Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2011 20:12:55 GMT
The People's Republic of Omm
Government
There is no "government" in the formal sense of the word. The country is ruled by the Local People's Assemblies that send recallable delegates to the General Assembly that convenes in the "capital" Pnyx. The Secretariat of the GA serves as liaison to the external world and as a mouthpiece for the GA. Omm is also internally divided in 15 Regional Assemblies, to which Local Assemblies also send recallable delegates to take care of regional affairs.
Geography
Omm is an coastal and island nation. located in the NW Gulf of the Social Liberal Union. Omm boasts an immense diversity of climate, geography, and natural beauty. While being mostly temperate, it's regional microclimates can range from mediterannean in the southwest to temperate rainforests in the north and east. The winds and water currents of the NW Gulf are the basis of this complex climate. During winter, warm and moist systems flow in from the north mouth of the Gulf, regulating its temperature and nurturing the lush rainforests. During the summer months, hot and dry winds from the south flow via the south mouth of the Gulf, creating the mediterannean microclimate of Scyrus and the western islands.
History
The first Ommian tribes moved into the area in late antiquity and assimilated into the pre-Ommian civilization, inheriting important sciences such as literature, art, mathematics and, most importantly, trade. Based on Pnyx, early Ommians colonized the Gulf and established a Trade Empire, ruled by an autocracy of Rich Merchants, who periodically established imperial dictatorships to keep the ever-unruly sailors and peasants subjugated to their interests.
The industrial revolution brought about the strengthening of the position of the Merchant class, which gradually overthrew the hereditary dictatoriships and established a plutocratic republic. However, industrialization also gave birth to the urban proletariat which organized itself in the Socialist Party and allying itself with the sailors and the peasants started posing a serious threat to the established plutocracy.
In the ensuing decades class struggle brought the country almost to the brink of destruction, with the Plutocrats adopting ever more irrational policies to fight the ever stronger Socialist Party. Ten years before the founding of the People's Republic, the Socialist Party won the general elections against a campaign of terror, violence and intimidation launched by the Plutocratic parties. The Plutocracy reacted with even bigger violence, reinstating Dictatorship, with an Admiral as head of state. The legitimate government of the Socialist Party went underground, fighting a long but ultimately victorious civil war.
With the plutocrats' power crushed by the People's Partizans, the Socialist Party proposed to the Ommians a new constitution, and a new social, economic and political system. In the refenderum that followed 75% of Ommians voted to establish the People's Republic of Omm.
Economy
Although a young People's Republic, Omm is the heir to ancient traditions of a sea-centered economy. Timber from the north forests and metals from the southeastern mines in Callidromon and Porus have from time immemorial been used in the shipyards of Saugia, Burji and Phenace to create the fleets necessary to support an extensive marine-based economy, centered on fishing and trade. Tourism is a young industry focused on the golden beaches on the islands and Scyrus as well as the lush marine parks of Ydria, while a fledgling IT industry has recently started developing in the capital, Pnyx.
Military
The People's Partizans demobilized after the civil war. However, the wisdom acquired from the civil war was not lost, but rather became popular lore. There is no standing army, but Ommians have access to People's Arsenals, open to all proletarians, sailors and peasants, once their General Assembly has voted on mobilization. There is also the sizeable "Elan", the People's Navy consisting of warships captured from the plutocrats. The extremely experienced sailors and fishermen of the civilian fleet are always ready to man the warships in time of need.
Anthem
The anthem of the People's Republic of Omm is this version of "The Abraham Lincoln Brigade".