Skinny87
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| Official Languages | English, French, German. | ||||
| Capital | Dowland City | ||||
| King | Alexander I | ||||
| Prime Minister | N/A | ||||
| Area - Land - Water |
900,630 km² 1,800 km² | ||||
| Population - Total (January 2006) - Density |
2.1 billion 280,90/km² | ||||
| Foundation | 1800, Succession of Yarmouth. | ||||
| Government Type | Constitutional Monarchy | ||||
| Nation Type | Kingdom | ||||
| National Animal | Lesser-Spotted Eagle | ||||
| GDP (2006) - Total - GDP/capita |
74 Trillion Dowlands D$D$74,252,755,212,543.61 | ||||
| Currency | 1 Dowland (D$) = NS$1.7415 | ||||
| Time Zone - in summer |
GMT +1 GMT +1 | ||||
| International Abbreviations - sport - government |
S87 Skinny87 | ||||
| International Power Ranking | 12.900 (T-135th) | ||||
| National Anthem | Bittersweet Symphony, The Verves | ||||
| Internet TLD | .Ski | ||||
| Calling Code | +95 | ||||
Contents
General Information
A Brief Overview of Skinny87
The Sovereign Nation of Skinny87 is a large and prosperous nation in Haven. It is now a Kingdom under the Constitutional Monarchical rulings of King Alexander I.
The nation is one of the larger nations within Haven, primarily due to the large tract of land that the Sovereign Nation took under its control after the demise of the nation of Neo-Soviet Russia and subsequent negotiations with the neighbouring nation of Hallad. Although the land from the former Neo-Soviet Russia is technically part of Skinny87, it is counted only in elections and other governmental duties, and is not part of the main nation; it is more akin to an extremely close colony than anything else. The climate of Skinny87 is generally mild, with bouts of weather and climate changes that are reminiscent of Britain to all visitors coming into the nation. The north of Skinny87 is generally the colder and less mild part of the country, with an average rainfall of nearly twice that than of the most extreme southern part of Skinny87. The south of the nation has far less rainfall, although it is vulnerable far more to the icy cold winds blowing in from the south of Haven.
The main non-military industry of Skinny87 is the white-collar Information Technology, responsible for many famous computer games, such as Pyramid Attacker and the trillion-copy selling, multi-award winning computer game Pegasus: Attack of the Cute Unicorns and its sequel Pegasus: Cute and Dangerous. However, the main and dominant industry in Skinny87 is the Defense Industry, led by Republican Incorporated Systems and State Defense Inc. The military, as the average visitor and tourist will attest to, is a fundamental part of the nation, partly due to the past history of Skinny87. The Defense Industries generate hundreds of Trillions of Dowlands every year, and the military receives the largest proportion of funding from the government, usually in the 30-40 percentile range.
The Economy of Skinny87
The economy of Skinny87 is a capitalist-based one, and is built around the Defense Industrial Complex and the military of the nation.
The People and Culture of Skinny87
The Mysterious Nation State: A History of Skinny87
Early History
The history of Skinny87 should be like the history of all other nation states on Terra. It should be full of dashing heroes, and skulking villains; of brave politicians, evil politicians as well, and their actions. It should be full of the military history of Skinny87, telling tales of the wars that Skinny87 was involved in during the past; of the riots and rebellions it faced and survived, of the Civil Wars it may have had; of the international conflicts the country was embroiled in during its rich and vibrant history. There should be volumes of books that tell of the nations cultural history, of its people and culture and traditions that stretch back as far as anyone can remember. In short, all that every other nation on the face of Terra has in their own books and memories.
Historians throughout Skinny87 are sure that the nation has such a long and interesting history; unfortunately, nobody knows what it is. In the late nineteen sixties, whilst Skinny87 was still a fledgling and developing nation, something dreadful occurred. The few people that remember the incident have vague memories of lights in the skies above every major city, every town, village and hamlet throughout the nation. The lights grew brighter and brighter until no-one could look at them without hurting their eyes. Within seconds these lights seemed to encompass the entire sky; it was at this point that the power went out all over the nation, sending the entire nation into darkness. Less than a minute later came a high-pitched whining noise, and then all the surviving witnesses fainted from an unknown cause.
When the people of Skinny87 awoke, they found themselves unharmed physically. Apart from those killed whilst driving, or working in dangerous areas, who numbered into the hundreds of thousands, the rest of the nations population had survived. Their surroundings, too,had survived intact. Initially all appeared the same; it was only when people tried to remember where they were that the real impact of the apparent attack. Every single persons long-term memory had been erased completely. Whilst their short and medium-term memories remained intact, allowing them to remember personal details and what their jobs were, where they were, or even what planet they were on had been wiped clean from their memories. The reaction to this mass erasure was, in hindsight, inevitable. Frightened and angered by their inability to remember, despite their best efforts, much of the population began rioting and looting, starting a period of destruction known by modern historians in Skinny87 as 'The Age of Darkness'.
Although exact dates are unknown, this 'Age of Darkness' appears to have lasted several months; conservative historians place it at three months, whilst more liberal academics state the period continued for as long as eight. Whatever the exact timescale, the destruction caused and the damage dealt to the nation was immense. Entire cities were destroyed, towns and villages reduced to rubble. Precious historical and cultural icons, which may well have shed some light on the history of the nation, were ironically destroyed by the population. The death toll moved into the millions, perhaps even tens of millions, and crime was widespread as the few remaining authority figures either joined the rioting or were overrun by the majority. Just when all seemed lost, and it seemed that the nation would self-destruct in an orgy of violence and destruction, an almost biblical figure came into being to save the nation and its population.
This figure, known only by their internet handle of Skinny87, first began appearing on the few internet chatrooms that existed during the Darkness. The user, who never once revealed their true identity, began spreading a message of peace and security and promised a return to the pre-erasure period of the nation, back to a time of security and knowledge. Although many had come before to preach the same message, this person seemed different. The users approach was far more knowledgable and charismatic than any other who had begun preaching, and the messages it spread seemed rational. The issue that gained Skinny87 such a widespread following was the knowledge they seemed to possess about the pre-erasure period; small fragments of information had apparently survived the erause somehow, and Skinny87 had acted as a guardian and collector, placing them onto a secure internet server and then allowing the world to access the records. Although many were at first sceptical, the knowledge contained within the servers seemed to match what little people knew - geography textbooks matched areas of the nation, and guidebooks were correlated with the ruins of several historical and cultural buildings.
Within a fairly short amount of time, this anonymous messiah had gained hundreds of thousands of followers and had begun spreading the message of peace and rebuilding throughout the entire nation. Slowly but surely, the pieces and shattered remnants of the nation were gathered together and put back together; cities were gradually rebuilt, the law enforcement and emergency services reformed, and the military built upo from scratch from more than willing volunteers. Within several years most of the damage had been repaired by the users followers, and following the rebuilding and emigration into the newly named capital city Dowland City, a formal government was created from those government officials that had survived the erasure and riots, and from democratically elected members. The last message from Skinny87, who throughout the rebuilding process had remained anonymous and frustrated any attempts to be found by grateful followers, was broadcast throughout the nation. In the message, Skinny87 stated that the work it had started was over, and gave one last request; that the people of the nation follow the orders of their democratically-elected leaders. Then, no more was ever heard from the mysterious stranger who had essentially rebuilt an entire nation. In honour of the person who had done so much for the nation, the nation voted unanimously to name their country after the user, becoming the newborn Republic of Skinny87.
Modern History
Beginnings
After the loss of Skinny87 as a leader, the nation soon began growing, both in population and curiosity. After nearly four decades of isolationism and further rebuilding, he military, an essential part of the rebuilding of the nation was expanded into five different sections and ordered to secure the borders of the nation. Within a week this had been concluded, and with it came the discovery that Skinny87 was not alone. Instead of the isolated nation that most had believed them to be, they were in fact the southern-most country on a gigantic continent, one of four in their region. Delighted at not being alone in the world, but still wary of outside influence, the government under President Woodrow Martin began to make peaceful diplomatic overtures to the nations around Skinny87 in Haven. Slowly the government grew in confidence and power, hosting several minor conferences before deciding to open the country up to foreign visitors. The death of President Martin prematurely in a car accident enroute to Embassy Row in Dowland City placed a temporary halt to these plans until a new President could be elected. Happy with the work done so far by Woodrow Martin, the nation elected his son, Xavier Martin, as the new President of Skinny87 by an overhwleming 79% majority vote, in what was called the 'New Era Election' by many observers. Elected and installed in the Grey House, President Martin opened the doors of the Dowland City embassy to Haven and the world itself. The series of diplomatic functions was a triumph of Martins new Presidency, bringing some of Skinny87's closest allies into first contact with the fledgling nation, including Sarzonia.
First Contact, First Conflict - Hitlerreich
With new allies and new ideals came new responsibilities. Following the example of Sarzonia, President Martin decided that Skinny87 should enter the field of international incidents and events, and help the lesser countries of the world whilst expanding Skinny87's own influence and powers. It was only weeks before the fledgling Republic and its President faced up to its first major conflict. A small nation, Ostland, was being forced into unfair and heavily biased elections by the larger neighbouring country, Hitlerreich, who was in turn supported by Thomish and Kaiser Martens. As larger and far more powerful nations, such as fellow Havenite Hogsweat and Cotland began to enter the fary on the side of Ostland, President Martin issued a declaration demanding that free elections be held, and neutral observers, including some from the Republic, be allowed to witness the elections. After several diplomatic negotiations failed to create anything but more tension with Hitlerreich, President Martin authorised the deployment of the Third Carrier Fleet and the attached Marine Expeditionary Unit into Ostland and Hitlerreich to stop the elections.
As other nations declared war at the same time as the Republic, a combined allied force numbering in the hundreds of thousands swept into the poorly-defended Hitlerreich border and attacked its defenders. Despite attempts by Thomish forces to shell innocent civilians , the allies continued their advance. Republican ground forces engaged Hitlerreich divisions in several grueling battles, in which the Republican forces suffered heavy losses but eventually emerged triumphant. In the air, Republican Air Force units skirmished for several days before launching an all-out air assault from the Carrier Triumphant against combined Hitlerreich and Thomish forces. Again, despite heavy losses the Republican forces won through and the Hitlerreich forces began a long retreat, pursued by allied ground forces, Republican units included. After several more fights in urban conditions, the Hitlerreichian government surrendered, its dictator fleeing into the territory of Kaiser Martens. Not strong enough yet to face this larger foe, President Martin was happy enough to see the Ostlanders freed, and Hitlerreich divided up between Hogsweat, Cotland and the Republic. South and West Hitlerreich remain colonies of Skinny87 to this day.
The Hitlerreichian conflict had been a triumph for the Republic and Martin. The fledgling nation had shown itself to be able to stand up for its convictions, as well as stand for democracy and freedom. The Republic had passed its first international test, and had been bought into contact with two of its closest and most valued allies - Hogsweat and later Praetonia.
The Calypso Incident
The Next Step - Nerotika
It was not soon after the Hitlerreichian conflict that the Republics next major conflict came forward. A new ally of the Republic, the nationstate of Camewot, became embroiled in what intially seemed a relatively insignificant diplomatic incident. In the nation of Nerotika, the government had taken a Boeing 747 and its crew and passengers hostage. Part of the passenger list were several Camewottian citizens, and negotiations began between the two countries to release the unfortunate passengers from the nations grip. However, negotiations swiftly broke down when it became clear that the Nerotikan government had no intention of releasing the passengers, and in fact arrested them on charges of international espionage.
Deeply angered by this, the Camewottian government bombed Nerotika several times in retaliation. This failed to elicit any desirable reaction, and Nerotikan aircraft destroyed the aircraft holding the Camewottian citizens whilst in Camewottian territory. After further negotiations failed, the Nerotikan government launched an invasion of Camewot. The invasion was repelled with heavy losses on both sides, and Camewot declared war upon Nerotika. Appalled by the actions of the Nerotikan government, President Martin had no compunctions in putting a declaration of war to Parliament, which passed it by a majority vote. Alongside fellow allied nation Credonia, the Republic sent more than a dozen infantry and armoured divisions into Nerotika, followed by two Carrier Groups and an Air Brigade.
Unexpectedly, the Nerotikan government surrendered to the allied forces completely and allowed military bases to be installed in the country by all three nations. Peacekeeping troops were deployed by the Republic into Nerotika, and controlled a large portion of the country. However, tensions soon rose between the citizens of Nerotika and the occupiers; rebel Nerotikan soldiers began a small but effective guerilla movement against the occupying forces, forcing the allied nations to fight unarmed citizens and their rebel supporters, The riots soon escalated into a full-blown conflict, which lasted for a long period. All four sectors of Nerotika under allied control came under attack, and troops were deployed into all of them. Some of the heaviest fighting took place in the Republican-controlled sector, referred to as Republican Colony of Nerotika. A peaceful protest at the City Hall in the region turned for the worst when nervous Republican MPs opened fire on the protestors with water cannon and teargas. Shots were fired by rebels and armed protestors, and more than twenty MPs were killed and dozens wounded. Civilian and rebel casualties are harder to gauge, given that many fled the scene of the attack; however the numbers were in the hundreds to be certain.
The conflict rapidly escalated; Credonian and Republican troops were diverted to Nerotika to reinforce their respective colonies, and the Praetonian government made overtures to President Martin about aiding the occupation and ending the resistance. At the same time, the Falcanian government showed its support for the Nerotikan cause by moving in SAM units and troops from the Nerotikan border, attempting to bring about a ceasefire. After a tense moment between the Falcanian ground units and Republican and Credonian aircraft, the Falcanians were allowed to assist in ending the rebellion. After more prolonged fighting and heavy casualties, the Nerotikan leader, President Naki Lok called for a ceasefire between all concerned nations. Credonia refused to accept this, and fighting continued, aided by Republican Special Forces operatives.; meanwhile Praetonian troops were readied to drop into the Nerotikan capital to sieze it and attempt to end the rebellion, aided by Republican troops.
The next move by Credonia was a surprise to Republican troops. VX-tipped missiles were launched by Credonian forces into the city of Lufensten in a zero-tolerance reaction to continued fighting in Credonian-controlled territory. Official Nerotikan casualties place the numbers at more than 15,000 dead, the majority of which were civilians. A second volley of missiles, some 45 in total, hit the city and caused further casualties. Credonian forces, including armoured units, then moved into the city to quell any further uprisings by the population. In a prepared statement, the Credonian President then issued a call for a ceasefire free of terms. Events began moving rapidly after the issuing of this statement; the Republic shipped in more than 200,000 troops into Nerotika, and Praetonian forces landed by paradrop in the Nerotikan capital, being reinforced by air from captured airstrips and two Republican Fast-Reaction Battalions. Facing rebel Nerotikan troops and Falcanian military units, the Praetonian forces began to dig in, expecting heavy resistance.
Shortly after the Praetonian forces landed, a flurry of diplomatic messages between Credonia and Falcanian ended with the removal of all Falcanian forces from Nerotika with the exception of a small Royal Compound, with the Falcanian territory being handed over to the Nerotikan authorities. Camewottian forces, aided by Republican Special Forces 'advisors', then captured the territory in Operation: Thunder, doubling the size of the Camewottian territory. Casualties were small and the operation resulted mainly in a large number of arrests by Republican and Camewottian officials as suspected Nerotikan rebels were taken captive. To try and end an increasingly expensive and costly occupation, Major-General Winchester, commander of the Republican forces in Nerotika, created the Treaty of New Nerotika, signed by all sides; the treaty allowed for the withdrawal of Praetonian and Falcanian troops, and the emigration of any Nerotikan citizens wishing to leave the occupied territories. Despite skirmishing between Nerotikan rebels and Praetonian airbourne troops, and an incident where Falcanian SAMs nearly fired on Camewottian helicopters, the evactuation of Nerotikan citizens was a success for all involved.
The final chapter of the Nerotikan conflict came with the introduction of Psychotika as an ally of the remaining Nerotikan troops. Accusing the allied troops of commiting genocide and war crimes, the Psychotikan government demanded that some 15,000 Peacekeeping troops be deployed into Nerotikan to oversee the evacuation of Nerotikan refugees. A united response was the result from the allied nations in the negative, and tensions continued to rise. Republican troops began to dig in throughout the Republican Colony; tanks patrolled the streets and trenches honeycombed the entire sector. For several months peace seemed to prevail; most of the fighting ceased, and the nation began rebuilding. Even the rebel leader, Michael Trotsky was arrested and placed opn trial for crimes against the allied nation and eventually imprisoned. However, one last card was to be played, one that would cause thousands of casualties. Psychotikan troops advanced on Nerotika, supported by several Carrier groups, and launched an attack upon Republican forces. A large-scale airstrike launched from the Republican Carrier Indefatigable was launched in retaliation, and dozens of vessels were sunk or crippled despite heavy losses.
The Psychotikan forces eventually retreated after the brief engagement, and it was decided by President Martin himself to end the condlict before it escalated into something more than the fight for a single nation. He authorised the release of the Republican Colony into Nerotikan hands in exchange for a small military base on Juno Island and reparations of $100 Billion USD. The Camewottian and Praetonian governments followed this example and gave up their colonies as well. The Credonian colony is a matter still undecided, but is a private matter between the two powers. The Nerotikan conflict had been a costly and difficult lesson to the Republic. It had lost more than 15,000 troops in the months spent occupying Nerotika, and the conflict had cost hundreds of Billions of Dowlands; the veil of innocence and zeal that had covered the Republics foreign policy had been destroyed, and never again would the nation enter a conflict so readily.
Standing up for Civil Rights - Moronyicka
The conflict, if it can be called that, with the nation of Moronyicka came at a time in which Nerotika was still fresh in the memories of many citizens of the country, and even more so to government officials. Public support for the government was at a surprising low despite eventual victory in Nerotika, and there had been threats of resignation from several Cabinet Ministers over the actions in Nerotika itself. However, the entire country was shocked when it was publicly revealed that the nationstate of Moronyicka was having citizens of its own country rounded up and executed for the crime of being homosexual in their sexual views and ways. Sarzonia was the first nation to react to this, holding several press conferences to reveal the outrage to the whole planet; following rapidly on the heels of these broadcasts was a speech by President Martin in which he demanded an immediate end to the executions. Two Carrier Fleets and an attached Marine Division were detached to Moronyickan waters.
Officially the Moronyickan government ended the executions, but only in their territory. Within a shirt time period, however, a deal was struck by the Moronyickan government with the government of Parthia. The homosexual citizens would be flown to Parthian territory and executed there, the government having a similar attitude to these citizens. When word was leaked to the assembled nations protesting against the executions and deportations, action swiftly followed. President Martin demanded that the citizens not be flown to Partia, and instead to be taken onboard Republican and allied vessels and be freed. Initially there was some resistance from the Moronyickan and Parthian governments; it is rumoured that a Parthian aircraft was tracked by allied aircraft and forced to return, and several Moronyickan vessels were fired upon.
However, peace prevailed and the oppressed citizens were rescued and given citizenship to allied nations, including Skinny87. The Moronyickan government ceased its actions against its own citizens. The Parthian government appeared to withdraw its offer, although the current status of this is still unknown. Although a short incident in the international scene, the Moronyickan Affair gave the nation a morale boost after the long period of Nerotika and guerilla warfare, as well as boosting the approval ratings of President Martin.
A Bitter Foe - Guffingford
All prior conflicts and incidents, however, paled when compared to the blow that the still small nation would have inflicted upon it by the nation of Guffingford. The conflict, one that was to change the face of the entire nation, began innocently enough. Under the personal orders of President Martin, the Carrier Invincible supported several allied nations in a small peace-keeping conflict in a small nation; the name of the nation was lost, as were many of the records of the conflict, as a result of Operation: End Game during the later stages of the Civil War. However, this much is know; the nation being attacked and in which peace was attempting to be kept called for help from its allies, including an alliance of nations which contained Guffingford as a prominent member state. Reacting to this cry for help, the Guffingford government authorised its military forces to launch a barrage of coventional-explosive tipped ICBM's into Skinny87, specifically targetting Dowland City for maximum effect.
The combined air defences of the country were placed on full alert, but a lack of real training and more importantly experience proved to be fatal. Flights of F/A 18s despatched from several airbases to the north knocked down several missiles, and when the remaining missiles entered range, hastily-deployed SAM batteries engaged them with a flurry of missiles, destroying two and crippling a third, which landed several miles away from the city limits on farmland. Unfortunately, more than a dozen of the missiles made it through the defences and hit Dowland City; approximately eight hit the city centre at 1:48 PM, and three more hit the city outer limits, seemingly at random two minutes later. The last missile impacted just short of the Grey House lawns, destroying them and the East Wing of the building. Targeted to create maximum destruction and civilian casualties, the missiles killed some 200,000 people, and wounded more than half a million. The damage from the destruction was estimated to have been in the range of several Trillion dollars USD.
