People's Republic of Catharinia
From Communist State Wiki
| People's Republic of Catharinia | |||
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Motto: Libertas Per Aequalitas | |||
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| Capital: | Essex City | ||
| Largest city: | Essex City | ||
| Official language(s): | English | ||
| Recognized regional language(s): | N/A | ||
| Demonym: | Catharinian | ||
| Government: | Parliamentary democracy, socialist republic | ||
| - President: | Joeri Zjoekov | ||
| Establishment: | 1940: Declaration of Independence 1941: Recognition of Independence | ||
| Area: | N/A km² | ||
| Population: | 543,721 (2007 estimate) | ||
| - 2007 census: | 543,721 | ||
| - Density: | N/A/km² | ||
| Religion: | no state religion | ||
| - Atheist: | 52.4% | ||
| - Protestant: | 21.2% | ||
| - Native Religions: | 19.7% | ||
| - Others: | 6.7% | ||
| Currency: | N/A | ||
| Time zone: | UTC+11 | ||
| Internet TLD: | .prc | ||
| Calling code: | N/A | ||
The People's Republic of Catharinia, is a Micronesian island nation in the Pacific Ocean. It occupies around half of Catharinia Island and several smaller offshore islands of the Catharinia Archipelago, bordering the Democratic Republic Arcadia and the Kingdom of Catharinia.
The country's first inhabitants were the Chamorro people who moved to the Catharinia Archipelago around 2000 BCE. In 1784 the British colonised the islands and formed the Catharinia Colony, that existed until 1954. In 1940 however, the northern half had declared its independence as the People's Republic of Catharinia by means of the Lemon Revolution. The People's Republic is a socialist state, currently headed by Joeri Zjoekov. The country is a member of the Socialist Confederal Republic of Catharinia and has a good relationship with the member states of the SCRC.
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[edit] History
- For the history of the British colony, see here.
The history of the People's Republic started in 1939, when the Lemon Revolution took place. The revolution was originally started by nationalists who wanted independence for the British colony. The first province to fall under the control of the revolutionaries was New Essex. The Workers Movement of Catharinia, which was founded in 1921 by John Wake, played a role of major importance in spreading the revolution accros the colony. It quickly took control over the revolution and formed the National Liberation Army. The revolution gained a lot of sympathy by the more northern native tribes, who didn't had a lot of cultural freedom under the British rule. The Workers Party was renamed Communist Party of Catharinia and had the northern half of the island under its control. In 1940, the CPCa declared the area under its control independant and started up a revolutionary government. Soon the NLA was send south to free the rest of the colony. Most of the native tribes welcomed the NLA and about two third of the colony came under communist control. In 1941 however, the revolution took place for negociation. The British were too busy fighting in Indochina and thus agreed that the northern half of the island became independant. The CPCa retreated its armies but kept Tana, a part of the British colony, occupied. They still had a lot of sympathy under northern colony tribes and on Taluva, one of the smaller isles of the colony.
In 1954, the other part of the island gained its independence too. Taluva, that didn't want to be a part of the new country and that sympathised with the People's Republic, declared its soevereinity under a nationalist government. The ex-colony invaded Taluva with British support. The People's Republic of Catharinia answered this brutal act by sending its army over to the island too, in order to protect the rights of this small nation. They could however not succeed in freeing the entire island. The southern part was taken over by Arcadia. As a countermeasure, the northern half of Taluva became an autonomous province within the People's Republic. During this conflict the Liberation Army was reformed to the Red Army of State. Though the southern part is not under the control of the People's Republic, it could be seen as a part under its dominion.
In 1968 the Kingdom of Catharinia invades Tana, which they see as their rightful property. The People's Republic sends out its Liberation Army again to protect the Tanan tribes. They defeat the Royal Troops and the CPCa gives the order to advance. More than half of the Kingdom gets occupied by the communist troops. The Democratic Republic of Arcadia is fearing for the souvereinity of the tribal nation and sets up negotiations. The People's Republic gets a territorial expansion, including the autonomous province of Tana. The Kingdom is placed under the watch of the two other island nations and needs to have a non-agressive regiment, meaning that its head of state could not undertake nationalist measures. The last demand was issued by means of replacing the old king by King Bou Bou.
In 1985 King Bou Bou dies and gets replaced by a socialist-minded succesor. The southern tribes fully support the new king, but the northern territories fear to get annexated by the People's Republic. Two groups are formed: the loyalists who support their king and his red course of action, and the republicans which want to join Arcadia to form a counterwait against the red state. A civil war breaks out and the Red Army is led into the Kingdom. The international community decides that there should come an international organisation and the ICSO is formed. The Red troops are recognized as International Peace Army by the organization and frees the provinces that were occupied by the republicans. With the support of the ICSO the loyalist movement takes the upper hand and the civil war is ended. The Red Army keeps the northern part of the Kingdom occupied in order to maintain peace. As the current king fears a new rebellion, he keeps near to the guidance of the People's Republic. The Kingdom of Catharinia is could be seen as a puppet state of the People's Republic and plays a great deal in isolating the Democratic Republic of Arcadia. Since the end of the civil war and the establishment of the socialist government in the Kingdom of Catharinia, the conflict about Arcadia's most southern province came up again.
[edit] Geography
[edit] Island Geography
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[edit] Administrative divisions
The People's Republic of Catharinia consists out of five provinces and two autonomous regions. Those regions are highly populated by native descendants and have a certain autonomy within a province. Taluva was an autonomous region of the province of Evenk untill its independence in 2008. The five provinces were established during the Lemon Revolution. The provinces of the People's Republic are:
- New Essex (Essex City)
- autonomous region Tana
- Evenk (Port Howard)
- autonomous region Maluka
- Northern Cape (Cape City)
- Kalung (West Bay)
- Sunvall Bay (Crystal Beach)
[edit] Demography
[edit] Religion
In the People's Republic of Catharinia there is no official religion. In public life, it has almost no importance at all. There are few religious buildings because there are government does not grant financial support. Also, all money that is gifted to religious organisations is taxed. The main religious groups in the People's Republic are Protestants and Roman Catholics, but most of the citizens made clear they do not believe. Some native religions are present in the People's Republic too. Beliefs that are merely not found in the country are Buddhism and Islam. Officially, all inhabitants are Atheists.
[edit] Government
[edit] Governing system
The People's Republic of Catharinia is officially headed by a unicameral parliament, in which a few major parties are represented: The Popular Front (a coalition of the communist and socialist parties), the Democratic People's Party, Liberty! and United Opposition. Most parties were expelled from the parliament under the reingn of the communist party, but since Joeri Zjoekovis leading the country changes towards democraty have been made. The Popular Front remains however dominant over the parliament. Inside the Front, which is described as a "coalition of left-minded democratic parties", the Communist Party has a leading role. Because of the Popular Front's dominance over the smaller parties and their weight within Front, the Communist Party always gains most seats in parliament as well as the main minister posts. The parliament can only approve laws or make changes in the older ones. The executive power lies with the ministers. On their party congress, the Communist Party elects a General Secretary. This secretary, who can be compared best to a prime minister or president, composes in turn the Cencom or Central Committee. It is this Central Committee that appoints the ministers in the People's Republic. Mostly, the functions of General Secretary and coalition leader in the parliament are both taken by the chairman of the CPCa.
[edit] Foreign policy
The People's Republic of Catharinia has had difficult relations with both other nations on the archipelago. Tuvalu Island has constantly been disputed between the People's Republic and Arcadia. At this stage, both nations own a half of the island, but the southern halve still makes up a part of the People's Republic sphere of influence. More recently the nations have been less agressive towards eachother. Especially with Arcadia there have been great improvements in the relationship, though the People's Republic of Catharinia still defends what it considers to be its historical rights. The current relationship with the Kingdom of Catharinia can be described as very friendly. Some even consider the Kingdom to be a puppet state of the People's Republic of Catharinia. The People's Republic supports the Kingdom in the dispute with Arcadia over the Catharinian exclave Zandra.
The People's Republic of Catharinia is a founding member of the Intergovernmental Catharinian Safety Organisation (ICSO) and the General Secretary is send over to every meeting. The organisation is concerned with negotiating between the nations and solving issues between its members.
Since November 1 1942, the People's Republic of Catharinia has been a member of the United Nations, currently the only international organisation (not including the ICSO) of which it is a full member. The People's Republic is also an observer at the Pacific Islands Forum.
[edit] Economy
[edit] First reforms
Like most socialist states, the People's Republic of Catharinia has a centrally planned economy (CPE), in contrast to the market economies or mixed economies of most Western states. The state establishes production targets and prices and allocates resources, all in a comprehensive plan. The means of production are almost entirely state owned. Those state-owned enterprises or collectives earn 96.7 percent of total national income. To secure constant prices for inhabitants, the state bears 80% of costs of basic supplies, from bread to housing. When the communist government was put into power, an agrarian reform collectivised all land belonging to former colonizers and generally limited ownership to one square kilometer. Most ground was taken up into agrocities; Small cities with there own light industry of which the surounding land was divided between agricultural laborers.
[edit] Introducing a planned economy
The Party Congress of the Communist Party of Catharinia emphasized industrial progress from the beginning. The industrial sector - employing 40% of the working population - was nationalized further. This resulted in the formation of People's Enterprises. These enterprises incorporated 75% of the industrial sector. The First Five-Year Plan (1942–1947) introduced a centralized state planning. It stressed high production rates for heavy industry and increased labor productivity. Also in the conference, a new economic policy was adopted. This plan, called the "Planned Construction" had as o goal to strengthen the state-owned sector of the economy. Further goals were to implement the principles of uniform socialist planning and to use the economic laws of socialism systematically. The Second Five-Year Plan (1947-1952) was nothing more than an extension of the initial goals.
In 1952 the New Course was announced to replace the Planned Construction. The Third Five-Year Plan (1952-1967) was based on this New Course and aimed at an improvement of the standard of living, stressed a shift in investment toward light industry and trade and a greater availability of consumer goods. The New Course also led to a reduction of taxes and the availability of state loans to private business, and an increase of production material. While the New Course increased the availability of consumer goods, there were still high production quotas.
[edit] Economic growth and improvement
Around the end of the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1972-1977), the academic intelligentsia within the CPCa leadership demanded economic reforms and an opening to the neighbouring country Arcadia. To this end, Albert Werth issued radical changes in the People's Republic of Catharinia. The Sixth Five-Year Plan (1977-1982) carried the slogan "modernization and mechanization" to emphasize the focus on technological progress. Also, the regime announced its intention to develop nuclear energy. The first nuclear reactor in the People's Republic was activated in 1979. The government increased industrial production quotas once more by 55% and balanced the light and heavy industry. A Seventh Five-Year Plan (1982-1987) demanded accelerated efforts towards agricultural progress and completion of the nationalization of the industrial sector.
By 1981 the socialist sector produced 90% of the People's Republic his agricultural products. An extensive economic management reform by the CPCa included the transfer of a large number of industrial ministries to a State Planning Commission. At the close of 1990, private enterprise controlled only 2% of total industrial production. The Eightst Five-Year Plan (1987-1990) encountered however some difficulties and the regime replaced it with the Seven-Year Plan (1990–1997). The new plan aimed at achieving a higher per capita production by the end of the milenium, set higher production quotas, and called for an 85% increase in labor productivity.
[edit] The New Economic Structure (NES)
The annual industrial growth rate started to decline after 1992. In 1994 General Secretary Joeri Zjoekov introduced the New Economic Structure (NES), an economic reform program against the decentralization of the market that was started by his preceedor. According to the new General Secretary, the structural crisis in the country's economy was due to the decentralization and the steps towards a real market economy. The NES aimed at creating an efficient economic system and transforming the People's Republic into a major industrial nation. Under the NES, the task of establishing future economic development was assigned to central planning. The central planning authorities set production goals, but each economic branch determined its own internal financing, utilization of technology and allocation of manpower and resources. With the NES, the market became for the bigger part closed again to foreign enterprices.
[edit] Infrastructure
[edit] Energy
The energy sector in the People's Republic of Catharinia is the biggest of the Catharinia Archipelago. The country's economy is large and still grows. Because of this, the People's Republic consumes a lot off energy. In 2007, the People's Republic of Catharnia was the isle's largest consumer of electricity. Government policy emphasizes conservation and the development of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind energy. The government has set the goal of meeting half the country's energy demands from renewable sources by 2050. The Catharinian People's Republic is also producer of nuclear power, but in 2000 the government agreed to phase out halve of the nuclear power plants by 2020.
[edit] Transportation
Because it covers the biggest part of the archipelago, the People's Republic of Catharinia has an important transportation network. This is reflected in its dense and modern transportation, like the extensive motorway network. The People's Republic also has established a central network of high-speed trains. The Intercity Expresstrains are serving the major Catharinian cities and destinations in neighbouring countries. The train speed varies from 160 km/h to 300 km/h and is the most advanced service category. Connections are offered in either 15-minute, 30-minute or hourly intervals. Besides the autoroute and railway networks, there are also a few big airports and naval ports.
[edit] Culture
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
[edit] Education
The People's Republic of Catharinia is a highly educated country. The level off education is comparable to that off western countries, but the organisation is very typical for socialist states. The education in the People's Republic took flight as soon as the country declared itself independant from the British. The educational institutions are devided in three levels: lower, mediate and upper education. Those levels are each devided into grades. There are six grades for the lower and mediate level which every Catharinian must go trough. The upper education level is the same as universitary studies. Those are not obliged and the amount of grades in the upper level depends on the study.
Contrary to most western countries, there are only state schools in the People's Republic. Though most foreign people think off this as a disadvantage, it has various positive consequences. Si is there no competivity between the schools which could have a negative effect on the level off educational matter. Also, education in the People's Republic has been made almost entirely cost free. People only pay for additional activiteis such as day trips with the class. Ofcourse, there is a fixed national curriculum wich is to be followed by all schools.
[edit] National symbols
[edit] Flag and Seal of the People's Republic
The national flag of the People's Republic of Catharinia was officially adopted in 1940. The horizontal triband flag used the same colours as the Republic of Catharinia: green, white and dark yellow. The central field was however charged with the communist insign, that consists out of a hamer and sickel and a star. The Communist Party of Catharinia never opted to use red, because they wanted to follow their own way to communism.
The seal of the People's Republic consists of a yellow dotted border, symbolising the nation's wealth, a green and a yellow half, referring to the flag, and has the same communist insign in the core as on the national flag. On the seal stands the national motto Libertas Per Aequalites, which is Latin for Freedom By Equality. The national colours used to represent the nature of the isle (green), its beaches (yellow) and a new start (white).
 Flag of the People's Republic |
 Seal of the People's Republic |
[edit] National Motto and Anthem
The national motto of the People's Republic of Catharinia says Libertas Per Aequalitas which is Latin for Liberty By Equality. The motto was the origninal motto of the Communist Party of Catharinia and was adopted by the People's Republic with its recognition in 1941. The motto is also used in the national seal and the national anthem. That last one is the Cathirinian version of the International. In that version, there are only two stanzas and there are slight textual changes.
| Socialist Confederal Republic of Catharinia | |
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| People's Republic of Catharinia - Socialist Kingdom of Catharinia - Socialist Republic of Taluva - Tukumunanganon | |
