Iansisle

Iansisle

Flag of Iansisle
Motto: "Debate Triumphs Over All"
Region	NPIG
Capital	Ianapalis
Official Language(s)	English
Leader	President Nicodemo Ranalte
Population	387,000,000
Currency	General
NS Sunset XML

The Gull Flag Republic of the Iansislean Peoples is the primary state which grew out of the collapse of the Grand Empire of the Shield. The only other which remains is the Socialist Democracy of Wyclyfe (a Beddgelern protectorate). The Republic consists the former kingdoms of Shadoran, Vesshampton, Weshield, Mansford, Thortraia, the Javian Kingdom of the Foothills, and the former Archduchy of Sentry Island.

Geography and Topography

The Republic is located in the extreme northwest of the Pacific continent of Tilsitia. Its contiguous neighbors include the United Duchies of Noropia (to the north), the Effitian Patria (to the east), the Socialist Democracy of Wyclyfe (to the south) and the Empire of Tharia (south of the Shield and west of Dianatran).

The Republic proper is centered around the Iansislean Shield, a thin strip of fertile land wedged between the Great Noropian Mountain Range, Troobodia Bay, the Western Marches (known elsewhere as the White Sea), and the Jaizarmarch. The Jaizarmarch, a large swampy quagmire, separates the Shield from Gadsan, which was annexed to the Republic in the face of an Effitian invasion. The Republic also includes several offshore colonies, most notably Gallaga and Sentry Island (at the mouth of Troobodia Bay). Hiresh Dhawan, briefly Prime Minister of the Combined Parliament, hails from Gallaga and Nicodemo Ranalte, an acclaimed general in the war against Effit, is actually Sentrian by birth.

The climate on the Shield is generally wet, although winters are infamously as dry as they are cold. Even on days where it is not actively raining, heavy fog and grey clouds hangs over large parts of the country. Although some wheat and other grains are cultivated on the Shield, the majority of agriculture is grazing-based, primarily cattle and sheep. Native plant life includes the mighty Shieldian Oak and several hundred forms of moss, algae, and lichen which gives the Shield its famous ‘verdant’ appearance. Generally, the southern Shield tends to be more mild and industrialized, whereas the north is more harsh and rural.

History

Shadoran

See main article: Shadoran

The Grand Empire

See main article: Grand Empire of the Shield

Formation of the Republic

After the corporatist powers which had occupied Ianapalis (see Corporate Yoke) withdrew on 3 August 1952, Charles Bradsworth set about remaking the old empire. The Combined Parliament became the Constituent Assembly, which was itself renamed the National Assembly on 18 May when the new constitution came into effect. The High King of the Empire became the King of Iansisle and Emperor of Gallaga. Nearly all major companies, especially those which had participated in the Corporate Yoke, were nationalized. Bradsworth himself became the Premier Interim of the Provisional Government of the United Kingdom before winning 116 of 225 votes in the elections of 18 May 1953 and assuming the full office.

However, an early war with Effit, whose goals beyond the humiliation of their arch-rival state in its weakest hour are unclear, forced the new government to take radical actions, including the annexation of Gadsan and the introduction of the Conscription Act of 1954. Faced with the loss of Lakeriverwood and a string of losses on the front, the government - under the orders of Director of War Lawrence Madders - was compelled to take harsh steps to bring about a military turnaround. Field Marshal Sir George Pennyman - the victor in the wars against Thortraia and Weshield - was hanged in Gull Flag Square for his failure to uphold the front, which Madders claimed was a part of a larger aristocratic plot to reform the Grand Empire.

His Majesty King James was spooked by the increasing anti-royalist sentiment in Ianapalis and decided, in early December 1955, to flee from Dûn Ádien to the Javian Kingdom, where he declared himself to be the one true High King of the Shield and raised his banner against the government in Jameston Place. In response, the National Assembly declared Iansisle a republic and James to be a tyrant. The months following James' execution proved to be a blood bath, with many of the remaining alleged reactionaries being hanged on trumped up charges. Perhaps the most shocking moment was when Bradsworth himself was led to the gallows. The executions were primarily carried out by Director of Justice Sam Longdale, a close political ally of Lawrence Madders and a member of the radical revolutionary faction. The executions coincided with an increasing economic crisis laced with threats of famine to paralyze the government -- the Premier, hapless Benjamin Rinehart, lost almost all power, leaving each individual Director in complete control of his own department. After Madders used Nicodemo Ranalte's corps to put down a particularly violent food riot in eastern Ianapalis, he seemed to be in complete control.

However, the brief terror -- it lasted a little under one year -- galvanized opposition to Lawrence Madders. After a heated exchange on the floor of the National Assembly over the elections of the Year VII, Longdale attempted to arrest Rinehart on charges of attempting to subvert the Constitution. General Ranalte, who had been summoned from Mansmouth to carry out the arrest, instead arrested Madders, Longdale, and the other radical directors and declared martial law. These happenings, known as the Cupodìnolian Reaction, led to the writing of a new Constitution and the election of Nicodemo Ranalte as the first President of the Republic.

Military

Having had the misfortune to have been born in the midst of a ruinous war with Effit, the Gull Flag Republic is a much more heavily militarized state than perhaps the framers of the Constitution had in mind. By and large, the formal structure of the Grand Empire was retained -- with the exception of a few titles changed to be more revolutionary -- although many reactionary and incompetent officers were purged. In addition, the formal practice of buying favor with the Admiralty or outright buying commissions with the Army has been ended. Nominally, at least, the armed forces of the Republic are now a complete meritocracy.

A comparison of the ranks of the Republic’s Army, Navy, and Flying Corps follows. It should be noted that the Marines, while part of the Navy, use Army ranks except where parenthetically noted.

It should be noted that, at any one time, there is only one Grand Admiral (formerly also known as the First Sea Lord before the abolition of the Lords of the Admiralty in 1957), one Field Marshal, and one Air Grand Marshal, all of whom are the ultimate military commanders of their respective branches. Further, the Grand Admiral is superior to the Field Marshal, who in turn is superior to the Air Grand Marshal. Traditionally, the Field Marshal is the only one who maintains a field headquarters during wartime with the largest (or otherwise most important) army group: the Grand Admiral and Air Grand Marshal remain in Ianapalis.

It should also be noted that, unlike other countries, the Iansislean Marines do not carry out any operations by themselves; all marines are stationed aboard Navy vessels to form landing parties. While aboard ship, marines serve primarily to load the big guns (as part of the Marine Artillery) and in damage-control functions. Smaller vessels, such as destroyers, may only have a dozen marines aboard, whereas battleships may have as many as three to four hundred marines embarked at any one time. Cruisers usually carry a proportionally larger number of marines relative to sailors because they are expected to engage in more independent operations that would need the use of a landing party. Occasionally, such as in the North African Theater of the German-Chaingese War or the Manila Campaign of the Walmies’ War, the marine complements of several major vessels may be formed into a temporary regiment and employed as part of a combined arms operation with the army. After the conclusion of the immediate operation, any such regiments are disbanded and the marines returned to their ships.

Finally, although all three branches practice specialization to one extent or another, only the Navy has a formal system of rating enlisted men. Petty Officers are rated into one of the specialized trades of the ship -- examples include (but are not limited to) boatswain, gunner, quartermaster, coxswain, cooper, master, and cook -- and the enlisted men serving under them (‘rates’) are listed as, for example, “boatswain’s mate.” The different rates have a pay bonus in addition to the base salary of their rank, with more difficult or dangerous rates receiving extra pay; for example, an Able Rate gunner’s mate would make more money than an Able Rate cook’s mate. On larger ships where there is need for more than one Petty Officer of a given rating, one (usually but not always) Chief Petty Officer would be given the title ‘chief [rating]’ (ie: chief boatswain) and have command over all the others of his same rating, even if they technically are superior to him. All ratings and disratings are authorized by the ship’s captain and managed by the first lieutenant.

Similarly, the commanding officer of a ship is always referred to as ‘captain,’ even if they may only be a Commander or Lieutenant Commander by rank. His immediate subordinate, in charge of the day-to-day running of the ship, is referred to as the ‘first lieutenant,’ even if he may be a Commander or Lieutenant Commander by rank, and so on down the list. The Army rank of ‘Captain’ was changed in the Marines to ‘Lieutenant Major’ so as to avoid confusion as to which captain was issuing orders; onboard ship, there can only be one ‘captain.’

Navy

See main article: Royal Iansislean Navy

The Iansislean Navy is the Republic’s senior service, as the Grand Admiral is technically superior to both the Field Marshal and the Air Grand Marshal. Given Iansisle’s complete dependence on its maritime trade, this is only natural. In nearly every war Iansisle has ever fought, the Navy took an early and predominate role, either by sweeping the opposing fleet from the ocean or by blockading the opposing fleet and sweeping its unprotected commerce from the ocean.

However, the Navy is also the most traditional -- some would say backwards -- of the three branches and the most stubbornly opposed and resistant to reform. The only significant post-Revolution reform of the Navy was the renaming of the First Lord of the Admiralty to Subdirector of War to the Admiralty and of the Lords of the Admiralty to ‘Grand Admiral’ and ‘Admiral in Charge of the Naval Intelligence Office’ (or other department). Many staunchly royalist officers, most notably Philip Clayburgh, the former Marquess of Westergate, until recently remained in important positions, including even the commanding officer of Home Fleet. However, the aging Sir Hunter N. Kennington was forced into retirement in 1954 and replaced by the republican Martin Hansfield as Grand Admiral.

The Navy is ordered into Fleets bearing geographic names: Home Fleet, Gallaga Fleet, and Batam Fleet. Home Fleet is far and away the largest, numbering all of the Navy’s capital ships save two. The Fleet is then divided into numbered Squadrons consisting of one type of major vessel (ie: ‘Second Heavy Cruiser Squadron’). Destroyers, frigates, A/S trawlers, sloops, and other minor vessels are organized into numbered Flotillas. A Fleet commander may further split Squadrons into Divisions consisting of a smaller number of ships under the command of the captain with the oldest commission; he may also order detached independent duty for a single ship.

Tactically, the Iansislean Navy lags behind its own technology. The Mobile Aeroflyer Dock (or aircraft carrier, as it is known elsewhere) is seen as a secondary weapon; the main purpose of Iansisle’s MAFDs is to 1) provide fighter support against hostile fighters where no shore-based aerocraft are available and 2) to attack the enemy battle fleet with torpedoes, hopefully causing them to reduce speed. The second mission profile is based upon the assumption that the mere appearance of the Iansislean battle fleet will be enough to put the enemy to flight and that a reduction in their speed will be needed to bring them to a fight. As such, Iansislean MAFDs carry a large compliment of fighter aerocraft and some torpedo flyers, but no dive-bombers.

Fleet engagement doctrine is still based around the Line of Battle: it is imagined that, in any future naval conflict against another major power, the war will be decided by a medium-to-close- range exchange of gunfire. Although Iansislean designers and planners are not ignorant of the dangers posed by enemy aerocraft and submarines, and in fact fairly proficient at countering them, their doctrine in these areas of war are almost purely defensive. The favored position for a fleet is to be formed in line ahead to leeward of the enemy fleet, so that the cordite smoke is blown away from the ships and so that the MAFDs can turn into the wind to launch flyers without becoming exposed to enemy shell fire.

Army

Before the Revolution, the Iansislean Army was largely regarded as a joke both on the Shield and abroad. Its poor equipment was only matched by the sloth and incompetence of its officers. While the Army did a fair job of policing the Empire and engaging in brief colonial wars against vastly inferior native forces, it rarely even held its own against a modernized opponent.

While the Army is still the least well-equipped of the three branches, a purge of its officers -- most of whom were aristocrats who had outright bought their commissions in lieu of more qualified by poorer men -- in the years after the Revolution brought to the forefront a fair number of eminently qualified officers, including the brilliant young Sentrian Nicodemo Ranalte. Whereas the ‘old Army’ had exemplified sloth and poor management, the Republic’s army encouraged a atmosphere of ‘dash’ among its officers and men. The Army, once the last resort of the clinically stupid, became a more appealing option for young men across the Shield. Two years bogged down in the swampy trenches of the Gadsan river basin somewhat deflated the Army’s newfound pride, but the decisive breakthrough achieved in the winter of 1957 by Major General Ranalte’s IX Corps and the ensuing two hundred mile chase of the Effitians restored its reputation.

The standard issue weapon for the Army is the venerable Galveston Magazine Model 1903 (MM07) bolt-action rifle complete with 14” bayonet, now well over fifty years old. Although capable of a high rate of fire in practiced hands, many of the new drafted men in the Army report that the rifle is clumsy to work under battle conditions. The Army has begun a five-year plan to find and phase in a semiautomatic replacement for the MM07. The Army is also equipped with a large number of light, medium, and heavy machine guns, antitank guns, and submachine guns, nearly all of which were designed well before 1950. By contrast, Iansislean artillery is of a high quality, especially the long-range, large-bore howitzers. Effitian soldiers captured on the Eastern Front report only really having been scared of the Shieldian artillery; it was the fear of an artillery bombardment that was not coming that allowed the breakthrough at Greater Wimmers.

Easily the most glaring deficiency in the Army’s inventory, however, is the lack of a true mainline tank. The Iansislean Army relies mostly on aging Walmingtonian Cavalry Cruisers and Marching Tanks, some individual units of which are nearly thirty years old. The Army has been working with defense contractors since before the Revolution to come up with a native-built battle tank, but to so far no avail.

One of the more curious features of the Iansislean Army, which perhaps might not be surprising considering its lack of mechanization, is the continued reliance on mounted cavalry to perform scouting duties (and occasionally chase down fleeing infantry). The Republic currently employs some 40,000 cavalry men as hussars, dragoons, and lancers; this number has grown over the past twenty years.

The Army is organized, on its basic level, into regiments of between 2,000 and 2,450 men along geographic lines. Usual nomenclature is the “[Number] [Locality] Regiment of [Specialization].” An example would be the “14th Pentonshire Regiment of Foot.” The different specializations include, but are not limited to, “of Foot,” “of Horse,” and “of Armor.” Regiments are then organized into numbered Corps, which usually consist of as few as five or as many as fifty regiments. The Corps are then organized into larger army groups, which are usually named after a river or other prominent geographical feature. The largest ever army group was the Army of the Jaizar, which at its peak consisted of nine corps and just over one million men-at-arms. Other groups include the Army of the Daldon, the Army of the Desert, and the Army of the Ganges. All told and including support personnel, there are some two and a half million men in the Army, representing a full ten per cent of adult Shieldian males; counting the Navy and the Flying Corps, some 18 out of every 100 Shieldian men are enlisted in the military service. How long the Republic can continue to support such a massive force is, of course debatable; the Army of the Jaizar has shrunk by about half before a formal peace with Effit has even been signed.

Flying Corps

The Flying Corps, which is itself a scarce forty years old -- and only thirty years independent of the Navy -- is far and away Iansisle’s junior service. Compared to the Army, the Flying Corps has top-of-the-line equipment; compared to the Navy, it has revolutionary tactical ideas.

The Flying Corps really started in 1904, with the first flight of Irvin Graye (the financier and daredevil test pilot) and Ernie Bankfield’s (the engineer) Aero-Flyer near St. Martin, Pentonshire. Iansislean aviation grew by leaps and bounds, always paced by the dynamic new ideas coming out of Graye-Bankfield Aeroflyers of Lakeriverwood. In 1911 -- reeling from disaster at the Battle of Salvador -- the Navy finally decided that aircraft may have a practical use and formed the Naval Aeroflight Unit (NAU). The NAU led, three years later, to the decision to convert the half-built hulk of HIMS King Ian V, a pre-Dreadnought obsolete less than a month after she was laid down, into the country’s first MAFD, HIMS Vanguard.

However, the NAU soon outgrew its britches and, in 1928, was broken off into the Royal Iansislean Flying Corps (RIFC). The RIFC was briefly responsible for flight operations on Vanguard -- still Iansisle’s only MAFD -- but cooperation between the two services soon proved impracticable and a new NAU was formed. The RIFC, however, continued to grow and modernize, assuming responsibility for the aerodefense of Iansisle, its empire, and the strategic projection of aeropower. Although Graye and Bankfield dissolved their relationship soon after the formation of the RIFC, Iansislean aeronautics research continued at a frantic pace, with the first production jets being deployed just before the start of the German-Chaingese War.

However, after the war, military avionics stagnated. Bankfield continued to produce high-end jets but refused to enter the military market. Graye struggled in submitting its new design to the RIFC, and the much-anticipated Andalusian interceptor failed to take off from a three-mile-long test runway before a crowd of RIFC officers. The more conservative Noriker design would instead be accepted and serve as the RIFC’s workhorse for almost a decade. It wasn’t until the event of Brown-Oldroyd’s trans-sonic Gelderlander, the same year that the Royal Iansislean Flying Corps dropped the “royal,” that the Noriker was finally supplanted as a front-line interceptor.

The Flying Corps also developed some customs and traditions which seem very odd to outsiders. For instance, an aeroflyer is generally referred to as a ‘mount,’ a runway or airport is a ‘dock,’ and, although the duty uniforms are an army khaki, dress uniforms are a bright scarlet. The word ‘mount’ comes from the days, just after the NAU was established, when the men who flew considered themselves “Iansisle’s Aeroknights.” Other words, such as the pilot as ‘rider’ or the fact that nearly all Iansisle's aeroflyers are named after horses, come from this same concept. The word ‘dock’ also comes from the NAU; as nearly all of Iansisle’s early military aircraft were seaplanes, they literally landed at the dock. The word stuck even after the majority of flyers were land-based. The uniforms also hail back to the NAU days, when the ‘aeroknights’ wore red uniforms both as a direct contrast and challenge to the blue and white uniforms of the Navy proper and, more apocryphally, “so that Effie can’t see us bleed.” The first reason is more likely accurate; throughout its history, the Flying Corps has mocked the traditions of the Navy and often presented itself as a jaunty, loose alternative to the Navy’s rigid formality.

Politics

The President

A new office created by the New Constitution, the President of the Republic is the most powerful man in Iansisle. He controls sweeping power over the implementation of policy, with only general direction from the legislative branch of the state. The president also has the duty to sign or reject legislation proposed by the Chamber of Fifty and passed by the National Assembly.

Nicodemo Ranalte won the first election running unopposed, with an official victory margin of 43,956,554 to 84,561.

The Chamber of Fifty

The Chamber of Fifty is comprised of (as the name suggests) fifty legislators appointed (and removed) by the president and confirmed by the National Assembly. The Chambers sole duty is to propose legislation, which must be passed and is then forwarded to the Assembly for approval. The most famous member of the Chamber is John Bartett, the former Earl of Dirwisham and Chancellor of the Exchequer under Edward Tarriff. The recall of an important member of the Old Regime is seen by many as an attempt by President Ranalte to reconcile the Republic and Iansisle's conservatives, who suffered most under the Madders Terror.

The National Assembly

The Assembly consists of two hundred and twenty-five representatives elected every other year by the two hundred and twenty-five districts of the Republic. During the Old Constitution, the Assembly was the most powerful organ of state; in the New Constitution, it is the least powerful. The National Assembly's primary duty is to vote on legislation proposed by the Chamber of Fifty. The bills are then passed on to the president before it can become a law.

The first elections of 18 May 1953 showed strong support for the Revolution, though royalist candidates captured many more districts than were expected. The trend continued in the elections of 18 May 1955, although more seats went to Madders-aligned candidates than Bradsworth-aligned. The elections of 1957 continued the radicalization trends of the previous year. In 1959, although the moderates regained a large majority, the new Constitution severely limited the power of the Assembly.

The Directors

The President forms a cabinet of twenty-two Directors, each taking one office from the same list as under the Old Constitution. Each Director is responsible for implementing the President's policy in his office. They serve at the discretion of the President and can be appointed or dismissed at any time without consulting either the Chamber or the Assembly.

The Premier

Unlike the Prime Minister of the Combined Parliament of the old Empire and Commonwealth, the Premier of the Assembly was elected by a nationwide vote. The Premier served as the head of government and appointed all directors. Each district elected one Assemblyman and gave one vote to the candidate who won the local popular vote.

Charles Bradsworth, running on a relatively moderate revolutionary platform, won 108 of the 225 districts in the elections of 18 May 1953, compared with 26 for Lawrence Madders, an extreme reformist, and 91 for the Baron Destian, a moderate royalist. After Bradsworth's retirement in 1958, Ben Rinehart briefly took over the Premiership. With the new Constitution in 1959, the office was eliminated.

The Empire and Gallaga

The Grand Empire bequeathed a number of colonies in South East Asia, centered around the island of Borneo, and Troobodia Bay, most notably Dianatran, to the United Kingdom. However, with the nationalization of the East Gallaga Company, the United Kingdom (and later the Gull Flag Republic) was faced with the problem of administering a country three times as large as itself with more than six and a half times as many people.

A fast solution had to be found, and the Assembly quickly readopted the Gallaga Act of 1750. Although the language and social structure was all wrong, it would have to do. Richard Appleton was elected Director of the Gallaga Office by the Assembly, and he appointed the Earl of Furthingham as the fifty-second President of the Council of the New Shield but only the second Governor-General and Viceroy of Gallaga. The King also reassumed the title Emperor of Gallaga. It is not yet clear how the change from United Kingdom to Republic will affect the Iansislean power structure in Gallaga; most assume that Lord Furthingham will simply drop the title of "Viceroy."

Quick facts

• Conventional Long Form: The Gull Flag Republic of the Iansislean Peoples
• Conventional Short Form: The Gull Flag Republic or Iansisle or the Shield
• Colloquial Short Form: Iansisle or the Shield
• Government type: Republic with imperial holdings
• National Holidays: 18 May (Constitution Day); 3 August (Gull Flag Day); 5 December (Grand Street Day)
• Sufferage: Males above the age of 20
• Population: see: Iansislean Census Act of 1953
• Ethnic Groups: Shieldian (predominate), Gadsani, Sentrian, Gallagan, Tharian, Dianatranian, various minorities
• Religions: Roman Catholicism (predominate and official), Hinduism, Islam, various Protestant sects (primarily Lutheran)