Rätebund

The **Rätebund** (German for Councils' Union), officially the **Union of Socialist Council Republics** (**USCR**) (German: *Bund der Sozialistischen Räterepubliken, BSRR*) is a country spanning most of Europe. <enter info about population and area>. It is a federal socialist republic composed of 17 Republics, all of which have further subdivisions.

The Rätebund has its roots in the 1913 Great Mitteleuropa Revolution, when communists led by Karl Liebknecht overthrew the monarchies of Germany, Hungary and Croatia, starting the Rotkrieg. Eventually, peace was achieved and the Rätebund was established by the victorious communist republics of Germany, Denmark, Galicia, Hungary, the Netherlands and Poland on November 19, 1916.

Following Liebknecht's death in 1920, Ernst Thälmann took power in the Rätebund. Under Thälmann's rule, the Rätebund became an authoritarian regime, controlled by the Communist Party of the Rätebund (KPRB). During World War II, Thälmann's Rätebund and its aligned nations initially stayed neutral until 1936, then joined the New Entente forces against the Axis Powers. Despite high casualties, the war was a victory for the Rätebund, which occupied most of Europe, and established satellite states, leading to the formation of the Kerch Pact in 1943, the communist alliance in the Cold War and main opponent of the capitalist Treaty of Trois-Rivières.

Thälmann's death in 1946 caused a power vacuum in the Rätebund. By exploiting the democratic elements of the 1933 Constitution (meant as a sham democracy at first), Reformists led by the Hungarian János Kádár opposed to Thälmann's Germanization policy and authoritarianism founded the All-Union Communist Party (ABKP), eventually winning the first multi-party elections in the Rätebund, establishing a policy of de-Thälmannization and leading to its transformation into a multi-party socialist republic.

The Rätebund gained and maintained a technological edge during the Cold War, sending the first satellite in space, the first human being in space and the first human landing on the Moon. With the collapse of the American Entente in 1988, the Rätebund was left as the main superpower in the world.

The Rätebund is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and a highly developed country, consistently ranking near the top in measures of human rights, quality of life, gender equality and education.

## Etymology

The word *Rätebund* is German for "councils' union". The term Rat, for council, is cognate with archaic English term *rede*, from Old English *ræd*.

## Government and politics

The Rätebund is a federal republic, consisting of 17 *Räterepubliken*, or Council Republics. It is a parliamentary representative democracy, where power is vested in the unicameral Supreme Council of the Rätebund (German: *Oberster Rat des Rätebundes*). The Supreme Council is elected every four years through direct elections, using the mixed-member proportional system. The President is elected every six years through universal direct suffrage using instant-runoff voting and mostly has ceremonial powers.

### Parties and elections

Until the foundation of the All-Union Communist Party by János Kádár in 1947, the Rätebund was a one-party state. Since then, it has developed into a multi-party republic, with various political tendencies appearing. All parties must be authorized by the Central Electoral Commission in order to run in elections, and - according to the 1933 Constitution - must adhere to the socialist ideology of the Rätebund.

There are currently twelve recognized political parties in the Rätebund:

* Christian Democratic Workers' Party (CDAP)
* Democratic Farmers' Party (DBP)
* Democratic Millennium Party (DMP)
* Communist Party of the Rätebund (KPRB)
* Ecosocialist Popular Front (ÖSVF)
* Socialist Freedom Party (SFP)
* Socialist Party for Freedom between Peoples (SPVF)
* Socialist Reform Party (SRP)
* Socialist Future Party (SZP)
* Union for Popular Socialism (UVS)
* United Workers' Party (VAP)
* World Liberation Party (WBP)

The two main parties are the progressive-leaning SRP and the socially conservative VAP. Currently, the government is led by the SRP.

As in other socialist democracies, terms right-wing and left-wing are usually used to rescribe respectively, (socially and institutionally) conservative and progressive or reformist parties. As such, the SRP is considered to be the main party on the left, and the VAP the main party on the right. All parties in the Rätebund, would be considered left-wing or far-left from a liberal democracy's point of view.