Southern Republic
Land of Snakes
The very mention of the Southern Republic conjures many images. To her rivals, she is a source of constant concern and the homeland of the most imperialistic people on Terra Nova. To her allies, she is a land of ruthless cunning that has kept them under her heel as much by the force of arms as by the insinuation of freedoms to come. To her citizens, she i s the most free and democratic land on the planet. Republicans know that they are not separated by caste or class, that everyone born under the Republican banner has as much opportunity for advancement, and that Republicans will never be told how to live their lives by anyone. They will fight to the death to preserve these freedoms. Undeniably, the Southern Republic is the mightiest nation on Terra Nova, perfectly capable and willing to exercise her influence the planet over.
The Republic is not the black nation of evil that its enemies make it out to be, however. It is a land of bountiful resources, breathtaking natural beauty and seemingly impenetrable mysteries. Republicans love their home with a fierceness that many find disturbingly fanatical. They do so because their nation has fulfilled its promises to them. Since its inception, the Republican state has promised its people social, economic and political prosperity - and it has delivered. In the social sphere, the Republic is home to a staggering variety of cultures and an incredibly artistic world. From Ashanti to Ankara, most Republicans live among unparalleled beauty. These same citizens also receive guarantees on education, safety and health that allow them to live the good life. Economically, the Republic has largely prospered since its creation and its products are consumed by millions both near and far. The policy of conquest thatthe state has followed allows it to fuel internal prosperity, which in turn leads to a high standard of living. Political prosperity translates into international supremacy. The people are happy to see the state on top of the global heap, dominating the South and facing the North head on. Most Republicans rightly feel they are leading the good life.
The league is certainly not above reproach, however. Its prosperity is based on twin foundations of internal control and external conquest. Internal stability is based not only on prosperity, but on a well-developed system of propaganda and state terror. Republicans are taught from an early age to trust their government and stay out of politics, while phenomenal resources are spent to maintain secret police who identify and eliminate those who refuse to keep quiet. Externally, the Republic keeps the whole South in chains and although it may loosen them for cooperative allies (such as the Mekong Dominion) it does not hesitate to heap heavy handed military oppression on those who are troublesome.
Perhaps the greatest fault in the Republic is its Leadership. Current Prime Minister Louis Philippe deRouen, using his ties to the military and his phenomenal charisma, has broken the traditional bureaucratic channels to power in the Republic. While the state has, since its inception, been kept together by a strong and unified bureaucracy, it is now ruled largely by a single man. DeRouen has enemies and weaknesses of his own, and were he to fall, he might take the whole nation with him
The South
The Republic's interests in the South are those of a lord toward his vassals and the manner in which these interests are assured is typically byzantine, involving both the Republic's ambassadors and the officials of the Allied Southern Territories. The Lord Chancellors - AST officials who oversee each league - are the most powerful Republicans in the vassal states and can call upon the might of the AST bureaucracy, the Lord Councilors of each league and (if necessary) the MILICIA units stationed in the league. The charter of the AST gives each Lord Chancellor a veto over the government of the league they oversee. Republican ambassadors are assigned to individual city-states and deal with local governments. The ambassador in a capital city often deals with the central government as well, theoretically in cooperation with the league's Lord Chancellor.
The situation has become more confused with the current split between Prime Minister deRouen and AST Lord Protector Jacques Molay. With these two powerful politicians working at cross-purposes, AST and Republican officials cooperate far less efficiently than they should. Republican ambassadors can rarely rely entirely on the AST bureaucracy and military. The individual Lord Chancellors have been able to use this conflict to create their own power-bases and have insisted upon their authority within their leagues. The Republican ambassadors, although supposedly independent from the Curia, are now under pressure to answer directly to the Lord Chancellor of the league they are assigned to.
Ambassadors must walk a fine line, because they are also responsible to the Diplomatic Directorate, which does not have direct power over the Lords of the Curia. A modus vivendi has developed in which ambassadors are given a great deal of personal leeway both by the directorate and the Lord Protectors as long as they remain within certain parameters. This freedom can be quite extensive or very limited depending on the political climate at the time.
Typically assigned to a single league, though often serving in each of that nation's city-states, Republican ambassadors spend their careers establishing an understanding of their counterparts, and a web of contacts within their communities. Shielded by diplomatic immunity, Republican ambassadors make the most of opportunity if they sense that they can get away with it.
Trade Representatives form the other half of the Republic's international equation. While ambassadors lay the groundwork for deals, they often lack the specific knowledge of a pact's worthiness. Trade representatives, as specialists in their fields, are called in to negotiate the specifics. These individuals are selected for their posts as much for their ability to capitalize on a deal, as for their expertise in a particular league's trade practices. Highly trained and motivated, Republican trade negotiators may be the nation's best economic weapon
Geography & Fauna
See article SR - Geography & Fauna
Members
- Ankara
- Aquitaine
- Ashanti
- Bethany
- Innsmouth
- Marabou
- Newton
- Port Oasis
- Reunion
- Saragossa
- Siwa Oasis
- Timbuktu
Rural Areas
See details in SR - Rural AreasStructure
Other Groups of Importance
- Ministry of Culture
- Ministry of Education
- Southern Republican Army Prefect's Council
- Economics Directorate
- Ministry of Culture
- Souther Republic Intelligence Directorate
- Les Témoins
- Coalition for Rightful Environmental Exploitation
- Saragossan People's Front For Independence
- Order of the Falcon
- Rostov Family
Assets
History
Military
Technological Level
The harsh realities of a history of warfare, the domination of technologically advanced leagues such as the Mekong Dominion and Humanist Alliance, and the influx of Terran military technology after the War of the Alliance have given the Southern Republic an elevated level of technological achievement. Technology is widely dispersed in the league and has greatly benefited the average citizen.
The modern Republican house is equipped with many state-of-the-art conveniences. The security system, evident by a keypad beside the door, is composed mainly of motion sensors, heat sensors, pressure plates, and microcameras. Top of the line systems include such gadgets as retinal scanners, DNA samplers, and voice recognition devices. Low end systems consist solely of a single padlock and a loud siren. Once the basic security layout is settled, the next worry for a new homeowner are the appliances. The most important of these is the environmental control unit (ECU) which controls the temperature, humidity, and air pressure in the home and efficiently regulates every centimeter of the house. The cooling mode of the unit gets the most use in Terra Nova's scorching heat waves.
The need for cheap and easy power has led to the installation of solar panels on the roof of many homes in the league. These panels convert solar energy to electricity, part of which is then stored in a bank of batteries located in the basement. The stored energy is used to heat the home and power the various electrical equipment during the night. The greatest advantage of this policy is that it frees up much of the administrative infrastructure of the government which would normally be used to provide power. These resources may then be put to other, supposedly more important, uses such as militay and industrial applications.
Since the departure of the Earth forces from Terra Nova in TN 1918, the industry of communications and telecommunications has been reborn. The Hermes 72 communications satellites left by the CEF advanced the already existing infrastructure by leaps and bounds. The increase in communications has allowed companies that depend on imports and exports to save phenomenal amounts of money. It has also led to the emergence of new small companies that specialize in telecommunications. The greatest beneficiary of this technology is, by far, the entertainment industry. Now with the capacity to reach even the most remote community equipped with a satellite dish, SRBC, the Republic's premier broadcasting channel, has increased its viewing audience by about twenty million viewers.
The Republican metallurgical industry i s now booming due to the release into the civilian market of new alloys derived from the study of destroyed Earth hovertanks. These new alloys are lighter and have a higher tensile strength than previous ones. This has brought to the realm of the possible many projects which were previously abandoned because of serious technical shortcomings.
Laws
Justice
Criminal punishment in the Southern Republic is seen as swift and brutal by most of Terra Nova. These criticisms are nothing to a society that sees swiftness of action as efficiency and brutal consequences for heinous crimes as just. Though civil law i s not considered to be as harsh as Republican military law, it allows little leeway for compassion. Civil law is divided into two areas (or justitias): Crimes Against the People (CAP or against the state) and Crimes Against Your Neighbor (CAYN or against individuals). Offenders are brought to justice by various law enforcement agencies such as the SRA Military Police, SRID's Public Interaction Unit, city-state law enforcement and regional law enforcement. Most agencies run their own training programs, although the most reputable can attract candidates from the graduating classes of the military academy.
Penal labor is the most common form of confinement used under both justitias. Convicts toil as restitution for their crimes and serve the joint purpose of providing a necessary source of menial labor for government projects. These projects range from excavation and construction for more brutal criminals, to public service for lesser criminals. Many lesser criminals (usually prosecuted under CAYN justitia) find permanent employment in the same areas that they serve out their crimes. Public day care, Youth Guard and information services are the largest employers of lesser offenders. CAP and CAYN convicts prosecuted for serious crimes serve i n much harsher labor camps away from public view. A surprisingly large percentage of these offenders enroll for military service after the adaptation to the neo-military protocol enforced within the labor camps. With rare exceptions, only the MILICIA will accept former convicts into its ranks.
This system of convict labor allows for a good rate of rehabilitation, as criminals receive some training and experience in addition to being punished for their crimes. Convicts who abuse the system, however, receive very harsh treatment. Each cycle several car thieves and other minor criminals find themselves in isolated labor camps side by side with murderers after having been lazy in the urban office they were assigned to under CAYN authority.
Crimes Against Your Neighbor (CAYN Justicia)
This area of justice covers crimes ranging from theft or larceny to aggravated assault, which carry penalties that include monetary restitution in the form of fines, physical restitution in manual labor camps, or enrollment into any of the state reeducation facilities. CAYN crimes are tried before a Civic Tribunal consisting of three magistrates, with a public prosecutor representing the state and a consultation lawyer aiding the accused. The CAYN portion of the justice system includes the Themis Appendage, which allows for leniency in the application of punishments and penalties for first-time offenders. Second-time offenders are considered chronic criminals and, if judged guilty, receive the maximum penalty for the charge. Third-time offenders are considered a risk to the populace and are tried under the CAP justitia. Committing a crime under the CAYN system against a member of the military or a member of a law enforcement agency is referred to the CAP courts under the Athena Act, which stipulates that military and justice personnel are to be treated as extensions of the Republic itself. Citizens tried in this manner may retain their right to the Themis Appendage if applicable. The Athena Act also ensures that military personnel may only be tried under military law, forcing the Civic Justice Council to refer applicable cases to the Prefects Council.
The unrest caused by the St. Vincent Plague not only resulted in the creation of the Infant Welfare Protection Bureau (IWPB), but the addition of the Aphrodite Appendage to the CAYN justitia. The Aphrodite Appendage stipulates that from birth children are to be considered members of the Republic and receive the same rights of protection allotted to adult citizens. The appendage further stipulates that crimes committed by individuals under the age of 22 cycles fall under Themis Appendage on a mandatory basis.
Crimes Against The People (CAP Justicia)
This area of justice contains the crimes considered harmful to the Republic and its people (including murder, treason and rape, but also tax evasion), carrying penalties that include those of the CAYN justitia with the addition of capital punishment. Though courtrooms are open to the public, some trials are considered sensitive or classified. These trials are held behind closed doors under the pretext of the Pax Deorurn Act, to ensure that information utilized in the trial, or that surfaces due to the trial, i s contained.
In addition to its normal caseload, the CAP justitia also receives cases from the CAYN system pertaining to repeat offenders and trials that fall under the Athena Act,. Repeat offenders fall under the Chronic Crimes Appendage, whereby their cases are moved from the CAYN justitia to be charged under the CAP system as a threat to the people. The crimes that fall under the statutes of the CAP justitia are of a less straightforward nature. The intricacies involved justify the presence of two additional magistrates to form the five-person Civic Pentad. This higher court replaces the three-person Civic Tribunal of the lower courts.
CAP magistrates are granted a high status in Republican society in recognition for their wisdom and discretion. Indeed, these magistrates are in many ways the ultimate arbiters of the conflict between political security and personal freedom that is at the core of Republican society.
Education
The state policy of the Southern Republic makes it clear that every individual is entitled to the best education possible. To this end, the Republic has created an ambitious schedule of study and hosts some of the finest schools in the AST. Mandatory for all citizens from the age of 7 to 20 cycles, public school is funded by the government via taxation of the city-states and the "donations" of vassal states. Private schools and universities receive only partial funding, if any, and require students to pay annual fees. All schools, regardless of status, follow the proscribed Republican educational package, and they are strictly monitored to ensure that they do not sway from this course of study. Indeed, all teachers are accredited members of the Republican Educators Council and all must be screened by SRID before allowed in front of a classroom. This tactic unfortunately leaves some good teachers, who have more liberalized leanings, by the wayside.
The low national dropout rate (below 1%) is a source of Republican pride, and only one city-state bucks the trend. Saragossa's tension-filled atmosphere has taken its toll on students. The high dropout rate is a major concern for the Republican Educators Council that has begun to apply more pressure to the Estates General to deal with the plight of the youth in Saragossa.
Teaching is a valued and well-respected career choice in the Republic and academics are well paid and granted high status in society. The public recognizes the importance of a well-educated population and sees dedication to this endeavor as a patriotic and honorable choice. The state - perhaps more pragmatically - recognizes the powerful impact of propaganda fed through education and gives high salaries in return for an expectation that teachers will follow the nationalist curriculum, especially at the critical developmental stages of elementary and secondary education. Universities are seen as a proper time for students to question their state, but teachers are not supposed to encourage them or to participate in anti-government activities. Those who disobey these directives can suffer serious consequences ranging from harassment to house-arrest to imprisonment. A few "rebel" teachers have even been executed as traitors.
Elementary School
The most important level of education, elementary school is where youngsters are taught the basics of mathematics, morality, language, history and writing. It is during this period that a child's mind can be influenced the most and the Republican government sees no reason to waste the opportunity. Children in these formative years have been indoctrinated in the belief that the Republican way is right since the earliest days of the league. This indoctrination is one of the key secrets behind the nation's nearly unfaltering unity.
Classes are broken up into two learning periods, with morning used to teach social sciences such as history and writing, while the afternoon is dedicated to applied sciences such as mathematics and physics. The school day lasts from 1O:OO in the morning until 24:OO in the afternoon, with a rest and meal period between 16:30 and 19:OO. The sole break, apart from national holidays, are two weeks in each of the spring and autumn sessions. Citizens graduate from elementary school at the 7th grade, usually at fourteen cycles of age.
High School
High school is a stepping-stone in the Republic, with graduates either ascending to higher education or the work force. The last cycle of high school also holds the most important of Republican rituals, the ceremony of the circle, where the student earns the right to be called a full citizen. Composed of five mandatory courses (history, mathematics, written & oral communication, computers, and civic privileges & responsibilities) and 4 career path concentrations (commonly sciences, business, social sciences and trades), high school is far more rigorous than elementary school. Students arrive at 9:00 in the morning and leave at 25:00, and they have a rest break of two hours and three recesses of 10 minutes each to unwind. As with elementary school, there are two two-week break periods in Summer and Autumn, when students can visit their relatives and not have to worry about school.
Higher Educatiion
After high school, citizens may opt to continue their studies at the university level. Here any number of disciplines can be studied, among the more popular are history, health, astrophysics, and engineering.
Approximately 20% of the population of the Republic is university-educated. Of these, undergraduate degrees account for fourteen percent, graduate (Masters) degrees four percent, and doctorates and post-doctorates two percent. Students can expect to spend five cycles for an undergraduate honors degree, and three cycles for a graduate degree. The length of time for doctoral and post-doctoral degrees depend on the field of study and usually falls between three and eight cycles. Graduating as experts in their fields, however, university students can expect higher paying jobs in dynamic industries. The quickest growth of these i s the high technology field of advanced military design, including Gears. The government pours millions of dinars each cycle into a fund that promotes students who study engineering, with the understanding that these future experts will apply their knowledge to the advancement of the state.
Infrastructure
Travel between city-states is fairly easy, since all twelve are linked by a well-maintained infrastructure of high-speed railroads and superhighways. Furthermore, Port Oasis, Siwa Oasis, Marabou and Reunion are connected by the gamma maglev Line. Although all city-states have at least one airport, these are rarely used by the average civilian - atmospheric conditions make it difficult for planes to fly and the only airline in the Republic, Empire Airlines, is governmentowned and charges exorbitant fares. Travel on Lake Esperance is also possible via Espoir Hydrofoil, the Southern Republic's only passenger boat line.
Comments