Midwestern Commonwealth

The Midwestern Commonwealth 	The Midwestern Commonwealth
Flag of The Midwestern Commonwealth	
Flag of The Midwestern Commonwealth
Map of MWC as of January 2162	Map of MWC as of January 2162
General 	General
Name 	The Midwestern Commonwealth
Capital 	Milkwaukee
Largest City 	Chicago
Government 	Government
Government Type 	Federal Presidential Constitutional Republic
Head of State 	Chancellor Sandra Brennan
Legislature 	National Assembly
Majority Leader 	Speaker Stephen Preiss
Chief Justice 	Kareem Johnson
Demographics 	Demographics
Demonym 	Midwesterner
Population 	19,107,000
Languages 	None (officially), English (de facto official), Spanish, Arabic, French
Currency 	Midwestern Dollar (𐌌)
The Midwestern Commonwealth (also referred to as The Commonwealth) is a constitutional federal republic located in central North America and largest, most populous, and most economically developed constituent republic of the Federation of American States. Located directly to the south of the Iron Shield, to the east of the Imperial California Republic, and west of the North Atlantic Republic, the Midwestern Commonwealth stretches across nearly 800,000 square miles of land, from the eastern reaches of the Rocky Mountains to the western shores of Lake Erie. 
The Commonwealth was proclaimed in October of 2160, with it's Constitution being adopted in November of 2160, in the aftermath of the Midwestern Civil War, which had led to the dissolution of the Great Lacustrine Republic. The Commonwealth is currently the most populous state in North America, 9th largest economy in the world, and boasts one of the largest militaries in the world. It also houses the capital of the Federation of American States, St. Louis, and is the most dominant member of the Federation. 
=History=
==The Great Lacustrine Republic==
Main article: Great Lacustrine Republic
The region's earliest history dates back to when it was first colonized by the French in the 16th century, originally designated as a trapping colony. Following the French Indian War, the territory was handed over to the United Kingdom, before being won by the United States of America in it's revolutionary war. All of what was part of the Great Lacustrine Republic in 2152 was part of what the Congress of the United States organized into Michigan Territory in 1805, before becoming Wisconsin territory after the Upper and Lower Peninsulas were incorporated into the state of Michigan. Eventually the region around the Great Lakes was organized into the states of Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Following their statehood, the states history became deeply intertwined with that of the United States, and they spent several hundred years as part of the USA until it's eventual collapse during the Great Flooding. The Great Lakes region, rich in freshwater and relatively unaffected by the rising sea level, actually saw a relative ecological benefit from global climate change. The higher temperatures lengthened the growing season, allowing an increase in crop yields, and the milder winters proved far more hospitable to the typical citizen of the former United States. However, the region was not without its troubles. As refugees poured in from the East Coast, they brought with them violence and an insatiable appetite. Unable to meet the demands of the increasing population in the region, the region soon found itself in the middle of a major civil war. When the dust settled, millions had been killed, the city of Detroit had gone from bad to non-existent, Chicago had been all but destroyed and was now ruled by anarchy, and much of Milwaukee had been leveled. Refugees from Michigan and northern Illinois quickly banded together with Wisconsinites to establish a new republic, the Great Lacustrine Republic. Incorporating territory from the Upper Peninsula, the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula, much of Wisconsin, the nation set it's capital in Milwaukee and set about rebuilding civilization in the region.
For most of its near 80 year existence, the Great Lacustrine Republic remained concentrated in the Great Lakes region, with rapid growth occurring during the 2150s, under the direction of Chancellor Truss of the Federalist Party, the Republic saw the area under its control double over the course of approximately 2 years, and double once more over the next several more. Investment in the nation was rapid, and it soon found itself growing into an international power. While its economy remain primarily agrarian, the Truss administration oversaw significant investment in the nation's infrastructure, including the construction of several railways and highways. It was also under the direction of Truss that the nation engaged in it's first war since the conquering of the Upper Peninsula twenty years prior. In March of 2152, aided by the member states of NATA, the Republic responded to aggressive actions by the Archdiocese of St Louis by launching a preemptive invasion of the Chicago area. The war proved quite fruitful, and soon the entire Great Lakes region was consolidated under GLR control.
However, several months later the 
==The Midwestern Civil War==
The Commonwealth was founded in the aftermath of the Midwestern Civil War. The war, which began in May of 2160 following the suspension of elections in the Great Lacustrine Republic, lead to the schism of the GLR into four factions, the Centrists (also known as Nationalists), Conservatives, Loyalists, and Socialists. While the Loyalists, under the direction of the Republic's judiciary, controlled the capital region, their power was greatly limited by their unpopularity and lack of resources, the Conservatives controlling much of the nation's mines, Centrists controlling the nation's vast fields, and Socialists the industrial urban centers and outlying oil fields. 
 
The fractured Republic also had to deal with the rapid advancement of the newly formed United Kingdom of Port Hope and Detroit, a union of the Kingdom of Thumb, ruled by Queen Ann and Potter's Land, ruled by Lord John Potter. The massive combined military forces of the UKPHD rapidly advanced across the Lower Peninsula while the splintered military of the GLR fought amongst itself. However, after several months the Conservative and Loyalist factions collapsed under mounting economic instability, food shortages, and advancing Centrist and Socialist forces. By July of 2160, the Conservatives and Loyalists had been completely absorbed by the other two factions, with the Centrist faction gaining the most significant amount of ground.
While the most amount of territorial exchange occurred in the first several months of the war, between May and July, the most destructive period of the war was yet to come. The Socialist Faction successfully obtained control of the Republic's navy and advanced along the border with Iron Shield, effectively controlling the flow of food to their neighbor, who had been reliant on the Republic to keep their people fed. With the arrival of tanks from California and the support of Iron Shield in exchange for a steady food supply, the Socialists began advancement into the vast prairies of controlled by the Centrists. The war quickly however reach a stalemate, with both sides digging in, aerial support being equally matched, and many civilians finding themselves caught in the crossfire. It was during this stage of the war that nearly 70,000 people are believed to have died between July and October, over three times as many as during the first half of the war.
===After the War===
Following the war