Scraps of Worldbuilding

5 More Facts About Korova

1) Korovan Kows
The Korovan Zodiac places the Cow and the Seal at the top, this is because they are the rulers of land and sea respectively who are revered in Korovan folklore. As part of this, their slaughter for meat was punished by death for centuries and even now is a practice very rarely committed. Cows in Korova are solely for milk production, which cheese being a famed local good, and seal populations thrive on the Korovan eastern coast.

2) Dragons... Not Quite
Draconids are a (fictional, Eras only) scientific animal classification at Class tier that is effectively a merging of Aves and Reptilia (so birds and reptiles). The Korovan Drako (or Dragonet in Mercanti) fall within this, they are much like Komodo Dragons in some respects but are bipedal with no arms, smaller, and covered in feathers around the skull with scales on other parts of the body. Aside this they also have some visual elements of fictional dragons, such as a skull shape somewhat. They do not breath fire like popular mythology suggests however they are venomous.

3) Byurocratik (idk how to spell) Hell

4) Censorship??? Or Purging Capitalist Interest.
With capitalistic interest being a thing actively being suppressed in Korova - this comes with the benefit of television advertisements having a much smaller presence. As a general standard, there are 2 minutes of advertisements every two programmes with a small presenter's segment attached afterwards which can last from 5-10 minutes. (This presenter segment is kinda of like, hm, what you see on publicly-funded kids channels in the UK but... not for kids but general people.)

When it comes to news in Korova, there is only one general news channel. This is RTS' and covers a repeating cycle of the same news until there's new, non-sensational stories and also covers fact-checked editorial covering specific events/issues at times. Part of the highly-stringent and pro-viewer regulation for private broadcasters requires that certain kinds of broadcaster require a twice-daily three hour new segment that cannot have advertisement and is regularly reviewed for sensationalism or the like. There's also quotas of area to cover for these private channel segments to avoid misrepresentation of peoples, areas of interest, and geographic regions, etc. Non-State 24-hour channels are banned, they exist as a byproduct of capitalism.

5) Angry Gots
Despite the Convent of Saakadzovka after the Kalmovite conquest of northern Korova, tensions were high between the Bayardiy principality of Mstiszlav and and the Halfand-ruled principality of Bakhta. These tensions eventually ended in the great conqueror breaking the terms of the Convent and attacking Mstiszlav but the consequences of this weren't to be a simple land annexation but an outright genocide of the Mstiszlav Bayardiy.

It is unknown what methods (although in reality it was Halfand's devastating taming of Ad' Cane magic) but every single major Bayardiy settlement in the region was razed to the ground and several archeological studies have found tens of Bayardiy mass-graves and battlefields, home to thousands and thousands of dead Bayardiy. Often-rare documents of communication from elsewhere in Novaya indicate the Bakhtiy had access to a since-lost weapon of war (magic) that was so scarily effective that the majority of the surrounding realms began to pay tribute, amongst other things, to the Bakhtiy realm.
To this day it's still unknown why simple border aggressions led to such violent conflict and genocide.

Yamanta Orthodoxy differs in its view of God by seeing him not as a keeper of the meek, or demanding fealty. Instead, Yamanta Orthodox followers see God as something of a blacksmith, forging each man and woman from the fires of creation, and the steel of his own resolve.

St. Ivjan of Tjar was one of the first to give a sermon painting God in this light, urging the people to believe that if God had made man in his image, he wouldn't want them to be meek, feeble, and so steadfast in their devotion that they relied entirely on God. Instead, Ivjan preached that God made man in his image and so man must live as God. He must create, he must be mighty, he must defend that which he has built by sword and flame, and all things that came of his creation must be likewise defended. In short, Yamanta Orthodoxy preaches a far more aggressive view of God and his role in the followers' lives.To further the blacksmithing metaphor used by Ivjan, it is believed that all hardships that occur in one's life is simply God finding imperfections in the implement he has crafted, and he is using these hardships as a way to "rework the steel of man." This attitude correlates directly to the "We will overcome" Yamanta attitude toward basically every obstacle or setback.

A Brief Summary of Itlakan's History from 2700 BCE to 100 CE

Itlakan has a rich history and culture, dating back thousands of years-- possibly including one of the oldest civilizations on Iteria, and maybe even on Eras as a whole; the Zoltecs. They're so old that their original name, the one they used for themselves, has been lost to history (mostly because they left no written language) and the name used to refer to them now is one that was fabricated by later Itlakani civilizations. Zoltecs left behind little evidence of themselves, but were known to exist as early as 2700 BCE. The Zoltecs biggest legacy are their impressive stone murals, carved into mountainsides and sometimes, taken from their original carving site and hauled for miles to palaces. While not much is known of the Zoltecs, it's believed that they're the "mother civilization" of the Itlakani. No one really knows where they arrived from or if they were simply native to the Xiucal Archipelago. They were presumed to have a generally centralized control over all of the 5 islands, though the extent of that centralization and control are debated by historians to this day.

The Zoltecs collapsed mysteriously sometime around 1700 BCE, bringing Itlakan into it's "Lost Period". If you couldn't guess from the name, there's really not much documentation on this period, which lasted until the 9th century BCE. What little is known of this period is that a number of continuous successor states attempted to revive the Zoltec civilization, likely failing to do so in any significant manner given the lack of artifacts and really... anything historians have found from this period. The failure of the successor states, such as the Ictecs and Yancuilzoltuica, led to increasing fractions of the former Zoltec cities, leading into Itlakan's "Classical Period".

The Itlakani Classical Period begins in the 9th century BCE, and lasts nearly a millenia, only ending in the 1st Century CE for reasons I'll get into later! Itlakan's classical period is dominated by powerful and influential city-states-- a common trend you see in Itlakani history even past this period. These city states fought each other pretty much constantly, mostly for influence over weaker city states and religious purposes (we see the formation of proto-Ilhuicayotl* in this period). Powerful city-states include later prominent cities like Citlallotihcapan, Ohuamilli, Matazacqui, Tonatiquan, and Cehuiliztli. You'll see Citlallotihcapan and Cehuiliztli a lot in Itlakan's history. Ayauhtitlani isn't prevalent for most of this period, though. During the Classical Period it was usually a sort of vassal to Cehuilitzli or Tecpilpan.

On occasion, these city states would form little federations and duke it out on a larger scale with each other which usually resulted in one or two city-states becoming the most powerful in the achipelago. All of this constant warfare proved quite useful when the Argent Imperium came knocking in the 1st Century AD. The Itlakani city states stopped their infighting to form a larger federation between all of the prominent city-states, essentially "uniting" the archipelago in the (First) Cuauhtlitenco Confederation, named after the city of Cuauhtlitenco, where the various leaders of the city-states met to discuss. Of incredibly importance in this is the Tlatoani of Ayauhtitlani, a religiously important but usually subjugated city nominally under the control of Tecpilpan (who had broken free of and beat up Cehuilitzli about 20 years prior) at the time of the formation of the Confederation.

The tlatoani of Ayauhtitlani, which was Itzcoatl at this time, was usually nothing more than a pushover to either Tecpilpan or Cehuilitzli's tlatoani, and even to Ayauhtitlani's priestly class; nothing more than a figurehead for the most part. Itzcoatl was different, however. Itzcoatl was a brilliant general, and while not credited for it by Tecpilpan, was vital in the overthrow of Cehuilitzli, which also prevented Cehuilitzli from dominating the archipelago. Itzcoatl managed to weasel his way into the meeting with the big boys in Xiucal, and was appointed as a lesser general of one of the smaller armies that would be brought to face against the Argent Imperium in their attempted invasion of Xiucal. Much to the surprise of... just about everyone, really, this small confederation managed to repel the ancient colossus that was the Argent Imperium against all odds. They bested them in numerous decisive battles, and Itzcoatl played a large part in this. He leveraged his position as a commander to, on occasion, swipe armies from other generals in the Confederation. He would prioritize his orders over theirs, he would take their troops for his own operations, and while drawing ire from his political rivals in the Confederation, time and time again led them to victory in battle.

His actions were recognized by a number of leaders, but his 'overlord', Tlatoani Cihuatia of Tecpilpan, really didn't want to admit he was kicking ass, because it'd embarrass him and reveal that he hadn't really done shit for the entire war. Despite this when it came time to give him control over larger armies and forces, Cihuatia was outvoted every single time. Itzcoatl, with more resources in his control, was now exponentially more capable of bonking Argenti troops. While the Confederation still had a number of losses under other generals, Itzcoatl led them to a decisive defensive victory. For the first time in it's history, the Itlakani retained their sovereignty from a foreign invader.

From here, we transition from the Itlakani Classical Period to the Neo-Classical Period! The Neo-Classical Period is a bit shorter in comparison, lasting from the 1st century CE to the 7th century CE. This period begins after our boy Itzcoatl wins a decisive victory over the Argent Imperium. Specifically, the Battle of Quichemecta is considered the end of the Classical Period. With the Argenti being repelled from the Xiucal Archipelago, you'd think Itlakan might enter a golden age but instead they collapse right back into their Classical Period ways. With a twist!

Ayauhtitlani has become incredibly prominent at this point thanks to Itzcoatl's victories. He's shone a light on the 'heavenly city' and it's people, and inspired by his victories, his people demand that he take the fight to Tecpilpan and destroy their hegemony over the northern islands, something that had formed during the course of the war. The Confederation, while disapproving, is not an actual unified, centralized state, and has no control over Itzcoatl who decides "yeah you know what my citizens are right fuck you Tecpilpan". This leads to Itzcoatl absolutely kicking the shit out of them because Tecpilpan's tlatoani didn't have any other prominent generals capable of defeating Itzcoatl, and a lot of his armies just sorta defected because they could see the writing on the wall. With no common enemy to unify against, the Cuauhtlitenco Confederation collapsed and most of it's most prominent city-states like Citlallotihcapan and Tonatiquan, etc, were back at each other's throats.

Itzcoatl had managed to establish his own hegemony over the northern islands at this point, backed by the priestly class that had once so disapproved over him. The change in attitude mostly came after they realized the dude wasn't a pushover and would probably just have them executed if they tried fucking with him-- which is fair because it's probably true. Better to be on his good side, then. It looked like it was just going to be a repeat of the last millennium until Itzcoatl made a radical change. That change was reducing the power of individual city-states and increasing his own power, and that of the priests as well. While they were politically quite worrying, they were also an incredibly powerful diplomatic tool. City-state trying to state you're breaching it's sovereignty? The priests told you that the gods said it was cool. Trying to conquer the Xiucal Archipelago? Gods said you should. It made things much easier and granted much-needed legitimacy to a tlatoani trying to centralize his rule.

He centralized that rule in Ayauhtitlani AKA the holiest city of the Ilhuicayotl faith, said to be blessed by the chief deity of the faith, Ayauhtitlanuili, from who it derives it's name. With his 'heavenly' backing, Itzcoatl was able to establish the most centralized empire of the Xiucal Archipelago since the Zoltecs, though it started small in the northern islands of Tlateochihualli and Huexatzintli. This quickly became known as the Yecticayotli/Yectic Empire (lit. "holy empire"), or just 'the Yectics'. The Yectics, still under the firm leadership of Itzcoatl, led an invasion of the southern islands, Amaxactli, Tlatlatilli and Cuauhyohuei. While there was an attempt to reform the Cuauhtlitenco Confederation, the Second Confederation ultimately proved to be incapable of forming a united front against the Yectics. It fought hard and long, but by 60* CE, Itzcoatl and his Yectic Empire had, for the first time since the Zoltecs, unified Xiucal.

Now at this point, our boy Itzcoatl, in all of his greatness, had yet to find a way to defeat old age. It was starting to catch up to him, but he wasn't about to wither away and die on a bed, miles from a battlefield. Instead he planned a great counter-invasion of the Argent Imperium. He amassed his forces, he theorized and even rehearsed thousands of battle-plans based on observations he and his closest advisors had made of their tactics during the first war with them. He raised a grand army, possibly one of the largest armies in the entirety of Itlakan's history, known to historians and the Yectics themselves as the "Divine Army of the Great Serpent". This Divine Army, led by some of the greatest military minds of the time period, was formed to decisively strike the Imperium and break their hegemony over northern Iteria. They hoped to break the very back of their empire, and more importantly-- show the rest of their neighbors to BTFO from Xiucal. So it was that Itzcoatl led his army to the shores of what is today Kasu, and led a great sunset invasion of the Imperium.

Itzcoatl would not return to his birthplace alive and would fall on the battlefield leading his troops into combat-- though for Itzcoatl it was the greatest death he could receive, and being the man he was he had planned exactly for this. He set up his children and his greatest generals not only to carry on his empire, but his counter-invasion of the Imperium. Itzcoatl had a huge funeral procession, so large they even temporarily paused the war to do carry out the whole thing. They carried back and cremated his body in Ayauhtitlani, sacrificed a number of people (including a number of his wives that sacrificed themselves voluntarily, a common practice for the wives of nobles at the time), made dozens of speeches, carried out gladiatorial games, and even had him recognized as a physical representation of the war god, Yaocuicatl.

(This is transplanted from Discord hence the informality.)

The Hakan Camii (The Mosque of Hakkan)

The Hakkan Camii was constructed in 1120 AD to celebrate the 110th anniversary of the formation of the Aydini Empire by Grand Sultan Hamid the first in memory of his father Grand Sultan Hakkan and his victory over the clans that made up what is now modern Aydin. Constructed out of marble, stone, and a multitude of other precious metals the Mosque was one of the most expensive construction projects in Aydini history cost about over five billion IBU's. After eleven years of construction, the project was eventually finished and it was immediately received by the citizens of Antalya with praise and admiration. Over the decades multiple Grand Sultans have made many additions and restorations to keep the holy building's integrity stable and to show the wealth of the growing Empire. In recent years it has become a popular destination for Meherabists around Eras as the architecture of the building is among the best in the world. And it has been a recent discussion that another addition should be made to honor the reign of the current Sultan's adopted father Sultan Mehmed who ruled over Aydin for over sixty years. The renovation would consist of a new garden section and a new bathhouse nearby.

Images:
Exterior

Interior

Hunferð and the Whale
A Prydanian folk legend

It's said, during the days of the Kingdom of Heorot in the old lands of Andrensk across the sea to the west, that there was a man named Hunferð who had malice in his heart. He would curse the world and loaf about while others worked to fish, hunt, or learn a trade.
One day Hunferð was walking by the shoreline. He saw a herring whale and, in his youthful arrogance, threw a rock at it from the shore. The rock hit the whale's blowhole and exploded.
The god Ozaviin, god of the sea, descended and chastised Hunferð. He banished Hunferð from the sea for twenty years.

Hunferð took the anger of the god to heart and devoted himself to improving his life. He learnt how to be a blacksmith, married, and had many sons and daughters.
But then, in the nineteenth year of Ozaviin's edict, Hunferð thought "I have done well. I have become a better man, a father, and a grandfather. Surely Ozaviin will look favourably on me returning to the sea."

So Hunferð went out in a boat to go fishing and a herring whale emerged from the water, eating him.

The Ata Whereo (Rød Soloppgang/Red Dawn) is the largest Yalken whaling ship put to sea, weighing in at 8,145 gross tonnage. Launched on April 30, 1987, it was the first and only whaler processing ship in an entire whaling fleet. Now she is the only whaling ship remaining from her original fleet. When launched, it was owned by SelvSelv Works before the economic downturn of 1989 forced the company to sell it off to a private entrepreneur, Captain Victor Arono. Captain Arono has operated the Ata Whereo over 30 years. Known for his non-negotiable quotas and time tables, Captain Arono runs a tight ship. The crew of the whaler is said to be able to hunt, kill, and flense a whale in less than thirty minutes. The Ata Whereo has undergone several retrofits, including her engine (7,235 bhp to 7,816 bhp) to better obey emission standards and more advanced advanced hunting equipment for faster processing times. She is fast despite her weight. Nimble despite her length. And constantly on the hunt!

Ain Khuta Book I: Lecture 3, The Abridged Ethics and True Knowing
The first truth is thus: reality is illusion.

There is only one truth, the truth of Knuma. From this truth we are brought closer or farther away through the presence of T'marta.

It is often speculated among the wise men that T'marta is an unavoidable reality. What slanderous lies! Substance is as real as the raising of the water which occurs when one enters a tub. Would one claim the rising tides to be an unalterable fixture of reality? Surely not. It is the choice of man.

What, then, can be said of T'marta? First, that it is reactive. Just as one throws a stone into the sky, surely it must fall. This is true also of T'marta. As we act in accordance with the high moral codes of the philosophers and old sages, or in alignment with the base animalistic pleasures which we share with the pigs, so we attract T'marta to us. We see this in the world around us, the movement of T'marta unto our soul manifests itself in the cosmic response to our disposition. And the reaction is equal in substance to its action. Those who act in accordance with the virtues or the sins shall reap what they sow.

From this perspective, the Philosophers construct their ethical systems. They write the laws of the land and give their lectures in the houses of wisdom. But in this they have made a grievous error in ignoring the first truth. Reality is illusion. It matters not whether we are blessed with the riches of a thousand men, given a harem of twenty consorts, and awarded a legion of one hundred servants. Nor does it matter if we are condemned to the flaming pits of the next life and doomed to burn for a thousand years. Both are merely mirages which obstruct the true nature of the desert.

What, then, can be said to be the proper relation between man and T'marta? To understand this we must establish what is man. There are two components of man, Awqa and Knuma. Awqa is what a man is seen to be, what a man can be described as in concrete terms. The wise men may look at a man and say "Behold! Two arms! Two legs! A head! This is man." But Awqa is just as much part of the illusion as the ground we walk on or the water we drink. But that which animates man, his Knuma, is not. Knuma, that which underlies all conscious experience, is the true nature of man.

We have now learned that man is Knuma, real, non-illusion. We have also learned that T'marta is instrumental in illusion. What, then, does this mean for man and T'marta? What is their relation? Truly it shall be said, the relation is utter opposition. T'marta blinds, obstructs, and destroys true knowing. It separates Knuma from what it was and imprisons it in illusion. The goal of man must be it's removal.

Through this, we come to true knowing. Knuma, separate from illusion, divorced from T'marta. This is what is meant by liberation. Only with the removal of T'marta will the peace of unity be found.

Such are the teachings of the masters. Now and forever, without beginning without end, true and ever true. Wisdom eternal.

Picardism is a political economic theory laid out by the academic Remy Picard. Picard, an avid socialist, laid out what would be known as a scientific theory of Socialism, encompassing politics, history, and economics. The history of Picardist thought in Socialism spans multiple centuries, and numerous Socialist states.

The first Picardist organization was founded by Remy Picard himself. Called the International Worker's League (the first worker's league), the organization existed from 1843 to to 1873. The philosophy of the International Worker's League was Classical Picardism, being composed of the theoretical works of Remy Picard and his direct successors. The primary texts utilized by the movement were Picard's Studies in Class History and Class Politics, uniting the disparate factions of the movement. While originally and organization for intellectuals and activists, it eventually grew into a general mass movement as budding unions chose to associate with the Worker's League. The organization spread wildly, and in 1852 the organization had 10 million members in various chapters and associated unions across not only Craviter and Collandris, but also Gothis. The organization persisted for some time, before eventually collapsing over the issue of the Beaune Commune.

In 1872, during the Great Callisean Patriotic War, the workers of Beaune, angry with Andrennian custodianship of the port, and angry with the Republican Government, seized control of the Government. Building barricades around the city, and forming a provisional government, the Commune of Beaune embarked upon one of the first genuinely Socialist experiments. Private property was nationalized, an 8 hour work day was passed, and minimum wage laws were enforced. Additionally, workers were given complete control of the productive process. The radical reforms of the Beaune Commune were praised by some Picardists, who joined the revolutionary movement. However, by 1873, the port city was seized by Callise and the commune crushed. The International Worker's League was divided on the significance of the commune. Orthodox Picardists held that the Commune was proof that a greater commitment to dual power, party-building, and centralization was needed before the workers movement could seize the reins of power. In contrast, the Anarchists argued that the time for insurrection was now and that electoral politics was a dead-end. This division would ultimately destroy the Workers League in 1873.

In 1881, a conference of the Orthodox Picardist organizations in Millerovo led to the formation of the Second League. This organization unified around the theory of Orthodox Picardism. Predicated on the latter writings of Picard, the Second League was an emphatic proponent of the social revolution, rebuking anarchism in favor of a strong state, and advocating for the organization of Picardists into parties. Two main currents emerged within this movement: Syndicalism and Social Democracy. Syndicalists, originally called Left Social Democrats, were explicitly revolutionary and opposed the reformist route to power, while also expressing internationalist sentiments. The Social Democrats, on the other hand, supported reformism and nationalism, and in many cases began to support the positions of the modern day reformist Social Democrats. This split would occur cleanly in 1912, with the dissolution of the Second League after splits in the Malorian and Callisean parties over whether or not to support a national government during war.

In 1918, following the success of the Cogorian Revolution and the growth of the Callisean Socialist Labour Party, and the Malorian Socialist Party, a Third Worker's League, often called the Syndicalist League, was founded by Revolutionary Socialist and Syndicalist parties from across the world. This organization would coalesce around the importance of an alliance between militant labor and the party, the necessity of a social revolution, and the impossibility of electoral reforms as a path towards Socialist.

The Syndicalist League persisted de facto until 1945, after the fall of the Worker's Republic of Callise. In the wake of the destruction of this institution, two primary international currents emerged. The first, led by Armand Pierrat, emphasized the role that Socialists had played in the downfall of the Workers Republic. Pierrat argued that the policy of forced collectivization created a situation where workers and peasants were pitted together, and that the nationalists and capitalists exploited this dynamic to force conflict between the two. As an alternative, he offered an alliance between the workers (both revolutionary and reformist) in a united front. This united front would also cooperate with the petty peasantry in establishing socialism. As a consequence of this alliance, he endorsed the idea that Socialism ought to be established gradually by a socialist state, through a mixture of directorial economics in the commanding heights, and limited market reforms in smaller industry and agriculture. Pierrat would go on to be, along with Pinchon (his student), the chief theorist of the Democratic Socialist movement. Disagreements did arise within this movement, with Pinchon and Pierrat disagreeing on whether the State needed to be smashed (Pierrat was of the opinion that it did), but together they would form the ideological basis of the IWA. In contrast to Pierrat, there was Calvert and his successors. These socialists argued that Calvert's failure was not in being too aggressive with the peasants, but in coddling them. They argued that serious failures on the part of domestic security forces, as well as the failure of Duval to spread the revolution to neighboring states, doomed the Callisean experiment. This current found a variety of supporters, many of whom were leading members of the Syndicalist Republic of Prydania and other Socialist states of the latter half of the twentieth century.

The Beaune Commune was one of the first Socialist Experiments in Eras. The commune took form during the Great Callisean Patriotic War, from 1871 to 1873. Following the Wars of the Republic, Callise was forced to cede several key port cities to the Syrixian Empire. However, this tutelage was short lived, as the ports were subsequently won by Andrenne in the Second Nordic-Imperial War. One of these ports, Beaune, was one of the largest commercial hubs on the Phoenix Strait. It was in this city that the rumblings of class conflict would materialize.

Following the Wars of the Republic, the citizens of Beaune were increasingly disillusioned with the Republic of Callise. They felt betrayed by a Republican Government that valued their own survival more than the wellbeing of fellow Calliseans. As a result, Beaune became home for a variety of heterodox political movements. One such movement was the burgeoning Picardist Socialist movement. Beaune was the residence of Remy Picard, the godfather of the scientific socialist movement. As a result, Beaune was home to one of the largest chapters of the International Worker's League. In a city of 1,000,000 people in 1851, roughly 100,000 residents were members of the International Worker's League or it's affiliated organizations. This development was aided by the tutelage of Beaune under Andrenne. While the rest of Callise recovered from the Wars of the Republic, Beaune was mostly spared from the destruction of the war. It also saw great industrial developments under the rule of the victorious Andrenne, who sought to take advantage of a port within the Syrixian sphere of influence.

From 1851 to 1870, the growing proletarian sector of Beaune undertook a series of industrial actions for better wages, hours, and control of the industrial process. In 1871, Callise declared war on Andrenne in the name of reclaiming their port cities on the Phoenix Strait. Andrenne, in anticipation of this war, barricaded the city and drastically increased their military presence. They also imposed strict war time measures in Beaune that cut down on worker autonomy. Members of the International Worker's League, outraged by the bloodshed and the Andrennian presence in the city, began a general strike in 1872. Their stated goal was peace in Beaune, the end of war-time measures, and the initiation of peace talks between Andrenne in Callise. As part of the general strike, workers associated with the Worker's League marched on the barracks of the Andrennian garrison. In the confusion of the march, soldiers fired on the crowd, inciting a city-wide riot.

As the city was overrun by a crowd of revolutionary workers, the Andrennian forces were smashed. The officers, in anticipation of Callise taking advantage of the chaos, ordered a naval evacuation of the city. Beaune was now under the control of the Beaune chapter of the International Worker's League. Immediately, they set about implementing a Socialist program in the city. They organized a council, with one representative for every ward of the city (composed of roughly 10,000 representatives each). Each ward also elected their own council to organize their community. Membership in both of these organizations was restricted to the workers alone, with the proletariat seizing complete control of the productive process. They also implemented an 8 hour work day, a minimum hourly wage, and universal public education for all children.

The workers declared their new government the Beaune Commune, and immediately manned the barricades and garrisons of the city. The government persisted until 1873, when the city was overrun by the Army of the Republic. The reforms implemented by the workers government were immediately overturned, and the bourgeois factory owners installed in power once again. The Commune of Beaune may have fallen apart, yet while the experiment failed, it served as a beacon to the revolutionary socialist movement and proof that the workers could seize power for themselves.

Léo Allard is one of the most controversial academics in Callisean history. A veteran of the First Callisean Civil War, member of the Society of National Renewal, and member of the Callisean expat community in Maloria, Allard would go on to become one of the most prominent and controversial jurists of LeBlanc's National Republic. Throughout his career, he espoused a theory of politics which relied on assumptions of violence and conflict in the State. While Allard's writings were groundbreaking in the fields of International Relations, Political Philosophy, and Statecraft, his defense and support of the National Republic has drawn condemnation from a variety of Liberal and Left-Wing authors. In particular, his support for LeBlanc's campaigns of violence against former Syndicalists has resulted in condemnation from modern academics.

Born in 1902, LeBlanc was raised by an Upper Middle Class family of traditional Courantists. Throughout his youth, Allard often served as an altar boy for the parish of Our Lady of Villende Cathedral in downtown Sainte-Beadouin. As Allard aged, he acquired an interest in nationalist politics and a disdain for Syndicalism. When the Revolutionary Worker's Army seized Fontaine, he registered to join the Provisional Militia and fought in the First Callisean Civil War. As a soldier, he served in the Beaune Expedition as a member of the initial vanguard of Greycoats. Of his company of 200 soldiers, he was one of three survivors following the expedition. His experiences with war changed him dramatically. One particular occasion that greatly affected Allard occurred 50 miles outside of Beaune, where his company came under heavy artillery fire from Syndicalist forces positioned near the coast. The carnage haunted Allard for the rest of his life, and he vividly recorded in his journal the mess of limbs and blood that surrounded him as he regained his hearing and sight. Following this incident, Allard appeared to have lost his faith in God, believing a merciful deity couldn't possibly allow such violence.

Following the Beaune expedition Allard was recalled to Sainte-Beaudoin where he was stationed for the rest of the war as a sentry. When Syndicalist forces encircled the port city in 1924, Allard was one of the 50,000 men who was able to escape to Maloria via a naval evacuation. From 1924 to 1951, he would remain in Maloria as an expat. In 1925, following the conclusion of the Malorian Civil War, he enrolled in a Masters program in the University of Bergum's Political Philosophy department. In 1927, following the completion of his Masters, he spent two years teaching at an all-boys private school before eventually returning to the University of Bergum for his PhD, which he was awarded in 1933. Following the completion of his degree program, he took an Associate Professor position at the university.

For the first part of his career, Allard was relatively unknown outside of academic circles. It was during these early years that he would meet Danika Vasalek, a Malorian PhD student, in 1935. Herself a devout Courantist in a traditionally Orthodox country, Vasalek and Allard would form an instant connection and become lovers. In 1936, she succeeded in getting him to attend mass for the first time in 15 years. For the remainder of his life, he would attend mass weekly, but refused to confess his sins or partake of the eucharist. They married in 1938 in a small ceremony at their local parish. Danika Allard would go on to receive her PhD and join her husband in the Political Philosophy department at the University of Bergum. She became a serial collaborator with Allard, and a well respected academic in her own right.

In 1942, Allard would publish his first major work, A Theory of Real Politics. In it, Allard posits that the process of politics is merely the secularization and sanitization of violence. To him, all political instruments, such as the State, parties, parliament, were merely symbolic expressions of violence. He notes that whenever the political façade falls apart, violence necessarily followed as there was no other recourse for resolving differences. He also introduces his notion of the ally-opponent distinction, which would become central to his greater theory of politics. A Theory of Real Politics was read widely among academic circles and hailed as a work of genius. However, he drew criticism from Liberal scholars, who opposed the notion of politics as violence. They maintained that politics was used as an instrument of creating social harmony. This general trend of criticism would become a focal point of much of his later works.

When the Second Callisean Civil War began in 1943, Allard paused his work on Real Politics to focus on Syndicalism. An avid supporter of LeBlanc and his New Provisional Militia, he wrote extensively to critique Syndicalism generally, the Syndicalist regime, and the political philosophy of Remy Picard. In 1945, he and his wife cowrote "The Last Page of History," in which they critiqued the notion of the end of class conflict that featured prominently in Picard's vision of a classless society. They noted that class is merely one expression of the ally-opponent distinction, and that societal conflict would always exist. For this reason, the State would always exist, and thus politics would as well. While cowritten by them both, Léo Allard would quickly became the leading intellectual of the Greycoat movement, and received extensive vocal support from LeBlanc himself.

When the Syndicalist government fell in 1945, he initially wanted to return to Sainte-Beaudoin. However, after extensive discussion with his wife, he opted to remain in Maloria. There, he continued his elaboration of Real Politics with the second of his three major works, A Theory of the Real State, published in 1951. In this volume, he outlines a vision of the state as the expression of dominance by one group over another. He viewed the State as the realm in which conflict was mediated, and in which one group's dominance over another is maintained. He argues that those in power construct networks of allies, and maintain power by creating a distinction through the construction of an opponent. He also further elaborated on the necessity of the State as he outlined in "The Last Page of History." Finally, he introduced the concept of sovereignty as exception, the idea that the group in charge is that which can get away with violating the rule of law. Greeted in a similar manner to his prior work, the publication of this volume would ultimately result in Allard and his wife receiving an offer to serve as Co-Chairs of the Political Philosophy department at the University of Sainte-Beaudoin. Despite some initial reservations on the part of his wife, the Allards eventually agreed to take the job.

From 1952 to 1955 they worked together, transforming the University of Sainte-Beaudoin into one of the leading schools in Craviter for Political Philosophy. In addition to attracting talented professors from across Craviter to their department, they also cowrote a number of papers and studies on political philosophy, mostly focusing on the way in which Callise should structure it's new government. Their writings attracted the attention of Consul-General LeBlanc, who, in 1955, appointed Allard as Director of Public Safety.

From 1955 to 1964, Allard served in LeBlanc's government, restructuring the government of Callise and informing various aspects of domestic and foreign policy. He actively repressed parliamentarian sentiment in the Government, fearing the restoration of a Parliament could give way to the conditions which resulted in the Syndicalists taking over Callise. He also supported a strong alliance with Maloria against natural enemies in the region, which LeBlanc supported as a consequence of his prior friendship with Helmer. One of the more controversial aspects of his role as Director of Public Safety was the Anti-Syndicalist Campaign. While in place prior to his appointment, following his appointment this campaign increased in intensity with military police traveling through rural towns and inter cities, publicly executing suspected Syndicalists. While not executed under his department, he had a large role in designing aspects of the campaign and Allard was a somewhat vocal supporter of the campaign. This program continued until 1959 when it was discontinued at the advice of Allard, as he reasoned that the negatives that terror engendered began to outweigh the benefits of killing any remaining Syndicalist holdovers. His role in these killings is often debated, as there was no direct evidence that he was uniquely responsible for the campaign. Regardless, he expressed no qualms against his role in these murders for most of his life.

In 1964 Allard resigned as Director of Public Safety for a variety of reasons. First, parliamentarian sentiments were spreading both through the populace and the State. Second, LeBlanc's support for Liberalizing economic policies brought close relations between Callise and Syrixia, which Allard personally opposed. Third, Allard had been recently diagnosed with epileptic seizures, and for his health he thought it proper to restrict stressful activity. He retired to his former position at the University of Sainte Beaudoin. However, in 1965 the fall of the LeBlanc government disrupted his relatively quiet life. Along with other high ranking officials in the LeBlanc Consulship, he was tried for his role in the regime. Surprisingly, Allard was acquitted on the grounds that no direct evidence existed tying him to any particular political killing, as well as the good will he bought by bringing the program to an end.

While Allard was acquitted, he was blacklisted from academia. He was forced to resign as Chair of Political Philosophy at Sainte-Beaudoin, although his wife remained on. Allard officially retired from public life, only ever making appearances at mass with his wife. However, this period of retirement was cut short in 1969. Allard watched the Emergency in Syrixia with great interest, and wrote extensively about it under an alias. He was horrified by the program that emerged following the Emergency, commonly known as the Harmonious Society, so much so that it inspired him to write a third volume to his system of politics. Entitled "A Theory of Real Geopolitics," it outlined his theory of foreign relations. Although only touching on Syrixia briefly, it was intensely critical of the Harmonious Society, critiquing the very idea of harmony within a society and pointing out the hypocrisy of a nation that, on the one hand, seeks harmony, and on another, seeks to dominate foreign entities. He ultimately uses Syrixia as a case study in the failures of Liberalism in overcoming Real Politics.

Despite Allard's public infamy, and the initial unpopularity of the work, it came to be widely read among political theorists and came to be considered one of his greatest works. Allard would pass in 1979 after a particularly bad series of seizures. On his death bed, Allard asked his wife to summon their parish priest. There, he confessed his sins and received the sacrament of Chrism, before eventually passing. While Allard had refused to rebuke the LeBlanc government his whole life, on his deathbed he expressed extreme remorse over the atrocities which he had a part in committing. Despite his many crimes, Allard is remembered in two ways: as the criminal of the LeBlanc era, and as one of the founders of modern political theory.

Now we encounter the curious example of Syrixia, an index case in the delusions of modern geopolitics. In many ways, Syrixia is the vanguard of the ideological liberalism which pervades international relations these days. But to understand Syrixia, we must first understand their historical understanding of geopolitics and how it has evolved with time.

The original Syrixian Empire, in many ways, reflected Real Geopolitics as they have always existed. They built a massive global empire founded on domination and wealth extraction. Their entire empire was structured around resource extraction and market construction, with Syrixia utilizing their colonies as entrepots in which to ship their products. The Syrixian Empire was aware of this fact, and very protective of their colonial possessions for this very reason. There were, of course, bourgeois delusions of "uplifting" and "protecting" colonized people, but these notions more or less remained ancillary to the colonial mission. However, with time, these notions began to dominate the Imperial psyche. These notions gradually transformed Syrixian geopolitics, and arguably contributed to their decline. No better is this exhibited than in their policy with Iraelia. Even after they decolonized Iraelia, and had severely weakened their control over the region, the Syrixian delusion of "aiding" their "colonial subjects" persisted. So much so that public sentiment in Syrixia rapidly turned sour, and collapsed into political instability and violence. This period would become known as the Emergency.

As I've outlined in my prior work, specifically A Theory of the Real State, the State exists as an expression of dominance sanitized. This is no less true for Syrixia, and perfectly embodied in the collapse of social order during the Emergency. When political solutions had been exhausted, violence and force became the only recourse for resolving political issues. If nothing else could be taken away from this period of time, it's this: politics are necessarily violent. One would think that the Syrixian government would recognize this, and embrace Real Politics in an honest and authentic fashion... In a way they did in action, but not in thought. This became the program which would be known as the Harmonious Society.

The Harmonious Society is a vast program, encompassing many different endeavors, but in summary it is a program maintaining that Syrixian control of it's immediate area and potential markets was necessary, not only for harmony in Syrixia, but also harmony abroad. As much as the Syrixian Government would like to pretend this isn't the case, it is undeniable that the Harmonious Society embodies the fatal conceit of Liberalism perfectly. Liberalism, more than anything else, is the theory that, in spite of conflict and violence which are embedded in human action, stability and peace can be maintained. In other words, Liberalism aspires towards harmony. Syrixia's harmonious society, thus, has a rather Liberal outlook. It believes stability can be maintained if one follows the right path. This notion falls apart for two reasons.

First, it presumes the functioning of the state and resuming political struggles. The State as an organ of politics exists to mediate and express violence. Syrixia's entire notion of a harmonious society rests on state power itself. So when the Liberals that have plagued Syrixia talk about their aspirations towards a "Harmonious Society," they fully intend to achieve such a world through perhaps the most violent and unharmonious thing we can imagine! An institution with a monopoly on violence. This, however, poses no problems to the material functioning of the harmonious society, and that is because of the second failure of Syrixian logic.

Second, Syrixia doesn't actually care about harmony. The harmonious society only comes into being with Syrixian control of it's regional markets and territories. There is nothing more unharmonious than seeking to impose dominance over a region. Syrixia would like to pretend that it's tutelage is the only thing which can keep order and stability, but their mere presence in any part of the world engenders conflict. If Syrixia was to establish control over all of Craviter, what becomes of the will of the Calliseans? Or the Malorians? Or the Prydanians? Or the Kanadians? Surely they don't dissipate under the wise rule of the Syrixian Empire. They persist! Conflict ensues and Syrixia will either have to let them resume control of their own territory, or enforce a brutal order as they did during the Emergency. Either way, conflict remains for precisely this reason: the very notion of society is unharmonious.

None of this should come as a shock, however, because Syrixia is simply a pioneer for what shall become typical of statecraft for the next century. Syrixia has made itself into a vanguard for Liberalism, a society whose policy towards outsiders perfectly embodies the tension of Liberalism. On the one hand, they wish to maintain high minded moralism, on the other they resort to brute force to establish it. On the one hand, they seek economic cooperation, on the other economic supremacy. On the one hand, they seek harmony, on the other they seek dominance. What could be more Liberal than a society so persistent in it's delusions of superiority that it would ignore 100 years of history in service of it's ego? Truly nothing is more fitting of that wretched and hypocritical system of thought.

In 1981, in Vivanco a time-less classic arrived on all of the country's cinemas. It was director's Almogada DeFabada latest work, "TO RULE METERRA (Or so they say!)", a film adaptation of the theatre play by the same name. It tells the tale of the rulers of Vivanco, Saintogne and Asturica in the early XVIII centuy in a comedy for all publics.

Mariano Lagarra is Georges II l'Intrus of Saintogne, a newcomer to the ruling of a country who tries to mantain themselves on the throne before Charles VIII le Tenace came back to reclaim what was theirs. To stablish himself, he got in contact with the closest foreign leaders.

Esteban Coestá is José V El Impertinente of Vivanco, the first and only king of Vivanco who deposed his uncle in order to achieve his goal of expansion of the realm, and to raise the prestige of the country from a mere Grand Duchy to a full Kingdom, that was until his cousin Lucas I took the throne and turned the country back into a Grand Duchy. Of course, he can't back out now that he was the king. Or was he?
Armando J'Aleo is Emperor Ademar V of Asturica, a poor willed monarch who was never supposed to rule and was placed on it by surprise. One could only do so much, and like the rest, they seeked aid in foreign leaders in aim to make a name for himself, as he was expected to.

Currently, the film of these three unfortunate monarchs is available for free in the webpage of RTVV, Vivanco's Public Service of Television and Radio.

Vivanco:

TO RULE METERRA (Or so they say!)

​

In 1981, in Vivanco a time-less classic arrived on all of the country's cinemas. It was director's Almogada DeFabada latest work, "TO RULE METERRA (Or so they say!)", a film adaptation of the theatre play by the same name. It tells the tale of the rulers of Vivanco, Saintogne and Asturica in the early XVIII centuy in a comedy for all publics.

Mariano Lagarra is Georges II l'Intrus of Saintogne, a newcomer to the ruling of a country who tries to mantain themselves on the throne before Charles VIII le Tenace came back to reclaim what was theirs. To stablish himself, he got in contact with the closest foreign leaders.

​

Esteban Coestá is José V El Impertinente of Vivanco, the first and only king of Vivanco who deposed his uncle in order to achieve his goal of expansion of the realm, and to raise the prestige of the country from a mere Grand Duchy to a full Kingdom, that was until his cousin Lucas I took the throne and turned the country back into a Grand Duchy. Of course, he can't back out now that he was the king. Or was he?

​

Armando J'Aleo is Emperor Ademar V of Asturica, a poor willed monarch who was never supposed to rule and was placed on it by surprise. One could only do so much, and like the rest, they seeked aid in foreign leaders in aim to make a name for himself, as he was expected to.

​

Currently, the film of these three unfortunate monarchs is available for free in the webpage of RTVV, Vivanco's Public Service of Television and Radio.

Click to expand...

this seems like the funniest historical comedy ever written.

Ordered in 1978, construction started on Stor Britta, a very large crude carrier (VLCC), in April of 1979 and completed and set to sea in June of 1981. The company that ordered it, Svezda Transportation an Arcanstotskan trading company, would go bankrupt before it could see the completion of the project. However some of its assets, including the contract to the Stor Britta would be obtained by Agidze Omezaig (AOZ), a Sastennic Shipping Corp. After construction was completed, Nord-Prez, the shipyard construction conglomerate, delivered the tanker to AOZ in Varz, Sasten on June 28th, 1981. The entire project would cost over Δ500,000,000 in labor and resources.

The speed of its construction has been one of debate amongst other shipyards. Being a ship of extreme sizes, completion in a year was thought to be impossible. It was believed the Stor Britta was actually a frankenstein of older ships as Nord-Prez also operates a ship breaking yard in the same area. This is obviously denied by Nord-Prez to this day.

Regardless of its questionable construction, the Stor Britta, is a massive tanker. One of the biggest in the world. With a gross tonnage of 259,641 and a displacement of 646,642 long tons at full load, she sits deep in water. To date she has delivered approximately 2 billion barrels of crude oil (1,914,700,000 barrels). She operates out of two ports, Prezetow, Yalkan and Varz, Sasten.

In What Sense Can We Speak of the International Significance of the Cogorian Revolution?

In the months following the seizure of power by the proletariat in Cogoria, there was a flurry of revolutionary commentary on the true nature of the revolution. It was posited, by many, that the conditions which led to the revolution in Cogoria would not emerge in a similar manner in Callise, Maloria, and those other nations where the political consciousness of the laboring class had advanced. Yet after years of grueling civil war, the true lesson to be learned has been revealed to those of us with direct experience in the situation. The truth is that the revolution in Cogoria has shown to us those forms which are central in the liberation of the workers of the world.

When the Beaune Commune exploded into existence in a burst of revolutionary fervor, born from an imperialist war which left the workers of Beaune without recourse other than revolution, the First League of Workers was left with the task of determining what it could mean. The ultimate consensus, although not always clear, was that the workers had found the tool through which they could exercise their political will: the commune. Revolutionary council democracy led by and for the workers. This form of revolutionary participatory democracy, never before seen in the history of man, would be the government which emancipated man. This truth was discovered only after a series of contentious appraisals and dialogues among the thinkers of the Worker's League, and was precipitated by several years of uncertainty. Now, with the Cogorians taking upon themselves the historic task of the Commune, we are left in a similar milieu. Opportunists decry the supposed tyranny of the democratic dictatorship of the proletariat, while others still refuse Syndicalism wholesale in the wake of their emancipatory struggle. But there is a particularly pernicious current who, in the wake of the revolution, have infested the internationalist socialist movement with their utopian doctrines. It is these Anarchistic Syndicalists who these theses are directed against.

The Anarchists have always been a present minority current within our movement. Looking upon Proletarian Liberation as a single act, and not a process, they have discarded the state as an organ of class dominance entirely, to what ends is anybody's guess. This is not to discredit their historic achievements, Anarchists were essential in establishing the Beaune Commune and helped to uncover those forms which would lead to the liberation of worker's globally. But in recent years, their efforts to encroach on the organic construction of revolutionary doctrine has impeded our efforts to build a mass worker's movement. It is from this perspective that we radically reject their doctrine.

The opportunism of the Anarchists has been exposed, in it's most visceral form, with the revolution in Cogoria. Through a centralized party and organized movement of workers, the Cogorian Proletariat has seized power. They have uncovered the vehicle for class warfare: the party-labour alliance. Yet in spite of the radical success of our Cogorian Camarades, the Anarchists decry them as state-capitalist tyrants. In this polemics, we shall examine the doctrines of these Anarchistic so-called "Syndicalists" and expose their contradictions, so that the worker's movement may not be led astray from it's revolutionary task.

The Callisean Revolution was a watershed moment in Craviterian history. Not only did it mark the first period in which monarchy was abolished in the "Crowned Land" but it would serve to usher in the modern era and it's various theories of politics. From the Gauchistes and the Picardists, to the Droitistes and the National Republic of LeBlanc, the Callisean Revolution gave violent birth to both Socialism and Fascism as organized ideological programs. But more importantly, it set a precedent that the general population could take hold of the state and cast off the shackles of Feudalism. And although often violent, chaotic, and limited in it's effects, the ideals of the revolution would profoundly shape the modern world.

The Callisean Revolution has it's origins in the personal union between Callise and Maloria. Following a brutal war between Maloria and Callise, Maloria succeeded in asserting it's successionary right to Callise. Unfortunately for Maloria, this could not last long. The distance between Maloria and Callise, taken in conjunction with the stark differences between Maloria and Callise as nations, proved to be too difficult to bridge. In 1720, a Malorian cadet family, the House of Gerwin, inherited Callise and was expected to rule on behalf of the Malorian Empire. However, several obstacles existed that made presiding over the State difficult. First, this family was Orthodox, while Callise was Revenist. The ruling family was expected to perform religious duties as part of their job. Second, the Malorian model of state did not properly conform to Callise. The presbyterian nature of the Reformed Church gave the people of Callise a great deal of influence in political or religious affairs. While no parliament existed, church councils and church leaders held extensive sway and traditionally were accorded great respect from the nobility.

From 1720 to 1789, the Gerwin Monarchs were content with a policy of non-intervention. However, with the ascension of Marten Gerwin II in 1793, this changed. An admirer of Malorian absolutism, and having grown up in the court of Maloria, he sought to increase the control of the House of Gerwin over Callise. In 1790, he raised a series of prohibitive tariffs on Syrixian and UKAG agricultural exports. Traditional rivals of Maloria, the primary purpose of the tariffs was not economic warfare, but raising funds. Marten II issued a series of decrees promoting the "Malorization" of Callise. This involved issuing large plots of land to Malorian settlers, the creation of orthodox monasteries throughout Callise, and firm evangelization efforts. While this led to growing discontent and a nationalist sentiment among local Calliseans, each alone was unable to instigate change. However, it did lead to a series of pre-revolutionary events. The prohibitive tariffs, as well as the absolutist Malorian system of rule, would lead to the foundation of the Society of Friends of the People. This group, organized clandestinely in universities and urban areas, fought for a more democratic society governed by a constitution, rather than the informal power of the church councils. Likewise, the encroachment on Callisean cultural and religious institutions would result in the foundation of the Society for the Preservation of Callise, likewise centered in urban centers, but drawing support mainly from minor nobility, small merchants, and nationalist intellectuals.

While influential in local organizing, these groups would more or less be inconsequential in the governance of Callise until 1796. In this year, a famine made worse by the Gerwin tariffes resulted in nationwide bread riots. This unrest was made worse by inaction and military response by the Gerwin government, and led to drastic action. A joint meeting was held by many of the secret societies and it was decided that, on June 12, 1797, (the anniversary of a victory won by Callise in the War of Callisean Succession) a protest was to be held with the intent of seizing Fontaine. Word of this reached the House of Gerwin who opted, strategically, to retreat to their residence in Pourpreville. When June 12 came, hundreds of thousands took to the streets and a revolutionary republic was declared in Fontaine. However, when it was found out that the Gerwin's had fled the city, the citizens of Fontaine flew into a flurry. It was during this period that the Avec-un-Pantalons were born, regular militias of urban workers. A mob of these workers marched north to Pourpreville. While the Gerwins ordered soldiers to stop them, when the already disgruntled Callisean soldiers met the mob, many opted to join them out of a sense of loyalty to Callise. On June 15, surrounded by the Avec-un-Pantalons, the Gerwins were captured by a drunken mob and killed in the chaos.

With the death of the monarchy, the First Callisean Republic was born. Led by the General Court, an elected legislature representing the whole of Callise, the new republic immediately fell to factionalism. The Council for a Democratic Constitution, the de facto leadership of the new Republic, was deeply divided on how to organize the new State. The Society of Friends of the People pushed for a democratic system of governance which represented all of Callise, and which would fully sweep away the old established order. However, these attempts were firmly opposed by the Society for the Preservation of Callise (now known as the Society for a Republican Order). They favored a strong, stratocratic government led by delegations from the various classes, but which favored the guild workers, peasants, and nationalist merchants. Initially, the Society of Friends of the People held the majority and succeeded in establishing a parliamentary democracy. However, after an issue over the existence of the Avec-un-Pantalons and supremacy of the Communes (revolutionary councils dominated by the left wing of the Revolution) led to the expulsion of the right wing of the Society of the Friends of the People. This faction would go on to found the Society of Friends of the Republic. These three societies: Friends of the People, Friends of the Republic, and For A Republic Order, would go on to lead the lesser organizations that would make up the Gauche, Centre, and Droite factions of the General Court, respectively. On September 29, 1797, the new constitution, a compromise between the Gauchistes and Centristes, would be approved and the Council for a Democratic Constitution replaced with the Council of State and it's Chairman, the President of the Republic.

The constitutional order would collapse quickly after it was constructed. The instrumental role of the Avec-un-Pantalons afforded them a significant presence in the new Republic, although unofficially. This would result in much conflict with the Army, composed mainly of the Droitistes. The tension was made significantly worse by the fact that, from July 1, 1797 onwards, Callise was at war with Maloria. This tension, boiling under the surface for years, would explode in 1801. As the war appeared to be coming to an end, rumors began to spread about a conspiracy among the Army to reinstall a Callisean monarchy. Although at first rumors, they spread to the ranks of the General Court. On February 17, 1801, a group of Avec-un-Pantalons, after a night of drinking, confronted the Fontaine garrison and demanded to search their offices. When denied, the Avec-un-Pantalons got violent and provoked a response. Although initially repelled, they were soon bolstered by a mob and the garrison was overtaken, and it's contents turned over to Baume. Baume presented it to the court and accused the Droitistes of treason to the revolution. The evidence, highly suspect, was put under intense scrutiny, yet succeeded in convincing a large portion of the General Court. However, after last minute motions by the Droitiste, they succeeded in getting the General Court to delegate the task to a tribunal. Baume, enraged, rallied the Avec-un-Pantalons and, on February 19, 1801, forced the General Court to condemn the Droitistes and sentence their leaders to death or exile. Baume then succeeded in having himself elected Chairman of the newly founded Provisional Council of Internal Affairs, marking the beginning of the revolutionary dictatorship.

Despite the heterodox method of seizing power, the Gauchistes enjoyed wild popularity among the general public. Baume was seen as a hero, protecting the Revolution and defending it's promises. However, they inherited many problems. First, the war. The Gauchistes recommitted to waging a firm offensive war, bolstered not by army regulars, but the Avec-un-Pantalons. The Gauchistes recalled many officers to the capital and forced them to answer accusations of treason, often resulting in execution. This led to a turning of the tide, in which Maloria made serious advances into Callise. This was stopped thanks to the leadership of a newly promoted general, Jacques Chevalier, who succeeded in fighting Maloria to a stalemate and getting a peace treaty signed in 1802. The second issue was economic in nature. The Republic had led to unprecedented economic freedom for the people of Callise, which not only crippled the war effort but also caused immense damage to the working class. To combat this, Baume proposed Menerisme (from Calisean, to lead), an economic doctrine of state lead in the market through subsidies, price controls, and economic directives led by the government. From 1801 to 1803, this was the guiding economic theory of the Gauchistes. This was changed from 1804 to 1806, after Baume sought the support of the bourgeoisie to rebuild from the Malor-Callisean War. Finally, the Gauchistes sought to purge Callise of counter revolution. This meant a series of rolling purges executing suspected Droitistes. Throughout the reign of Baume, tens of thousands were killed in the name of preserving the revolution. Although Baume mostly stayed away from attacking the Centristes, sporadic purges occurred removing some of their ranks.

The seeds for the destruction of the Gauchiste order occurred with the execution of Geoffrey Lagarde. A leading figure of the revolution from the start, and foremost leader of the Centristes, Lagarde was executed in 1805 on the charge of smuggling former Droitistes out of Callise. When taken to the gallows, he was apologetic and accepted his fate, fully convinced of the righteous cause of the revolution. His death caused many members of the Centre to question the rule of the Gauchistes. These Centristes, along with clandestine Droitistes, founded the Society for the Restoration of Public Order, a nationalist organization seeking the end of the revolutionary period of the Republic. On December 30, 1806, Baume was made aware of the existence of the organization and, seeking to put an end to the conspiracy, announced a new round of purges to the General Court. When the Centristes demanded the removal of Baume as Chairman and the establishment of an independent commission to investigate treason within the Gauchistes, Baume left the court in anger along with his faction. Intending to rally the Avec-un-Pantalons against what they were sure was a coup, the Gauchistes were intercepted by a military detachment led by Jacques Chevalier, who arrested all present for treason. On December 31, 1806, a mass uprising by the Avec-un-Pantalons occurred to free the Gauchistes, but Chevalier dispersed the crowd, killing thousands in the process, and declared martial law. On January 2, 1807, Baume was executed and, on January 20, 1807, the reformed Droitistes passed a new constitution, building a stratocracy that empowered Chevalier as Grand Consul and established an oligarchic, conservative, and military republic led by Chevalier.

Chevalier would go on to conserve many of the reforms of the Gauchistes, while also repealing the franchise to only the wealthy, landed, or military. He also disbanded the Avec-un-Pantalons, ensuring that only the military would have weapons. Although Chevalier would often be seen as the culmination of the Revolution, the establishment of his stratocratic republic is often seen as the end of the revolutionary period.

Within Callisean politics, the Left-wing and Far-Left are occupied by the Parti de Gauche, commonly referred to as Le Gauche. This group, originally an underground resistance group during the National Republic, has ties to the whole of the Callisean left. Composed originally of lesser officials of the Socialist Labor Party, as well as anarchists and Left Social Democrats, Le Gauche was founded as a United Front of the Callisean Left opposed to the Le Blanc Consulate and the broader National Republic. The group started as a clandestine, tightly nit network of cells organized in opposition to LeBlanc. Throughout the National Republic, they organized radical labor elements, stockpiled weapons, and engaged in several terrorist plots and assassination attempts. The group would eventually join the Party of '65, a popular front of Liberal, Centrist, Socialist, and Communist politicians who opposed LeBlanc. During the Peaceful Revolution of 1965, Le Gauche was tasked with organizing grassroots labor-oriented resistance to LeBlanc. While peaceful protests overtook Fontaine, Le Gauche organized socialist militias across Callise and armed protesters, taking government buildings and positioning themselves to neuter any Blancist resistance to the peaceful transfer of power. In response to these protests, as well as an internal coup within his military, LeBlanc was strong-armed into abdicating and calling for a constitutional convention.

Following the establishment of the Third Republic, Le Gauche ceased to serve as a terrorist and militant org and began the transition to legitimate political party. At the 1966 Party Convention, Le Gauche adopted the Lanester Program, committing Le Gauche to the establishment of a Socialist Commonwealth where the means of production and political power would be owned directly by the working class. Despite the radical commitment of Le Gauche, the Lanester Program refused to take a definitive stance on reform or revolution. As a result, Le Gauche served as a big tent organization from 1966 to 1992. Following Bernard Chauveau's program of liberalization, in which the PSD moved substantially to the right and severed ties with some unions, there was a controversy within Le Gauche. Although historically cooperative with the PSD, the party began to question their historical partnership on key issues. This controversy came to a boil after the 1992 suspension of the Fournier Government opened the opportunity for the PSD to govern jointly with Le Gauche. However, rather than seek a partnership, Le Gauche expelled the Social Democratic sympathizers from the party at the 1992 convention in Beaune. The subsequent program, the Beaune Program, recommitted Le Gauche to the Social Revolution and adopted a more radical and militant program.

Throughout the 90s, Le Gauche suffered under the Liberal government, with the Gauche associated Industrial Workers of Callise (TIC) being gutted and union membership plummeting. This period of bad luck reversed in the 2000s under the Barrault Government. Although sympathetic to Chauveau, she redoubled efforts to support union workers and expand social welfare under her government, cooperating with Social Creditors to build the modern Callisean welfare state. During this period, the TIC slowly regained it's strength and the party membership grew. It was during this period in which Le Gauche began to seriously build towards contesting for power.

Although the future looks bright, several problems plague Le Gauche. First, the TIC often comes into contact with the far less radical Callisean Congress of Labor (CTC), the spiritual successor to the PSDs National Congress of Unions. This has led to turf wars for associated unions and has led to some arguing for Dual Cardism and reconciliation, while others advocate open conflict. Likewise, as the Liberal order seems to be failing, Le Gauche is left with the question of how best to seize power. The right wing of the party advocates an electoral mandate, securing the support of the electorate to form a government and instigating the social revolution from the top down. The left wing, in contrast, sees Le Gauche as the spiritual successor to the Socialist Labor Party and advocates a program of furthering dual power in anticipation of the next crisis. The centre, in opposition to both, sees merit to both routes, adopting a flexible approach to seizing power. As Le Gauche prepares for it's 2022 convention, the following caucuses will vie to have their resolutions adopted and their members elected to the Central Committee:

The Centre - In control of 7 seats on the Central Committee

The Caucus for Democratic Socialism
Pre-Convention: 4 Seats on the Central Committee
Post-Convention: 4 Seats on the Central Committee
Left to Far-Left caucus influenced by Adolphe Pinchon, advocating for Class Struggle elections and a democratic route to Socialism, committed to pursuing an electoral mandate and strengthening the TIC. Chairman is from this caucus.

Labor Unity Caucus
Pre-Convention: 2 Seats on the Central Committee
Post-Convention: 3 Seats on the Central Committee
Left wing caucus, similar in orientation to The Caucus for Democratic Socialism, although in favor of cooperation between the TIC and the CTC. Their rallying slogan is "Unity in Labor, Militancy in the General Court," signifying their support for a unified labor movement but their opposition to the PSD.

Villende Organizing Committee
Pre-Convention: 1 Seat in the Central Committee
Post-Convention: 1 Seat in the Central Committee
Governing caucus in Villende, in coalition with the Caucus for Democratic Socialism. Functionally no different from CDS, with the caveat that they focus on Villendean issues.

The Left - In control of 5 seats on the Central Committee

The Caucus for a New Baume
Pre-Convention: 3 Seats on the Central Committee
Post-Convention: 5 Seats on the Central Committee
Far-Left caucus, often called the Baumenards. They support a strong rank and file labor movement through the TIC, as well as a revolutionary orientation. While not discarding electoralism entirely, they are far more interested in militant labor and tenant organizing. The caucus considers itself to be the continuation of the Left-Wing of the Callisean Revolution, and the spiritual successors to Duval.

A Fifth Republic
Pre-Convention: 1 Seat on the Central Committee
Post-Convention: 1 Seat on the Central Committee
Far-Left caucus. Although often allied with the Baumenards, they are directly influenced by Calvert. As such, they staunchly oppose electoralism and often obstruct procedural matters in the Central Committee.

Autonomous Workers Caucus
Pre-Convention: 1 Seat on the Central Committee
Post-Convention: 2 Seats on the Central Committee
Anarchist and Libertarian Socialist caucus, radical proponents of the autonomous union model, wherein workers are given complete control of their union and the right to secede from any national structure freely. Although often in alliance with the Baumenards, they often end up conflicting when it comes to the organizational structure of the TIC.

The Right - In control of 4 seats on the Central Committee, all members resigned/expelled at the convention

Towards a Truly Social Democracy
Pre-Convention: 3 Seats on the Central Committee
Post-Convention: 0 Seats on the Central Committee
Centre-Left to Left-Wing Caucus, intensely interested in the electoral route to Socialism. Often accused of wanting to re-admit Social Democrats and coalition with the PSD.

New Organizers Caucus
Pre-Convention: 1 Seat on the Central Committee
Post-Convention: 0 Seats on the Central Committee
Centre-Left Caucus, in favor of an NGO model focused around activist activities. While they are the most vocal on non-class issues within the party, they also tend to be regarded as the furthest right of the party and are opposed on the ground that they are functionally Social Democrats.

Following the 2022 Convention, the central division within Le Gauche was it's strategic orientation. In particular, whether or not Le Gauche should transition into a truly mass-organization. This debate took on several forms: the relationship between the party and the TIC, the relationship between the party and other parties, and the role of the party as being governed by activists or membership.

Heading into the convention, a pragmatic alliance emerged between the Baumenards and the Caucus for Democratic Socialism. Together, they formed Red Banner, a slate of candidates and proposals that sought to enact the following agenda:

• Culling of the party bureaucracy
• The termination of cooperation between Le Gauche and non-profit activist orgs
• More rigorous rank-and-file democracy within the party
• Building stronger ties with the TIC by guaranteeing TIC protected representation in the Central Committee
• Strong anti-corruption measures within the party
• A stronger centralism within the party, with the elected national leadership having more authority over locals
• A commitment to forming no coalition governments where Le Gauche is a junior partner

This agenda was vigorously opposed by the tradition right wing of La Gauche, as well as a new coalition of former center and left parties. This group formed Red Rose, supported a decentralization of the party, a greater focus on the activist core of the party, and the creation of the "Party of Autonomy" with the resurgent Le Gauche acting as an ideological center rather than a mass, centralized, national party.

Red Banner won across the board, forcing many members of the Right to leave or be expelled and placing Red Rose in opposition. Following the convention, the caucus alignment is as such:

Red Banner
5 members of the Caucus for a New Baume
4 Members of the Caucus for Democratic Socialism

Red Rose
3 Members of the Labor Unity Caucus
2 Members of the Autonomous Workers Group

Non-Aligned Opposition
1 Member of A Fifth Republic
1 Member of the Villende Organizing Committee

In order of composition in the National Convention following the 2023 inaugural election of the Commonwealth of Callise:

Government
United Front


Green Democrats



Opposition
Republican Rally


Farmer-Labour Party (Partit Paysan-Trabalh)
99 Deputies
Formed through a merger of the right wings of the Social Democratic and Populist parties, the Farmer-Labour party was an opponent of the new constitution but endorsed it following the approval of the constitution by the people of Callise. They continue to advocate social democratic politics and a more moderate form of social credit. The party has undergone turmoil recently, with members debating whether or not to embrace an evolutionary socialist politics.

Villendean Bloc (Bloc Villendeà)
73 Deputies
The party in sole possession of all senators from Villende, the Villendean Bloc (Bloc Villendeà) was formed in the late 19th century during the Second Republic as a group agitating for Villendean separatism. While outlawed under the Worker's Republic and National Republic, they have re-emerged as a more militant force under the Third Republic. They are committed to an anti-constitutionalism politics, but have opted to not join the Republic Rally and the other anti-constitutional politics.

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Parties further group together in blocs to govern jointly and promote cooperation. As of the 2023 Election, three electoral blocs exist:

1. United Front - Coalition of Socialists, Populists, and other left-wing progressives in order to defend and build the Commonwealth of Callise.
2. Republican Rally - Coalition of Liberals, Nationalists, and Conservative Reformers around building an electoral alliance between rural and suburban conservatives.
3. Green Democrats - Coalition of New Democrats, Greens, and Migrant Labor to unite activists on issues surrounding labor, immigration, and the climate.

Although one of the more stable and well established states on Craviter, the Third Republic of Callise has had a very short lifespan in the grand scheme of Craviterian geopolitics. From the Worker's Republic of the first half of the twentieth century, to the National Republic of LeBlanc, Callise's future has not always been certain. In this article, a broad sketch of Callisean political history will be presented with the intent of giving context to the modern situation of Callise

1965: The "Peaceful Revolution," the Civic-Republicans, and the Granet Directorate
As the National Republic recovered from the initial economic shock of LeBlanc's austerity, and the activity of socialist organizers waned, more and more Calliseans began to grow discontent with the continued military governance of LeBlanc and wished to restore the conditions of the Second Republic. This group of discontents came from all social backgrounds: financiers, large business owners, union officialdom, former Liberal and Social Democratic politicians. However, of all opposition LeBlanc faced, by far the most damning for his rule was the Civil Service. The government bureaucrats, many of whom had inherited their role through the Worker's Republic, or even further through the Second Republic, greatly opposed LeBlanc and his Nator-Avil inspired program of austerity. While originally discontent, but silent, the widespread growing opposition to LeBlanc emboldened this group of civil servants and created the conditions necessary for a revolution from the top down.

The origins of the Civic-Republicans lay in this original alliance against LeBlanc, being founded officially in 1964. In this year, a clandestine meeting of Liberal, Conservative, and Social Democratic party leaders met along with important civil servants. The Chairman of this meeting, Charles Granet, was none other than LeBlanc's own Director of the Interior. Over the course of a weekend, the partisans aired their grievances and drafted a series of resolutions demanding change. However, the consummation of the meeting was not a political resolution, but a political pamphlet: "Towards a Civic Republic." The pamphlet decried the tyranny of the Worker's and National Republic alike, demanding the return of liberal institutions and pluralist liberal democracy. It was particularly critical of the National Republic's ban on the Social Democratic Party. Although intended to only be circulated among potential conspirators, it was accidentally leaked to the public and spread like wildfire. As a result, the pamphlet eventually came to the attention of LeBlanc.

LeBlanc's initial reaction was one of immense anger. Although the signatories were anonymous, he launched an extensive campaign to stamp out the conspiracy. Publication and distribution of the pamphlet was made illegal, and thousands were arrested (and some executed) for treason. This severely hampered the efforts of Granet to instigate his top down revolution and shattered the organization of the Civic Republicans. In this period of desparation, he was drawn to cooperate with Le Gauche.

Le Gauche, although widely hated by the conspirators, operated the most effective and widespread clandestine organization in Callise. They could spread messages nationwide and had contacts in workplaces across Callise. They had the ability to, at an instant, instigate a grassroots uprising. But what they had in spades in connections and mass connections, they lacked in experience and direct access to power. Thus, a marriage of convenience was born between Le Gauche and the Civic Republicans. With this alliance established, the work could proceed.

As 1964 rolled into 1965, the net of the conspiracy grew greatly. While the public opposition to LeBlanc had been silenced, and calmed his nerves, the silent opposition grew. In February of 1965, students at the University of Beaune organized a protest against the continued political repression of the LeBlanc regime. However, rather than calling for the removal of LeBlanc, this student org called for his continued stewardship into a new, pluralistic democracy. LeBlanc responded by deploying military forces and brutally killing the protesters. It was this event that was the last straw for Valéry Pernet, one of the highest ranking generals in the army. In a secret meeting with Granet, Pernet pledged the support of the military to the revolution. Granet was now prepared for his uprising. In September of 1965, he tendered a letter of resignation from LeBlanc's cabinet, along with 3/4ths of it's ministers. Following the resignation, he announced publicly the formation of the Civic-Republican Party and their program of establishing a pluralistic democracy and putting an end to the continued stewardship of LeBlanc. LeBlanc was prepared to respond with force, but was shocked to discover that none of his top commanders were responding to communiques. He attempted to mobilize the Civilian Defense Force, and succeeded in establishing a barrier around the capitol. However, as peaceful protestors swamped Fontaine and Gauche militants engaged in street fights in Beaune, LeBlanc saw the writing on the wall. The Civilian Defense Forces let protesters enter the capitol and LeBlanc held a public radio address in which he resigned as Consul-General, effectively ending the National Republic.

The first elections were held on December 1 of that year, with the new government being sworn in on January 5, 1966. The first elections for the Third Republic were not as contentious as they would grow to be. Although many divisions existed within the movement against LeBlanc, the general revolutionary euphoria carried over into the new Government, and the Civic-Republic Party won a landslide coalition government, being joined by the Liberals, Nationalists, and Conservatives, and being opposed by the PSD and Le Gauche. The Civic-Republicans, in addition to securing Charles Granet as State Director, also managed to secure Valery Pernet as President. It was at this time that a third opposition party would form as well, the Social Credit Party. During the LeBlanc government, particularly it's later years, Avil-inspired free trade policies devastated Callisean agriculture and many small farmers were forced to sell to larger landholders. During the LeBlanc governed, this group was represented by the Revenist Democrats, the furthest left of the legal political parties in Callise. However, with the fall of the National Republic and ascendancy of the Civic Republicans, the Revenist Democrats feared for an even more brutal regime of free trade. In response, they merged with the previously illegal People's Credit Association (officially the Association of People's Credit Clubs) and founded the Social Credit Party, in favor of restricting free trade and enacting a program of social credit and bank nationalization in Callise.

The Granet Directorate was, predictably, uneventful and proved disastrous. Because the Civic-Republicans did not have a set program other than the continuation of the Republic, they often fell victim to the bickering of the Liberals and Nationalists and sided with one or the other in policy matter. The Civic-Republicans gradually became a king-maker party, making policy in consultation. This order did not last very long and when the 1970 elections came around, the Granet Directorate would fall.

1970-1980: Liberalization, Nationalism, and the First and Second Vaillancourt Directorates
During the 1970 elections, the Liberal Party would manage to edge out the other parties, securing a plurality at the ballot box. Theodore Vaillancourt, the former Deputy Director of State and Director of Finance under the Civic-Republicans, would now lead Callise as Director of State. However, against all odds, Valery Pernet managed to hold on to his position as President of the Republic. With this situation, Vaillancourt found himself in need of the support of his former senior coalition partners. As a result, the Liberals formed a coalition government alongside the Civic-Republicans, Conservative , and the hitherto unmentioned Liberty Party.

During Vaillancourt's tenure as State Director, Callise radically accelerated it's program of free trade and economic liberalization. This led to a period of rapid economic growth initially, as Callise's relatively isolated economy was able to finally get access to mass capital from the international market. It was this success which propelled the Liberals through the 1975 elections and into the latter half of the decade. It was during this election that Pernet decided to step down from the Presidency, allowing the Liberals to successfully run their own candidate and establish control over both the Head of Government and Head of State. However, during this period growth began to decelerate. Disgruntled workers, feeling as though they had been given a raw deal under the new regime, began to organize and strike. In 1970 the PSD was party to the establishment of the Callisean Congress of Labor, an organization attempting to unify the crafts unions workers and which opposed the already existent Industrial Workers of Callise (affiliated with Le Gauche). They demanded higher wages, better safety protections, and above all an end to free trade.

Opposition to the Liberals didn't solely originate from Labor. Small business owners and farmers also felt like they'd been cheated during the Vaillancourt Directorates. These groups propelled the Nationalist League into the forefront of Callisean politics. Meanwhile, in Villende, disaffected party elements grew disillusioned with the Third Republic. Villende was one of the strongest supporters of the National Republic and had disliked the way the fall of LeBlanc had effected Villende, economically and culturally. In response to these apparent slights, the Villende National Republicans was formed in 1975. Although containing secessionist elements, the party was officially an advocacy group and nothing more.

All of these factors contributed to instability and in 1980 the Liberal Government was unseated, to be replaced by the Nationalist League led by Marie Courtial.

1980-1992: Courtial, Chauveau, and the Death of the "Two-Party Plus System"
The Courtial Directorate was thrown into power by the general discontent of Callise with the rule of Vaillancourt. As a result, they had many people to please and few opportunities to do so. The Nationalist League's new government, as a result, would be a broad based coalition. Nationalists, Conservative Reformers, Social Creditors, and Liberty Party members would join hands, along with the now crucial Villende Republicans, in the Courtial Directorate and the new Nationalist President. The group was known for it's dysfunction, but it did succeed on several policy points.

1) They repealed the aggressive free trade regime of Vaillancourt
2) They increased the autonomy of Villende, cemented the National Republicans as a regional institution, and established the Commission on Villendean Affairs
3) They continued the Liberals policy of fiscal conservatism at home

While this program drew strong support from Villende and the Conservative Reformers, it failed to placate one of the key bases of the Nationalist League: small farmers. Alongside laborers, small farmers grew increasingly opposed to the Nationalist League. This would come to a head in 1982 when a split occurred within the Social Credit Party. The extra-parliamentary leadership, along with a majority of the base, felt the Nationalist League had failed to act on behalf of the rural working class. As a result, at the party convention, those members remaining in the coalition government were expelled from the party. Those members reorganized as the Revenist Democratic Alliance, reviving the former movement from the LeBlanc government, with the left wing organizing in the Callisean Credit Party.

In the 1985 elections, the Nationalist League found themselves defeated at the ballot box by the Social Democratic Party. Marginalized since the foundation of the Republic, the Social Democratic Party succeeded at building a crafts union labor movement from 1970 onwards. However, despite being primed to take power in 1980, they failed to garner support from the general public. In order to draw a larger support base, the PSD, under the leadership of Bernard Chauveau, began a liberalization campaign aimed at drawing support from small business owners. This strategy would pay off and allow the Social Democrats to coalition with the Callisean Credit Party and Civic-Republicans.

The Chauveau Directorate spelled the end of the "two-party plus" era, where rule oscillated between the Liberals and the Nationalists. The introduction of the Social Democrats as a viable coalition leader introduced a third potential partner into Callisean politics and introduced a division in Callise that no longer oscillated between the Centre-Right and Right, but between the Centre-Left and the Centre-Right.

The Chauveau Directorate met with mixed results. While they fought hard for public sector unions, partially in response to pressure from the Civic-Republicans, they neglected the Callisean Congress of Labor and were outright hostile to the Industrial Workers of Callise. Their support among small business owners did succeed at sustaining them through the 1990 elections, they began to falter in 1992 when a recession and nationwide general strike threatened the government. This led to a confidence crisis when a number of Social Democrats defected to the opposition. Chauveau attempted to seek support from Le Gauche, but ultimately failed. Chauveau received a vote of no confidence in 1992 and proceeded to retire from politics.

1992 to 2000: Death of a Laborer
From 1992 to 2000, Jonathan Fournier and the Liberal Party ruled Callise. Having found common ground with the Nationalist League in opposition to the Social Democrats, the Liberals, Nationalists, Revenist Democrats, Liberty Party members and Conservatives formed a coalition government.

Under Fournier, the rapidly growing labor movement was cut down to size and a program of economic liberalization enacted. This period would also spawn a series of environmental de-regulation campaigns that would inspire the formation of the Callisean Federation of Greens in 1994.

For a time, the Fournier Directorate persisted until the Liberal Party sought to push for a destruction of the tariff regime. This would lead to the failure of Liberals to win a mandate in 2000 and the ascendance of the PSD.

2000 to 2015: Social Democracy in the 21st Century
From 2000 to 2015, Dolores Barrault would govern Callise. Inspired by the first Social Democratic government of Chauveau, Barrault was driven to a further left political program during the Fournier Directorates. From 1992 to 2000, the destruction of public and private sector unions decimated the labor movement nationwide. This destruction of organized labor inspired a leftward turn in the Civic-Republican Party along with the PSD, resulting in the establishment of a coalition between the Social Democrats, Civic-Republicans, Greens, and Callisean Creditors.

From 2000 to 2010, this coalition held. Under Barrault, union membership rose from only 8% to 20%. Under the PSD, social programs were expanded and the modern welfare state was constructed. However, the coalition would fall apart in 2012 when Barrault pursued a more strict tariff regime and began to oppose international organization. This would lead to the withdrawal of the Civic-Republicans from the coalition, but it would not be enough to take over. However, in the 2015 Election, the Civic-Republicans would coalition with the Liberals, Nationalists, Conservatives, and other lesser political parties under the Liberal State Director Leopold Dupont.

2015 to 2022: Leopold Dupont, the CEA, and the ascendancy of Social Credit
The First and Second Dupont Directorates would endeavor, throughout their time, to reverse the Barrault government's course on trade and economics, while doing their best to preserve existing institutions. For instance, DuPont refused to destroy the social wealth funds established under the Barrault Directorate, in part because of the necessity to continue caucusing with the Civic-Republicans. Dupont did, however, change the national direction on trade and taxes. DuPont drastically reduced the tax scale of Callise (with some brackets being almost cut in half), as well as expanding trade with the outside world.

In a time where it appeared as though Craviter would move increasingly towards globalization, however, the DuPont government showed reluctance beyond the economic realm. The Nationalist League, itself concerned about DuPont's globalist ambitions, promised to temporarily acquiesce on free trade in exchange for no new moves to give up Callisean political sovereignty. This decision ultimately cost the Nationalists dearly. A faction of the Nationalist League, as well as a slew of independent Senators, officially broke with the party in 2017. Led by Independent Senator Raphael Aubert, the National Sovereigntist Caucus sought to oppose these changes to the trade regime of Callise at all costs. This posed problems for the Callisean government, as they required the support of the Sovereigntists to continue governance. To that end, they came to an agreement that Callise would enter no new trade organizations for the remainder of the DuPont government's term. While this created stability for a time, it would ultimately collapse in 2019 with the drafting of the Astissa Accords. DuPont, seeing that Craviter was going to pursue international organization, whether he wanted it to or not, felt it was irresponsible to not have a voice at the table. Callise sent observers to the conference and, through a series of backroom dealings and skilled maneuvering, not only managed to be one of the powers integral in the drafting of the Astissa Accords, but did it all without visible presence. Ultimately, Callise decided to accede to the accords, and Beaune became the headquarters for the newly founded CEA.

The decision to join the CEA effectively ended the National Sovereigntist Caucus' coalition with the Dupont Directorate. One rogue member of the party even went so far as the deploy the Civilian Defense Forces to forcefully, and illegally, shut down the Hightonian border. The instability and deadlock caused by this situation ultimately resulted in a vote of no confidence, and the dissolution of the Government. In the following elections, the Liberals won in a landslide, successfully rebuilding their coalition without the need for the National Sovereigntists in the Senate. The National Sovereigntists, having lost many of their seats to the Villende National Republicans, as well as the Callisean Credit Party and Revenist Democrats, ultimately opted to rejoin the Nationalist League and serve as a pressure group from within. They, however, demanded that they be able to contradict the party line in the senate and offer no support to the DuPont Directorate on their trade and foreign policy program.

The new Dupont Directorate was composed of the Liberals, Nationalists, Conservatives, Civic-Republicans, and Liberty Party members. And while they had won a very successful, and stable, mandate, they faced new opposition. The CEA brought cheap Prydanian agriculture into Callise, causing significant amounts of misery among rural Callise. This combined with the flood of mass produced products from Syrixia and Maloria created a crisis of labor in Callise. Le Gauche, which had always been a secondary party in Callise, rapidly found itself at the forefront of labor oriented fights. Likewise, in rural Callise, regions which had previously been loyal to the National Sovereigntists and felt betrayed by the Second Dupont Directorate began turning to Social Credit. The swell in support for the two Social Credit groups, the Revenist Democrats and the Callisean Credit Party, fostered talks of unity and ultimately led to the formation of the Social Credit Union. The creation of this party, as well as the ascendancy of Le Gauche, would color the new era of Callisean politics.

The Bannet Scandal of 2021, in which the Liberal Principal of Bannet was caught leading a clandestine terrorist org dedicated to removing migrants from Callise, shook the DuPont Directorate to it's core. Migrant workers, already skeptical of the Liberals, feared for their lives. The Migrant Labour Party, having been founded only a year prior, swelled with support nationwide from Syrixian migrants. The Social Credit Union was appalled with the mismanagement of the rural region and the way the Liberals had cynically exploited labor disputes and nascent racism. As the Directorate collapsed, coalition parties began jumping ship. The first to go was the Liberty Party, then the Conservative Reformers. Ultimately, the Civic-Republicans split in half, with the largest faction choosing to break ties and the smallest opting to remain in coalition. These new Left and Right Republicans would continue to hold the party mantle in two separate national orgs.

In the 2021 elections, the Social Credit Union would go from secondary to primary party, joining the ranks of the Liberals, Nationalists, and Social Democrats, as well as taking the place of the Civic-Republicans. Bolstered by migrant support, the outrage of rural workers, and the disillusionment of small and large farmers, as well as significant support from larger cities, Social Credit would earn the mandate to form a government. However, they were not the only party to benefit from the election. Le Gauche nearly doubled their seat count, as well as expanded their presence in the Senate. They also took a leftward turn, expelling the right wing faction of the party (which would reorganize as the New Democrats). Finally, Migrant Labour became a power nationwide, securing a sizable chunk of the electorate.

Ultimately, the Social Credit Union would link arms with the Social Democrats, the Left Republicans, the Greens, the Villende National Republicans, and the Migrant Labour Party, as well as the New Democrats. Paul Levitch, the State Director and Party Leader of the Social Credit Union, as well as the first Shaddaist-Callisean to ever serve as State Director, would lead the First Levitch Directorate til 2025, with Bernard Chauveau remaining President until the end of his term and the 2025 elections.

While the labor movement has a storied history in Callise, stretching all the way back to the First League in the mid 1800s, it's current labor formations are relatively new. Although Callise was known as one of the few places where Socialism took root, the severe repression of even the more moderate craft unions under the National Republic of LeBlanc destroyed those long-standing institutions. As a result, the labor movement in Callise can be traced directly back only to 1965.

The first modern labor union in the Third Republic of Callise was the Industrial Workers of Callise. Organized on the basis of the industrial union model, this union was founded primarily by rank and file union leaders and Gauche activists. The second largest of the unions in Callise, the TIC is affiliated directly with Le Gauche and acts as it's labor wing. As a result, it's rank and file tend to be significantly more radical than their craft union counterparts and represent the far left of the Callisean labor movement. The TIC is governed by a Central Committee, with all members being elected by a general vote of the rank and file membership, but has lesser bodies that serve an important organizational role. Each local is led by a committee of shop stewards, and each national is advised by a council determined by proportional representation of each local. These nationals are then finally organized in the Congress, where all legislative decisions within the union must be ratified. While it is by far the most democratic of Callise's unions, it is also the most centralized and politically disciplined. The union currently has 7.93 million members

The second labor union to be founded was the Callisean Congress of Labor. Organized in 1970 on the crafts union model, it is the largest union in Callise. Unlike the TIC, which was founded with a vertical organizing model (with affiliates emanating from the activities of sympathizers and established firmly within the umbrella of the TIC), the CTC employed a horizontal model, starting as the affiliate of various independent unions established after the fall of the National Republic. As a result, the CTC is far less centralized than the TIC and has a more big tent and federation-oriented organization. It is also more prone to hire full time staffers and organizers, unaccountable to the rank and file, to organize itself. As a result, it is able to act far more decisively than the TIC, but has less rank and file engagement. Currently, the union has 9.61 million members and is affiliated with the PSD.

The third labor union to be founded was the Revenist Labor Association (ATR). Founded by the Social Credit Party in 1978 to represent all workplaces sympathetic to Social Credit, but which in practice represents the rural working class, farmhands, and tenant farmers in Callise. The union was founded in response to the economic devastation brought about by the Second Vaillancourt Directorate. Also organized on the crafts union model, their largest affiliate is the United Farm Workers of Callise. The ATR currently has 2.08 million members.

The fourth labor union center, and the last of the big four, was the Federation of Public Servants of Callise. The FSPC, founded in 1995 and unofficially affiliated with the Civic-Republicans, was founded to represent civil servants, non-profit workers, and other social service workers. The union was a response to the First Fournier Directorate's assault on the welfare state and civil service broadly. The union is founded on the organizing model, wherein a disciplined and well funded staff operates a mass line method of communication with the rank and file. The unions largest branch, by far, is it's teachers union, from which it draws significant support. Although officially the union representing all public servants in Callise, recently they have experienced significant opposition from some of their own affiliates, specifically teachers unions. Being seen as unwilling to counter the increasing prevalence of charter schools, private schools, and state subsidization for private education, some affiliates have defected to other unions, most notably the TIC. There are also significant concerns within the union over the lack of engagement with the rank and file. The union currently has 1.02 million members.

There are several other major unions in Callise, unaffiliated with the four national union centers. Notables among them include the Migrant Farmworkers of Callise, representing 50,000 Syrixian-Callisean farmhands in more urbanized areas of the Brown Belt, or the Anarcho-Syndicalist General Villendean Workers' Association, representing 400,000 workers in Villende. Yet while these unions operate outside of the various centers, they often align themselves behind one or more in political and economic struggles.

Villeurles
The industrial core of Callise, the regional politics of Villeurles are shaped by the immense amount of commerce and industry centered in Beaune. The core of what is traditionally called "the Red Belt," Beaune politics is firmly dominated by the trade unions.

National Convention delegation (200 total seats):

• Workers Party, 126 Seats
• Farmer-Labour, 39 Seats
• Liberals, 26 Seats
• Greens, 9 Seats

Villende
A culturally distinct region of Callise, Villende was the ideological core of the National Republic and the one portion of Callise with a majority Courantist population. While Sainte-Beaudoin is an industrialized city, the third largest in all of Callise, the rest of Villende is incredibly rural, with the province being dotted with hamlets throughout. The dominant cleavages in Sainte-Beaudoin are small business owners, farm owners, farmhands, industrial workers, and industrial magnates.

National Convention delegation (140 total seats):

• Villendean Bloc, 73 Seats
• Populists, 48 Seats
• Workers Party, 19 Seats

Carcaroux
A largely rural province with an industrial center in Gachet, Carcaroux's politics are defined by the contrast between urban and rural. Small farmers, agrarian workers, and urban workers generally link arms to fight corporate farmers and business owners in the industrial region.

National Convention delegation (96 total seats):

• Populists, 47 Seats
• Farmer-Labour, 33 Seats
• Nationalists, 16 Seats

Fontaine Administrative Region
The capital of Callise, and third largest city. A mostly urban area, the political divide occurs between the working class regions of Callise (typically in the inner cities), the petit bourgeoise suburbs, and the finance capital centers in central Fontaine.

National Convention delegation (72 total seats):

• Progressive Labour, 25 Seats
• Workers Party, 19 Seats
• Civic-Republicans, 15 Seats
• Conservative Reformers, 8 Seats
• Liberals, 5 Seats

Baseau
Another traditional province within the "Red Belt," Baseau has greater diversity than Beaune. Whereas Beaune is composed mainly of urban areas, Baseau also has smaller towns which cater to the middle-class. This urban-suburban divide colors much of the politics of Baseau.

National Convention delegation (55 total seats):

• Workers Party, 22 Seats
• Progressive Labour, 21 Seats
• Farmer-Labour, 12 Seats

Epimart
The most diverse of Callise's provinces, Epimart is divided primarily by the tensions between the industrial coast and the rural core. With it's northern most areas being part of the "Red Belt," outside of the industrial areas the region is part of the "Brown Belt" of support for Social Credit. The province also encompasses some of the suburbs surrounding Fontaine.

National Convention delegation (49 total seats):

• Populists, 17 Seats
• Nationalists, 11 Seats
• Greens, 11 Seats
• Liberals, 10 Seats

Narsir
A continuation of the traditional "White Belt," the presence of the strategically important trading town of Millau has led to a growth in influence among the Craft Unions. Millau proper, dominated historically by the Longshoreman and Warehouse Industrial Union, sees large political participation from organized labor.

National Convention delegation (45 total seats):

• Progressive Labour, 26 Seats
• New Democrats, 17 Seats
• Liberals, 2 Seats

Bergeluçon
The largest of Callise's provinces, Bergeluçon is completely rural. In the province, the tensions that exist are primarily between the large landowners and small landowners and farmhands. Unlike most rural provinces, the large landowners tend to outnumber the smaller landowners.

National Convention delegation (42 total seats):

• Nationalists, 19 Seats
• Farmer-Labour, 15 Seats
• Populists, 8 Seats

Perpilliers
The beginning of the "White Belt," Perpilliers represents a stark departure from the politics of the "Red Belt" from the South. Perpilliers is, on average, the wealthiest part of Callise. The primary divide is between the petit bourgeoisie and the larger bourgeoisie.

National Convention delegation (39 total seats):

• Liberals, 19 Seats
• Civic-Republicans, 16 Seats
• Conservative Reformers, 4 Seats

Frerault
Dominated by forests and farmlands, the interest groups in the region are the large landowners and ranchers, and the foresting companies. Owing to it's rural character, Frerault is also home to many localist activists, especially in the far north.

National Convention delegation (36 total seats):

• Greens, 27 Seats
• Populists, 5 Seats
• Nationalists, 4 Seats

Bannet
The smallest province in Callise by population, Bannet is largely agrarian. During the Syrixian Emergency, Bannet became a very popular area for relocation by Syrixian migrants to Callise. While many became land owners, many more became agrarian workers and small holders.

National convention delegation (26 total seats):

• Migrant Labour, 21 Seats
• Populists, 5 Seats

While provincial politics play a huge role in the governance of Callise, the most important unit in determining the outcome of Callisean elections are a series of geographic and economic cleavages that run through Callise. These divisions cross provincial lines and help contextualize politics in Callise and explain the conflicts which exist in each province. These cleavages are the Red Belt, the White Belt, the Brown Belt, the Green Belt, and Villende.

The Red Belt is the portion of Callise stretching roughly from Beaune and greater Villeurles to Fontaine, including significant portions of Epimart. The Red Belt is named as such because it is the center of organized labor in Callise, with the color red often being associated with the trade union movement. Because the Red Belt is the most heavily populated area of Callise it is also central to determining who will run Callise. This regions is divided primarily between the right and left wings of the trade union movement in Callise.

The White Belt is the portion of Callise stretching from Northern Fontaine to Millau, including the westernmost portion of Frerault. This region, historically the wealthiest part of Callise, is far less influenced by organized labor. As such, the main division in the White Belt is between the crafts and public servants unions, and the bourgeoisie, small business owners, and the professional managerial class. Within the White Belt, a large division exists between Perpilliers and Narsir. Perpilliers, the richest province in Callise. Narsir, by contrast, plays host to the port-city of Millau, dominated by the presence of trade unions. Importantly, Narsir is not entirely within the White Belt, but it's more rural areas constitute parts of the Green Belt. Western Frerault is dominated primarily by some of the wealthiest towns in the White Belt.

The Brown Belt is the portion of Callise stretching from Gachet to Bardin, involving large portions of Bergelucon, Epimart, and Frerault. The main division in the Brown Belt is between the interests of businessmen and large landowners within the Brown Belt, and the farmhands, small farmers, and workers. This black and white dichotomy breaks down in Frerault. While South Frerault is mainly made of farmland, North Frerault joins Narsir and West Bannet in forming the Green Belt.

The Green Belt is a unique cleavage within Callise. Because it is the frayed edges of the White and Brown Belt, it is rarely considered a valid political cleavage. This is further supported when one realizes that the Green Belt does not actually seem divided in it's politics. Regardless, because of it's unique role in Callisean politics it is often considered it's own electoral cleavage. Composed mostly of mountains and forests in the northernmost portions of Callise, the Green Belt is named such because of it's strong environmental protections and dominance by Green activists.

Unlike the other cleavages in this list, Villende correlates almost completely to the provincial boundaries of Villende. While Villende is one-party dominant and largely conservative, Villende historically has been a hotbed for the Far Left, with Sainte-Beaudoin making up a large portion of supporters of the First Workers League. As a result, the province is largely divided between the business owners, large land owners, and religious population, and the urban workers, small land owners, and agrarian workers.

Although Callise is famously remembered as the birthplace of Remy Picard and the Workers Republic of Jean-Charles Duval, there is a much less often talked about socialist current in Callise that historically exercised power in Callise. That current was the anarcho-syndicalist current represented by the General Villendean Workers' Association (AGTV). Representing the minority anarchist split from within the First League, the AGTV was the first industrial union in Callise and remains the largest industrial union in Villende. While often having a tumultuous relation with the rest of the Workers movement, the AGTV has undeniably greatly contributed to the attempts to establish Socialism in Callise.

The AGTV was founded in 1844 in Sainte-Beaudoin by a coalition of trade unionists, anarchists, and political radicals. The officially recognized affiliate of the First League in Villende, the AGTV would be the stronghold of the anarchists within the Workers League. For a time this alliance worked out for all parties. In 1851, the AGTV claimed 90,000 members throughout Villende and was openly praised by Remy Picard for their success in industrial organizing. However, the alliance between the AGTV and Picardists would come to an end in 1873. During the Great Callisean Patriotic War, the workers of Beaune succeeded in seizing control of the city and erecting barricades, effectively serving as a third party in the conflict. When this workers government was declared, the AGTV declared open solidarity. AGTV leaders staged a 1872 General Strike in solidarity and attempted to establish a commune in Sainte-Beaudoin. They called on workers all across Callise to seize their cities and establish the commune-state. These efforts were shortlived, however, and Sainte-Beaudoin would quickly be retaken by the Republican Army. Before long, Beaune fell as well. And while the establishment of this government was a short-lived triumph for the First Workers League, the results of the Commune experiment bitterly split the socialist movement. The Picardists held that the failure of the Beaune Commune was evidence that the workers movement needed to build dual power and establish party leadership before it could seize the reins of power. The anarchists, in contrast, held that insurrection was the way to go. These divides were eventually generalized, and tactical and theoretical tactics began to become even more distinct between the two groups. One example of this is in nationalism. Whereas the Picardists held that nationalism was an antisocial current, the AGTV was openly in favor of self-determination for Villende. Ultimately the Picardists won the day, and the AGTV was expelled from the Workers League shortly before the organization itself collapsed.

Being expelled from the First League was the least of the AGTVs problems. Following the attempted Sainte-Beaudoin Commune, the AGTV faced harsh repression from the Republican government. Trade union affiliates were forcibly disaffiliated or banned outright, and organizers were forced underground. This period, which would come to be called the First Red Scare, would last from 1873 to 1880. In 1880, following years of agitation from Orthodox Picardists were able to repeal the anti-socialist and anti-trade union laws through agitation on the Liberal ballot line. This allowed the newly formed Social Democratic Party to run for office in 1880, marking the first time a Socialist party won seats in the General Court. One consequence of this was the legalization of the AGTV once more. From 1880 to 1909, the AGTV was able to grow once more. One by one, they successfully secured affiliation with various unions throughout Villende and grew once more in prominence. However, their return to power did not mean the normalization of relations with the Picardists. The AGTV openly opposed the FSGC and refused to affiliate with either the Social Democratic Party or the Second League. Regardless, their influence grew. In 1900, of the 2 million members of trade unions in Callise, 500,000 were members of the AGTV. As such, they were the second largest union in Callise.

This period of unprecedented growth and dominance was also accompanied with re-radicalization. At their 1902 conference, a group of delegates calling themselves the "Friends of Freedom" published a programme titled "The Coming Insurrection." In it, they outlined their belief that the increased size of the AGTV necessitated anarchists smash the state and pursue and commune. While incredibly controversial throughout Callise, the slate managed to win a majority on the Central Committee. Yet in spite of their radical aspirations, their opportunity to revolt would not come until 1909. That May, a general strike was called in support of the dockworkers of Sainte-Beaudoin. During the protests, an explosion rocked the Principal building. The police responded with violence, cracking down on the strikers. However, against all odds, the strikers, bolstered by anarchists, were able to overpower the police. They seized the Principal Building and the AGTV leaders declared the Commune of Sainte-Beaudoin and announced their intentions to establish a revolutionary Commune throughout Villende. The Republican Government, however, was incredibly afraid of this revolutionary wave spreading nationwide. As such, the military responded swiftly and the insurrection was put down by August of the same year.

The response from across Callise was generally negative. The Republican government made the AGTV illegal, and the bourgeois parties denounced their insurrection. Even the Social Democratic Party, supposedly in favor of the Commune-State, disavowed the insurrectionist orientation of the strikers. This served to create divides within the party, particularly the Left Social Democrats led by future Chairman of the Workers Republic, Jean-Charles Duval. The Left Social Democrats were the only group which defended the actions of the AGTV, and their opposition to the official PSD line would form the foundation of a litany of disagreements that would culminate in the 1912 formation of the Socialist Labour Party.

From 1909 to 1920, the AGTV was once again forced underground in a Second Red Scare. However, their time in hiding was abruptly cut short with the Second Callisean Revolution in 1920 and the Callisean Civil War of 1921 to 1924. During the conflict, the AGTV tactically sided with the Syndicalists of Duval, serving as an important insurrectionary force within Villende. Some scholars have even attributed the failure of the Provisional Militia to the industrial actions and terrorism carried out by the AGTV. Following the Civil War, the AGTV was allowed to run it's own ballot line in Callisean elections and won the overwhelming majority of support within Villende.

From 1924 to 1943, the AGTV formed the Farmer-Worker Opposition, alongside the Free Social Democrars. While they were both supportive of the workers state, they generally opposed the centralization of the Socialist Labor Party and the attempts at collectivization in rural Callise. Despite their best attempts, the SLP remained the unchallenged dominant party in the Workers Republic with the majority of support from the industrial unions. AGTV would lose it's legal status after the 1945 installation of the National Republic.

From 1945 to 1965, AGTV would be the Villendean affiliate of Le Gauche and be responsible for numerous terrorist activities within Villende. During this period, the Picardists did reconcile in large ways with the Anarchists. However, when Le Gauche opted to run for office in the newly founded Republic, the AGTV once against broke ties. From 1965 to 2011, AGTV worked to rebuild it's historical position as the industrial labor union of Villende. They succeeded in this endeavor, building a militant labor union in Villende but refusing to endorse the efforts of Le Gauche to run candidates in the state. AGTV, like the rest of the labor movement, receded during the 1990, but resurged under the 21st Century social democratic government of Dolores Barrault. In recent years, AGTV has even made overtures towards reconciliation with Le Gauche. While refusing to affiliate with the Industrial Workers of Callise, they were party to the 2011 Beaune conference that founded the International Worker's Association, and was a founding member of the Congress of Industrial Labour Unions alongside the TIC. It's membership currently stands at roughly 400,000 card-carrying workers.

The Callisean electoral system, established in 2023, is designed to be as democratic and participatory as possible. All registered residents of the country, bearing no citizenship or allegiance to a foreign nation, are guaranteed a right to suffrage. Elections occur once every two years, and positions are elected primarily by closed-list proportional representation (at the national level) and ranked choice voting (on the local level).

In local elections, Calliseans vote for their Commune Councils, the Commune Judges, the Chief of the Commune Militia (police force), County Councils, the County Judges, and the Sheriff of the County Militia. In the primary elections, Calliseans cast votes via ranked choice voting for all of these offices. The top two vote getters for each office then move onto the General Election.

Communes are further subdivided into Wards, composed of Ward Councils and Ward Assemblies. Wards are neighborhoods or segments of a Commune which govern local issues and elect Commune Councillors. Commune Councillors are assigned to wards proportional to their population, with Wards being given freedom to subdivide themselves such that each Councillor has a clearly definable electoral district (this is also true to the relation of the Commune to the County Council). Ward Assemblies are composed of all residents of the Ward, and make all decisions on a Ward level. This generally involves local public services (such as parks), and communication with higher level authorities and planners for local projects. Ward Assemblies also elect, from their membership, a Ward Council to serve as a local executive-legislative working body.

In the National Convention, Calliseans are only able to cast a ballot in the General election. The National Convention is elected via a closed-list proportional representation system that is known as the Republican Standard Method (known IRL as the Modified Sainte-Langue Method). In this system, province's are assigned a number of seats proportional to their population and voters elect a provincial delegation that represents the party-list preference of the province's population. To determine a party's seat allocation, the Republican Standard Method uses the following equation:

Whichever party receives the highest quotient gets the next seat allocated. The National Convention also has an additional representational hurdle that parties must pass called the Rule of 16. Rather self-explanatory, the Rule of 16 states that, for a party to field seats in the National Assembly, they must have at least received 16 seats in total from the proportional contests. If a party fails to meet the 16 seat threshold, they are not allowed to sit in the National Assembly and the seats they have won are distributed among those parties that have already qualified.

All elected officials are subject to a horizontal mandate, meaning individual members of the population may recall any official at any time if they feel they are no longer representative of the electorate (so long as a quorum is reached). This is designed such that elected officials are always subject directly to the people they represent. All elected officials are paid no more than a skilled workers wage, relative to the jurisdiction they live within.

Hubert Bennet is a senior leader of the Workers Party of Callise (formerly Le Gauche) who has served as the public face of the party since 2016. Born on August 14, 1945, in the brutal violence of the Second Callisean Civil War, he came of age during the National Republic at a time when Socialism was made illegal. Bennet would go on to serve in the fledgling Third Republic's military before entering politics. As Le Gauche made it's transition into the Workers Party of Callise, Benett would become the forward facing figure of the party and the leader of the mass movement to build a Fourth Republic.

Hubert Bennet was born in Beaune three years after the end of the Second Callisean Civil War. The son of two clandestine organizers (one a former shop steward and one a former economic administrator), his very birth was in some sense an act of resistance. His parents were unable to escape the country before the imposition of military rule and were forced to go into hiding. From 1947 to 1957, he moved from safehouse to safehouse with his parents in an attempt to avoid apprehension by the authorities. It was during this time that Bennet's parents joined Le Gauche, serving as clandestine labor organizers and logistics workers. In 1957, the Bennet's were arrested at a covert strike authorization meeting that had been infiltrated by secret police. Upon his parent's arrest, Bennet was entered into a Revenist foster home where he would spend the rest of his young adult life. His parents would die of pneumonia in 1959, after two years of neglect in prison. His parent's death would have a profound effect on his life, and made him immensely resentful towards the National Republic. It is this resentment which would compel him to contact Le Gauche activists to join in 1964, marching with the Beaune militia in 1965 during the Peaceful Revolution.

Following the fall of the National Republic, Bennet would proceed to enlist in the Republican Army. From 1966 to 1976, Bennet served in the military. During this time, he read extensively, with a focus on the works of Picard and Duval. He supplemented his theoretical reading with the lived experiences of his fellow soldiers, many of whom had enlisted to escape the impoverished urban centers during the National Republic. These discussions and readings would lead Bennet to a more authentic Socialist understanding. Bennet was honorably discharged in 1976, having achieved the rank of Colonel.

From 1976 to 1996, Bennet dedicated himself to labor organizing. Originally taking a job in the Fontaine docks as a longshoreman, he served as a union salt attempting to build the Industrial Longshoreman and Warehouse Union of the Industrial Workers of Callise. He succeeded in winning a union election in 1978, and proceeded to repeat the process at three more warehouses. In 1984, he settled in Beaune where he would be elected a shop steward, chairman of the SI Guèrras Phoenix Strait Shipping Bargaining Committee, and President of SI Guèrras between 1986 and 1995. In 1995, he was elected the Director of Department V of the TIC and Vice Chair of the TIC itself (second only to the General President). He served in this role for a five year term. He refused re-election in order to run for public office, beginning his political career.

In 2000, Bennet succeeded in being placed on the party-list and served a stint in the General Court til 2010. During this period, he became infamous for his inflammatory speeches against Dolores Barrault and her less than optimal support for labor. This earned him widespread support among the industrial unions and left wing of Le Gauche, and made serious inroads into the Callisean Labor Congress. In 2010, he refused a spot on the party-list in order to run for Senate in Beaune. From 2010 to 2020, he served in the Senate and quickly became the national face of left-wing politics. In 2020, he won a groundbreaking election for Principal of Villeurles, becoming the first ever member of Le Gauche to serve as a Principal. During this period, he would greatly expand privileges for labor and embark on a mass anti-poverty program. After serious gains by progressive and socialist forces in the 2021 special election, Bennet launched a successful campaign for Chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers Party of Callise. As part of his platform, he outlined the Fourth Republic Program. He argues that the Third Republic has devolved into parliamentary gridlock and that popular democracy has disintegrated. In the spirit of the original Gauchiste revolutionaries, he proposes a constitutional convention that will reform Callise's government from the ground up. This program is to be implemented on the local level by Communes, to replace municipal governments and implement popular control, and at the national level through serious constitutional reform and the abolition of the Senate and Provincial governments in their current form. Many speculate he will attempt to run for President in 2025.

While a controversial figure, Bennet is one of the most popular politicians in the entire country. And with his rhetoric and theoretical discipline, the future appears to be nothing but bright under his leadership.

On Transitional Democracy in general
Considering the relative position of the working class in Callise, compared to the international working class, the pursuit of Proletarian Dictatorship and international socialist revolution is not at this time feasible. Without the proletarian parties of the other advanced countries ready to take power, an immediate socialist transformation by the Callisean working class would be doomed to degeneration. Considering our position, we thus pursue a position we call Transitional Democracy.

Predicated on our understanding of the transitional demand, the partial realization of the revolutionary programme, Transitional Democracy is the partial realization of the political demands of Socialism in the form of radical democracy. While not constituting the construction of Socialism itself, the Transitional Democracy is a radically democratic government that embraces political pluralism and maintains it's legitimacy through the coalition government of the workers party, as well as provides a tool by which the Proletariat can gradually begin to construct Socialism.

The Transitional Democracy is a broad model which must be applied differently based on the material conditions of each nation, but the concept will always rest upon three pillars. The transitional demand, the democratization of society, and the united front. In this chapter of our manifesto, we will discuss these three pillars, as well as the position of the workers party and Transitional Democracy in relation to the non-revolutionary institutions.

On the Transitional Demands
As we have defined elsewhere, a transitional demand is the partial realization of the revolutionary programme. While a transitional demand might not constitute more than a reform in essence, it's realization in the view of the broader programme constitutes a revolutionary challenge to the system because it's realization represents direct confrontation between the Proletariat and Bourgeoisie.

This is the ultimate policy goal of the Transitional Democracy, to realize every transitional demand. While transitional demands can be realized in the bourgeois state, and we have done so on a number of issues (the 2014 Labor Law reform that approved card-check, for example), the inherent inertia of bourgeois democracy makes revolutionary demands problematic. The Transitional Democracy solves for this in two ways. First, the destruction of the most reactionary elements of our system of government (the Senate, the current local council system, etc.) allows for us to enact the transitional demands without the unnecessary gridlock that our undemocratic system currently enforces. Second, by involving the public more directly in public systems through the construction of the Communes, we will be better equipped to build Socialism as the proletariat learns the hard task of self-governance.

Transitional demands will vary between different national situations, the following demands constitute the revolutionary transitional programme for Callise:

1. The strengthening of organized labor, and the expansion of protections for union organizing. This can be accomplished through a nationwide ban on scab labor, the prosecution of unfair labor practices, and the abolition of any intervention by management in the union vote campaign.
2. The liberation of man from needless and unsafe labor. This can be accomplished through the realization of the four day work week, the mandatory provision of all healthcare (essential or otherwise) by firms for their employees.
3. The development of union democracy. This can be accomplished by establishing greater support for reform caucuses, the mandatory industrialization of the craft unions, and mandatory elections for the leadership of all Callisean unions.
4. The establishment of workplace democracy. This can be accomplished with the voluntary collectivization of a workplace through a majority vote of the workforce on a shop floor. All collectivized businesses shall be organized through a Council on the State Economy, with equal representation for all member workplaces.
5. The socialization of education in Callise. This can be accomplished through the expropriation of the private educational institutions of Callise, and an immediate end to the school-voucher program.
6. The socialization of credit in Callise. This can be accomplished with the wholesale expropriation of the entire finance sector and centralization under the Bank of the Public, rather than pursuing the corporatist model of the moderate Social Creditors and their National Credit Office. On this demand, cooperation with radical Social Credit is a promising possibility.
7. The end of landlordism and a program of land reform. This can be accomplished with the expropriation of every housing unit that is listed on the market for rent, as well as the voluntary collectivization of land worked by farmhands should they vote to take ownership of a portion of their bosses land. Proper compensation shall be offered to all those targeted.
8. The rapid expansion of Callise's rural infrastructure. This can be accomplished with the establishment of an industrial army to repair failing implements, and create new implements where needed.
9. An end to rural poverty. This can be accomplished by a vast anti-poverty program including direct payments, heavy investments in education, and the redistribution of wealth among the rural working class.
10. The end of reactionary terrorism. This can be accomplished by cooperating with local authorities and giving them the resources to fight racist terrorist groups (such as the Knights of Laurens) and protect all workers from violence.

On the Fourth Republic and the Commune-State
Since the time of the First League, the goal of every Socialist movement has been the realization of the Commune-State. We are no different, but rather than pursuing a feverish dream of Duvalist revolutionary syndicalism, we instead support a Fourth Republic governed by Transitional Democracy.

While we have already laid out the goals of our Transitional Democracy in the realization of economic demands, we shall now lay out the role of this Fourth Republic in realizing political reform. It is plainly obvious to see that our current "Republic" is anything but Democratic. The twin plagues of political disengagement and reactionary gridlock have paralyzed what was once the most radical democracy in all of Eras. In harkening back to our tradition, we hope to alleviate these two sicknesses.

The General Court of the First Republic, especially during the period led by Les Gauchistes, proved revolutionary for it's time. However, with the consolidation of bourgeois elements in the Second and Third Republic, this democracy was eroded. And as the public assemblies became neglected in favor of localized councils and a two chamber national legislature, the vast majority of Calliseans have become unconnected to their government. This degeneration of public governance was further reflected in the creation of hitherto unnecessary and obstructionist government functions. The goal of Transitional Democracy is to destroy both of these trends, and to construct a Commune-State. From the ground up, Transitional Democracy will gradually turn over absolute power to the People so that, when the era of international revolution arrives the Proletariat will be ready to preside over the socialist revolution.

Thus we propose a new constitutional convention to found a Fourth Republic. The following are some demands which should be included in this new constitution:

1. The unconditional abolition of the Senate.
2. The adjustment of the Republic Standard Method to more accurately represent the population distribution of Callise.
3. The abolition of the position of President and the investiture of complete power in the Directorate and legislature.
4. The dismantling of the Municipal Councils in favor of Communes and the Public Assembly model.
5. Reconstitution of the County and Provincial Governments, placing them directly under the control of the public assemblies, communes, and their chosen leadership.
6. The broad-based implementation of horizontal, imperative mandates.
7. The legalization of instant recall for most elected officials.

On the United Front
While our electoral reform will more accurately reflect the political power of the revolutionary proletariat in Callise, it will not eliminate pluralistic democracy altogether. As such, it would be rather naive of us to assume that the workers party would constitute the sole governing party. To that end, we must advocate for a United Front.

A United Front is a government of every workers party which endorses our transitional programme. While not all parties may share our revolutionary, Picardist, and Duvalist orientation, we can certainly seek common cause with those who support the Fourth Republic and share our Transitional Demands. The workers party should seek out unity with these groups for several reasons.

First, to secure a governing coalition. The working class will not always fall behind the revolutionary party, and their numbers necessarily will be distributed among many workers parties. Thus, to secure a governing majority we must ally with these groups of workers who do support our immediate program. Second, to further instill a socialist consciousness in these workers. While their parties might not necessarily innately share our revolutionary aspirations, our shared goals are revolutionary nonetheless. As the Transitional Demands are fulfilled, and the Commune-State built from the bottom-up, the possibility of proletarian dictatorship becomes less theoretical and more of an emergent reality. While we may never win over the leadership of these parties (although I hold out hope, especially for those in Social Credit), through our collaboration their rank and file may realize that we are not idle dreamers after all. To that end, cooperation with these groups is imperative for growing the revolutionary spirit of the Proletariat. Third, we must cut off the flanks of the counter-transitional parties. While the Social Democrat and Social Credit parties may be dominated by reactionary leadership, progressive and populist factions exist within both. If we wish to realize the potential of these groups, we must encourage them to cut off their support.

For these reasons, the United Front is an indispensable tool for the Transitional Democracy.

On the Counter-Transitional Workers Organizations
We shall now devote some time to discussing the counter-transitional workers organizations, both in the economic and political struggle.

The counter-transitional trade unions are by far the more benign of the two. At the current moment, the majority of unionized workers are members of craft and business unions. While these organizations contain a great diversity of unions (from very reactionary to fairly progressive), their presence in these organizations present an obstacle to revolutionary consciousness. However, we must not discount the potential of these organizations. Those groups with rank-and-file democracy are to be cooperated wherever possible, for the proletariat of all unions still share the same class interests. Ideally these workers will be won over to the revolutionary industrial unions in the long-run, but this will not be accomplished with ultra-left positions on the trade unions but with cooperation and demonstration of their relative effectiveness.

The counter-transitional political parties are less benign. The leadership of these organizations, while preserving the control of their rank-and-file, foolishly mislead their members into supporting positions contrary to their class interests. No cooperation is possible with these groups, for their opposition to the Transitional Demands and constitutional reform is directly contrary to our programme.

On the Bourgeois Parties
It should go without saying that cooperation with these parties, in economic and political struggles, is absolutely impossible. Yet their suppression is neither feasible nor desirable. Unless they act in ways contrary to the new constitutional order, or seek to suppress the revolution violently, they must be allowed the legal right to operate. We must, however, fight them via all legal means available to us.

The most popular and used side arm in all of Lesta is with out a doubt the William Chester 1983 pistol. The William Chester 1983 pistol is a compact easy to use gun, it uses 9mm ammo ( I am just using real life measurements for this as I don't know what the standard for ammo is in eras ) and holds twelve bullets. It is also renowned for it low recoil, it's eas of control, and how easy it is to customize and modify. William Chester is famous for making a number of the most popular guns in all of Lesta. In late 1981 William Chester decided to make a pistol after he almost got injured from a misfire when using the standard issue pistol for the time. He worked hard for months it till he had a functional prototype in mid 1982, but because of shortages in the parts he needed the final version didn't come till early 1983. He was adding the finishing touches and getting in contact with gun producers when he realized he hadn't come up with a name for his new gun. He asked his brothers Zachary and Fernando( his step brother ) to think of a name. But unfortunately he had a heart attack and died before his weapon could ever see the public eye. His brothers decided that in order to honor their bother they would name the gun after him and when he died. ( The same year when it was made in case you forgot ) After it was released it would go on to be a great success, being heavily used in the private sector before the military made it their standard issue side arm two years later in 1985. Currently the William Chester 1983 is one of the most popular weapons in both the privet and military sector in all of Lesta being beat out only by few.

The Industrial Workers of Callise (TIC) is the radical core on the militant end of trade unionism in Callise. Founded in 1965 as the first of the four major national trade union centers, the organization was created as a labor wing of the far-left Le Gauche. Organized along the industrial union model, the TIC espouses the ideology of Revolutionary Industrial Unionism, the belief that all workers ought be organized in One Big Union to help facilitate the end of Capitalism. While not every worker represented by TIC shares their radical politics, the organization has served to introduce militancy into the broader labor movement. This is in large part due to their model of industrial unionism, proposing that workers are not just parts of bargaining units but a whole class. In their effort to represent the distinct sectors within each class, the TIC divides their sectoral unions into six departments. The division of these unions are listed below:

Department I - Agriculture and Fisheries

1. Agriculture Workers Industrial Union (SI Agricòl) - Represents all workers on farms, ranches, orchards producing produce, meat, or animal products.
2. Lumber Workers Industrial Union (SI Lumbèr) - Represents all workers in forestry, logging, and timber mills that harvest and refine lumber.
3. Fishery Workers Industrial Union (SI Pescòla) - Represents all workers in fisheries and fishkeeping operations.
4. Floricultural Workers Industrial Union (SI Floricòl) - Represents all workers in nurseries, flower gardens, and other professions that cultivate non-produce plant life for sale.

Department II - Mining and Natural Resources

1. Metal Mine Industrial Union (SIM Métal) - Represents all workers mining unrefined metals.
2. Mineral Mine Industrial Union (SIM Minèral) - Represents all workers mining non-metal and non-fuel minerals.
3. Coal Mine Industrial Union (SIM Carbòni) - Represents all workers mining coal and other solid fuels.
4. Oil and Refinery Industrial Union (SI Petrolièr) - Represents all workers extracting and refining oil, natural gases, and other non-solid fuels.

Department III - Construction

1. General Construction Industrial Union (SIC Générale) - Represents all workers in general construction fields, excluding shipbuilding and building construction.
2. Maritime Construction Industrial Union (SIC Maritimes) - Represents all workers in shipbuilding.
3. Building Construction Industrial Union (SIC Bandièr) - Represents all workers in building trades.

Department IV - Manufacture and General Production

1. Textile and Clothing Industrial Union (SI Tèxtil) - Represents all workers in textile and clothing trades.
2. Furniture Manufacture Industrial Union (SI Mobilièr) - Represents all workers in furniture production and assembly.
3. Chemical Manufacture Industrial Union (SI Chimique) - Represents all workers in chemical manufacturing and refinery.
4. Metalworkers Industrial Union (SI Métal) - Represents all workers in metal refinery and production.
5. Machinist Industrial Union (SI Maquinerie) - Represents all workers in manufacture and repair of machine parts.
6. Printing Industrial Union (SI Imprimèr) - Represents all workers in the physical manufacture of books, newspapers, magazines, and other mass-printed materials.
7. Food Stuff Industrial Union (SI Alimentèrs) - Represents all workers in the industrial production of food products, ingredients, and other foodstuffs.
8. Leather Manufacture Industrial Union (SI Leèira) - Represents all workers in the production of leather and leather products.
9. Pottery Industrial Union (SI Potèr) - Represents all workers in the manufacture of glass and pottery, as well as derivatives there within.
10. Papermill Industrial Union (SI Papèrterie) - Represents all workers in the construction of paper and pulp.
11. Energy Workers Industrial Union (SI Énergie) - Represents all workers in nuclear, fossil fuel, and renewable energy.

Department V - Transportation and Communication

1. Land Transport Industrial Union (SIT Tèrra) - Represents all workers in motor, railroad, and other forms of land transport.
2. Oceanic Transport Industrial Union (SIT Oceanièr) - Represents all workers in oceanic transport.
3. Warehouse Workers Industrial Union (SIT Guèrras) - Represents all workers in docks and warehouses.
4. Municipal Transport Industrial Union (SIT Comunautat) - Represents all intra-city transport workers and city-employees involved in transport.
5. Air Transport Industrial Union (SIT Airèr) - Represents all air transport workers.
6. Communication Industrial Union (SI Comunicacion) - Represents all communications workers.

Department VI - Service Work

1. Health Service Industrial Union (SIS Santat) - Represents all healthcare and health service workers.
2. Educational Service Industrial Union (SIS Educacion) - Represents all education employees, both in teaching and non-teaching (research, administrative, etc.) positions.
3. Recreational Service Industrial Union (SIS Recreacion) - Represents all workers in recreational facilities, such as movie theatres, stadiums, and the like.
4. Private Service Employees Industrial Union (SIS Privacitat) - Represents all workers in hotel, restaurants, and other non-recreational non-public service work.
5. Maintenance Service Industrial Union (SIS Manutencion) - Represents all workers in rail, highway, park, and other maintenance workers.
6. Distribution Service Industrial Union (SIS Distribucion) - Represents all workers involved in distribution logistics, such as clerks, packers, and sales force. Has some overlap with the transport and warehouses unions.
7. Public Service Industrial Union (SIS Publièrs) - Represents all workers in gas, electric, water, and other municipal grid sectors.

The TIC is organized vertically from these national sectoral bargaining units into the national organization. Each Industrial Union elects a President who also doubles as that union's representative in the departmental committee. Workers from all unions in a Department then elect from their ranks a Director to run the Department and serve as their representative on the Central Committee. All TIC members then elect a General President to run the whole union and sit on the Central Committee. Each of these officers are elected to five year terms, with a two-term limit. These officers also operate on a hierarchical mandate, with a streamlined recall process being available to any member of a constituency who wishes to recall their elected officer.

The Social Democratic Party of Callise (Partit Social Démocrate) or PSD is one of the oldest and most important political parties in Callisean history. Originally founded by committed Picardists as a political organ for their revolutionary socialist program and a party of the mass working class, it has gradually transitioned from being a party exclusively for workers into a cross-class alliance of the conservative Craft Unions, small business owners, social workers, and mid-level managers. In this article, we will trace the history of the Social Democratic Party from it's origins in Picardist theory to it's modern day incarnation.

1878-1890: Orthodox Picardism and the Second League
The Social Democratic Party would first take form in 1878, five years after the collapse of the Beaune Commune. Prior to the founding of the Social Democratic Party, the workers movement in Callise was mostly a loose associations of Social Democracy Clubs and trade unions affiliated to the Workers League, an international association of Picardist trade unionists and activists. This transnational organization provided some structure to the activities of social democrats, but ultimately failed at building a cohesive socialist movement. This became further complicated when the First League fell apart in the wake of the Beaune Commune. With the forces of Social Democracy shattered and revolutionary activity nearly impossible, it became necessary to build a tight network of cadre and clandestine organizations to carry on the struggle.

Enter Daniel Cellier. A student of Gilles Dumont, the long-time collaborator of Remy Picard and executor of his estate, Daniel Cellier was a bright young Picardist theoretician and organizer. The head of the Fontaine Club of Social Democrats, he weathered the state repression that occurred in the years following the collapse of the Beaune Commune and wrote diligently in favor of building a national party to guide the Social Democratic movement. In 1878, he successfully organized a secret meeting of Social Democrats in Millau and founded the Social Democratic Party. At this convention they laid out their aims, provisional governance, and plans for the conquest of state power. Their ideological document, the Millau Programme, would become a mainstay of Socialist literature for decades to come. One of the most important decisions they made was the construction of a twofold strategy of survival and expansion. They recognized that their illegal status as a party and the repression from the current Republican government made organizing a mass party nearly impossible. As a result, while they committed to a short-term strategy of caution and cadre oriented activities, upon legalization they would commit themselves to a mass-party model. Two years later, they got their wish and the PSD was legalized in 1880.

Following their legalization, PSD exploded in popularity. In their first ever election they gained substantial minority representation in the General Court. More importantly, however, they gained significant influence in the burgeoning trade union movement. The two groups coalesced into a unified labor-political front, and in 1881 the PSD instigated the first national organization of labor in Callisean history: the General Callisean Trade Union Federation (Federacion Sindicale General de Callise - FSGC). It was this same year that the Second League was organized on the initiative of Daniel Cellier. This new organization would be an association of unions and parties committed to Social Democracy, and the ideology they espoused, influenced primarily by Cellier's interpretation of Picard and Dumont, would be known as Orthodox Picardism.

1890-1911: The Growth of the PSD and the Malorian-Cogorian War
The period from 1890 to 1910 marked a period of moderation in the policy of the Social Democratic Party. While not rejecting their support for a transition away from Socialism, the party became far less inflammatory in it's rhetoric and oriented itself towards parliamentary reformism. At this time, two factions appeared to emerge within the party. The first, the Millauistes, were mostly composed of the Orthodox Picardists organized around Daniel Cellier and the Millau Programme. Within this group there were divisions between the insurrectionists and the gradualists. Whereas the insurrectionists believed in agitating for revolutionary change immediately, the gradualists (led by Cellier) argued that the conditions for revolution did not yet exist and, for the time being, the party should seek to maintain and develop train union ties and parliamentary representation. Despite these divisions, these two groups found general agreement in the Millau Programme and in Orthodox Picardism. In opposition to these groups were the Reformistes. Composed primarily of the elected members and the mid-level managers of the party and the trade unions, the Reformistes rejected revolution entirely and believed that only the parliament could be used to instigate social change. While claiming to be Picardists, the Reformistes were often dismissed as Picardist-In-Name-Only by Cellier.

Over time, the Reformistes gradually began to grow in influence in the party. While never constituting the majority of the party, they successfully exploited divisions between the Orthodox Picardists and won some concessions that pushed that party further to the Right. It was the influence of this group that lessened the party's commitment to the social revolution and led to more collaboration between the PSD and the bourgeois parties. In large part due to this moderation, the PSD's representation in parliament skyrocketed (with the PSD base expanding solely from organized labor to members of the petty bourgeoisie and republican bureaucracy).

During the 1910 elections, the Social Democratic Party won enough seats to form a coalition with the Liberal Party (as a junior partner). This possibility split the party in half, with Cellier and the Millauistes generally opposing the decisions. However, the Reformistes managed to peel off enough of the Orthodox Picardists to secure a majority at the party convention and enter a coalition. At first, the Orthodox Picardists accepted the decision of the majority of the party. This changed in 1911, when the party voted in favor of offering support to the Malorians in their war against the Cogorians. This would lead to the expulsion of the insurrectionists and a large portion of the gradualists. Controversially, Daniel Cellier continued to support the party line, though he would come to oppose it later on.

1911-1924: Road to the Workers Republic
The Social Democratic Party's decision to support the repression of the Malorian Socialists would ultimately doom the PSD as a united party. In 1911, Jean-Charles Duval and the Left Social Democrats would officially split and form the Socialist Labor Party (Partit Trabalh Socialiste - PTS). Arguing for Socialist Internationalism, and that the conditions are sufficiently developed for a revolution (given an adequate crisis), they would constitute the insurrectionist and a majority of the Orthodox Picardist faction of the party (with Daniel Cellier remaining within the PSD). While not succeeding in splitting off a substantial portion of the General Court delegation, the party did succeed in winning over a large portion of rank and file workers. This would cause controversy within the labor affiliates of the PSD.

Ever since it's inception, the FSGC was full of a variety of trade unions. Because of the failure of company and messianist unions to take off, the Social Democratic trade unions became the only existing home for organized labor in early Callise. As a result, the federation was full of contradictory philosophies for organizing. The primary division was between the craft and industrial unions. While these two currents initially coexisted, their divisions became heightened during the 1911 split between the Social Democratic Party and the Socialist Labor Party. During the 1913 convention of the FSGC, the organization voted on whether or not to affiliate with the Social Democratic Party or the Socialist Labor Party. While the vast majority of the rank and file voted to affiliate with the Socialist Labor Party, due to a quirk which accorded one vote to each union local (regardless of size) the FSGC voted to affiliate with the PSD. This would not last, however, and the Federation dissolved before the end of the convention. The industrial unions split off to form the Congrès dels Sindicats Industriels - CSI (which affiliated with the Socialist Labor Party) whereas the craft unions split off to form the Congrès Nacional dels Sindicats- CNS (which affiliated with the Social Democratic Party).

From 1913 to 1917, the PTS was mostly dedicated to labor organizing. While successfully winning some minority representation in the General Court, the PSD would remain the primary political representative of labor. This period of organizing would not be uneventful, however. During this four year period, militant minority organizing within the CNS succeeded in peeling off substantial unions into the fold of the CSI. By 1916, the CSI was not only indisputably the largest union in Callise by membership, it also had the greatest presence of locals nationwide. The PTS would turn this into political gains with the return of Jean-Charles Duval, a journalist and early leader of the Left Social Democrats, from his time in Cogoria. Having witnessed the Cogorian Revolution, he sought to apply the lessons he learned to Callise. In Labor and Revolution, he outlined the role the PTS needed to play in the transition from Capitalism to Socialism. Inspired by this theory, the PTS then began exercising it's significant control over organized labor and launched a massive electoral campaign aimed at taking over the PSD's presence in the General Court. Heading into the 1920 elections, it looked like the PTS would win a plurality and the mandate to govern. This led to growing concern from the bourgeois parties, who formed a Government of National Unity in an attempt to keep the PTS out of power. Controversially, this also included the PSD, with the decision by the Reformists to join the government leading to the Orthodox Picardist faction aligned with Daniel Cellier to split. This new group would be known as the Free Social Democratic Party (Partit Social Démocrate Libèr - PSDL), and refused to join the government of national unity, taking a position of neutrality on revolution.

On the eve of the 1920 elections, a violent wildcat strike led to the government suspending elections. The road to revolution now seemed almost inevitable, and Social Democrats were forced to pick sides. While the old PSD, by now stripped of it's most influential figures and organizational support, declared it's allegiance to be with the Government of National Unity (and later the Provisional Militia), the PSDL tentatively supported the fledgling Worker's Republic, alongside the AGTV in Villende. This support would continue throughout the Civil War, and into the founding of the Worker's Republic in 1924.

1924-1945: In Opposition within the Workers Republic
From 1924 to 1945, the PSDL served as the main opposition, alongside the AGTV, within the Workers Republic of Callise. While both the PSDL and the AGTV supported the Workers Republic, they each had their own critiques of the existing system. The PSDL saw the push for the liquidation of the landed farmers as fundamentally misguided, and instead wished to implement what they called the "Green Fields" program, a system of controlled competition between the peasantry that was aimed at further developing capitalism in rural Callise. The end goal was to achieve a process of gradual collectivization. This, in addition to a criticism of the sometimes dictatorial methods on the PTS (such as banning the progressive non-revolutionary parties, gerrymandering of council districts, etc.) as well as the directorial nature of economic planning in some industries formed the backbone of the PSDL program.

During this time period, the CNS, who by now had adopted the PSDL as their main political affiliate, was compelled to cooperate with the coalescence of labor into a single organization in Callise. While the CNS and CSI did remain separate in Callise, they would be joined in the Chamber of Labor, an elected body composed of all labor unions in Callise. While this organization did have a considerable degree of democratic decision making, the sheer mass of the CSI combined with directives from the PTS rendered the Callisean Chamber of Labor a body dominated primarily by the CSI and PTS.

Despite their attempts to build support in the industrial regions of Callise, the PSDL failed to build an industrial base outside of Croix. This rendered PSDL the party of the rural proletariat, and kept them in the minority in the industrial coast. Despite their failure to influence policy in the Republic, they continued to support the government throughout the Second Civil War. The PSDL would end up being banned by the Consulate of Gerard LeBlanc.

1945-1965: The Social Democratic Underground
Because of the role the PSD and PSDL played in the rise of the Workers Republic, both organizations were made illegal under the National Republic along with any other Progressive or Workers party. Instead, the National Republic allowed only the Liberal, Nationalist, Conservative, and Farmers parties. This forced the organizers within these groups underground. While some might assume that this would lead to reconciliation between the PSDL and the PSD, this was not always the case. Many former PSDL activists would go on to join Le Gauche, linking arms with former members of the PTS. The PSD would reconstitute as the Society of Friends of Democracy, an organization that was dedicated to clandestine organization of workers and agitators for a free republic and social democracy. This group would maintain it's commitment to a gradual road to socialism, but saw its most immediate task as the return to democracy and a democratic republic.

From 1945 to 1964, their agitation consisted mostly of promoting non-violent protests and student demonstrations, but they gradually expanded into the realm of labor organizing as it became clear that labor was uniquely disposed to opposing LeBlanc. Under the National Republic, both the CNS and the CSI were banned and all workers forced to affiliation with the National Corporation of Labor (Corporacion Nacional de Trabalh - CNT), a state-run yellow union whose primary goal was keeping workers pacified and managing relations between the boss and labor so as to promote free market capitalism and maximizing efficiency. While oriented against labor generally, internal structures within the Corporation did allow for some level of dissent and worker control. This led to the Society of Friends of Democracy to orient themselves into entryism within the Corporation, and seek to build some level of independence for workers and power for Social Democrats.

This labor strategy did not succeed in winning a progressive labor corporation, but it did build a substantial opposition movement within some unions. This gave them significant influence in the burgeoning movement for a Civic Republic, allowing them to move labor into action alongside Le Gauche's militant dual union organizations. The PSD would be allowed to run for office upon the fall of the National Republic.

(WIP)

The official logo for The Grand Contest of the Talvezian Song Contest. Running since the 1940s, the GPKT (say that three times fast) has been ongoing ever since. Pandemics, wars, violence - nothing has served to stop the contest, which has produced some of Talvezout's biggest and brightest musical stars. The contest has also played host to the official song selection for Talvezout's national final for the Worldvision Song Contest.

A summary of Talvezout:

The Most Serene Union of Islands of Talvezout is a nation located off the coast of Northwest Meterra. A federal semi-presidential confederation, Talvezout consists of (XX) republics collated together into a state led by a common leader, currency and legislature.

Talvezout is Shaddaist majority state, with the Shaddaist population consisting of two primary groups - the first group consisting of Shaddaist diaspora from Antiquity and the second consisting of Shaddaist refugees from Meterra circa 100 CE. Talvezian culture has been significantly influenced by Shaddaism ever since - while Talvezout has no official religion, Shaddaism is the largest religion within the island nation, with 87% of the population identifying as Shaddaist.

The Talvezian economy is primarily based of socialist principles first established in the 1930s following the unification of the modern Talvezian confederation. Originally a full socialist state, in response to economic and political crisises in the 1980s the Talvezian confederation gradually transitioned from a planned economy to market socialism, best described as “socialism, Talvezian style”. Thanks to vast natural resources alongside lucrative book publishing, information technology, electronics, food, and consumer goods, Talvezout has been able to keep itself afloat in recent years, with the Talvezian economy finally reaching the former heights it had achieved in the 1970s in the 2010s.

The Talvezian system of market socialism is enshrined within the national constitution, per the 1992 revision following the 1991 referendum on the Talvezian Confederation. Politically, Talvezout has a strong history of left-wing and populist politics. The current party in power, Liga de Talvezians Unidas, commands an outright majority in the National Assembly and Senate following the 2020 elections.

Despite being united around a shared program, there is a vast amount of internal dissent within the ranks of the Social Democratic Party of Callise. These divisions exist on many grounds, some are policy based, some are region specific, and yet more center on identity cleavages within the party. However, the largest source of dissent at the national level is along the lines of organizing politics and organizing strategy. While there are many national caucuses, the three major national caucuses are as follows:

Guiding Star
The foremost caucus within the PSD, and the former incumbents of the party presidency, Guiding Star is the establishment caucus within the PSD. Founded in 1985 as a vehicle to elect Bernard Chauveau as the Director of State, Guiding Star has historically represented the right wing of the party. It was Guiding Star which was most adamant that the PSD was not a Socialist party, and which most vigorously defended removing the commitment to ending capitalism from the party program. While very entrenched in the party bureaucracy, and enjoying support among many of the party's non working class members, they are the section of the party most separated from the rank and file within the CTC. Guiding Star governed the party from 1985 to 2000 unimpeded. They experienced an interruption in rule from 2000-2015, with Dolores Barrault taking the reigns of the party, but returned to prominence once more when Adam Lagarde was elected leader after the 2015 election. However, they lost their position of prominence yet again in 2020, with the election of Cedric Battier as party leader.

New Voices
The current leading caucus within the PSD, the New Voices Caucus is the group within the party that represents the political faction which elected Dolores Barrault in 2000. While not Socialists in the traditional sense, they advocated a return to some of the political projects of the original PSD. This manifested in an argument for expanding the welfare state, strengthening protections for labor, and promoting social wellbeing. They were also committed to a Social Movement politics that sought to transform the PSD from an advocacy party towards one that prioritized mass mobilizations. However, they also opposed the commitment to Socialism when it was brought up once again as a provision to be reinstated in 2005. While losing leadership in 2015 to Guiding Star, it once again took power in 2020 with Cedric Battier. Composed primarily of full-time labor organizers and leaders, they represent the organization's center.

Labor-Progressive
The furthest left caucus, the Labor-Progressives see themselves as the continuation of the original spirit of the PSD. While not all Socialists, the party advocates for a militantly progressive politics which often puts them in alignment with the PTC. They also are united by an organizing politics which they call the "Organizing from Below" strategy. It consists in directly involving the rank and file of a movement in the struggles by delegating them work. The belief is this will lead to the emergence of leadership within these individuals and strengthen them overall. Founded in 1993 as the group known as "Social Democracy from Below," the Labor-Progressive Caucus has not taken a stance on the party's commitment to Socialism, but has extensively criticized the party's silencing of internal debate on the matter. While not an outright majority, they are a plurality among the rank and file of the CTC and wield a significant amount of influence within the party.

Something for the rocket nerds out there:

When most casual space enthusiasts think of Irnaz, a word roughly meaning “progress” in Sastennic, they think of the modern series of methane-burning rockets at the forefront of Sasten’s reusable launch system development, and indeed the rockets flying today are relatively recent. The Irnaz program itself however is a long running research and design effort who’s beginning actually predates many of the launch systems it is planned to replace.

The program was first planned in 1974 as a program to study several future space launch technologies, notably alternative propellants, structural materials, and spacecraft reusability, though by 1977 this had been scaled back to propellant research, with the other areas of research split into other programs. At the time Sastennic rocketry used a variety of fuels including kerosene RP-1 (designated RR-3 at RoSARA), cryogenic liquid hydrogen, alcohol, hydrazine, and solid-fuels, all with significant downsides that had to be balanced. Through Irnaz, RoSARA hoped to find a fuel system that improved on the fuels they currently had.

They were unfortunately not very successful; while the program was able to identify various hydrocarbons and other fuel cycles that could potentially offer performance and handling benefits over current fuels, they were all very complex and difficult to manufacture, with a resulting exorbitant cost that made them largely impractical. One fuel – Syntin – did make it out of the laboratory, but its high cost means it is still used only sporadically in upper stages that absolutely demand the performance.

Lacking in success and having largely concluded that the fuels they had were optimal, most of the program was wound down by 1986 save for a small team working on light hydrocarbons such has propane and methane as these fuels still had some promise. Facing continual budget cuts through the changing regimes of the 80’s and 90’s however, the team was unable to make much progress, at one time reduced to just three working staff members, although somehow still retaining just enough political favour to avoid being cancelled outright.

Their fortunes changed with Renadt’s election as King and the ensuing renewed focus on research investment, with the 1998 budget once again giving the Irnaz team a full staff and resources. In early 2001 they fired their first real engine prototype since 1983, a cryogenic methane-oxygen engine that would go on to be the technical basis of the program’s future rockets. After further testing and development, in 2004 the Irnaz program was selected to form the basis of one of Sasten’s new rocket launch systems, with the methane-oxygen fuel cycle promising excellent performance and greatly improved ease of handling and refinement compared to the liquid hydrogen already in service. It was also decided that the full program would retain the engine development team’s name and lineage as an upgrade to the long-running project. Shortly afterwards RoSARA decided to attach some of its reusability research to the program as well to concentrate advanced technologies here, leaving the competing Azmit series to use much more conservative but relatively proven technologies to ensure they would have at least one platform that could work reliably.

The program’s first rocket, Irnaz-1/1, first flew in May of 2007, making it to orbit almost without issue, with successive flights in the coming months pointing out various issues that were quickly fixed. The program’s reusability project was not so successful though. Most of the proposed ideas had to be discarded as impractical; wings to glide back to Astrasodt would be aerodynamically unstable, and parachutes may work but would either crumple the booster into terrain or dump it into the sea, both invalidating the easy reuse premise. After twice being denied their request to convert Irnaz into a spaceplane design, the team was stuck for a considerable time even as the rockets themselves performed admirably. Eventually, and allegedly at the urging of King Renadt himself, they settled on landing the boosters vertically with their main engines as lunar landers typically did. Their efforts to make this work are still ongoing; while Irnaz boosters of all classes have had successes returning to Astrasodt since 2015, there have still been failures, a booster has never successfully landed on any of the agency’s sea-based landing pads, and the reusability concept greatly reduces its payload capacity to orbit, meaning landing attempts can be sporadic when the agency or its commercial customers simply need something in orbit, though the rocket itself is highly reliable.

Today Irnaz exists as a sizeable rocket family, incorporating numerous variants in many payload classes. The primary differentiator is the number of Irnazit engines in the first stage, with Irnaz-1, -2, -4, and -7 having one, two, four and seven engines respectively. The first stages can also be tied together, with a theoretical Irnaz-7+4*7 tying five Irnaz-7 stages together to create the most powerful rocket in RoSARA’s inventory, although such a configuration has never flown. Irnaz-7 was rated for human spaceflight in 2017, carrying Airađ crew and cargo capsules and eventually the Adzei spaceplane to RoSARA’s Enkei space station; no crew-carrying mission has attempted a return as of yet, although an attempt at this is tentatively scheduled for 2023.

The modern 24 hour ration of the Andrennian Royal Army is known as the "24stEBR" (24 stinne Eynsketh Bekäista Rannsearn), or when translated to Mercanti, the 24 hour Individual Combat Ration. It is a ration that has seen continuous updates since it's introduction to assure it meets modern nutritional and other conditional requirements of the Royal Army. Though originally issues in a light grey plastic packaging, this was switched to forest green in 1998, and again to a color the Army calls "Adriennic Sage Green" in 2006. The packaging is waterproof and soldiers are usually encouraged to keep the packaging as it could be useful in a survival situation.

The 24stEBR entered service in 1990, after a long period of development piggybacking off of earlier ration designs. One such design was it's direct predecessor, the 24STINSEBR/24HEICR ration. The mouthy acronym, when expanded, is 24 Stinne Noskaasiituatsijan Eynsketh Bekäista Rannsearn-- That is, 24 Hour Emergency Individual Combat Ration. The 24STINSEBR itself was only briefly in service (relative to the 24stEBR) from 1977 to 1990, having itself replaced the rather spartan Vasarannsearn, Artyp G (Field Ration, Type G), otherwise known as the Vasa-G rations Andrenne had started using in 1960.

The 24STINSEBR was similar in composition to early 24stEBR rations, except it was far heavier because it utilized mostly canned foods. Though seemingly adequate at it's introduction, the weight of the ration proved detrimental, and it was not nutritious enough for the increasingly mobile infantry of the Royal Army; not to mention cans were rather inconvenient. This led to the development of the BRET ration. These prototype rations (BRET stands for Bekäista Rannsearnn, Eynsketh, Testening/Combat Ration, Individual, Testing) were briefly issued in small amounts between 1986 and 1989 to test them. BRET rations originally used freeze-dried foods, but these were found to be unsatisfactory for a number of reasons and were discarded in favor of the newly developed retort pouches that had appeared in other, foreign rations around these times. In 1990, as the 24stEBR and normal EBR entered service, Andrennian soldiers no longer received standard issue folding metal ration stoves and gas tablets. Two years later, they began to issue the new rations with flameless ration heaters, another new technology adopted from foreign rations.

The 24 hour variety is not the only form this ration takes. There are also simply individual EBRs, not part of a 24 hour pack. There's also the Arctic Weather, High Altitude, and Tropical Weather variants, the lattermost of which is quite rare as Andrenne rarely deploys to an area requiring it. Lastly there's the Long Patrol Ration, which is basically a lighter 24stEBR that has much more calorie-rich food meant to be eaten in well spaced intervals, and more electrolytes and sugar to keep soldiers on patrol going.

Below is the contents of your standard 24stEBR

Andrennian 24stEBR/24hICR Contents

- x3 Eynsketh Bekäista Rannsearn/Individual Combat Ration, individually packaged
- x1 main dish
- x1 side dish
- Potentially other small snacks or small food items within individual EBR depending on specific menu.
- x2 instant beverage
- Instant coffee or tea (breakfast and lunch respectively
- Kompot, varying fruit flavors, with added electrolytes
- x1 Crispbread, 12 pieces
- x1 Crispbread, 12 pieces
- x1 Sandwich “caviar”* spread, smoked
- x1 Goat cheese spread
- x1 Preserves, varying fruit flavors
- x1 Peanut butter spread
- x2 Gum tabs, apple flavored

SNACK PACK (meant for in between meals, or when otherwise necessary to eat without time for whole meal prep)

- x2 Sweetened condensed milk, individually packaged (tube)
- x3 Beef jerky stick, peppered, individually packaged
- x1 smoked salmon filets, canned
- x1 Pâte w/cheese, canned
- x1 Vanilla pound cake
- x1 Crispbread, 12 pieces

ACCESSORY PACK

- x1 Matchbox tube, waterproof and windproof matches
- x4 Moist towelette, antibacterial
- x4 Cloth napkin
- x10 Water disinfection tablets
- x3 Heavy duty spork
- x1 Field Ration Eating Device
- x1 Can Handle Device
- x3 Firestarters
- x1 Travel toothbrush
- x1 Scouring pad
- x1 Trash bag, folded
- x1 24stEBR Information Sheet, folded
- x1 Flameless ration heater
- x4 Heating elements

*This is not what one would consider fancy caviar. It is a paste made from cod roe and other ingredients and is a very common and quite cheap part of the Andrennian diet, often spread on bread and sandwiches.