Difference between revisions of "Nabarro Abarca"

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Nabarro Abarca is a Commonwealth of Peoples member state which originally consisted of the holdings of Habsburg Spain in Vasconia. However, because of the great distances involved, it was difficult for the Habsburgs to directly rule over the territory. In order to solve this difficulty as well as reduce the perception on the part of many Nabarrans that they were ruled by foreigners, the Holy Roman Emperor managed to install his cousin, the Archduke Agustín as Emperor of Nabarro Abarca over the objections of the King of Spain. Although, as an emperor, the Emperor of Nabarro Abarca was the protocolary superior of some Habsburg kings and princes, he was never intended to be more than a sort of Vasconian junior partner of the Holy Roman Emperor and later the Austrian emperor. Ironically, however, the Nabarran dynasty outlived all the European Habsburg dynasties. As the only independent power in Vasconia, Nabarro Abarca was able to use anti-colonial propoganda to incite most of the other European colonies on the continent to rebel and annex themselves to the empire. However, not all of these new territories remained within the empire. The Nabarran provinces which went on to become the United States of Laneria rebelled again against their new sovereign in the 18th century, forming an independent republic which bisected Nabarran territory.

Nabarro Abarca has incorporated many advanced Vasconian Indian peoples into its population and contains a great many ancient ruins of the more developed, city building peoples. There remains a strong indiginous element in the culture of Hispanic Nabarro Abarca although this is not so strong in Anglophone, Francophone and Danish provinces. Politics are dominated by the Nabarran Socialist Party and the Imperial Action Party. The Imperial Action Party has been in government continuously since 1920.

Currently, Nabarro Abarca is struggling with the challenges of Commonwealth membership, unevent development, racial and cultural problems, large-scale illegal emmigration to Laneria and economic inequality. The Imperial Action Party continues to advocate a conservative plan of action to meet this difficulties through stimulating the economy with tax cuts and business incentives. Carlos Arango formed the current government in 2003 on just such a conservative plan (although it obviously did not account for Commonwealth membership, which remained in the future).

Nabarro Abarca is one of the most populous and influential members of the Commonwealth. Along with Laneria and the Resurgent Dream, it is one of the three members whose consent is required for a vote on war and peace to carry.

History

Pre-European history

For over three thousand years what is now Maztlana, the section of Nabarro Abarca located south of Laneria and generally considered the core of the empire, was the site of a series of advanced Vasconian Indian cultures. The largest, most advanced and most recent of these was the Maztlan Empire which ruled most of what is now Maztlana and parts of what is now Laneria at the time of first contact with Europeans. The native peoples of Donnacona and Gade were much less centralized and developed. Some of the natives of Donnaccona are close relatives of Vasconian Indian groups in Laneria whereas other Donnaconan natives and nearly all the aboriginal peoples of Gade are Inuit.

European colonization

In 1514, the Maztlan Empire was invaded by Spanish conquistadors seeking to discover gold, convert the natives to Christianity and expand the power of the King of Spain and the House of Habsburg. Only four years later, in 1518, the Spanish conquered the Maztlan capital of Tehuantepec and put the inhabitants, including the imperial family, to the sword. For better or for worse, Maztlana was now a Habsburg possession.

Independence, expansion and war

On 31 December 1553, the Holy Roman Emperor created the Archduke Agustín Emperor of Nabarro Abarca and sent him to Madero Cabello to establish a center of government. The Archduke wasted no time in establishing a semi-constitutional, independent government which included both Europeans and natives at every level. It was the first government including European settlers in continental Vasconia which was not directly subordinate to a European sovereign. Correspondingly, Nabarro Abarca became a symbol of Vasconian anti-colonialism.

In 1601, the Nabarran Government began funding anti-colonial movements in what is now Laneria and was then ruled by the English and the Knootians. The English were effectively expelled from all settlements up to the southern border of New Holland in 1602. In 1624, the Nabarrans and their anti-colonial allies made a final push into New Holland, capturing New Amsterdam. The English and French were expelled from their territory north of New Holland in 1629 and the Danish were expelled from Gade in 1712.

In 1775, the various Nabarran provinces which were to become the first Lanerian states declared their independence. They claimed that Nabarro Abarca had become an imperialist power just like the European powers and that only a federal republic could bring them meaningful self-government. Thus began the Lanerian Revolutionary War in which Nabarro Abarca lost a great deal of land and also found its remaining territory bissected by the newly formed foreign state of Laneria. The Nabarrans were to lose territory to the Lanerians again in the War of 1834.

In the First World War, Nabarro Abarca was one of the Allied Powers while Laneria was a Central Power. In Vasconia, the war was largely a stalemate with Nabarrans victorious on the southern front and Lanerians victorious on the northern front. The two nations, seperated by a vast ocean from the European conflict, arrived at a separate and relatively equitable peace, thanks in large part to the leadership and liberal principles of Lanerian President Woodrow Fenn. By the time of the Second World War, Nabarro Abarca and Laneria were friends and both fought on the side of the Allies.

Modern Nabarro Abarca

In 1920, the Imperial Action Party was elected with a mandate to grant universal sufferage, carry out land reform, centralize the business of the nation, integrate native populations and industrialize the economy. The first Imperial Action Party Government, led by Paco Cruz, was a great success and it paved the way for economic growth and social development in Nabarro Abarca for the next twenty years. However, by 1941, the Imperial Action Party was generally identified as a conservative party. It was widely accused of corruption and totalitarian tendencies. In 1942, the Nabarran Socialist Party was founded as a left-wing alternative. The NSP has so far been unable to win even a single national election. In fact, their presence as a left opposition has forced the IAP to adopt a more conservative self-image because of their need to campaign from the right. Although Nabarro Abarca has a two-party system, the IAP has dominated politics so completely that many believe that there is no viable political alternative.

In 2006, Nabarro Abarca became a member of the Commonwealth of Peoples. This involves a great degree of political, economic and even cultural unity with the other member states, including a common foreign policy. Such a major event will undoubtedly have significant effects upon Nabarro Abarca although it is not yet clear exactly what they will be.

Geography

Nabarro Abarca is divided into three noncontiguous regions. Maztlana is the southernmost region, bordered on the north by Laneria, on the east by the Gulf of Vasconia, on the south by Danaan Ambara and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Donnacona takes up most of northern Vasconia, bordered on the south by the contiguous Lanerian states, on the northwest by the Lanerian State of Kenai, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the west by the Pacific. Gade is a very large, artic to subartic island off the northwestern coast of Donnacona, bordered by the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.

Climate

Maztlana is divided by the Tropic of Cancer. In the northern part of the region, temperatures tend to be cooler during the winter months. In the southern part, temperatures remain more or less constant year round. Low-lying areas of the region tend to be hot and humid for much of the year.

In Donnacona, temperatures tend to be much cooler. A large part of the region experiences very harsh winters and the northernmost areas are within the Artic Circle. Gade is even colder, with the great bulk of the island lying under the Gade Ice Sheet. The country varies from Artic to Sub-Artic and human habitation is limited almost entirely to the more temperature coastal areas.

Government and politics

Nabarro Abarca is a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Its government is organized according to the Constitution Act of 1927. The legislature is the Constituent Cortes. The leader of the majority party or coalition in the Cortes is given a mandate to form a government and is thus inivted to become the Prime Minister by the Emperor. The Prime Minister must then form a government capable of enjoying the confidence of the Cortes. The Government forms the political executive of Nabarro Abarca and its members are collectively responsible for decision making. Each minister is also responsible for his particular department.

The Constituent Cortes is effectively sovereign although all their acts must receive the official assent of the Emperor. The power of the Cortes is, however, limited somewhat by the requirements of membership in the Commonwealth of Peoples. The Human Rights Act of 1927 also claimed that it did not grant rights to individual Nabarrans but merely recognized rights already inherent in the human person which no legislature had the right to usurp. However, since the Cortes recognized these rights by a legislative act, it is unclear legally speaking how the specific terms of that act can be immune from repeal by some future sitting of the Cortes.

The principle parties in Nabarro Abarca are the Imperial Action Party and the Nabarran Socialist Party. These parties are fairly typical parties of the constitutional right and left respectively. The Imperial Action Party focuses on conservative economic policy while sometimes using social conservatism to mobilize rural and religious voters. The Nabarran Socialist Party focuses even more on economic policy, generally deriding social conservatism as a covert attempt to divide workers along religious, racial and sexual lines.

Administrative divisions

Nabarro Abarca is divided into 45 provinces and one imperial city. 31 provinces are located in the region of Maztlana, 13 in Donnacona and the entirety of Gade constitutes a single province. Provincial governments and legislators are elected. However, because Nabarro Abarca is a unitary state, they are created by the authority of the imperial government and are completely subject to the legislative power of the Constituent Cortes.

The imperial city, Madero Cabello, which serves as the nation's capital, enjoys less self-government than the provinces. The roles normally filled by a provincial legislature and a municipal council are directly filled by the Constituent Cortes. However, the people of Madero Cabello do elect a mayor who heads the city's executive and represented in the Cortes according to the same rules as residents of the provinces.

The following is a list of major cities in Nabarro Abarca in order of population: