The History of Eastern Haane - the Socialist Period
The world was a very different place in 1890. Conditions were much worse, with much of the working class living in squalid conditions unimaginable to the modern individual.
Socialism was of the greatest interest; intellectuals all over the world writing theory, members of the proletariat protesting, revolting.
The great powers of the time were terrified. Of course, they could not execute all the socialists - such a thing would horrify the liberal population, making matters only worse than they were.
As such, they drafted a plan - to send their most devoted socialists to an uninhabited land far, far away. They would be given as much as needed to satisfy them, lest they continue to propagandize in anger.
It was thus that Eastern Haane - then the 'eastern Haane,' or the 'east of the Haane' was founded. Nearly 30,000 individuals were sent to its empty shores in the hastiest of manners.
Initially, the territory was divided among the four principal powers, of French, German, Danish, and Dutch ethnicity. In 1910, each would gain full independence. However, it was only in the November of 1918 that the four unified to create a "Council Republic of Eastern Haane."
This polity was not as authoritarian as other socialist states; it was perhaps the most libertarian of them all, with citizens entirely free to express their opinions in any way they saw fit, whether it was through their representatives bound to their will, the newspapers open to public submissions, or their own voices. (Theorists in the modern-day have claimed that this was only due to the relative ideological conformity of the early state; that, at the time, the only worry was excessive sectarianism.)
However, political opinion began to diverge. By 1925, Eastern Haane had developed three distinctive political currents:
- the syndicalists, who wished for a state organized by professions
- the councilists/council communists, who wished for the state as it was
- the vanguardists, who believed that the state was in a precarious position and had to be replaced with a new, single-party based system.
In 1927, the syndicalist current had prevailed, a new state, a "Syndical Republic" being formed.
This state, however, was troubled. The syndicalist movement became progressively unstable, splitting into two:
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the National-Syndicalists, who were socially conservative and anti-democratic
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the democratic Syndicalists, who were highly democratic and very socially leftists.
Arguments between the two began . to tear up the state. While the economy continued to function, no progress could be made on the social front. There were several coup attempts by both sides in this time; none, however, were successful.
In 1933, the situation had escalated into street warfare. Bloc paramilitaries were almost daily fighting; the nation was effectively in civil war.
A solution was proposed in August of that year - the state would transition to a parliamentary, semi-direct democratic system. This proved to be even more unstable than the last, with parliament being divided into four political parties of equal size, unable to form coalition, with voter-turnout in referendums and elections being, at the highest, 32%.
The situation had entirely collapsed just a few months later, in 1934. The left-political blocs, threatened by paramilitaries and a failing electoral system, plotted a coup in which they would temporarily install a dictatorship as to stabilize the situation.
This was successful; with it came the 1934 constitution, written as to make it as difficult as possible to express complaint through government organs, and the Great Terror.
The leftist dictatorship, however, lasted only until 1937, at which point national-syndicalists took control of the state apparatus. Their named Consul was proclaimed Emperor; with that began the 'imperial' period within the terror.
They began a program in which aspects of the previously socialist system were removed; districts were renamed after the provinces of the 'home' countries, language was reformed, and certain names were banned.
In 1939, a group of left-nationalists, ostracized by both parties, met secretly in Skagen. Their final decision was bold; they were to proclaim a 'People's State,' drafting a new constitution which would free the people of Eastern Haane.
They did so; several members of the meeting, as such, were executed. However, it began a greater revolution. Two constituent republics - the French and Danish Council Republics - using constitutional power, seceded from the 1934 Confederation to join the People's State.
It was thus that civil war truly began. Although mostly confined to the borders between the Confederation and People's State, almost 150,000 people would perish.
In 1946, however, with the assassination of the Emperor by his wife, the terror finally ended. A country-wide referendum was held on the future of the Confederation; it ended with the decision to reunify under the Confederation.
A new government was sworn in; it began the process of re-socializing the economy and rebuilding the nation.
However, the structure of the Confederation worried many. It did not allow for proportional representation; in fact, it greatly distorted electoral results through its bizarre functional constituencies.
Public opinion continued to swell against the legislature's makeup until 1951, when a referendum was held to create a new upper-chamber for the legislature, which would be elected proportionally, while also giving some of the Consul's power to a new "Supreme Councillor."
Nearly 88% of all votes were in favor of the reform, the members of the upper chamber - the "General Council" - taking office later that year.
This system remained in place until 1966, when the Liberal Party took control of the entire government.
Economic liberalization took place immediately; almost everything soon fell under the control of 10 oligarchs. Average income fell dramatically as income inequality soared. Shortages were common in that time; any protests were quickly squashed by company paramilitaries.
Corruption became common as the government lost its previous power; after 1970, it became little more than a cardboard prop.
By 1980, Eastern Haane's infrastructure had become decrepit. Poverty was commonplace; no elections had been held since 1972. It was in this year that agitation by the United Communist Party, formed from the many leftist groups of the 1950s and 60s, finally succeeded. The people rose up in rebellion, seizing the factories and farms. Plenipotentiaries for the oligarchs were arrested, sometimes killed; the country was engulfed, yet again, in street warfare between revolutionaries and the oligarchs' paramilitaries.
The violence continued until 1996, when what remained of the legislature of 1972 convened. Nearly half of the country's industry had been destroyed at that point; one fourth of all farmland, by the order of the oligarchs, had been salted.
The legislature intermediated a meeting between the oligarchs and the revolutionaries; they came, finally, to a resolution, in which the economy would be managed through tripartism, the General Council becoming the sole legislative chamber, and the Corporate Chamber being maintained for the creation of constitutional amendments.
This arrangement did not last; tripartism led to a form of factionalism which engulfed Eastern Haane, with strikes and lockouts occurring on a near weekly basis. Production fell to half of what it was in 1990; many Eastern Haanean families were in danger of starvation.
The situation continued to degrade from that point on; by 2001, the country was on the brink of returning to the violence of the 1980s.
That year, the General Council passed a law that would break up the many monopolies. The oligarchs attempted to resist, sometimes by force; however, in the end, they were forced to leave the country, taking with them their wealth.
The country never recovered from this; the oligarchs had held so much wealth that the country had become unable to import any goods without their help.
However, the economic system became much more stable, albeit much smaller than before. Eastern Haaneans could expect that their needs would be met; however, because of the loss of importation, much less could be produced.
As time went on, however, popular opinion began to turn against the state electoral system. Almost all legislatures above the municipality were only indirectly elected; many citizens began to worry that their voices were being drowned out or ignored.
From this began the first parliamentary movement, for the abolition of the council-system.
Many more devoted socialists and communists protested, arguing that the system would better represent the people, as representatives were bound by a popular mandate; however, by 2005, all four republics had adopted a parliamentary system.
With this began a gradual move to the right. Solidarist politics, last seen during the Imperial period, became the new normal. The once-centrist parties of the previous era - the Socialist Workers' Party, for example - became far left - small minorities.
By 2010, a dominant-party system had formed, the solidarists holding almost all state power. The people were generally satisfied with them; the approval rating of the party never went below 60%.
However, in 2013, Eastern Haane was met with freak storms that entirely destroyed the year's crop, at the same time causing damage to an already weak industrial base.
The solidarists' economic policy here began to show its weakness. Autarky, which had been pursued since 2001, could no longer work. Yet because of the protectionist policies put into place by the government, the country did not receive aid.
The country was again on the brink of famine, and the people began to turn against the ruling government
While the country had generally been repaired by 2014, the solidarist vote share steadily decreased. Parties on both the left and the right formed electoral alliances in an attempt to take advantage of this trend.
In 2016, the Consulship fell under the control of Socialist Workers' Party member Katrin Weber - a sign of things to come.
By 2019, the solidarists had lost their majority in the Corporate Chamber, beginning an era of co-habitation.
The Chamber time and time again attempted to reform the poorly written Constitution of 1934; yet each time, the General Council would veto it.
In 2020, a voting year, the solidarists had lost almost their entire base. The leadership was desperate; yet, it refused to change, instead planning to distort the political system entirely.
It was in that year that among the widest constitutional reforms, which would allow for better social welfare and a more streamlined state, were proposed. Several weeks were given for debate in the General Council by the Consul; yet the Council simply held an 'unofficial' vote to dismiss them within days of receiving the amendments.
The people rose up in anger, the country falling into their control. The legislature of the French Council Republic began the process of the dissolution of the Confederation, a move approved by the Corporate Chamber only a day later.
Within a week, a new state - the current People's Confederation - had been formed.
