The Sovereign Republic of Gardenia

## Sovereign Republic of Gardenia

The Sovereign Republic of Gardenia (SRG), more commonly known as Gardenia, is a country mostly located in the plains of central North America. It consists of several dozen rural districts and two major cities, Urbana and Champaign. The SRG has historically controlled 11.58 square miles of land and has a population of roughly 130,000.

Most of the population lives in the highly urbanized metropolitan axis of the Urbana-Champaign region, with only roughly 20% percent of the population living outside of the city limits.

The SRG is a highly centralized semi-democratic republic. It is split into two branches, the executive and the legislative. The executive branch is headed by the Presidente who is elected by popular vote every 4 years. The legislative branch is made up of the Parliament, who are elected every 2 years.

### History

The Sovereign Republic of Gardenia as we know it today is the result of a series of violent revolutions, coups, and counter-revolutions. Initially founded as a colony under the French Empire in 1799, it was brought into the fold of the expanding United States with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The colony was allowed a form of semi-independence from the United States as a satellite state. After negotiations with the U.S., the colony was forged into the Principality of Gardenia in 1804, under the rule of Prince Victor the second.

#### **1804-1875: The Era of Principality**

During his reign, Prince Victor the Second would rule amicably and be praised by his people as a man of generosity, fairness, and reason. Unfortunately, his untimely death at age 63 in the year 1827 would change the course of the country forever. Victor the Second was succeeded by his son Gustav.

The rule of Prince Gustav would be one characterized by tyranny, oppression, and bloodshed. During his 40 year reign, Prince Gustav would earn the name, "Gustav the Terrible" from his people. Prince Gustav solidified power in the monarchy, strengthened the Royal Army, and heavily taxed his people to fund opulent balls and galas. Gustav the Terrible further solidified is position by creating the Secret Police, an agency dedicated to weeding out all forms of dissent among his people and brutally torturing any and all suspected of sedition.

Prince Gustav the Terrible died quietly in his bed on May 14th, 1867 and was succeeded by his son Petyr the Fourth.

Prince Petyr the Fourth inherited his father's principality at the age of 17 in the year 1867. He is generally regarded as being far weaker and less capable than his father Prince Gustav. Prince Petyr made no effort to reform his country and defunded many of the institutions that had protected his father's throne such as the Royal Army and the Secret Police. Prince Petyr instead used these funds to buy personal extravagances and fund massive parties. On October 5th, 1875, Prince Petyr was overthrown during The Great Revolution when a revolutionaries stormed the Royal Palace and took him into the streets. The Royal Palace was then burned to the ground while Prince Petyr was found guilty in a street court and swiftly executed.

The leaders of the revolution reformed the Principality into a new democratic confederacy called the Gardenian Confederacy.

#### **1875-1929: The Era of Confederacy**

The Gardenian Confederacy was generally seen as disorganized, unfocused, and underfunded. While this slowed national progress, it also kept this period in history relatively drama free. The several small regions that made up the Confederacy were generally left to their own devices. It was during this time that the two regions of Urbana and Champaign began to urbanize and set the foundations for the metropolis that we know today.

However, in 1929, the Great Depression struck the Confederacy as it did the rest of the world. The regions making up the Confederacy sat stunned as their reserves became instantly worthless. Hyperinflation wreaked havoc, food shortages struck, and unemployment skyrocketed as the Confederacy fell into total chaos. It was at this point that the regional militias began to make their bid to seize the power in the vacuum.

A series of civil wars raged throughout the country as militia leaders rose, fell, and formed coalitions with one and other. Eventually, in the year 1956, the Champaign militia, in an alliance with several other regions consolidated power and brought most of the other prominent regions into the fold. On January 3rd, 1956, under the rule of Generalissimo Mikael Andreus, the nation was once again reborn as the Sovereign Republic of Gardenia.

#### **1956-2002: The Era of Republic**

The Gardenian people once again reorganized and reformed their country. After a period of provisional military government, democratic elections were held for the first time on the national level. The overwhelming majority of Gardenians cast their vote for Generalissimo Mikael Andreus. As Republic's first presidente, Mikael Andreus dedicated his Presidency to creating a Gardenia that would stand the test of time. He would lay the groundwork for institutions that would eventually make up the core of Gardenian government. After his first term, he voluntarily resigned as a gesture of faith in the Gardenian people. He would retire to his farm, where he would work peacefully until his death in 1985.

Over time, the SRG grew into what was considered to be the pinnacle of civic theory. A highly centralized semi-democratic republic, focused on agricultural production and the pursuit of knowledge, the SRG raced forward into the atomic age confident in its ability to forge its own collective destiny. Power passed peacefully for the next several terms as the SRG flourished into a modern, urbanized society centered around the Urbana-Champaign metropolitan axis and its institutions of higher learning.

However, this Utopian ideal would not last. While on the surface Gardenian society appeared to be one of progress and peace, members on the fringes became disillusioned. These fringe groups slowly evolved and became increasingly radicalized on both sides of the political spectrum. Both sides of the fringe would attempt to garner additional power by democratic means, with the left wing Champaign Liberalization Party gaining its first representative in the Gardenian Parliament in the 1999 elections. In 2001, the right wing Urbana Traditionalist Party successfully gained their first seat in Parliament as well. The majority of the Parliamentary seats still stayed with more centralist parties, creating an uneasy peace between the three factions.

However, the 2002 presidential elections would prove to be the tipping point. Presidente Anthony Markon of the centralist party declared during his campaign that he planned to criminalize political radicalization and would eliminate both the right and left wing parties from parliament by disallowing them from future electoral ballots. When Presidente Markon won the election in 2002, both the left and the right wing were outraged and vowed to continue their struggle against the SRG.

#### **2002-Present: The Era of Insurgency**

On April 3rd, 2002 the Parliament building was attacked by an improvised explosive devise. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by the newly formed left wing insurgency, the Champaign Liberation Forces. In an unrelated attack later that week on April 8th, 2002 Presidente Markon was nearly assassinated at a political rally on a local farm when gunshots rang out and struck Presidente Markon, dealing to him several non-fatal wounds. The gunman escaped and has not been identified, but responsibility for the assassination attempt was claimed by the right wing militia, the Urbana Defense Front.

Over the next several months, these politically charged attacks became more frequent and more violent. In response, Presidente Markon announced the formation of a special counter insurgency bureau that would be tasked with hunting down the radicals and bringing them to justice. On July 16th, 2002 the Gardenian Security Bureau (GSB) was officially formed. While many Gardenians praised Presidente Markon for the creation of the GSB and for his decisive leadership in the face of crisis, there were still critics of this action. These critics compared the GSB to the infamous Secret Police of the Gardenian Principality. Regardless, the GSB launched several counter insurgency operations and on August 20th, 2004 killed the second in command of the Champaign Liberation Forces, Julianna Vansorjech.

After the crackdown and the death of prominent leaders on both sides, the CLF and UDF retreated into the surrounding farmlands where they could better harass SRG forces and take time to rebuild their strength. From 2007-2016, only sporadic attacks from the CLF and UDF ever managed to reach the city of Urbana-Champaign.

In 2016, with the election of Presidente Pawel Rawdaniko, peace seemed to finally be on the horizon. Presidente Rawdaniko reached out to the CLF and UDF in an effort to organize peace talks to bring the insurgencies to a close. His efforts were successful and on March 15, 2018 peace talks finally occured between the leadership of all three sides at the Japan House in the tumultuous Japanese Gardens region.

However, just 30 minutes into the peace talks, disaster struck when GSB forces attempted to assassinate the leadership of the insurgencies. In this intense firefight, the leader of the UDF, Johnathan Anderson, was fatally wounded and carried away to safety by his comrades. The leader of the CLF, Jae Duevara, successfully escaped. It is unclear to this day if the GSB intervention was orchestrated by Presidente Rawdaniko or if the GSB overstepped its bounds, but later that week Presidente Rawdankio accepted the resignation of the Director of the GSB Payton Nander.

Since that fateful day, the frequency and intensity of the CLF and UDF attacks have increased exponentially. While the insurgencies have been relatively confined to the rural regions and the Japanese Gardens hot zone, public assassinations, car bombings and other acts of terror have become common in the small country. In late 2018, Presidente Rawdaniko formally asked the United States for military support to bolster Gardenian security forces. The United States agreed, sending equipment and advisors to assist the Gardenian government in their efforts. In early 2019, it became clear that more forces were needed for direct action against the insurgents. In September 2019, US Marines were deployed to Gardenia and began combat operations in the Japanese Gardens region, the deadliest in the country.

Today, US forces still assist SRG efforts to eliminate the insurgencies and restore peace to the small country.

### Politics

Modern politics in the SRG are characterized by rationality and centrism. The vast majority of the populous in the SRG lies in the middle of the political spectrum and is uninterested in the ideas presented by the far left or right. It should be noted that this political identity took hundreds of years to develop and that the Gardenian people were not always so rationally inclined. When studying Gardenian political history, one should remember The Great Revolution of 1875 and the civil wars of The Reunification.

Many contemporary anthropologists theorize that although the Gardenian people are peaceful now, the fringe elements may be able to awaken a repressed fervent political passion that could tear the country apart.

### Administrative Divisions

There are several administrative divisions within the central government of the SRG. These administrations are run by their respective directors. The directors make up members of the Central Cabinet who reports directly to the Presidente of the Republic. The Administrative Divisions include the:

- Defense Administration: Headed by the Director of Defense. Responsible for civilian oversight of the Gardenian Army.

- Resource Development Administration: Headed by the Director of Resource Development. Responsible for the extraction of natural resources and agriculture.

- Commerce Administration: Headed by the Director of Commerce. Responsible for the regulation of commerce in the SRG.

- Education Administration: Headed by the Director of Education. Responsible for the direction of Gardenia's extensive higher learning institutions.

- Health Administration: Headed by the Director of Health. Responsible for the general health of all Gardenians.

- Justice Administration: Headed by the Director of Justice. Responsible for coordination of police forces and oversight of the Gardenian Security Bureau.