Arov

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Arov
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Flag of Arov
Motto: "Under reverence, democracy dies. Yet, so does fear."
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Region Global Right Alliance
Capital Amehein
Official Language(s) Askarian Arovian (a fusion of Aramaic, Russian, Greek, and Spanish), Chinese, English
Leader David Malikasios
Population 56,000,000 (as of 12/6/05)
Currency Universal Gold Specie 
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Arov

ܞΛμσνܞ Љοςìßчєܨܢܽ [Arov-Ljotsibein, Askarian Arovian (Major Arovian): The State of Arov]

The Allied States of Arov is an active nation within the Global Right Alliance. Geographically, the nation occupies a rather large land mass consisting of mostly grassland and cold desert. However, there is a large mountain range and a river (flowing from the mountains) to the east, as well as a many underground reservoirs, upon which is built the capital, Amehein (Askarian Arovian: Λܡєқܨܢܽ). To the west, the 3,000 miles of coastline is dotted with harbors and is the home of two large maritime cities.

History

A.R.O.V.I.

The Allied States of Arov began as a bizarre agricultural social experiment and trade enterprise by the political scientist and businessman Sargon Ioannes Henry. Sargon had made billions off of the oil trade and invested his fortune in an experiment in Anarcho-Socialism which he called A.R.O.V.I. (Adaptability in Residential Omnitude and Vested Interest). His idea was that the best government would be run by a corporation whose trade interests would make it unwise to crack down on the population it rules (its work-force), guaranteeing safety and rights, so long as weapons were held by the state to prevent land squabbles among the citizens (however, due to the economic repression and Sargon's pacifism, the weapons mostly sat in vaults), foreign corporations traded with the nation via the ruling corporation (known as AgriCorp in this case), and the ruling corporation did not try to sell its own goods to the population for money. He hoped that such a system, if spread worldwide, would eliminate war and weapons (Sargon was an avowed pacifist) through the power of pure trade. Finding many citizens in the nationstates world who would participate in such a radical endeavor, the colony blossomed and was governed from the totally state-run city that was dubbed Gan-Jawa(garden of happiness), in the Aramaic that was encouraged in the city (Sargon Ioannes Henry saw Aramaic as the ideal language since it was, in his view, the language that jumpstarted civilization).

Farmers settled the fertile land and grew their crops with the help of some immigrants, and in return for shipping their crops to be exported, they recieved a free pension in more crops (foreign-grown this time, as AgriCorp traded mostly with poor agrarian nations) to plant the next harvest, and a small check that was proportional to every amount of grain exported. Goods and services were accessed via these non-monetary checks, and they were 100%imported as part of varying trade agreements. AgriCorp became incredibly wealthy and large, and the farming population, so long as it remained small, was entitled to all of AgriCorp's benefits. New recruits for the project constantly moved in from all corners of the world as interns, farmers, accountants, doctors, engineers, scientists, and many other fields. Soon, the number of employees numbered to nearly one million, and the non-farming employees specialized in producing non-agricultural products for the world market. Despite some fluctuations in the amount of goods and services available, the lack of adequate services for the chronically sick and the elderly among the farmers and planters (winters were dreadful), the high risk of crime and invasion (AgriCorp kept invaders back with trade deals), the intense supression of trade opportunities under threat of losing crop income, and an educational system that was an international pariah (foreign immigrants who came to work for AgriCorp were the most educated in the nation, and were paid in money rather than crops or crop-checks), A.R.O.V.I. fended relatively well for a radical social experiment compared to others in their early years.

The Era of Borkhal

Sargon Ioannes Henry died after a long thirty two years of manning A.R.O.V.I. and AgriCorp. His successor, Octavius Borkhal, redirected AgriCorp's profits to favor more aspects of the bureaucracy than others, cutting jobs and services so as to enrich himself. He then rehired some of those who were fired from AgriCorp into a trans-national army, so he could militarily enforce trade deals and keep the population in line. Now, AgriCorp could start supressing human rights, and it did with a boulder-like force, cracking down on immigrant workers who had earned enough to own land as well as political dissenters. Industry, however, was diversified, and the economy became a money-based one. Services to the sick and elderly increased (to an almost microscopic extent, however), and cities sprung up rapidly. Education was essentially the three r's and political indoctrination, though much better than before. Despite all this, everyone lived in fear.

A.R.O.V.I. simply became Arov (which Bible scholars pointed out was the Biblical Hebrew name for the Plague of Darkness as a way of saying that God was punishing Arov for people's sins), and AgriCorp became "The Unified and Purposeful Government of Arov."

Economically, Arov became a competitive nation due to its cheap labor based on indenture, and its famous book-publishing industry. Laborers from all over the world fled into Arov's borders to find work.

Borkhal then began a campaign to eliminate the flow of immigrants into Arov by attacking their nations by force. He invaded the nation of Golhod on August 11, 1974 (RL August 11, 2005), and Arovian flamethrower divisions marched through the capital Amehein on August 15 after a bloody fight that cost the lives of 300,000 on both sides. Golhod was annexed one month later, but rebels led by ousted leader Andrzej Nur-dizhal took back the eastern half of the country but never made it to the capital (Golhod would later merge with neighboring Gol-guz to protect its military interests). Amehein was annexed on June 16, 1976 and became Arov's new capital city to protect against dissent and uprising in the area. In the meantime, immigrants from various backrounds poured into Golhod's pourous borders before the Arovian "Unity" Guard sealed off the border with bayonets and watchtowers armed with anti-aircraft guns. Golhod had originally been ruled by an incredibly opressive military junta, so many Golhodians poured into the Arovian side of the country to side with the winners.

The Rise of Communism

The works of Karl Marx were already well-established in the literary and academic world of Arov by the time Borkhal had come into power. A radical interpretation of Marx's principles had been used as the basis of A.R.O.V.I., and the first generation of Arovians themselves had a strong familiarity with Marxist dogma beforehand, as one needed it to become a member of the bizarre social experiment they took part in. Under Borkhal, however, Marxism faced a barrage of criticism that spread first from the ruling elite, and then down to the population itself. Eventually, Marx's works were banned and the only people who read them were the illegal immigrants from Communist countries who entered Arov to find work in the fields when their countries' economies collapsed.

As soon as these immigrants numbered around three million, Marxist revolutionary gangs began springing up in the urban areas due to high unemployment. These gangs behaved like the Mafia only the excess was split among themselves in a Marxist fashion. Trading drugs and weapons, these Marxist gangs often took control of local justice and fought among themselves for supremacy to the point where gunshots could be heard almost every night. Yet, the gangs served as a hope for the many Arovians who were impoverished, and crime skyrocketed.

Mikhail Gorokhov was the grandson of Sarian immigrants who had come to work for AgriCorp in Arov's early days. Mikhail and his family, however, emigrated back to Saria when he was age three, so he could be properly educated and escape from Borkhal's regime. Mikhail was a star student throughout his education and became a professor of Sociology and Political Science. Throughout his life, however, he had an incredible fascination with Arov and the way it was under AgriCorp, so he decided to return there at age thirty-two. Upon arriving, he was accused of being a spy and beaten until he was paralyzed from his waist down. When the Sarian government inquired, Mikhail was placed in a wheelchair and returned home. What followed was Arov's first economic depression due to a massive trade embargo. Poverty hit one third of the population, and there was talk of a Marxist revolution, as what happens often in third-world countries stricken by depression. Marxist revolutionary gangs began springing up in large cities and fought each other in the alleys for supremacy. The aforesaid Marxist gangs grew larger, and began to work in more honest means, using the money they got from selling drugs to government officials to help the poor and thus gain followers. Mikhail Gorokhov, from his wheelchair back in Saria, urged the gangs on and funneled them money until he entered Arov a second time just when revolution was about to break.

He organized the gangs into a cohesive force with himself as its head, abolished the illegal trade of drugs and weapons as income, and hired Eduardo Lapaz, a low ranking gang member, to the position of Secretariat of War. Using an intricate plan, the Revolutionary Council of Arov managed to convince Borkhal's mistress (he had many lovers despite being married) to place a sugar cube laced with arsenic into her paramour's tea (they had exposed his many other affairs to her). In the chaos that ensued upon Borkhal's death by poisoning a few hours later, revolutionaries armed with rifles marched through the capital city and took over the country in an almost bloodless fight. The Government called itself the Second Order of Arov and conditions temporarily improved for many Arovians in the following years, if only a slight improvement.

Civil War

Twenty-five years after the Revolution, massive poverty, the mass imprisonments and excecutions of dissenters, and a very large international scandal involving the imprisonment of dissenting author Marcus Mikhailyevich, tensions arose as to whether to adopt modern capitalism. Nations were still not trading with Arov and the economy was ready to collapse (Arov adopted Trotskyism which involved not trading with capitalist nations; the only reason Arov stayed afloat was due to the many social programs put in place by the government to increase its control). Azlan Marikazin, the Minister for the Promotion and Teaching of Marxism after the death of the first Minister, Li Zheng, wondered if the population could be mobilized to produce goods and services on their own with the help of the government's many social programs. Massive corruption was springing up among all levels of government, and people lived in a state of total fear. Mikhail Gorokhov, the Supreme Chairman, chided him by saying that capitalism was a bourgeoise affair only. Azlan was imprisoned for five years in the Gorokhov Internment Facility, known for its hard labor and beatings. However, elements among the Labor Councils themselves were beginning to lean towards a more capitalistic worldview. Some members of Parliament were already enriching themselves off of the underground book publishing trade, and whether capitalism should be implemented was a hot topic in Arov's universities behind closed doors. Soon, this movement saw a figurehead in David Malikasios, a lawyer who backed Azlan in his secret trial proceedings. Challenging the government, he was imprisoned for fifteen years and tortured. Upon release, he found that his house had been destroyed and that his family had disappeared. Grief-stricken, he vowed to take revenge and lead an underground counter-revolution to the revolution Gorokhov had led a quarter-century earlier. He conducted his activities from a farm owned by his third-cousin, allied himself with capitalist nations, borrowed money from foreign governments who supported his cause, and took in foreign militias who were concerned about the oppression of their countrymen in Arov, as well as domestic militias. The militias later assassinated Eduardo Lapaz (then the Speaker of the Supreme Worker's Council), and a ten-year-long civil war was fought. David Malikasios took over a good portion of land, including the Capital, and renamed the area he conquered the "Allied States of Arov," as the land was owned by the allied militias before they ceded their arms and land to the government in exchange for administartive power. The Communist government retreated to another part of the original Arov, where it still ruled until the exile of Mikhail Gorokhov at age 86 in an armed military coup. A peace settlement was soon reached. The death toll was over 20,000 soldiers and some civilian casualties, but it had brought about a change that finally guaranteed a sense of freedom to the many who inhabited the Allied States, and brought hope to those who lived in the Second Order. However, the two nations signed an agreement that the Allied States of Arov would return any persons who flee from the Second Order to their respective country, as a condition of peace.

"Gory Gabs" in the Second Order

Gorokhov had been toppled and exiled by a female general in his employment by the name of Gabrielle Rache (pronounced "rake") one year after the Civil War. Since she took power, however, she has been known colloquially as "Gory Gabs" because she is often known to appear in public with bloodstained clothing, since she personally executes accused dissenters in her own chambers and wears bloody clothing as a warning to others who dare to speak out against her. However, the Second Order saw a transition from a "psychotic dictatorship" to "iron-fist consumerists" under her rule, as a result of her increased prioritizing of education (she is known to love children, though often scares them away) and revitalizing the free-market after its collapse.

Rumors are circulating that the Allied States is funneling money to underground armed dissenters who are secretly plotting the total overthrow of "Gory Gabs"' regime.

Government

Arov's government is currently marked by the UN as "Democratic Socialists", but it also consists of a bureaucracy whose job is to promote Arov's capitalization. Each department sends representatives to meet in a legislature, and each department recieves government funds to survive. However, Arov's citizens have been given the opportunity to choose where their tax-UGS's go, meaning non-functional entities are demolished, keeping the free market as well as other civilian institutions out of government hands when the people don't want it to be. Arov has adopted a policy that as the national infrastructure improves, elections will be allowed gradually. We are increasingly becoming more democratic and have a well-established parliament.

The government of the Second Order is a military dictatorship.

Economy

The economy of Arov is based upon the idea of free progress within a free market, but making sure that this is done in a way that larger companies cannot overrun smaller companies and communes (Arov has many left over from Communist rule, though these are dissolving rapidly). The economy in the Allied States has done well over the past few years, however, and saw the rise of a healthy business district in the capital city.

Currency and Foreign Trade

Arov's currency is known as the Universal Gold Specie, despite the fact that it is paper money backed by credit. This has its roots in Arov's original founders' intentions to make the currency sound tangibly valuable in order to attract settlers.

Foreign trade is booming in the Allied States, but virtually nonexistant in the Second Order. The Allied States' main exports are hi-tech computer chips, automobiles, water, and agricultural products. The main exports of the Second Order are illegally sold weapons.