Great Britain and Ireland

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This article deals with Great Britain and Ireland as it relates to NationStates. For more general information, see the Wikipedia article on this subject.

Great Britain and Ireland is one of the largest British regions in the game, with a combined total of over 200 nations across all its territories. The people broadly stand for British democratic values and, in game terms, like to play the game in a more realistic geopolitical manner than the raider-defender axis can sometimes allow. They have a history as notable empire builders, having tried to gain regions both through conquest and through foundings, and have increased population and activity to levels that give them significant clout by regional standards. The governmental forums are remarkably open to view and therefore often quite interesting.

Great Britain and Ireland
Forum: GB&I Forums
Population: ~200 (242 height)
Delegate: Riddim
Founder: --Great Britain--
Info: NSEconomy RC XML

The region has a reasonably large (if rarely used) army and a useful intelligence service. There is a Role-Play section and the Great Britain and Ireland Stock Exchange (GBISE). There are many independent regional newspapers, like the Union Jack, the Sovereign, the British Statesman and the Global Enquirer, which keep the citizens up-to-date with local and global news. There is also the University of Great Britain and Ireland, established in March 2006 with "the intention to acquire and increase knowledge on a broad range of subjects related to NationStates".

Great Britain and Ireland is a member of the Alliance of Capitalists, Conservatives and Economic Libertarians (ACCEL). The region is also a member of the Congress of Sovereigns, along with Empires of Earth, The New Inquisition and The Land of Kings and Emperors, while it is also allied with the regions Catlandatopia and The Pacific.

Currently there are over 177 nations in Great Britain and Ireland itself. There is a Regional Map which contains the most active nations. The region's name is commonly abbreviated to 'GB&I'.


History

Great Britain and Ireland was founded in the mid part of 2004 by --Great Britain--. The forums opened for business in December 2004, marking the birth of GB&I as it is today. Many of the players who joined the region around that time, such as Westmorlandia, Stony Stratford, King John of Gililand and Loyal British Columbia, still play an active role, albeit mainly semi-retired in the House of Lords. GB&I first became noticed in the wider NS world when a training mission to take the delegacy of the inactive region of Hong Kong was successfully defended by other British regions, who feared a destructive raid. Nevertheless, GB&I soon joined the very same regions, and others, in the Allied British Isles, a pan-British and Irish mutual defence pact. Unfortunately the alliance became riven with discord owing to an excess of clashing personalities, most obviously The Mighty Pump, Firbolgs, and Cu Mara. When a division arose between broadly left-wing regions and broadly imperialist regions, GB&I tried, but probably failed, not get caught up in it. It became associated with the imperialist wing, mainly because of its actions in Hong Kong and Palestine.

GB&I made its most famous contribution to NationStates history by precipitating the Battle of Palestine in April 2005, in which it was forced out of that region after two months in occupation by a coalition of defender groups summoned by USK, GB&I's erstwhile ally in the Allied British Isles. The battle involved 102 nations from various defender groups such as the RLA and the ADN, and 84 on the side of GB&I, mainly from the Union of Sovereigns, of which GB&I was a protectorate at the time. There has been no larger battle since.

The region was also a member of a new ABI - Allied British Imperialists - the brainchild of the Prime Minister of the time, British Glory, along with Firbolgs of The British Empire and Posul, then of Federal Commonwealth Society. The alliance fell into disuse, and Posul's move to join GB&I after falling out with the FCS founder broke the ties that existed with FCS.

For long since the establishment of the Alliance of Capitalists, Conservatives and Economic Libertarians (ACCEL) there have been discussions on whether GB&I should join this alliance. During 2005 Parliament twice refused to ratify the Treaty of ACCEL after heated debate on both sides, fearing loss of sovereignty and potential pigeon-holing as a capitalist region. GB&I finally joined the alliance in late 2005, with the Treaty of ACCEL being ratified by Parliament on the 3rd of January 2006.

While debates on joining ACCEL were still in progress, negotiations on another alliance were taking place among GB&I, Global Right Alliance, Sangria Sands and Scarfaces, four regions that had a long history of close relations and effective collaboration. These negotiations concluded in the signing of the Quadruplex Alliance Treaty, in December 2005, and the formation of The Quadruplex Alliance.

On Christmas Day 2005 one of GB&I's dominions, The Falkland Islands, was invaded by a nation called Austria-Hangary. He was endorsed by the Foreign Secretary of FCS at the time, and another member of FCS offered advice. This precipitated a war between the two region that began in January after an ultimatum from GB&I to apologise was not met. FCS was a founderless region, but the delegate had over 100 endorsements. Nevertheless, GB&I, initially using endorsement-swapping, almost succeeded in seizing the region in March. However, basic errors on the GB&I side alerted defenders and meant that fewer allies than had been hoped were available, and the attempt narrowly failed. In June 2006, the Prime Minister of FCSTO, The Planet Federation, issued an apology to GB&I for The Falkland Islands incident and the involvement of FCS members in it, satisfying GB&I's demand. Peace talks between the two sides were initiated and resulted in the Treaty of The Falkland Islands, which ended the war.

For a long period, the Quadruplex Alliance and ACCEL were the key feautures of the foreign policy of GB&I. As for the former, since its formation, the alliance's composition has significantly changed, with the withdrawal of Sangria Sands in February 2006, the replacement of Scarfaces with Flavian Amphitheatre in April 2006, after the former's dissolution, and the admission of Empires of Earth, in September 2006. The alliance was dissolved in October 2006.

In ACCEL, several GB&I citizens have held high-ranking positions. Namely, Posul has been twice the Secretary of Administrative Affairs and twice the Secretary-General of the Alliance for a period that spans from August 2005 to September 2006, Windsor-Bainbridge has served as the Iron Judge from the time the Alliance was founded until October 2006, Westmorlandia has been Advocate-General from November 2005 to April 2006, while North East Somerest has also served as a Junior Judge for a short period. From November 2006 to January 2007 Windsor-Bainbridge acted as the Chairman of ACCEL, while R3naissanc3r was elected a Junior Judge in the House of Justice, President of the House of Justice and Iron Judge for a period spanning from September 2006 to January 2007..

After the invasion incident on Christmas 2005, the two most successful dominions of GB&I, Ceylon and The Falkland Islands were repeatedly attacked. During Spring 2006, the Falklands were invaded by a small Argentinian force, who managed to capture the region's Delegacy. Ever since that incident, there have always been threats against that dominion from several Argentinian regions. In September 2006, Ceylon was also invaded by an invader group named Blades of Conquest. Blades of Conquest, in October 2006, issued an apology for this incident, which was followed by the opening of formal diplomatic relations between the two regions. Despite the fact that, in the vast majority of these cases, GB&I was caught by surprise and the invaders managed to capture the delegacy of the dominion under attack, their occupation was short-lived due to the fact that the dominions have active founders that can effectively repel any invader.

On November 2006, GB&I re-oriented her priorities in the diplomatic field. An alliance was signed by the Prime Minister of the time, r3naissanc3r, with the invader region Catlandatopia, the first invader region to officially become allied with GB&I. A new multilateral alliance, the Congress of Sovereigns, was created to replace the defunct Quadruplex Alliance, with the regions Empires of Earth, The Land of Kings and Emperors and The New Inquisition being its other members. Finally, an alliance with The Pacific was signed, with GB&I becoming allied to a feeder region for the second time in her history, after the Union of Sovereigns.

The Political System

Great Britain and Ireland is a democratic British region with a political system based around the real-life British Parliamentary model. Parliament consists of the House of the Commons, the House of Lords and the Monarch, and is fully sovereign - as there is no embedded constitution it can make and unmake any law that it thinks fit. The region is proud of its extensive Statute Book, both for its quality and depth.

The House of Commons consists of 11 MPs, elected every ten weeks. A majority of those who vote are needed to pass a Bill. The House of Lords consists of long-standing regional members who have retired from front-line politics. They are appointed by the Monarch, on the nomination of the Cabinet. They can refuse to pass legislation, but are subject to a 2/3 Commons override. The founder, --Great Britain--, is the Monarch, and must assent to any bill passed by Parliament before it becomes law. As in real life, this role is largely ceremonial and he has never yet refused to sign a Bill. However, unlike in real life, he can and does debate and cast votes in the House of Lords.

The Monarch appoints the MP who can command a majority in the Commons as Prime Minister, and he chooses at least four other MPs to be in his Cabinet. That comprises the main executive. Further appointments are then made to other executive posts, in charge of recruitment, ambassadors and so on. Assistants are also appointed below them. Most citizens can involve themselves in some way with the running of the region.

The Lord Chief Justice is appointed by the House of Commons, on the nomination of the Prime Minister. The Lord Chief Justice is the only judge of the High Court, which is responsible for the First Degree of Jurisdiction. The Appeals Division of the House of Lords is responsible for the Second Degree of Jurisdiction in the GB&I Judiciary and consists of up to three Lords of Appeal in the Ordinary, with the one in position for longer being the Lord Chancellor.

The Empire

GB&I's empire has been one of the region's defining features. Most governments have been led by imperialists of varying hues, and many outside GB&I know it best for its active foreign policy in this field. The empire is not only GB&I's most ambitious project but would, if its full potential was ever realised, be an achievement that was virtually unique among NationStates regions. Few empires, if any, have survived to become serious powers. That time has not yet come though, and it remains to be seen whether the empire can be the significant asset that successive governments have hoped it would be.

GB&I has in the past attempted to build up its empire through the capture of inactive regions already in existence. The theory is that an inactive region can be made active and great. The most famous instance was Palestine, which ended in GB&I's defeat at the hands of a large defender army. While defenders are so numerous and active, even in dead regions, this strategy is unlikely to be successful.

Many citizens of GB&I have consequentially developed an antipathy for defender groups, following the region's messy experiences with them in various places that GB&I tried to take over as part of their imperial project. GB&I cannot match the numbers that the defenders can muster so has been unable to hold any of its acquired territories long enough to make anything of them. Defenders are therefore blamed for the failure one of the region's most ambitious and imaginative ideas, and are seen by many in the region as blindly dogmatic.

For a period of more than one and a half years, GB&I's Empire constituted mainly of her dominions. The dominions were regions that had been founded by citizens of GB&I and were being built up into regions in their own right, inextricably tied to GB&I. Dominions were first instituted by the Dominions Act 2005, in June 2005.

GB&I's intention was this system to enable them to gain extra manpower above the 'natural' ceiling that most regions run into, by giving each person a stake in a more local administration as well as in the main government. As far as the central government is concerned, citizens in the dominions had exactly the same rights at law as citizens who reside in GB&I. The only distinction was geographical. Dominions also had their own forums and elect their own Governor, either by simple endorsements or by off-site elections, depending on their number of active citizens.

The most successful dominion used to be Ceylon, with approximately 50 nations at its highest. Other dominions that reached a satisfactory level of development were The Falkland Islands and British West Indies. Other dominions included British Honduras, British Antarctic Territory, Calcutta, St Helena, and Enfield. GB&I never attempted to build most of those dominions, hoping to properly establish the first three before beginning with others.

In the past, over 1/4 of the total population of the empire used to live outside GB&I itself, in the dominions. Towards March 2006, though, this percentage dramatically decreased and most dominions fell in a state of inactivity. It proved difficult to maintain activity in the off-site forums of the dominions. It was then that many suggested for the first time that the dominions scheme should be abandoned. Repetitive attempts by GB&I to reform the dominions system and make their governance more sophisticated, so that they can be more self-sufficient and thus become active again, failed. Consequently, in January 2007 the Dominions Act 2006 was repealed and all dominions were granted independence.

GB&I has also attempted several times to expand its Empire by integrating other regions in it. For this purpose, the Commonwealth Realm status for regions that wanted to join the Empire was introduced in the GB&I legal system. Attempts for such status to be granted to the regions Palestine and Enfield in August 2005 failed. The most significant such attempt was made in September 2005, with the signing of the Treaty of Union with FCS. Shortly after, though, the Union was dissolved, due to the events that followed the return of the FCS founder to NationStates. Similar attempts were continued, with the successful admission of City of London, in February 2006, and of Isaac City, in March 2006, to the Empire, though with dominion status being granted this time, and to be granted independence in January 2007 along with the other dominions.

In September 2006, the Commonwealth Realm status was amended, in order to allow regions that join the Empire under that status to independently handle their internal affairs, while they can also develop an autonomous foreign policy. GB&I hope that regions will be attracted by this status and join the Empire. Regions willing to join have yet to be found so far, though.

As part of the Empire of GB&I are considered its military bases, Scapa Flow and Diego Garcia. Those regions are legally considered Protectorates of GB&I and are under the full jurisdiction of the region's military officers. In April 2007, City of London was readmitted in the Empire as a Protectorate, under the City of London Act 2007, which bestows the control of the region to the Lord Mayor of the City of London, an appointee of the Cabinet and owner of the founder of the region.


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The flag of Great Britain and Ireland
</div>

The Government and Other Officials of Great Britain and Ireland

Monarch: --Great Britain-- II


Prime Minister: Fenchurch

Home Secretary: Engul

Foreign Secretary: donchatryit

Minister of Community: Sir Dingle Foot

First Sea Lord: Gililand


Director of Immigration: -vacant-

Attorney General: R3naisanc3r

Head of the Diplomatic Service: -vacant-

ACCEL Director: Olde Delaware

Lord Mayor of the City of London: Windsor-Bainbridge

Culture Councillor: Lethen

Director of Naturalisation: Fidhanbheara

Chairman of the Citizens' Panel: Windsor-Bainbridge

UN Delegate: Riddim

UN Affairs Director: Engul

Joint Director of Intelligence: -vacant-


Lord Chancellor: Westmorlandia

Lords of Appeal in the Ordinary: Trividium, Windsor-Bainbridge

Lord Chief Justice: Killtron


Chancellor of the University: R3naissan3r

Deans: donchatryit, Fenchurch, Gililand, Posul, Riddim, Scandinavian Duchies, Sir Dingle Foot, Trividium, Zombie Lagoon