Difference between revisions of "Nosterra"

Revision as of 18:34, 2 May 2005

Nosterra

Flag of Nosterra
Motto: Acese, Patria!
[1]
Region	Europe
Capital	Salieri
Official Language(s)	Italian
Leader	Il Scudo
Population	ca. 225 million
Currency	Nosterran florin
NS Sunset XML

The Social Republic of Nosterra (Repubblica Sociale Nosterrana) is a Fascist state in the NationStates region of Europe.

Geography

Nosterra lies on the southern shores of the Great Sea, below the Monkecian archipelago. It is currently bounded to the south and west by the Shogunate of Oshima and Izu, to the south by Romania, and to the east by the Protectorate of Palestine.

The high mountains of the Boniface Range line much of Nosterra's southern frontier, while the lower Pius Mountains dominate the northwestern part of the country. The longest river in Nosterra is the Nero, which rises from the forests of Verdi province and flows through many major cities and the capital of Salieri before emptying into the Great Sea. Other geographic features of note are Lake Streppani, largest body of water in the country and the site of the Nosterran space program, and the fertile wine region of the Valley dell'Impero.

The climate of Nosterra is generally Mediterranean, with warm summers and mild winters. The southern provinces of Belfagor and Verdi have a more temperate climate.

Government

The Nosterran Social Republic is a highly-developed Fascist state, having been under Fascist rule for over five decades. The Nosterran constitution, unofficially known as the "Charter of Caldara", is based upon the Fiume Constitution (the Charter of Carnaro), and Mussolini's Italian Fascist Constitution. All citizens are required to join one of ten Corporations, according to the Constitution, and membership in Fascist youth, sport and hobby associations is also highly recommended.

Ruling Party: Nosterran Social League (Lega Sociale Nosterrana); only legal political organization

Head of State: President; formally known as Il Scudo; informally known as Il Prosciutto

Executive Branch: Seven Rectors (Ministers), governing Defense, Education, Justice, Labor, Public Economy, Foreign Affairs and the Treasury

Legislative Branch: Bicameral Legislature, made up of the

• Council of Corporations: 10 Councillors, selected by the 10 Corporations of Nosterra
• Council of Guardians: 50 Guardians of the State, selected by national elections for six-year terms

Judicial Branch: Court of Reason (judges appointed by Head of State), with subordinate courts overseeing communal, labor, civil and criminal cases

Provinces: Seven - Arlecchino, Belfagor, Nabucco, Sigune, Sofonisba, Tarare (capital province), Trespolo

Corporations: Each citizen of Nosterra is required by law to belong to one of the following parastatal corporations:

• Workers (industrial and agricultural)
• Seafarers
• Employers
• Technicians
• Administrators (only in the private sphere)
• Educators (includes students)
• Lawyers (includes judges)
• Doctors
• Civil Servants (includes all government employees)
• Fascist Heroes (reserved for the favorite sons of Nosterra, membership in the Corporation of Fascist Heroes is granted as a reward for the best and brightest)

Politics

The Social League is the ruling party of Nosterra, and the only legal political organization. Much as in other one-party states, the Social League forms a parallel structure to the state, with the party possessing great political, economic and even military resources.

Il Scudo, the head of state, is also leader of the Social League. Subordinate to Il Scudo are seven Capi, the party bosses for each province. Below each Capo are an assortment of provincial, regional and local Social League functionaries. Although Il Scudo is nominally the absolute head of the party, each Capo enjoys a high degree of autonomy in running his own affairs.

Beyond running the country, the Social League is heavily involved in the social aspects of Nosterra. All young men are encouraged to join the party's youth wing, the Giovanti Fascisti ("Young Fascists", ages 12-15) and the Rinoceronti ("Rhinos", ages 16-18). Similar organizations exist for young women. The Social League also operates an extensive Dopolavoro program, which provides subsidized recreational opportunities for Nosterran citizens. These range from movie houses and theaters, to outdoor activities and even holiday cruises. The active involvement of the party in the social lives of the people is a major source of legitimacy for the Social League and hence the Nosterran government.

The Social League boasts its own militia, the Black Brigades. Black Brigade paramilitary forces often operate alongside Nosterran military and police forces, but the Social League has also deployed them independent of official government moves. Many Nosterran men enroll in the Black Brigades either before or after their time of mandatory military service.

Nosterra's ruling party also holds great diplomatic clout outside the Social Republic. The Salo Institute, a parastatal organization devoted to the spread of Fascism, is supported by the Social League. The party has also been instrumental in establishing the Organization for a Nationalist Europe (ONE), an international body that brings together nationalist movements from across Europe.

Economy

The Nosterran economy is theoretically run along corporatist lines, although economic realities have demanded more trade liberalization in recent years. Each parastatal Corporation coordinates the activities of the various businesses in its sector, and mediates the relations between labor and management. While this system was designed to boost productivity and rein in the worst excesses of capitalism, the changing economic situation in Europe has demanded that the Corporations give more leeway to their component businesses. The new freedoms gained by Nosterran businesses in recent years have allowed them to better compete in the European market.

Many aspects of the corporatist system remain in place. Food, always a priority of the Fascist regime, is still highly subsidized and regulated by the government. Other important sectors of the economy are also given general production targets by their respective Corporation. Of course, the Corporations are still involved in the legislature, and can therefore help set economic policy.

The economy has also diversified in recent years, going beyond its traditional strengths in heavy industry and agriculture. Major corporations include Volonte, the premier automobile manufacturer of the Social Republic; aerospace firm Capelli SpA; Tetrarach Technologies; wine exporter Salubre; and DSS Conglomerated, owner of the Il Padrino international restaurant chain. Special note should be made of the parastatal companies, closely related to the Nosterran state, such as the weapons manufacturer Arsenale or the Opera Taranto shipping firm.

Nosterra's economic strength and corporatist policies have given its people a high overall standard of living, even though the economy is not as powerful as many more-capitalist states in Europe.

GDP Per Capita: $25,000

Major Trading Partners: Azores, Shogunate of Oshima and Izu, Medolai, Spanish Kingdom, Gunnlandia

Recent Events

The Social Republic has in recent years strived to assert itself on the international stage. In some cases, as in the breakup of Israel-Palestine, Nosterra has been able to improve its international clout and gain territory. Other events, such as the costly stalemate with Great Britannia during the Medolan War, were not so successful. Nosterra has continued to pursue an activist foreign policy, with the main goals of expanding territorial holdings, winning increased prestige, and combating communism.

Israel-Palestine

When the central government of Israel-Palestine collapsed, the Social Republic swiftly moved to support the Palestinian independence movement. Several Nosterran divisions moved across the frontier, to secure a swath of territory bounded by Jerusalem and the Shahlep Desert. The Social Republic also sponsored the foundation of several Palestinian nationalist movements, among them the Black Fez Group and the Palestine National Revolutionary Movement ("Fatawah" in Arabic). Negotiation with the Pan-Arabists in the western reaches of Shahlep led to that territory also coming under Nosterran influence. While the other governments that intervened in Israel-Palestine often experienced problems with the locals, expecially in the zones controlled by Einland and Medolai, the Nosterran zone of "Palestine" was relatively quiet.

Nosterran officials formed the Protectorate of Palestine soon after the consolidation of power, with its seat in the city of Gaza. The nominal President of the Protectorate government was Fatawah chief Mehmed al-Muhtadi, with Proconsul Saturnino Rossoni assuming actual power on behalf of Nosterra. The Protectorate formed an army and navy with Nosterran assistance. A peace agreement brokered by the European Union and the Interlaken Treaty Organization granted international recognition to the Protectorate of Palestine, and to the other successor states of former Israel-Palestine.

Palestine still enjoys a close relationship with Nosterra, leading some to regard it as an de facto colony of the Social Republic. The Nosterran government does still exercise a large amount of influence over the Protectorate, especially in the areas of foreign policy and defense. But the Nosterrans have also allowed for wider political diversity in Palestine than in the Social Republic itself, and Nosterran investment has improved the economy and standard of living in the previously-neglected Palestinian areas. Future challenges for Palestine will include the finalization of its borders, the coming constitutional convention and future full independence.

Showdown with Great Britannia

Not all areas of Israel-Palestine were so peaceful as Palestine, with the government of Einland refusing to recognize the territory under Medolai's influence in the north of former Israel-Palestine, the Protectorate of the Horn of Israel (PHI). When Medolai moved to annex the PHI as its new province of Judea, Einland and its ally Great Britannia mobilized their armies in response. The concurrent invasion of two Medolan territories followed, with Einland invading Judea from its holdings in Haifa, and Great Britannia and Cidonia striking at landlocked Rumeli.

The Social Republic slowly took action to defend its Right-Wing Bloc ally. Eventually, war was declared against Great Britannia, but not Einland. As Einland had come under security guarantees from both Sortain and the Nuttian Empire, the Nosterran government could not justify starting a risky two-front war. Nosterran ships operating in the north of Europe launched missile strikes on the Britannic colony of Singapore, but were soon beaten back by the Britannic Trafalgar fleet. Meanwhile, an entire Nosterran army group mobilized on the border with Romania, then under Britannic control. Two whole armadas, comprising the bulk of the Social Republic's navy, put out to sea. The nation prepared itself for total war.

Nosterran naval assets opened a new front in the war when they pounded Britannic Queen's Island, and enemy outpost in the Great Sea, with cruise missiles. Several hundred civilians died in the strikes, prompting a massive Britannic response. The Nosterran capital of Salieri became the target of missile bombardment, killing several thousand civilians and destroying many areas of the city. A Nosterran submarine off the coast of Great Britannia retaliated with a cruise missile strike on the Britannic capital of Londinium, levelling the Treasury and killing the Britannic Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Queen's Island remained the main front of the conflict in spite of the attacks on the respective capitals; Nosterran marines landed on the eastern shore of the island and threatened to overwhelm the local garrison, while savage naval battles led to the destruction of the Nosterran Venus Victrix Armada, the Britannic Queen's Island Fleet, and the Britannic Great Northern Fleet.

With such a vast amount of men and material lost in such a short period of time, it became apparent to both sides that a longer war would be devestating. Emergency negotiations led to a Non-Aggression Pact between Nosterra and Great Britannia, where the Britannics would repair the damage to Salieri and limit their Great Sea forces, and Nosterra would pledge to recognize Great Britannia's interests in the Great Sea. The fighting, at least for Nosterra, was over.

The war against Medolai continued. Rumeli was occupied by Britannic and Cidonian forces, before local opposition forced them out and restored links to Medolai. Judea suffered a worse fate: the Einish invasion led the Judean government to evacuate civilians from the province, leading the Nosterran press and government to accuse Einland of engineering "ethnic cleansing". The fact that Einland allowed settlers to move into homes and cities vacated by escaping Judeans would seem to confirm these allegations. Nosterra still refuses to recognize the Einish annexation of Judea.