Republic of Túsenland

**Túsenland**, officially the **Republic of Túsenland**, was a short-lived unrecognised state consisting of the French provinces **Epienne**, **Parac** and **Canesse**, established as a reaction to the policies of Prime Minister **Jochum Houtzagers**. It was established in 1882, then collapsed in 1884 at the end of the **Vilzland Civil War**.

## History

### Reaction to the Houtzagers Premiership

Túsenland was created as a reaction to the policies of the Houtzagers premiership, when the Prime Minister imposed martial law on the rising French nationalism in the south. Its name came from the **Kingdom of Túsenland**, a point of Franco-Vilzland ethnic heritage. Following the passing through of the **Act of Southern Suppression** in January 1882, French delegates refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of Parliament, and moved to establish a new government with the French revolutionaries in Epienne.

### Establishment and the Civil War

There they established a socialist republic, and appointed **Arnaud Laframboise** as its first President. Houtzagers refused to accept its legitimacy, causing a national emergency and the start of a civil war.

Laframboise implemented socialist economic strategies in order to maintain the survival of the economy, which succeeded in keeping the nation alive from 1882 to 1883, but the economy began to collapse in 1884. The final blow came from starving soldiers and the defection of **Silvain Vaugrenard**.

### Collapse

Vaugrenard made agreements with the Houtzagers government, and launched an offensive into Epienne. Within months, Vaugrenard reached the doorstep of the capital, and Laframboise was arrested, detained and sentenced to death. With him, the rest of the nation fell, and was annexed back into the unified Vilzland.

## Legacy

### Memorabilia and Heritage

Flying the flag of Túsenland isn't illegal, rather frowned upon by government officials. Vaugrenard became a hated figure in the south, and he never returned to his home and family in Parac, living the rest of his life in Dellford in the north. The government building used for the Laframboise administration is now a political museum, with artifacts from the Civil War.

### Tensions and Talks of Re-emergence

Ethnic tensions between the English and Dutch towards the French still exist to this day. In 1926, Prime Minister **Remi Badeaux** stated that Túsenland would never return to being, and during his premiership, talks of Túsenland died away.

Republican sentiments as a reaction to **King Robrecht II** have sparked talks of another breakaway republic state, but only by radical circles. Some Democratic-Republicans stated that if the monarchy were to be removed, then Vilzland would look to Túsenland as a guidance for the future.

## Political System

### Presidential System

In its existence, Túsenland only had one President, Arnaud Laframboise. The President had executive military and legislative power and the ability to implement emergency policy as part of the Civil War effort. A Congress was established in the capital in Epienne, but rarely convened; Laframboise would make declarations from the balcony of the government building, stating that there was no need for Congress to convene, and that every able man should fight instead of become politically involved.

### Proposed Electoral System

Laframboise and his administration discussed the possibility of a proposed electoral system after they would win the Civil War - of course, this never came to be. It was a two-stage system, with the first stage picking the best candidates (aka primaries) and the second stage being a one-on-one battle between those two candidates for the Presidency. The makeup of Congress would have been a PR vote of the people.

Laframboise had stated the formation of his own party, the **Túsenland Jacobin Party**, which he described as 'the party of the workers of Túsenland'. They were economically populist left wing.