[Vision Statement] Socialist Federal Republic of Volta

[Kolhar]

The Socialist Federal Republic of Volta claims to be a "socialist paradise" for all workers, adhering to the ideals of communism, but in practice it is anything but. On paper many freedoms, including freedom of speech, religion, association, the press, and others are guaranteed. In practice, however, none of those freedoms are granted. The country is ruled with an iron fist by Franz Ulbricht, elected to the position of Chancellor of Volta and Chairman of the Communist Party of Volta after the death of his predecessor.

The country itself was built upon the land of a different people, however when outsiders arrived to colonize the land the natives were either forced inland or captured and forced into slavery. Those that escaped either fate were forced to live in foreigner-dominated settlements as part of the lowest social class. After the country gained independence through a war, the leader of the independence movement Eugen Rathenau was elected as the country's first President. However, after serving the maximum allowed 3 terms as President, Eugen suspended the constitution with the support of his party, effectively taking control of government and declaring himself President for Life. By this time the native population had dwindled to the point where relying on native slave labor was no longer sufficient, so a system of contract labor was introduced for the "mischling" population ("mischling" referring to mixed-race Voltan citizens, who by this point had become a majority of the lower and middle classes). This contract-labor system allowed companies to effectively bind their workers into perpetual servitude through debt, and was highly unpopular with the general population but well received by the pure-blooded elite. After a few decades of Eugen's rule, the population had enough. When Eugen died and was succeeded by his right-hand man who continued much of the same policies, countless revolutionary movements sprang up. One of these grew to become the Communist Party of Volta, which eventually started the Voltan Civil War (or the Voltan Revolution as it's called in Volta).

The war ended in a victory for the communists, who immediately went about setting up their own government. They quickly moved to crush any dissent, while also rapidly changing the economy. They pushed policies that encouraged rapid industrialization, collectivized agriculture, among many other policies. The economy was centrally planned during this time, and eventually the government came to involve itself in most aspects of daily life. As industry developed, Volta tried to compete with foreign companies, with the government even setting up it's own tech industry to counter foreign tech companies, and to answer a domestic demand for technology. However, the initial period of growth was followed by stagnation. As this stagnation continued, murmurs for reform began to spread. Though the general population is secretly supportive of these calls for reform, the Communist Party of Volta is divided on the issue.

Franz Ulbricht, who became Chancellor at 52, is now 79, ailing, and close to death. Reformists see this as a huge opportunity for them - if they can get one of their own into the position of Chancellor after Franz's death, they could begin their reforms.

What will these reforms entail? How successful will they be? Will they survive the attempts from the traditionalist factions to revert to how communism is "supposed to be"?

Those questions will be answered in the RP.

Edited June 22, 2021 by Volta
oops typo (see edit history)