Smog & Mirrors - The Commonwealth of Vinland (First Draft)

Vinland

Official Name:
Gemeinschaft Weinlanden (Goethian); Commonwealth of the Vinlands (Brigantian)

Nationality:
(noun) Vinlander; (adjective) Vinlandic

Population:
150 million humans; ~250,000 reptilian

Government:
Democratic republic

Alliances:
Neutral, but traditionally friendly with Brigantia and Quetzalan

Primary Languages:
60% Goethian; 20% Brigantian; 10% Castilian; 5% Frankish; 5% other

Religions:
50% Creationism; 40% Bimessianism; 10% other or none

Suffrage:
21 years of age; mortal humans and reptilians only

Historical Overview:
Vinland extends over almost two thirds of the New World (the remainder of the landmass being taken up by Quetzalan and six provinces that seceded from the Union between 915 and 922). Vinland was discovered in 510 by the Goethian explorer, Martin Peregrinatus, on a state-sponsored exploration of the coast north of Quetzalan. Goethian colonists quickly established settlements on the east coast, soon coming into contact (and conflict) with the wild elves that already inhabited the land. Although many colonies were destroyed, Goethian determination ensured that Appalians carved out a secure foothold in the New World.

Eager not to be left behind, Frankland and Brigantia both sent their own pioneer fleets and founded what eventually became the provinces of Bonaventure and New Sussald respectively. Soon, the entire east coast of the New World was dotted with settlements, farmsteads and military outposts from all three nations. The New World colonists normally traded freely with one another, regardless of nationality or ancestry, but many of the Appalian wars still spilled over onto the continent. Most significantly, the Twelve Years War that saw the splintering of Goethia into Goethia, Ostbergenland and Bergseen also saw Brigantia capturing the New World colonial possessions of Frankland and Goethia. At the end of the war, in 742, Brigantia conglomerated its conquests and colonies into the Vinlandic Territories.

Over the next fifty years, the non-Brigantian areas of Vinland were occupied by Brigantian soldiers, and the entire colony was ruthlessly exploited by Brigantian merchant companies. In 801, a number of Vinlandic landowners of Goethian and Brigantian descent rose up in revolt against Brigantia and, after a two year war, threw the Brigantian army out of the New World.

803 saw the Vinlandic Territories officially renamed the Commonwealth of the Vinlands (or Gemeinschaft Weinlanden in Goethian). Shortly afterwards, Goethian was made the newly independent country’s official language. Goethia demanded for several years that Vinland become part of the Kaiser’s domain, but the sizeable Brigantian minority within the Vinlandic government were against it, and so the country remained independent.

In 812, Goethia landed troops at the mouth of the Strebenfluss, outside the capital of Streben, and attempted to take the city. Provincial militia and the city police force repelled the invaders and they were returned to Goethia in prison ships. The failed military expedition signalled the end to Goethia’s claim over Vinland, and led to Vinland reopening diplomatic ties with its former rulers in Brigantia.

Since approximately 825, Vinland has been idealised in more unstable regions of Appalia as a land of opportunity and millions have migrated to make new lives across the ocean. The population growth meant that the east coast became cramped. Pioneers headed west, crossing mountains, deserts and rivers to reach fertile prairies where they could settle. Soon, the nine provinces of the Commonwealth of Vinland became twenty-two in number.

The dream ended in 915 when eight provinces seceded. The army managed to recapture North Alexandria and Freeport, but the remaining six managed to fight the commonwealth to a standstill and became independent states. In the aftermath of the bloody and economically draining War of Secession, recrimination between political factions within Vinland regularly spills onto the streets, and the weakened military has been unable to keep the prairie lands of the northwest clear of elves and outlaws. Meanwhile, in the cities of the east, alcohol prohibition has caused an explosion in organised crime, and tension between ethnic neighbourhoods, often stoked by anarchist cults, frequently spills over into street battles.


Political:
The top rung in Vinlandic politics is occupied by not one, but two, heads of state. The consuls are elected by national popular vote at six-yearly intervals and have the ability to issue consular decrees, (edicts directed at departments within the government to enable them to carry out their duties), and to raise or lower sentences for convicted criminals, or to pardon them entirely. Consuls also act as commanders-in-chief of Vinland’s army and navy. For this reason, it is usual for at least one consul to be a former military man, but this is by no means the rule.

Consuls are officially required to renounce all ties to any one political party upon their inauguration as consul. Of course, this rarely makes any difference, and consuls are often overtly biased towards their own party. As an attempt to prevent this kind of politicking, the founding fathers of Vinlandic democracy granted the consuls the right of veto. Theoretically, this means that both consuls have to be in agreement on every consular decree issued. In practice, many split-allegiance consulates ‘take turns’ in getting decrees issued for one consul or the other, while consulates where both consuls are of the same party have very little trouble issuing decrees.

Two consulate residences exist in the capital, Streben: Grunenbäume on Senate Walk, and Highfield House on Alexandria Avenue, one per consul. Additionally, consuls will have one or more homes of their own, which may also be used as official residences throughout the duration of their consulship.

Beneath the consulate is the Senate Hall. Each province of the Commonwealth elects five senators on a three-yearly basis (for a total of eighty since the War of Secession, and one hundred and ten prior). These senators produce the legislation that consular decrees are meant to facilitate, as well as serve as a check on consuls who exceed their authority in any way. Senators are almost all members of one or other of the political parties, although there are a few independent members in Senate Hall.

The Senate controls national issues such as taxation, defence spending, prohibition, foreign affairs and the economy. The Senate can also strike down any consular decree they disagree with, providing at least two thirds of senators vote against it. Senators are free to vote in whichever direction they like, although the majority vote along party lines.

Not all political power is centred in Streben, though. The provinces each have their own elected governors and legislatures, who handle local issues, such as law enforcement and legislation, highway building and maintenance, and firearms regulation.

There are four main political parties in Vinland, the two largest being the Commonwealth Party and the National Conservative Party, both of whom are centrist, with the former marginally on the left and the latter just as marginally on the right. The Commonwealthers and the Conservatives have existed since Vinland gained its independence and elections have characteristically seen minor shifts to either side of the fifty percent mark in each party’s share of the vote. Many Vinlanders see the two main parties as being virtually identical, with the same level of nepotism, unethical practices and culture of favours in each.

In recent years, two parties with more radical ideas have been making great headway, each racking up around 10-15% of the popular vote. The Collectivist Workers’ Party was founded in 896, inspired by the revolution of the “Glorious Nineteenth” in Tchielsovo. The CWP officially believes that since class rebellion is inevitable, the party should attempt to gain power peacefully through democratic means (after all, the voters are the people). Unofficially, the Collectivists fund and organise several militia groups that use violence to intimidate rivals and to guard against the militias of the Vinlandic Nationalist Workers’ Party. Although the CWP considers all other parties to be its ideological opponents, it sees only the VNWP as its true enemies.

Like the CWP, the Nationalists gain the bulk of their support amongst the working class, but their creed is on the far extreme. Collectivists believe in the state working to support its people, while the Nationalists preach that it is the place of the worker to support the state, to make it stronger and more able to survive conflicts with its enemies in a hostile world. Anders Festredner, the VNWP’s demagogic leader, frequently rails against collectivists, who he blames for crippling the Commonwealth military during the War of Secession, and against the two main political parties, for being elitist robber barons in the collectivists' pockets. Worryingly to Festredner’s many opponents, this message seems to be going down well with a sizeable minority of Vinlanders, and street battles between armed groups of VNWP and CWP supporters are growing in number and in scale. In some areas, the police or state militias are turning a blind eye to such violence, or even tacitly supporting the VNWP against the Collectivists, seeing the Nationalists as the lesser evil.

With both extremist parties recently winning seats in a number of provincial elections, many commentators predict that the Senate elections of 932 may see a radical shift in the balance of Vinland’s political power.

To be continued...