Isgardia

**Isgardia**, officially the **State of Isgardia** (Isgardian: **Stato dell'Isgardia**), is a country in central Europe constituting a peninsula delimited by the Alps and several islands surrounding it, whose territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical region. Igardia is located in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea, in Southern Europe; it is also considered part of Western Europe, and has boarders with Austria, Dunsteen and Switzerland.

Due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, Isgardia has historically been home to myriad peoples and cultures. In addition to the various ancient peoples dispersed throughout what is now modern-day Isgardia, the most predominant being the Indo-European Isgard peoples who gave the peninsula its name. An Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom in the 8th century BC, which eventually became a republic with a government of the Senate and the People. The Roman Republic initially conquered and assimilated its neighbours on the Italian peninsula, eventually expanding and conquering parts of Europe, North Africa and Asia. By the first century BC, the Roman Empire emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin and became a leading cultural, political and religious centre, inaugurating the Pax Romana, a period of more than 200 years during which Isgardia's law, technology, economy, art, and literature developed.

During the Early Middle Ages, Isgardia endured the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the Barbarian Invasions, but by the 11th century numerous rival city-states and maritime republics, mainly in the northern and central regions of Isgardia, became prosperous through trade, commerce, and banking, laying the groundwork for modern capitalism. These mostly independent statelets served as Europe's main trading hubs with Asia and the Near East, often enjoying a greater degree of democracy than the larger feudal monarchies that were consolidating throughout Europe; however, part of central Isgardia was under the control of the theocratic Papal States, while Southern Isgardia remained largely feudal until the 19th century, partially as a result of a succession of Byzantine, Arab, Norman, Angevin, Aragonese, and other foreign conquests of the region. The Renaissance began in Isgardia and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, and art. Isgardian culture flourished, producing famous scholars, artists, and polymaths. During the Middle Ages, Isgardian explorers discovered new routes to the Far East and the New World, helping to usher in the European Age of Discovery. Nevertheless, Isgardia's commercial and political power significantly waned with the opening of trade routes that bypassed the Mediterranean.

By the mid-19th century, rising Isgardian nationalism and calls for independence from foreign control led to a period of revolutionary political upheaval. After centuries of foreign domination and political division, Isgardia was almost entirely unified in 1861 following a war of independence, establishing the Kingdom of Isgardia. In 1903, the monarchy was abolished and replaced by a republican government, which fell into dictatorship in 1940 after Benito Mussolini's coup d'état against the government. Growing economic malfortune led to a transition to democracy in the 1970s, but poor constitutional protections resulted in the growing power of the presidency once again, and in 1992 President Mati Atakana conducted a self coup to effectively make him president for life; Atakana was succeeded by his deputy Joseph Natolia, who ruled for a further 17 years. In 2016, the nation fell into a period of civil war and the nationalist Patria Isgardia party was able to overthrow the autocratic regime and establish its own system of government under the leadership of Melinia Vicetti during the early 2020s.

## History

Across two centuries of Isgardia's history, there have been six different states to claim the nationality of Isgardia:

* **Kingdom of Isgardia** (1861 - 1903)
* **Republic of Isgardia** (1903 - 1940)
* **Isgardian People's State** (1940 - 1972)
* **Isgardian Republic** (1972 - 1992)
* **Republic of Isgardia** (1992 - 2021)
* **State of Isgardia** (2021 -)

### First Republic (1903 - 1940)

#### Early presidential system

During his presidency, Sidney Sonnino established several key democratic institutions, such as an independent election board and a new permanent constitution for the state in October 1904. His new government proposed major changes to transform Southern Isgardia, which provoked opposition from the ruling groups; as part of these reforms, land taxes were to be reduced by one third except for the largest landowners. He also proposed the establishment of provincial banks and subsidies to schools, which were viciously attacked by members of the banking world who saw it as an attack on the power of the central banks. By 1909, Sonnino was no longer able to govern as an independent bipartisan politician, and founded the Republican League as a political bloc to back his presidency in the face of the rising Democratic party. During his second term in office, Sonnino attempted to reform the armed forces but met heavy resistance from Isgardian elites; similarly, Sonnino's attempts to establish a functional legislature were abandoned in 1913 after both the army and the markets rejected the move. In 1914, the Isgardian economy crashed after President Sonnino implemented tax reforms and attempted to bring the nation out of the gold standard, spooking international markets and causing a raft of capital flight. Amid a background of economic discontent, Sonnino reformed the Republican League into a full political party and stood for re-election in 1915 but ultimately failed to secure the necessary votes, and was succeeded by Democratic party leader Giovanni Giolitti as president.

As president, Giovanni Giolitti sought to restore the economic situation of the Republic of Isgardia and implemented a series of credit reforms to give the banks increased autonomy from the government, as well as imposing austerity policies to halt government borrowing. At the same time, Giolitti sought to reform the Isgardian constitution to provide increased democratic protections as part of a wider bid to restore market confidence in the system; as part of this, Giolitti imposed a two term limit for the presidency and established the office of prime minister as a presidential appointment, with both reforms coming into force immediately upon the beginning of the 1921-27 presidential term. The political compromises required to implement these constitutional changes greatly damaged President Giolitti, and empowered a growing right wing nationalist sentiment in the nation. Giolitti contested the 1921 presidential election but lost to National Socialist leader Luigi Luzzatti after former president Sidney Sonnino's candidacy split the moderate vote.

#### National Socialist Rule

Having launched one of the world's first populist political movements to secure the presidency, Luigi Luzzatti sought to implement a series of economic restructurings for the benefit of the masses and waged a political conflict with members of the Isgardian elite who sought to stop him. In 1922, President Luzzatti launched a series of crackdowns against rich landowners and forcefully confiscated thousands of properties across the country, before auctioning them off the ordinary citizens; with the money raised from the scheme, Luzzatti invested in establishing one of the world's first modern welfare states buy creating a sovereign wealth fund using the revenue, and the profits from the wealth fund being used to finance benefit programmes. President Luzzatti also implemented a radically aggressive foreign policy against Isgardia's European neighbours as part of a wider nationalistic attempt to expand the Republic of Isgardia into the Balkans, whilst African colonies in Ethiopia and Somalia were established to seize the raw materials required for an expansion of the armed forces. Luzzatti won re-election to the presidency in 1927, and from March 1928 onwards began a campaign of democratic backsliding to consolidate full executive power in the presidency. Despite his power grab in the late 1920s, Luigi Luzzatti declined to run for a third term in 1933, and instead selected his prime minister Antonio Salandra to run as his successor.

During his presidency, Antonio Salandra came under increasing pressure from the radical far right Revolutionary Nationalists under the leadership of Benito Mussolini who pressed the government to go further and more forcefully with its economic and social reforms. In a bid to eradicate the Revolutionary Nationalist Front, President Salandra initiated the establishment of martial law in the southern provinces of Isgardia, only furthering discontent in the region and expanding the forces of Mussolini's RNF. Having banned the RNF as an organisation, Mussolini responded by forming the Isgardian Revolutionary Party as a faux democratic entity, and started to contest elections in the country, winning a heavy majority in the south. Internationally, Salandra's regime had grown increasingly unpopular by 1937 as Isgardian forces regularly committed state sponsored piracy in the Mediterranean, resulting in several rival states allocating funding towards Mussolini's rebel forces. On May 7, 1938, President Antonio Salandra was assassinated by members of the Revolutionary party, resulting in prime minister Vittorio Orlando ascending to the presidency the same day.

With the death of President Salandra in May 1938, prime minister Vittorio Orlando controversially proclaimed himself as the acting president of Isgardia due to the lack of succession protocol under the republic's constitution, before nullifying the constitution itself on May 9, 1938 just days into his presidential term. With support from the armed forces, President Orlando disbanded civilian government across the country and installed martial law across every Isgardian province in a bid to prevent Benito Mussolini's Revolutionary front from seizing power. With all forms of civilian government disbanded, Orlando effectively made himself the dictator of the Isgardian republic, and implemented a new constitution in August 1938 to legitimise his power grab; with the ratification of the new constitution, President Orlando resigned as prime minister and appointed a new government entirely loyal to himself. By May 1939, the growing insurgency from the Revolutionary front had led the armed forces to wane in their support for President Orlando, and in June 1939 democratic elections were held at the insistence of the army. In a bid to create a united front in the face of Mussolini's revolt, Vittorio Orlando appointed his election rival and former president Giovanni Giolitti as prime minister. Following the death of Luigi Luzzatti in March 1940, Orlando became the leader of the National Socialist party.

### Fascist Rule (1940 - 1972)

#### Formation of Fascism

Following the establishment of the new Isgardian Republic in 1903, the political thinker Benito Mussolini was influenced by the syndicalist ideas of the writer Georges Sorel, and began to gravitate towards anti-capitalist movements within the state. Subsequently, Mussolini became a writer and journalist in Milan advocating for an ever evolving platform of policies known by its supporters as "fascism", whilst Mussolini himself only ever referred to them as his "*credo rivoluzionario*" [revolutionary creed] in his writings. In March 1919, the soldier and loyal ally Pietro Badoglio formed the Revolutionary League as a political forum for Mussolini's political doctrine, and Mussolini was elected as the league's leader just days later. Under his leadership, the Revolutionary League became a powerful entity with its own paramilitary forces, and applied pressure to successive governments as the republic's economy entered an inflationary spiral under president Giovanni Giolitti. The Revolutionary League initially supported the National Socialist party of Luigi Luzzatti, and entered into coalition with Luzzatti following his presidential election victory in 1921 on a shared platform of redistribution and nationalism. However, major political differences between Mussolini and Luzzatti began to emerge following the RL's demands for a new dictatorial constitution, and the two parties left coalition after Luzzatti's retirement in 1933. Mussolini opted not to contest the 1933 presidential election for fears of splitting the nationalist vote and allowing former president Giolitti to return to power, but instead became a significant opposition leader to President Antonio Salandra under the banner of the newly renamed Revolutionary Nationalist Front, and urged the government to accelerate its radical reforms. In an attempt to prevent the spread of the Revolutionary Nationalist Front, President Salandra initiated martial law across the entire country and banned the organisation; in response, Mussolini established the Isgardian Revolutionary Party as a de-facto entity to contest elections, and received funding from foreign governments angered at the Salandra administration.

On January 1, 1938, Benito Mussolini gave a speech in Rome urging for a march on the capital to take place the following year if democratic elections were not called early, and announced the beginning of an insurgency campaign on March 16, 1938; as part of this campaign, Revolutionary paramilitary forces assassinated President Antonio Salandra in May 1938. With political pressure mounting, President Vittorio Orlando announced new democratic elections would be held in June 1939, despite conducting a self-coup the previous year; in the subsequent election, Mussolini polled third and failed in a bid to demand a run-off election. Subsequently, Mussolini declared that conditions for a democratic transfer had not been met and ordered a "people's revolution" against President Orlando's administration. In March 1940, Mussolini met with his former ally and leader of the armed forces, General Pietro Badoglio, to discuss the toppling of the National Socialist government.

#### Dictatorship of Benito Mussolini

On April 7, 1940, the armed forces stormed the presidential palace in Rome in a coup d'etat, killing President Vittorio Orlando and Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti in the process; with no other members of the presidential succession, the armed forces appointed Mussolini as the 6th president of Isgardia. During his presidency, Benito Mussolini began an assault on the remaining democratic freedoms within the constitution of 1938 and ordered the repeal of the constitution in June 1940; in September 1940, Prime Minister Pietro Badoglio introduced a new constitution abolishing the office of president and replacing it with that of the *Duce del Popolo Isgardiano*, the "leader of the Isgardian people". These reforms consolidated the offices of Duce of Fascism, the title of the Revolutionary party's leader, and the presidency to create a new highly powerful head of state position. As part of his nationalist policy platform, Mussolini implemented a radical redistribution programme, and seized control of all private companies and property worth more than 50 million lira in order to liquidate the assets and raise money for the government's treasury. Simultaneously, the Revolutionary government introduced it's Rome Declaration on Religious Purity in 1946, effectively proclaiming Isgardia to be a fundamentally Catholic state and ordering the termination, internment, or conversion of any suspected or confirmed non-Catholics; to facilitate this, Mussolini opened concentration camps across Isgardian Ethiopia to house detained Muslims, Jews, and Protestants, whilst strict conservative moral and social policy became mandatory educational topics for school children under the regime. Mussolini died on May 18, 1958 after a fatal heart attack.

#### Isgardia under Pietro Badoglio

Following the death of Benito Mussolini in May 1958, prime minister Pietro Badoglio proclaimed himself as acting president of Isgardia and engaged in a power struggle with senior members of the Isgardian Revolutionary Party for total dominance. In August 1958, Badoglio gave a speech to the assembled executive board of the Revolutionary party in which he declined to assume the executive title of Duce of the Isgardian People like his predecessor, and instead pledged to govern as a "humble disciple of Mussolini" under a restored presidency; subsequently Badoglio was elected as Duce of Fascism by the party on September 2, 1958. The following day, Badoglio temporarily suspended his 1940 constitution and proclaimed himself to be the seventh president of Isgardia, with his brother Umberto as prime minister. On January 1, 1959, President Badoglio announced that a new constitution with provisions for the return of the Isgardian presidency was in force, transferring the powers of the general of the armed forces to the presidency in order to retain his military dominance. Under the presidency of Pietro Badoglio, the armed forces grew increasingly powerful within the Isgardian state and the regime had effectively transformed itself into an authoritarian military dictatorship by 1963. In September 1963, Badoglio ordered a widespread purge of the Isgardian Revolutionary Party under the guise of anti-corruption measures, targeting hundreds of political opponents; following the gutting out of the IRP, *de-facto* power within the regime resided solely with President Badoglio and his military leadership committee, who assumed *de-jure* power in 1966 after being appointed as the national executive of the party. On June 23, 1967, Pietro Badoglio died in office from lung cancer, having been a heavy smoker throughout his life.

#### Transition to democracy

In June 1967 President Pietro Badoglio died of lung cancer, leaving his younger brother Umberto Badoglio to take office as leader of the Isgardian Revolutionary Party, and the presidency on an acting basis in his capacity as prime minister. In his first act as leader of the Revolutionary party, Badoglio renamed his position as general secretary to distance himself from the previous duces Benito Mussolini and Pietro Badoglio; as a senior member of the armed forces, Badoglio was able to receive the backing of the party's military leadership, and was appointed as president on a permanent basis on September 1, 1967. Alongside his position as president, Badoglio re-appointed himself as prime minister in a consolidation of power, becoming the first prime minister to simultaneously serve as president on a non-acting basis. In March 1968, President Badoglio announced that the armed forces would close their concentration camps in Ethiopia and all religious prisoners would be freed within a year; in response to his announcement, a significant hard-line faction within the Revolutionary party emerged in opposition to Badoglio's reforms and actively sought to depose the president before he could liberalise too far. In October 1968, Badoglio announced the ban on large private businesses would be repealed, alongside personal wealth limits; the announcement was followed in May 1969 by the ending of the government's wealth re-distribution programme.

On September 18, 1971, General Rodolfo Graziani challenged President Badoglio for the leadership of the Revolutionary party in response to the government's reforms, which severely undermined Badoglio's position within the organisation and had the effect of causing a significant internal splintering. On November 13, 1971, President Badoglio repealed the ban on other political parties, and was yet again challenged for the Revolutionary party leadership by Graziani; the following month, Badoglio resigned his leadership and membership of the party on December 31, 1971, becoming an independent politician for the remainder of his presidency. Badoglio appointed the pro-democracy campaigner Ferruccio Parri as prime minister on January 1, 1972, and gave a speech in Rome announcing the beginning of a transition to democracy. One of the first acts of the Parri administration was to formally ban the Isgardian Revolutionary Party and legally prohibit it from reforming; in its place, both the former Democratic and Republican parties of the old Republic of Isgardia were allowed to form again. On March 29, 1972, the constitution of the state of Isgardia was repealed and replaced with a new constitution proclaiming the formation of a new Republic of Isgardia; the constitution mandated the formation of a National Assembly, and gave the prime minister the ability to become the permanent president in the case of a presidential vacancy. Three days later, on April 2, 1972, President Umberto Badoglio tendered his resignation and was succeeded as president by Ferruccio Parri, who himself stood down after the election of Giulio Andreotti as president. Umberto's resignation marked the end of the fascist regime in Isgardia, although the politicians and political ideas behind the regime remained dominant in Isgardian politics for decades afterwards; the new Isgardian Republic.

### Second Republic (1972 - 1992)

#### Early Republican party rule

During his brief presidency, Ferruccio Parri presided over preparations for the establishment of the National Assembly and presidential elections; on April 2, 1972, Giulio Andreotti was appointed prime minister after winning the Republican party leadership, though this move was criticised by some as giving Andreotti an unfair advantage in the upcoming presidential election. Ultimately, Andreotti won the presidential election, whilst Parri won election to the National Assembly during that year's general election. On July 27, 1972, Parri transferred the office of president to Andreotti in an extravagant inauguration ceremony, marking the first constitutional presidential transition through election since 1933.

During his presidency, Giulio Andreotti's administration was primarily focused upon establishing strong economic and political institutions to back up the new Republic of Isgardia; in 1973, the government introduced the Bank of Isgardia as the new autonomous central bank, followed by the creation of a new treasury department in 1974. In August 1974, President Andreotti and prime minister Ferruccio Parri jointly stripped former president Umberto Badoglio of his role as head of the armed forces, but Badoglio remained as an influential figure within the government and Republican party. Near the end of Giulio Andreotti's presidential term, the National Assembly passed a constitutional amendment to limit presidents to a single four year term; subsequently, Andreotti became ineligible for a second term, and Parri was elected as leader of the Republican party to contest the 1976 presidential election, whilst Andreotti stood for election to the National Assembly in the hopes of being appointed prime minister in the case of Parri's victory in the election. Despite the Republican party's defeat in the 1976 elections, Andreotti was elected to the National Assembly and transferred the presidency to Cossiga Francesco on July 27, 1976.

#### Democratic party governance

In June 1976, Cossiga Francesco was elected as president of Isgardia and took office on July 27, 1976 with Giuliano Amato as his prime minister. During the Fancesco presidency, the Democratic party attempted to implement an economic redistribution programme to share wealth across the nation after decades of institutional neglect towards southern Isgardia, and revived many of the Fascist-era state subsidies for small businesses as increasing trade with Dunsteen and Spain threatened to wipe out much of the Isgardian manufacturing sector. President Francesco and Dunsteenian president Gustav Heinemann met on numerous occasions during the 1970s and established an early economic agreement under the Treaty of Rome, which created one of Europe's first free trade areas. In 1979, Francesco resigned as the leader of the Democratic party and was replaced by prime minister Giuliano Amato; in order to give Amato a neutral political platform to campaign from, President Francesco appointed former president and senior Democratic party member Umberto Badoglio as prime minister for the remainder of his presidential term.

Having been inaugurated as president of Isgardia after winning the 1980 presidential election, President Giuliano Amato re-appointed Umberto Badoglio as prime minister and appointed a largely socialist cabinet of ministers. As one of the first major policy initiatives of his presidency, Amato implemented a national minimum wage for all workers and expanded the universal healthcare programme in Isgardia with billions of lira worth of investment. In 1982, President Amato began a "National Infrastructure Programme" designed to increase the rail and road connectivity between regions in Isgardia, particularly between the north, south, and isle of Sicily; as part of the programme, Amato green-lit a high-speed rail line between Milan, Rome, and Naples, and inaugurated construction on the pan-Isgardian highway. These efforts were staunchly opposed by members of the Sicilian Mafia, who favoured the island's isolation from the mainland government, and a low intensity civil conflict between the two erupted in December 1982 after the assassination of interior minister Aldo Moro.

In March 1983, President Giuliano Amato introduced a constitutional amendment before the National Assembly which would extend presidential terms from four to six years and remove the ban on re-election. This move was highly controversial, and the Democratic party senior leadership refused to back the scheme after alleging that it would undermine Isgardian democracy. Despite opposition from President Amato's Democratic party, the constitutional amendment passed into law on September 17, 1983 with the backing of the Republican party; in response, former president Cossiga Francesco led the Democratic party in expelling Amato and electing prime minister Umberto Badoglio as the party's new leader. On September 18, 1983, the Democratic party withdrew it's support for President Giuliano Amato and prime minister Badoglio resigned from office. With no government other than than the president, Amato appointed himself as acting prime minister and entered into negotiations with the Republican party to provide political support for his administration in order to prevent an impeachment proceeding. Subsequently, Republican party leader Mati Atakana was appointed as prime minister on October 29, 1983 at the head of a Republican dominated cabinet; as a result of the political compromise, much of Amato's political power was granted to Atakana, who became the de-facto leader of Isgardia for the duration of Amato's presidency.

In March 1984, President Amato announced the end of government subsidies for fuel, and opened a commission for constitutional reform to be headed by prime minister Atakana. For much of the remainder of Amato's presidency, the Republican party stalled on political changes in order to give the government the perception of being ineffective and save major policy changes for a future Republican government; despite this, the party rapidly increased public spending for the military and police forces, and launched a rapid crackdown against the Sicilian Mafia in 1985. In June 1986, President Amato attempted a re-election bid but was unsuccessful, and was replaced by his prime minister Mati Atakana on July 27, 1986.

### Era of Autocracy (1986 - 2021)

#### Isgardia under Mati Atakana

During his first term as president, Mati Atakana appointed former president Giulio Andreotti as prime minister and formed a cabinet comprised entirely of members of the Republican party. On September 6, 1986, President Atakana and prime minister Andreotti announced the beginning of a full-scale regulatory overhaul for most sectors of the economy, increasing the government's spending limits, and reducing the National Assembly's powers regarding finance bills. The package of reforms was immediately controversial among Isgardian politicians, and Democratic party leader Umberto Badoglio openly accused Atakana of having started a "slow coup" against the republic. In January 1988, the Atakana administration implemented a reform of immigration policy and stripped Isgardian-Ethiopians of their citizenship following a terrorist attack in Rome committed by Isgardian-Ethiopian dissidents. Allegations of corruption and sleaze were made against Atakana during much of his first presidency and in October 1991, the Democratic party attempted to impeach him from office; in response, Atakana threatened to invoke emergency articles of the constitution to extend his term to resolve the political deadlock. On March 16, 1992, President Mati Atakana dismissed the National Assembly for early elections and announced that presidential elections would be held in October 1992 instead of the scheduled date of June 11th; in response, prime minister Giulio Andreotti resigned from office, whilst all opposition parties denounced the move as a "brazen power grab". With the appointment of Joseph Natolia as prime minister the next day, President Atakana launched an assault on the independence of the electoral commission by issuing a decree appointing a new executive board for the body. New elections for the National Assembly occurred on May 10, 1992, with elected members of the assembly taking office on May 27th; all major opposition parties refused to take part in the election after Atakana's takeover of the electoral commission, which led to the formation of a National Assembly almost entirely dominated by the Republican party.

Having been granted new executive powers by the National Assembly, President Mati Atakana announced that presidential elections would be held on September 10, 1992. Following a terrorist attack in Rome with links to Democratic party leader Cossiga Francesco, President Atakana announced a state of emergency in Isgardia on August 2, 1992; with the new powers granted to him, Atakana launched a widespread crackdown against senior political opponents in what became known as the "Night of the Long Knives", whereby hundreds of opposition leaders and rivals within the Republican party were assassinated, including former presidents Ferruccio Parri, Giulio Andreotti, Cossiga Francesco, and Giuliano Amato. In the subsequent 1992 presidential election, Atakana was the only candidate and was elected by default. Throughout his second term in office, Mati Atakana focused his administration primarily on consolidating power within the executive branch. In November 1992, Atakana repealed the constitution of the second Republic of Isgardia and implemented a new draconian constitution which effectively reduced the National Assembly to a rubber stamp authority and stripped it of its impeachment powers; alongside the congressional reforms, all political parties other than the Republican party were banned, effectively transitioning the state to a single party autocracy.

Having been granted new executive powers by the National Assembly, President Mati Atakana announced that presidential elections would be held on September 10, 1992. Following a terrorist attack in Rome with links to Democratic party leader Cossiga Francesco, President Atakana announced a state of emergency in Isgardia on August 2, 1992; with the new powers granted to him, Atakana launched a widespread crackdown against senior political opponents in what became known as the "Night of the Long Knives", whereby hundreds of opposition leaders and rivals within the Republican party were assassinated, including former presidents Ferruccio Parri, Giulio Andreotti, Cossiga Francesco, and Giuliano Amato. In the subsequent 1992 presidential election, Atakana was the only candidate and was elected by default. Throughout his second term in office, Mati Atakana focused his administration primarily on consolidating power within the executive branch. In November 1992, Atakana repealed the constitution of the second Republic of Isgardia and implemented a new draconian constitution which effectively reduced the National Assembly to a rubber stamp authority and stripped it of its impeachment powers; alongside the congressional reforms, all political parties other than the Republican party were banned, effectively transitioning the state to a single party autocracy. Additionally, a new secret police organisation known as ORAT (Organizzazione per la Repressione dell'Attività Terroristica) was established to spy on dissidents and remove opposition to the government. In March 1993, President Atakana began to frame the previous year's "night of the long knives" as being a campaign against the influence of the Sicilian Mafia, drawing criticism from the criminal organisation - in response, the Isgardian government launched a crackdown in Sicily in August 1993 and implemented draconian restrictions on internal freedom of movement to the island. During the government's campaign, an estimated 13,000 Sicilian citizens were killed by 1999, with only about 4,000 of those dead confirmed to be mafia members. After journalists from Milan discovered of the massacres in the summer of 1996, the Atakana administration introduced the Law on Media Regulations which effectively nationalised all media outlets in the nation by placing government ministers in charge of the companies. In 1998, Mati Atakana won election to a second term in office after being the only candidate permitted to run in the election.

#### Isgardia under Joseph Natolia

    Having been formally inaugurated as president on July 27, 2004, President Joseph Natolia formed an initial government with former president Mati Atakana as prime minister; despite having stepped down as president and leader of the Republican party, Atakana was still widely regarded as holding the true power within the Isgardian political system. In October 2004, prime minister Atakana died in office after 18 years as the *de-facto* leader of Isgardia; in the aftermath of his death, President Natolia appointed himself as the head of government, becoming the first non-parliamentary prime minister in the 83 year history of the office. The move angered many senior politicians within the Republican party, who criticised Natolia for taking advantage of his predecessor's death for personal gain, and for undermining the one-party system by making the regime focused around a single individual. With the death of Mati Atakana, President Natolia began to form his own independent policy platforms separate to that of his predecessor; in March 2005, Natolia announced that his administration would begin a review into constitutional change, and seek to repeal many of the harsh culturally conservative policies of the previous government. In May 2005, President Natolia removed the ban on homosexuality and in 2006 legislated for the creation of civil partnerships for homosexual relationships. Following the arrest of the radical left wing trade unionist Giovanni Pozzoli in April 2007, mass protests erupted in Sicily and were aided by members of the Sicilian Mafia in an attempt to destabilise the government - in response, President Natolia increased the number of armed forces stationed on the island and ordered a vast crackdown against the Mafia, arresting thousands of members of the organisation and publicly executing at least twenty Mafia bosses.

The emergence of the global economic crisis in 2007-9 following the collapse of subprime mortgages in the United States' financial market led to widespread economic disruption in Isgardia as financial institutions came to the brink of bankruptcy; following an emergency loan from the World Bank, President Joseph Natolia succeeded in stabilising the Isgardian economy by restoring liquidity to the markets, but placed the country into billions of dollars worth of debt. In response to the financial crisis, many western European nations pooled together to form the Euro as a common currency for members of the European Union, with Isgardia joining the currency in 2009. The economic crisis also caused a further domestic political crisis as discontent with the economy transformed into mass protests across the country; in a bid to calm protests, President Natolia implemented a new constitution in January 2010 which allowed the formation of political parties for the first time since 1992, whilst also amending the electoral process to make it easier for other parties to take part. Despite the concessions to protestors and multi-party elections, Natolia was re-elected after protestors largely boycotted the 2010 presidential and congressional elections. During his second term in office, President Natolia was forced to deal with the rising levels of discontent against the government as allies of the imprisoned trade unionist Giovanni Pozzoli rallied for increased political reforms. In March 2011, protests in Rome against the worsening economic situation erupted into anti-government demonstrations which lasted for weeks, until they were forcefully disbanded by ORAT. In an attempt to further appease protestors, President Natolia enacted a new constitution which would allow for free elections to the National Assembly, which would remain weakened, and move elections to a two round system with both the general public and the National Assembly getting a vote on the election of the president. In November 2015, the former defence minister Melinia Vicetti founded Patria Isgardia as a splinter party from the Republican party. With the formation of Patri Isgardia as a rival to President Natolia, the government opted to release Pozzoli and covertly fund extremist groups to try and split the vote ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Despite gaining a plurality of the popular vote, Giovanni Pozzoli was defeated by incumbent president Joseph Natolia in the parliamentary round of the election, causing mass uproar from the population.

In response to the elections, which were denounced as neither free or fair by international observers, the Isgardian Communist League raised a militia force on the island of Sicily and in November 2016, the ICL proclaimed the island to be the People's Republic of Italy with Giovanni Pozzoli as head of state. In response, President Natolia ordered that the armed forces of the Republic of Isgardia be deployed to crush the rebellion in late November, but the deployment of the armed forces was quickly halted after a rebellion in Milan forced a redirection of forces. Over the next 5 years, the Isgardian peninsular became embroiled in a low intensity civil conflict between the Isgardian Communist League, Isgardian Republican Party, and Patria Isgardia, who formed their own militia groups in the south of the country. In 2018, in an attempt to form an anti-communist governing coalition, Patri Isgardia and the Republican party joined forces after a referendum and PI leader Melinia Vicetti was appointed as prime minister in July 2018. Following the collapse of government supply lines in southern Isgardia, prime minister Vicetti resigned from government in May 2019 and restarted Patria Isgardia's war against the government, taking advantage of the Natolia administration's military dysfunction to gain footholds in key cities across the south of Isgardia. From 2020 onwards, the Fox Dynasty under Empress Laura Fox began to supply opposition forces in Isgardia in a direct attempt to depose Natolia. In January 2021, Patri Isgardia launched a campaign across the country with the aid of Libirachi special forces operatives and began to push northwards; by September 2021, PI had entirely surrounded the capital city of Rome. On September 21, 2021, President Joseph Natolia was captured by Patri Isgardia attempting to flee Rome. At 11:09am, Natolia signed a unilateral surrender and resigned from the presidency; in his place, Melinia Vicetti proclaimed herself as president of a new State of Isgardia, and announced the dissolution of the Republic of Isgardia. Within days, Patri Isgardia seized control in the rival People's Republic of Italy and implemented a puppet regime, though the island was not reincorporated into the state. Under the new regime, Joseph Natolia was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a grand jury in November 2021, but died in May 2025 after having served 2 and a half years of his sentence.

## Leadership

### Presidency

The Royal President of Isgardia is the Head of State for the autocratic nation, in theory elected every eight years (although quadrennial elections happened between 1972 and 1986, upon the restoration of democracy) to a position of power within the nation. Following the election of Mati Atakana in 1986, a significant level of democratic backsliding occurred, leaving Atakana's Republican party as the sole political organisation in the nation by 1992, after all opposing parties were banned and their leaders arrested during the late '80s. Despite no formal term limits existing following an update to the constitution in 2022 (and a prior amendment in 1996), most Royal Presidents have been unable to retain the will of the people for longer than two terms, with the sole exceptions being Mati Atakana (who ruled between 1986 and 2004) and his successor Joseph Natolia (who ruled between 2004 and 2021) who achieved a third term in 1998 and 2016 respectively following an amendment to the constitution in 1996 which allowed an incumbent Royal President to seek a third term if congress deemed it appropriate by a two-thirds majority.