Upper Virginia

Upper Virginia

Flag of Upper Virginia
Motto: "Hope for Peace, Prepare for War"
[1]
Region	Excalbian Isles
Capital	Courtland
Official Language(s)	English
Leader	Currently disputed. Some recognize General Craig Altman as Commander-in-Chief while others recognize Becka Harrison, the recently self-proclaimed President.
Population	Over 3 billion
Currency	The Crown. (C)
NS Sunset XML

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. 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, named the Alvis Miller, former Lowland governor of Landing, his Chancellor and established Christianity as its state religion. Emperor Joshua I also launched an aggressive campaign to bring modern education and knowledge to his kingdom.

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 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, New Virginia, Southland and Deandra, along with the Lowland Grand Duchy of Saxmere and the Highland settlements of Alud and Trondgard, declared themselves independent states and immediately formed a Confederation of Soveriegn States. The C.S.S. adopted a Constitution based on a modified version of the U.S. Constitution that created a weak central government with strong guarantees for personal liberty.

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 nations of Excalbia avoided World War I, they did suffer under the Great Depression. Economic collapse in the Dominion led to the rise of a 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 proclaimed neutrality in World War II.

The Dominion of Upper Virginia has been in a State of Emergency since 1932. A Provisional Ruling Council was headed until recently by General Craig Altman, Commander in Chief, Attorney General Diana Silina and Chairman Forrest Turley, Head of the Chamber of Industrials. Recently, a terrorist insurgency, known as the Free Virginia Liberation Army (FVLA) has begun a campaign of assassinations and bombings, culminating in the assassination of Attorney General Silina and the capture of the northern city of Harrington, which the rebels have designated a "liberated city." Riots and brutal repression have also struck the Dominion. In addition, there are signs of internal strife, with former Chamber of Industrial Chairman Baxter Brandt complaining that his removal was illegal and claiming to still be a member of the Provisional Ruling Council. His claim had been endorsed by General Altman, but rejected by the late Attorney General Silina.

Most recently, there has apparently been a coup against General Altman. Some elements of the Dominion military and political establishment continue to recognize General Altman and the Provisional Ruling Council as the legitimate authority, even though General Altman's current status is undetermined.

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

More information on the turmoil in the Dominion can be found on NS forums

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

Fifty percent of the country’s budget is spent on the military, which has several million troops in all services. The exact numbers and formations are classified. The military consists of an Army, Navy, Air Force and the Special Security Service (SSS). Most of the nation's military leaders, other than General Altman, have tried to maintain a low public profile. One exception was Major General Becka Harrison, the Chief of Procurement and Research, who made several public appearances at international scientific conferences. Following the recent apparent coup against General Altman, Harrison declared herself President of the Dominion.

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