South Allegheny
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| South Allegheny | |
|---|---|
| |
| “Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just.” | |
| Legal nation name: | The Union Republic of Allegheny |
| Domestic nation name: | Allegheny |
| Population: | 239 million |
| Official Language(s): | English |
| Capital: | Pittsburgh |
| Leader: | President Allen Gordon |
| Government: | Representative Republic |
| Currency: | Alleghenian Mark |
| Tech Level: | Modern Tech, Genetic Manipulation, 1970's Space Program |
The Union Republic of South Allegheny also referred to as Allegheny or South Allegheny is a nation located in The East Pacific region. Allegheny is a landlocked region bordered by Vekaiyu to the east, Packilvania to the south and Bai Lung Dalu to the north. Known for it's lack of pollution control laws and heavy industry Allegheny is a harsh wasteland of urbanization and industrialization, however the north west is characterized by lush green forests and a successful farming society.
Alleghenian history dates back to the Medieval age when King Stefan IV felt the need to chronicle his reign, before that time Alleghenians where more interested in making it through the harsh seasonal weather Allegheny is known for. The earliest written history dates back to 600 AD which was the beginning of King Stefan's reign, the following records show a history of political and emotional turmoil that followed. Allegheny has transitioned into several government types since it's beginning. At first it was the relatively peaceful but expansionist kingdom followed by the authoritarian Commonwealth, which was followed by a fascist pseudo republic which was dismantled during a civil war resulting in the current Union Republic.
The trials and tribulations the Alleghenian people faced has sculpted them into a fiercely conservative capitalistic society that benefits hard workers and scorns the parasite. Because of this the government usually warns visitors that they will be most likely be unwelcome in the country and discourages any type of visit for whatever reason unless its officially sanctioned business.
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[edit] History
The history of Allegheny is that of mostly suffering and war which has shaped the people of Allegheny into cyncial, selfish and paranoid people.
[edit] Medieval Age
This section will cover the years 600AD to 1400AD
Beginning in the year 600 AD these years were a period of imperialism and discovery, King Stefan IV in an attempt to expand his kingdom westward formed an army and launched a campaign against the indigenous natives of western Allegheny. These peaceful people were unable to stop the armies of Stefan from sweeping across their lands allowing a period of rapid expansion to occur. A expedition was sent across the Allegheny mountains to map the surrounding areas, during this expedition they came across the vulpine people of Vekaiyu, seeing the riches of the vulpine lands they sent a messenger to the King requesting a diplomatic envoy be sent to engage in diplomacy. This began a trade agreement making the border cities of the east very rich and powerful.
In 623 AD King Stefan began his campaign across the west adding more land to the Kingdom of Allegheny and with him came the spread of Catholicism, the official religion of Allegheny, and with Catholicism came the Inquisition who forced the religion down the throats of the newly conquered people of the west. at least five thousand people were killed or tortured for not accepting the religion. The Pope of Allegheny personally oversaw many executions and conversions and his charismatic speeches brought more into the fold of Catholicism and his power within the Alleghenian Kingdom grew as each man and woman was legally obligated to tithe ten percent of their earnings to the church. The Church banned books that questioned how the world worked, forbid the peasants from learning how to read making the peasants more reliant on their local churches. Because of this Allegheny was behind the times in technology and sociological norms of other neighboring nations. It wouldn't be to the fall of the kingdom that the Church's hold on the people would be released.
In 1200 Allegheny experienced a Renaissance of art, culture and technology. Despite the grip of religion over the people the church began to let up on it's strict rules on society, reading and writing became common for all peasants instead of just the elite, and art and music flourished due to newly found creativity. Allegheny was in a golden age of learning and began rapidly progressing in technology. Books and libraries became prevalent and the College of Pittsburgh was founded in 1282, one of the oldest colleges in Allegheny at this time. The Golden age of Allegheny was also a time of progress for combat tactics, the hand cannon was significantly redesigned, however the technology still hadn't caught on despite it's apparent usefulness. New melee weapons were created for different combat situations, however the Kings army was still tiny compared to the military of other surrounding nations.
[edit] End of Imperialism and the fall of the Kingdom
This section covers the time period of 1400-1800 AD
Sometime in the 1400's The Kingdom of Allegheny entered into battle on the side of Vekaiyu to aid them in stopping the Gypsy General Fevunik from destroying Vekaiyu. The battles were fierce and the ill equipped and poorly trained armies of King Logan III fell easily to the superiorly trained and equipped mercenary armies of Fevunik. The war was also economically drained Allegheny, the King quickly became unpopular and riots were common among the peasantry. Several cities burned to the ground and poverty and famine swept across the land, King Logan's continued western campaign became bogged down in the Laurel Mountains to the north west and the continued need to keep the peace in the nation made the King end the campaign to use his soldiers as peace keepers in areas were rioting was prevalent.
Despite King Logan's effort the people and military turned on him and committed regicide. Led by a brilliant orator named Alec Carter they took the King and his family from the castle and hung them from a nearby tree the castle itself was destroyed in the attack. Alec Carter was the Duke of Clarion before the Alleghenian Revolution of 1467, seeing the ability to take charge in the time of confusion surrounding the days leading up to the revolution he began promising the peasantry more freedom, more food, and less war. What he actually did was set up a authoritarian government and began controlling the new Commonwealth government. As the newly "elected" Chancellor of Allegheny he set up a false Senate that he promised would represent the people and work in their best interests. Despite the authoritarian ways of the Commonwealth, Allegheny experienced a new age of economic success, coal mining and iron forging became powerful industries under the Commonwealth. The Church's grip on the nation was violently wrestled from them as churches were burned and the pope was executed all so that the Commonwealth could gain easier control of the people. The government no longer called the people peasants but instead called the citizens so that they could feel as if they were worth something to their government.
Allegheny experienced a time of peace despite many of the government executions and secret police organizations. Quality of life was improved, the people were richer and had money to spend on leisure items. An industrial revolution came with the invention of the steam engine by Jordan Zuch in 1709, with this power source Alleghenian industry skyrocketed and pollution became prevalent. Many people became angry at the government for the new taxes they imposed on the new industries that were being created, A man named Samuel Pence began spreading the idea of the free market and an new economic theory called capitalism. Riots and strikes broke out as the people demanded more control over their businesses, business they thought belonged to them rather than the government, they demanded privatization of the economy and less government control. This sparked the First Alleghenian Civil war (1799 AD) which lasted for 3 months. Many people were killed in the war and the capital city of Pittsburgh was soon under siege, The rebels won the war killing the leaders of the commonwealth and creating the Republic of Allegheny.
[edit] The Alleghenian Folly and The Second Civil War
This section covers the years of 1800-1945 AD
Politically naive the Alleghenian people were easily fooled into letting the fascist senator Alfred Ackerman take control as Chancellor of the newly created Republic of Allegheny. Ackerman quickly set out to control the hearts and minds of the youth of Allegheny and the older men and women who had fought for freedom from oppression were soon finding their own children turning on them. The military quickly cracked down on the citizenry and mass executions became the norm once again, rich business men were murdered and their business became government property once again, all property belonged to the state, a small amount of children were taken from their homes at birth and brainwashed becoming the Ackerman families elite guard when they came of age. The position of Chancellor became a birthright making sure that the Ackerman's would never lose control.
Allegheny continued to advance in technology due to the government's support of higher and better education, as Chancellor Ackerman said: "An educated Allegheny is a strong Allegheny, all those who refuse to learn will be executed." Many people went underground and committed acts of terrorism to try and undermine the Ackerman regime, however they all continued to fail in assassinating the Chancellor and with each and every attempt his power grew and his grip on the land became tighter. Pollution became an increasing problem and quality of life soon decreased as the cities were draped in a black acrid fog that would block out the sun on the worst of days.
The rebels stopped their acts of terrorism and engaged in their own propaganda campaign in an attempt to bring more people over to their side. Surprisingly this worked very well but analysts say that the economic depression that crippled Allegheny in the 1890's lasting into the 1920's was what changed many of the citizens minds. Joblessness increased to almost fifty percent and an ominous feeling crept over the land. As Raymond Ackerman was having breakfast on June 1st 1921 the entire eastern half of Allegheny succeeded from the Republic and attacked the capital of Pittsburgh. This marked the beginning of the Second Alleghenian Civil war, a war which would last until 1945 it is estimated that almost 50 Million people were killed in the 24 year war.
The country was literally split in half and the war quickly escalated, entire longitudinal line crossing through the capital of Pittsburgh became a no mans land and trench warfare became prevalent. Both factions were stalemated and any gains made in an offensive were lost in the next, the battle lines hardly ever moved. Thousands of men would be killed each week as commanders threw their soldiers at the opposing trench, chemical Warfare soon became a factor and men would come back home permanently scarred or worse, dead.
The economies of both factions were put entirely into fighting the war against each other, women were increasingly sighted in factory settings and even on the front line as soldiers. The tank and machine gun were soon invented and improved upon increasing the amount of men killed in the fighting. As total war was fought new tactics came with new and improved weapons. The years of 1930-1945 saw shifting lines, morale increased as gains were actually made. Eventually the economies of both factions finally imploded leading to a depression of epic proportions, The Ackermans were strung up and executed and the Logan regime took over. Chancellor Logan immediately called for a ceasefire in 1945 with the rebel east so that the sides could recover economically and also recover in lost lives.
[edit] Recovery and the Formation of The Union
This section cover the years of 1945-2010After the signing of the truce, what was left of the military of both sides withdrew from battle and each side separately began working to recover their countries. Many were jobless and the federal banks of both were severely bankrupt, unemployment reached 60 percent when combining the statistics from West and East. The East looked to it's neighbor of Vekaiyu for help but Vekaiyu had it's own problems occurring at the time and remained uninterested. Allegheny was a truly broken country. In the 1960's things began to look up as mining and manufacturing jobs came back to the east and west, unemployment was still high and most lived under the poverty line. Despite these problems Allegheny
[edit] Government
The Government is fiercely conservative and has always been that way in the history of the union republic, the government takes extraordinary efforts to make sure that they understand the will of the people and carries out that will almost blindly. This is because the government secretly fears it's citizens due to how the past regimes have treated their subjects and how they were punished for it. The citizenry hardly ever complain about how things are run in the capital because almost every decision is voted on and failure of a decision lies on everyones shoulders, currently the government has an 85 percent approval rating, the highest it's ever been.
The U.R.A is a republic which consists of one President, one Supreme Commander, two military adivsors, and 40 senators. Three senators are elected in each of the 13 Districts that make up the Allegheny Union which comes to a total of 39 Senators, one is voted in by the capitol city as the capitol is not part of any of the 13 districts, making a grand total of 40 senators.
The current President is Allen Gordon.
The thirteen districts are
- Greensburgh
- Jefferson
- Penn
- Laurel
- Oakland
- Mercer
- West Mifflin
- East Mifflin
- Larimer
- Clarion
- Carnegie
- Reading
- Duquesne
President Allen Gordon is responsible for running the country and passing laws that have been sent to him by the senate, the senate debates a bill, votes on it then if enough votes are tallied the bill will be passed to the President to be signed into law. If the president does not wish agree with the bill he may veto it which means it gets thrown out and must be re-written to be voted on again. Eventually after so many vetoes the senate must either vote to override the president or it must be permanently thrown out. Term limits on the Presidential office are six years for each term and an individual can serve for as many terms as they are able.
The Judicial branch makes sure that the laws are enforced and tries criminals who break the law.
All of the government structure is located in the capitol city of Pittsburgh.
There are multiple political parties in Allegheny, the first is the Union Party, a mainly economic and socially conservative group which is quite popular among Allegheny's mostly conservative population, the second is the Democratic party which is comprised of mostly center-left types and a few socialists. The democratic party holds minority in the senate. The last and most unpopular party is the communist party which has been quiet for most of the U.R.A.'s existence, not much is known about its members.
Citizens can vote at age 21.
[edit] Military
The Armed Forces of Allegheny consist of only an Air Force and an Army due to Allegheny's landlocked nature, at one time the military was small and was solely based on volunteers but with the rising tensions building on The East Pacific's western continent President Gordon and the senate changed how recruitment was handled. Now all men and women who reach the age of 19 must serve a mandatory two years in either the Army or the Air Force. Women in the Alleghenian military has been common for quite some time, some of the best soldiers have fought alongside their male counterparts in the history of Allegheny. Currently the most powerful position of Supreme Commander of the Armed forces is held by a woman named Cassandra Phillips. Under her two Commanders are in charge of the Army and the Air Force, they consult with the Supreme Commander and formulate strategy and policy, these two men are General David Shepherd and General Eric Sullivan, under them lies a network of generals and other officers which forms the command structure of the Alleghenian Armed Forces. Details on current active and reserve manpower are classified.
Typical Alleghenian soldiers are linked up to a network of computers which tracks them and receives data, officers use this network to issue orders and define locations. This quick communication asset allows the military to coordinate with each other and reduce friendly fire incidents, it also has increased unit combat effectiveness. When a Soldier reaches the rank of E-3 which would be a Private First Class in the Army and Airman First Class in the Air Force, the soldier is sent to a hospital to receive combat enhancements such as ocular implants to help them see farther, implants in the ear for better hearing, genetic manipulation is done to increase the stamina, strength, and fighting ability which is followed by a series of drugs that increase blood flow and focus. These enhancements are all provided free of charge by the government in the interest of building a better fighting force.
[edit] Economy
Since the formation of the Union Republic a powerful set of private industries have shaped the economy of Allegheny into a powerhouse of manufacturing. Allegheny is well known for it's sprawling steel industry, aluminum industry and coal mining. The entirety of the Allegheny mountain range has been turned into an extensive set of underground coal and bauxite mines. The Laurel mountains, while mostly a nature reserve, has seen a explosion of Uranium mining after Clarion Mining Corporation discovered a huge
Businesses do very well in Allegheny and many attribute it to the very lax environmental control laws, to the government the environment takes second or even third to a well established economy and pollution and deforestation in the east and central areas of Allegheny is common, the districts of Clarion, Duquesne, Carnegie, and Reading are well known for their wastelandish attributes and this is due to much of the steel, iron, coal and aluminum production facilities being located there. People also attribute economical success to a lack of morality when it comes to advancements, Alleghenian corporations will use whatever means they can legally use to get ahead in terms of financial success and creating new technologies, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporations will test products on anything and everything and the government will allow it to go on despite it's immorality.
Taxes are very low on income as the government does not believe in taxing the hard work of the citizenry, this has led to wealthier people who invest and buy more than people of other nations, coupled with the fact that Allegheny produces most of it's own products and does not import many items, it has created a loop of wealth that stays within Allegheny's borders making the country very rich.
[edit] Environment and Geography
The nation of Allegheny is landlocked, with the Allegheny mountains in the east and the Laurel Mountains to the northwest. Two rivers flow from the mountain ranges and form at the capital city of Pittsburgh to create third, these river are named the Allegheny flowing south from the Laurel mountains, the Monongahela flowing south from the Allegheny mountains, these two meet and form the Ohio river which flows south from Pittsburgh, the meeting point of the rivers. The rivers have always been an important part in the history of Allegheny, providing drinking water, easy transportation to major cities, a way for industries to transport raw materials, a natural point of defense against attacks, and is a cultural symbol for the people.
Central Allegheny is characterized by sprawling urban landscapes and massive highways linking the country together. The air is much cleaner than in the east and most of the population is located in this area, the land is mostly flat and any rolling hills that may have been there in the past have been flattened out for new construction projects of the ever increasing cities. The Northwest has the only forest in the nation of Allegheny, farms and mountains populate this area and pollution is illegal this is so that food supplies and drinking water, which supplies the whole nation, is not infected with man made impurities, the entire districts of Greensburgh and Laurel are designated nature reserves, many Alleghenians come here on vacation trips to enjoy time away from the polluted eastern regions they have grown accustomed to and to bathe in the hot springs the mountains are famous for, however many tourists have been jailed for damaging forests and not cleaning up after themselves. These two districts are the only ones with these strict environmental control laws.
[edit] Transportation
Most Alleghenians prefer to drive an automobile, cities are connect by large superhighways to accommodate the heavy traffic volumes traveling between cities, some districts have extensive commuter railways for their heavily populated areas but most railways are set aside for mainly transportation of material goods. Large and medium sized cities feature their own underground metros (subways) and bus transit systems. To free up space on the highways large railways were built for material shipping, almost all things manufactured in Allegheny are transported on high speed cargo trains that do not stop and are designed to cut through any blockages on the rails to keep trains on time. In the early years of this system there were elevated levels of civilian deaths to to trains, however a comprehensive safety program was created to keep people from crossing the rails when a train was coming through. Cargo trains are mostly automated and controlled by the Department of Industrial Transportation, train operators serve as on board mechanics who will work on the train and keep it going.
[edit] Culture and Demographics
Alleghenians are hard working, cynical, paranoid individualists whose love and nationalistic pride for their nation keep them together. Politically and economically conservative, they oppose any form of large government, they believe that a government who only acts on the will of it's population is the only good kind of government. Social parasites are scorned and ridiculed those who are weak are left to die, social Darwinism is the only way the weak are weeded out. Poverty levels however are relatively low due to almost non-existent taxes, it is said that failure is almost impossible. Alleghenians are accepting of homosexuality and people of the same gender are allowed to marry. Abortion is legal, however women are only allowed two abortions in their life, having a third is a crime and considered murder, a third is only allowed in special cases such as rape or when the mother's life is in danger. Euthanasia is also legal however it is not covered by any health insurance agency.
Racism is frowned upon, Alleghenians are tolerant of the existence of other races but will refuse to learn different languages as English is thought to be superior to all other languages. Immigration is next to impossible so only Caucasian humans populate the main body of Allegheny, in the east on the border of Vekaiyu there is a small vulpine population who are treated equally under governmental law. Freedom of religion is a right granted by the law, although Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion of the region, the second most populous religion is Judaism followed by Islam. Other religions are not recognized on Alleghenian census documents however people are still welcome to practice different faiths and those faiths are given the same tax immunity as the main three.
[edit] Crime
There is not much crime in Allegheny, that is to say, because of the large police force and the legalization of many different drugs have dropped current crime rates to all time lows. Most major criminal organizations became legitimate businesses. Most crimes committed are white collar, things such as, industrial espionage, tax fraud, or stealing of trade government secrets. Crime in the poor classes and cities are prevalent, human trafficking, slavery, murder, theft, and rape occur frequently however the government does not record them in the interest of keeping such information out of the general public's hands. Major crime organizations still in operation are the Imperial Paramilitary Corporation and the Cerberus Isolationist group.
