Difference between revisions of "Upper Virginia"

Revision as of 14:21, 22 December 2005

Upper Virginia

Flag of Upper Virginia
Motto: "Hope for Peace, Prepare for War"
[1]
Region	Excalbian Isles
Capital	Courtland
Official Language(s)	English
Leader	Provisonal President Becka Harrison
Population	Over 3 billion
Currency	The Crown. (C)
NS Sunset XML

The Dominion of Upper Virginia is technologically advanced but troubled modern nation in the Excalbian Isles. Despite a booming economy and a robust industrial infrastructure, Upper Virginia has a history of political instability and violence. Until recently the nation had been under the control of a harsh military dictatorship. A coup removed the military junta and ushered in a new civilian government, composed of former military officers and business leaders, that has promised elections in the near future.

Geography and Early History

The Excalbian Isles rise from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the Northern Atlantic, southwest of Iceland and southeast of Greenland. The Excalbian Isles were first settled by the Celts around the 6th century. By the early 10th century, they formed a number of stable, agrarian tribal groups, located mostly in the Southwestern grasslands and along the rugged Eastern coast. More on the geograpy of the Isles can be found by clicking on the link to the Excalbian Isles.

In the late 10th century, a second wave of settlers – Norsemen – arrived from their colonies in Iceland and Greenland. While the earlier arrivals, now known as the Lowlanders, remained along the coast and in the grasslands, the Norsemen migrated into the highlands.

Despite relative isolation from Europe, occasional new arrivals continued to land on Excalbia. These included a small group of Scots, who moved into the highlands and submerged into the Norse Highlanders, and some Irish monks, who in the 12th century introduced Christianity among a small tribe of Lowlanders on the Eastern coast.

By the 13th century, the island’s social structure was well established. The Highland clans were warriors, herders and artisans and dominated the Lowland farmers. The plains cold and dry plains of the northwest, however, remained relatively unihabitated.

In the 18th century, a number of English and Colonial merchantmen visited Excalbia, but found little worth trading along the coast and ignored it. In 1798, a small group of Virginia Baptist missionaries took an interest in Excalbia and booked passage on a Yankee merchant ship familiar with the islands. A storm, however, crashed the Narwhal against the Western coast. Stranded, but alive and still possessing much of their goods and supplies, the missionaries began working to convert the Lowlanders to Christianity and the crew of the merchant ship began establishing control of the local trade routes and building alliances with the local tribes.

In 1801, the newly assertive Lowlanders, backed by the missionaries and the guns of the ship’s crew, came into conflict with the Highland king, Ragarth. Low-level conflict continued until a truce in 1807, by which time the new American arrivals had reestablished contact with their homeland, bringing in new supplies for themselves and their Lowland allies. Seeing the balance of power tilting to the Lowlanders, Ragarth undertook a diplomatic mission to the Lowlanders’ new capital, Landing – the site of the Narwhal’s wreck. While in Landing, Ragarth’s son converted to Christianity and adopted the Christian name Joshua.

Joshua became king in 1809 and engineered a union between the Lowlanders and their allies and the Highland kingdom. On Christmas Day in 1810, Joshua proclaimed the Holy Empire of Excalbia.

New Virginia and Peter Courtland

In 1817, a mixed group of American settlers and Lowlanders began demanding a republican government. In order to avoid violence, the Excalbian Emperor extended a land grant to the republicans east of the Borodea Mountains and a patent to establish an autonomous republican government. The republicans accepted the grant and establish New Virginia. Additional settlements followed and in 1829, these settlements, along with the Lowland Grand Duchy of Saxmere and the Highland settlements of Alud and Trondgard, declared themselves independent states and formed a Confederation of Sovereign States.

In the first few decades after its founding, the Confederation operated more as a coalition of nations than as a single country. This led to great disparities between the sovereign States of the C.S.S. and rising civil tensions. The State of New Virginia quickly emerged as the most prosperous and most advanced of the States. This fueled a number of disputes between New Virginia and its neighbors.

By the late 1840's and early 1850's, many citizens of New Virginia were disgruntled with the State's response to these problems. Many felt that, in the absence of a strong central government, New Virginia needed an assertive State government that would respond to the rising sense of crisis. The Governor and the state legislature, however, believed that the State should continue to pursue a minimalist agenda. They also believed that, since their capital served as the capital of the Confederation, they should maintain a low profile within the Confederation.

In 1856, Peter Courtland, commander of the New Virginia State Militia, was encouraged by many civic and business leaders to force the Governor's resignation and take charge of the State government. When Courtland and his troops surrounded the Governor's Mansion in Jefferson, the President of the Confederation called for the other States to send their militia's to put down the revolt. The other States were more than happy to respond to the President's request.

Courtland's coup was defeated and he was tried and convicted for treason for attempting to use the threat of military force to install himself as the new Governor. Before he could be imprisoned, Courtland, along with a number of supporters fled across the mountains to the sparsely inhabited plains of the northwest, known then as the Upper Virginian Plain.

Founding of the Dominion of Upper Virginia

By 1862, a number of settlements had been established in the region. Following Courtland’s death in 1870, leaders of these new settlements proclaimed the Dominion of Upper Virginia with a Constitution that, while guaranteeing individual rights and liberties, created a powerful central government. They named the new nation's capital city Courtland in honor of their founder.

Modern History

In the late 19th and early 20th century, as progressives in the Holy Empire worked to break up monopolies and protect workers, unbridled monopoly capitalism gained root in the Dominion. While the elected leaders in the National Assembly spoke of preserving the public trust and developing the nation’s economy for the public good, they consistently enacted policies favouring industry. Labour unions were banned, the concept of a minimum wage was rejected and the working age was kept shocking low.

The the Great Depression of the 1930s led to an economic collapse in the Dominion. Angry workers and intellectuals joined to support a radical socialist party that attempted a violent revolution in 1932. It was ruthlessly suppressed by General Roger Courtland, who suspended the Constitution and began authoritarian rule.

The Dominion of Upper Virginia was officially in a State of Emergency from 1932 to late 2004. It was ruled during that time by a Provisional Ruling Council (PRC). The last PRC was headed by General Craig Altman, the former Commander in Chief, late Attorney General Diana Silina and Chairman Forrest Turley, Head of the Chamber of Industrials.

The Fall of the PRC

In 2003 an insurgent group, known as the Free Virginia Liberation Army (FVLA) began a campaign of assassinations and bombings, culminating in the capture of the northern city of Harrington, which the rebels designated a "liberated city." Riots and brutal repression struck many parts of the Dominion and internal strife gradually turned the members of the PRC against each other.

The PRC began its final collapse when Forrest Turley and rebel elements of the Chamber removed former Chairman Baxter Brandt. Although General Altman backed Brandt's claim that his removal was illegal, it was rejected by Attorney General Silina. In the midst of a still unexplained large-scale movement of Army troops into the capital, Attorney General Silina was assassinated. Initially, General Altman claimed Silina had been killed by the FVLA and traitors within her own paramilitary force known as the Criminal Investigative Bureau. Later revelations have cast doubt on this story and raised the possibility that forces loyal to Altman murdered Silina.

The Anti-Altman Coup

Following Silina's assassination there was a mysterious attack on the Pantocratorian Embassy in Courtland, which seemed to trigger a coup against General Altman. While elements of the Dominion military and political establishment continued to recognize General Altman and the PRC as the legitimate authority for several weeks, the coup-plotters, backed by Excalbian, Pantocratorian and Varessan troops ultimately prevailed.

Although General Altman's military headquarters was completely destroyed in opening moments of the coup, Altman's body was never recovered and his fate is unknown.

Major General Becka Harrison, until recently the Chief of Procurement and Research for the Directorate of Defence, proclaimed herself President of Upper Virginia. Her claim was immediately recognized by many elements of the military, as well as the Chamber of Industrials, the Commonwealth of Varessa, the Holy and Most August Empire of Pantocratoria and the Holy Empire of Excalbia.

More information on these developments can be found on NS forums

Political Leaders and Prominent Figures

President of Upper Virginia: Becka Harrison

Secretary of Foreign Affairs: Graham Yultilde

Secretary of Defence: Jacob Glazman

Secretary of Commerce: Marcus Poole

Attorney General: Grace Smiltene

Secretary of Social Welfare: Greg Baker

Special Advisor to the President for Economic Reform: Elizabeth Pilmana

Chairman of the Liberated City of Harrington and Official Representative of the FVLA: Uldis Marko

Chief of the General Staff: General Alex Holmes

Director of Dominion Intelligence Service: Richard Thorsen

Assistant to the President: Gwen Ubrecht

Chairman of the Chamber of Industrials: Forrest Turley

Economy and Industry

Despite the years of turmoil in Upper Virginia the economy is prospering. The county’s main areas of economic activity are mineral extraction - particularly uranium mining, information technology - it is actively researching bio-computers and weapons production - it is particularly advanced in the aerospace sector.

The national currency is the crown, which is equal to roughly $1.45. The nation's Gross Domestic Product is over $76.8 trillion. The effective tax rate on individuals is very high, but the government provides very little in the way of services for the average taxpayer. Military and internation security consume over 80 percent of the government budget.

High taxes and low wages have driven most average workers into a high level of commercial debt in an effort to maintain their relative standards of living.

The nation's major corporations belong to the Chamber of Industrials, which acts as a corporative council within the government. The Chairman of the Chamber is one of the three members of the Provisional Ruling Council. The current Chairman is Forrest Turley.

The largest corporations in the Chamber are NDS - National Defence Systems, the Bank of Courtland, NAD - National AeroDefence, NDC - National Data Corporation, SysDim and Dominion Mining.

Military

Until recently, fifty percent of the country’s budget was spent on the military, which had several million troops in all services. The exact numbers and formations are classified, however it is known that President Becka Harrison, herself a former Major General, is rapidly reducing the size of the military. The military draft has been suspended and many troops are being demobilised. At the same time, with the help of Varessa, Excalbia and Pantocratoria, the Dominion is trying to professionalise its remaining armed forces.

The military consists of an Army, Navy, Air Force and the Special Security Service (SSS). The new government has removed most of the nation’s military leaders. The highest-ranking officer in the military is the Chief of the General Staff. The current Chief is General Alex Holmes, who was promoted from Brigadier to General following the coup against General Altman.

There are signs that the military is also developing ultra-hypersonic warplanes, possibly code-named Ozymandius, that skims the edges of space.