For Want of A Sandwich - A Franz Ferdinand Lives Wikibox TL
- Thread starter MaskedPickle
- Start date
Malacca is a city-state in Southeast Asia, bordered by the Straits of Malacca, Johor to the south and Negeri Sembilan to the north.
History
Due to its strategic location on the eponymous straits between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, Malacca was part of the Portuguese, Dutch and British Empires, the latter taking control of the city in 1826 as the Straits Settlements, separated from the Federated Malay States and forming a key part of British control of Southeast Asia, next to Singapore : the Straits Settlements were maintained throughout the eventful period that preceded the abortive attempt to form a Malayan Federation.
As such, following the South Asian War (1964-1967) and the Japanese invasion of Malaya, Malacca was, as Singapore, declared a military governorate directly administered by the Japanese Ministry of Navy : the British administrative frame was maintained by the Japanese for the sake of maintaining trade in the area and Malacca, even if it suffered from the sometimes harsh rule of the Japanese Navy, was able to blossom as compared to Singapore, that suffered the impact of the expulsion of the Chinese population. Malacca became one of the fastest-growing cities in Southeast Asia, modernizing under Japanese investments and attracting large swarths of migration from China and Japan.
In 1987, with the collapse of the Japanese Empire, Malacca chose not to integrate any of the neighboring sultanates, viewing them as too backwards to integrate its economy, and became an independent city-state on 27 October 1987, with Mayor Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik serving as the city-state’s first President.
Ever since, Malacca remains the most prosperous country in the Malayan peninsula and fully functions as a representative democratic city-state, major trade, innovation and tourism hub.
Political situation
An unitary presidential constitution republic according to its 1998 Constitution, inspired by other political systems in small states such as Brussels or the Ryukyus, Malacca guarantees freedom of expression, religion and equality between its various peoples : in reality however, a Japanese-educated Malay-speaking majority, that made its way in the upper spheres of society during the Japanese era, continues to pull the string of powers and leads the Malaccan Independence Party, the big tent party that has controlled the Presidency and the Parliament since the country’s independence.
Idris bin Haron, an electrical engineer and former Minister of the Economy, has served as the President of Malacca since 1 October 2016, having been re-elected in 2021. As all its predecessors, he is a member of the Malaccan Independence Party.
Social situation and population
Due to its prosperity, even enhanced after the relative decline of Singapore, Malacca welcomes large Chinese, Indian, Indochinese, Thai communities, along with a more recent and growing African migration : interracial marriage is common and nearly half of the Malaccan population claims other descent than Malay. Nevertheless, Malay remains the lingua franca of the city-state, while Islam, usually prevalent in the Malayan peninsula, barely forms the majority along with Chinese folk religions, Hinduism and Buddhism. Due to its small size, the city-state is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.
Believing in its manifest destiny of becoming a beacon for the Malays, Malacca ranks high in terms of democracy, ensuring high scores in terms of representative democracy along with a high standard of living, with freedom of religion, expression and association, along with large access to education and health care : GRSM rights and women’s rights are however left behind, along with a growing gap between ethnic Malays and Chinese and recent immigrants, who are mostly left to manual labor and domestic works.
Economy
A founding member of the Pan-Asian Union, Malacca enjoys one of the highest GDP per capita in the world, thanks to a strategic localization that allows the city-state to control all trade coming through the Straits of Malacca, a position even enhanced by the decline of Singapore and the troubles in Indonesia and the Indian subcontinent : even if maritime trade remains the most important part of Malaccan economy, an effort was put on diversification and modernization starting with the Japanese era, allowing Malacca to be a major player in international finance, logistics, real estate, high-tech manufacturing, tourism and research : considered as a tax haven by the World Council, Malacca remains a darling of hedge funds and other high-value investment firms.
Military
The build-up of the Islamic Federation of Malaya, along with the assassination of the President of Malacca by a professional hitman during a fashion show in 2001, made the Malaccan government worried on its security : failing to attract recruits into its armies, the government has turned to mercenary work, engaging European, Chinese, American and Japanese veterans into its military arms and buying state-of-the-art equipment from the United States, Germany or China, while considering the usage of military robotry.
Culture
More than four centuries of European settlement along with twenty years of booming Japanese investments has turned Malacca into a most unique city in Southeast Asia, keeping a Malay uniting trait in its most heterogenous mixup. The Malaccan skyline welcomes some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world and, along with its cultural heritage and numerous museums, made it a popular tourism destination for Chinese, Australian and Indochinese citizens, starting to build up a reputation of a city of delights, relatively unheard of in a Muslim-majority country and attracting Internetz celebrities.
History
Due to its strategic location on the eponymous straits between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, Malacca was part of the Portuguese, Dutch and British Empires, the latter taking control of the city in 1826 as the Straits Settlements, separated from the Federated Malay States and forming a key part of British control of Southeast Asia, next to Singapore : the Straits Settlements were maintained throughout the eventful period that preceded the abortive attempt to form a Malayan Federation.
As such, following the South Asian War (1964-1967) and the Japanese invasion of Malaya, Malacca was, as Singapore, declared a military governorate directly administered by the Japanese Ministry of Navy : the British administrative frame was maintained by the Japanese for the sake of maintaining trade in the area and Malacca, even if it suffered from the sometimes harsh rule of the Japanese Navy, was able to blossom as compared to Singapore, that suffered the impact of the expulsion of the Chinese population. Malacca became one of the fastest-growing cities in Southeast Asia, modernizing under Japanese investments and attracting large swarths of migration from China and Japan.
In 1987, with the collapse of the Japanese Empire, Malacca chose not to integrate any of the neighboring sultanates, viewing them as too backwards to integrate its economy, and became an independent city-state on 27 October 1987, with Mayor Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik serving as the city-state’s first President.
Ever since, Malacca remains the most prosperous country in the Malayan peninsula and fully functions as a representative democratic city-state, major trade, innovation and tourism hub.
Political situation
An unitary presidential constitution republic according to its 1998 Constitution, inspired by other political systems in small states such as Brussels or the Ryukyus, Malacca guarantees freedom of expression, religion and equality between its various peoples : in reality however, a Japanese-educated Malay-speaking majority, that made its way in the upper spheres of society during the Japanese era, continues to pull the string of powers and leads the Malaccan Independence Party, the big tent party that has controlled the Presidency and the Parliament since the country’s independence.
Idris bin Haron, an electrical engineer and former Minister of the Economy, has served as the President of Malacca since 1 October 2016, having been re-elected in 2021. As all its predecessors, he is a member of the Malaccan Independence Party.
Social situation and population
Due to its prosperity, even enhanced after the relative decline of Singapore, Malacca welcomes large Chinese, Indian, Indochinese, Thai communities, along with a more recent and growing African migration : interracial marriage is common and nearly half of the Malaccan population claims other descent than Malay. Nevertheless, Malay remains the lingua franca of the city-state, while Islam, usually prevalent in the Malayan peninsula, barely forms the majority along with Chinese folk religions, Hinduism and Buddhism. Due to its small size, the city-state is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.
Believing in its manifest destiny of becoming a beacon for the Malays, Malacca ranks high in terms of democracy, ensuring high scores in terms of representative democracy along with a high standard of living, with freedom of religion, expression and association, along with large access to education and health care : GRSM rights and women’s rights are however left behind, along with a growing gap between ethnic Malays and Chinese and recent immigrants, who are mostly left to manual labor and domestic works.
Economy
A founding member of the Pan-Asian Union, Malacca enjoys one of the highest GDP per capita in the world, thanks to a strategic localization that allows the city-state to control all trade coming through the Straits of Malacca, a position even enhanced by the decline of Singapore and the troubles in Indonesia and the Indian subcontinent : even if maritime trade remains the most important part of Malaccan economy, an effort was put on diversification and modernization starting with the Japanese era, allowing Malacca to be a major player in international finance, logistics, real estate, high-tech manufacturing, tourism and research : considered as a tax haven by the World Council, Malacca remains a darling of hedge funds and other high-value investment firms.
Military
The build-up of the Islamic Federation of Malaya, along with the assassination of the President of Malacca by a professional hitman during a fashion show in 2001, made the Malaccan government worried on its security : failing to attract recruits into its armies, the government has turned to mercenary work, engaging European, Chinese, American and Japanese veterans into its military arms and buying state-of-the-art equipment from the United States, Germany or China, while considering the usage of military robotry.
Culture
More than four centuries of European settlement along with twenty years of booming Japanese investments has turned Malacca into a most unique city in Southeast Asia, keeping a Malay uniting trait in its most heterogenous mixup. The Malaccan skyline welcomes some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world and, along with its cultural heritage and numerous museums, made it a popular tourism destination for Chinese, Australian and Indochinese citizens, starting to build up a reputation of a city of delights, relatively unheard of in a Muslim-majority country and attracting Internetz celebrities.
The military invasion of Pahang, better known as the Pahang War, was a military conflict between the Islamic State of Malaya and the Sultanate of Pahang, lasting from 1 August to 2 september 2009 and ending in a complete Malayan victory and the annexation of Pahang into the Islamic State.
After the splitting of the Federated Malay States after the South Asian War (1964-1967), Japanese policies had been to discourage violently Malay unity, as Admiral Yasuhiro Nakasone estimated that “a united state controlling Singapore is the last thing Japanese trade would like”. As a result, the Malay peninsula was splitted between petty kingdoms and Thailand. With the crumbling of the Japanese Empire and the Thai Civil War, as the Malay kingdoms turned to China for protection, Pan-Malay islamists were able to gain their independence from Thailand, where decades of anti-Muslim persecution had only led independentists to radicalize, winning independence in 1992 and becoming an islamic republic in 1994.
The rhetoric of Malayan Head of State Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat was clear : Malay unity had to be achieved, under the double shield of Malay race and islam. Under a moderate (as compared to Egypt) yet firm interpretation of the sharia, Malaya began to build up its arsenal and rhetoric, with Japanese and Russian support, and saw the 2004 tsunami as a divine sign in favor of righteousness. Pahang, the biggest kingdom in the Malay peninsula and subject to civil strife due to a 40-years-long dictatorship, was seen as the first target of an unification process.
Malayan troops entered Pahangese early on 1 August 2009, pretending to have been provoked by rogue elements of the Pahangese Army, and quickly overwhelmed the country. The attack was immediately condemned by China and the whole Pan-Asian Union, along with the World Council itself : nevertheless, the Pahangese army, totally outmatched, undersupplied and corrupted, was forced to capitulate within a month, with the capital, Pekan, being conquered on 2 September 2009, with Prime Minister Najib Razak forced to flee into exile. The Islamic Republic of Malaya immediately proclaimed the annexation of Pahang.
The universally condemned invasion led to an international embargo over Malaya but no military action from China, Indochina and other major players in East Asia, not wishing to further destablize the region, although all independent Malay states entered protection treaties with China. If the Pahang royal family quickly went into exile, former Pahang Prime Minister Najib Razak set up a government-in-exile in Shanghai.
Imposition of charia over the relatively liberal Pahangese society wasn’t without difficulties, as early September 2015 saw unprecedented protests throughout the country, asking for a relaxation of the policies and a referendum of Pahangese status ; to the government-in-exile’s dismay, the protests weren’t so much about a restablishment of independence or the sultanate but just a thirst for democracy. Although thoroughly repressed, the protests led newly designated Head of State Mujahid Yusof Rawa to promise reforms, even if all pretenses were forgotten after the 2016 coup d’etat in Malaya, and Pahang continued to be forcefully united to Malaya.
Malta is a country in Southern Europe, an island in the Mediterranean Sea, lying south of Italy, east of Tunisia and north of Libya.
History
Part of the British Empire since the 1814 Treaty of Paris, Malta, due to its very location, was tantamount in the British strategy in Europe, home to the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean Fleet’s headquarters and would become a hot point of Italo-British relations, as Italian pyrists began to agitate in favor of Malta’s independence or reunion with Italy, given its large Italian-speaking minority and its closeness to Italy and North African colonies. As such, home rule was refused by the British even after riots in 1919 and 1931, fearing Italian influence ; Maltese independence gained traction after the World War, as the Syndicalist conquest of Gibraltar at the onset of the war and the need for communications between North Africa and Italy made military presence in Malta heavily heightened, resulting in Malta gaining home rule at last in 1950.
As Malta became a point of contention in Europe during the Greater Game, Maltese nationalist parties split on the issue of their relations with Great Britain, between George Borg Oliver’s conservatives who favored a Maltese dominion as a full member of the Commonwealth, and Dom Mintoff’s socialists who wanted integration within Great Britain itself, with representation in the House of Commons or full independence. A referendum on integration was defeated in 1956 at a narrow margin ; Borg Oliver then took the upper hand, having Parliament accept the status of Dominion in 1958, winning a referendum on the issue the following year, before Malta became independent on 21 September 1964, as a full member of the Commonwealth, with the monarch of England as its head of state, a status it retains to this day.
The modern history of Malta was nevertheless uneasy, with the Years of Lead prevailing from 1967 to 1991 : as the Greater Game made strange bedfellows, Dom Mintoff soon acquainted himself with Italian intelligence and petitioned for full independence, resulting in his arrest by the British Army in 1967 on orders of British Prime Minister Enoch Powell and the outlawing of the Maltese Labour Party. Massive riots for independence and against Britain followed in 1971, 1974 and culminated in 1981, two years after the assassination of Prime Minister Guido de Marco, with fraudulent elections and massive Italian interference. Dom Mintoff was finally freed from prison in 1986 and the New Maltese Labour Party was finally allowed to compete in the 1991 general election.
Political situation
As a dominion of the British Commonwealth, Malta is an unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy, closely modeled on the Westminster system, even if the country is fully independent and self-governing. The legislative system is composed of a lower house, the Legislative Assembly, elected by universal suffrage every five years, and an upper house, the Senate, elected by great electors every nine years ; the Parliament appoints the cabinet based on its majority. The judiciary system is based on British Common law. Malta retains one of the highest voters turnouts in the world ; the government seats in Valletta.
The head of state, the Queen of Malta, is the Queen of England Anne II, as it’s the case for all dominions, being represented by Governor-General, Evarist Bartolo, a former Foreign Minister, appointed on 1 January 2014 and whose term was reconducted for five years in 2019 ; his powers are purely ceremonial. The current Prime Minister is Michael Falzon, a lawyer and member of the New Maltese Labour Party (centre-left), elected on 31 May 2014 and re-elected on 25 May 2019 ; elected on an agenda of social reform and building up of an economy oriented towards geriatric care, Falzon had to deal with a major backlash from the Opposition, formed of the Christian-Democratic Nationalist Party, criticizing his policies after the Valetta terrorist bombings on 1 December 2019, forcing the Labour government to adopt restrictions on immigration. The backlash continued with the Wuchang Pneumonia pandemic, due to the very strict lockdown and containment policies adopted by the government.
Social situation and population
Apart from a small British retiree population and growing Arab and Chinese communities, Malta is almost exclusively populated by natives, with one of the biggest population densities in the world and a rapidly decreasing population, both due to the aging of the Maltese population and the brain and youth drains enacted by both Britain and Italy : the most famous scion of the Maltese diaspora being current British Prime Minister Peter Buttigieg, the son of a Maltese-born scholar. Since the 2019 terrorist attacks in Valetta, perpetrated by Libyan islamists, Maltese immigration policies have been more restricted.
A first-world country, human rights, education, health care (mostly in the geriatric field) and access to information are considered very high in Malta, even if due to the still strong influence of the Catholic Church, reinforced by decades of political domination by the conservative Nationalist Party, have led to heavy restrictions on abortion and access to birth control, along with banning of gay marriage and cloning. One fixture of the Maltese landscape was also its corruption, due to decades of single party rule along with clientelism and shady dealings with British military forces, reaching their height in the sentencing of Prime Minister John Dalli for misappropriation of funds in 2012, launching a massive investigation into corruption throughout the society.
Economy
A small country with a tertiary economy, Malta is especially dependent on foreign trade, manufacturing (especially electronics and pharmaceuticals), naval shipyards (an inheritance from the British colonial era) and moreover tourism, as the country’s geographic location and warm weather make it one of the most popular destinations in the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, as a member of both the Commonwealth and the European Community, Malta remains a strong economy, with the Maltese lira being indexed on the British pound. Having invested in wind and solar energy, the Maltese government is also making efforts towards the silver economy, providing tax cuts and preferential treatments for British retirees who would wish to invest or buy property on the island, leading some British politicians to point out Malta as a heavy burden on British trade and economy and some even criticizing Malta as a tax haven or a high place of corruption. Nevertheless, since the 2012 Dalli scandal, corruption in Maltese politics have been much less prevalent, according to the World Council anyway.
Military
A member of the Reichspakt, Malta remains a minimal military force, mostly devoted to the Navy and rescue missions ; the main fixture of Malta remains its aeronaval forces, with the Valletta base being subject to a 99-year lease since independence in 1964, once occupied by the British and now used as German Mediterranean Fleet headquarters along with Corfu. As Malta was considered by British strategists as “an unsinkable aircraft carrier”, the military base was also seen as an efficient deterrent against Italy’s pretentions during the Greater Game. The Reichspakt military garrison is still one of the major employers in Malta, encouraging the still preponderant naval shipyards.
Culture
Thanks to its rich history, magnificent landscapes and buildings, Malta has plenty to offer to its tourists and has made as much ; nurturing of the Maltese cultural exception, due to its unique Semitic language, has also been encouraged by the British, in order to distance as much as they could Malta from their once threatening neighbour, Italy. Malta is also known for the massive influence the Catholic Church retains, with the clergy being reserved seats in the Senate.
History
Part of the British Empire since the 1814 Treaty of Paris, Malta, due to its very location, was tantamount in the British strategy in Europe, home to the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean Fleet’s headquarters and would become a hot point of Italo-British relations, as Italian pyrists began to agitate in favor of Malta’s independence or reunion with Italy, given its large Italian-speaking minority and its closeness to Italy and North African colonies. As such, home rule was refused by the British even after riots in 1919 and 1931, fearing Italian influence ; Maltese independence gained traction after the World War, as the Syndicalist conquest of Gibraltar at the onset of the war and the need for communications between North Africa and Italy made military presence in Malta heavily heightened, resulting in Malta gaining home rule at last in 1950.
As Malta became a point of contention in Europe during the Greater Game, Maltese nationalist parties split on the issue of their relations with Great Britain, between George Borg Oliver’s conservatives who favored a Maltese dominion as a full member of the Commonwealth, and Dom Mintoff’s socialists who wanted integration within Great Britain itself, with representation in the House of Commons or full independence. A referendum on integration was defeated in 1956 at a narrow margin ; Borg Oliver then took the upper hand, having Parliament accept the status of Dominion in 1958, winning a referendum on the issue the following year, before Malta became independent on 21 September 1964, as a full member of the Commonwealth, with the monarch of England as its head of state, a status it retains to this day.
The modern history of Malta was nevertheless uneasy, with the Years of Lead prevailing from 1967 to 1991 : as the Greater Game made strange bedfellows, Dom Mintoff soon acquainted himself with Italian intelligence and petitioned for full independence, resulting in his arrest by the British Army in 1967 on orders of British Prime Minister Enoch Powell and the outlawing of the Maltese Labour Party. Massive riots for independence and against Britain followed in 1971, 1974 and culminated in 1981, two years after the assassination of Prime Minister Guido de Marco, with fraudulent elections and massive Italian interference. Dom Mintoff was finally freed from prison in 1986 and the New Maltese Labour Party was finally allowed to compete in the 1991 general election.
Political situation
As a dominion of the British Commonwealth, Malta is an unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy, closely modeled on the Westminster system, even if the country is fully independent and self-governing. The legislative system is composed of a lower house, the Legislative Assembly, elected by universal suffrage every five years, and an upper house, the Senate, elected by great electors every nine years ; the Parliament appoints the cabinet based on its majority. The judiciary system is based on British Common law. Malta retains one of the highest voters turnouts in the world ; the government seats in Valletta.
The head of state, the Queen of Malta, is the Queen of England Anne II, as it’s the case for all dominions, being represented by Governor-General, Evarist Bartolo, a former Foreign Minister, appointed on 1 January 2014 and whose term was reconducted for five years in 2019 ; his powers are purely ceremonial. The current Prime Minister is Michael Falzon, a lawyer and member of the New Maltese Labour Party (centre-left), elected on 31 May 2014 and re-elected on 25 May 2019 ; elected on an agenda of social reform and building up of an economy oriented towards geriatric care, Falzon had to deal with a major backlash from the Opposition, formed of the Christian-Democratic Nationalist Party, criticizing his policies after the Valetta terrorist bombings on 1 December 2019, forcing the Labour government to adopt restrictions on immigration. The backlash continued with the Wuchang Pneumonia pandemic, due to the very strict lockdown and containment policies adopted by the government.
Social situation and population
Apart from a small British retiree population and growing Arab and Chinese communities, Malta is almost exclusively populated by natives, with one of the biggest population densities in the world and a rapidly decreasing population, both due to the aging of the Maltese population and the brain and youth drains enacted by both Britain and Italy : the most famous scion of the Maltese diaspora being current British Prime Minister Peter Buttigieg, the son of a Maltese-born scholar. Since the 2019 terrorist attacks in Valetta, perpetrated by Libyan islamists, Maltese immigration policies have been more restricted.
A first-world country, human rights, education, health care (mostly in the geriatric field) and access to information are considered very high in Malta, even if due to the still strong influence of the Catholic Church, reinforced by decades of political domination by the conservative Nationalist Party, have led to heavy restrictions on abortion and access to birth control, along with banning of gay marriage and cloning. One fixture of the Maltese landscape was also its corruption, due to decades of single party rule along with clientelism and shady dealings with British military forces, reaching their height in the sentencing of Prime Minister John Dalli for misappropriation of funds in 2012, launching a massive investigation into corruption throughout the society.
Economy
A small country with a tertiary economy, Malta is especially dependent on foreign trade, manufacturing (especially electronics and pharmaceuticals), naval shipyards (an inheritance from the British colonial era) and moreover tourism, as the country’s geographic location and warm weather make it one of the most popular destinations in the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, as a member of both the Commonwealth and the European Community, Malta remains a strong economy, with the Maltese lira being indexed on the British pound. Having invested in wind and solar energy, the Maltese government is also making efforts towards the silver economy, providing tax cuts and preferential treatments for British retirees who would wish to invest or buy property on the island, leading some British politicians to point out Malta as a heavy burden on British trade and economy and some even criticizing Malta as a tax haven or a high place of corruption. Nevertheless, since the 2012 Dalli scandal, corruption in Maltese politics have been much less prevalent, according to the World Council anyway.
Military
A member of the Reichspakt, Malta remains a minimal military force, mostly devoted to the Navy and rescue missions ; the main fixture of Malta remains its aeronaval forces, with the Valletta base being subject to a 99-year lease since independence in 1964, once occupied by the British and now used as German Mediterranean Fleet headquarters along with Corfu. As Malta was considered by British strategists as “an unsinkable aircraft carrier”, the military base was also seen as an efficient deterrent against Italy’s pretentions during the Greater Game. The Reichspakt military garrison is still one of the major employers in Malta, encouraging the still preponderant naval shipyards.
Culture
Thanks to its rich history, magnificent landscapes and buildings, Malta has plenty to offer to its tourists and has made as much ; nurturing of the Maltese cultural exception, due to its unique Semitic language, has also been encouraged by the British, in order to distance as much as they could Malta from their once threatening neighbour, Italy. Malta is also known for the massive influence the Catholic Church retains, with the clergy being reserved seats in the Senate.
Mesopotamia is a country in the Middle East, bordered in the north and east by Iran, in the south, the Persian Gulf in the south and the Hashemite Empire in the west.
History
The scramble that followed the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after the Great European War convinced the United Kingdom to move into the Basra vilayet and Dammam in 1920, as the British had been present in Kuwait since 1899 and in Abadan, then part of Iran, since 1909. Britain had been neutral in the Great European War and had reached a gentlemen’s agreement with Germany regarding the upheavals in the Middle East, not going as far as Baghdad since the Germans wished to secure the Bagdadbahn in spite of the Arab Revolt. The Foreign Office claimed to secure the Shia Arab population, fearing they would be persecuted under an unified Arab kingdom ; in fact, it was about securing the Persian Gulf and hoping for prospective oil fields (they were discovered in 1938). On 24 July 1923, the Kingdom of Mesopotamia was founded as a British protectorate, with Sheikh of Mohammerah Khaz’al bin Jabir at its helm and its capital in Basra, comprised of the former Basra vilayet, Iranian Khuzestan and northeastern Arabia. A rebellion against British control was quelled down in 1925.
Carved out of a dying empire, Mesopotamia was the prime example of being caught between a rock and a hard place : the Hashemites claimed the country as part of a greater Arab nation ; Iranians too, as fellow Shia believers. Abdullah bin Khaz’al, king from 1936, tried to use oil windfall to modernize his demesne but had to suffer widespread corruption and religious hostility ; the 1951 Iranian revolution resulted in a general strike in Abadan, quickly repressed by the British who deprived Abdullah from its few powers and reinforced their military presence in the Persian Gulf. Mesopotamia became independent in 1961, as part as the Commonwealth and under close European supervision due to its oil wealth and the rises of both Arabia and Iran.
In 1974, Prime Minister Fuad al-Rikabi overthrew the aging King and proclaimed a Republic ; first seen as aligned on the Europeans, his secular policies drew the ire of the Shia clergy and, in an unexpected move, signed an alliance with Iran in 1977. Fearing Iranian expansionism, the Hashemites, with Western support, invaded Mesopotamia, starting the First Mesopotamian War (1978-1980) ; the war ended in a stalemate encouraged by the Great Powers, with both Hashemites and Iranians guaranteeing the independence of Mesopotamia. The Hashemite Civil War, starting in 1982, caused oil prices to fall down, plunging Mesopotamia, along with the world, in an economic crisis ; in a last ditch effort to save his country’s wealth, al-Rikabi nationalized oil assets in 1983 but was assassinated by a Shia fanatic a few months later ; his successor, Field Marshal Abd al-Karim Qasim couldn’t hold and he was overthrown by a religious uprising the following year, supported by Iran. An islamic republic, led by a college of Shia clerics headed by President Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and Prime Minister Ali Sistani, was established in 1984, making Mesopotamia a true Iranian puppet.
Muhammad Muhammad-Sadiq al-Sadr, a cleric related to the President and a known opponent to Iran, was assassinated in 1987 by the Iranian secret services, and a proposal for unification with Iran the following year had to be quickly withdrawn due to Hashemite uproar. The Islamic Republic of Mesopotamia, synonymous with political repression and highly conservative policies, nevertheless saw a period of prosperity and peacefulness, as oil prices recovered and allowed Mesopotamia to modernize, even if corruption remained widespread within the corporatist system and social inequity increased. With the death of Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr in 2004, his successor, Moqtada al-Sadr, son to Muhammad Muhammad-Sadiq, pushed for a controlled liberalization of the democratic system, allowing for a new Constitution in 2005 and the retirement of Sistani the following year, along with free elections. Nevertheless, the social divide, Moqtada’s too cautious approach, the falling of oil prices due to the conversion of Western economy to nuclear and renewable energies along with dissent encouraged by the Hashemite Empire, led to a democratic uprising in 2011, starting the Mesopotamian Civil War (2011-2015), that turned in a proxy war between Arabia and Iran. The war ended in 2015 with the victory of democratic forces, establishing a secular republic led by Prime Minister and democratic activist Laila al-Othman.
The new regime remained very close to Iran and on 11 March 2020, Mesopotamia shocked the world by announcing its will to unify with their eastern neighbour, citing the succesful integration of Afghanistan earlier in the year. The Hashemites responded by declaring war on Iran, with both armies invading Mesopotamia in the Second Mesopotamian War. The World Council immediately pushed for deescalation of the conflict that turned into trench warfare ; soon, the Wuchang pneumonia would devastate the troops, resulting in a temporary ceasefire, with Mesopotamia split along a Najaf-Kuwait line. As the Wuchang pneumonia is now receding in the Middle East and skirmishes still happening on the front, many fear that the Second Mesopotamian War will soon resume, dragging the whole Middle East along...
Political situation
Since 2015, Mesopotamia has been a semi-presidential republic, inspired by the Iranian system, with both the President and Prime Minister being designated by the bicameral Parliament, composed of the Shura Council as its upper house and the House of Representatives as its lower house. Members of the Shura Council are elected for nine years, with elections every three years for one third of the assembly ; the House of Representatives is elected every five years. The President is Mohsen Rezaee, a Conservative who rallied to the democrats and was elected for a seven-year-mandate ; the House of Representatives is dominated by the Coalition for a Democratic Mesopotamia, a big tent coalition who led the Mesopotamian Revolution and Civil War, led by Laila al-Othman, an author and political dissident who emerged as the leader of the democratic front, resulting in her becoming Prime Minister. The general elections scheduled for 2020 were postponed due to the Second Mesopotamian War.
Due to 30 years of an islamic regime, the new Mesopotamian republic, which has proclaimed itself as secular, has yet to change its institutions ; the judiciary system is still deeply modeled on the Sha’ria for law and personal matters. The lack of advancement in five years of its democratization process is seen as a cause for unification with Iran. Following the precedent of the former Afghan government, the Mesopotamian institutions had anticipated its general resignation and resulting integration as a Province of Iran, but the eruption of war prevented such moves, resulting in the Mesopotamian government being now a caretaker one, devoid of any powers due to the divide of the country along frontlines.
Social situation, population
With 24 million people, with a third being under 20, Mesopotamia is a blooming nation, yet one of the most ethnically diverse in the Middle East : with the majority being Arab, the country also counts Bedouins, Mandaean, Ma’dan, Lur, Qashqai and Persian minorities, ranging from the tribes in the west, a westernized Arab population in the cities of Basra, Karbala and Najaf, and Lurs in the east ; even if Arabic remains the official language, most Mespotamians also speak Persian as a second language. Shia Islam generally remains the unifying point for the Mesopotamian population, who mostly self-identify as Arabic. This dichotomy, along with the feeling that the nation was a mere colonial construction by the British, aggravated the foreign claims from both Mesopotamia and Hashemite Arabia, that each considered Mesopotamia as their due territory.
Thanks to oil and good natural conditions thanks to the Tigris and Euphrates, Basra, the capital and largest city, along with Najaf, Karbala, were allowed to flourish during the century, as the development of Kuwait, Abadan and Dammam owned much more to the oil industry ; the oil income allowed the government to drain the unhealthy swamps in southern Mesopotamia and develop the urbanism of the old Shia cities, thanks to construction workers emigrating from Bharatavarsha and China. Nowadays, Basra is aligned on the standards of living of London and Berlin, with its technical universities renowned throughout the world (Najaf’s seminary occupies this role for the religious matters) and being a prized destination for business expatriates. The quality of its hospitals, for example, was noticed and prized during the SARS and Wuchang pneumonia epidemics. Nevertheless, real estate and the cost of living are terrifyingly expensive and most Mesopotamians are unable to afford it, turning many to immigrate to Iran or the Hashemite Arabia.
Freedom of speech and press are much more guaranteed since the fall of the islamic republic in 2015, but the main issue in Mesopotamia remains corruption and clientelism, all well fed by oil incomes ; even the official efforts during the islamist era didn’t quell down this system.
Economy
Located between the Tigris and the Euphrates (Mesopotamia means Land Between the Two Rivers in Greek), one of the cradles of civilization, Mesopotamia still relies on agriculture, encouraged by the natural alluvial plain that existed since Prehistoric times, providing a natural irrigation. But in the XXth Century, the country owned a lot to the Persian Gulf and its oil deposits : extracted in Khuzestan, Ghawar and the Basra region, refined in Abadan and Kuwait, nationalized since 1983, Mesopotamia has been one of the largest oil producers in the world throughout the century and now comes in fourth, behind Russia, Hashemite Empire and the United States. The financial manna provided by oil practically funded the modernization of the country, counting among the best infrastructures in Asia and aligning, in its cities, the standard of living on European ones ; nevertheless, since the 1990s and the conversion of most Western economies to nuclear and renewable energies, oil prices have since dropped, making Mesopotamia a prime example of the Dutch disease, failing its reconversion ; the sharp rise in taxes in the 2000s is considered one of the main causes of the Mesopotamian Revolution, and the country still accounts for one of the largest gap in GDP per capita in the world, as 1 % of the population holds two thirds of the country’s GDP while hunger and poverty are a common sight in the rural country.
Military
The First Mesopotamian War limited the size and equipment of the Mesopotamian Army, that had been trained by the British Army during the protectorate and early independence eras. Preponderant during the early republican era, the army’s role in Mesopotamian politics decreased a lot during the islamic era, with islamic supervisors being appointed to survey the army ; the mass defections and weakness of the army during the Civil War proved it right during the Civil War. Still recovering when the Second Mesopotamian War erupted, the Army didn’t opposed much resistance, with the Wuchang pneumonia doing more casualties than actual fighting ; the few remaining troops now serve for peacekeeping missions during the ceasefire.
Culture
Born from British meddling in the Middle East, Mesopotamia decided very early to concentrate its national identity on the Shia faith, resulting in the establishment of an islamic republic two decades after independence. Hosting the Shia holy cities of Najaf (tomb of Imam Ali) and Karbala (tomb of Imam Hussein), Mesopotamia’s social mores were regulated by a powerful Shia clergy, that was in power from 1984 to 2015 and still remains very powerful in nowadays Mesopotamia. As a result, even if the death penalty has been abolished in 2015, fornication and homosexuality are still criminal offenses in Mesopotamia ; nevertheless, the quite strong Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian minorities in Mesopotamia were never quite persecuted, living under a dhimmi status of legal protection as “people of the Book”. The Mesopotamians were also consistent into celebrating their pre-Islamic history, with the government encouraging the renovation and visits of Ur, Uruk (Sumerian) and Susa (Elamite), even during the islamist period. The oil museum in Abadan and the Monument to the Two Rivers in Basra complete the rich culture of Mesopotamia, a source of renown, even if the country remains quite low internationally for entertainment, owing to years of censorship, its most prominent artist being writer Saadi Yousef.
History
The scramble that followed the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after the Great European War convinced the United Kingdom to move into the Basra vilayet and Dammam in 1920, as the British had been present in Kuwait since 1899 and in Abadan, then part of Iran, since 1909. Britain had been neutral in the Great European War and had reached a gentlemen’s agreement with Germany regarding the upheavals in the Middle East, not going as far as Baghdad since the Germans wished to secure the Bagdadbahn in spite of the Arab Revolt. The Foreign Office claimed to secure the Shia Arab population, fearing they would be persecuted under an unified Arab kingdom ; in fact, it was about securing the Persian Gulf and hoping for prospective oil fields (they were discovered in 1938). On 24 July 1923, the Kingdom of Mesopotamia was founded as a British protectorate, with Sheikh of Mohammerah Khaz’al bin Jabir at its helm and its capital in Basra, comprised of the former Basra vilayet, Iranian Khuzestan and northeastern Arabia. A rebellion against British control was quelled down in 1925.
Carved out of a dying empire, Mesopotamia was the prime example of being caught between a rock and a hard place : the Hashemites claimed the country as part of a greater Arab nation ; Iranians too, as fellow Shia believers. Abdullah bin Khaz’al, king from 1936, tried to use oil windfall to modernize his demesne but had to suffer widespread corruption and religious hostility ; the 1951 Iranian revolution resulted in a general strike in Abadan, quickly repressed by the British who deprived Abdullah from its few powers and reinforced their military presence in the Persian Gulf. Mesopotamia became independent in 1961, as part as the Commonwealth and under close European supervision due to its oil wealth and the rises of both Arabia and Iran.
In 1974, Prime Minister Fuad al-Rikabi overthrew the aging King and proclaimed a Republic ; first seen as aligned on the Europeans, his secular policies drew the ire of the Shia clergy and, in an unexpected move, signed an alliance with Iran in 1977. Fearing Iranian expansionism, the Hashemites, with Western support, invaded Mesopotamia, starting the First Mesopotamian War (1978-1980) ; the war ended in a stalemate encouraged by the Great Powers, with both Hashemites and Iranians guaranteeing the independence of Mesopotamia. The Hashemite Civil War, starting in 1982, caused oil prices to fall down, plunging Mesopotamia, along with the world, in an economic crisis ; in a last ditch effort to save his country’s wealth, al-Rikabi nationalized oil assets in 1983 but was assassinated by a Shia fanatic a few months later ; his successor, Field Marshal Abd al-Karim Qasim couldn’t hold and he was overthrown by a religious uprising the following year, supported by Iran. An islamic republic, led by a college of Shia clerics headed by President Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and Prime Minister Ali Sistani, was established in 1984, making Mesopotamia a true Iranian puppet.
Muhammad Muhammad-Sadiq al-Sadr, a cleric related to the President and a known opponent to Iran, was assassinated in 1987 by the Iranian secret services, and a proposal for unification with Iran the following year had to be quickly withdrawn due to Hashemite uproar. The Islamic Republic of Mesopotamia, synonymous with political repression and highly conservative policies, nevertheless saw a period of prosperity and peacefulness, as oil prices recovered and allowed Mesopotamia to modernize, even if corruption remained widespread within the corporatist system and social inequity increased. With the death of Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr in 2004, his successor, Moqtada al-Sadr, son to Muhammad Muhammad-Sadiq, pushed for a controlled liberalization of the democratic system, allowing for a new Constitution in 2005 and the retirement of Sistani the following year, along with free elections. Nevertheless, the social divide, Moqtada’s too cautious approach, the falling of oil prices due to the conversion of Western economy to nuclear and renewable energies along with dissent encouraged by the Hashemite Empire, led to a democratic uprising in 2011, starting the Mesopotamian Civil War (2011-2015), that turned in a proxy war between Arabia and Iran. The war ended in 2015 with the victory of democratic forces, establishing a secular republic led by Prime Minister and democratic activist Laila al-Othman.
The new regime remained very close to Iran and on 11 March 2020, Mesopotamia shocked the world by announcing its will to unify with their eastern neighbour, citing the succesful integration of Afghanistan earlier in the year. The Hashemites responded by declaring war on Iran, with both armies invading Mesopotamia in the Second Mesopotamian War. The World Council immediately pushed for deescalation of the conflict that turned into trench warfare ; soon, the Wuchang pneumonia would devastate the troops, resulting in a temporary ceasefire, with Mesopotamia split along a Najaf-Kuwait line. As the Wuchang pneumonia is now receding in the Middle East and skirmishes still happening on the front, many fear that the Second Mesopotamian War will soon resume, dragging the whole Middle East along...
Political situation
Since 2015, Mesopotamia has been a semi-presidential republic, inspired by the Iranian system, with both the President and Prime Minister being designated by the bicameral Parliament, composed of the Shura Council as its upper house and the House of Representatives as its lower house. Members of the Shura Council are elected for nine years, with elections every three years for one third of the assembly ; the House of Representatives is elected every five years. The President is Mohsen Rezaee, a Conservative who rallied to the democrats and was elected for a seven-year-mandate ; the House of Representatives is dominated by the Coalition for a Democratic Mesopotamia, a big tent coalition who led the Mesopotamian Revolution and Civil War, led by Laila al-Othman, an author and political dissident who emerged as the leader of the democratic front, resulting in her becoming Prime Minister. The general elections scheduled for 2020 were postponed due to the Second Mesopotamian War.
Due to 30 years of an islamic regime, the new Mesopotamian republic, which has proclaimed itself as secular, has yet to change its institutions ; the judiciary system is still deeply modeled on the Sha’ria for law and personal matters. The lack of advancement in five years of its democratization process is seen as a cause for unification with Iran. Following the precedent of the former Afghan government, the Mesopotamian institutions had anticipated its general resignation and resulting integration as a Province of Iran, but the eruption of war prevented such moves, resulting in the Mesopotamian government being now a caretaker one, devoid of any powers due to the divide of the country along frontlines.
Social situation, population
With 24 million people, with a third being under 20, Mesopotamia is a blooming nation, yet one of the most ethnically diverse in the Middle East : with the majority being Arab, the country also counts Bedouins, Mandaean, Ma’dan, Lur, Qashqai and Persian minorities, ranging from the tribes in the west, a westernized Arab population in the cities of Basra, Karbala and Najaf, and Lurs in the east ; even if Arabic remains the official language, most Mespotamians also speak Persian as a second language. Shia Islam generally remains the unifying point for the Mesopotamian population, who mostly self-identify as Arabic. This dichotomy, along with the feeling that the nation was a mere colonial construction by the British, aggravated the foreign claims from both Mesopotamia and Hashemite Arabia, that each considered Mesopotamia as their due territory.
Thanks to oil and good natural conditions thanks to the Tigris and Euphrates, Basra, the capital and largest city, along with Najaf, Karbala, were allowed to flourish during the century, as the development of Kuwait, Abadan and Dammam owned much more to the oil industry ; the oil income allowed the government to drain the unhealthy swamps in southern Mesopotamia and develop the urbanism of the old Shia cities, thanks to construction workers emigrating from Bharatavarsha and China. Nowadays, Basra is aligned on the standards of living of London and Berlin, with its technical universities renowned throughout the world (Najaf’s seminary occupies this role for the religious matters) and being a prized destination for business expatriates. The quality of its hospitals, for example, was noticed and prized during the SARS and Wuchang pneumonia epidemics. Nevertheless, real estate and the cost of living are terrifyingly expensive and most Mesopotamians are unable to afford it, turning many to immigrate to Iran or the Hashemite Arabia.
Freedom of speech and press are much more guaranteed since the fall of the islamic republic in 2015, but the main issue in Mesopotamia remains corruption and clientelism, all well fed by oil incomes ; even the official efforts during the islamist era didn’t quell down this system.
Economy
Located between the Tigris and the Euphrates (Mesopotamia means Land Between the Two Rivers in Greek), one of the cradles of civilization, Mesopotamia still relies on agriculture, encouraged by the natural alluvial plain that existed since Prehistoric times, providing a natural irrigation. But in the XXth Century, the country owned a lot to the Persian Gulf and its oil deposits : extracted in Khuzestan, Ghawar and the Basra region, refined in Abadan and Kuwait, nationalized since 1983, Mesopotamia has been one of the largest oil producers in the world throughout the century and now comes in fourth, behind Russia, Hashemite Empire and the United States. The financial manna provided by oil practically funded the modernization of the country, counting among the best infrastructures in Asia and aligning, in its cities, the standard of living on European ones ; nevertheless, since the 1990s and the conversion of most Western economies to nuclear and renewable energies, oil prices have since dropped, making Mesopotamia a prime example of the Dutch disease, failing its reconversion ; the sharp rise in taxes in the 2000s is considered one of the main causes of the Mesopotamian Revolution, and the country still accounts for one of the largest gap in GDP per capita in the world, as 1 % of the population holds two thirds of the country’s GDP while hunger and poverty are a common sight in the rural country.
Military
The First Mesopotamian War limited the size and equipment of the Mesopotamian Army, that had been trained by the British Army during the protectorate and early independence eras. Preponderant during the early republican era, the army’s role in Mesopotamian politics decreased a lot during the islamic era, with islamic supervisors being appointed to survey the army ; the mass defections and weakness of the army during the Civil War proved it right during the Civil War. Still recovering when the Second Mesopotamian War erupted, the Army didn’t opposed much resistance, with the Wuchang pneumonia doing more casualties than actual fighting ; the few remaining troops now serve for peacekeeping missions during the ceasefire.
Culture
Born from British meddling in the Middle East, Mesopotamia decided very early to concentrate its national identity on the Shia faith, resulting in the establishment of an islamic republic two decades after independence. Hosting the Shia holy cities of Najaf (tomb of Imam Ali) and Karbala (tomb of Imam Hussein), Mesopotamia’s social mores were regulated by a powerful Shia clergy, that was in power from 1984 to 2015 and still remains very powerful in nowadays Mesopotamia. As a result, even if the death penalty has been abolished in 2015, fornication and homosexuality are still criminal offenses in Mesopotamia ; nevertheless, the quite strong Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian minorities in Mesopotamia were never quite persecuted, living under a dhimmi status of legal protection as “people of the Book”. The Mesopotamians were also consistent into celebrating their pre-Islamic history, with the government encouraging the renovation and visits of Ur, Uruk (Sumerian) and Susa (Elamite), even during the islamist period. The oil museum in Abadan and the Monument to the Two Rivers in Basra complete the rich culture of Mesopotamia, a source of renown, even if the country remains quite low internationally for entertainment, owing to years of censorship, its most prominent artist being writer Saadi Yousef.
... After Venustiano Carranza had established his power in Mexico City and had broken all links with Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa, the Mexican Revolution came to a stalemate, as the First and Second Battles of Celaya (1915) fought between General Obregon's Carrancistas and Pancho Villa were undecisive.
But another spectacular turn of events came the same year : supported by the German Foreign Office and General Pasqual Vasquez , former President Victoriano Huerta crossed the Mexican-American border in New Mexico on June, 27 1915, supplied by mercenaries and exiled supporters, and overthrew and killed Carranza in a coup on November, 21 1915. This turn of events led to American condemnation, as President Wilson maintained his presence in Veracruz, and Carrancista Generals Alvaro Obregon, Plutarco E. Calles and Adolfo de la Huerta left with their troops and joined their prior enemies, Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, forming the Constitutionalist United Front. Huerta's return would last less than two months, as he succumbed to cirrhosis on January, 13 1916 ; he was succeeded as President by his main General, Pasqual Orozco.
Orozco was left without his ablest Generals and soon without German weaponry, as the Reich was soon busy with the Great European War ; moreover, the Wilson Administration announced their support to the Constitutionalist United Front on March, 16 1916, as major urban centers throughout Mexico fell into open revolt towards the central government. Orozco's forces were defeated on all fronts and Mexico fell to the United Front on April, 2 1917 ; Orozco fled into exile, while a Constituent Assembly was formed in Puebla, resulting in the adoption of the Mexican Constitution on February, 5 1918, establishing the Mexican Confederation. The main phase of the Mexican Revolution was over.
A military triumvirate took power, with José Vasconcelos as President, elected for a four-year-term in 1918, supported by Generals Pancho Villa and Plutarco E. Calles. Enjoying the support of Washington, that had withdrawn from Veracruz and Tampico, the new government embarked on an agenda of massive agrarian reform and stablization ; Emiliano Zapata became a virtual warlord in Southern Mexico, leading himself radical policies and occasionnaly fighting with his former allies who he saw as too soft ; in the same time, the anti-clerical provisions of the New Constitution resulted in new revolts, stemming from the Catholics, who feared widespread persecution, even more afraid due to the French Revolution. The Marshall Administration adopted a hostile policy towards Mexico, supporting Adolfo de la Huerta's unsuccesful coup attempt in 1920.
General Plutarco E. Calles was elected President in 1922, succeeding Vasconcelos : a rabid anti-clerical and a staunch nationalist, he embarked on a nationwide persecution of Catholics and declared Zapata as a rebel ; the former massively took arms in the Cristero War, the latter had by then taken control of Yucatan and Chiapas, supported by his Amerindian soldiers. The assassination of the Apolistic Nuncio in Mexico City, followed by the nationalization of oil by the Calles government was the final straw to the Americans, who feared that Mexico would become the focus of a new Syndicalist Revolution and would again erupt into total anarchy ; President Theodore Roosevelt declared war on Mexico on June, 2 1924.
The Second Mexican American War was swift, as American troops entered Mexico City on June, 12 1925, where Alvaro Obregon had taken power in a coup ten days prior and would remain in power with US support until his death in 1953 ; the Mexican Revolution was completely over by then, except in the South, where Zapata had broken into open secession against both Mexico and the United States, establishing the Socialist Republic of Central America...
Micronesia is an island country in Oceania, consisting of north New Guinea (south of Australian New Guinea) and various islands in the Pacific Ocean.
History
Established in the late 19th Century thanks to German expansionism and British disinterest in these areas, German New Guinea saw its position strengthened after Germany was awarded New Caledonia after the Treaty of Amiens : however, as opposed to Africa, German New Guinea never became a milestone for the German colonial office, imposing protectorates and exploiting the resources of the area, mostly mining for Kaiser Wilhelm’s land, phosphate in Nauru and fishing, in cooperation with Australia, Britain and Indonesia (and before that, the Dutch government in exile).
The Greater Game changed the importance of the German archipelago, as the Germans began plans to withdraw from Africa and the region became concerned by Indonesian irredentism and Japanese saber-rattling in the 1960s ; as Japanese and Indonesian troops concentrated in Irian Jaya, the German military presence in Kaiser Wilhelm’s land increased tenfold and a secret alliance was signed with Australia in 1962. These preparations became handy during the Indonesian Civil War (1965-1972) : fighting alongside the Australians in New Guinea and the Philippines in the Celebes, the Germans were able to conquer the northwestern part of New Guinea (1969) and the Moluccas (1970). These acquisitions were confirmed to German New Guinea by a plebiscite and the World Council in 1975, increasing by a lot the population and economy of the colony, and thus the interest of the German government, that had already decided to evacuate the whole population of Nauru to make way to mining exploitations.
The Dohnanyi government began the infamous Civilization Campaign in northern New Guinea (1977-1981), increasing funds for religious missions in areas of public education, vaccination, health and housing, while forcibly relocating secluded tribes, forcing them to abandon their occasional cannibal customs, a policy aimed at making New Guinea “a modern Christian country” and to prepare independence by the year 2000. Japanese intelligence in the area remained low thanks to German repression, except for a much publicized bomb attack in the Berlin Museum of Ethnology in 1985.
After the dissolution of the Sphere of Co-Prosperity by 1987, German New Guinea became what it was already : a non-profitable colony located too far away from Europe. A referendum in 1989 won a majority for independence and resulted in a seven-year-plan to prepare such a change. The future Republic of Micronesia however was doomed from the start : islamists in the Moluccas and local leaders in Bougainville pushed for an independence of their own and the capital of Simpsonhafen was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1994, forcing the administration to relocate to Herbertshöhe.
On 1 January 1996, Micronesia became independent, consisting of Kaiser Wilhelm’s Land (north New Guinea), the Moluccas, the Bismarck Archipelago, Buka Island, Bougainville Island, Palau, the Caroline Islands, the Northern Marianas and the Marshall Islands (Nauru was only given to Micronesia in 1999, after the empty island was considered entirely depleted of resources). Michael Somare, a New Guinean educated in Germany, became the country’s first president and would remain so until 2016, keeping Micronesia in the German sphere and ruling as a virtual dictator.
Considered an “artificial nation”, Micronesia has been plagued by separatist movements since independence, in the Moluccas (resulting in the assassination of the Prime Minister in 2002 and a German military intervention), in Bougainville (1997, 2011, resulting in a unsuccessful petition to the World Council in 2015), from the displaced Nauruan population in 2001, riots against German influence and military in 2009, 2011, 2019 and natural disasters, mostly earthquakes, resulting in the destruction of Herbertshöhe in 2015 and various disasters in 2019. In a gesture towards the opposition, Somare withdrew from power in 2016, only to be replaced by Prime Minister Julius Chan, who became a German stooge.
Political situation
Uniting Kaiser Wilhelm’s Land, the Moluccas, the Bismarck Archipelago, Buka Island, Bougainville Island, Palau, Nauru, the Caroline Islands, the Northern Marians and the Marshall Islands, Micronesia is a federal parliamentary constitutional republic, with a Constitution heavily modeled on Germany. Like the Kaiser, the President only holds a ceremonial role, even if under Michael Somare’s era (1996-2016), the role was unofficially much more powerful. The Prime Minister holds executive power and is dependent on the National Parliament, who also elects the President. Due to the vastness of the island country, local governors, traditional chieftains and judiciary courts are quite powerful and independent ; the partial destruction of Herbertshöhe in 2015 by an earthquake led to a much more decentralized government, local democracy being enabled to effective Internetz communications from an island to another.
The current President of the Republic is Arnold Palacios, having been elected by the National Parliament on 2 March 2021 : a former Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands for the People’s Progress Party (big tent), he was handpicked by the Prime Minister to mark the end of the Somare era, who had died the week before. The current Prime Minister is Julius Chan, from the People’s Progress Party, who was elected Prime Minister on 9 June 2016 ; he has been re-elected in 2020. Originary from New Mecklenburg, Chan served as Prime Minister from 2002 to 2009, first as an ally of Somare before stepping down after the military had opened fire on protesters. Becoming leader of the opposition, he would return to the Prime ministerial office after Somare retired from politics : he has since reneged on his prior anti-German statements, becoming a strong German ally in the Oceanic sphere.
Social situation, population
With more than a thousand cultures and even more islands, the 22-million population of Micronesia is very scattered, with the density of population varying heavily from an island to another : most of the population is concentrated in the Moluccas, while city-dwelling remains low due to the hazards of earthquakes and volcanic activity. Due to the evident lack of interest from the German government, infrastructures and investments remained low. As a result, most of the education, sanitary and businesses are held by German and Australian NGOs, mostly private religious missionary societies and the majority of the Micronesian population remains below the poverty line. As the population is young and still growing, many Micronesians migrate to Germany, Australia, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Separatist movements is also high in Micronesia, mostly in the Moluccas and Bougainville, who consider themselves too alien to New Guinea proper to accept direct rule from Herbertshöhe. Local revolts, for both independence and against German influence, have been steadily repressed by the government and the local German force, resulting in the World Council voicing its “growing concern” for the situation in Micronesia. However, a 2015 petition from Bougainville addressed at the international organization was left without an official response.
Economy
In spite of its very rich deposits (gold, copper, petroleum gas), Micronesia has yet to benefit from it ; the whole exploitation is insured by German and Australian companies after concessions contracts were negotiated during the road to independence. As no preparations were made to prepare Micronesia to ensure its own finances, most of the economy is based on subsistence agriculture, fishing and manufacturing, with tourism providing a safe source of income ; most of the services are held by German conglomerates and the cost of importation tend to make the prices very high for the average Micronesian.
Military
Even if Micronesia disposes of its own military force, focused at law and order, fighting piracy and drug carcels and quelling down dissent, the German Armed Forces remain present in the area, maintaining bases in Kaiser Wilhelm’s Land for the Ground Forces, an aviation base in the Moluccas and Saipan being the main base to the Kriegsmarine Pacific Fleet. This continued German military presence helped the Micronesian government to repress revolts, it has also been a bone of contention for the local opposition, pointing at it as evidence of Micronesia being an artificial country and a German lackey.
Culture
Is is estimated that more than one thousand cultural groups exist in Micronesia : the country is an ethnologist’s dream and the lack of German settling in the area allowed folk traditions to remain, save from cannibal tribes that were relocated and depleted during the Civilization Campaign. Tourism is the nation’s first source of income (even if a popular German saying is that no one needs to go to Micronesia but rather to the Ethnology Museum in Berlin) as the country offers a variety of landscapes. However, this variety of cultures is the source of separatist movement in the region : only the flag of the bird-of-paradise and the football and rugby teams provide some sense to the unity. Even New Guinean German (the local German dialect) is vastly different from one island to the other.
Even if the humans rights aftermath of the Civilization Campaign remains dire, the worst toll inflicted by German colonialism can be seen in the environment : agricultural, mining and gas oil exploitation remains high and large tracts of land have seen their ecosystem totally destroyed. The exploitation of Nauru, whose entire population forcibly relocated and was tirelessly mined for phosphore for thirty years until there was nothing left, became a cause célèbre for environmentalists throughout the world.
History
Established in the late 19th Century thanks to German expansionism and British disinterest in these areas, German New Guinea saw its position strengthened after Germany was awarded New Caledonia after the Treaty of Amiens : however, as opposed to Africa, German New Guinea never became a milestone for the German colonial office, imposing protectorates and exploiting the resources of the area, mostly mining for Kaiser Wilhelm’s land, phosphate in Nauru and fishing, in cooperation with Australia, Britain and Indonesia (and before that, the Dutch government in exile).
The Greater Game changed the importance of the German archipelago, as the Germans began plans to withdraw from Africa and the region became concerned by Indonesian irredentism and Japanese saber-rattling in the 1960s ; as Japanese and Indonesian troops concentrated in Irian Jaya, the German military presence in Kaiser Wilhelm’s land increased tenfold and a secret alliance was signed with Australia in 1962. These preparations became handy during the Indonesian Civil War (1965-1972) : fighting alongside the Australians in New Guinea and the Philippines in the Celebes, the Germans were able to conquer the northwestern part of New Guinea (1969) and the Moluccas (1970). These acquisitions were confirmed to German New Guinea by a plebiscite and the World Council in 1975, increasing by a lot the population and economy of the colony, and thus the interest of the German government, that had already decided to evacuate the whole population of Nauru to make way to mining exploitations.
The Dohnanyi government began the infamous Civilization Campaign in northern New Guinea (1977-1981), increasing funds for religious missions in areas of public education, vaccination, health and housing, while forcibly relocating secluded tribes, forcing them to abandon their occasional cannibal customs, a policy aimed at making New Guinea “a modern Christian country” and to prepare independence by the year 2000. Japanese intelligence in the area remained low thanks to German repression, except for a much publicized bomb attack in the Berlin Museum of Ethnology in 1985.
After the dissolution of the Sphere of Co-Prosperity by 1987, German New Guinea became what it was already : a non-profitable colony located too far away from Europe. A referendum in 1989 won a majority for independence and resulted in a seven-year-plan to prepare such a change. The future Republic of Micronesia however was doomed from the start : islamists in the Moluccas and local leaders in Bougainville pushed for an independence of their own and the capital of Simpsonhafen was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1994, forcing the administration to relocate to Herbertshöhe.
On 1 January 1996, Micronesia became independent, consisting of Kaiser Wilhelm’s Land (north New Guinea), the Moluccas, the Bismarck Archipelago, Buka Island, Bougainville Island, Palau, the Caroline Islands, the Northern Marianas and the Marshall Islands (Nauru was only given to Micronesia in 1999, after the empty island was considered entirely depleted of resources). Michael Somare, a New Guinean educated in Germany, became the country’s first president and would remain so until 2016, keeping Micronesia in the German sphere and ruling as a virtual dictator.
Considered an “artificial nation”, Micronesia has been plagued by separatist movements since independence, in the Moluccas (resulting in the assassination of the Prime Minister in 2002 and a German military intervention), in Bougainville (1997, 2011, resulting in a unsuccessful petition to the World Council in 2015), from the displaced Nauruan population in 2001, riots against German influence and military in 2009, 2011, 2019 and natural disasters, mostly earthquakes, resulting in the destruction of Herbertshöhe in 2015 and various disasters in 2019. In a gesture towards the opposition, Somare withdrew from power in 2016, only to be replaced by Prime Minister Julius Chan, who became a German stooge.
Political situation
Uniting Kaiser Wilhelm’s Land, the Moluccas, the Bismarck Archipelago, Buka Island, Bougainville Island, Palau, Nauru, the Caroline Islands, the Northern Marians and the Marshall Islands, Micronesia is a federal parliamentary constitutional republic, with a Constitution heavily modeled on Germany. Like the Kaiser, the President only holds a ceremonial role, even if under Michael Somare’s era (1996-2016), the role was unofficially much more powerful. The Prime Minister holds executive power and is dependent on the National Parliament, who also elects the President. Due to the vastness of the island country, local governors, traditional chieftains and judiciary courts are quite powerful and independent ; the partial destruction of Herbertshöhe in 2015 by an earthquake led to a much more decentralized government, local democracy being enabled to effective Internetz communications from an island to another.
The current President of the Republic is Arnold Palacios, having been elected by the National Parliament on 2 March 2021 : a former Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands for the People’s Progress Party (big tent), he was handpicked by the Prime Minister to mark the end of the Somare era, who had died the week before. The current Prime Minister is Julius Chan, from the People’s Progress Party, who was elected Prime Minister on 9 June 2016 ; he has been re-elected in 2020. Originary from New Mecklenburg, Chan served as Prime Minister from 2002 to 2009, first as an ally of Somare before stepping down after the military had opened fire on protesters. Becoming leader of the opposition, he would return to the Prime ministerial office after Somare retired from politics : he has since reneged on his prior anti-German statements, becoming a strong German ally in the Oceanic sphere.
Social situation, population
With more than a thousand cultures and even more islands, the 22-million population of Micronesia is very scattered, with the density of population varying heavily from an island to another : most of the population is concentrated in the Moluccas, while city-dwelling remains low due to the hazards of earthquakes and volcanic activity. Due to the evident lack of interest from the German government, infrastructures and investments remained low. As a result, most of the education, sanitary and businesses are held by German and Australian NGOs, mostly private religious missionary societies and the majority of the Micronesian population remains below the poverty line. As the population is young and still growing, many Micronesians migrate to Germany, Australia, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Separatist movements is also high in Micronesia, mostly in the Moluccas and Bougainville, who consider themselves too alien to New Guinea proper to accept direct rule from Herbertshöhe. Local revolts, for both independence and against German influence, have been steadily repressed by the government and the local German force, resulting in the World Council voicing its “growing concern” for the situation in Micronesia. However, a 2015 petition from Bougainville addressed at the international organization was left without an official response.
Economy
In spite of its very rich deposits (gold, copper, petroleum gas), Micronesia has yet to benefit from it ; the whole exploitation is insured by German and Australian companies after concessions contracts were negotiated during the road to independence. As no preparations were made to prepare Micronesia to ensure its own finances, most of the economy is based on subsistence agriculture, fishing and manufacturing, with tourism providing a safe source of income ; most of the services are held by German conglomerates and the cost of importation tend to make the prices very high for the average Micronesian.
Military
Even if Micronesia disposes of its own military force, focused at law and order, fighting piracy and drug carcels and quelling down dissent, the German Armed Forces remain present in the area, maintaining bases in Kaiser Wilhelm’s Land for the Ground Forces, an aviation base in the Moluccas and Saipan being the main base to the Kriegsmarine Pacific Fleet. This continued German military presence helped the Micronesian government to repress revolts, it has also been a bone of contention for the local opposition, pointing at it as evidence of Micronesia being an artificial country and a German lackey.
Culture
Is is estimated that more than one thousand cultural groups exist in Micronesia : the country is an ethnologist’s dream and the lack of German settling in the area allowed folk traditions to remain, save from cannibal tribes that were relocated and depleted during the Civilization Campaign. Tourism is the nation’s first source of income (even if a popular German saying is that no one needs to go to Micronesia but rather to the Ethnology Museum in Berlin) as the country offers a variety of landscapes. However, this variety of cultures is the source of separatist movement in the region : only the flag of the bird-of-paradise and the football and rugby teams provide some sense to the unity. Even New Guinean German (the local German dialect) is vastly different from one island to the other.
Even if the humans rights aftermath of the Civilization Campaign remains dire, the worst toll inflicted by German colonialism can be seen in the environment : agricultural, mining and gas oil exploitation remains high and large tracts of land have seen their ecosystem totally destroyed. The exploitation of Nauru, whose entire population forcibly relocated and was tirelessly mined for phosphore for thirty years until there was nothing left, became a cause célèbre for environmentalists throughout the world.