Veston

## History

Until Veston's independence, the nation has been part of the Resmaun Federation for over two centuries - prior to this it was a collection of minor disunited nations that although sharing a common culture, ethnicity, and identity that would later be unified into Veston Republicanism in the face of authoritarian rule. The first resistance movements began to appear in the 1940s with the collapse of democracy in the federation, although the new dictatorial Larsen family took crushing action to suppress dissent, and the most notable of these was the Revolutionary Gardenia Front, dedicated to the violent liberation of Veston. The Larsens in the next 30 years would go on to kill tens of thousands of Vestonians who dared to defy their tyranny. The political engine known as Popular Unity was borne out of a united front between peaceful protesters and political figures, with soft ties to the Revolutionaries, led by Virgil Schultz with the sole goal of independence. With the handover of power to the Chairman's son Lyon Larsen, the federation relaxed their crushing grip on civil liberties and dissent in the rumoured threat of a planned organised coup, and for the first time in decades held a formal election. However, the entire democratic process was a sham and only designed to cement Larsen rule; ballots not in favour of the ruling family's party were confiscated and burned, and was judged to be "the opposite of free and fair" by the Kanodian Union.

By the 1990s, things had turned increasingly sour for the federation. Although they were able to successfully keep their grip on the rest of the nation, Veston remained increasingly defiant of their rule, and the movement for popular republicanism continued to grow in number, and by 1994 the political situation was at breaking point. On February 9th 1994, a young Vestonian girl called Alice was shot by the Resmaun military, and this was the moment that sparked the beginning of the end for Resmaun control. Mass protests flared up all across Veston, and the flame of an uprising was ignited. A peaceful occupation of all government buildings was made, mass strikes in a wide variety of the industries were called, and these were all called and supported by Popular Unity, which made the dramatic effort to provide emergency food and healthcare to all in Veston, a collective programme of a dramatic scale. Fire was exchanged between the RGF and the Resmaun military, tensions heightened, and some began to fear a ground invasion by Resmaun to seize back control. The Kanodian Union, at the height of the crisis, decided to step in. They offered a place of free discussion and dialogue between the two sides, and although violence continued, through talks that were eventually accepted, it began to slowly die down. After nearly 6 months of negotiations, Veston and Resmaun convened in Astren, a city on the border of the two nations, and after 45 hours, created a settlement for independence. The Astren Treaty was signed by Lyon Larsen and Virgil Schultz on the 7th January 1995. The treaty bears numerous heavy constraints and responsibilities on Veston, including harsh limits on the military, foreign policy, and other areas - but critically, it granted Veston its own right to be an independent state, albeit without Resmaun recognition..

With the Astren Treaty established, Veston gained settled international status as a sovereign nation, and so the transition period began to set up institutions and to plan out the constitution and setup of the new republic. The Council of Unity was established, a 480-member quasi-legislative body of representatives from across the country - experts, academics, figures from a range of communities, and political leaders. The new President Schultz was exposed to some criticism for creating a body that had no democratic mandate, but he insisted that the Council would be dissolved 5 years after the signing of the treaty, and a unanimous motion was passed to enshrine this in law.

Through the transition period, the Council wrote up the new constitution, which among other things committed to a democratic republic, judicial independence, the rights of citizens, and the separation of powers. They outlined a "fair, responsible, and neutral" economic policy, through overhauling the previous tax system that Resmaun established which put a burden particularly on the poorest, and set up the Bank of Veston to control interest rates, regulate the new banking system, and create an independent currency for the nation (The Veston Dollar $). A temporary health service was set up to provide coverage to all citizen for basic services, in cooperation with the private sector in many areas such as drug supply and other provisions, although the Council agreed that future health policy should be decided with a democratically elected government and so limited legislation was actually passed in the area. An education service was set up to provide free education to all up to the ages of 18, and old Resmaun transport facilities such as rail were put under government control, although they still remain in a dilapidated state. Many other different pieces of temporary legislation were enacted as a framework in many different areas, but were purposed for future governments to decide their own direction on policy.

In 1999, the political system began to be liberalised, and the Council created the Electoral Commission to officially allow parties to be set up in preparation for the Council's dissolution in January 2000. The parliamentary elections were officially scheduled for May 2000, and the public became very politically engaged, free to decide their own path for the first time. With the parliamentary elections, the Council's 480 seats will be replaced by 480 elected members of parliament, and the new position of Chancellor will be the official head of government, separating the responsibility from the head of state, President Schultz. It is currently unknown when the president plans to call elections for his own position, but it is generally assumed that he'll wait until the nation has a stable government.