Violet Strawberries

Violet Strawberries

Situated on the Northern continent of the Alliance, Violet Strawberries is a peaceful nation which is focused on science and education. Bordering Friendly Aliens to the west, Great Wrightland to the south, Roudland to the east, Gothria to the north-east, and McPsychoville to the north-west, the kingdom has traditionally been relatively safe. It is an old and respected nation, and has been an active member of the Alliance since its inclusion.

History

During the 18th Century, a farming region in the middle of the Northern continent was given independence from Roudland. After its independence, the country became known as Violet Strawberries, after the region's characteristic rare fruit. It quickly gained reputation as a premiere agricultural power, and to this day, Violet Strawberries fruit and vegetables can be bought in 80% of Alliance nations.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, Violet Strawberries aligned itself with another power that was similarly inclined to (relative) peace, Gothria. At this time, most other nations were forming and consolidating empires, and the King of the day, Henry II, was keen to see that good relations were fostered with a nation that shared Violet Strawberries' isolationist approach.

During the mid 19th Century, the ruling Queen Marie-Catherine instigated an overhaul of the nation's politics, giving more power to the people. She set up a Parliament of 345 elected representatives, who debated the nation's affairs, led by a First Minister. The Monarchy retained its basic powers, but it was kept in check, effectively, by the voters.

Violet Strawberrian politics and history is relatively peaceful, and it has never instigated or fought a war on foreign soil. It was however, subject to moderate fighting in the Great Alliance War, with its forces fighting alongside Roudland and Gothrian forces during the 1940 and 1941 advances. Berry sustained some light bombing during this time, and in total, Violet Strawberries lost 20,000 people throughout the war.

Post war, most politicians and monarchs in Violet Strawberries have been concerned with expanding the nation's agricultural influence throughout the region, and have maintained a fairly isolationist approach. The nation currently has no military to speak of, but is defended by the 65,000 strong Violet Strawberries defence task force, or VDEF, from Roudland. This bold move was made by the Roudland Prime Minister David J Roud, in 2004.

In 2005, Moronyickan forces invaded a Violet Strawberries crown dependency in the southern Grohl Ocean, Hannigan Island. This assualt was later repelled by a Roudland/ Gothria/ Great Wrightland / Super Rome task force. Casualties were light, and the incident reaffirmed Violet Strawberries' position as a leading and important global power.

Current State

Violet Strawberries is a Parliamentary Monarchy, in which the unelected monarch is in charge of the day to day running of the state, liasing with the First Minister and the government over policy issues. However, whatever the monarch decides has to be passed by Parliamentary vote., which keeps the King/ Queen's powers limited.

Primary industries in Violet Strawberries are the agriculture and medicine sectors. Tourism is also a large contributor to the economy, seeing as Violet Strawberries is a lush green country with many attractive environmental features. Further to this, education in the country is very good, with many students from the surrounding nations of Great Wrightland and Roudland spending a year studying at a Violet Strawberries university. In addition, the Roudland Health Service regularly outsources specialist surgical work to Violet Strawberries hospitals, because of their high standards.

The current monarch is Queen Frances. She is the country's 19th Queen, and is on record as the youngest, receiving the throne in 2002, at the age of 22.

Culture and Politics

Violet Strawberries culture is notable for its liberalism and strong community values. It is, alongside Gothria, one of the most liberal nations on the Northern Continent, and this is derived from several factors. Violet Strawberrians have a rather lasseiz faire attitude to nudity and sexual matters, with sex education being a well developed part of the learning system; This has meant that the country has some of the lowest STD and teenage pregnancy rates in the Alliance.

On top of its liberalism, there is a strong ethos of brotherly love and understanding in Violet Strawberries. It is not unusual to see friends passionately kissing in the street. This has dumbfounded many visitors to the country, who are not prepared for the blurred social boundaries.

As it was once part of Roudland, Violet Strawberries shares many of the same artistic heritage, with a rich history of music, theatre and film. This has come to the forefront of electronic politics recently, with the government of Violet Strawberries implementing certain copyright laws to protect artists' rights, but at the same time clamping down on stores selling music etc. at a comparably higher price than in nearby countries. One of the stores affected by this was RoeHans, the Roudland superstore chain who charged up to 12% more for CDs and DVDs in Violet Strawberries than in its Roudland stores.

Violet strawberries is well known for its love of animals. Notably the bunny and the duck. Duck is not served in Violet strawberies, regardless of where you are or how distinguished the restaurant is and rabbit is rarely served.