919, Duval began to reshape the party along his line, and Labour and Revolution was adopted as mandatory literature for cadres within the party. Additionally, Duval founded the Third Worker's League, building inroads with the international socialist movement, as well as the newly created Worker's State in Cogoria. His inauguration as Chairman, in 1918, would occur only a few months before the start of the Little Slump, the worst economic downturn to date. Millions were unemployed, jobs were scarce, and the workers suffered. Duval saw the opportunity for revolution, and ran with it. He immediately began a campaign to bring non-aligned unions into the fold of the CSI, as well as to engender popular support through a campaign promising land expropriation, extensive social security programs, and more power for labor. By 1920, the SLP had the support of the labor movement. As the 1920 elections drew near, the SLP was postured to win a plurality in the General Court. However, a violent wildcat strike by dockworkers in Beaune in Early November, 1920, followed by sympathy strikes called nationwide, resulted in President William Marchant declaring a State of Emergency and postponing the elections indefinitely. On December 29, 1920, in Beaune, Duval spoke to a crowd of striking workers and declared the Worker's Republic of Callise.

From 1921 to 1924, the First Callisean Civil War occurred. Following the New Years Strike, Duval began the New Years Campaign, a march from Beaune to Fontaine. On Feburary 15, 1921, the Revolutionary Worker's Army seized Fontaine. This shockingly successful campaign led to the rapid collapse of the Republican government, with the only survivors being military officers who escaped to Sainte-Beaudoin. These forces, dubbed the Greycoats, formed the Provisional Militia, and formed an alliance with the Farmers' Militias, known as the Greencoats, with the stated goal of restoring the Republic and crushing the Socialist revolution.

From May 1921 to June 1922, the Provisional Militia began an aggressive campaign to take Beaune. Their theory was that, if the heart of Revolutionary Syndicalism was taken, the revolution would crumble. While they made significant gains into Villeurles, they failed to take Beaune. After their retreat to Villende, they opted for a strategy of outlasting the socialist army. Greencoat forces shipped grain and other foodstuffs to Greycoat controlled areas, depriving the Syndicalist regions of food.

Realizing that the Revolutionary Worker's Army would soon starve, Duval embarked on the infamous March to Denain. Starting in Summer of 1922, the Revolutionary Worker's Army marched through the countryside, requisitioning grain, and burning farmland. They took Croix prior to the Winter of 1922, and seized Denain in April of 1923. With the breadbasket of Callise firmly under control, a final offensive was launched against the Greycoat strongholds in Villende. It was also the first offensive to make use of combined arms, a suggestion made at the behest of General Eugène De Saint-Pierre. On September 1, 1924, the Provisional Militia surrendered to Syndicalist forces, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, military officers, and aristocrats escaping to Maloria and forming expat communities. In November of 1924, the government was organized, and the Worker's Republic of Callise officially declared.

Duval's first task upon seizing Callise was to bolster the remaining revolutionaries in Maloria. Although, by 1924, it was clear that the Socialists had lost, and any full scale intervention would serve to only further exhaust a war-torn Callise. Ultimately, they opted only to provide indirect aid, a decision which pained Duval deeply. He is often quoted as having said "If the Malorian Revolution fails, then we may very well be lost." The Malorian Revolutionaries ultimately lost in 1925.

Despite the loss of the Malorian Revolution, Duval continued implementing his program in Callise. With the SLP in power, and the ILS having been expanded to all of Callise's working population, Duval implemented the following measures, known as The Nine Points:

1. Unions were made the organs of government. Municipal, County, and Provincial Syndicates were put in charge of policy across Callise, with each Municipal Syndicate electing governing councils composed of workers from the area. On the national level, the Congress of Labor Syndicates, composed of one representative from each Municipal Syndicate, became the national legislature. From the ranks of the Congress of Labor Syndicates, a Speaker was elected to preside over the organization and appoint a Council of Labor Syndics. This organization, composed of executive ministers, forms the collective executive of the Worker's Republic. Once confirmed by the Congress, the Chairman of the Council of Labor Syndics, also known as the Grand Syndic, is the de facto Head of Government.
2. Unions were given complete control of the productive process. Each year, Municipal Syndicates compile the needs of all of their residents into a Municipal plan. These plans are sent to the County Syndicate, who synthesizes it with the other Municipal plans within the county. The same process is repeated at the Provincial Level before being finalized by the Congress of Labor Syndicates.
3. Farmland held by large landowners was nationalized, but small holdings were allowed to be kept. This would change under subsequent administrations.
4. Electrification and industrialization of rural Callise, providing a vast quantity of services not available to rural Calliseans prior to the Revolution.
5. Democratization of the military, with the establishment of Soldiers' Councils and elections for lower level military officials.
6. A policy of State Agnosticism, with all non-church and non-monastery property held by religious institutions being seized by the State. In addition, all religious schools were secularized.
7. The seizure of all independent institutions, such as museums, universities, etc. by either the National Government or the Local Syndicates, with the intention of making them available to all citizens.
8. The dismantling of all bourgeois political parties, with only Socialist organizations (such as Anarcho-Syndicalist, Orthodox Picardist, etc.) being allowed to hold office.
9. Active collaboration with the Third Worker's League, as well as establishing open channels of communication with Cogoria.

Duval's program worked wonders in a post-war Callise. Centralized resource management allowed for the reconstruction of the country around the Socialist line and greatly improved standards of living. However, extensive damage to the farmland of Callise led to the dependence of Callise on Cogorian grain. They made due for the time being, but if a famine struck the country would begin to starve. In addition, the failure of the international revolution to spread beyond Callise and Cogoria prompted Duval to issue the "Pragmatic Retreat." Recognizing socialism could only be established either internationally, or in the abundance of all resources, Duval committed to a course of Worker-controlled State Capitalism and limited autonomy for small merchants. His theory being that, through slow industrialization, Socialism could be built as the urban-rural divide weakened. From 1926-1932, Duval presided over this course until he passed away in his sleep from an apparent heart attack on November 29, 1932.

Following Duval's death, two factions emerged on the question of agriculture: the Left and the Right. The Right believed that, for the transition to Socialism begin, the Republic must wait until the next revolutionary wave and the establishment of a Pan-Craviterian Socialism. As a result, they supported staying the course and not interfering with those small enterprises allowed and tightly controlled by Duval. This group was led primarily by Armand Pierrat. The Left, by contrast, believed that the continued existence of the small enterprise endangered the revolution, and that a program of collectivization and revolutionary war was needed to establish Socialism. This group was led by Julien Calvert.

The Left ended up succeeding in getting Calvert elected Chairman. From 1932 to 1945 he would lead Callise, marking a turn in the countries agricultural policy. Calvert began a process of forced collectivization and industrialization in agriculture. His theory was that, because peasantry was an inherently counter-revolutionary institution, it was the duty of the socialist state to crush them and to forcefully instigate the transition from peasant proprietorship to agrarian socialism. This policy was markedly different from the Pierrat program of voluntary collectivization and limited market reforms, and Pierrat's notion of a gradual transition to Socialism under the Democratic Republic. This fissure, between Calvert and Pierrat, began to spill into other issues. Pierrat advocated the idea of the struggle for socialism being national first, whereas Calvert believed an international revolutionary wave would be needed to usher in mass social change. Pierrat advocated united front politics and alliances with worker and lesser peasant parties, whereas Calvert advanced a theory of "social despotism," wherein the social democrats were seen as allies of fascists and tyrants rather than the workers. These divides ultimately resulted in Armand Pierrat being expelled from the party in 1934, although he remained active in Callisean politics up until the Second Callisean Civil War.

The policies of Calvert proved to be advantageous to the Callisean anti-communists. Following the failure of the Provisional Militia to defeat the Workers Militia, a stay-behind network was established among certain farmers, urban elite, and former industrialists. This group, known as the Society for National Renewal, worked to form clandestine opposition groups, terrorist cells, and other opposition to the Workers Republic. Although at first working as a terrorist group primarily, working to destroy industry and infrastructure in the new state, the focus changed under Calvert. As the process of collectivization continued, more and more peasants became unsatisfied with the rule of the Socialist Labour Party. This allowed the Society for National Renewal to begin to plan for an open insurrection. In August 1936, in protest of a seizure of grain by the Calvert government, an open revolt took place in Denain. Peasants and allies of the Society for National Renewal took control of the city and declared their intentions to destroy the socialist government. Other protests like this occurred all throughout rural Callise, with particular strength in Villende. At this time, Calvert was also attempting to build up the Callisean military to aid in what was looking to be a likely war between Cogoria and Maloria. Knowing this, the Malorian government reached out to Callisean expats connected with the Society for National Renewal and began to organize a New Provisional Militia to be led by Gerard LeBlanc. This militia landed in Vermi, Villende, in February of 1937; a force of 50,000 soldiers armed by the Malorian government. They took Sainte-Beaudoin on February 12, 1937, and, greeted by a cheering crowd, declared the National Republic of Callise.

The Second Callisean Civil War occurred from 1937 to 1945. This time, the Greycoats targeted farmland directly and fought a more effective war of attrition. The offensive on Beaune was widely believed to have doomed the Provisional Militia, as it greatly reduced their number and weakened their hold over rural Callise. The New Provisional Militia immediately restored landlord control in rural Callise and maintained strong guerilla presences in the region. Making slow advances as the Revolutionary Worker's Army starved, the New Provisional Militia gradually ate away at the Worker's Republic. This brutal civil war also crippled the military capacity of Callise, effectively preventing it from intervening on the side of Cogoria in the Fascist Wars. Armand Pierrat, who had taken up residence in rural Callise, fled the country 1938 and took up residence in Cogoria. He would continue to write until his death in 1952 and would exert significant influence over future socialist movements. In 1940, Beaune was seized by the Greycoats. In 1945, as Fontaine was surrounded, Julien Calvert opted to take his own life to avoid capture.

In 1945, with the fall of Fontaine, LeBlanc was named Consul-General, and a military dictatorship would take hold of Callise until 1965.

Before every recognized socialist or communist in Skanda there was Toa Makuaia, a Skandan philosopher and doctor who popped up in the 1840s, shortly after the First Andrenno-Malorian War. He was one of the first to consider an "equal" Skandan society, urging his native kin to overthrow the oppressive Andrennians who were abusing them and using them as indentured servants despite banning slavery and indentured servitude being banned in Andrenne decades prior, and clearly they didn't care about the Skandans since they hadn't defended them in the war.


Though considered a radical by the Andrennian colonials and the higher up Skandans who were in good with the colonial government, a lot of the lower class liked him. He had ideas of a socialist society conforming to Skandan culture and advocated the toppling of imperialist powers. In 1855 he published "The Order of Society". He lit the first flame of socialism in Skanda and is considered the father of Skandan Socialism and Communism, although there were similar ideas before him from other Skandans never properly written about or made into real philosophies.


Makuaia grew in prominence throughout the late 1800s especially with multiple attempted revolts adopting some of his philosophies in an experimental form. More importantly he inspired the young Ikira Miyako in the 1890s, a journalist, and now a philosopher. Miyako took his ideas in a more... extreme direction, yelling forth his beliefs in his newspapers and various public settings. He actually gained a pretty large following and in 1922 led the Laneo Revolt against the Skandan colonial government and the Andrennians.


Like many before it failed but it was the first to entirely go off of Makuaia's ideas and even labeled itself as a "uprising for the social order". It led to the Koe Revolt in 1932, and though that was much more general and was more in protest to the change in government in Andrenne, it was once more led by Miyako. It also unfortunately led to his execution due to now much stricter Skandan and Andrennian governments.


Miyako wrote the unofficial sequel to "The Order of Society", "The Order of Society in the Modern Nation" in 1927 and it served as the basis for the Liberation Party of Skanda, formed just a year later and led by Miyako until his demise, in which Hoe Keru took charge instead. He spearheaded his own socialist philosophy, aptly named Keruism, but he would come to butt heads with a young upstart general by the name of Jirou Yoshi'hiwe. They'd battle for control of the LPS throughout the entire Fascist War, though they both agreed that the LPS should assist Skanda in it's war efforts solely to be patriotic.


Unfortunately for Keru he was executed by the newly established Commonwealth of Skanda in 1952 due to being a "undesirable seditionist" who “looked only to cause instability and drive the nation into a civil war”. Jirou took full control of the LPS, now able to spearhead his new Jirouist ideology, though he was abruptly forced underground due to the LPS being banned for the same reasons Hoe Keru had been executed. Jirou then formed the Liberation Front of Skanda in 1953, hid out in the jungles for a few years while growing in popularity due to his ideas meshing well with the common Skandan in the time who really quite despised Andrenne, and in 1957 declared that his LFS was now fighting for an independent Skanda, leading to the Skandan Revolution and from there, the rest of modern Skandan history.

Enjoy the Château du Président and the Château du Directeur d'Etat, the two residencies of the President and the State Director. The buildings were made to look exactly the same to emphasize the symbiotic equal nature of the two positions. They sit along the sides of the General Court building that corresponds with their individual houses of the General Court

[RETCONNED]

1st Constitution of Callise: Signed in 1800. Power concentrated in the Legislature, with provisions allowing for the President to serve as a military strongman if need be. Was rewritten after the Wars of the Republic due to the abuses of Chevalier.

2nd Constitution of Callise: Shared power between the President and the State Director, in many ways resembles the modern day Constitution of Callise. Dissolved by the Worker's Republic of Callise.

3rd Constitution of Callise: Passed after the end of the LeBlanc Directorate, supplanted with the ushering in of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Callise.

Constitution of the Commonwealth of Callise:

(REDACTED)

In 2018, the per-capita spending on health was 3,353 IBU, with a life expectancy of 83 years.

To the soldiers, airmen, and sailors of the FNU armed forces and our allies from across the seas.

Fifteen years ago the tyranny of Syndicalism embedded itself in the heart of the Prydanian Realm. Today, after a great crusade of many years, we find ourselves on the outskirts of our beloved capital, on the verge of regaining our freedom and our country. Already General Krummedike's Fifth Army has engaged the Syndicalist enemy in the outskirts of Keris to the west. There will be no salvation for the criminals who now occupy Býkonsviði, who have refused the prospect for peace and who now force us to see the war to its logical end.

We will all embark upon one last fight for the future of our country, against an enemy that grew from within and nearly destroyed us. The tide had turned, however. From the heart of Austurland to Alaterva, to Hadden and Krummedike, our forces, along with our closest friends and kin from afar, have thrown the Syndicalist tyranny back and liberated many of our realm from Syndicalist oppression.

We have a rendezvous with destiny. Not all people are called for such a fate, but fate rarely calls upon us at a time of our choosing. It is our duty now, to fight one final time for the Prydanian Realm and the country we all believe in. We will fight in the streets of Býkonsviði until the very end to put the criminal regime of Thomas Nielsen in the ground and ensure the victory of civilization over the forces of oppression. Your task will not be an easy one, but in the name of Prydania, our future King, and our soon to be won freedom, in the name of God Almighty, I ask you all. Won't you come with me and take this city?

Click to expand...

-Field Marshal Stig Eiderwig-Loðbrók, Thane of Eiderwig, Commander-in-Chief of FNU Armed Forces
20 May 2017, just prior to the advance on Beaconsviði during the final month of the Prydanian Civil War

(not the history of valamo post yet, that comes later)

Following the "Valamic Revolution of 1916", which changed Valamic society forevermore, numerous revolts and governments were formed to go against the Commune government and to "Liberate" Valamo. Here are a few flags of them;

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When the Highton Principality declared itself independent from the Pobfénix Empire in 1432, the first flag used was a blue and yellow bicolor. Often times, a coronet was added to the flag in the center of the golden top half. Another alternate design which became popular was the Prince's standard, a diagonal bicolor between the same blue and gold. The Prince's standard was based on the von Schußer family coat of arms, which contains a shield divided horizontally into blue and gold with a wheel and sword. When the Highton Principality was unified with Aleman in 1831, an Aleman eagle was added to the von Schußer coat of arms, the de-facto arms of the Principality, to form the United Principality's arms. A new flag was used, a blue, white, and gold tricolor. Even after the Eastern Wars (which saw the Rixion states absorbed), the flag and arms remained. In 1951 the new Hightonian constitution was signed. The Republic of Highton was created, and it was to exist simultaneously with the Principality (together the Crowned Republic). The Principality continued to use the older version and continues to do so to this day. The Prince's Standard is the square diagonal bicolor. The Republic adopted a design showing the four older nations, Pobfénix, Highton, Talansk, and Aleman, with two golden monkeys as supporters. The first flag of the Crowned Republic was a simple blue design with a gold sash and a solitary white star. The Crowned Republic technically did not have a coat of arms until 2002, when the current design was adopted. It shows a shield in the middle with a version of the Hightonian flag, supported by an eagle and a monkey. It is topped by the Prince's crown. The current Hightonian flag was adopted in 1954 and has two thin sashes (representing Highton and Aleman), with seven stars representing the seven states.

Spoiler: 1st Highton Principality Flag

Spoiler: 2nd Highton Principality Flag

Spoiler: United Principality Flag

Spoiler: United Principality CoA

Spoiler: Republican Protest Flag

Spoiler: 1st Crowned Republic Flag

Spoiler: 2nd Crowned Republic Flag

Spoiler: Prince's Standard

Spoiler: Prince's Standard (Alternate)

Spoiler: Principality CoA

Spoiler: Republic CoA

Spoiler: Crowned Republic CoA

The Appeal to the Mercy of His/Her Highness

A quirk of the Sil Dorsettian justice system is the availability for the sentencing of a criminal to be taken out of court and placed in the hands of the reigning monarch. No matter which court the case originated in, the appeal of mercy is available as a plea option. It is not available on normal appeals to higher courts following a conviction.

Defendants can do one of three plea options:
1. Plead "Not Guilty", and the case goes to a jury or bench trial.
2. Plead "Guilty", and the case goes to the sentencing phase decided entirely by a judge.
3. "Appeal to the Mercy of His/Her Highness"

The latter option is effectively a Guilty plea. The case is taken out of the normal court system, and is heard by the monarch, decided in absentia, or the monarch can defer it back to the originating court, which then moves on to the sentencing phase. Regardless, whatever happens as a result cannot be appealed.

One might think that if the monarch can send the case back to the originating court, there is no downside to making the appeal if they would otherwise plead guilty, but there is actually still a risk in making the appeal. If a case is referred back to the originating court, the judge is limited by the law. However, if the monarch hears the case, the monarch is totally unrestricted in what punishment can be imposed, and can even impose punishments not normally authorized under the law. It is the only instance in the justice system in which a death penalty can actually be applied.

For this reason, most criminals likely to be convicted of major violent felonies don't make the appeal. Most appeals are for minor offenses and decided in absentia, where the monarch will usually give a lighter sentence or forgive it altogether. Major crimes handled in this manner, though, usually make headline news.

Following the 2017 political system reform, an appeal is still decided by a single co-monarch, but must be confirmed by or negotiated with either the other co-monarch or the Prime Minister. In most cases, the co-monarch that hears the case will work with the Prime Minister first, only resorting to the other co-monarch if no common ground with the Prime Minister can be found.

Within the nation of Callise, one of the most popular past-times is spectating athletic competitions. These contests are often broadcasted on national television and draw large in-stadium crowds that make the venture incredibly popular. Here are a list of the most popular Callisean sports, in order, and the authorities that govern them.

Rugby
Rugby is a 15 man team sport in which two teams compete to carry a rugby ball into their opponents try zone and place the ball down for a "try". Callise is one of the foremost nations when it comes to competition in Rugby, and thus it is one of the most popular in the nation. While the sport was an evolution of International Football in many countries, some form of Rugby can be traced back to Callise as early as the late 1700s. A sport similar to Rugby, with 13 players rather than 15, was played widely by the Avec un Pantalons. The game remained largely informal, and the province of the lower class, until 1848. In that year, the first set of Rugby rules was established in Callise. Gradually, the sport would move beyond a working class sport and would permeate middle class culture as well. This was typified by the formation of two Rugby leagues in the late 1800s: the National Rugby League of Callise (1871) and the Callisean Rugby Union (1875). The former was dominated primarily by middle class fans, whereas the latter catered to the working class. The two leagues moved towards some form of cooperation in 1891, when they approved the Standardized Rules and Regulations of Rugby. This would serve as one of the first official Rugby rulebooks in Eras, and would exert a large influence on the development of Rugby in sports which had played International Football. These rules would eventually be replaced by the Eras Rugby Standard in 1912, which reflected the influence of other nations variants of Rugby on the sport. The two Rugby leagues would be unified in 1915 under its current body, an organization which has survived both the Workers and National Republic, and has served as a point of national unity and pride for all Calliseans. The sport is governed by the Callisean Rugby Association, a 16 team league which operates with a normal playoff system and a draft to acquire new talent. The sport is played in Fall.

Lacrosse
Lacrosse, known in Callise as Crosse, is a 10 man team sport in which players, carrying lacrosse sticks, attempt to carry a lacrosse ball across the field and score in the opposing team's net. It originally grew out of hurling, a sport native to Callise, although similar games had been played abroad before in countries like Goyanes making claims to who founded the sport little more than conjecture. Callise's lacrosse competition is quite vibrant, and an annual match is played against Goyanes, one of the other most popular players of the sport. Historically the sport was the purview of the rich, with Crosse matches being played in arenas exclusively reserved for the middle and upper class. This changed under the Worker's Republic, where integration was mandated (however it was suspended once more under the National Republic). The sport in Callise is governed by the National Crosse Federation of Callise (Founded in 1888). In its current iteration, approved in 1966, it is a three tiered league with ten teams in each tier. Every year the two best and two worst teams move up and down a division (respectively) thus creating an endless rotation of top tier line-ups. A final four tournament is held every year and new talent is drawn from recruiting academies set up across Callise. The sport is played in Spring.

Callic Football
Callic Football is a sport originating within Callise in which 12 man teams seek to take a ball from one end of a 110 yard field to the other. The offensive team has three attempts to make a first down, which is done by traveling 10 yards total. This need to gain big yardage has resulted in many teams eschewing the normal power and zone run concepts of Gojan Football in favor of the more unorthodox Option and Wishbone offenses, which employ trickery and pitch options to confuse defenders and maximize yardage. The sport was brought to Callise by the Gojan Lacrosse team during their annual match in 1894, when the national Lacrosse team played a friendly match of Gojan Football after their match with Callise. The Callisean players, who were invited to play, spread the sport throughout Callise and adapted the rules. Over the years, the sport would gain a cult following and be played throughout Callise, particularly in working class communities looking for a sport to play in Spring (because Crosse, the dominant Spring sport, was seen as predominantly upper class). Its rules were formalized under the Workers Republic, where cooperative teams bound together to form the Callic Football Union in 1931. This was also the first league to implement a new players draft, a measure intended to promote equity and good competition and which would be adopted by Rugby after the Peaceful Revolution. The sport was banned under the dictatorship of LeBlanc for its association with working class politics, although it would continue to be played in secret. It would be made a national sport once again in 1966, in the LCFC, the Callic Football League of Callise, which had 8 teams. The league now has 12 teams, and is largely the same as it was in the 1930s with only two major differences. First, the new league moved its season to the summer so as to avoid conflicting with Crosse. Second, it replaced the new player draft with a player auction (where teams are assigned draft capital in opposite proportion to the team's record). Consequently, the sport is no longer season as predominantly working class.

Basketball
Basketball is a five man team sport in which two teams compete to gain the most points by placing a ball in the opposing teams net from varying distances. Callise competes in this sport as part of the Crown League, a Pan-Craviter basketball league with teams all across the continent. The sport had been played in Callise since the early 1900s, but only took off in the 1960s following the "Peaceful Revolution" and the subsequent liberalization of the country. It was originally proposed as a winter sport, which could be played in the time between Rugby and Crosse seasons. This would change with the success of the Crown League, which is largely responsible for the formalization of the sport. The Crown League was founded in 1970, and was instrumental in making basketball a popular sport in both Callise and Craviter. The Crown League now plays year round, from the beginning of fall to the beginning of summer (with its peak season being winter). New talent is drawn from an amateur draft, which has an order partially determined by lottery.

Lithonian Football
Lithonian Football is a 18-22 man team sport in which teams try to score in an opponents goal solely by passing via kick or punching the ball from one's palms. The sport was brought to Callise during the colonial era, when traders from Iraelia, who had learned the sport in Skanda, brought it back to Craviter. Lithonian Football in Callise is organized by the Lithonian Football League of Callise, which has 8 teams that play intermittently throughout the year. They are internationally affiliated with the International Lithonian Football League, and draw talent from recruiting academies and scouting outposts established throughout Craviter. The sport is played year round, but league play happens primarily during the Summer in Callise.

Hurling
Hurling is a 15 man sport in which players use sticks to hit a small ball (hurl) into an opponents goal for three points, or between their goalposts for one. The sport was first played by the Callic people on the plains of central Callise. Hurling in Callise is governed by the National Hurling Confederation, a loose alignment of roughly 200 hurling clubs organized independently throughout the country. Tournaments and season schedules are organized through the confederation, allowing for several premier teams to rise to prominence. New talent is acquired via recruiting academies, mainly within Callise, but some are maintained abroad by the more financially endowed clubs. The sport is played year round, with the largest tournaments organized to coincide with each season. The sport remains popular throughout Callise, but has largely been neglected as a professional and televised sport in favor of Lacrosse. Many star Lacrosse players are recruited from the National Hurling Confederation.

International Football
International Football, referred to informally as soccer or football, is an 11-man sport in which two teams attempt to kick a ball into the opposing teams goal for a score. International Football is not native to Callise and was only formally adopted as a sport after the "Peaceful Revolution" of 1965. Eight teams compete professionally within the Callisean Union of International Football, which is affiliated internationally with the Eras World Cup. The League has struggled thus far and the talent in Callise is inferior compared to many other nations which play the sport, as evidenced by the Callisean National performance in the 2019 Eras World Cup. New players are acquired through transfer or recruiting academies, although most star players are acquired near the end of their career via the transfer market. The sport is played year round, with a break held during the winter months.

(In response to a worldbuilding question regarding what our citizens are eating at lunch time)

A link to general information about Callise: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oE44CYSB5D0lwKt_h7e9itD9dSwKmv2QHyHf3M0VIYo/edit?usp=sharing

Like many cultures, the Yeran people have a rich musical history, one that finds its roots many millennia ago, before the first of them arrived to their present day home in the northernmost isles of Eras. The ƛ’âlmên (or Bowed Harp, in Mercanti) is one such development of this history and its unique sound captures the mystery and age of its homeland.

The ƛ’âlmên first appeared in Yeran history roughly 1200 years ago, before the first unification of the isles by the Ru-Yeśam, and was three stringed instead of the traditional four, and featured a more rounded body. Four stringed examples of the ƛ’âlmên started appearing in the 13th and 14th centuries, also gaining the more boxy body the instrument is known for. Nowadays, five string variants are made by some luthiers, as well as 6 string and 8 string variants, with strings grouped in pairs.

Musically, the ƛ’âlmên is an instrument primarily used for droning parts, and accompanies drums, a woodwind instrument such as some form of flute or other melodic instrument, and occasionally singing in traditional folk arrangements. Many Yeran folk songs are built on this unique droning sound and a melody, often making use of discordant intervals to produce eerie sounds. Non-discordant melodies are also quite common, and are typically performed during holidays and festivals about growth or harvest season.

Challian or Charrian? Etymology of a demonym
A Fun Fact of the Day from the EIEIO*!

Did you know the most common demonym used for the people of Haor Chall is “Charrian”; not, as is widely thought in the rest of Eras, “Challian”.

This is because the popular demonym originates from the principal religion of Haor Chall, the Precepts of Xi Char (incidentally, Xi Char is also the name of Haor Chall's capital). A believer in Xi Char is, then, known as a Charrian. The Xi Char religion appeared during the tribal period of Haor Chall’s history and, a very militant faith, it grew quickly in the feudal era and held significant sway over Haor Chall throughout its history and even into the early democratic era. In modern times the Xi Char religion has grown to become significantly more moderate and has little influence within the offically secular government.

Whilst the majority of the population are no longer practicing members of the religion, over 80% of the native population still identified as believing in Xi Char. Accordingly, whilst Charrian began as a term specifically for followers of Xi Char, it became so widely used in Haor Chall that it has been the accepted demonym since at least the 1700s.

However, foreigners have always made the mistake of referring to Challians, for understandable reasons, and this term has seen an increase in usage within Haor Chall itself in recent years, as younger generations – particularly in more liberal and metropolitan areas – prefers to identify with a demonym that does not carry the religious connotations and origins that using Charrian does. Whilst it is unlikely that Challian will overtake Charrian in common usage, certainly for the foreseeable future, it is understood (often begrudgingly) as a valid alternative.

For example, whilst Charrian remains the formal demonym used by the Majestic Twelve (the government of Haor Chall) and is used in all official correspondence; in accordance with the government style guide, Challian is recognised as a valid term (mostly to prevent embarrassing incidents with foreign governments, who often default to the wrong term) and as such, the last census allowed respondents to use Charrian or Challian to describe their nationality, although all passports and other documentation use Charrian.


*Eras International Etymological Interpretation Organisation

The founder of what would become the SJP, one Chandra Shekhar, was initially a protestor against the Iterian War in the 1960s, as part of the growing right-wing opposition at the time. Through his charisma, he emerged as a prominent leader in the opposition movement, and went on to found the People's Party. However, the People's Party was only one of a number of opposition parties, and would not get close to forming a government until the infamous State of Emergency.

Feroze Sahab, leader of the then-governing Democratic Party, had at this point maintained a semi-robust lead in the Imperial Diet, and the disjointed opposition parties were only sometimes able to unite on certain issues. However, trouble was on the horizon, as the Iterian War was going very poorly for Imperial forces, and unbeknownst to most Syrixians including many members of the Democratic Party, Feroze Sahab's government had been hiding the Iterian War's true nature to the people.

In 1966, the true nature of the Imperial war effort- one that vastly contradicted the government's narratives- was leaked by the Pataliputra Sun (mostly known today as the Sun) in collaboration with the People's Party. Following the leaks, The Democratic Party voted to enact a state of emergency- something which, at that point in time, only required a simple majority. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and more were all censored, and when the People's Party's role in the leaks was discovered by a now-vastly expanded government, Shekhar was imprisoned.

The Sun's leaks, the State of Emergency, and Shekhar's imprisonment all quickly turned the public against the Democratic Party, and Emperor Vipassinatha, who had longstanding tensions with the Democrats, now openly called for people to take to the streets, though he declined to take any further action, for fear that the result would be an escalation of civil unrest, and because he lacked the real power to do anything more decisive. People did take to the streets, however, and the opposition parties united behind Shekhar, who remained imprisoned.

9 months later, the Iterian War ended in an embarassing Imperial defeat and the Empire was forced to call its troops home. The end of the war allowed the Emperor to quickly declare an end to the State of Emergency, and a now-freed Chandra Shekhar resumed his position in the Diet, quickly uniting the opposition under the People's Party. Subsequently, snap elections were held, and by a landslide, Shekhar would become Chandra Sahab, kickstarting the broad rightward social slide in the Empire in the late 1960s and 1970s known as the Moral Revolution and ushering in a new Party System, with the former Conservative and Liberal Parties rallying under the SJP's banner.

Despite this, though, tensions remained between the Diet and the Emperor, although they were now significantly lessened. Emperor Vipassinatha was never as popular as his predecessor- Emperor Atmanatha - had been, and wanted to increase his personal authority within the government. The Emperor's opportunity came in 1974, when the Republic of Austalgotha voted to join the Sangatha. Following Austalgotha's admittance, the Kingdom of Hastenfrakta, alarmed, invaded the country. The government was divided on how to respond.

When the Emperor was informed of the invasion he immediately and publicly demanded that the Diet declare war on Hastenfrakta. Chandra Sahab, instead, urged caution and chose instead to send only one Imperial Navy fleet to blockade Hastenfraktan ports and relieve the Austalgothans. Following a standoff between Esplandian and Imperial ships- as Esplandia was looking to do the same and did not want the Empire involved- the Military Tribune, on orders from Chandra Sahab, ordered the fleet's commanding admiral to sail northwest and confront Hastenfrakta directly. The Emperor was furious.

Despite some bumps along the road like that of the Austalgotha Incident, however, relations between the Emperor and the People's Party-controlled Diet were generally good. Just before the 1985 general election, though, Chandra Sahab resigned as leader of the party, suddenly and under mysterious circumstances. Some say he was outmaneuvered by MD Pratap Mukherjee, who became the next Party Supremo, while others say he decided he had done what he had set out to do and wanted to place the party in the hands of new leaders.

Whatever the case, he retired from politics, eventually going on to become the President of the Imperial University. Mukherjee, however, though he gained control of the party, did not win the election. Nevertheless, he did reshape the party, renaming it to the People's Freedom Party- also known as the SJP- and making it less overtly populist and more of a broad center-right party. Despite this, though, the SJP has not forgotten its roots, nor has it forgotten Chandra Sahab. The party still praises him as a national hero and a statue of him was built in 2009, a year after his death in 2008.

Mukherjee led the SJP from 1985 to 1997, during the Civic League Government of Vivek Sahab. However, in 1997, the Samajwadi Party won a stunning surprise victory, knocking both Mukherjee and the State Curator out of their own seats in the Diet. The Samajwadis were led by charismatic center-left congressman Avinash Karunanidhi Varam, or A.K. Varam, who in turn should have become Avinash Sahab. He, however, rejected the traditional honorific, simply going by his given name. Mukherjee, meanwhile, was replaced by Pravian MD Romeu da Costa, who first served as Leader of the Opposition and then became Romeu Sahab after winning the general election of 2009, taking back power from the Samajwadi Party.

Romeu Sahab remained fairly popular throughout his term, spearheading, along with Emperor Rajesh, numerous neoconservative foreign policy strategies and aggressively expanding both the Empire's economic and political influence. These strategies sought to expand Imperial markets in line with the concept of the Harmonious Society and promoting Samaji Vyavastha (a centuries-old political term meaning the "Social Order"), which, in a modern context, means preventing conflict and/or controversy that could disrupt the Harmonious Society and its Pataliputra-centric markets. This modern combination of the Harmonious Society and Samaji Vyavastha is known as the SSN, which means Sapheda Sithu Neeti, or "White Bridge Policy". It is a hallmark of SJP governance in the 21st century and has, over the years, led to such actions as detente with Skanda and Naizerre, the promotion of Imperial business abroad, the strengthening of the role of the Sangatha, and the Empire's admission to the Luscova Pact, Craviter Economic Association, and META.

The Emperor, however, was not content to share real power as his father did throughout his reign. After carefully building up personal influence over the years, Rajesh, through a loyal cabal of corporate and financial leaders, advisors, and politicians, manipulated the rising national sovereigntist movement from the shadows to influence the 2015 general election, in which the SJP lost 56 seats. As a consequence, Romeu Sahab's government became increasingly embattled, and in 2017, unable to break the deadlock, Romeu Sahab stepped down in the hopes that a new leader would be able to do so. This was exactly what the Emperor wanted, and events were subsequently manipulated allowing the least charismatic and decisive of the contenders for Party Supremo, Secretary of Transportation Diwan Chaudhry, to become the new Party Supremo, becoming Diwan Sahab.

Though Diwan Sahab largely continued Romeu Sahab's programs, he was a generally more mild-mannered politician than his predecessor; one the Emperor could influence, and indeed did. The Emperor utilized this to tip the balance of power in his own favor, allowing him to essentially rule by decree from behind the scenes on all matters he so chose to. Though the Emperor generally left domestic affairs alone, the same could not be said for foreign policy, which he began to further shape to his will, pressing for a more aggressive campaign of expansion.

Though initially, this led to greater successes in foreign policy, said expansion was dramatically halted by two scandals in a row; first the scandal surrounding the Empire's role in the 2020 Hightonian presidential elections, and secondly, the success of the "No" vote in the Iraelian constitutional referendum. Diwan Sahab was quickly positioned as a scapegoat for these blunders, and wound up resigning, quickly replaced by Secretary of State Rahul Khanna, who became Rahul Sahab. Rahul Sahab has largely continued on the same foreign policy vision, though generally more carefully than before.

It remains to be seen how the recent scandals will affect the SJP and greater Imperial politics in the long term. The next general election is in March of 2021 - said election will decide if Rahul Sahab will follow in Mukherjee's footsteps or in those of Romeu Sahab. Only time will tell!

The City of Saintes is also nicknamed as the "City of a hundred steeples" (Ville aux cent clochers), because of the many churches and chapels in the city. However, the number is not accurate. Today, the area of the old city of Saintes contains 91 churches; however, some of the churches on the right-bank half of the city were rebuilt or relocated after the Great Fire of Saintes in 1850.

When the city of Saintes absorbed 114 adjacent communes during the reform of the Saintes region and department of the Saine, more parish churches were absorbed into the city of Saintes. Since 2007, the city of Saintes has 364 recognised parish churches. This count does not include small chapels frequently built within large buildings, residential tower blocks, or neighbourhoods. Officially, the Patriarchate-Archdiocese of Saintes, since the realignment of the archdiocesan borders with departmental ones, is composed of 366 parishes. The only parishes outside modern Saintes' borders are Saint-Sidoine (Arpajon, Saine-et-Loine) and Saint-Pardoult (Saint-Pardoult-sur-Saine, Lisle), which were retained by the Patriarchate-Archdiocese for historical reasons.

One popular legend states that if you visit and pray in all of Saintes' churches, one for every day of the year, the wish you repeated during those 365 days will be granted the next year. This Pilgrimage in Saintes (Pèlerinage en Saintes) is popular among the devout in the metropolitan area. There are several variants: some include Saint-Sidoine and Saint-Pardoult and leave out the Church of the Abbaye de Notre Dame de Saintonge (the only monastery within Saintes city limits); some include only Saint-Sidoine and Saint-Pardoult during leap years and instead go to the Royal Chapel (generally closed to the public, except on certain days) on the grounds of the Royal Palace in Saintes for the 365^th church on a non-leap year.

The Kingdom of Saintonge is considered a trailblazer when it comes to women’s suffrage. Women’s suffrage in Saintonge is as old as Santonian democracy itself.

Plebiscite of 1793
The culmination of the Santonian Revolution was the Constitution of the Kingdom of Saintonge, which is still in force today. It called for the creation of the current Parliament to replace the various legislatures in the country. The Revolutionary Estates-General planned to submit it to a plebiscite for approval in 1794. However, when preparations for the plebiscite were being made, various disagreements arose on who has the right to vote. While property requirements to vote were abolished entirely, the clause regarding elections were unclear in the law passed by the Estates-General for the plebiscite:


Some departments, such as Simbruins and Scyotte, included women in their electoral registers. Other departments, such as Tage and Capoterre, refused to register women. A group of two dozen department superintendents asked the Estates-General to clarify who can vote in the plebiscite.

Suffrage Question
The suffrage question triggered a debate in the Estates-General in September 1793. There was a big bloc of opposition in the Estates-General, not just in the First and Second Estates, but in the Third Estate as well. Not being able to reach an agreement, the Estates-General went on its winter break. Meanwhile, suffragists across the country commenced their campaign. Their champions were Jeanne-Thérèse Dejerine, delegate of the province of Vermandois; Mother Superior Marie de l’Immaculée Conception, Abbess of the Notre Dame de Saintonge Abbey; and Countess Marie-Avelline Montcornet de Salernes, the so-called ‘Warrior Countess’.

The Countess of Salernes was the most influential and most vocal of the ‘suffragists’, being a respected member of the Second Estate of the Pouilles and of the Estates-General. The Countess of Salernes got her nickname from her exploits during the Santonian Revolution. Her husband, Count Brice-Corbin Montcornet de Salernes, was serving under the revolutionary armies of the Pouilles under the famed ‘Warrior Bishop’, Bishop Paul-David Montboisses of Côme. The Countess of Salernes insisted on joining her husband in the military campaign. In the Battle of Nogent-sur-Lisle (26 June 1790), the Count of Salernes was killed in battle, and the Countess, finding herself in the battlefield, rallied her county’s troops to cover the retreat of the rest of the revolutionary army. She insisted on retaining control and leading the contributions and levies from her county – a decision supported by the ordinary soldiers because of the respect they had for the Count and Countess. The Warrior Bishop credited the units of the Countess of Salernes and that of Charles-Pérégrin Buerch, Sire de Mauvoisin, as crucial in preventing the collapse of the revolutionaries’ lines in the Battle of Torcy-le-Grand (10 July 1790). Her exploits and fame quickly spread throughout the army and the country.

Her fame was such, that despite being a noble, the Countess of Salernes was elected by four provinces (the Pouilles, Champagne, Forez, Beaune) as their deputy in the Third Estate. The Countess of Salernes chose to sit as a member for the Pouilles. She did not have to renounce a noble title as her “Countess of Salernes” was not a suo jure title.

The Countess of Salernes and the Abbess toured the country to drum up support, even during the middle of the winter. Large crowds attended their speeches despite the winter. Duchess Louise-Radegonde of the Bavière and Duchess Marie-Véronique of Beaujolais voiced their support after meeting the Countess of Salernes and the Abbess – virtually securing the Second Estate through their husbands’ votes. Dejerine and the other female Third Estate deputy, Annette Berthézenne de Forest of Artois, wrote newspaper articles to support women’s suffrage.

Some opponents of women’s suffrage also published articles, leading to the famous Qu'est-ce qu'une femme ? (“What is a woman?”) series of articles wherein Dejerine and Berthézenne de Forest debated the opponents of women’s suffrage in the newspaper l’Indépendant.

Women’s Suffrage Gained
When the Estates-General reconvened in March 1794, public opinion in Saintonge had already changed in favour of women’s suffrage. The Countess of Salernes then turned the mood of the Estates-General around with her now-famous speech Ne suis-je pas citoyen? (“Am I not a citizen?”)* By not allowing women to vote, the Countess of Salernes argued, the Kingdom of Saintonge is implying that women are not citizens – negating every and all contribution of all women for the kingdom of Saintonge, not just hers. The Countess of Salernes then recited a long history of women’s contributions in Saintonge. When a male deputy interrupted and heckled her, the Countess of Salernes shot back with another now-famous line: “Rappelez-vous, tu viens d’une femme!” (“Remember, you came from a woman!”)^

The Estates-General approved an amendment to the law allowing for the inclusion of women in the plebiscite. The Estates-General also amended the proposed Constitution to provide for universal, equal suffrage. Thus, when the first truly national vote occurred in 1794 (the Constitutional Plebiscite), women already had suffrage.

Effect on Santonian Politics
Psephologists have theorised that women’s suffrage had a profound effect in Santonian politics. In Saintonge, women are more devout than men, and this contributed to the orientation of Santonian politics: centre-right socially and centre-left economically. In the most recent Santonian elections, there was a large gender gap between women and men in terms of support for the National Party (centre-right socially, centre-left economically), with women more likely to support the National Party.

Political scientists also credit the early women’s influence in politics for policies such as the early introduction of minimum work hours, free basic education, universal healthcare, maternity leave, child labour laws, and Saintonge’s aversion to imperialism. Women were also early participants in Saintonge’s industrial revolution, and so the early industrial laws were also a product of women involvement in politics.

The National Assembly of Saintonge has had at least one female deputy since 1795. The National Assembly with the greatest number of women is the current one, with 151 out of the 431 deputies (35%) being female.

Footnotes
*The full title of the speech and its central line was Ne suis-je pas citoyen comme vous tous? (“Am I not a citizen just like all of you?”), but the title is now commonly shortened to Ne suis-je pas citoyen?
^ Also now commonly quoted as “Tu viens d’une femme!” (You came from a woman!).

Discord Excerpt on a Jurisdictional Feud over the Right to Demolish Buildings between the Empire and Kalety

Schleprixia (Syr)Today at 9:38 PM
In 1987, then-Grand Prince of Kalety Wojciech Moscićki famously said at a private press conference, "The damn Syrixians signed a treaty. We don't care if it was centuries ago and we never have. It is still in force. The only one demolishing a building in this city is us; or they can try forcing us to for a fourth time!" The inflammatory remark sparked a quiet jurisdictional feud between HM Government and Kalety. Before the 1990s, when a Supreme Court was introduced, the Emperor actually settled the highest court cases. Naturally, Surendra II, embittered by Moscićki's remarks, gave the case to the Government. His ruling stated that Kalety could not prohibit non-listed buildings from being demolished without a practical reason. The Rada Mayoralnosći responded by listing every single building on the island in a project that took two years. From there it was kind of a standoff until the Crown Court- the Empire's supreme court- was introduced in the 1990s. Surendra II continued to pressure the Court to not overturn his ruling despite the fact that most eminent legal experts agreed had little basis in Imperial law and was deliberately stretching said law. Soon after Surendra's death, Rajesh III relaxed his father's pressure and the Court overturned the ruling. Kalety, which at this point was tired of what many in the Rada considered a pissing contest, responded by unlisting most non-historical buildings, returning the equation to its pre-feud state.

Santonian vehicle registration plates are identified with the vehicle for its lifetime. The typical license plate contains seven alphanumeric characters (motorcycles have eight). All numbers are used, and all letters except I (which may be confused with J or 1) and O (which may be confused with 0) are used.


This is the typical Santonian registration plate. Two bands of the same colour (for private vehicles, blue) are on both ends of the plate. On the left side is the emblem of the Kingdom of Saintonge and its three-letter code STG. The right side indicates where the vehicle was registered: the escutcheon indicates the department (in this case, the department of the Rance) and the three digits underneath indicate the intendancy (in this case, the intendancy of Lanester). Private vehicles would have the format XXX·0000.


For an additional fee, vehicle owners can have their own custom (“vanity”) plate. Such plates may contain up to 7 alphanumeric characters (again excluding “I” and “O”) and will be unique in the entire Saintonge. This particular plate was registered in the City of Saintes.

License plates for government vehicles have red bands.


License plates for the national government have the format NX·00·XXX (“N” is fixed because it stands for the national government). The first two letters indicate the branch of national government it belongs to. NA plates belong to the royal household and constitutional bodies (such as the Royal Institute of Elections). NB-NW are assigned to the different ministries. NX is for the executive (Prime Minister’s Office), NY for the legislature (House of Lords and National Assembly), and NZ for the judiciary (Supreme Court). This particular plate was issued to the office of a National Assembly deputy for the Taur (hence the escutcheon), registered in Castres.


Licence plates for vehicles owned by departmental governments have the format 00·XX·000. The first two digits are fixed and correspond to the department’s number. This particular plate is owned by the department of the Capoterre and is registered in Carqueiranne.


Licence plates for vehicles owned by communes/parishes have the format 000·XX·00. The last two digits are fixed and correspond to the last two digits assigned to the commune/parish. This particular plate is owned by the commune of Cadarcet (97340) in the intendancy of Saint-Gaudens, department of the Vesle.


There is a series of special license plates for the official vehicles of the top officials of the kingdom. 1 is assigned to the Monarch, 2 to the Heir to the Throne, 3 to the Prime Minister, 4 to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 5 to the President of the Constitutional Court, 6 to the Presider of the House of Lords, 7 to the President of the National Assembly, 8 to the Pope of the Santonian National Church, and 9 to the Marshal of Saintonge (a title that exists only in wartime).


A special category of government plates has green bands. These are the vehicles of the military, police, ambulance, and firemen. These plates have the format have the format Y·000·XXX. The first letter indicates the owner of the vehicle: T for the Army (armée de terre), M for the Navy (marine), A for the Air Force (armée de l’air), P for the police, U for the ambulance (médecine d’urgence), and S for firefighting vehicles (sapeurs pompiers). This particular plate is registered for the police in the intendance of Corbeil, department of the Epte.


This is another example of an ambulance, registered in the intendance of Mirande, department of the Tage.


Military vehicles have a slightly different right band. The department’s escutcheon is replaced by the branch of the military, and the number underneath indicate the brigade (army), fleet (navy) and squadron (air force) that the vehicle belongs to. This is a vehicle registered to the 6^th Fleet of the Royal Santonian Navy.


Diplomatic vehicles have orange bands and have the format D·000·XXX. D is fixed (as a diplomatic vehicle) and the last three letters are the three-letter code of the country. The left band no longer has the emblem of Saintonge but rather “A” for embassies and “C” for consulates. The right band has the escutcheon/seal of the country and its three-letter code. Also, the top of the plate indicates Corps Diplomatique (Diplomatic Corps) instead of le Royaume de Saintonge (“the Kingdom of Saintonge”). This particular plate was issued to a vehicle owned by the Prydanian Embassy in Saintes.


Four-wheeled vehicles that are not used on the street also have their own plates with yellow bands and the format Y·00·XXXX. Y indicates the class of the vehicle. This particular plate was issued to a tractor (A for agriculture), registered in the intendancy of Saujon, department of the Chalaronne.


Motorcycles, being smaller vehicles, have a smaller plate with only one band containing the escutcheon and the number of the department and intendancy of registration, respectively. The format is XXXX·0000 and is unique throughout Saintonge. This particular plate was registered to a motorcycle in Écossesseville in the department of the Sée.