Cabana

**Cabana** is an island in the southern Mediterranean. It was ruled by the Roman Empire from 146 B.C.E to 455 C.E. Following this, the Vandals established with local Christian authorities the Cabanan Kingdom in 455, which ruled the island until they were overthrown by Italian nationalists in 1941. Cabana would be ruled by Mussolini's Italy until the end of World War II in 1945, whereafter they would be jointly occupied by the United States and Soviet Union.

As tensions rose between the two global superpowers, the decision was made to divide Cabana in two. The Soviet Union largely controlled East Cabana, whereas the United States controlled West Cabana. This division would be met with hostility from the Cabanan people, who protested the division of their nation and imposition of foreign ideologies. During the Cold War, resistance was met with political suppression, leaving the island in a totalitarian state for the following decades to come.

## Cabanan Kingdom (455 - 1941)

In 455, the Vandals were ravaging the Roman province of Cabana. Its wealth was being pillaged and its people were being mutilated in the streets. The Vandals were taking the home of its native people and reshaping the island into their own. Seeing the horrors brought upon the once stable province, local church authorities approached the Vandals themselves with a deal: They could rule the island independently from the Vandal Kingdom, in exchange for upholding a basic set of rights that would promote stability on the island. Additionally, the Cabana King's power would derive directly from the church.

The Vandals agreed to these demands, thus seeing the Roman Legate overthrown and the Cabanan Kingdom established. In addition to the invading Vandals breaking away from their larger kingdom in north Africa, the church officials believed they had just overcome the apocalypse. Thus, they established a new denomination of Christianity known as Cabanism, stating that the Second Coming of Christ was through granting the priests the ability to make peace with the Vandals.

The Covenant of Cabana used to make this agreement is largely considered to be the world's first bill of rights. While not including political freedoms such as the right to vote, it did protect the Cabanan people from authoritative violence and mandated all treatment of them to be humane. It also created a separation of powers, stating that while the Vandal dynasty were the absolute rulers of Cabana, the church would judge innocence or guilt of breaking the law, in addition to the appropriate punishment.

As the Cabanan Kingdom was largely a breakaway from the larger Vandal Kingdom, tension would arise between the Vandals and Cabanans over the next decade. This would come to a head in 466, when the Vandals launched an invasion onto the nation. In the following war, the Vandals would possess a superior military to the Cabanans, yet would be less familiar with the terrain and area. Thus, the Cabanans successfully defended their land by outsmarting the Vandals and using their foreign nature against them. Thus, after seven years, the Vandals would be defeated in 473, in turn seeing Cabanan King Wisimar (455 - 490) being dubbed "the Great".

In the following decades, Vandal and native Cabanan culture would begin to mix from the mixing of the two peoples. The language Cabanan would possess two grammatical states, one being modeled after Germanic languages and one being modeled after Romance languages. In the nation, both were used regularly, thus leaving the language ambivalent on its grammar; it is neither a descendent of Latin nor Vandalic, instead deriving from both.

Additionally, the island's monarchs would possess more and more Cabanan heritage as time progressed. They saw themselves not as Vandals, nor as native Cabanans, but rather Cabanans: A people created by the Covenant of Cabana and merging of two peoples.

The island would additionally largely be isolationist over the course of its history, especially looking down on Catholicism, which Cabanist priests called "blasphemous" from how the Catholic Church did nothing about feudalism and imposed their control over most of Europe. Having largely a defensive mindset come time for the second millennium, most Cabanans additionally chose not to partake in the Crusades.

Because of this isolationist mindset, democratic progression did not reach the island in the same manner it did the rest of the West. The Cabanist church continued dominating the island for the entirety of the Enlightenment, and there was no call to ever separate church and state. Most Cabanans considered themselves well-off compared to the rest of Europe, and most never desired democracy (the few who did were punished). In fact, Cabana largely became fearful of the rise of populist ideals such as democracy and Marxism.

Cabana would be invaded by Napoleon Bonaparte's France in 1808. Once again, Cabana would push back the invading forces, this time with the help of Napoleon's opposition in Europe. Seeing that Napoleon was promoting the ideals of the French Revolution, this would cause Cabanans to outright resent Enlightenment ideals with disgust. They saw its zeal as the West's excuse for conflict, especially given what Robspierre did to France during the Reign of Terror. Therefore, Cabana would take up the mindset following the Napoleonic Wars that basic rights were the only rights one was entitled to, and that the political rights the Enlightenment called for meant nothing.

Additionally, while Cabana would remain neutral in World War I, they looked in horror on the subsequent Russian Revolution. This would instill a fear of communism for them over the course of the next decade, especially given how contradictory The Communist Manifesto was to the Covenant of Cabana. Because of this fear for communism, they would form an alliance with Benito Mussolini's Italy in 1926.

Initially, the Cabanans would experience the benefits of being allied with fascist Italy; they had assurance that they were secure from communism. Over the course of the 1930s, however, Mussolini's philosophy would make its way into Cabana's public discourse, as a large minority of Cabana's population claimed the Cabanan Kingdom was a mistake, being formed out of the destruction of the Roman Empire. Initially, this opposition to the kingdom would be suppressed, yet doing this would eventually become too much. In March of 1941, the Roman nationalists would commence civil war against the kingdom. By October of that year, King Chardus XIII was overthrown and the Cabanist Church would be sent into exile. Cabana would be named a province in the Neo-Roman Empire, and the revolutionaries would personally welcome a visit from Mussolini himself.

## Division (1949 - 1993)

While Mussolini's fascism would have the support from a large minority of Cabanans, the majority would still be nationalistic toward the island. Therefore, when the Allies reached Cabana in 1944, most Cabanans would welcome them with open arms; some even went as far as to join the Allies' military in the fight against Italy and Germany. Although the Cabanan people helped the Allies in pushing the Italians off the island, however, neither the Americans nor Soviets were ready to retract their own influence.

Much like the other occupied nations of World War II, Cabana would be divided. West Cabana (officially the "Free Republic of Cabana") would have a constitution instituted by the Americans, whereas East Cabana (officially the "People's Republic of Cabana") would receive a communist government from the Soviets. This would enrage the Cabanan people. Not only were the two government systems they detested being brought to their island, but their beloved nation was now split.

### West Cabana

The Free Republic of Cabana was established in 1949 following an occupation by American military forces. Its Constitution was imposed to resemble that of the American government's, possessing a President, Congress (albeit unicameral), and Supreme Court. The President would be elected by a gerrymandered electoral college, and Congress would additionally send Representatives from these gerrymandered districts. Unlike the US Constitution, however, there would be one additional branch of government: The military. The military would be independent from the executive, and the Commander in Chief would be nominated by the President and confirmed to office by Congress. The Constitution would additionally contain a Bill of Rights that enshrined capitalism in the Constitution, and additionally ensured that West Cabana could not ally with any communist nations.

Following the Constitution's imposition, the first elections were held in 1949. Given that the nation used First Past The Post for voting, this election saw two major parties spring up: The Freedom Party and the Pacifist Party. The Freedom Party largely upheld Western ideals, those being democracy and capitalism. It believed that West Cabana needed to oppose communist nations at all cost, and that the military additionally needed to be fortified. Meanwhile, the Pacifist Party believed in a more diplomatic solution to dealing with communism. The Pacifist Party believed in establishing ties with East Cabana and making efforts toward unification. In the Election of 1949, a majority of Cabanans supported the Pacifist Party. Given the gerrymandering efforts made by Americans before pulling out, however, the Freedom Party would win both the Presidency and a majority of seats in Congress.

The first West Cabanan government would appoint Stron Augusto as Commander in Chief. Once in office, Augusto would proceed to act as unofficial dictator of the nation. He said he would be "merciful" on the government and said that "Cabanan democracy is truly wonderful", yet that he "would not let it reign at the expense of freedom", and threatened to coup the government if they did not enact his policy. Although most Freedomists were opposed to the military protecting capitalism via dictatorship, the government proceeded to comply out of fear. Thus, Augusto began persecuting communists, Pacifists, and anyone who opposed him.

Two years into his dictatorship, Augusto threatened the Freedom Party with execution if they did not elect him as leader. The Freedom Party proceeded to comply with this demand, and as Augusto's first act as party chair, he abolished party primaries and had leadership directly select the candidates. Through this, the Freedom Party was converted into a party in submission to Augusto's iron fist. They won every election over the Pacifist Party until they were eventually the only party on the ballot; most Pacifist candidates were killed before the election began.

To circumvent Augusto's oppression and win elections in pro-Pacifist districts, Pacifist candidates often made deals with election workers in secret, and campaigned by canvassing in secret. Catching onto this, Augusto would institute the "Right to Public Discourse Act", which mandated that all candidates make speeches in their districts. If they did not, they could not be placed on any ballot. This would bring about absolute control over West Cabana by Augusto and the Freedom Party. By 1965, all government seats were occupied by Augusto loyalists.

For the next 26 years, Augusto's rule would be stable. His military would operate a shadow government and exert their dictatorship on the West Cabanan people. They would additionally possess the support of American President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. Come time for the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, however, Augusto's rule would begin to crack. Many government officials no longer thought that Augusto's totalitarianism was necessary, and thus proposed the "Restore Democracy Amendment", which would render a bipartisan committee as head of the military. Before the amendment could pass, however, Augusto followed through with his threatened coup, and thus took control of the government that year. President Cole Tridam would be killed, Vice President Braton Sav would be sent into exile, and most Congressmen and Supreme Court Justices would either be killed or exiled.

Augusto ruled West Cabana directly as its dictatorial President for six months. In January of 1992, however, the United States would take note of what Augusto was doing. American Secretary of State James Baker wrote directly to Augusto stating that if he did not resign from all offices he possessed, the United States would invade Cabana to restore its democracy. Knowing that he could not do anything without American support, Augusto fearfully obliged. In return, he sought refuge in the United States and would not be convicted of any crimes.

Former Vice President Braton Sav would become West Cabana's fifth President in 1992. As a sign that other parties would now be tolerated, he appointed prominent activist Victor Fedral, who had become a leader in the Neo-Pacifist Party, as his Vice President. While he would be named the Freedom Party's Presidential nominee, he would lose to Fedral in the Presidential Election of 1992. The Neo-Pacifist Party would additionally win the vast majority of Congressional seats that year, thus seeing the Freedom Party's first electoral loss.

Once in office, President Fedral began negotiations with East Cabanan Chairman Erso Ule to re-unify. Under his government, the two Cabanas would finally pass the Covenant of the United Cabanan Federation in 1993.

### East Cabana

The People's Republic of Cabana was established in 1949 following an occupation by Soviet military forces. Its Constitution imposed a form of Stalinism that granted the "People's Party", the communist party of the nation, direct authority over all governance, and made the People's Party's Chairman a national dictator. While other parties could exist and send delegates to the "National Assembly", a legislature elected via proportional representation, the National Assembly could not do anything without the Chairman's approval; it existed specifically for "proposals", and the other parties were largely persecuted by the People's Party anyways.

Generally, East Cabana is considered one of the least oppressive communist nations in history. Although the government held complete control over the economy and political opposition was persecuted, the 1500-year Cabanan culture promoted basic rights for the people. Therefore, the East Cabana Chairmen did not starve the East Cabana people in the same way Stalin's Soviet Union or Mao's China did.

The People's Party generally ruled East Cabana in a stable manner until Cabana's re-unification in 1993.

**List of East Cabanan Chairmen**
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### Cabanan Civil War

The division enraged many Cabanans. Not only were their people divided, but the very ideologies they were horrified of were now brought to their soil. To them, the actions from the Americans and Soviets were the same as those from the Vandals, French, and Italians; an invasion on their land. And the Cabanans were not going to take an invasion without a fight.

In 1950, an organization known as the "Cabana People's Front" formed, whose goal was to "defend Cabana from foreign oppression" and to reunite the nation via force. The Cabana People's Front's rhetoric was largely modeled after fascism, as they alleged that the Cabanan people were united in a singular identity they should take pride in. While there were disagreements in what the government structure would be once they won, it was agreed that they would promote historic Cabanan values and keep the Cabanan identity united. They would not tolerate democracy nor communism on the island.

To both the West and East Cabanan governments, this organization was a terrorist group. It attacked both nations without distinction, and the West and East Cabanan militaries unofficially worked together to bring it down (despite being forbidden to). After 17 years, the Cabanan governments would be successful in 1967. Most Cabana People's Front soldiers were executed.

## United Cabanan Federation (1993 - 2110)

The United Cabanan Federation was formed in 1993 by the Covenant of the United Cabanan Federation. This "Covenant" served as a constitution between the Free Republic of Cabana and the People's Republic of Cabana, and was meant to let each government remain in power whilst operating as one united nation.

Serving at the head of the Federation would be three equal Consuls, who would all ensure Cabanans were being treated fairly, lead the Cabanan military, and manage the nation's foreign affairs. The Consuls would serve terms of six years, and would be elected by an electoral college, 15 delegates to which would be appointed by each government. Once every two years, the electoral college would vote for a Consul.

Additionally, there would be a national election for the United Cabanan Parliament via the system of proportional representation. Parliament would largely manage the national economy, and would be responsible for setting national taxes and a national budget (which Parliament would have to use only for the military, trade, or paying off debt). A Prime Minister elected by Parliament would carry out its will.

On the ratification of the Covenant, Cabanans across the island felt pride for their nation; their governments had replicated the actions of the Cabanan Kingdom's founding in 455. Additionally, the Cabanan people would also be willing to try democracy despite their historic sentiments toward it. They saw from the division that with political rights, they would be far better off than without them. Thus, they instituted freedom of speech, the right to vote, and the right to protest.

### Foreign Affairs

Early in the Federation's history, a question arised as to whether or not Cabana should remain allied to the United States. Consul Erso Ule advocated for severing ties with the Americans, yet this was opposed by both Fedral and Sav; Sav was loyal to the United States after they helped overthrow Augusto, and Fedral thought it was in Cabana's best interests to remain allied with the world's sole superpower.

In 2002, Cabana would be presented with the decision of whether or not to join the Multi-National Force invading Iraq. Consuls Ule and Dile opposed intervention, stating that any military Cabana had should be used for defensive purposes. Meanwhile, Consul Sav supported Cabana joining the invasion. Because the votes were 2-1, the Consul election the following year would garner national attention. Ule would face fierce opposition from Nationalist MP George Eres, who argued that Cabana should expand its influence on the world stage by involving itself in "righteous causes." Ultimately, the electoral college chose to re-elect Ule with 2/3 of electors supporting him.

Because of this election's intense nature, many Cabanans called for the democratization of Consul elections; they wanted to abolish the electoral college and have the people elect the Consuls directly. The governments, however, largely wanted to keep the electoral college because of how it brought equality to the states. Thus, the governments passed a Covenant amendment allowing for the citizens to choose the electors directly while still keeping the electoral college.

### Parliament

Early in the Federation's history, there would be two main factions which dominated Parliament: The first advocated to keep taxes and spending low so that the regional governments could influence most of Cabanan life. This would come to be known as the "Federalist" faction. Meanwhile, another faction would advocate for higher taxes on citizens and high military spending. This faction would come to be known as the "Nationalist" faction.

The 1st Parliament would be composed mostly of Federalists, with most Neo-Pacifists and Populists falling under this category. Meanwhile, the Cabana Nationalist and Freedom Parties would introduce a bill to increase military spending and raise federal taxes. This bill would be voted down, however, by a majority of Parliament. Despite this, these two parties asserted themselves as the opposition to the status quo. Thus, the Freedomists and Cabana Nationalists created the position of "Shadow Prime Minister" and elected Chardus Mos, the Cabana Nationalist who proposed the bill, to the position.

Following the Election of 1996, Federalists and Nationalists were equally divided. The nation's Premiership was anyone's game, and most thought the Consuls would have to break the tie. With just two votes, however, Nationalist Leader Chardus Mos successfully won the election via three Federalists who thought he was more competent as an impartial leader. In the election, one Nationalist would vote for Newt under the guise of him being more impartial.

With half of the seats, the Nationalists attempted to institute their agenda under the "Strong Cabana Act", which raised taxes and established a military. During the vote, the MPs would be split 50-50, and the Consuls were thus brought in to break the tie. While Consul Sav supported the matter, both Fedral and Ule opposed it, thus seeing the bill fail.

Three years later, however, the Nationalists would obtain their first proper majority in Parliament, and would thus pass the Strong Cabana Act in the 3rd Parliament.

In 2002, the nation would be galvanized as it became more and more apparent that the United States was about to declare war on Iraq. Debates of Cabanan involvement would become main stream, both in the Consul election and in Parliament. In 2002, the Federalist Party advocated for reducing military spending so that the Consuls would be discouraged from joining the invasion. This train of thought would cause many Nationalists to join the Federalist Party, including Prime Minister Chardus Mos. With this policy, the Federalists successfully retook the majority for the first time in six years. With their newly found majority, the Federalists successfully repealed the Strong Cabana Act. Because many Federalists in office were former Nationalists, however, this repeal would only be in effect for five years.

Following the Government Shutdown of 2020 and subsequent Mandate of Reconvention, two new parties would emerge in Cabana for the first time in 25 years, one being named the "United Republican Party" and one being the "Free Convention Party".

The United Republican Party was founded on a hatred for the Government Shutdown, and largely pushed for a Constitutional amendment dissolving the federation and replacing it with a unitary republic. As two smaller goals, the party wanted to take control of the Consulship to undermine regional autonomy, and to take control of Parliament for passing national laws and enforcing them via Prime Ministerial power. Additionally, the United Republican Party would want to abolish the electoral college.

Meanwhile, the Free Convention Party was largely in opposition to the COVID lockdown. This party alleged that it was the people's right to congregate freely, and that government action during COVID was nothing short of tyranny. In Parliament, this party would fight any future government shutdowns, and in regions, it would fight to pass a Constitutional amendment prohibiting lockdowns.

Although Federalist Henry Sek was recognized as the Shadow Prime Minister of the 10th United Cabanan Parliament, he was no longer Theodore Poer's only party-opposition. Party Leaders Vetu Del (FC) and Andrew Nov (UR) each possessed their own opposition to the status quo and would not rally behind Poer nor Sek.

Additionally, although the Federalist Party possessed a plurality, they did not have the votes to repeal the Strong Cabana Act. 10 out of the 17 Free Conventionists opposed a repeal, as were all but one United Republicans. Thus, the majority of Parliament would want the historic act to remain in effect.

#### Prime Minister Election of 2021

2021 would be the first year in nearly three decades that saw four candidates run for Prime Minister. Theodore Poer and Henry Sek would retain their positions as Nationalist and Federalist Leaders (respectively), yet would additionally be challenged by Free Convention Leader Vetu Del and United Republican Leader Andrew Nov. Because of the number of candidates, Parliament used two-round voting for this election.

The first round would see Sek obtain 35 votes, Poer obtain 41 votes, Del obtain 13 votes, and Nov obtain 11 votes. A total of eight MPs crossed party lines to vote for Poer in this round, with five Federalists believing he's been a good and more experienced leader than any other candidate, and three Free Conventionists believing that Del was too old to become Prime Minister; at the time, Del was 82 years old. For this reasoning, one Free Conventionist crossed party lines to vote for Nov as Prime Minister. While not necessarily agreeing with the United Republicans, he appreciated Nov's anti-COVID rhetoric.

With Sek and Poer as the top two candidates, they advanced to the next round. 10 of Nov's voters transferred their votes to Poer, whereas Sek received one. Meanwhile, Del's voters would largely be split; 7 would transfer their votes to Poer, whereas six transferred to Sek. Thus, Poer possessed 58 final votes, whereas Sek possessed 42. Thus, Theodore Poer would be the first Prime Minister to obtain a fourth term.

### Government Shutdown of 2020

Over the course of the 2010s, national affairs maintained a stable status quo. Parliament passed nothing particularly noteworthy, and all Consuls elected were largely similar in ideology; they were all pacifist isolationists. This would all change, however, when COVID-19 broke out in 2020. In January, the regional governments were quick to close their borders both to each other and the outside world. It was largely the national consensus that the people had to isolate themselves. Because of this, both the Consuls and Parliament passed their own resolutions officially declaring a government shutdown; no federal activity would take place until the pandemic concluded. Along with this, Parliament's final action would be another temporary repeal of the Strong Cabana Act; the nation was at peace and they did not want soldiers to be exposed to the virus.

Following the shutdown, East and West Cabana once again acted independently. Due to West Cabana's capitalist nature, they re-opened the region for West Cabanan residents in April, seeing that Cabana was one of the nations least-affected by COVID anyways. Meanwhile, East Cabana remained shutdown until December, when the United States successfully developed the first COVID vaccine. Because of East Cabana's communist nature, the people in this region did not struggle to obtain basic resources.

In December of 2020, the two regions passed the Mandate of Reconvention, which would see new Parliamentary elections held on January 1, 2021. This would additionally be the day Consul Peter Quo's first term expired.