Free City of Krakow

The ancient capital of Poland, Krakow is once again the centre of the Polish nation. Said to be founded by a warlord who slew a dragon and built a castle over its lair, Krakow is more than one thousand years old. During the partitions of Poland, Krakow survived as an independent city-state that was the sole sovereign Polish realm. When Polish independence was restored, Krakow endured as the cultural and intellectual capital of the country. Spared the fate of Warsaw during World War II, Krakow's old quarter and ancient cathedral and castles remained a visible, durable link between the Polish Kingdom of old and the modern Polish state.

Under the communists, Krakow gained a new factory suburb named *Nowa Huta* ("The New Steel Mill"), but remained a largely non-industrial city. This proved to be the city's saving grace. When World War III broke out, NATO long range bombers and missiles waged an aggressive war against Polish industrial and military infrastructure, but Krakow escaped relatively unscathed. Nowa Huta was destroyed, and the city's power stations were cut out, but only a few stray bombs and missiles fell on the city proper, which sustained only minor damage. The city also benefited from a tacit truce between the city government and the local anti-communist activists, agreeing that there would be no crackdowns in exchange for no sabotage. Soviet and Polish military forces passed through the city but did not stay. Martial law was imposed, but there was little disorder except for some minor theft of consumer goods from closed shops.

When NATO forces entered Poland, the official city government dissolved itself and appointed an emergency "citizen's council", which included both party members and democracy activists. The new council took the astounding step of declaring Krakow an open city. The few Soviet troops present left, and the Polish soldiers mostly threw away their uniforms (although they kept their weapons). The city's volunteer citizen's militia, known as the ORMO, agreed to follow the new council's commands and began collecting military weapons and building defenses around the old city walls. In 1986, when NATO commanders began their final offensive into south-eastern Poland, they made the decision to bypass Krakow rather than to try to fight their way through the city's increasingly formidable defenses. Although the city did suffer from lawlessness, malnutrition and disease, it was not obliterated by nuclear bombs like Warsaw and Wroclaw, nor was it torn apart by land battles like Lodz and Gdansk. Polish army deserters began to congregate on the city, building up its defenses further.

The greatest threat to the city came, not from NATO or Soviet forces, but from Marauders. In the spring of 1986 several medium sized Marauder bands, made up of a melange of NATO, Soviet, Czech and Polish deserters realised that the city represented a much greater prize than pillaging isolated farming communities. More than a thousand Marauders, carrying heavy weapons "inherited" from the Soviet 12th Guards Tank Division and the US 11th Armoured Division, led by a Polish Colonel called Morz and calling themselves the Confederation of Wadowice, besieged the city. It seemed Krakow would fall, until a small but well-armed and disciplined unit of Polish soldiers appeared from the north and attacked the Confederation from the rear, killing Colonel Morz. Without their leader, the Confederation fell to infighting and scattered. The leader of the unit, a Colonel named Hanski, was acclaimed leader of the city of Krakow through a hastily convened election. He accepted the title of *Dowdoca* (military commander) and installed himself in Wawel Castle, the historical home of the ancient Polish Kings.

Although many have died in Krakow, there are still almost 500,000 souls within its walls, making it by far the largest surviving city in Poland and possibly one of the largest in Europe. In addition to those inside its walls, many refugees cluster in the ruins outside the walls, hoping to gain entrance to the city itself. Within the walls, one can find luxuries like water (although it is sporadically cut off), power (although only for the rich or critical industries), food (although it is rationed) and medical care (at a price). Large parts of the city are controlled by gangs, but their small scale violence is preferable to the ravages of well-armed Marauders. The marketplaces of Krakow are the best place to buy and sell in the whole of Central Europe - one can even buy a tank or artillery shells here, if one is prepared to pay the price (and doesn't mind everybody knowing it).

The city's ORMO constitute a well organised paramilitary force, although they rarely venture far outside its walls except to escort supply convoys. To provide the city with food, Krakow's city government has formed alliances with several nearby farming communities, including most notably the towns of Andrychow and Tarnow, which are fairly substantial in their own right and have their own ORMOs, set up with Krakow's assistance.

Although the Krakow's Citizen's Council, known as the *Rada* still exists and is in theory in control of the city, the Dowodca is very popular and has his own personal guard, the *Warta*, who supervise council meetings. As such, the Dowodca's word usually passes for law, at least on major matters.

Uniquely, the Free City has good relations with both Free Poland and People's Poland. Both governments consider Krakow to be loyal to them but autonomous, a fiction it suits everybody to maintain. Both the Free Polish Anchor Flag and the Loyalist White Eagle can be seen displayed in the city, although the Wawel flies only the simple two-colour Polish flag (officially the flag of both governments) and the Krakow City flag. Individual citizens of the city have their own opinions, but disputes rarely rise above the level of fistfights. Both Free Poland and People's Poland take advantage of Krakow's status as a trade centre to obtain needed supplies, although getting them out of the city can be difficult. Conversely, Soviet and NATO troops are not welcome in Krakow except in very small numbers, although many deserters from both NATO and Warsaw Pact forces have appeared in the city.

The Free City and its allies are the largest faction in Poland, and probably economically the most significant. They are militarily quite weak, however, with a military that is capable of defending their core territories and fending off most (although not all) Marauder incursions, but not much beyond that. The Dowodca and Rada have not tried to strengthen their military forces too much, largely in order to avoid appearing threatening to any of the other forces operating in Poland. This may not be tenable in the long term, however.