The Stedorian People’s Republic

[Stedoria]

The Stedorian People’s Republic

Menarepüblikän Stedoriänik

(Subject to changes and edits in the future.)

Overview

The Stedorian People's Republic is a nation located on Eurth (location still undetermined). Throughout its history, it has consistently taken an isolationist and neutral approach to foreign affairs and neighboring conflicts. Ruled as an absolute monarchy the Kelvön dynasty since the 16th century, this hierarchy was suddenly and violently dismantled with the outbreak of the Stedorian revolution in 2009. With the establishment of the republic, the economy destroyed by the revolution has slowly begun to rebuild, although political freedoms are again showing weakness under the ruling National Party of the Stedorian Revolution. Owing to its isolationistic policies for most of its history, Stedoria is little known to far away peoples, its people are known for being similar to its government: fiercely nationalistic, but also fiercely isolationist, making it difficult to find Stedorians outside of their homeland. Stedoria's isolationist history have also given Stedorians a stereotype of being anti-social hermits who are keen to lock themselves in their houses and rooms.

 

Etymology

The name Stedoria (Stedoriän) is assumed by historians and linguists to have come from the ancient Stedorian word for straight (stedorik). The location in which Stedoria's first peoples settled were located along a straight river in which it gave much needed water for agriculture, allowing the ancient Stedorians to settle along the "straight" river (Flumed Stedorik). The final two letters (än), come from the Stedorian language suffix for a nation.

 

Geography

Stedoria's geography consists mainly of plains, forests, and mountains, varying only little. Stedoria's coastal regions consists mainly of plains, from which the nation's grain crops are farmed and harvested in. The plains regions are populated practically only by farmers, and having only few urban centres focused on port locations. Despite the region's mainly rural population, with the slow but steady increase of Stedoria's economy after the revolution, small towns are starting to become more common within this area of Stedoria, causing more of Stedoria's city dwellers to move to the country in search of opportunity. Stedoria's forested regions are by far the most populated, and are the location of much of Stedoria's cities and industry. Much of Stedoria's forests are being used for the start of a lumber industry currently in its infancy, though Stedorian economists hope that this industry will grow. Stedoria's mountain regions are by far the least populated region of Stedoria, with the most inhospitable sections being home to the Alzi people. Despite the region's small population, it is critical to the Stedoria economy, being the region that produces the nation's natural gas and silver. The government has recently embarked on a campaign to encourage Stedorians to move to the mountain territories to join the booming mining and gas industry.

 

History

Originally divided into warring tribes, the Stedorian people were united under a principality in 97 CE by the legendary Prince Fölfan. The principalty was, even today, considered Stedoria's golden age, as Stedoria thrived politically, culturally, and economically. The principality lasted for around 600 years. Around the year 700 CE, Stedoria was stuck by a series of natural disasters; a famine, flood, and disease outbreak struck Stedoria at the same time. Believing this to be a sign from God with their discontent with Stedoria's current prince, Jelvan III, various lords and nobles secceded from Stedoria, forming their own small domains and fiefdoms. Jelvan III committed suicide soon after, not wanting to continue living with the disgrace of being the last prince of Stedoria. This began the warring states period, in which Stedoria's small fiefdoms were constantly at war with each other, constantly vying to take over all of Stedoria and crown themselves as king. This period lasted for 400 years, in which Stedoria was in shambles and hundreds of thousands killed.

Around 1130 CE, for reason still unclear today, all of Stedoria's fiefdom's leaders agreed to meet in order to finally bring peace to Stedoria. At this meeting, known as the Council of the Doves, plans for a loose elective monarchical confederacy were enacted, in which the head of the confederacy were to be elected by the heads of the fiefdoms, thus beginning the Yulakompenanfatim (Confederacy age/period/time). This confederacy brought about a 2nd, albeit smaller golden age for Stedoria once again. After the death of the last head of the Confederacy, Yöka XI, in 1560, a bloody war of succession broke out within the confederacy, starting the Stedorian Civil War. Eventually, in 1568, this war would be ended decisively by Räkli Kelvön, who then founded the Kingdom of Stedoria, with the consent of each of the nations in the confederacy, believing a new era for Stedoria had begun.

The first two centuries of the Kingdom of Stedoria were again, marked by a golden age of stability, peace, and prosperity. After these two centuries, Stedoria entered a period of decline, beginning with a failed colony, which soon after being established, became unprofitable and was quickly abandoned. Stedoria then adopted a policy of isolationism after this failed colonial ambition, instead focusing on the creation of an autarky in Stedoria. As time passed, although an autarky was achieved, living standards for the average Stedorian sharply declined, and Stedoria became plagued by occasional rebellions, met with severe force. Finally, in 2009, after the massacre of an entire town at the hands of the Royal Army, a popular revolution spontaneously broke out with the nation, quickly overthrowing the king and imprisoning him until his eventual execution in 2021. Old monarchic institutions were established, and new, republican-revolutionary institutions were created. Today, the cult of the revolution remains powerful within Stedoria today, with many Stedorians believing that the Stedorian societal revolution is still in progress.

 

Government

Stedoria is a federal revolutionary republic, its political institutions firmly dedicated in upholding the revolution. The nation is made up of the executive, legislative, and judicial branch. The nation is divided into 8 provinces, 2 territories, and 1 autonomous republic, all of which have their own elected legislatures. The head of state and of the government of Stedoria is the Chief Consul, elected by the lower house of Stedoria.

The executive branch is made up of ruling party, the Chief Consul, the Second Consul, and the ministers apart of the current government.

The legislative branch consists of Stedoria's legislature, known as the Exovedate, and is divided into both the upper and lower houses. The lower house, known as National Dail, is directly elected every 4 years by the people, and consists of 175 deputies. The National Dail selects the chief consul, who must secure a simple of the votes within the National Dail. If this majority cannot be achieved, the two candidates who had received the most votes then engage in a run-off election. The upper house is known as the National Council, and is elected every 5 years by the people, and consists of 80 deputies.

The judicial branch is divided into three court systems, the lowest are the District Revolutionary Courts, then comes the Provincial/Territorial Revolutionary Courts, and finally the National Revolutionary Court.

Although Stedoria claims to be a liberal democracy, many political experts dispute this, owing to the undemocratic and authoritarian nature of the ruling party of Stedoria, the National Party of the Stedorian Revolution, and most consider the nation to be a hybrid regime instead, as many suspect the results of Stedoria's 2nd and recent most elections were fraudulent, though the NPSR remains popular with much of the people, it being the party that those who lead the revolution were part of.

The guiding ideology of Stedoria is Gemotamism, coming from the Stedorian word gemotam, meaning "renaissance". The ideology was developed during the Stedorian Revolution by Tamäj Köseg, who was the main architect behind Gemotamism. Gemotamism advocates for the renaissance of the Stedorian culture and Stedorian society. It takes a skeptical view of political pluralism and liberal democracy, though it is willing to accept it within its society to an extent. The ideology is based on the principles of Stedorian nationalism, a unique form of socialism known as Stedorian Socialism, republicanism, militarism, progressivism, and the philosophy of Täläktim over religion. The ideology also place importance upon pan-Dolchism, the idea of strong co-operation and unity between culturally Dolch nations and nations with cultures of Dolch descent.

Stedorian socialism differs from conventional socialism in that it emphasizes a market-socialist economy with heavy government intervention, thus meaning that while private business owners are nominally separate from the government, they must also accept the government's economic authority, and that the highest sectors of the economy are government controlled. It also emphasizes on modernisation and industrialisation holding that this is the only way to reach and stay within the renaissance of Stedorian society.

There is much debate on whether Gemotamism and the National Party of the Stedorian Revolution are considered left or right on the political spectrum. Some experts argue that the ideology's emphasis on socialism and the Stedorian revolution make it a left-wing ideology, whilst others have argued it to be a far-right fascistic ideology due to the ideology's strong nationalistic, militaristic, and anti-democratic tendencies. Officially, Köseg, along with the ruling party of Stedoria, have never explicitly stated or denied that their ideology is either left wing or far-right, instead remaining ambiguous.

 

Military

Stedoria's military is officially known as the Stedorian Defence Force (Jelodanef Stedoriänik), which consists of 4 branches. Stedoria maintains mandatory conscription for men, owing to the revolutionary duty of Stedorian citizens to contribute to the defence of the revolution. The military functions purely as a defensive force, and has not engage in any foreign conflicts, although talks of the sending of military attachés to neighbouring nations is being discussed.

The first branch, the Stedorian Ground Defence Force (Glunajelodanef Stedoriänik), is the largest of the branches of the Defence Force, sized at approximately 100,000 active troops and 1,300,000 reserve troops, constantly ready to mobilise at a moment's notice. The military is semi-modern, with much of its equipment dating from the 1980s and 1990s. The ground forces regularly take part in military exercises, and are trained both in conventional warfare and guerilla warfare, although with an emphasis of guerilla warfare. The primary duty of the Ground Defence Force is to ensure and defend the sovereignty of the Stedorian People's Republic, and to defend the ideals of the Stedorian revolution.

The second branch, the Stedorian Aviation Defence Force (Fitajelodanef Stedoriänik), is the smallest branch of the Defence Force, sized at approximately 20,000, purely being made up only as volunteers. The airforce's planes, similar to the Ground Force, consists of semi-modern equipment, having 31 fighter jets dating from the 1980s at its disposal. The main duty of Aviation Defence Force is to protect the sovereign airspace of Stedoria.

The third branch, the Stedorian Naval Defence Force (Nafemikajelodanef Stedoriänik), is the 3rd largest branch of the Defence Force, sized at approximately 40,000 sailors, with 10,000 reserves. The Naval Defence Force consists of 3 destroyers, 5 frigates, 10 Corvettes, and 7 submarines. The Naval Defence Force contains the most outdated equipment, consists of ships built in the 1960s and 1970s. The main goal of the Naval Defence Force is to defend Stedoria's sovereign waters and the combatting of piracy.

The fourth and final branch, the Stedorian National Guard (Netikagardanef Stedoriänik), is the 2nd largest branch of the Defence Force, sized at approximately 50,000 guardsmen, with 30,000 reserve troops. The National Guard's primary goal is to act as a policing force within the territories, rural regions, and other sparsely populated regions, along with being tasked with the defence of the sparsely populated inner regions of Stedoria.

 

Economy

The economy of Stedoria is considered average to below-average among Eurth's nations, not being exceptionally strong, but also no facing an economic catastrophe. Before the revolution, Stedoria's economy was booming, and the nation's GDP had been the highest ever in its history, though severe wealth disparity plagued the nation. The Stedorian revolution caused immense disarray within the Stedorian economy, sending it tumbling into a severe depression, though in recent years the economy has slowly rebounded to a moderately acceptable level. Though GDP is down from the time of the monarchy, wealth disparity has been decreased significantly with the government's seizure of wealth in order to redistribute it in the name of the revolution. Overall, life for the average Stedorian worker is slowly increasing, they need not to worry about the price of bills or food, though luxuries still remain generally exclusive to the upper-class sections of Stedorian society.

Stedoria's economy runs on a socialist system. All businesses have been under government control since the Stedorian revolution. Soon after the revolution, the new government promised the redistribution of buisness to private owners, but these plans have been frequently delayed for unspecified revolutionary reasons, with many starting to lose hope, though there is talk within the government of making a transition to a market socialist economic system.

Stedoria's main industries are agriculture, natural resources, and mining. Stedoria's agriculture industry consists prominently of wheat crops, which make up the majority of the nation's agricultural exports. With many Stedorians moving to the coastal plains regions in which most agriculture is conducted with the country, the government has also encouraged the creation of new farms growing cash crops, and as a result of this, Stedoria has started small exports in cotton. Stedoria's natural resource industry consists mainly of natural gas, though this industry is recently new to Stedoria, and thus has not fully been exploited. Despite this, a fair amount of Stedoria's exports is still made up of natural gas and natural gas products. Stedoria's natural gas reserves are also located prominently within the mountainous Alzi Autonomous Region, which in the past has resulted in disputed between the government and the Alzi people whenever the government has attempted to expand the industry. Stedoria's most valuable industry is mining, the nation's mountainous regions are rich with silver, though owing to the small population of Stedoria's mountainous regions, this resource has not been fully exploited, despite it being mined for centuries in Stedoria. Stedoria's most crucially valuable, both now and historically, has been silver, and a large portion of Stedoria's income has depended on the revenues from silver exports, thus meaning that when the price of silver decreases globally, the economy of Stedoria becomes very vulnerable.

Demographics

Stedoria is a generally ethnically homogenous nation, consisting mainly of the Stedorian people, with a sizeable Alzi minority, and a very low amount of other ethnicities, mainly being foreigners. Historically, due to Stedoria's deliberate policy of isolationism, moving to or even visiting Stedoria was very difficult, requiring large fees to be paid, along with a good reason to move to or visit the nation. 

The non-Stedorian non-Alzi people living of Stedoria consisted mainly of foreign workers in fields of work in which Stedoria was short in, such as healthcare, with much of these workers being invited by the former king and his royal cabinet. After the Stedorian revolution, Stedorian suffered a small amount of capital flight as foreign worker flocked to leave the destabilised Stedoria, and those who stayed during the revolution left soon after, intimidated by the constant revolutionary fervour maintained in the Stedorian people.

Stedorians make up 84% of the nation's inhabitants, the Alzi people make up 14% of the nation, and foreigners and other ethnicities make up only 2%.

Culture

Stedorians are an isolated but proud people, preferring to remain out of other nations' affairs, and preferring to deal with Stedoria's affairs by themselves. Stedoria's long history of isolation has allowed it to embrace and create its own cultural institutions. One such example of this includes Stedoria's cuisine; Stedoria's national dish is a staple of Stedoria's culinary culture, and is known in Stedorian as Gülaj. Gülaj consists stew of various vegetables and meats, always seasoned with a popular seasoning in Stedoria known as päpriku. Other example of Stedoria's unique culture include the nation's nation instrument, the spulikalefad (lit. spinning string), known in Anglish as the hurdy-gurdy.

The Alzi are a hardy people, having been accustomed living in the mountainous for practically all of their history, making them the ideal guides whilst travelling the rural and remote mountainous areas of Stedoria. Although for much of their history oppressed by previous Stedorian governments, times are changing, the many Alzi are starting to become more accepting of the Stedorian government. The Alzi people are best known in Stedoria for their mountain yodeling, known in Stedorian as belakanit (lit. mountain song). All rural Alzi people are taught this from a young age, and many become experts in it, resulting in it becoming a popular art within Stedoria, even spreading to the non-Alzi regions to the country to be learned by Stedorians. 

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by Stedoria
Gemotamism added (see edit history)