History of Shea

## Prehistory

The island chain of Shea or the Shea Island Chain was supposedly formed around 800,000 years ago after splitting off of Sheaman. After many investigations and discoveries it seems like there was never any inhabitants of the islands after it split off of Sheaman and even then Sheaman wasn't inhabited prior to 800,000 years ago. It seems like it may have been 10s of millions of years ago when there were inhabitants of the islands when it was connected to a larger continent.

## Early History: 1681 - 1923

In 1681 Sheaman and his crew discovered the Isle of Sheaman and along the way they found the saw the Isle of Beatrice but noticed Sheaman first so they didn't bother to explore it. Later in 1683 the crew would attempt to discover the other islands by building boats. Theo and Sheaman would explore the Beatrice and Theo leading to Sheaman naming the island of Theo after his crew member Theo and Theo naming Beatrice after his wife Beatrice who had also come along on the expedition to find Sheaman. The two would also explore Shantahein, Athudul, and Barnova in 1684 and the reason for their names are generally unknown but some say they were joke names

When the Sheaman crew were found in 1688 and the French government laid claim to the island that also included Theo, Barnova, Shantahein, Athudul, and Beatrice. Under French and British rule the island saw mass immigration, particularly Beatrice and Shantahein due to their location and size. During the Maxifolian Rebellion Era of 1798 to 1844 the island chain remained very neutral due to a lack of care and comfortably under the British Empire. When Max Colton-Gray declared the independence of Sheaman as the Maxifolian Republic in 1837 very little in the island chain recognized themselves a part of the Republic instead favoring being under the United Kingdom.

In 1844 the island chain was given a referendum on the choice of joining Sheaman or remaining under the control of the United Kingdom with the promise of a devolved government if they remained. The latter was chosen due to the appeal of autonomy under Britain and so all of the 5 island remained under the United Kingdom.

Soon after remaining under the United Kingdom unrest was presented when a level of autonomy was not given to the island and the demand for independence rose. Eventually in 1882 the island chain declared their independence as the United Shean Republic only around half a year before Sheaman went to war with the United Kingdom. When war did break out between the UK and Sheaman many Sheans sided with Sheaman believing that Sheaman would guarantee their independence after they won the war. Although Shea had a very small military that was largely unorganized and barely trained they still offered military support to Sheaman and were actually helpful in particular battles such as the Brigadiers Battle and the Battle of Saint Cauhna. After independence however, Sheaman refused to give the country independence and Britain also refused to guarantee independence to Shea so once again another referendum took place and 56% of Sheans decided to join Sheaman over 44% who wanted to rejoin the UK.

Throughout the late 19th and early 20th century the island were very unhappy about being under Sheaman's control and small skirmishes and rebellions took place to get independence but to no prevail. After World War I however everything changed when Oliver C.B Sar guaranteed the independence of the Shean countries as each island had now established their own identity. The election led to a coalition between LRA and ADSP but independence was still guaranteed by Sar. In 1923 Theo & Barnova, Athudul, Shantahein, and Beatrice held referendums that all led to independence being the most popular choice.

## Independence of the Countries: 1923 - 1999

On the 1st of February West Beatrice and East Beatrice would gain independence with both states becoming completing opposing; West Beatrice became a capitalists haven under a flawed democracy and corrupt elections and East Beatrice would come under a socialist system but under a one-party system. On the 6th of May Athudul would gain independence and although they had election early on it eventually led to a far-right party winning an election in 1929 and leading to a one-party state. On the 14th of June 1924 Shantahein would gain independence and instead form a democracy that will still flawed but much more democratic than East Beatrice. On the 10th of November 1925 Theo & Barnova would gain independence much later than the rest due to complications with Sheaman.

Shantahein would be controlled by a provisional one-party government until becoming the first country of the island chain to hold an election. The election was relatively democratic and was won by the right-wing party called the National Democratic Party. The rest of the countries either eventually held elections that led to authoritarian democracies or became dictatorships.

In 1951 East and West Beatrice began a war called the East-West Beatrician War that lasted from 1951 to 1954. In 1954 the East Beatrician government collapsed and the war was won by West Beatrice. Harsh punishments were given to East Beatricians eventually leading to the segregation of East and West Beatricians in 1960 in education, health, elections, etc. In 1971 the Pro-Democracy group *Blue Front* attempted a coup on the government in November which led to a successful coup attempt and the fall of the government. The group held onto power until April when they called an election on the 4th of April 1972 leading to the *Blue Front Party* to win the election with a clear majority. The government became much more democratic than the last and ended the authoritarian regime. Eventually a Shean Unity party was elected in the mid 1980s which led to a change in government and an even more democratic system.

Athudul became a dictatorship in 1929 until the 2nd dictator, Francis Coven held a democratic election in 1979 leading to him being voted out as President and Judas Dennik being elected as President. Eventually a pro-independence President was elected in 1991 called Lawrence Smithson.

Theo & Barnova was a dictatorship until 1946 when a coup took place by a group of people who intended to form an oligarchic council but eventually held an election in 1950 to remain popular. They remained popular and won the election until finally losing in 1995 to a pro-democracy party.

## Formation & First Elections

By 1995 every country had either elected a pro-unity President, a pro-independence legislature or both. Between 1997 to 1999 a lot of meeting took place the discuss the possibility of a united country and in 1997 all the countries held referendums leading to 67% - 90% supporting independence with the lowest being Theo & Barnova at 67% and Beatrice at 90%. Finally in 1999 the countries came together and held an election as the Shea Republic or the Shean Republic. The election led to NWL winning 27 seats, ALT winning 88 seats, DL winning 38 seats, MOV winning 32 seats, UNITED wining 23 seats, COP wining 81 seats, and NAT winning 23 seats. ALT, DL, and MOV would go on to form the 1st ALT - DL - MOV Government in November with Declan Louise as their First Minister. An indirect President Election in the chamber would also be held in December 1999 leading to Vedastus Flann being elected President. One of the first acts of the chamber was the Maternity Leave Act that introduced 9 months of fully-paid maternity leave and another 18 months of unpaid maternity leave for pregnant women.

## 2000s

The early 2000s welcomed the 1st left-wing government of Shea with opinion polling showing over 60% support for the three left-wing parties. The government saw support by Lethabo Doema of Sheaman who praised the left-wing government for its "strength" and "power" in Shea. The party soon passed bills in the chamber such as the Homosexuality Act 2000, Divorce & Marriage Act 2000, State Housing Act 2000, Progressive Tax Act 2001, Shean Postal Act 2001, Currency Act 2001, Energy Nationalization Act 2002, State Pensions Act 2002, and the Bank of Shea Act 2002. The Homosexuality Act legalized homosexuality in Shea but even though homosexuality was already legal it was seen as more of a reaffirmation of gay people. Divorce law was majorly relaxed, some companies were nationalized, more welfare laws were increased, and a progressive tax rate was created. The first term of the government was seen as majorly successful and led to the left-wing parties increasing the number of their seats in the 2002 Camber of Deputies Election.